Us - CBSNews.com
Senator Lindsey Graham dies after "brief and sudden illness"

President Trump paid tribute to the late senator, who was reportedly scheduled to do interview on Sunday.

12th July 2026 08:07
U.S. News
Senator Lindsey Graham has died after a brief illness, his office says

Graham, a prominent Republican senator from South Carolina, was 71.

12th July 2026 08:04
The Guardian
World Cup 2026: England battle past Norway to set up Argentina semi-final – live

All the latest as the quarter-finals conclude
Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email us

Sidebar, Whatever bears such a striking resemblance to Neil Innes’ I’m Free to be an Idiot that the former Monty Python collaborator received a songwriting credit and a share of the royalties in an out of court settlement.

Wonderwall might be the England team’s Oasis song of choice, but surely they change it up to this more apposite (and far better imo) number.

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12th July 2026 07:41
The Guardian
The prince and the ‘professional liar’: inside Harry’s battle against the Daily Mail

How the celebrity-backed legal action against one of Britain’s most powerful newspapers fell apart

On 26 January 2015, Hugh Grant entertained an unusual guest at an exclusive venue in one of London’s most affluent neighbourhoods. A few weeks earlier, the disgraced former tabloid journalist Graham Johnson had been contemplating starting the year behind bars. Now, he found himself opposite the Hollywood actor in the rather more comfortable surroundings of the KX Gym in Chelsea, which doubles as a private members’ club where fees cost more than £600 a month.

It was on that day, 11 years ago, that one of the seeds of Prince Harry’s doomed court battle with the publisher of the Daily Mail was sown.

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12th July 2026 07:29
... NPR Topics: News
US Sen. Lindsey Graham has died after a brief and unexpected illness, his office says

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham died Saturday evening after a "brief and sudden illness.

12th July 2026 07:10
The Guardian
Lindsey Graham, key ally of Donald Trump, has died after sudden illness, his office says

Republican senator had served in the Senate since 2003 and was a sharp critic of Trump before becoming one of his most loyal backers

Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said in the early hours of Sunday. He had just turned 71.

Graham’s abrupt death will send shockwaves through Washington and the Republican party. He had served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina, and was running for re-election in November.

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12th July 2026 07:01
The Guardian
‘Super’ El Niño could cause global food price shock lasting into 2028, analysts say

Weather cycle threatens harvests worldwide, adding to inflation already fuelled by the Iran war

Economists are warning that a “super” El Niño weather cycle this year could cause a severe shock to global food prices lasting into 2028.

As the Iran war pushes up world food prices to the highest level in three years, economists said supply chains faced “two shocks at once” stoked by extreme weather linked to global heating.

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12th July 2026 07:00
The Guardian
How to build an elite servicewoman: British military’s top scientists look to unleash ‘oestrogen advantage’

Militaries have been missing a trick as female recruits to receive sex-specific training to unlock their potential

In a giant state-of-the-art gym at the British army’s Kendrew Barracks in the East Midlands, Amy responds immediately when asked about her favourite aspect of military training. “Putting on my bergan and getting out there,” she replies, referring to the heavy-duty, 25kg military rucksack all recruits must learn to carry. “I really like putting myself in the hurt locker.”

During gruelling commando training the 24-year-old lines up against men often a foot taller, with 50% more upper body strength and 30% more muscle mass. It doesn’t seem to bother her.

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12th July 2026 07:00
Us - CBSNews.com
Kansas woman convicted of double murder after three trials

Mike Sisco and his girlfriend Karen Harkness were gunned down in her Topeka, Kansas, home in 2002. Authorities believed it was a crime of passion. Sisco's daughter set out to help prove it was her mother, Dana Chandler, who was responsible.

12th July 2026 06:10
The Guardian
UK to crack down on unlicensed casinos sponsoring football teams

Government to launch consultation after Everton’s deal with Stake.com went ahead amid warnings from Gambling Commission

Ministers are poised to launch a crackdown on unlicensed casinos sponsoring British sports teams, amid criticism that a delay to the proposals has opened the door for offshore gambling firms to strike lucrative deals with Premier League clubs.

Progress with plans to kick unlicensed gambling operators out of football has stalled since February, when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said a review would begin in spring.

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12th July 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Denmark’s ‘Cold Hawaii’: the artfully cool surf zone on the Jutland coast

Surfers nicknamed it in the 90s, but this rugged coastline is becoming a hotspot for contemporary art lovers too

The North Sea wind is buffeting my body and face, shaking me awake after a six-hour journey from Copenhagen on buses and trains to this rugged stretch of the Danish coast. From my high vantage point on the grassy dunes, overlooking what feels like an endless sea, there is hardly another soul to be seen, save for the specks of a few surfers who are trying their luck on the crashing waves.

Surfers, windsurfers and paddleboarders flock to this stretch of north-west Jutland, which is playfully known as “Cold Hawaii”. The phrase was coined in the 1990s by the international surfing community, and popularised by world champion windsurfer Josh Stone, to describe this laid-back shoreline and its 31 official surf spots running for around 30 miles (50km) from a little north of the industrial harbour of Hanstholm down to the sandy beaches of Agger.

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12th July 2026 06:00
The Guardian
US and Iran exchange strikes as Tehran again says strait of Hormuz is closed

Tehran says vessel using unapproved route in strait was struck, drawing strikes from US forces to ‘degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners’

Iran and the US exchanged fresh strikes early on Sunday over what Tehran said was unauthorised use of the strait of Hormuz by a container ship, raising further doubts about the prospects of talks to agree a way forward for the vital waterway.

The latest flare-up began when the ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route and then closed the strait, warning that any retaliation would be met with a “severe response”.

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12th July 2026 05:27
The Guardian
Switzerland hit out at VAR after ‘mistaken identity’ check ends in Breel Embolo red card

Fifa match officials’ novel use of the term “mistaken identity” reared its head again in sensational circumstances during Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and Switzerland, leaving the Swiss forward Breel Embolo in tears and the European side a man down for a total of 67 minutes against the defending champions.

“It’s completely not understandable,” Switzerland’s head coach, Murat Yakin, said afterward. “I know that they will protect their referee but this rule destroyed the game today.”

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12th July 2026 05:20
The Guardian
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited UFC return ends after 69 seconds with knee injury

  • Bout with Holloway in Las Vegas finishes in first round

  • UFC chief Dana White: ‘We’re assuming a blown ACL’

  • Irish star’s last fight before Saturday was five years ago

Conor McGregor’s return against Max Holloway at UFC 329 in Las Vegas ended at just 1:09 of the first round Saturday night because of a knee injury.

