Australia v Bangladesh: first men’s Test, day three – live

• Updates as the Test at Marrara Cricket Ground continues

• Any thoughts? Email Geoff

Australia strike and it’s Josh Hazlewood doing the job with a beautiful seaming delivery that caught Mahmud on a leg stump line. That’s the breakthrough. Can the home side go on with it?

114th over: Bangladesh 354-6 (Miraz 33, Mahmud 14) There’s a lot of cameras trained on Australian allrounder Cameron Green today. He finished day two with a dropped catch from the last ball of the day to cap off a calamitous afternoon for his side. Hazlewood follows four dots with a ducking ball that thunders into Mahmud’s pads. Umpire says OUT! DRS says…

Australia 56-17 Japan: Nations Championship rugby union international – live reaction

The Wallabies kicked clear to make it two-from-two against the Brave Blossoms with a commanding victory in Townsville

The low key atmosphere isn’t helped by two of the less upbeat national anthems and the sky becoming blanketed in cloud. Hopefully the players can spark the occasion into life.

And here come the two sides out into the Townsville afternoon. It’s all a bit muted in a stadium far from full.

First Australian death of little penguin with H5 bird flu confirmed on Phillip Island

Authorities confirm first Australian death of species found with virus near where it attracts crowds to a ‘penguin parade’

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Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.

Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.

It’s the SUV tyranny: where have all the normal family cars gone? | Coco Khan

They rule the roads and, in their wake, even old-style saloons have been supersized. It’s an illusion of consumer choice

Recently, while traipsing from showroom to showroom in search of a used car for my growing clan, the iconic line from Christopher Nolan’s seminal Batman movie The Dark Knight came to mind: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And by villain, of course, I mean an SUV driver.

Because, if you haven’t shopped for a secondhand family car recently, I’ll save you the shock: wherever you look, it’s SUVs.

Israeli strike on southern Lebanon kills seven in worst toll since June, state media says

Strike reportedly hit a home on the outskirts of Ansar village and also wounded three others

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike in the country’s south early Saturday killed seven people, the worst toll since deals in June saw a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

The national news agency (NNA) said Israel “escalated its attacks on the south” early Saturday, reporting that “a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home” on the outskirts of the village of Ansar “killed seven people and wounded three others”.

Little Bird: this beautiful, moving Canadian drama will fill you with visceral anger

There is dignity and tenderness to this drama based on the real story of the Sixties Scoop – the scandal of First Nations children who were forcibly taken from their parents and adopted by white families

Here’s one you’ll like: a man comes home to find his wife handcuffed to the wall and his young children missing. They have been taken by child protection services due to the lack of a fridge in the house, which is treated as a sign of neglect. When he confronts law enforcement officials outside, they beat him to death. Decades later, one of the children, now adopted into a Jewish home in Montreal, goes looking for the family she lost, risking the collapse of her new life to do so. I never said it was a joke. Although it turns out there was a fridge, behind the house.

Watching Little Bird (18 August, 9pm, Sky Atlantic), I was reminded that TV is capable of more than mere entertainment, something we lose sight of when we think of it as a purely profit-or loss-making enterprise. I felt the visceral anger and sadness of this story of a First Nations woman caught between cultures, robbed by forces beyond her control and stonewalled by the authorities. Set in Canada, the attitude, if not the events, feel shamefully familiar.

Which English cheese can’t be made in its namesake village? The Saturday quiz

From lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon and second childishness to George W Bush describing ‘some weird shit’, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Which English cheese cannot be made in its namesake village?
2 What did George W Bush reportedly describe in January 2017 as “some weird shit”?
3 What is the UK’s only aquatic songbird?
4 In the church year, what is Ordinary Time?
5 Clara Rockmore was a virtuoso on what electronic instrument?
6 Which actor injured his achilles tendon while playing Achilles?
7 Carting Lane, off the Strand, has London’s last type of what lamp?
8 Which 1980 TV docudrama caused a crisis in Anglo-Saudi relations?
What links:
9 Chief mourner at Nelson’s funeral; chair of British Railways; Spider-Man?
10 Batgirl; Coyote v Acme; Nothing Lasts Forever; The Day the Clown Cried?
11 Barbary; Gold; Grain; Ivory; Pepper; Skeleton?
12 Infant; schoolboy; lover; soldier; justice; pantaloon; second childishness?
13 Wooderson; Bannister; Ibbotson; Coe; Ovett; Cram; Kerr?
14 Juliet; Reach Out I’ll Be There; December 1963?
15 Middlemarch; Das Kapital; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Watch Out!?

Westminster council threatens Charing Cross soup kitchen with closure

Conservative authority says site is not safe for vulnerable people charity serves or general public

Westminster council is making it “impossible” for soup kitchens to operate by complaining about the “crowds of vulnerable people” who turn up to be fed, a charity has said.

Steven Stuart, who founded Friends of Essex & London Homeless (FOELH) with his wife, Cheryl, a decade ago, said constant complaints from the council could force the soup kitchen to shut down.

The 20-year search for a vanishing custard-and-chocolate coloured moth

Yorkshire common was thought to be the only known site of dark bordered beauty moths in England – until now

• Vote here for your favourite invertebrate of the year

Dave Wainwright first surveyed Wallington in Northumberland for a rare custard-and-chocolate coloured moth in 2004. He parked two miles from the site, hauled a moth trap across, and was bitten by a million flies.

