Some fishers lure sharks into shallow waters, causing concern in New Jersey

Shark fishing videos caused concern this summer in New Jersey, as some people lured big sharks close to swimmers. Tom Hanson has the story.

Farm linked to cyclosporaisis outbreak went years without FDA inspection

The FDA has long fallen short of legally required inspection targets, and foreign inspections fell further last year amid agency layoffs.

Doctor discusses released Fauci texts on the COVID vaccine and pregnant women

Republican senators this week released 11 new text messages from Dr. Anthony Fauci's government phone in 2021 as part of the investigations into his handling of the COVID pandemic. In the texts, he discussed the potential risks and benefits of the vaccine for pregnant women. Dr. Serena Chen, an OB-GYN and the director of advocacy at CCRM Fertility of New Jersey, has more.

Powerful storms slam Midwest, leave nearly 1 million without power

Nearly 1 million customers in the Midwest were without power as perilous thunderstorms and extreme wind gusts pummeled the region on Tuesday.

Thunderstorms cause major travel delays, ground stops

Storms in the Midwest caused widespread travel troubles on Tuesday. More than 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled, with the biggest backlogs in Chicago and New York. Kris Van Cleave reports from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, and Rob Marciano has the forecast.

Storms hit Midwest as wildfires rage in western states

Powerful storms swept across the Midwest and into the mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday night. The outbreak of storms brought hurricane-force winds of up to 100 miles per hour, along with tornadoes and flash flooding. Ian Lee reports.

Trump took secret flight from Turkey NATO summit last month due to Iranian missile threat

President Trump secretly switched from Air Force One to a different plane after a NATO summit in Turkey last month. The U.S. had learned of a credible Iranian missile threat as he left Turkey's capital. Ed O'Keefe reports.

Male redback spiders invite cannibalism through a ‘self-sacrificial somersault’ during sex – but why?

New research sheds light on the genetic basis of the venomous insect’s ‘weird mating behaviour’

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If you think you’ve had a bad one-night stand, spare a thought for the male redback spider, whose sole reproductive partner eats him after sex.

Male redbacks appear to invite this cannibalism through a “self-sacrificial somersault”, with new research shedding light on the genetic basis of the behaviour.

Premier League 2026-27 preview No 5: Brighton

Fabian Hürzeler has lost key players including Welbeck and Van Hecke with Brighton needing squad depth to cope with the demands of European football

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 9th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 8th

Polls begin to close in primary elections across the country

Progressive Democrats hope to keep their winning streak rolling in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

White House asked DOJ about new Reflecting Pool case against David Hearn

Earlier this month, however, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the case, citing new information that the damage was caused by a "botched installation" by a contractor, not vandalism.

CoreWeave stock pops 14% as revenue doubles on accelerating AI infrastructure demand

CoreWeave's revenue is surging as the AI boom continues, but the company is also sitting on $35 billion in debt.

Trump administration bars use of Medicaid funds for some youth transgender care

Medicaid said it won't pay for gender-affirming surgeries or hormones for transgender minors.

GM reaches up to $4.5 billion parts deal designed to avoid supply chain troubles

The deal follows years of global automotive supply chain issues for GM and other companies.

In South Carolina, GOP Voters decide who they want to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham

Sen. Darline Graham, who is serving out the remainder of her brother's term, faces a crowded field of candidates to replace him on the ballot as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in November.

Trump Media sells $100,000 Truth Social data access, drawing scrutiny

Customers are paying up to $100,000 a month for faster access to Truth Social posts from President Trump and other top users of the social media platform.

High school football player finds venomous snake inside helmet he was wearing

The Maumelle High football player wore the helmet for nearly an hour and was fortunate he wasn't bitten, animal services director Chris Davis said.

Romell Glave soars to 100m title as Jeremiah Azu makes it British one-two

• Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs pulls up injured

• Italy’s Nadia Battocletti wins gold in women’s 5,000m

On Marcell Jacobs’ right arm there is a tattoo of the Roman colosseum and a gladiator: a reminder of his fighting spirit and what Italy’s capital means to him. But in the swirling bearpit of a European championships 100m final, the former Olympic champion’s body dramatically broke down.

That was the first shock. The second was the sight of two Britons, Romell Glave and Jeremiah Azu, blasting through to take gold and silver.

Trump’s Air Force One deception faces scrutiny over ‘decoy’ passengers

Journalists and others were allowed to fly on presidential jet despite security threat while Trump was spirited away

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Democrats called on Tuesday for a congressional briefing over a stunning charade in which Donald Trump was secretly spirited to different plane than the one the public and press believed he was travelling on, an episode first reported by the Washington Post and also by the New York Times. Critics now question why reporters and the public had been deliberately misled.

When US intelligence allegedly found a credible threat that Iran plotted to kill him last month, Trump left Air Force One in a catering truck. While the president was reportedly snuck out the side door of the plane, more than a hundred aides, officials and reporters were kept onboard to fly towards Britain, without being told there was a threat to their lives.

Arthur Fery ready to test himself at Masters level after Wimbledon run

• Briton reached SW19 semi-finals as a wildcard

• World No 36 has first-round bye in Cincinnati

Arthur Fery believes he is at the start of a new chapter in his career as he returns to competition for the first time since his surprise run to the Wimbledon semi-finals as a wildcard.

Fery will compete for the first time in a month at the Cincinnati Open this week, after opting to take a short holiday and training block following the most demanding fortnight of his career at Wimbledon.