Fighting for the first time in more than five years, the 37-year-old McGregor flew across the ring with a flying left roundhouse kick when the match started and landed awkwardly on his right knee.

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12th July 2026 05:16
The Guardian
At last, a proper excuse for monoglots to learn another language: it helps keep your brain young | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

I love busting out a French subjunctive in pursuit of better restaurant service, so it’s a joy to discover there’s a neuroscientific upside to being multilingual

It’s hard to pick a favourite PG Wodehouse line, but the one I’m perhaps most fond of is this: “Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to speak French.”

It’s funny, but it also succinctly captures something that I have long felt about language acquisition, which is that in order to truly embrace learning another tongue, you have to be prepared to look foolish and vulnerable. (Why that can be so difficult for the English – a monoglot minority on a largely bilingual planet – is another article entirely.) More people will perhaps be prepared to endure that humbling process now, as new research has found that learning another language can slow ageing in the brain by up to 13 years. Multilingualism, it is thought, promotes brain connectivity and slows its decline with age.

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12th July 2026 05:00
The Guardian
‘They said to me, you were the best sex toy we ever had’: the pain, pleasure and paranoia of life in a throuple

From Hollywood movies to confessional memoirs, three-person relationships are everywhere. But is it really possible to keep everyone satisfied? Happy trios, bruised couples and rejected lovers tell all

Priscilla can pinpoint the moment she realised that her throuple was falling apart. Her fiancee, Kiara, had started kissing their shared girlfriend, Olivia, in a way that went on for just a little too long. One night, after the three of them had gone out for a romantic dinner in Savannah, Georgia, where they live, Olivia and Kiara started kissing in the front seats of the family car and it seemed as if they were never going to stop. About 10 minutes in, Priscilla tried to reach out and touch her fiancee’s shoulder, but her seat belt was buckled. Unbuckling and leaning forward felt intrusive. And, anyway, Kiara and Olivia seemed to have forgotten all about her. Watching the kiss unfold, squashed into the back with all the baby seats and toys, Priscilla thought about how by rights it was her turn to sit up front. She was always in the back seat. She felt a flicker of something competitive. “I worried, am I desired less than her?” she recalls now. “Will I be replaced?”

In the early days, Priscilla felt giddy with the excitement of being in a throuple. She and Kiara had been together for eight years, and adding a third person to their relationship felt like a way of exploring non‑monogamy without losing one another, because every new romantic experience would be shared. Olivia was an old friend, so Priscilla and Kiara’s children were comfortable with her. When the kids were in bed, they would walk to the beach holding hands as a three, to watch the sunset. At night, they would curl up to sleep together, and form a kind of cuddle chain. Priscilla would cuddle Olivia, and Olivia would cuddle Kiara.

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12th July 2026 05:00
The Guardian
EU accused of dragging its feet over ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements

Foreign ministers will discuss options on Monday but decision on imports is not expected for months

The EU has been accused of dragging its feet over upholding international law, on the eve of a long-awaited debate about banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday will discuss a possible ban on imports from the settlements, against an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where a UN inquiry found Israel to be committing a genocide, and surging state-backed violence in the occupied West Bank, which has killed at least 235 children.

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12th July 2026 05:00
... NPR Topics: News
Alvarez's 112th-minute goal helps lift Argentina past Switzerland 3-1 and into World Cup semifinals

Julian Alvarez sent defending champion Argentina into the World Cup semifinals with a long-range strike in the 112th minute against Switzerland.

12th July 2026 04:10
The Guardian
Toronto shooting: two dead and four injured at Salsa on St Clair street festival

Police say two people exchanged gunfire in shooting that mayor called an ‘irresponsible act of violence’ in festival attended by families

A shooting near a Toronto street festival killed two men and wounded four other people on Saturday evening, police said, adding that what initially prompted an active-shooter warning was an exchange of gunfire between two people targeting each other.

Toronto police deputy chief Frank Barredo said investigators recovered two firearms after the shooting, which was reported at 8.12pm near St. Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue, where the Salsa on St Clair festival was underway.

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12th July 2026 04:00
The Guardian
‘We were kids dressed as gangsters, running riot’ – Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone at 50, by its cast and crew

Jodie Foster hated her 6am starts, Parker couldn’t stop swearing, Dexter Fletcher was traumatised by his haircut … There was as much drama off-screen as on during the making of this classic movie

When Bugsy Malone was released 50 years ago, no one had seen anything like it. The wise-talking, rip-roaring spoof poked fun at gangster films with extravagant musical numbers, a cast made up entirely of child and teen actors, and “splurge guns” shooting cream instead of bullets. It was hilarious, startlingly original and a delight to watch.

Scott Baio played plucky Bugsy, a broke boxing promoter who gets tangled up in a turf war between two rival gangs led by Fat Sam (John Cassisi) and Dandy Dan (Martin Lev). Jodie Foster, the most experienced of the cast, played the femme fatale Tallulah. Most of the other young actors were unknown, although many would go on to become celebrated TV and film stars.

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12th July 2026 04:00
The Guardian
My holiday from hell: we were 20 drunk teenagers in a Sicilian villa. I would like to apologise to our host

Excited to be away from home for the first time, we spent a riotous week partying, while the owner and his elderly parents understandably – and often audibly – seethed

Twenty British 16-year-olds rent a remote Sicilian villa for a week of partying and late-night binge drinking. It sounds like a holiday host’s nightmare. Well, anyone’s nightmare. Add in the fact that the host was staying on site with his elderly Italian parents, as the teenagers partied on without a care for their own welfare or anyone else’s. This wasn’t a holiday from hell for my teenage self, but I’m pretty sure it was for our hosts.

It was 2013 and, for many of us, it was the first time we had been away just with friends. Let loose from familial constraints, it was easy to get carried away. I arrived a few days later than the others but was the main contact with our host, Pablo. This meant that, before I even set foot in the villa, I received a string of messages threatening to kick us out. The police had apparently already been called after two late nights of nonstop boozing.

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12th July 2026 04:00
The Guardian
The Westies review – this violent New York mob drama is like Peaky Blinders meets The Sopranos

Expect bloody chaos in this drama about a real-life 80s Irish-American gang – featuring JK Simmons as a gang leader – and their dealings with an Italian-American crime family

The Peaky Blinders effect lingers on. More than a decade after Tommy Shelby’s debut, TV still loves a real-life gangster crew, especially with Blinders creator Steven Knight having recently repeated the based-on-truth trick with A Thousand Blows. What other IRL historical crime crews are still available? All this time, the Westies, an Irish-American gang operating in 1980s New York in a fractious alliance with the Italian-American Gambino crime family, were right there. It’s the Irish mafia and the actual mafia in a two-for-one deal.