He did not find a single dark bordered beauty that night. The ground was heavily grazed by sheep, and the creeping willow the caterpillars depend on was “quite well plucked”.

‘Watch your spending, use free perks’: an insider’s tips on student money

Avoid getting into debt at university with tricks to save cash, earn extra funds and have a good time

Over the past two years university student Erin has been giving Martin Lewis a run for his money when it comes to hunting down the best hacks, tips and tricks to save cash and earn money.

The 21-year-old has seen Oasis for free; earned tickets to race days; made money from selling secondhand clothes (£200 in one weekend alone); and enjoyed cut-price treats with friends.

I feel guilt talking to those left behind in Afghanistan. While I enjoy freedom, they are prisoners | Nelufar Hedayat

Five years since the Taliban returned to power, life – especially for women – is awful. We must keep the people’s stories alive and hope they will be free again

There are fewer and fewer stories coming out of the land of my birth. Before, I would open Instagram and see my cousins, lip-syncing to trending videos, posing with flowers at a rose garden or at a trendy cafe in their coolest outfits, keeping a record of their lives. I would hear British-Afghan friends talk about their recent trips to the provinces, towns and cities of their foremothers and the buzz of learning about their heritage. I would eagerly await the latest music video from Afghanistan’s many pop stars, all vying to become the hottest track played at weddings, not just in Afghanistan but all over the world. Afghanistan, its culture, and people felt closer back then.

Five years ago today, the brittle peace of the fragile new democracy was shattered by the withdrawal of western military, diplomatic and charitable groups that had intervened in the country’s fate since 2001. Overnight, on Sunday, 15 August 2021, Afghanistan was undone and abandoned.

Nelufar Hedayat is an Afghan-British journalist, and the presenter and co-director of the documentary In Real Life: the God Thieves

Tim Dowling: who is the secret admirer leaving gifts for the dog?

Soft toys and furry things keep appearing in the garden. I wouldn’t rule out the fox at this point

After weeks without rain, the garden has turned a uniform beige. Whole shrubs have perished in the unrelenting heat, their crisp brown leaves disintegrating in the breeze. In the middle of the scorched lawn lies the prone body of a large dead bird.

On closer inspection, it appears to be a stuffed toy fashioned into the form of a limp duck carcass. When I open the back door for a closer look, the dog steps out between my legs, picks up the bird and carries it inside. It was clearly made with dogs in mind.

From My Brilliant Career to Chelsea Wolfe: the week in rave reviews

A young woman battles social strictures in 1890s Australia in a charming period drama series, while the sonic experimentalist drops the drone metal for goth rock. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews

Blind date: ‘I got the impression he liked me well enough, but who knows?’

Andrew, 75, a retired graphic designer, meets Gilli, 64, a counsellor

What were you hoping for?
An exciting evening in a great restaurant with a lovely lady I might be able to start a relationship with.

When did all the best summer activities become unacceptable? The Becky Barnicoat cartoon

Continue reading...

Russia's economy has defied the skeptics. Cracks are getting harder to hide

Russia's wartime economy is under growing strain as its budget deficit widens and analysts warn pressure could intensify next year.

‘In the heatwaves, it’s crucial’: the fight to save France’s rural swimming pools

Ageing facilities offering daily refuge face funding threat as record temperatures parch the countryside

Suzy Bernard took a breath and jumped into the deep end of her village swimming pool with a splash.

“There’s a wonderful feeling of wellbeing in the water,” said the former hospital healthcare assistant, who recently learned to swim aged 75 and was now gliding along with her daughter and grandson.

South Korea’s Lee urges talks with North Korea about finally ending Korean war

Lee wants to end 1950-53 war, which has never had a peace treaty, but says talks should include curbing North Korea’s nuclear capabilities

South Korean president Lee ⁠Jae Myung called on Saturday for talks with North Korea to pursue peaceful coexistence, saying ⁠Seoul would seek ⁠safeguards ​to prevent conflict and noting the need to replace the peninsula’s armistice with a “peace regime“.

In a ⁠speech marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee said the two Koreas ⁠should hold a sit-down for coexistence.

Hawaii under a hurricane warning as Tropical Storm Lala takes aim

Tropical Storm Lala could bring heavy rain, high winds and dangerous surf and rip currents to the Hawaiian Islands as a hurricane this weekend, forecasters say.

Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case, admits to shooting Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione entered a guilty plea in his federal case at a court appearance in Manhattan Friday morning.

The Greatest Showman musical to come alive on the West End stage in 2027

Disney production ran in Bristol earlier this year and its stars Oliver Tompsett and Samantha Barks will resume their roles at Theatre Royal Drury Lane

The Greatest Showman, the 2017 Hugh Jackman film with a chart-topping soundtrack, is to be staged in the West End next spring. After a sellout eight-week run at Bristol Hippodrome earlier this year, the Disney musical will arrive at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, currently home to Disney’s Hercules.