Dethroned Miss North Carolina USA threatens legal action over title removal

Brittany Boltinhouse’s attorney says removal of title and crown ‘another troubling example of cancel culture’

A lawyer for beauty queen Brittany Boltinhouse, dethroned as Miss North Carolina USA last week, is threatening legal action, claiming the actions of pageant organizers were “wrongful and unjustified”.

The attorney, Patrick Mincey, described the removal of her title and crown “another troubling example of cancel culture”.

ACLU asks judge to block new Trump order restricting birthright citizenship

Group says new executive order is attempt to evade supreme court’s earlier ruling against the president

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other advocacy groups have asked a federal judge to block Donald Trump from enforcing new executive ⁠orders he signed last week in his latest attempt to restrict eligibility ​for birthright citizenship in the US.

In a Tuesday court filing, the groups called the US president’s new orders an improper attempt to evade the US supreme court’s 30 June rejection of his first, more sweeping bid to deny automatic citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents.

A judge expands a block on U.S. Postal Service work on Trump's mail-in voting order

A federal judge expanded a block on a key part of President Trump's order to restrict mail-in voting for this fall's midterms, banning the Postal Service from carrying out directives in every state.

8/11: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Six states hold primaries as the 2026 midterm election cycle continues; New details on Trump's secret plane switch.

Play video games? You, too, could become an air traffic controller

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is touting the success of a campaign targeting video gamers to train as air traffic controllers.

Flames shoot out of plane's engine after apparent bird strike

An American Airlines plane bound for North Carolina was forced to return to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when flames erupted from its left engine due to an apparent bird strike.

Kennedy Center must pay $250,000 in legal fees to musician who canceled in protest

Chuck Redd canceled his annual Christmas Eve performance to protest Trump's name being added to the complex. In June, a superior court judge dismissed the Kennedy Center's lawsuit against Redd.

5 questions parents may have after Trump's latest vaccine move

Parents may be confused about the status of vaccines for their kids after President Trump's new executive order. It's important to know nothing is changing right away.

Emery positive about Aston Villa’s outlook despite summer exits as PSG await

Ebullient manager takes his side to Salzburg to cross swords with the European champions in the Super Cup

One thing was almost instantly detectable as Unai Emery walked into a stuffy room inside the Red Bull Arena on the eve of Wednesday’s Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain. After a summer of change, Aston Villa’s manager appeared uber-relaxed, confident his team will absorb a series of headline departures. He cracked a joke about his English improving and poked fun at John McGinn, impersonating his captain while next to him on the auditorium’s top table.

Emery was in a jovial mood, then. But he was also switched on, alert to the frequency, the tone of the wave of questions at the beginning of his fourth full season in the job. “You ask about the changes of coaches and players, but McGinn is intelligent and his answer was fantastic,” Emery said with a smile. “When he arrived here [in 2018] they were in the Championship and every year since there have been changes and still the club has moved forward.

Buzzer-beaters and besties: the rivalries and friendships that make the WNBA

From Comets-Liberty and Lynx-Sparks to Wilson-Gray and the StudBudz, the feuds and friendships that have shaped 30 years of the WNBA

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It’s Rivals Week in the W, and it’s already given us so many spicy viral moments. But when I look at the matchups that headline the schedule, it made me think of all the different rivalries that have come and gone throughout the league’s 30 years – some rooted in half-court buzzer-beaters, others in baseline jumper buzzer-beaters. Moral of the story: if there’s a buzzer-beater involved, it’ll likely turn into a team rivalry.

And while there are tense rivalries, there are also fierce friendships in this league. The ones that make you giggle to yourself when they wind up guarding each other during a game, or they show off a special celebration as teammates. Today, I want to highlight both – because both are what makes the W worth watching.

White House pushes DoJ to revive reflecting pool case against Olympian

Justice department is asked to weigh new charges against David Hearn after US attorney dropped vandalism charges

The White House has asked the Department of Justice to weigh new charges against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, according to a person familiar with the matter, pushing to revive a case Donald Trump has fumed about ever since an ally dropped the case citing insufficient evidence.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, dropped the charges against the man, David Hearn, on 31 July, blaming a contractor for a flawed installation. In a 20-page filing dismissing the charges, Pirro’s office said it had received evidence that damage to the pool occurred before Hearn visited it, and that “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hearn has maintained that he reached in the water to touch a piece of already detached lining while he was on a bike ride in June.

Social Security adds 14 conditions to fast-track disability list

The Social Security Administration is expanding its list of diseases and other health conditions that may qualify for accelerated approval of disability benefits.

An inflation report Wednesday should be a big deal for the Fed. Here's what to expect

The consumer price index is expected to show only a modest increase for July.

U.S. Marine veteran freed from Russian prison after nearly 4 years

A U.S. Marine veteran from Massachusetts who has been held in Russia for more than four years on disputed charges has been released.

Is your career "rusting out"? Here's what that means, and how to spot it.

Many employees feel their employers don't value them and that they're not contributing as much as they could, a workplace poll finds.

Richard Tice accused of ‘nasty tactics’ over legal threat to the Guardian

Reform deputy leader condemned for seeking disclosure of documents that could reveal reporter’s sources

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has been accused of using “nasty tactics” in an attempt to intimidate journalists and deflect attention from his own financial affairs after issuing a legal threat to the Guardian.

