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.

Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes off coast of Indonesia and tsunami warning issued

Quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km early on Saturday morning

A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake has struck off the coast of Indonesia, the US Geological Survey said. No immediate casualties or damage were reported.

The quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km at 5:58am on Saturday Indonesia time. It’s epicentre was 68km (42 miles) north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province.

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

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.

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.

‘Not going to be an issue’: Mikel Arteta relaxed about Arsenal contract situation

• Manager’s deal expires at end of the new season

• ‘They don’t have to worry … I want to be here’

Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully.

The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday and are heavy favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. The departure of Pep Guardiola from their traditional rivals City means Arteta is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, with the Spaniard having joined in December 2019.

Raúl Jiménez’s injury-time penalty salvages point for Wolves against Blackburn

Raúl Jiménez marked his return to Wolves with the stoppage-time equaliser that saved them from an embarrassing start to their return to the Championship. The Mexico striker, who scored against England during the World Cup, came off the bench to convert a penalty given for handball by Ryan Alebiosu that would have had VAR questioning whether the defender was in the area when Jackson Tchatchoua’s cross struck his arm.

One minor consolation from Wolves’ relegation is that the video assistant referee is no longer their problem. Jiménez, who had bought scarves for all supporters in the South Bank in gratitude for their welcome home, tucked away his first goal in this second spell for the club he graced during their recent heyday before leaving for Fulham.

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.

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.

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.

French court blocks Macron’s social media ban for under-15s

Constitutional council says curbs infringe freedom of expression and privacy as president vows to rework legislation

France’s top court has blocked a ban on social media access for under-15s, ruling that it infringed freedom of expression and privacy.

The decision is a blow to President Emmanuel Macron as momentum builds around the world for Australian-style restrictions on children’s use of social media.

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.

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.

Family affair: how pop-star siblings Audrey Hobert and Malcolm Todd stormed the charts in parallel

Following in the footsteps of Michael and Janet Jackson, and Kylie and Dannii Minogue, the Hobert siblings have simultaneously struck pop gold – with no rivalry

The history of rival sibling pop solo acts is a limited but potent one. Most famous, of course, are Michael and Janet Jackson. Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Beyoncé and Solange, Natasha and Daniel Bedingfield, Neneh and Eagle-Eye Cherry, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, and Brandy and Ray J all share the intimate and rare understanding of what it was like to share Lego sets and chart space.

That strange dynamic recently gained a new pairing. The US artists Audrey Hobert, 27, and her younger brother, who performs as Malcolm Todd, 22, have both scored global hits synonymous with the sound of summer 2026.

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.

American missionary kidnapped in Niger in October is freed

An American missionary who was kidnapped in Niger in October has been released, his organization says, adding that Kevin Rideout "is in good health in the care of U.S. officials."

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

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.

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.

Luigi Mangione hearing set to start amid discussions about possible guilty plea

Luigi Mangione, accused in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is in discussions about a possible plea deal on federal charges, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News.

Iberian orca known for ramming boats seen with suspected gunshot wounds

Marine conservationist says deliberate attack would be ‘act of extreme cruelty’ against endangered population

Spanish officials have launched an investigation after the matriarch of an orca pod known for jostling and ramming boats off the Iberian Peninsula was spotted with wounds suggesting she had been shot by a pellet gun.

On Friday, Spain’s environment ministry said Toñi, the oldest living member of the pod, had been seen swimming in the Strait of Gibraltar with markings on her dorsal fin that were “consistent with shots from a pellet gun”.

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.

Abbas fought the Taliban alongside US and Australian troops. Now exiled in Iran, he feels abandoned

Five years after the fall of Kabul, the former Afghan soldier is stuck in the middle of a new American war

War is Abbas’s* earliest memory.

As a child, the first iteration of Taliban rule forced his family to flee – with nothing but the clothes on their backs and what food they could carry – for the relative safety of far-distant hills.

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‘It opens up doors and minds’: inside Sydney’s tattoo convention

While some of the event’s 5,000 attenders arrive sporting full bodysuits and ready to compete, others are gearing up for their first tattoo

At the Sydney tattoo convention, the city’s historic town hall fills with the buzz of tattoo machines, the comforting aroma of hospital-grade sanitiser and the timeless tunes of Linkin Park.