Its Bristol stars, Oliver Tompsett and Samantha Barks, will resume their respective roles as circus entrepreneur PT Barnum and his wife, Charity. Barks previously starred at Drury Lane as Elsa in Disney’s stage version of Frozen. Also returning from the Bristol production are Ben Joyce (as Barnum’s associate Phillip Carlyle), Vajèn van den Bosch (as opera singer Jenny Lind, known as the “Swedish nightingale”) and Malinda Parris (as the “bearded lady” Lettie Lutz).

Video shows moment fighter jet crashed into mountain in Washington state

A new video shows the moment a fighter jet crashed into a mountain in Washington State in June. The pilot survived. Mark Strassmann has the details.

Air traffic controller saves day when 2 jets with same call number converge

An air traffic controller's quick thinking helped avert a dangerous situation when two jets, one landing in Phoenix and the other simultaneously taking off, shared the same flight number and radio frequency.

Picasso print stolen from Milwaukee art gallery in 2018 found by landlord while cleaning apartment

Torero print, one of 30 known to exist signed by Picasso, was stolen from Bill DeLind’s gallery in 2018

Bill DeLind thought the Picasso print that was stolen from his Milwaukee gallery in 2018 was gone forever. But then police called last week and asked him to look at an artwork that a local landlord found while cleaning out a vacant apartment.

DeLind immediately recognized the stolen Torero print, one of 30 known to exist signed by Picasso.

American Airlines flies two jets with same flight number simultaneously in dangerous mistake

Two American Airlines jets were found to briefly share the same flight number and radio frequency in what could have turned into a major problem for the airline. Kris Van Cleave has more.

8/14: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder; new aircraft carrier on way to replace USS Lincoln.

Fears for missing Sydney teen who hasn’t been seen since leaving for hike on Wednesday

Fresh search teams to scour Nattai national park for Lily Hooper, 18, who failed to return home from a bushwalk

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The search for an 18-year-old bushwalker missing in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales since Wednesday is continuing, with fresh teams arriving at the Nattai national park on Saturday morning.

Lily Hooper left her home in Sydney’s south-west about 8am on 12 August, after telling family she was going for a hike in the national park, north-west of Mittagong.

Why freshmen at one high school give their mothers a goodbye kiss on their first day

For the last 26 years at Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the seniors surround the cars of the incoming freshmen and don't let them out until they do one specific thing: give their mothers a goodbye kiss.

Here's the humiliating initiation ritual freshmen must go through at this Oklahoma high school

Steve Hartman goes on the road to uncover an embarrassing initiation ritual for freshmen at an Oklahoma high school.

Midwest flooding grows as Indiana sees over a foot of rain with river reaching record level

Nine states from Nebraska to Virginia are under flood watches as heavy rains rock large swaths of the country. Ian Lee reports.

Strong 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia, killing at least 20

Shallow quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region early on Saturday, prompting thousands to seek higher ground

A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, killing at least 20 people, causing widespread panic and collapsing buildings and homes in a region prone to deadly earthquakes.

Authorities had issued a tsunami warning, which has since been lifted, but there have been dozens of aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 6.1.

Trump family-backed crypto firm World Liberty gets conditional bank charter approval

The OCC conditionally approved World Liberty Trust Co.’s national trust bank charter. That would allow the Trump family-backed firm to issue stablecoins.

FBI: Violent crime plummeted in 2025, murder rate hit 20-year low

The White House is touting a historic drop in violent crime as the FBI releases the latest data from its annual Uniform Crime Reporting Program.

At least six people dead and one wounded in mass shooting in rural Michigan

Suspected gunman fled the scene, prompting a manhunt, before he and another individual were found deceased

A mass shooting on Friday has left six people dead, including the suspected gunman, in Missaukee county, a rural area of northern Michigan, according to state police. Another person is in critical condition at a local hospital.

Michigan state police identified the suspected gunman as 39-year-old Chad Hickman in a statement posted on social media.

USS Washington aircraft carrier heads to Middle East to replace USS Lincoln

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier departed Vietnam last week and is headed to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, according to a U.S. official.

He Had It Coming review – this messy crime-comedy has all the subtlety of a mallet to the crotch

It’s sporadically very funny, but the tone of this blackly comic murder-mystery is all over the place. It wants to tackle big issues, but seems afraid of its own politics

‘But I can’t get an F,” wails Elise (Lydia West) in the first episode of the Australian campus comedy He Had It Coming, shoulders slumping like soufflés as her tutor peers pityingly at her terrible paintings. “I’m here on a scholarship? I’m here to be an artist?!” Alas, poor Elise. No amount of wounded upspeak can disguise the fact that she is an aspiring artist in much the same way a bag of flour is an aspiring pastry. Her “work”, bless it, consists of daubing clothes on to impressionist nudes – a “protest”, apparently, against the patriarchy and its preoccupation with “ancient bush”. Unctuous Professor Phoenix (Harry Greenwood) is unimpressed. “Hmm,” he sighs, pouting affectedly at Elise’s “feminist reimagining” of Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe; the picnic’s enigmatic nude now sporting a pair of jeans and oversized novelty spectacles. Mon Dieu! The problem, explains Phoenix, slowly, is a lack of ambition. Feminist art isn’t for amateurs. “Be radical,” he smirks, as Elise quietly broils with rage. “Don’t settle for mediocrity.”