In a letter sent from his lawyers, a Guardian correspondent was singled out for her reporting on a series of Tice’s financial transactions that were referred to the National Crime Agency.

Trump says NYC pied-à-terre tax 'must be stopped,' eyes federal block

Trump in a Truth Social post called Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax a "dangerous political 'experiment' in New York will destroy" the city and state.

Democrats clash again in Minnesota and Wisconsin primaries as big midterm races take shape

In Minnesota, progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and moderate Democratic Rep. Angie Craig are competing for the nomination to succeed the retiring Sen. Tina Smith.

The Guardian view on wildfires: firefighters can’t handle this crisis alone | Editorial

The response to this summer’s record heat and drought should be led by ministers – not left to the emergency services

The wildfire that began on protected heathland in the New Forest in Hampshire on Sunday was reported to be under control on Tuesday. But with temperatures forecast to reach 36C or higher in parts of England on Thursday, the risk of further outbreaks remains high. Firefighters responded to 185 wildfires in the first 10 days of August. In coastal Suffolk, conservationists and locals are counting the cost of the blaze that devastated Dunwich Heath. Its vegetation and rare bird populations are expected to take decades to recover.

Although the immediate cause of many wildfires is litter, the risks are elevated by heat and drought, and repeated warnings from climate scientists do not necessarily lessen the shock and distress caused. As people and governments across Europe assess this summer’s damage, experts including the UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, hope that the fires will focus minds on the urgent necessity of cutting emissions – as well as investing in emergency planning. Europe is currently heating up faster than any other continent, due in part to proximity to the melting Arctic.

The Guardian view on AI money in US politics: not the way to hold an urgent democratic debate | Editorial

Amid public concern over the impact of new technology, Silicon Valley’s use of its wealth to influence specific election races is an unwelcome development

As the huge societal ramifications of artificial intelligence have become clear, some of the tech industry’s most senior figures have taken to writing thinkpieces on what comes next. The latest to do so is Mark Zuckerberg, who this week published 6,500 words making the case for a laissez-faire approach to AI development. Worrying too much about regulation, Meta’s CEO unsurprisingly opines, could lead to the United States falling behind in the race to own the future.

Mr Zuckerberg’s plea for maximum autonomy is, of course, self-serving. Much of his essay – which airily envisions “invention superpowers” for every entrepreneur and “an abundance of jobs in the future” – reads like unadulterated tech-utopianism. But the lobbying at least has the merit of being out there in the open. As midterm elections loom in the US, darker arts are also being used to counter popular concern about what AI will mean for a host of topics, from the labour market to child safety, the environment and cybersecurity.

The Office actor Lucy Davis says she has incurable stage four breast cancer

Star, 53, says disease has metastasised to her bones and it is too late for chemotherapy

Lucy Davis, the actor best known for playing Dawn Tinsley in The Office, has said she has incurable stage four breast cancer.

The 53-year-old said she was diagnosed a year and a half ago and the disease had metastasised to her bones including her spine, right hip and ribs. She said it was too late for chemotherapy.

Driver who broke sound barrier sets new speed record in hydrogen-powered car

British driver Andy Green reached 406.320 mph in car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines

The only person to break the sound barrier in a car earned another world record on Tuesday in a show of force for hydrogen power.

British driver Andy Green reached 406.320mph (653.908km/h) in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower, setting the record for that vehicle category, according to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the international governing body of motor sports.

Bumble drops women-first chat rule as dating apps seek engagement boost

Since Bumble’s launch in 2014, only women ‌could initiate conversations in heterosexual matches on the app

Bumble on Tuesday said it would begin allowing either person ⁠in a match to send the first message, dropping the women-first messaging rule ⁠that has ⁠been ​a defining feature of the dating app since its launch in 2014.

The move ⁠comes as dating-app companies across the globe grapple with user fatigue toward traditional swipe-based platforms and slowing ⁠growth, prompting some, including Bumble and Tinder-owner Match Group, to ​roll out new ‌features and artificial intelligence-powered ‌tools aimed at improving engagement.

Infantino’s opponents developing new framework for running world football

• Uefa, Concacaf and AFC working together on system

• Fifa has ignored calls for an independent review

Gianni Infantino’s opponents are working together to produce a new framework for running world football to replace what they regard as a system of patronage that Fifa has adopted since he replaced Sepp Blatter as president 10 years ago.

Repeated calls from Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation for an independent review of Fifa’s governance have been ignored by Infantino since his plan to sell off 21% of the World Cup was made public a fortnight ago, and the rebels are now understood to have taken matters into their own hands.

Will Andy Burnham’s everyday fixes be enough to get the public on his side?

The prime minister’s money-saving policies are popular but they are yet to convince voters he can take on the big things

It was last year that Martin Lewis, the money-saving guru, advised the government to find “100 small things that piss people off” and set about sorting them out.

That approach has been adopted almost immediately by Andy Burnham since entering office, as he began his programme of “everyday fixes” to tackle problems that can be dealt with through minor policy tweaks.

Maine lifeguard "started swimming like hell" when shark pulled him underwater

A lifeguard said a shark off the coast of Scarborough Beach in Maine grabbed onto his buoy and pulled him 5 feet underwater before he was able to get free.

What effect will Donald Trump’s childhood vaccine recommendations have in the US and beyond?

Is there any science behind the recommendations? Will they result in lower vaccination rates? And will they cause a resurgence of preventable diseases?

A new executive order from the US president, Donald Trump, calls for sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations.

