Colombia v Portugal: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽️ Kick-off time: 7.30pm EDT/12.30am BST/9.30am AEST
⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Group tables | Mail Beau
⚽️ DR Congo v Uzbekistan – live updates from Group K

Peep! We’re off. Colombia in their typical yellow; Portugal in red. Nice change of pace from all the third jerseys we’ve been seeing here.

The teams observe a moment of silence for the 1,400 dead in the earthquake in Venezuela. Fans do not. Come on, folks. We don’t even do a full minute in the USA. You can be quiet for about 15 seconds.

DR Congo v Uzbekistan: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽️ Kick-off time: 7.30pm EDT/12.30am BST/9.30am AEST
⚽️ Third-place table | Player guide | Group tables | Mail Bryan
⚽️ Colombia v Portugal – live updates also in Group K

3 min DR Congo fashion their first attack. Wissa, the goal-scorer against Portugal, drops deep to collect before trying his luck from range, but he drags his shot well wide.

1 min After a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquakes in Venezuela, we’re off and running. Uzbekistan kick off and are attacking from left to right in their all-white kits, while DR Congo go from right to left in the all-red strips.

Historian retraces Underground Railroad to mark America's 250-year journey

Anthony Cohen has spent his life bringing attention to the Underground Railroad, secret routes once used by enslaved people seeking freedom.

Retracing and remembering the Underground Railroad route

As the U.S. prepares to mark 250 years since its start, one man is making sure Americans remember and preserve the history of the Underground Railroad. Jericka Duncan has the story.

Hezbollah's leader rejects U.S.-Israeli brokered ceasefire

The leader of Hezbollah rejected the U.S.-Israel-brokered ceasefire. The deal would require Hezbollah to disarm, which Holly Williams reports would be difficult.

Steve Clarke resigns as Scotland head coach after elimination from World Cup 2026

• Clarke goes weeks after signing new four-year contract

• ‘Thanks for having me and good luck to my successor’

Steve Clarke has resigned as Scotland’s head coach, with the decision announced within an hour of confirmation the country had been eliminated from the World Cup. Clarke, who had been in post since 2019, signed a four-year contract extension shortly before the tournament. The manner of Scotland’s exit has led to a sharp rethink from the 62-year-old.

History will treat Clarke very favourably as a Scotland manager. After an absence from major tournaments stretching back to 1998, the team reached the 2021 and 2024 European Championships under him. This World Cup was a first for Scotland in 28 years.

Video shows Boeing 777 making very low pass over Texas airfield

Data from FlightRadar24 showed the plane was no more than 25 feet above the ground during the low pass as it approached the Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center airport.

Croatia snatch second by beating Ghana but both through to World Cup knockout stage

It had been another rainy day in Philadelphia but that didn’t spoil the party. Sixty-eight thousand people in ponchos were still able to enjoy an intriguing contest defined by cracking goals, and one where both teams left the field happy. For Croatia, there was second place in Group L and a reminder that they remain a serious team. For Ghana, there was progress to the knockout rounds for the first time since 2010 and even some full-throttle attacking, for a few minutes at least.

There were questions over what incentive either team would have to give their all. A goalless draw appeared to give each a good chance of progression through Fifa’s intricate qualification matrix. Croatia would have finished third, but with a potentially preferable route, Ghana would have finished in second place behind England. It would have been a nice and cosy settlement; but Croatia weren’t up for it.

Four people have died from flash floods in Kentucky, governor says

Floods caused by thunderstorms that have dumped inches of rain on Kentucky and Indiana, with more possible

Andy Beshear, the Kentucky governor, says four people have died as a result of flash floods from thunderstorms that have brought as much as 7in (18cm) of rain to the state.

Beshear confirmed the four deaths in a social media post, noting three people were from Madison county and one was from Jackson county. “Please join Britainy and me as we pray for their families during this difficult time,” Beshear said.

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.

Fatboy Slim says he felt paralysed at prospect of DJing sober after rehab

Speaking on Desert Island Discs, the Grammy-nominated musician referred to his alcoholism as a parasite

Fatboy Slim has said he felt paralysed and “rigid with fear” at the prospect of DJing sober after spending time in rehab to deal with his alcohol addiction.

The artist, whose real name is Norman Cook, referred to his alcoholism as a parasite and said getting sober was “probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done” during an appearance on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne.

Bellingham and Kane strike as England seal top spot with World Cup win over Panama

England are not going to win the World Cup playing like this. They will not get very far in the knockout rounds unless they can sharpen up. But at least they have made it into them, the dream still alive, after they secured top spot in Group L on a slow-burn occasion when the result meant everything.

Thomas Tuchel needed to restore momentum after the bore draw against Ghana in game two, to rekindle the excitement from the opening game against Croatia, which England won 4-2. The manager wanted to prove a point. It did not really happen and for the opening 45 minutes it was even possible to fear the worst. Were England going to fail to prise apart another obdurate opponent?

U.S. military attacks Iranian targets after commercial tanker hit in the Strait of Hormuz

The attacks come as the United States and Iran are supposed to be engaging in a 60-day ceasefire as they attempt to work toward a resolution.