Along with co-creator Michael Panes, the man to score this apparent open goal by making Peaky Sopranos is Chris Brancato, a showrunner whose resume includes Narcos and the quietly excellent Godfather of Harlem. With some sturdy players in the cast, The Westies is … OK. It’s fine. It’s good! Whaddaya want from me, uh? I said it was fine.

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12th July 2026 04:00
The Guardian
Julián Álvarez’s extra-time stunner sinks 10-man Switzerland to send Argentina into semi-finals

Did anyone think they would do it the easy way? If Argentina are to win this World Cup they will only get there via rollercoaster. A seemingly straightforward night’s work against Switzerland became their tournament in microcosm, threatening to squander it all before finding salvation through a moment of unfettered genius.

Just this once it did not come from the left boot of Lionel Messi. In fact, with his side labouring towards penalties midway through the second period of extra time, Messi had just been denied by Gregor Kobel when the decisive thunderbolt was unleashed. Switzerland were unable to clear their lines and the recently introduced José López, taking possession on the left, passed backwards to a hitherto anonymous Julián Álvarez.

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12th July 2026 03:58
Us - CBSNews.com
The 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule and how to watch

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

12th July 2026 03:48
... NPR Topics: News
Messi and Argentina survive another close call to reach the World Cup semifinals

Argentina was taken to the brink in its first two knockout games. In Saturday's quarterfinal against Switzerland, the Albiceleste survived again to advance to the semis, where they will face England.

12th July 2026 03:45
The Guardian
Jude Bellingham excels in parallel World Cup but cannot win trophy alone | Barney Ronay

Up against Norway’s heart and skill and Florida’s heat, talisman got England through – but there is much to fix

Jude against the sun. For much of this game there was a feeling of three separate entities struggling to assert their will in the heavy air of Miami Gardens. First, Norway, in their first World Cup quarter-final, who played with heart, skill and patience, and were by any Jude-free metric probably the better team.

Alongside this, forcing itself centre stage, was the July Florida heat, the kind of air that congeals around you like an invisible white sauce, that makes your vision blur and your brain sag, and to which England seemed uniquely vulnerable.

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12th July 2026 02:37
Us - CBSNews.com
New Library of Congress exhibit features rare draft of Declaration of Independence

A rare draft of the Declaration of Independence, now on display at the Library of Congress, was written by Thomas Jefferson and contains edits from fellow Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.

12th July 2026 02:30
The Guardian
Norway’s Ståle Solbakken claims ball struck cable before England equaliser

  • Replays suggested ball goal-kick struck a camera cable

  • Fifa says ball sensor showed no evidence of contact

Norway’s head coach, Ståle Solbakken, complained that England had benefited from the ball hitting an overhead cable before Jude Bellingham equalised in the World Cup quarter-final.

Replays appeared to show a Norway goal-kick hitting a cable in the buildup, although Fifa released a statement saying a sensor in the ball showed no evidence it had touched.

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12th July 2026 02:17
The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy decries housing of weapons in civilian area after Russian strike kills 10

President says tragedy must never be repeated after secondary explosions from strike devastate residential area on Kyiv outskirts. What we know on day 1,600

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12th July 2026 02:13
... NPR Topics: News
200 young campers rescued as flooding hits parts of Missouri and Kentucky

A historic rainfall event has left communities across several Missouri counties underwater and prompted water rescues, including an evacuation of a summer camp.

12th July 2026 01:38
Us - CBSNews.com
New Jersey works to destroy firefighting foam laced with cancer-linked PFAS

New Jersey is one of more than a dozen states that are working to collect, remove and destroy all of their aqueous film-forming foam.

12th July 2026 01:38
... NPR Topics: News
US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states

The United States attacked Iran early Sunday morning over an Iranian attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran apparently responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

12th July 2026 01:32
Us - CBSNews.com
Blistering heat dome grips West and Northern Plains, fueling wildfires

Dry heat in the West and Northern Plains is fueling wildfires, including the Summit Fire north of Los Angeles. Gwen Baumgardner reports on the flames and evacuations. Andrew Kozak has the forecast.

12th July 2026 01:16
Us - CBSNews.com
Exhibit looks at how the Declaration of Independence evolved

A new exhibit, The Declaration's Promise, celebrates America's independence and showcases how phrases such as "all men are created equal," evolved. Nikole Killion has more.

12th July 2026 01:10
Us - CBSNews.com
Bipartisan housing bill becomes law after Trump refuses to sign it

A landmark housing bill automatically became law overnight after President Trump declined to sign it.

12th July 2026 01:06
Us - CBSNews.com
Fire departments work to get rid of cancer-linked foam extinguisher: "It was like sitting on a bomb"

Fire departments across the U.S. are changing how they extinguish fires. For decades, they used foam that contained so-called "forever chemicals" that are now linked to cancer. More than a dozen states are now working to collect, remove and destroy all of it. Mark Strassmann has more.

12th July 2026 01:02
Us - CBSNews.com
Congress passes housing bill without Trump's signature

The largest housing bill in years is now law without President Trump's signature. Ali Bauman reports on what the new housing law will do.

12th July 2026 00:54
Us - CBSNews.com
Trump, Iran's supreme leader trade threats

Iran's new supreme leader and President Trump traded threats on Saturday after the U.S. military battered Iran and Iran fired upon vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz. Olivia Rinaldi reports.

12th July 2026 00:51
The Guardian
Jude Bellingham unimpressed after Tuchel criticises ‘lucky’ England’s performance

  • Head coach says team were ‘sloppy’ and ‘not fast enough’

  • Two-goal Bellingham responds: ‘Yeah, well, whatever’

Jude Bellingham hit back at criticism of England’s performance from Thomas Tuchel after his two goals against Norway booked a place in the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time.

A virtuoso display from the Real Madrid star inspired a comeback victory after Andreas Schjelderup had given Norway the lead, with Bellingham scoring a controversial equaliser just before half-time. Replays appeared to show a Norway goal-kick hitting an overhead cable in the buildup, although Fifa released a statement saying a sensor in the ball showed no evidence it had touched. Norway’s coach, Ståle Solbakken, said it was “pretty clear” it had.

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12th July 2026 00:44
Us - CBSNews.com
Seahawks sold to 49ers minority owner for record $9.6 billion

The Seattle Seahawks are being sold to the Khosla family in accordance with the wishes of late team owner Paul Allen, the team announced on Saturday.