His plans would result in fewer vaccines being recommended overall; the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine being replaced with three separate shots, and all childhood immunisations being administered during separate medical visits “to the maximum extent feasible”.

University of Michigan to switch to pass/fail grades for first-semester students

School said it is pivoting away from letter-grading system to ‘curb the mental health crisis’ among college students

The University of Michigan will pivot to a pass-or-fail-style grading system, instead of letter grades, for first-semester students in an effort to “curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals”.

The school said in a notice on Tuesday that its goal was “to help first-year students acclimate to the demands of college and allow intrinsic motivations to guide personally meaningful academic journeys” and foster “a culture of connection and collaboration – rather than competition”.

Salad is supposed to be good for you – so what’s behind all the cases of lettuce poisoning?

Iceberg lettuce has been blamed for a surge in American cases of the parasitic illness cyclosporiasis. Symptoms include ‘frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements’

Name: Salad.

Age: Legend has it that in the Byzantine period, the Greek island of Kos was a centre for growing a long-leafed variety of lettuce that your grandparents might know as cos, though that variety is now more commonly referred to as romaine.

DOJ office says Trump's outside advisers can be shielded by executive privilege

Trump's outside advisers may now be protected from future congressional and legal investigations, according to a new opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Record-breaking El Capitan climber dies in Sierra Nevada fall

Jacob ‘Jake’ Whisenant died in Sequoia and Kings Canyon wilderness in ‘climbing-related incident’, authorities say

A 30-year-old California climber known for breaking speed records died after falling in the Sierra Nevada wilderness last week, according to authorities.

Jacob “Jake” Whisenant, from Mammoth Lakes, California, died in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon wilderness on 3 August, according to the Tulare county sheriff’s office coroner unit and the National Park Service (NPS).

Invitation Homes CEO says ban on institutional homebuying will bring down prices, but not immediately

The CEO of the nation's largest single-family rental landlord said the new law banning large-scale investors from the market will lower prices in the long term.

Trump wants to split the MMR vaccine. Experts say that's unlikely — and comes with consequences

Doctors and other experts say that splitting the measles, mumps and rubella shot has no scientific basis and is unlikely to get off the ground. 

Why the US government is banning Chinese robots – video explainer

The Federal Communications Commission on 28 July announced a ban on humanoid robots from China including the popular Unitree G1 model. The Guardian's technology journalist Nick Robins-Early explains the recent popularity of these trending robots and why the US government says they are a risk to the country's national security

Famed tourist destinations evacuated as wildfire threatens California’s Big Sur

Nearly 500 personnel battle Timber fire in Los Padres national forest as blaze grows to 2,000 acres

Evacuations have been ordered for areas along California’s famous Big Sur coast as a wildfire burns in the nearby steep, rugged mountains.

The Timber fire in Monterey county started on Sunday and grew to 2,000 acres by Tuesday morning, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Nearly 500 fire personnel had been assigned to the fire in the Los Padres national forest.

Typhoon Dolphin hits Beijing as city braces for one-third of annual rainfall over 24 hours

Flooding already reported in some districts of Chinese capital and rains are expected to get worse overnight

Typhoon Dolphin hit China’s capital on Tuesday as the storm caused flooding in parts of Beijing’s Shunyi district. Rains are forecast to intensify overnight.

Although the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression, several districts in Beijing activated the highest level of emergency flood responses as the city braced for one-third of its annual rainfall, which is expected over the next 24 hours.

Powerball jackpot hits $1 billion after no one won $905 million grand prize

No winning tickets were sold for Monday night's $905 million Powerball jackpot, so the estimated grand prize for Wednesday's drawing will be at least $1 billion, Powerball says.

Manus to return as independent company after China forced Meta to unwind $2 billion deal

Last December, Meta said it planned to acquire Manus for $2 billion, its latest effort to shore up its AI strategy.

We’re reading less. And it’s making us stupid

Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because reading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on.

To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. She also hears from Prof Falk Huettig, an experimental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and author of The Perks of Being a Bookworm

Trump put a wrecking-ball through the East Wing – and through democratic norms | Francine Prose

Our children should be able to visit our nation’s capital without having to think about Donald Trump and about how much he did to deface it

History has shown us how much dictators and aspiring dictators love building monuments to themselves. They enjoy reminding the world that they can do anything, no matter who is responsible for the physical labor or who will be paying the financial and human cost.

They prefer outsized structures, heroic arches, towers and columns designed to prove that their signature and their esthetic will be with us forever, even after they’re dead, though dictators often seem to believe they are too powerful to die.

Francine Prose is a former president of PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Samuel Alito gained up to $2.9m from oil and gas assets since joining supreme court, analysis shows

Critics argue US high court justice should recuse himself from upcoming fossil fuel firms’ climate accountability case

The supreme court justice Samuel Alito gained up to $2.9m from his fossil fuel interests between 2005 and 2024, a new review of financial disclosures shows.

The analysis from the non-profit advocacy group and judicial watchdog Court Accountability, shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that even at the lowest range of estimates, Alito gained almost $400,000 from his oil and gas interests since being tapped for the high court by George W Bush in 2005.

‘Subsidies for fossil fuels ... are pouring fuel on the fire’: your questions on fossil fuel profits and the climate crisis answered

Reporters Jillian Ambrose and Damian Carrington discussed their story on oil firms’ profits amid the war in Iran and the climate crisis and answered your related questions

PCMcGarry asks: Given the facts that we live on a collection of islands and that tides are predictable, what serious efforts have been made to harness sea power and with what success?