The nerve! “These men are holding us back,” she roars later at new pal Barbara (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a prickly fashion influencer who is being slut-shamed by the campus jocks for having tipsily humped a stranger’s thigh at a party. “Yes,” agrees Barbara. “Let’s go vandalise something!” And so to the quadrant, where, in the dead of night, a mallet is applied to the genitals of the statue of the university’s hopelessly male namesake.

He Had It Coming aired on BBC Three and is available on iPlayer in the UK and on Stan in Australia

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Aug. 16)

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

8/14: CBS Evening News

Latest on Luigi Mangione guilty plea; Trump denies USS Lincoln concerns.

Jason Arday, professor at centre of Cambridge plagiarism row, found dead

Academic was pronounced dead at his home in south London after police called to address after 3pm on Friday

Jason Arday, the academic who resigned last week as a professor at the University of Cambridge, has been found dead at his home in south London.

The Metropolitan police said officers were called to Arday’s address by the London ambulance service after 3pm on Friday.

Army temporarily grounds Apache helicopter training flights after deadly crash

The U.S. Army said Friday it is temporarily halting Apache helicopter training flights after two soldiers were killed earlier this week​ in a crash near Fort Hood, Texas.

Nvidia discloses $21 billion stake in SpaceX at end of second quarter

Nvidia's stake in SpaceX, which came through an investment in xAI, was worth about $21 billion at the end of the second quarter.

Trump threatens to declare strait of Hormuz ‘territory of the United States’

Seriousness of remark made in New York on Friday, and whether it signaled new policy ​position, not clear

Donald Trump has threatened to declare the strait of Hormuz as “a territory of the United States” as his administration struggles to conclude the war with Iran.

During a speech at a police academy on Long Island, New York, on Friday, the US president said he would “pretty soon” designate the waterway – a crucial chokepoint for global trade, through which about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies typically pass – a US territory.

Audrey Werro holds off Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson to win European 800m gold

• Swiss runner sets 1:54.81sec championship best

• Femke Broeders-Bol secures bronze in 1:55.54

When Audrey Werro was a child, she was so painfully shy that her father told her she had to become a lion every time she raced. In a European women’s 800m final for the ages, she followed that advice to the letter.

As the 22-year-old Swiss superstar came around the final bend, she could feel Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson on her shoulder, waiting to strike. The Dutch flyer Femke Broeders-Bol was also close enough to dream too. But Werro was ready to flash her teeth.

BBC seeks to subpoena Trump children and son-in-law over defamation lawsuit

Network wants to serve Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr after president sues over January 6 documentary

The BBC is trying to subpoena Donald Trump’s children as it builds its defense against the president’s defamation lawsuit centered on a documentary on the January 6 insurrection.

In a motion filed on Friday, the BBC sought authorization to serve Trump’s two eldest children, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, with subpoenas for testimony and their records on the events of 6 January 2021.

Ontario free to axe Toronto bike lanes, region’s top court rules

Win is significant for region’s premier, Doug Ford, who blames protected zones for city’s traffic ills

The Ontario government is now free to rip out Toronto’s bike lanes on its busiest streets after the region’s top court ruled in favour of the province on Friday, overturning a lower court’s decision that decreed removal would violate constitutional rights.

The win is significant for Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, and his government, who have long railed against Toronto’s bike lanes, blaming the protected zones for the city’s traffic ills.

Justice Department expands military's power to detain migrants near border

The Justice Department issued a legal opinion giving the U.S. military broader powers to detain migrants near certain areas along the southern border.

Why does everything feel meh? We're in the era of joyless decadence – Stateside with Kai and Carter

We should, in theory, be happy. Thanks to our phones, we can do practically anything – listen to our favorite bands' entire discographies, have extravagant meals delivered to our door, travel the world through an endless scroll. So why do so many of these experiences feel so joyless? Why do so many of us feel so empty all the time? Hosts Kai Wright and Carter Sherman wrestle with these questions with academics Michèle Mendelssohn and Charlie Tyson, who argue that we are living in an era of decadence without pleasure. While decadence always arises in times of extreme inequality, they say that tools like AI and GLP-1s reveal how we've lost our ability to truly enjoy things – and, ironically, reclaiming decadence may help us finally have fun.

• Michèle Mendelssohn and Charlie Tyson’s Guardian essay: Why does everything feel joyless? Welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure

‘I shot Mr Thompson’: Luigi Mangione describes his planning and the killing of health insurance CEO

It was a dramatic twist to the federal case over the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s Brian Thompson – but state charges are still pending

When Luigi Mangione stepped into a Manhattan federal courtroom shortly after 11am on Friday, his demeanor was less debonair than at other recent court proceedings.

The 28-year-old, wearing tan jail scrubs instead of natty menswear, walked with hands behind his back and ankles shackled en route to the defense table. Mangione sat and then studied a piece of paper alongside his attorney.

Hormuz chaos highlights risks for other global trade chokepoints

The war in Iran has underscored how disruptions to a key shipping route thousands of miles away can have a material impact on American consumers.

FDA upgrades egg recall linked to salmonella to highest risk level

U.S. food regulators say 1.6 million cartons of recalled eggs can "cause serious adverse health consequences or death."

Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in federal case related to UnitedHealthcare CEO killing

Mangione's lawyers argue his federal plea bars his prosecution for murder in state court for Brian Thompson's slaying due to New York's double jeopardy law

‘Devastating’: bulldozers plough through Big Bend national park as Trump’s border work pushes ahead

Heavy machinery seen operating in famous Santa Elena Canyon amid outcry over new wall infrastructure in beloved Texas park

Bulldozers have begun plowing up ground at the mouth of Big Bend national park’s famed Santa Elena Canyon as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar “smart wall” expansion on the US-Mexico border, according to new footage taken by activists who have been monitoring the site.

Tensions have run high since the Trump administration announced plans to erect new border security infrastructure in the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region of south-west Texas, which includes the Lone Star State’s largest and most-visited national park.

Iga Swiatek takes swing at critics after ending title drought in Canada

Pole beats Rybakina to win her first title in 11 months but is angry about disapproving voices from her own country

It came as no surprise that almost a year of pent-up emotion exploded from Iga Swiatek the moment she slotted her final backhand winner to clinch the Canadian Open title by defeating Elena Rybakina in two clean sets on Thursday night.

As she screamed towards her team members on her corner of the court, pointed to her head and furiously pumped her fist, though, it was the tenor of Swiatek’s emotion that made her reaction noteworthy: she was angry. Her anger, she explained later, stemmed from the doubtful, disapproving voices she has heard throughout these difficult periods, most of it coming from viewers and the media alike in Poland.

Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House ballroom construction continue

President Donald Trump tore down the White House East Wing to make way for the ballroom project.

Can taking weight-loss drugs help you get hired? Yes, if you're a woman.

Going on GLP-1 drugs significantly boosted unemployed women's chances of finding a job, according to a Harvard economist.

Feds charge woman for allegedly vandalizing World War II Memorial in D.C.

The top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., said a woman has been arrested and faces two felony charges related to vandalism of the World War II Memorial.

How double jeopardy could come into play after Mangione guilty plea

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to two federal counts on Friday. His state trial is currently scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

How to get a refund for Trump tariffs struck down by Supreme Court

The U.S. has refunded more than $100 billion in illegal tariffs to businesses, and some of that money is going to consumers — here's what to know.

Madonna will not be playing Glastonbury in 2027, Emily Eavis says

Festival organiser says she has booked next year’s headliners but would not say if Taylor Swift is among them

Madonna will not be performing at next year’s Glastonbury, the festival’s organiser, Emily Eavis, has said.

The singer, who has the most top 10 singles in UK chart history of any female artist, has never featured at Britain’s biggest music festival.

Hawaii braces for direct hit from Tropical Storm Lala

Storm expected to strengthen to hurricane as state of emergency declared amid danger of ‘life-threatening’ floods

Tropical Storm Lala is set to hit Hawaii’s Big Island with hurricane force in a matter of hours, bringing dangerous winds, heavy rainfall and high surf in a sign of what a strengthening “super” El Niño in the Pacific may bring.

The tropical storm is currently about 420 miles (675km) south-east of Hilo on the archipelago’s largest island, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said in its latest advisory, packing winds of 60mph (97km/h). Lala is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches the Big Island.

How Americans deceive ourselves about slavery

Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed explores how slavery is — and isn't — taught. And Above Ground includes poems to his children about what their ancestors endured and escaped. He spoke with Fresh Air in 2021 and 2023.

Walmart tomato soup kits recalled over Listeria risk, FDA says

The 14oz soup kits were distributed at Walmart stores in 29 states between June 30 and July 7, according to the FDA.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Wildfires rage in Europe and the US, an earthquake rocks Colombia, Russian strikes in Ukraine and a solar eclipse – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Europe’s top clubs threatened Club World Cup boycott before Fifa plan collapsed

• Ultimatum issued hours before plan was scrapped

• European Football Clubs demanded Infantino back down

Europe’s leading clubs threatened not to participate in future Club World Cups unless Gianni Infantino withdrew his Fifa Forward Enterprise scheme, issuing their ultimatum hours before the plan was scrapped.

In a letter to the Fifa secretary general, Mattias Grafström, the influential European Football Clubs (EFC) group warned that its cooperation with future tournaments would hinge on Infantino backing down. It said the threat would hold unless a joint venture between EFC and Fifa – a framework for which has already been agreed – is completed before television rights can be sold for the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup.

Israeli military plans to transfer law enforcement in occupied West Bank to police

Palestine’s vice-president calls plan ‘flagrant violation of international law’ and a step towards full Israeli annexation

Israel’s defence minister wants to transfer law enforcement powers for Israelis in the occupied West Bank over to the police, a plan that Palestine’s vice-president described as a “flagrant violation of international law” and step towards full Israeli annexation.

Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the military to draw up plans for the handover of responsibility for policing Israeli settlers amid domestic and international criticism of the army’s failure to tackle militants besieging three Palestinian families.

British cyclist Finlay Tarling, 19, dies in Volta a Portugal accident

• Teenager involved in an accident in Portugal

• Rider’s NSN Development Team ‘heartbroken’

Finlay Tarling, the younger brother of Netcompany Ineos rider, Josh Tarling, has been killed while racing in stage eight of the Volta a Portugal.

Although the details are yet to be confirmed, reports in the Portugese and French media suggest that the 19-year-old Welsh rider was hit by a non-race vehicle travelling on the course in the opposite direction to the peloton.

Cerebras stock plunges 14% after second earnings report following IPO

Cerebras Systems reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue and raised its full-year guidance.