12th July 2026 00:21
The Guardian
Wallabies’ pop-gun revival under Joe Schmidt blown apart as France unload heavy artillery | Daniel Gallan

Plucky defeats decorated with patches of excellence will not cut it for Australia with a home World Cup now looming large

The camera found Joe Schmidt shortly after France had completed a 22-point swing. Australia’s coach had seen a 21-12 half-time lead obliterated in 16 brutal minutes. Schmidt, one of rugby’s sharpest minds, looked short of answers. The trouble was that the questions confronting him had obvious answers but almost impossible solutions.

Why had Australia’s discipline deteriorated? Because they were under pressure. Why had their tackle intensity and ruck speed fallen away? Because France had introduced fresh power from the bench. Why had the Wallabies gone from a nine-point half-time lead to a 13-point deficit in barely a quarter of an hour? Because one team had more large, skilful, Test-quality rugby players than the other.

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12th July 2026 00:20
... NPR Topics: News
In a nailbiter, England moves on to the World Cup semifinals, defeating Norway 2-1

England's Jude Bellingham has done it again. Scoring both of his team's goals in a thrilling quarterfinal against Norway that needed extra time. It was the first World Cup meeting between the two.

11th July 2026 23:46
Us - CBSNews.com
This week on "Sunday Morning" (July 12)

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

11th July 2026 23:25
The Guardian
Man, 28, arrested over murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe

Suspect arrested in South Yorkshire after ex-politician was found dead at her Devon home on Thursday

A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe, police said.

The suspect, who is a white British national, was arrested at an address in the South Yorkshire area on Saturday evening and is in police custody.

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11th July 2026 22:46
Us - CBSNews.com
7/11: CBS Weekend News

California's Summit Fire is 0% contained; there is an escalating war of words between the U.S. and Iran.

11th July 2026 22:30
Us - CBSNews.com
200 young campers, staff rescued amid record flooding in Missouri

More than 200 people at Camp Taum Sauk in Missouri, were rescued after 6 to 12 inches of rain fell along the Taum Sauk Reservoir.

11th July 2026 21:54
... NPR Topics: News
Palestinian aid worker who organized World Cup screenings killed in Israeli strike

Palestinians are mourning Mohammed al-Wahidi, a beloved aid worker in Gaza. He was killed by as Israeli airstrike while en route to a World Cup screening which he organized.

11th July 2026 21:09
... NPR Topics: News
This English professor has run with the bulls in Spain for two decades

When Bill Hillmann was 19 years old, he read Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. That book inspired him to pursue two dreams: a career in literature and to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

11th July 2026 21:08
Us - CBSNews.com
High energy costs from Iran war heighten pressure on struggling farmers

As the agriculture industry in Louisiana contends with major energy cost hikes brought on by the Iran war, some farmers are unsure if their businesses will survive.

11th July 2026 21:03
The Guardian
‘I’m taking the big one’: Noskova says sight of trophies inspired Wimbledon triumph

  • Noskova wins women’s singles after 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory

  • ‘What really helped me … the trophies were there’

A jubilant Linda Noskova said seeing the Wimbledon trophy sitting by Centre Court helped her reset at a vital time as she clinched her first grand slam title with a dramatic 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over her fellow Czech Karolina Muchova at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old led 6-2, 5-2 only to miss five match points as Muchova levelled but Noskova took a bathroom break and reset brilliantly to become the sixth Czech woman to lift the title in the Open era.

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11th July 2026 20:37
The Guardian
The moment I knew: I was devising a plan to set up Martha with my friend – and realised I’d fallen for her myself

After meeting in then-Zaire in the 1980s, Steve Sherwood and Martha Meares became good friends. But when she planned to leave for England, he decided he wanted something more

It was 1986, I was 26, had been travelling for two years, and was making my way through Africa. I was camping in the grounds of a run-down hotel, the only campsite in Kisangani, a city in what was then known as Zaire. On my first day in town I asked when the next River Congo ferry would leave. Tomorrow, they said.

Overland trucks would arrive and spend two to three days in town. A truck travelling from Kenya to the UK came, and its passengers put their stools in a circle to eat dinner. I asked to sit with them. Martha from Sydney sat beside me on the last spare stool. We spent most of that night chatting and laughing and got on really well.

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11th July 2026 20:00
The Guardian
Former England captain Heather Knight to retire from international cricket

  • Current Lord’s Test will be her final appearance

  • ‘I’m privileged to have gone on this journey’

Heather Knight will retire from international cricket at the end of this week’s Test against India at Lord’s. Knight, who has made a record 320 appearances for England, has joined her teammate Tammy Beaumont in calling time on her career at the end of what is the first women’s Test at the home of cricket, and one in which England appear headed for defeat after a gruelling second day’s play on Saturday.

The 35-year-old made her England debut in 2010 and went on to captain the side on 199 occasions between 2016 and 2025, guiding the team to success at the Women’s World Cup on home soil in 2017. However, Knight was sacked as captain in March last year after a disastrous three-format Ashes tour of Australia in which England were trounced 16-0.

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11th July 2026 19:47
The Guardian
Jay-Z review – rap legend dazzles New York City with lavish spectacle, sharp bars and Beyoncé

Yankee Stadium, New York City

The rapper celebrates 30 years of his classic debut album Reasonable Doubt with eye-popping visuals and special guests in a love letter to hip-hop culture

The beauty of watching Jay-Z live is more than just watching him calmly spit bars that effortlessly prove why his career has been this long and brilliant; it’s also the complex but lovely feeling of watching an audience (and the artist himself) relive the past. It’s almost unfathomable that 30 years ago, Jay-Z was starting out as a relatively unknown rapper from Brooklyn chronicling his life as a hustler. Quite possibly the greatest pure MC of all-time – encompassing flow, patience, humor, live ability and his taste as an auteur – Jay built a career on restrained tales of wide-eyed dreams and braggadocious stanzas about financial gain.

His 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, was the start of that career, and on Friday night, I’m at New York City’s Yankee Stadium as Jay-Z performs the album’s tracks in order, front to back, making it impossible to forget its legacy in a visually stunning show that splits the difference between close connection and grand spectacle. At times, with a wide, movie-like screen backing Jay that shows funerals of presidents, footage of Mike Tyson, or his wife, Beyoncé, cutting his hair at the ballpark, the show feels influenced by previous tours like Watch the Throne mixed with the street romance of the 2002 movie Paid in Full. Yet the care and attention to detail ensures that the 50,000-capacity venue feels intimate, for the folks who heard the album and felt seen through its songs of regret and paranoia.