Convention founder and managing director of Thirteen Feet Tattoo studios, Katie Bailey, says it wasn’t easy to secure the 137-year-old venue. When she pitched it to Sydney council for their first event four years ago, “at first they were nervous about it, they had people everywhere checking in on us, but after that first event, they thought it was amazing. Tattooing and town hall just go together.”

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.

Two men charged with attempted murder of Sara Sharif’s father

Steven Sansom and Adam Watson accused of trying to kill Urfan Sharif, who murdered his daughter, in prison

Two men have been charged over what is understood to be the attempted murder in prison of Urfan Sharif, who is serving a life sentence for murdering his 10-year-old daughter Sara.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the charges against Steven Sansom, 47, and Adam Watson, 39, after an incident at Belmarsh prison in London.

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.

Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in White House ballroom legal fight

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the legal battle over President Trump's White House ballroom.

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.

AI is driving up consumer prices. That won't stop anytime soon.

Surging AI investment is pushing up the cost of smartphones and other gadgets, according to analysts. Here's why.

Nine life lessons from the happiest man in the world: from embracing tiny changes to not overthinking meditation

Stressed out, endlessly scrolling and never satisfied? Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, the Buddhist monk with off-the-charts levels of contentment, may have the answers …

By some metrics, Buddhist monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is the happiest man on Earth. In brain scans, researchers noted that Mingyur’s neural activity showed off-the-charts levels of activation in the left prefrontal cortex, an area associated with positive emotions such as happiness, enthusiasm and joy. In other tests conducted when he was 41 years old, his brain reportedly “resembled that of a 33-year-old”. He also laughs a lot.

Can happiness be taught? I met Mingyur (Rinpoche is an honorary title meaning, roughly, “precious one”) to discover his strategies for a richer life.

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.

Italian police recover paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse after heist

Artworks valued at total of more than $10m were stolen from Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma in March

Italian police have recovered three paintings by the French masters Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse that were stolen earlier this year from a private museum near the northern city of Parma, authorities have said.

The raid took place overnight on 22-23 March at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, about 12 miles (19km) from Parma, after a series of high-profile thefts from other European museums.

Teen caught on video kicking sea lion pleads guilty, faces prison time

Tyler Muehl, 18, pleaded guilty in federal court after a viral video captured him attacking the sea lion at La Jolla Cove.

‘Unprecedented’ rain kills five in Japan as thousands stranded at airport

Evacuation orders issued for 400,000 after flooding, landslide warnings and power outages in Chiba prefecture

At least five people have died in eastern Japan after “unprecedented” heavy rain that left nearly 7,000 stranded at Tokyo’s Narita airport and forced thousands to take refuge in government buildings.

The torrential rains hit Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Thursday night, triggering landslide warnings and power outages. Evacuation orders were issued for more than 400,000 people in Chiba and other areas, and about 45,000 homes lost power, as 115mm of rain fell hourly, approximately the same amount usually recorded for the whole month of August.

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.

Cocktail of the week: Whiteley’s at Six Senses’ strawberry & basil margarita – recipe | The good mixer

A vibrant and playful twist on the classic cocktail, with a bright, citrus kick and a subtle herbal note

Fresh, vibrant and full of summer character, this is a playful twist on the classic. It’s juicy and refreshing, with a bright, citrus kick and a subtle, herbal note that keeps things light and balanced. It also works very well with non-alcoholic tequila. If you like, double the syrup quantities, because it’s delicious drizzled over pancakes or diluted with sparkling water for a refreshing, summery drink.

Adrian Gonzalez Parrondo, director of bars, Six Senses, London W2

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.”

‘We get 200 tourists a day’: when your house becomes a TV star

What’s it like to live on the set of a soap opera? Or above Ted Lasso’s favourite pub? The residents of the homes made famous by hit TV shows tell all

Half the world recognises the apartment that Carrie Bradshaw lives in. Or the New Jersey mansion where Tony Soprano ate, slept and obsessed over the ducks in his swimming pool. In the 1990s, if you asked a good chunk of the global population where Will Smith lived, they would instantly picture a huge, white abode in Bel Air.

For the real people who call those places home, this can be an issue.