National Rail says heat poses ‘exceptional challenges’ after two trains derail in 24 hours

Incident near Essex town of Wickford happens day after two passengers seriously hurt in East Sussex derailment

The UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer has “presented exceptional challenges to the railway”, Network Rail has said, after two trains derailed in less than 24 hours.

On Friday, British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed the rear carriages of a Greater Anglia train derailed “in an upright position” at Wickford railway station in Essex, adding that there were no reported injuries. On Thursday, two people were seriously injured when several Southern train carriages left the track near Lewes in East Sussex and ended up on their side, trapping passengers onboard.

‘It’s due to climate’: the people of Stourbridge on the town’s wildfires

Thursday has been described by residents as ‘horrendous’, ‘distressing’ and ‘one of the scariest days of my life’

People in Stourbridge have described the fires that devastated more than a dozen homes as “horrendous” and “distressing”, with one describing blazes that surpassed the height of residential houses.

Multiple fires spread across the West Midlands on Thursday as temperatures reached record highs of 38.1C in the UK, during the country’s fifth consecutive heatwave.

The Guardian view on Nigel Farage: Clacton cannot acquit him | Editorial

Reform won a contrived byelection, but scrutiny continues – while the party increasingly attacks the watchdogs and journalists asking awkward questions

Nigel Farage didn’t attend the count of the byelection he forced upon Clacton. Instead, Reform UK’s leader celebrated his win with supporters at a “Farage Fest”, filmed by a friendly TV channel. For a politician who claims to speak for the people, it was telling that at his triumph he preferred an audience of believers.

Mr Farage won because his toughest opponent on the campaign trail was a comedian in a jumpsuit with a bin on his head. That Count Binface nevertheless won 27% of the vote captured the absurdity of a contest the main parties had boycotted as a Faragist stunt. Reform UK’s leader wanted to turn scrutiny of his finances – notably an investigation into whether he failed to report a £5m gift from an overseas crypto billionaire – into a “fight” with the “establishment”. But the result determined who represents the Essex seat, not whether he broke parliamentary or electoral rules.

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

The Guardian view on booming poetry sales: Homer, meet the Instapoets | Editorial

In an unexpected twist, a Hollywood epic has contributed to Britain’s best-ever half-year in poetry sales

In a short story called Career Move, published in the New Yorker in 1992, Martin Amis imagined a world in which screenwriters wrote for little magazines and earned a pittance while poets were global superstars. Amis’s story, a wonderfully ironic inversion of the time-honoured norm, was surprisingly prescient: the film and TV industries have been struggling, with screenwriters facing contracting outlets for their creations, whereas poets are now big business.

The Bookseller reported recently that poetry sales were at a historic high. Part of the increase can be attributed to Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, which has made Homer hot: editions of The Odyssey and its prequel, The Iliad, have garnered almost £1m in book sales in the UK this year. (As well as valiantly trying to keep the ailing film industry afloat, Nolan has also created a craze for epic poetry.) But Nolan’s film does not solely account for the boom in poetry sales. Even without the Homer run, sales of poetry texts and anthologies were still up by 7.2% from what was historically already a very high base.

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Trump’s spying on left-wing groups recalls J Edgar Hoover’s Cointelpro | Ken Roth

The FBI from the 1950s to the 1970s tried to infiltrate and discredit leftist organizations. Trump seems to be repeating that sordid practice

It is bad enough that the Trump administration blocked a federal criminal investigation when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed Renee Good as she was turning her car away from him in Minneapolis the past January. Just before the shooting, Good and her partner had been observing and protesting against ICE officers.

Instead, it turns out the administration has been investigating progressive and even mainstream groups that have been involved in protests against Donald Trump’s sweeping deportations, according to newly released government documents.

Hundreds arrested on suspicion of arson in France as wildfires rage across Europe

One person killed and hundreds evacuated in Croatia as blazes also hit Germany, Greece and Spain

Almost 500 people have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires in France since the start of the summer, authorities have said, as firefighters in half a dozen European countries tackle ferocious blazes amid a record-breaking heatwave.

A fire engulfed ⁠homes in a Croatian holiday resort on Friday, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as the EU warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions stretched across the continent.

As speed cameras spread to more states, so does the backlash from drivers

Millions of drivers across the country are encountering speed cameras for the first time, or will soon. Some don't like it, but advocates say there's clear evidence that cameras make roads safer.

Group including Jeff Bezos buys minority stake in Liverpool FC, with option to become controlling owner

The group that includes Jeff Bezos has an option to become the majority shareholder within the next year.

Is there a summer COVID-19 surge this year? Yep, it's ramping up again

Just like all previous summers since the pandemic began, COVID-19 cases are ticking up again, even while other health threats make more headlines.

Canadian plasma clinics pause collections after deaths of two donors

Grifols, which runs private chain of clinics, to temporarily stop taking donations after new government investigation

A chain of private plasma donation clinics in Canada has said it is pausing collections after the deaths of two donors and a new government investigation into potential unsafe practices.

Grifols, a Spanish healthcare company which runs 17 clinics in Canada and is the country’s only private clinic for plasma donation, said it informed Health Canada of its decision to temporarily pause collections on Wednesday.