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11th July 2026 19:14
The Guardian
Linda Noskova fends off Muchova fightback to win first grand slam title at Wimbledon

  • Ninth seed beats fellow Czech 6-2, 5-7, 6-3

  • Muchova falls short in second major final

As one of her worst nightmares on a tennis court appeared to be unfolding before her disbelieving eyes, Linda Noskova walked solemnly to her chair with both index fingers plugged into her ears. She was attempting to block out the roars of a booming Centre Court crowd, which had erupted in jubilation at her failure to convert no fewer than five championship points. But the 21-year-old knew deep down that what she truly needed to block out were her own fatalistic thoughts.

Noskova’s hopes of capturing her first Wimbledon title were in freefall by that point. She had lost five consecutive games, her easy 6-2, 5-2 lead crumbling to dust as she found herself in an unwanted final set. Having betrayed all of her tension and fears to her bloodthirsty compatriot, victory seemed much further away than the scoreline suggested.

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11th July 2026 18:09
The Guardian
Venezuela quake death toll passes 4,300 as scale of recovery effort looms large

Nearly 17,000 injured and thousands more listed as missing amid calls by president Delcy Rodríguez and UN for financial help

The death toll in Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes has passed 4,300, the government said on Saturday.

At least 4,333 people were killed and 16,740 injured in the back-to-back quakes on 24 June that flattened entire districts in the coastal state of La Guaira, the Venezuelan parliament chief, Jorge Rodríguez, wrote on Telegram. Thousands more people are listed as missing.

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11th July 2026 17:23
The Guardian
US congressman says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

Ro Khanna said settlers were armed with US-made weapons and Israel Defense Forces refused to intervene

The US congressman Ro Khanna says armed Israeli settlers detained him during a visit to the Israel-occupied West Bank recently, describing the experience as a first-hand view of the realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, the progressive US House Democrat from California said his detention happened the previous day while his delegation visited an area of the southern West Bank that has experienced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

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11th July 2026 17:21
Us - CBSNews.com
Apalachee High School shooting suspect set to change plea, documents show

Colt Gray is scheduled to appear in Barrow County Superior Court on July 24 for a plea hearing, court documents show.

11th July 2026 17:14
Us - CBSNews.com
Houston man didn't threaten ICE agent before being fatally shot, lawyer for witnesses says

Eyewitnesses say Lorenzo Salgado Araujo did not threaten ICE agents before he was shot and killed during a vehicle stop, an attorney said, contradicting an agent's account. The Department of Homeland Security said that officers were looking for a different person when they stopped Salgado Araujo's vehicle.

11th July 2026 17:00
... NPR Topics: News
Justice Department subpoenas New York Times reporters over Air Force One reporting

The Times says federal agents turned up on the doorsteps of several of its journalists to force grand jury testimony next week over their coverage of the Air Force One plane gifted to Trump by Qatar.

11th July 2026 16:35
Us - CBSNews.com
Exclusive discounts from CBS Mornings Deals

On this edition of CBS Mornings Deals, we show you items that will help improve your everyday lifestyle. Visit cbsdeals.com to take advantage of these exclusive deals today. CBS earns commissions on purchases made through cbsdeals.com.

11th July 2026 16:33
Us - CBSNews.com
Trump warns Iran "missiles are locked and loaded" if they attempt assassination

President Trump threatened to "decimate and destroy" Iran if they try to assassinate him. This comes as the U.S. and Tehran continue negotiations. Here's what to know about where things stand.

11th July 2026 16:18
The Guardian
Heatwave forces Tour de France organisers to shorten Sunday’s stage nine

  • Stage eight: Tadej Pogacar untroubled in overall lead

  • Merlier produces superb sprint win for second day

Sunday’s ninth stage of the Tour de France has been shortened by 30km due to a red heatwave alert in the Corrèze département of central France. The stage from Malemort to Ussel will now be raced over 155.5km instead of the scheduled 185.5.

In a statement the Tour said: “This decision aims to ensure that the race can take place under conditions compatible with the red heatwave alert.”

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11th July 2026 16:09
The Guardian
Elon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, says Musk’s father

Errol Musk says far-right activist is ‘a fine young man’ and held meetings with Russian business figures

Elon Musk’s family foundation took Tommy Robinson to Russia, according to the billionaire X owner’s father, who was with the British far-right activist in Moscow as he encouraged anti-migration protests in Britain.

Robinson – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – appeared last month in Moscow, from where he issued calls for supporters to take to the streets after a knife attack in Belfast. He shared video of himself in a luxury Moscow hotel with the older Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson.

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11th July 2026 16:04
Us - CBSNews.com
New York Times journalists issued subpoenas over Air Force One reporting

The subpoenas were issued after the New York Times reported on alleged security concerns with the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One.

11th July 2026 16:03
Us - CBSNews.com
Chef Greg Baxtrom serves delicious Midwestern meals to New Yorkers

Chef Greg Baxtrom is bringing approachable Heartland flavors to New York City with 5 Acres, a Midwestern restaurant in the iconic Rockefeller Center. Baxtrom talks about creativity with vegetables and shares his struggle with sobriety.

11th July 2026 15:51
The Guardian
Superior Sinner provides true measure of Zverev’s step up in Wimbledon final

German’s long-awaited first slam title came in Paris after his rival wilted in the heat but was his triumph a turning point or a blip?

For a brief moment on the first day of Wimbledon, there was reason to believe that Jannik Sinner was still processing his collapse at Roland Garros. Any loss in Paris would have been significant, considering the certainty with which he had dominated the clay court season beforehand, but it was the manner of his defeat that stung.

Sinner, it cannot be repeated enough, had been leading the innocuous Juan Manuel Cerundolo by two sets to love and 5-1 in set three when he crumbled physically. No matter how Sinner tried to emphasise his satisfaction at his achievements in the entire clay court swing, this was an excruciating loss.

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11th July 2026 15:46
The Guardian
Pollock’s hat-trick powers England’s 11-try Nations Championship mauling of 14-man Fiji

  • Fiji 8-73 England

  • Scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli sent off before break

To say England needed to shine in sub-tropical Liverpool is the understatement of this protracted season. Had they slipped to a sixth straight Test defeat it would probably have been the end of Steve Borthwick’s tenure as head coach. Instead a one-sided romp, their first win since February, has given the management a little respite as they prepare to head to Argentina for the last leg of their continent-hopping summer itinerary.

In all honesty, though, Fiji were so disjointed and ill-disciplined for lengthy periods that the game resembled something close to a training run. A litany of botched offloads, silly penalties and back-pedalling mauls had long since allowed England to cruise away over the horizon even before Simione Kuruvoli was sent off just before half-time with his side already 35-3 behind.

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11th July 2026 15:30
... NPR Topics: News
The biggest steam locomotive is whistle-stopping across the U.S.

Huge crowds of train fans turn out as the 1940s era Big Boy steam locomotive is making a rare trip cross country.