Damian:

The UK is actually home to the world’s most powerful tidal stream turbine, operated by Orbital Marine Power, off Orkney and, the company says now moving into commercial deployment. But the device produces 2MW of power, the same as a small wind turbine. So there is a huge scale up needed to make a difference, and putting electric equipment in moving salty water is tough.

There are big tidal plants in France, South Korea and China, but a large tidal lagoon project for Swansea a decade ago was cancelled by ministers in 2018 who said it was too expensive compared with alternatives such as offshore wind farms and nuclear power.

The climate crisis is causing winter rainfall in the UK to increase, as the Met Office states:

“The winter half-year (October to March) for the most recent decade, 2016–2025, has been 3% wetter than 1991–2020, and 13% wetter than 1961–1990.”

Russia frees ex-US marine four years after sentence disputed by his family

Robert Gilman had been deteriorating rapidly in prison and was said to be in a catatonic state

Russia has freed a former US marine who had been in jail since 2022, after Vladimir Putin granted the ailing American a pardon on humanitarian grounds.

Robert Gilman, 32, an English teacher who briefly served in the US Marines, was travelling by train when he was arrested in the southern Russian city of Voronezh in January 2022 for allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk, according to Russian state media. He was later sentenced to four and a half years in prison, though his family has consistently denied the allegations against him.

‘Every minute counts’ as rescuers race to find survivors after deadly Colombia earthquake

People being pulled from collapsed buildings day after 7.4 magnitude quake hit, in response experts say contrasts favourably with Venezuela’s

Colombian rescue workers are racing to find survivors after the country’s deadliest earthquake this century killed at least 240 people and left at least 3,000 missing.

In Cali, one of the worst affected cities, firefighters said they had pulled a 35-year-old man from the wreckage of a collapsed building shortly before 4am on Tuesday – nearly 24 hours after the 7.4 magnitude quake rattled western Colombia.

Are humanoid robots ready to scrub your kitchen? Not quite.

Startup companies are now starting to test their humanoid robots for home use, but experts said wider adoption will take years.

I thought having a second baby would be easier – but, from food to teeth to poos, I’ve forgotten so much | Bim Adewunmi

My mum has been a huge help with the practical stuff. She’s also stirred up memories of my own blissfully bored childhood

I gave birth to a second child a few months ago. I don’t think I will ever get over the fact that this is the way people come into the world. It’s a ridiculous endeavour, from start to finish.

My first pregnancy was almost comically miserable for the first 20 weeks, then glorious for 10 weeks, then scary and stressful for the remainder. And this time? More intense in every way, but with added toddler. Which is to say: no breaks, suck it up, keep on moving.

Can I make my house less dusty? I spent four weeks experimenting to find out

The phrase ‘dust magnet’ isn’t completely metaphorical. Some household surfaces do attract more dust – but changing your home’s climate can make a difference

For years, I’ve complained about an Ikea shelf in my home that seems to attract dust at an impossible speed. Eventually, my frustration gave way to curiosity: what’s actually happening, scientifically? Is there anything I can do about it, besides just continuously dusting?

I’m not imagining things, says Nisa Salim, a materials engineer and associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology. While an object’s placement in the home and airborne particle levels make a difference, some surfaces really are better at collecting dust.

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‘Everything about me is good in his eyes’: the women in China choosing AI boyfriends over human men

In her new documentary Replica, film-maker Chouwa Liang taps into her own experience of finding love with artificial intelligence and makes contact with other women like her

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Qin has never said “I love you” to her parents or friends. She has only ever said those three special words to her AI “boyfriend”, Lu Chen – a brown-haired, red-eyed CEO of a major corporation. For 840 days Qin has been using the Glow app to interact with the handsome string of code as a confidant, fantasy romance and respite from loneliness: the app uses predictive algorithms to provide Qin with soothing conversation, meal suggestions and fleeting self-worth. The software’s pet name for her is Miss Bunny.

“It feels like I’m completely at his mercy … I feel like everything about me is good in his eyes,” says Qin, one of three Chinese women featured in the new documentary Replica – film-maker Chouwa Liang’s follow-up to My AI Boyfriend, her short film that was picked up by the New York Times Op-Docs section in 2023. Replica had its Australian premiere at Sydney film festival in June and plays at the Melbourne international film festival this month.

Video of Arkansas trooper punching 18-year-old draws calls for investigation

Alisa Hackett, 18, was pulled over for speeding and alcohol possession when she was tackled to the ground and punched.

Copernicus! Tony Soprano! The inventor of the semicolon! The heroic obsessions of artist Isabel Nolan

Ireland’s artist at the Venice Biennale steals religious imagery for her secular celebrations of scientists and humanists, including an Italian punctuation master – and even TV’s famous mobster

It’s a long way to the Irish pavilion at the Venice Biennale. First, you pass through the biennale’s colossal central exhibition, housed in a sequence of cavernous medieval warehouses. After that, the route takes in a suite of national pavilions (the Philippines, Latvia, Timor-Leste, Morocco, Malta, Oman). By the time art-lovers reach Ireland’s presentation, they are frequently exhausted, if not delirious.