Martin Rowson on Nigel Farage and the Clacton byelection – cartoon

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Book excerpt: Modesty on the line in "The Summer of Death"

Geoff Williams' account of the deadly heat wave of 1936 includes one Kentucky city's efforts to arrest young women whose warm-weather attire was considered too revealing.

Mangione pleads guilty in federal court, leaving fate of state trial uncertain

Mangione has pleaded guilty to stalking charges in connection with the death of Brian Thompson, a health care executive. A separate judge will decide the future of Mangione's state trial.

Donald Trump can’t beat Iran and Nigel Farage can only beat a bin. When it counts, these populists are just losers | Jonathan Freedland

The pattern in the US and Britain is clear. They serve up stunt after stunt to mask incompetence and the betrayal of all those who trusted them

It’s a shame Nigel Farage ducked the announcement of his victory in the Clacton byelection, which confirmed his return as MP for the seat he had needlessly resigned from just a few weeks earlier. You’d have thought he would have loved it. It was the culmination of a stunt, an exercise in politics as performance. It was a display animated by – and seeking to inflame – grievance, a million miles away from the hard, grinding work of tackling the problems that underlie those grievances. It was an attempt to deflect scrutiny, distract attention and evade responsibility. It was, in other words, everything nationalist populists like him excel at. Indeed, the only thing.

Reform UK said Farage stayed away because Essex police had warned of a “credible threat” to his security, a claim swiftly denied by Essex police. (Add a flexible approach to the truth to that list of nationalist populists’ talents.) Still, it was a slightly odd claim to make. Recall Farage’s favoured explanation – there are others – for the undeclared £5m gift he received from the Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, which prompted the very parliamentary investigation that so riled the Reform leader he felt compelled to quit his seat and seek a preemptive not guilty verdict from the people of Clacton: namely, that he needed the money to pay for private, enhanced security. It seems £5m was not quite enough to ensure the lucky recipient would be safe standing next to a man dressed as a bin.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

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Iceberg, romaine, kale: which salad greens are healthiest?

If you’re trying to meet your daily serving of 2.5 cups of vegetables, you might have some questions

If you want to eat lettuce, that no longer just means iceberg. In our bountiful age, there are many options: romaine, red-leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, beet greens, bok choy, bitter radicchio, every developmental stage of arugula.

Sometimes, it’s simply up to preference. But if you’re trying to meet your daily serving of 2.5 cups of vegetables – or you’re rethinking your salad choices amid the US cyclospora outbreak, you might have some questions about which greens to go with.

Liverpool owner FSG seals £1.65bn sale of 30% stake to consortium including Jeff Bezos

• Confirmed deal values club as a whole at £5.5bn

• Amit Bhatia will become club’s new vice-chairman

Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, has confirmed it has agreed the sale of 30% of the club to a consortium including Amit Bhatia, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The deal is understood to be worth £1.65bn, valuing Liverpool at £5.5bn, and will see Bhatia become the club’s new vice-chair on an expanded board.

Bhatia, the son-in-law of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, initiated and led talks with FSG on behalf of the 1892 Holdings consortium, a reference to Liverpool’s founding year. The former co-owner of Queens Park Rangers has received financial backing from the Mittal Family Trust, the K5 Sports fund, of which Bezos is the lead investor, and EE Capital, the family office of Elaine and Eduardo Saverin.

Housing investors say this is their worst market in at least 3 years

Mortgage rates hit a recent low at the end of February but rose sharply at the start of the war with Iran. They are now at their highest level in over a year. 

Across the world authoritarians want to tell us what a ‘good life’ looks like. Here’s how liberals must respond | Alexandre Lefebvre

From Maga to Hungary’s Fidesz and Australia’s One Nation, politics is returning to its oldest question: what makes a life worth living? And liberalism needs a credible answer

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Those of us who live in liberal democracies carry an image of what a decent state should do. It should protect rights, grow the economy, maintain order, uphold fairness and arbitrate disputes. But on life’s deepest questions – what makes a life worth living, and what sort of person one ought to become – it is meant to show restraint. The state should not privilege one vision of human flourishing, let alone promote it. That is for individuals, families and communities to decide. To borrow the Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s golden rule of politics: “Mind your own damn business!”

Consider birthrates. Across much of the wealthy world, they have fallen below replacement level. Fewer children mean fewer future workers, taxpayers and carers, and more pressure on pensions, health systems and aged care. Yet when liberal democracies encourage larger families, through baby bonuses or affordable childcare, they generally describe the goal as removing obstacles and expanding choice. Crucially, everyone should benefit: gay parents, straight parents, adoptive parents, biological parents, married parents, divorced parents – come one, come all.

See how much renters pay for a 2-bedroom home in 50 U.S. cities

Nearly half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Here's what it costs to rent a two-bedroom home in 50 U.S. cities.

Indiana river breaks 1913 flooding record as governor declares state of emergency

The White River in Indiana rose to record-breaking levels as more than 11 inches of rain has fallen east of Indianapolis since Tuesday.

Wisconsin, Michigan primaries expose limits of polls and prediction markets

It's the second time in just over a week that polls and prediction markets' odds were off, following a miss in the Democratic U.S. senate primary in Michigan.

We learned 5 important things about the economy this week

From inflation, to credit card debt, to who's actually doing the spending: These are key takeaways from this week in economic news.