11th July 2026 15:14
The Guardian
Hunter Biden wins $1.7m in suit over Iran bribery claim by ex-CEO of Overstock.com

Biden sued Patrick Byrne for defamation over claim that he sought bribe to lobby his father to free $8bn in Iran assets

A federal judge on Friday awarded Hunter Biden $1.7m in punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit he filed against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.

Biden sued Byrne – a Donald Trump ally who denied the results of the 2020 election and funded efforts to overturn them – in 2023, accusing Byrne of lying in an interview that Biden had previously sought a bribe from Iran’s government in the fall of 2021.

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11th July 2026 15:01
The Guardian
Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists over new Air Force One reporting

Outlet said journalists subpoenaed to testify before grand jury after story detailed security concerns with Qatar-gifted plane

The Trump administration has issued subpoenas to several New York Times journalists after the newspaper reported on security concerns with the president’s new plane, according to the outlet.

The Times said its journalists were subpoenaed on Friday by the US justice department to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan five days later, marking the latest effort by the Trump White House to compel testimony from journalists under the threat of penalty. Agents delivered some of the subpoenas to the Times reporters at their homes, the paper added.

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11th July 2026 14:17
The Guardian
Is the US trying to make scientists’ work so difficult that they simply give up? | Daniel Malinsky

New Trump administration rules would undermine longstanding research practices. It’s death by a thousand cuts

A politician who aims to gradually privatize and ultimately destroy an institution funded by tax dollars – say, a public school system or public transportation network – may choose to do so by strategically disinvesting resources from that institution until it becomes barely functional, leading users to look elsewhere to meet their needs. Eventually, the user-base of the public system gets so low or frustrated that it seems reasonable to scrap the thing entirely, or re-direct public funds to private companies as contractors to provide the needed “service”. We’ve seen this strategy play out many times in states and city councils across America.

It appears that the endgame of the Trump administration’s attacks on science and the research funding ecosystem is similar: grant freezes and administrative disarray at federal funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), new layers of project review by political appointees hunting for forbidden keywords such as “disparity” and “marginalized”, and proposed new restrictions to make international collaboration difficult or impossible all point towards a world where it’s just too onerous to do federally-funded scientific research. Is the goal to make scientists simply give up on the endeavor?

Daniel Malinsky is an assistant professor of biostatistics in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University

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11th July 2026 14:00
The Guardian
‘A slap in the face’: small farmers say Trump is turning his back on them

The president wooed farmers in his campaign, but now the USDA is yanking funding, citing ‘DEI’ and wasteful spending

It’s just an eighth of an acre, but for Lawrencia Rogers, the plot where she grows broccolini, lettuce and beans on land once tilled by poorhouse residents in eastern Iowa is the closest she has come to living her dream.

Iowa is one of the most agriculturally productive states in the country, but getting into farming is not easy, particularly for people like Rogers who have no family connections to the business. It’s nonetheless been a lifelong passion for the 33-year-old Iowan: at age six, she planted a rosebush that’s still alive today, and managed to grow cantaloupe on a strip of dirt and chain-link fence next to the driveway of her grandmother’s house.

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11th July 2026 14:00
Us - CBSNews.com
7/11: CBS Saturday Morning

Hundreds were rescued from flooding in Missouri. President Trump threatened to "decimate and destroy" Iran if they try to assassinate him. Plus, Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy sat down with Kelly O'Grady to discuss his new book.

11th July 2026 14:00
U.S. News
The best states to live in for 2026: No. 1 has a six-year winning streak

Return to office mandates and a decline in remote work have companies looking more closely at the quality of life in the place where they establish offices. 

11th July 2026 13:00
U.S. News
These are America’s 10 worst states to live in for 2026

Some states may have low costs and light regulation, but high crime and lack of healthcare are among important factors when people choose where to live. 

11th July 2026 13:00
The Guardian
TV presenter Dermot Murnaghan dies of prostate cancer, aged 68

The former ITV, BBC and Sky News journalist died peacefully at home in London on Saturday, his family say

The former BBC and Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan has died aged 68 after a “period of illness with prostate cancer”, his family have said.

The journalist, who was long a fixture on British TV screens, was also known for hosting the quizshow Eggheads.

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11th July 2026 12:32
The Guardian
As Democrats pick up the pieces after Graham Platner, many wonder: how did this happen?

The former US Senate candidate’s spectacular fall has upended the Maine Senate race and left voters fuming at the party

Almost exactly one year ago, Graham Platner, who has no political experience, was cherry-picked by out-of-state political activists.

According to a person familiar with the campaign, Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan, who have made a name for themselves by recruiting populist candidates across the country, traveled to Maine and rented a house near Platner’s home in Sullivan to convince him to run for the US Senate. Throughout the process, Moraff became Platner’s “right-hand man”, the person described, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of backlash.

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11th July 2026 12:00
The Guardian
‘End of an era’: what is the future of British TV after Sky’s ITV takeover?

Merger stokes fears over job cuts, US influence and possible BBC and Channel 4 tie-up to take on Netflix and YouTube

Only five years ago a bullish ITV was riding high, trumpeting the biggest annual advertising haul in its history, as the broadcaster pledged to become a national champion in the battle against the US streamers.

Now its chief executive, Carolyn McCall, has raised the white flag, arguing that a cut-price sale of its TV and streaming business to Sky is the only route to survival as deep-pocketed companies such as Netflix and YouTube hoover up audiences and commercial revenues.

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11th July 2026 12:00
The Guardian
Is Mitch McConnell secretly deceased? | Arwa Mahdawi

The senator’s health is shrouded in mystery after he was hospitalized. Why can’t we get a clear answer?

Is Mitch McConnell dead?

This shouldn’t be a difficult question to answer. The response is either “yes”, “no” or something along the lines of “he’s on life support but appears to be brain dead”.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

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11th July 2026 12:00
U.S. News
Burnout, frustration and heartbreak: Amazon layoffs take their toll in saturated job market

In the eight-plus months since Amazon announced its most expansive job cuts ever, laid off workers have been thrust into an increasingly saturated labor market.

11th July 2026 12:00
U.S. News
A tiny GLP-1 implant is the latest bet to help patients maintain their weight loss

Vivani Medical is developing an implant of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's obesity injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic.

11th July 2026 12:00
The Guardian
Levi Bellfield to have DNA test in connection with Lin and Megan Russell murders

Exclusive: CCRC will test serial killer as part of inquiry into whether Michael Stone was wrongly convicted of 1996 murders

The serial killer Levi Bellfield will have his DNA taken in an attempt to establish if he murdered Lin and Megan Russell in 1996.