‘The eww holds power’: why disgust shapes how we see nature, queerness and each other

We learn what to fear and reject from those around us. But if disgust can be learned, it can also be unlearned

Vote for your favourite invertebrate of the year

It was the summer of 2021 and I was standing in Hyde Park, London, trying to persuade passing tourists to come bug hunting with me. I was working on a campaign to increase public appreciation of invertebrates and, while I adore bugs, this job was teaching me how differently other people see them.

A woman and her young daughter stopped to chat. Grateful for a few minutes of respite, the woman turned to her phone while the child followed me to a nearby log. We lifted it to reveal one of the largest earthworms I’ve ever seen.

Voting is open for invertebrate of the year and will close at midnight BST on Sunday 16 August; vote here

Feds probe 'mention markets.' And, lawmakers call for investigation into USS Lincoln

Federal regulators are reviewing 'mention markets' that allow wagers on what public figures will say. And, Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into conditions on the long-deployed USS Lincoln.

The hill I will die on: Questions can go unanswered. Stop pulling out your phone | Helene Rosenthal

I don’t care what the capital of Uzbekistan is. I want to trade celebrity gossip and hear how your marriage counselling is going

It’s been a long, dreary winter. I am at dinner with a group of friends when someone wonders aloud when the first day of summer is. Lizzie insists it’s 21 June, Cleo is equally sure it’s 1 June. Sylvie says she is willing to bet her coveted The Row flip-flops on Cleo’s answer. The social rewards from “arguing” over this far outweigh knowing a trivial piece of information that no one at the table will remember. And yet, we can’t help ourselves.

Invariably, someone pulls out their phone, does a not-so-quick search online, and then declares, as though she has uncovered something truly revelatory, the first day of the astronomical summer is on the summer solstice, 21 June. Whereas 1 June is when the meteorological summer begins.

Helene Rosenthal lives in New York City and writes about families, friendships and relationships

The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian; Claws Out! by Bella Mackie; Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang; Children of Wolves by Lawrence Osborne; Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian (Hutchinson Heinemann, £18.99)
American bestseller Bohjalian deserves to be far better known in the UK, although, as the first line of his 26th novel points out, “It is neither virtue nor might that rules the world; it’s luck”. Mira Winston’s luck began early, as she was born into a rich family, clever enough to secure a place at Yale, and a talented enough golfer to consider turning pro, but things change dramatically in 1978 when, at the age of 18, a ball she hits on a driving range smashes the temporal bone of a young caddy, killing him almost instantly. The freak accident turns out to be rather more complicated than first thought, not least because it becomes karmically conflated, in Mira’s mind, with her relationship with a married man twice her age. Told as a memoir, with Mira looking back on the derailment of her life and chronicling society’s changing perceptions of agency and privilege, this literary thriller is a masterfully executed ace.

Claws Out! by Bella Mackie (Borough, £20)
Mackie’s third novel centres on Diana, a manipulative grifter whose previous three husbands have died, apparently of natural causes. She’s in the process of getting her feet under the fourth mark’s prosperous Hampstead table when she encounters opposition. David Farrand’s “entitled but otherwise entirely average” daughter Catriona isn’t going to give up her father or her inheritance without a fight, and when she starts investigating Diana’s past, she discovers that her former stepchildren are convinced of foul play. Meanwhile, Diana’s own son, a feckless charmer, is also hoping to benefit from his mother’s matrimonial plans. Some readers may find the arch authorial tone grating, and the sharp-eyed will spot at least one major plot development before it occurs, but the incisive social satire, vinegary humour and expert pacing will keep you laughing as you turn the pages.

‘I’d like a dramatic closeup’: John Oliver takes over daytime TV with delightfully wooden soap opera roles

The late-night host’s recent stints on Days of Our Lives and General Hospital have brought viewers to a dwindling genre

A man in a dark suit steps down from a helicopter into the aftermath of a warehouse shootout. Flanked by machine gun-toting members of his tactical team, he stalks through the carnage. Without breaking stride, he comes to a defeated fighter lying face down, reaching for a handgun, and shoots him at close range. The man stops in front of another fighter clinging to life, causing her to recoil in fear. “Everything’s gonna be OK,” John Oliver says, as the camera eases into focus for his closeup. “I’m here to help.”