Flock CEO responds to abuses of its surveillance technology

The CEO of Flock Safety apologized for alleged abuses of its service by law enforcement officers as the company rolled out new changes to how it operates.

The Taliban has taken a terrible toll on the education of girls -- and boys as well

Saturday marks the 5th anniversary of the current Taliban rule in Aghanistan. They've had a devastating impact on girls' education. A lesser told story is their impact on the education of boys.

Trump’s dismal Patriot Games were the Hunger Games ordered off Temu | Aaron Timms

Monkey bars, gawky teenagers and a presidential cameo – all given a prime-time showcase by ABC – combined for the most leaden hour of America’s 250th birthday summer

Culturally, it’s been a tough few months for Donald Trump. The UFC night he held at the White House for his birthday got lost amid the froth and excitement of the World Cup. The Great American State Fair on the Washington DC National Mall was a dud. The president’s jokes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner all bombed. Could the Patriot Games, a nationwide competition to find the American schoolchildren most adept at traversing a set of monkey bars, help rescue the summer?

Last night we got our answer: no. A one-hour prime-time special brought us the best of the Patriot Games, and in a crowded field it managed to offer some of the most leaden TV of the American semiquincentennial. Freedom 250, the White House-backed non-profit that hosted the UFC fight at the White House and the Great American State Fair, produced the event, and put up the $125,000 in college scholarship winnings that went to each winner on the boys’ and girls’ side of the competition. The final round of the Games actually took place earlier this week, at a sports training facility outside Cleveland, Ohio. Last night we just got the best bits, and judging by what that amounted to, we should all be thankful we never had to endure the other bits. This was Trumpworld’s answer to the Hunger Games, but it’s unlikely there will be much clamor for a sequel. The patriots may be hungry for more, but the rest of us? Eh.

2 killed as Apache helicopter from Fort Hood crashes in Salado, Texas

Two soldiers aboard an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter based out of Fort Hood were killed in a crash on Wednesday, according to local authorities and the Army.

The VC-backed fintech using AI to challenge BlackRock and start a new fee war in ETFs

Corgi Invest plans to rival BlackRock in total number of ETFs, while beating managers of trendy strategies like buffer and single-stock funds with its low fees.

As online dating goes into ‘salvage mode’, can AI solve all its problems?

Dating apps such as Bumble forced to adapt as ‘swipe fatigue’ grows

Bumble was supposed to be different. When it launched in 2014, it offered women a simple proposition: if you matched with a man, you had to make the first move. The rule was meant to make online dating safer and less intimidating, while giving women control over who got to speak first.

This week, Bumble abandoned it.

Putin’s recruiters scramble to avoid second mass mobilisation as Ukraine losses mount

Russia is losing 30,000 casualties a month, and the country’s regions are under pressure to feed the ‘meat-grinder’. Experts say it may not be enough

In kitchens and Telegram chats across Russia, the same question is being asked with growing frequency: will Vladimir Putin order another mobilisation?

Nearly five years into the war, Russia is scrambling to find enough soldiers to replenish its ranks, as voluntary recruitment slows and its forces suffer heavy losses on the battlefield in Ukraine.

‘Absolutely unacceptable’: Japan PM Takaichi condemns Putin’s visit to disputed Kuril Islands

Japan protested Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, escalating tensions over territory claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow.

‘Disgraceful’: what one election photo tells us about British politics in 2026

Results from coastal town of Clacton have been interpreted positively by Nigel Farage and Count Binface, but one spoiled ballot tells its own story

• UK politics live – latest updates

It ended, perhaps fittingly, on a rather baffling note. After 34 days of campaigning to regain the parliamentary seat of Clacton on England’s east coast, Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, declined to turn up to the town’s leisure centre to hear himself declared the winner and MP. It was quite the thing. The last high-profile winning candidate to fail to enjoy his moment of victory was Bobby Sands in 1981. The IRA man had his reasons: he was on hunger strike in a prison in Northern Ireland, and went on to die 26 days later.

Instead Farage attended a gathering of his supporters at an airfield on the outskirts of Clacton billed by his party as “Farage Fest”. He told fans he would be damned if he was going to stand on a stage “having won a resounding victory” and “be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies”.

U.S. missionary who was kidnapped in Niger is released

Kevin Rideout "is in good health in the care of US officials," SIM International said in a statement, adding he would soon be reunited with his family.

Alien: Isolation 2 – another strong female protagonist stalked in a terrifying new world

Creative Assembly could strike gold again with this follow-up to their fan-favourite, film-inspired game … if you’re brave enough to venture outdoors

Alien: Isolation redefined Alien games on its release in 2014, bringing the original taut, haunted house theme of the first movie to fans who had mostly been fed action-packed shooters. Cowering under desks and inside lockers wasn’t a new thing; being hunted by an intelligent and lethal xenomorph that could spring down from a duct at any moment was.

“I was thinking about what we could do for a sequel while we were still finishing the first game,” reveals Creative Assembly’s Alistair Hope, creative lead on Alien: Isolation and its sequel. “But we didn’t actually start the project until around the time of the 10th anniversary. We’ve seen the response grow over time, watching [Alien: Isolation] continue to find new players, even though it’s a relatively old game. And they’re surprised there isn’t a sequel.”