Michael Stone has protested his innocence since his conviction in 1998 for the killing of Lin, 45, and her daughter, six-year-old Megan, as well as a vicious attack on Megan’s sister Josie, nine, who survived.

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11th July 2026 11:00
The Guardian
‘Every time the rain falls, the fear comes back’: life in Lagos under the constant threat of floods

As Nigeria braces for another season of devastating rains, people affected describe the mental toll of repeatedly rebuilding their lives

Murky water first tore down a perimeter fence, then bubbled into the yard before spilling into every room. Within minutes, electronics, kitchen appliances, furniture, documents and academic certificates lay submerged.

With the water rising rapidly, Daniel Ebiesua evacuated his home in the Shogunle area of Lagos, with his wife, their two-week-old baby, four-year-old son and his mother-in-law to a neighbour’s upstairs apartment. There they stayed trapped for four hours, helplessly watching the flood swallow the streets below.

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11th July 2026 11:00
The Guardian
Safe from AI: which jobs will help you thrive in the future?

Experts say there will still be opportunities ahead in everything from teaching to hotels and the law

Entering the world of work often brings some uncertainty, but now there is another question: how can I AI-proof my career?

We asked people from across various industries what they think the impact of AI will be on careers, and which jobs may be less affected. While it is still early days for the tech, many had ideas about how you can best prepare yourself for a successful career in this new world.

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11th July 2026 11:00
The Guardian
‘‘It’s difficult for children to avoid the temptation of screens’: Soumayan Biswas’s best phone picture

The photographer was looking for inspiration near his home in West Bengal when he spotted a girl lying near a tangle of fishing nets

In the Hooghly district of West Bengal, just a short walk from his home, photographer Soumayan Biswas found himself circling the edges of a large village pond, searching – as he often does – for “stories”. He remembers that the weather was “cloudy that day, and the wind was light”. It was the kind of muted afternoon when your attention is sharpened.

The story appeared in the form of Sabana, a 12-year-old student lying beside a tangle of fishing nets. Biswas had never met her before and, while spending some time around her, was struck by how absorbed she was in her phone.

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11th July 2026 10:00
The Guardian
Mitch McConnell mystery deepens as health questions remain unanswered

Senator’s office has released only sparse details about hospital stay, leaving fevered speculation to fill vacuum

Mystery surrounding Senator Mitch McConnell’s health is deepening as the US Congress prepares to return from recess next week.

McConnell, 84, has not been seen in public since he was admitted to hospital in the Washington area on 14 June. Nearly a month later, the Kentucky Republican’s office has released only sparse updates, saying he is “continuing to improve” and remains engaged with Senate business, while refusing to disclose the nature of his illness or explain why he remains hospitalised.

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11th July 2026 09:00
The Guardian
My holiday from hell: I wanted to go zipwiring and eat chips. But my mum insisted we find the ‘real’ Mallorca

My sister and I were enjoying our all-inclusive getaway, but my mum hated forced fun and sitting by the pool. So we went off exploring in the searing heat. Our hike through the island’s building sites didn’t end well

Package holidays weren’t yet a thing people did, in 1983 or 84, and Mallorca hadn’t completely become itself, but wasn’t unspoilt either. Me, nine, my sister, 11, and my mum, 46, would have been early adopters of the all-inclusive getaway, if in any sense my mum had arrived in an adopting frame of mind. It’s hard to describe the attitude she brought with her without making her sound like a monster, so you just have to fill between the lines with “she had other nice qualities”.

She didn’t like small talk and didn’t like buffets; didn’t like bumptious dads who invited your kids to join theirs; didn’t like nuclear families; and she wasn’t wild about other single-parent families either. She hated sitting by the pool, drinking piña coladas, group activities and any kind of quiz. She had an aversion to forced fun, which she used as cover for her distaste for many other kinds of fun. Me and my sister loved forced fun. We would lose our shit over a cocktail umbrella.

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11th July 2026 09:00
The Guardian
Ben Okri: ‘What happens when we die? We don’t die. We change realms’

The Booker prize-winning novelist on the art of lying for a living, the cosmic force of love, and gargling loudly

Born in Minna, Nigeria, Ben Okri, 67, spent his childhood in Nigeria and London. He published his first novel Flowers and Shadows in 1980 and won the Booker prize in 1991 with The Famished Road. His subsequent work includes Astonishing the Gods, which in 2019 was selected as one of the BBC’s 100 novels “that shaped our world”. In 2023, he was knighted for services to literature. His latest novel, Waking the Warriors, is published on 16 July. He lives with his partner and their child in London.

When were you happiest?
On a train journey to Arcadia many years ago while making a TV documentary.

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11th July 2026 09:00
The Guardian
Pressed for time? 20 brilliant books you can read in a day

From novels by James Baldwin and Han Kang to a guide to quantum physics – a former Booker prize judge recommends immersive one-sitting wonders

A one-sitting read is typically the domain of the short story – a form that largely depends on a reader’s pure, unbroken attention. But there is some­thing special about the intensity of beginning and ending an entire book in a single day. Of all my reading experiences, these have been among the most memorable.

As a judge for last year’s Booker prize, faced with 153 books and just over six months in which to read them, it was my task to try to turn every novel into one that could be read in a day. While I loved the experience, it wasn’t exactly a recipe for satisfying reading.

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11th July 2026 08:00
The Guardian
A swarm of stink bugs and a river of rats: why India’s flowering bamboo causes a crisis for humans

Every few decades mass blooming in Mizoram’s forests causes a rodent boom – and devastation to crops. The cycle is well-known, so why aren’t farmers and authorities better prepared?

In the hills of Mizoram state in north-east India, the first thing that farmers notice are the swarms of stink bugs, known locally as thangnang. It can mean only one thing: the rats are coming. And with them, famine.

As dawn breaks in Mamit district, Maunsanga, a 62-year-old farmer, walks across his plot, stopping where his rice crop once stood. He bends down to examine a broken stalk.

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11th July 2026 08:00
The Guardian
The World Cup has upended the old world order – and despite Trump and Infantino, it still inspires | Simon Tisdall

Even White House interference and Fifa’s greed cannot spoil the celebrations. At last, an arena in which multiculturalism triumphs and underdogs score

Of all the outrageous things Donald Trump has done, from bombing other countries to appeasing dictators, his sneaky interference in last week’s USA v Belgium World Cup match sparked by far the most united and furious reaction across the world. Condemnation was all but universal. Trump’s cheating heart cannot understand the unmatched, ubiquitous power that the “beautiful game” exercises over ordinary lives everywhere. It massively surpasses his own. The world truly loves football. It doesn’t love him. And then USA lost the match anyway. Karma. This modern morality play joyously illuminated the limits of authoritarianism.