US says it struck targets in Iran over ‘continued aggression’ against shipping

Strikes come after retaliatory attacks on Friday following a drone strike on cargo ship in strait of Hormuz

The US military has launched further strikes on multiple targets in Iran, the US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed, a day after it had struck Iran in retaliation for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz.

Centcom said its strikes on Saturday were in “direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping”. The US strikes targeted “Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities”, Centcom said in a statement.

Trump nominates former Oklahoma state trooper to head ICE

President Trump nominated Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency hasn't had a Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration.

Second Dan Sullivan eligible for ballot in Alaska Senate race, judge rules

A man with the same name and party affiliation as Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan is eligible to challenge the senator in the August primary, a judge ruled Friday.

England’s Wyatt-Hodge blasts New Zealand out of Women’s T20 World Cup

• Group B: England, 164-1, bt New Zealand, 163-6, by nine wkts

• Opener scores unbeaten 89 to oust defending champions

New Zealand’s World Cup title defence came to a soggy end at the Oval on Saturday night, as England danced home by nine wickets in a one-sided hammering thanks to a 128-run partnership between Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley. The crowd of 21,018 was a record for a Women’s T20 World Cup group-stage match.

England have topped Group B and will more than likely face either India or South Africa in next week’s semi-final, pending the result of Sunday’s Group A clash between Australia and India. The result also means that West Indies have qualified for the semi-finals at New Zealand’s expense.

Spain’s Nico Williams hits out at ‘completely unnecessary’ Uruguay tackle that injured him

• Yéremy Pino has avoided fracture, Spain reveal

• His and Williams’s injuries described as moderate

Spain’s Nico Williams has strongly criticised the “completely unnecessary” tackle by a Uruguay player which left him with another injury. The winger and Yéremy Pino were hurt as qualification for the last 32 came at a heavy price, though the European champions issued a more positive update than expected on the players’ condition.

Spain described the injuries sustained by Pino and Williams as moderate. Pino had been expected to miss the rest of the World Cup and there were concerns they had lost Williams too.

Trump nominates former Oklahoma trooper Lance Schroyer to be ICE director

President Trump on Saturday said he has nominated Lance Schroyer to be the next director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Chelsea interested in Granit Xhaka to reunite midfielder with Xabi Alonso

• Sunderland want to keep former Leverkusen player

• Como have eye on Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah

Chelsea are interested in signing Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka, who was a key player for Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen.

Xhaka, who has two years on his deal, joined Sunderland last summer and played a major role in them qualifying for the Europa League after their promotion to the Premier League.

‘Really good flatmate’: what happens when the love is gone but it costs too much to move out?

The cost of living is putting pressure on relationships – and preventing some couples from properly splitting up

• Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

The separate sleeping arrangement started seven years before the marriage finished. When Mary-Ann’s* hot flushes turned the bed into a furnace, her husband, Bill, moved into another bedroom. For the next two years there was some travel between the bedrooms for the purposes of intimacy. Then that stopped too.

The distance grew after each argument; they took separate holidays and, when Bill inherited money, he separated it from their pooled finances. Mary-Ann says it was clear Bill’s mind was no longer in the marriage – he was what is termed “quiet quitting”. But she acknowledges she was drifting away too, focused on a demanding new job.

The moment I knew: After witnessing trauma at a refugee detention centre, we held each other and cried

First Liza Shaw and Rohan were housemates, then they had a casual relationship. But a protest at Woomera would deepen their emotional connection

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

I met Rohan in 1998 in Lismore, New South Wales, where we were both going to university. Before that, I’d noticed him around town in his sarong and peacock feather earrings. He was distinctive and slightly dandyish, sometimes wearing dresses on campus. I had another partner at the time but our mutual friend introduced us, and Rohan and I became housemates.

We bonded living together and hosting dinner parties, where we’d talk about life and politics well into the night. I was intrigued by his friends. One time Rohan invited a member of the Black Panthers to come and stay at our house.

Venezuela earthquakes: death toll rises again to more than 1,400

Search for survivors continues with nearly 70,000 people reported unaccounted for by their family members

The ⁠death toll ⁠in ⁠the twin ​earthquakes that struck ⁠Venezuela earlier ⁠this ​week ‌has ‌risen to ‌1,430, according to one of the country’s top politicians Jorge Rodríguez.

Another 3,200 ​people were injured ⁠and 3,100 ​left homeless ​by the ​disaster, ​the National Assembly president added, speaking ​on ​state television.

Supersub Foulkes key to New Zealand’s day three turnaround against England

• Zak Foulkes’ three wickets helped restrict England to 354

• Bowler replaced Blair Tickner as concussion sub

Zak Foulkes said that before play on Saturday New Zealand decided to attempt a new method of outfoxing England’s batters: by staying “as boring as possible”. If the process was deliberately dull, the results were electrifying. Having started their first innings on Friday by scoring 223 at 4.96 an over for the loss of just two wickets, the next day England completed it by scoring 131 at 3.02 an over, while losing eight. For the English it was, as Shoaib Bashir put it, “quite disappointing”.