This year, Dublin-based artist Isabel Nolan has transformed the pavilion into a space of respite, both physical and intellectual – a secular chapel titled Dreamshook. Visitors emerge from darkness into a pale-yellow chamber flooded with daylight and face a radiant tapestry arched like a stained-glass window in a gothic cathedral. A cluster of archangel’s wings bearing books hovers before the vast orb of the sun above a fish-filled sea. Nolan works across sculpture, textile, painting, drawing and text, and Dreamshook is accordingly rich in colour and pictorial detail, including bent metal sculptures, tapestries and drawings. For the footsore and weary – ie everyone – she has even designed benches. Glory be.

Newly released video shows Arkansas state trooper punching Black woman during traffic stop

Newly released video of a recent traffic stop in Arkansas shows a state trooper punching an 18-year-old Black woman in the face after forcing her to the ground on the side of a highway. The trooper said the woman was resisting arrest. Warning, the video may be disturbing.

Eli Lilly takes weight-loss pill battle global with first Foundayo approval in Europe

Lilly's Foundayo wins U.K. approval, taking its weight-loss pill battle with Novo Nordisk's Wegovy beyond the U.S. market.

Wall Street just endorsed Jensen Huang's 'big concept' for AI. What now?

The first three-plus years of the AI build-out have been funded by record amounts of equity and debt issued by leading tech companies. Nvidia has a new idea.

Feel the burn: why holidays from hell make for blistering fiction

Family fallouts, failing marriages, sunburn, food poisoning ... from Deborah Levy’s hypnotic and disturbing Hot Milk to All In, Claire Powell’s all-inclusive nightmare, Leon Craig looks at the best novels about vile vacations

Every summer, we long for a much-needed break from daily life, dreaming of self-reinvention in some distant paradise. But really, holidays can be absolute hell. Instead of relaxation we encounter heaving crowds, lumpy beds, the caprices of our loved ones and the grim truth that we can escape neither their worst failings nor our own, however far we travel.

Small wonder, then, that the disaster holiday has become a booming subgenre in fiction. For most of us, the levels of luxury promised by hit TV series The White Lotus are pure fantasy, yet we’re all vulnerable to the expensive promises we’ve been sold. Two of the smartest offerings in fiction this summer come from Claire Powell’s All In and Chloë Ashby’s Family Friends. In the former, a struggling couple whose marriage is on the rocks go on an all-inclusive Spanish weekend break, paid for by a rich brother. Poignant and extremely funny, the frictions that ensue are all too believable.

5 takeaways from Zuckerberg's essay on his vision for superintelligence

In a 6,500-word post, the Meta CEO argues that superintelligence should be shared "with as many people and businesses as possible."

Nvidia unveils first open-source AI model since CEO Jensen Huang entered the chat

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is free for companies to download, use and modify without getting permission or paying Nvidia. 

Never Had a Chance review – a slice of gritty British Asian life with a side of drug dealing and addiction

Two likely lads in their 20s deal with problematic lives that dramatically intersect in this persuasive London drama

This gritty crime drama unfolds entirely within the Punjabi community in London’s Hounslow district, a plausible demographic situation in which white people are so peripheral to the story that they are little more than extras. In fact watching this well-crafted, if somewhat melodramatic, debut for director Jazz Bhalla makes one wonder why there aren’t more films made in the UK with entirely British Asian casts. Here, it doesn’t makes the film better or worse, but it certainly feels realistic and true to its milieu.

The story revolves around two best friends in their 20s, Ravi (Amar Chaggar) and Jay (Jayant Singh), likely lads who spend a lot of time hanging out, getting high or drunk and ending nearly every sentence with the word “bro”. On the face of it, Jay seems like the one with a more stable situation at home, living with his middle-class parents; while Ravi, who has a criminal record due to a drug bust, lives in a bedsit and is estranged from his mother ever since his father died and she remarried, much to the chagrin of his bossy older sister (Parvinder Shergill). But Ravi manages to get a job working for a building supply merchant, which compels him to start waking up at dawn and considering the downside of always being hung over. Plus, he might be in with a chance with pretty fast-food vendor Sukhi (Tina Sharma), an ambitious young woman keen to get away from her alcoholic father and drug-dealing brother.

Zelenskyy warns Putin is preparing for escalation by bringing in North Korean military equipment

His comments come shortly after deadly Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine overnight.

Wind turbines, wildfires and extreme weather: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly offered to Manchester United as left-back solution

• Chelsea also made aware of 19-year-old’s availability

• Newcastle’s Lewis Hall remains prime United target

Myles Lewis-Skelly has been offered to Manchester United as a potential left-back option, with Arsenal wishing to recoup some of the £75m paid to Newcastle for Bruno Guimarães.

Chelsea, it is understood, have also been made aware of the 19-year-old’s availability. Lewis-Skelly won the Premier League under Mikel Arteta last term, but whether the west London club will make a move for him is unclear.

‘I feel motherly towards them’: the nature reserve manager sharing her office with a wasp nest

Eilish Rothney’s first instinct was to get rid of the wasps entering her converted shipping container in Norfolk. Now she enjoys their constant hum

When wasps began streaming through a rusted gap in her office door one June morning, Eilish Rothney’s first instinct was the same most people would have: get rid of them. The reserve manager for the Trinity Broads, part of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, had discovered a wasp colony taking up residence in her office, a converted shipping container.

“They just built the nest inside my door,” she says. “My first thought was: ‘Oh no, I have to get rid of that now.’ But then I realised: ‘Wait, why? Why do I have to do that?’”