For the past two months, US daytime television watchers have been reduced to double takes and stitches as the Last Week Tonight host has embarked on a summer side quest to become a soap opera star. It began with a three-episode arc on General Hospital with Oliver making his grand entrance as Z, head of the deep state-coded World Security Bureau. And it continued this week with another three-episode arc on Days of Our Lives as Devlin St John, chief water inspector for the soap’s mythic town of Salem.

Green groups urge Andy Burnham to break silence on climate crisis

More than 50 organisations say PM urgently needs to show leadership and prepare British people for scale of change needed as UK struggles through another heatwave

• UK politics live – latest updates

The UK’s leading climate organisations have accused the prime minister, Andy Burnham, of “remaining silent” on the climate crisis as the country struggles to cope with its fifth heatwave of the year.

As widespread droughts and devastating wildfires grip the country, green groups have written to Burnham urging him to “show leadership” and be honest with workers and the public that the climate crisis is driving the extreme conditions they are facing.

Sen. Ruben Gallego on handling of USS Lincoln conditions: 'That's not proper leadership'

Lawmakers want answers from the Pentagon chief and the U.S. Navy about living conditions aboard the USS Lincoln. NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona.

From Europe to Asia, floods to heatwaves, world experiences weather shocks

At least eight people died in Japan as heavy rains flooded roads and disrupted traffic while firefighters from Britain to France and Croatia struggled to contain blazes in Europe's fifth heatwave this summer

People aged 18-29: tell us about your most extraordinary thrifted finds

As gen Z are driving a boom in antiques and collectibles, we would like younger people to show us their most extraordinary thrifted pieces

Gen Z are driving a boom in antiques and collectibles with over 60% in a recent survey claiming they’re a fan of second-hand fashion, homeware and furniture.

Around a third of the 18- to 29-year-olds polled said they went thrift shopping every week as young people become more drawn to sustainable goods as they feel it adds more character to their wardrobes and homes.

‘I’ve never done anything like this in my life’: Marina Abramović on making art with balloons

The artist’s latest swerve sees her creating an alien inflatable landscape for New York’s Balloon Museum

Oversized inflatable blades of grass graze my face as I wind a path through the glowing white gallery space. Little papery squares of snow blow, some sticking to my hair. The path through the room curves so that only what is right in front of me is visible: initially, it seemed like I would reach the far side of the room in mere seconds but still my journey, magically, continues. I am at Snowy/Windy/Spring on Planet Z, the latest installation by the performance artist Marina Abramović. It opened earlier this month at New York’s newly opened Balloon Museum, which bills itself as “the first permanent home for inflatable art”.

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life,” a smiling Abramović said, speaking on Zoom from her Manhattan apartment. “But if you give me an assignment then I’ll try to see what I can do with it.” As she began researching balloon art her first thought was that it was “so kitschy – basically for kids and games”. However, the more she contemplated the balloon, the more she saw its resonance with her own practice. “You put air in it, and at some point the air comes out. Or you pinch it and it disappears. The temporality of this is very close to what I’m doing: performance art.”

El Niño may peak at the worst time for the Amazon – and it should worry us all

Delay to rainy season in forest already damaged by human-driven heating could trigger powerful ‘Godzilla’ El Niño

As a supercharged climate scorches Europe with wildfire and deluges Asia with floods, the Amazon is bracing for a drought that strikes fear into the hearts of forest defenders and food producers alike. But it should worry even more of us.

Scientists are predicting that the peak of El Niño will occur at the worst possible time for the world’s biggest tropical rainforest: the end of the dry season between October and December, when rivers are at their lowest and undergrowth is most likely to be tinder dry. This will be a period of extreme vulnerability for the forest, which plays a globally important role in stabilising the climate and irrigating crops.

‘I felt so inspired’: Guardian readers on trying Homer’s epics after seeing The Odyssey

Readers describe how Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster has ignited or reawakened their interest in classical literature

“I’m having a classics summer this year,” says Tommy Maddinson, 26, from London. He’s been inspired by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to delve into the subject, which has involved cinema trips, visits to the British Museum, and reading Homer’s epic before the film’s release. “I managed to finish it the day before. Since then I’ve been reading a few other classical texts and commentaries …”

Maddinson is not alone. Thanks to the popularity of Nolan’s film, poetry sales in the UK are on course to reach a record high this year after surpassing £8m during the first 30 weeks of 2026 – an increase of 13.3% on the same period last year, according to the market researchers NielsenIQ.