In an age dominated by overbearing, illiberal economic and military powers, the men’s World Cup is upending the conventional geopolitical pecking order and power balances in refreshing and instructive ways. In this alternative universe, smaller nations – and ordinary people – can and often do get a bigger shout. Despite huge state investment in all aspects of the game, China again failed to qualify. Russia, never much good at football in the first place, was kicked out after invading Ukraine. And despite all Trump’s Maga hooliganism, the US remains soccer small fry. So much for superpowers.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

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11th July 2026 07:00
The Guardian
‘A new consumer’: how weight-loss drugs are shaking up clothes shopping

As they slim down, UK and US users of GLP-1 jabs and pills are changing their spending habits – and their wardrobes

“I’m now at a point where I’m going to buy even more clothes,” says Hayley Grice, 50, from Shropshire, who has dropped seven sizes after starting on the GLP-1 weight loss jab Mounjaro two years ago. “I’m very happy with my physique right now.”

Grice, the financial director of a business she set up with her husband, tried gastric bypass surgery in 2009, but put most of the weight back on, and had been between UK dress sizes 26 and 28 (US sizes 22 and 24) all her adult life.

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11th July 2026 07:00
The Guardian
‘Spermageddon’: is the world facing a male reproductive crisis?

Reports of falling sperm counts and testosterone levels have fuelled fears over chemicals, pollution and modern lifestyles. But how much do scientists agree on what is affecting male fertility?

The world is unwittingly walking into a male reproductive crisis, scientists warned this week as they presented data that revealed an apparent halving of average male testosterone levels over the past 50 years.

“It is mind-blowing that testosterone has declined by 50%,” Prof Hagai Levine, who led the work, told the Guardian. “This is a lot. Wake up people. Wake up.”

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11th July 2026 06:09
The Guardian
Casual by Chappell Roan helped me ditch dead-end relationships

After years of one-sided commitment, revisiting her hit song Casual finally gave me a reality check

‘Sadie,” I say. “I would call our daughter Sadie. Or I like Leo for a boy.” I’ve been on the phone for two and a half hours, speaking about our hypothetical children to a man who has explicitly said that he does not want a relationship. At the same time, he’s said things like: “I told my mum about you. She wants to meet you.” When he makes those comments, I can’t help dreaming – in the words of a certain song – of us in a year: maybe we’ll have an apartment, and he’d show me off to his friends at the pier?

That’s the fantasy Chappell Roan imagines in her 2022 hit Casual. My own vision looks a little different: instead of a pier there is an apartment (where the now familiar sound of his key in the door still excites me), and his friends say things like: “I’ve never seen him act like this with anyone else before.” But crucially, in this fantasy, we’ve made a commitment to each other. The first time I heard Casual, I was in a committed relationship. I listened to it often, singing along loudly in the bedroom I shared with my boyfriend to “Knee deep in the passenger seat, and you’re eating me out”. (Roan was nervous about that line – “it’s crass,” she said – but fans loved it.) I also loved the song’s sense of unrequited yearning, but I couldn’t really relate to it. Not yet.

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11th July 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Lucky: Anya Taylor-Joy is undeniably cool in this explosive tale of cons, revenge and ass-kicking

Leapfrogging the roofs of lorries, slipping in and out of different personae to evade capture, The Queen’s Gambit star is audacious in this reluctant last stand drama

This is a story about a girl named Lucky. Early morning, she wakes up – knock, knock, knock, on the door. It’s the FBI, and they’re pursuing her across the country because she’s stolen $10m. Don’t make the mistake I did, imagining this new Apple TV thriller (from Wednesday), starring Anya Taylor-Joy, to be a dramatisation of the song Lucky by Britney Spears. I’ve tried to find a connection between the two and, as you can see, it’s a stretch.

The seven-part show falls into the “one last heist” genre – but intriguingly, starts the morning after it. Our antiheroine stands on the roof of a Las Vegas casino hotel, having successfully stolen millions, toasting to a new, legitimate life. Within hours, Lucky appears to have been betrayed by the man she loves. She’s forced to run, penniless, from both the authorities and the murderous enforcers of a crime boss – who are collecting on a different debt incurred by her career criminal father. I guess what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay there.

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11th July 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Summer on the Slovenian Riviera

The country’s coastline is one of the shortest in Europe, but it packs a punch with unspoilt nature reserves, vibrant Venetian towns and a thriving foodie scene

I’m riding a salt-coloured horse through the Dragonja valley, deep in the green hills of Slovenian Istria. Electric-blue dragonflies zip over the river as we gallop past olive trees and vineyards. The landscape rises steeply in a series of grassy terraces, and at the top of the hill we rein in the sweating horses to take in the view. Far below, the huge grids of solinas (salt pans), glittery and light-blue in the early morning light, look strange and somehow elegant against the wild, expansive sea beyond.

The Istrian peninsula is the largest in the Adriatic Sea, with 90% of it in Croatia and smaller portions in Slovenia and Italy. I’ve come to explore the Slovenian section. At just 29 miles (47km), the country’s coastline is one of the shortest in Europe, from the Italian city of Trieste down to the Croatian border, but it boasts colourful seaside towns, hilltop villages and an emerging gastronomy scene.

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11th July 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Lizzo answers her critics: ‘I’m a fat, black, happy girl – they were always going to try to tear me down’

Three years ago, the pop star was riding high after a sellout tour. But then a slew of shocking accusations from her former dancers changed everything. Where does she go from here?

On 30 July 2023, Lizzo finished a 10-month world tour. She had played 80 shows across North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia, selling more than 853,000 tickets and grossing $86.3m. The rapper turned pop star was on top of the world. Then everything came crashing down.

Two days later, three of her former dancers alleged that they had been subject to sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, religious and racial discrimination and fat-shaming on the tour. Two had been sacked, and one resigned. After the accusations, there was a huge pile-on from mainstream media and social media. And it seems to have gone on ever since. Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson, disappeared. We were told that she was busy recording the follow-up to her huge hit album Special. But there were also rumours that she’d had a terrible breakdown.

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11th July 2026 05:00
The Guardian
Ryanair has axed its family seating policy – but kids’ fees still add up

The airfare for a baby on your lap could cost more than your own ticket. Here’s how airline charges and travel taxes can hit you

Ryanair recently stopped making parents pay to sit next to their children but depending on the airline the hidden extra costs involved in flying with children can be substantial. In some cases, you can even end up spending more for the baby on your lap than you paid for your own flight.

Your baby might not need a seat, but you are still likely to pay fees for them to travel. Some airlines offer discounts for children over two, while others whack families with the cost of a full-grown adult.

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11th July 2026 05:00