How to jazz up a fruit salad | Kitchen aide

Our panel says fresh is best, petals are pretty and booze can be beneficial – plus other upgrades for this retro summer classic

How can I make fruit salads more interesting?
Claire, via email
There’s a fine line between a boring and brilliant fruit salad, and it comes down to treating it like you would any other salad. “It’s about layering, it’s about texture, it’s about contrast, it’s about colour,” says Gurdeep Loyal, author of Flavour Heroes. That’s not to say it’s the time to be a maximalist, mind. “If you go for six fruits, then you get into the tinned fruit cocktail territory, so be discerning and use a magic triad instead,” he adds, “although don’t feel the need to use a playground mix of colours.” Sometimes it’s nice to have, say, three red things, so keep it in the family with a mix of strawberries, raspberries and a hybrid berry, like tayberries. That said, Loyal is of the strong opinion that “any fruit salad in the world” will greatly benefit from the addition of passion fruit.

Using nice, ripe fruit is a given, but it’s worth considering how you cut it, too : “A persimmon sliced on a mandoline, for example, is a really lovely thing.” Then, season with salt. “It’s the one thing people don’t do enough,” Loyal adds, although a pinch of brown sugar wouldn’t go amiss, either. And it’s hard to deny the transformative power of spices: “Cinnamon works incredibly well with berries; cardamom with tropical fruit; or try more savoury spices like cumin with mango or pineapple.” It would be a mistake to just stick to the spice rack, though: “Grating ginger on strawberries or mango (with a pinch of cinnamon and some lime, of course) will bring heat, as will freshly grated turmeric.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

1 year in, National Guard became a part of D.C. life. And, deadly quake hits Colombia

Today marks one year since the National Guard was deployed to the nation's capital. Here's what has happened since. And, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake leaves more than 100 people dead in Colombia.

Isaac Mizrahi on stage, style and the legacy of Unzipped: ‘Fashion has no real spine any more’

The designer defined the glory days of 90s style with a wit that made him every supermodel’s best friend. As he gears up for a new cabaret show, he’s as outspoken as ever

There’s a lot to look at in Isaac Mizrahi’s studio in New York’s Greenwich Village: sketches, bulletin boards, fabrics, memorabilia, heaps of books, a Golden Girls puzzle set. But my eyes lock in on two dolls, Snoopy and his sister Belle (who knew!), clad in ballet-style tutus and embroidered vests. “I think I designed those,” he says, joining me from his apartment upstairs. “I love the Schultz estate and they like me a lot. It was a minute ago, though, so I’m not sure if they still even know who I am.” I later learn he created them for a 2014 exhibition at the New Museum, in an example of the symbiotic relationship with pop culture the designer has been nurturing since his childhood in Brooklyn. When we meet, he’s busy working on one of its other facets, firming up the setlist for Hooray!, his latest cabaret act in New York. It runs for four nights at 54 Below, a midtown venue, this month.

“I say it all the time,” he says of the cheery title. With his lit-from-within smile, you believe it. The slight twist is the source of that cheer. Mizrahi has held two New York residencies for the past decade or so – winter at the Carlyle hotel, summer at 54 Below – but he’s not a fan of the hotter season, finding July to be “just the nadir of the world”. The happy mood of his upcoming show derives from the knowledge that, come August, the summer’s almost over. Another reason for him to celebrate is the departure of World Cup crowds from the city, which will make it into his act’s version of Cole Porter’s You’re the Top that he updates every year. (He can’t immediately recall the lyric, but it rhymes “Spanish” with “mannish.”)

Do you have to be hot at work? Eight people on how looks influence their jobs

Due to the rise of GLP-1s and cosmetic surgeries, professionals who weren’t usually subject to high beauty standards are facing new pressures

In 1975, John T Molly’s book Dress for Success became a national bestseller. It promised the American workforce “scientific” proof that certain clothes could “increase your income” and “boost your status”. It offered searing advice like: “Sweaters give out nothing but negative impulses … they say ‘lower middle class’ and ‘loser.’”

For those with office jobs, the workplace has long been a place where fashion counts. Molly’s book gave rise to ideas like power dressing and the adage about “dressing for the job you want, not the one you have”. But a new casual office culture, spurred by San Francisco tech companies where hoodies are the norm, plus the work-from-home revolution, was supposed to ameliorate some of those pressures.

Drought, water rationing and dry rivers: our water crisis is here | Peter Gleick

It doesn’t have to be this way. We know what needs to be done

Disturbing news about our water resources is now constant and unrelenting. In just the past few weeks, media have reported that Puerto Rico is suffering a deep water crisis as severe drought has cut water supplies to thousands. The Rhine and Po rivers in Europe are at record low levels. The seven states sharing the Colorado River in the US are fighting over unprecedented shortages, while its major reservoirs have shrunk to their lowest levels since they were built.

Hungary’s only nuclear power plant is on the verge of shutting down because there isn’t enough water in the Danube River to cool it. Toxic chemicals have been found in all English water bodies.

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes

Verdict relates to atrocities committed during the country’s 14-year civil war in which about 500,000 people died

A Syrian court has sentenced the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war, in which about half a million people died.

The two men fled to Moscow after being ousted by a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 which toppled the dictatorial regime in just 11 days.

David Squires on … the masochistic life of a Football League fan

Our cartoonist welcomes the EFL back, with returning characters and a look at what it’s like as an exiled supporter

• Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

The secret economics inside the new Planet Money board game

From Nobel Prize-winning research to the Laffer Curve, Scabby the Rat, Veblen's peacock, and more — the economic ideas and inside jokes hiding throughout Planet Money's new board game.

Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia

A Syrian court sentenced Assad along with his brother to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria's 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.

Hotel giant says ‘growing middle class’ boosted hotel demand despite Middle East hit

IHG reported higher first-half profit as U.S. demand accelerated and Middle East disruption weighed on travel.

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts | Robert B Shpiner

There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism, or that we should separate MMR shots. This order is dangerous

“This is based on what I feel.” That was the president last September, explaining why he wanted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine broken into three separate shots. On Monday, he signed an executive order instructing exactly that.

Four decades in intensive care have taught me what a feeling costs once it becomes national policy. Children will be hospitalized who did not need to be. Some of them will die. No one can name those the vaccine has saved, because prevented harm is invisible by definition, and that invisibility is what makes preventive medicine easy to dismantle and hard to defend.

Experts are warning: our AI arms race is putting humanity at risk | Stuart Russell

A recent letter signed by 1,367 researchers and engineers at frontier AI labs – mainly OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Deepmind – points to a dangerous moment

It is fashionable in certain circles to dismiss the catastrophic risks of AI. One often hears that “the real experts” who work on the technology every day are really not concerned at all; that only “doomers” and “luddites” espouse a “fringe” view from a “position of ignorance”; that all talk of potential catastrophe is just “science fiction”.

Fortunately, an open letter has been published that lets us hear from the real experts who work on the technology every day, in their own words. And are they worried? Very.

A midwife crosses 'maternity deserts' to make a difference for Black moms and babies

New research from the March of Dimes says more than half of U.S. counties have no labor and delivery hospitals. One Black midwife tries to make a difference for moms in Alabama. 

‘I’m giving people a happy space’: the man clearing gardens for free – and letting light into strangers’ lives

When he saw a messy yard being criticised on social media, Stephen Jalland grabbed his trimmer and decided to help. An overgrown garden, he discovered, often hides an overwhelmed owner

Anita Thursby had been dreading the gas engineer coming to service her boiler. They would have needed to enter her kitchen, where the window looked into the jungle of swirling, 2-metre-high brambles that made up her back garden, and her shame had spiralled. “I would have been horrified,” she says. For the same reason, the 54-year-old had stopped inviting friends over to her house and had been living in fear of a complaint from her housing association.

Maintaining the garden had slipped from her grasp, becoming a source of constant worry, yet pride had stopped her asking for help – and tight finances from paying for it. Family barbecues had become a distant memory, even though she longed to have her 83-year-old mother round to sit in the sun; weeks ago, she bought a grill in Tesco with little hope of ever using it.

‘A horrible nightmare’: the shocking story of the eBay harassment scandal

Jaw-dropping documentary Whatever It Takes details an aggressive stalking campaign targeted towards a couple whose reporting criticized the tech company

When Massachusetts husband-and-wife team Ina and David Steiner launched their reporting careers covering Silicon Valley at the turn of the century, the tech beat was still cozy enough to feel personal. The startups were still emerging from garages, and the journalists covering them were often filing stories from their own kitchen tables. Ebay was still a young online auction company founded on the principle that “people are basically good”.

As digital retail took off, the Steiners launched an e-zine called EcommerceBytes, catering to a growing community of small business owners who were increasingly using platforms like eBay to sell their wares. “We talked about this being an opportunity for just average people, disabled people, elderly people to make extra income,” says David of a community that has grown alongside EcommerceBytes, which now has more than 600,000 readers. “We were really excited about that.”

In Minnesota and Wisconsin, competitive primaries will again test power of progressive candidates

A week after the Michigan primary, tests of progressive power will play out in the Midwest, raising questions of whether far left candidates can win come November or if the GOP can pick up moderates.

Armed troops have patrolled D.C. for 1 year now. It's challenging democratic norms

The deployment is expected to cost in the billions after it was quietly extended until Inauguration Day of 2029.

Nimrods review – Green Day’s early years inspire teenage kicks in amiable punk road movie

San Francisco’s pop-punk pioneers Green Day loom large in this fun, puppyish film about a scrappy band desperate to meet their idols

Inspired by their own youthful rowdy escapades – “our early days of driving around in a van, tired, hungry, out of gas, out of money, struggling, creating trouble” – here is an amiable road-movie comedy about, soundtracked by and briefly featuring Californian pop-punk stalwarts Green Day. Like them, it is more pop than punk: a fundamentally sweet and puppyish teen comedy about dreaming big and following your heart, featuring three fundamentally decent, likable youths – for all that they indulge in some Superbad-style smutty banter, try to buy booze, steal the odd car, take magic mushrooms, skate, have green hair, get into mud fights and decline to tell their parents where they are going when they hit the road and head west from Kansas City to LA.

Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman and Ryan Foust star as 17-year-olds Tommy, Fred and Chad – two jokers and a nerd – who make music together as Analog Dogs in Tommy’s garage. When they are pranked into thinking their ageing idols have heard their demo cassette and want Analog Dogs to open for Green Day at the Hollywood Palladium on New Year’s Eve, the boys have mere days in which to beg, steal or borrow a way of getting there. Along the way, they encounter assorted oddballs and supportive adults, enter a battle of the bands contest, meet a cute girl who is also in a band, and learn a bit about the true meaning and importance of friendship.