“We just tried to stay as boring as possible really and try to dry out the runs,” said Foulkes. “Yesterday they got off to a fast start and we had to peg it back and peg it back, and we knew if we could dry it up, things could happen in our favour.”

Critical fire weather complicates firefighting efforts in massive Utah wildfire

Firefighters working on the nation's largest current wildfire, burning in southern Utah, are being challenged by historic weather conditions. Extreme wildfire behavior is expected to continue through the weekend.

Utah’s Cottonwood fire spreads overnight to cover 92,000 acres

Firefighters are battling the blaze in Fishlake national park that was stoked by strong winds and low humidity

Hundreds of firefighters in Utah have struggled to suppress a wildfire that scorched an additional 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) as of Saturday, as low humidity and strong winds accelerated the fire spread, according to state officials.

The Cottonwood fire erupted on Monday in the Fishlake national forest, located in central Utah. The blaze intensified overnight, growing from about 70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) to more than 92,000 acres (37,000 hectares) on Saturday morning, according to the US Forest Service. The fire is at a 0% containment level and is the largest blaze currently burning in the US, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Utah declares emergency, limits fireworks as crews battle largest U.S. wildfire

Utah is restricting fireworks as the largest wildfire in the nation grows, fueled by dry conditions and gusting winds.

UK minister working up plans for state-owned housing developer

Exclusive: Steve Reed is looking at government run scheme that could borrow at lower rates than private developers

The housing secretary has been working up plans for a state-owned housing developer, according to details leaked to the Guardian, as the government looks for ways to stimulate stubbornly low rates of housebuilding.

Steve Reed has been looking at proposals to set up a new state-owned developer which could borrow at lower rates than private developers and housing associations, according to plans leaked to the Guardian.

Sinner and Sabalenka lead players’ protests at Wimbledon over prize money share

• Players limit time given to media in first week

• Sabalenka: ‘We do it for the tour, we don’t for ourselves’

The world’s leading players were true to their word, or lack of them, at Wimbledon on Saturday as they duly limited their media appearances to 15 minutes. It was part of a continued effort in their quest for the grand slam events to give them more prize money as a share of tournament revenue, plus investment in pensions and more money toward player welfare.

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1s, led the way, while Jessica Pegula suggested the protests, which players say will happen throughout the first week of the championships, are also likely to continue at the US Open, which takes place in New York in August.

California officials unearth 117 dog bodies, many with bullet fragments, at ‘no-kill’ shelter

Police say they also found more than 600 dog collars in area where they suspect animals were killed

Investigators uncovered 117 dead dogs at a northern California animal rescue sanctuary, with many of the canine remains having evidence of gunshots.

Miranda’s Rescue, a sanctuary outside Fortuna, California, described itself as a “no-kill” facility. Investigators said the organization accepted hundreds of dogs each year from shelters across the San Francisco Bay Area in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding.

Russell snatches controversial F1 Austrian GP pole after Verstappen’s late crash

• Mighty lap seals pole amid yellow flags in closing seconds

• Russell confident he can beat championship leader Antonelli

The moment of triumph hung briefly in the balance for George Russell in claiming pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix, but with the British driver bullish and ebullient after what was a mighty lap under dramatic circumstances, for him at least, there was never any doubt.

At the very sharp end of the final moments of qualifying, Russell was hurtling round the track after Max Verstappen when the Dutchman was too hot into turn nine, lost the rear and scythed across the gravel into the wall. In front of them, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had finished their laps as the single yellow flags were immediately waved.

Wildlife photographer shares the beauty of Yellowstone National Park through his lens

In the series "USA to Z," which celebrates 250 years of American history and culture, Kelly O'Grady sits down with wildlife photographer Tom Murphy to talk about Yellowstone National Park and the importance of preservation.

Germany and Italy swelter in heatwave as records tumble across Europe

Denmark experiences highest temperature on record on Saturday as weather system spreads eastward

• Europe heatwave – latest updates

Germany ⁠and Italy endured sweltering conditions on Saturday as a heatwave linked to dozens of deaths in western Europe spread eastwards, after temperatures broke records above 40C (104F).

Denmark registered its highest temperature on record on Saturday, according to the Danish meteorological institute. “With 36.6C north of Odense, we have the warmest day ever since measurements began in 1874,” it said in a post on X.

GB News pundit charged with fraud during time as Labour adviser

Exclusive: Matthew Torbitt faces two counts of fraud by false representation in relation to travel and expense claims

A prominent political commentator has been charged with fraud in relation to his time as a Labour adviser, the Guardian can reveal.

Matthew Torbitt, a regular guest pundit on GB News, faces two counts of fraud by false representation in relation to his travel and expenses claims while working in parliament.

The AI bubble has further to run despite the looming crash

As tech firms make huge profits and investors fear losing out, both are doing their best to hold off the day of reckoning

• OpenAI staggers AI model release after White House request

Every couple of decades, investors will ask themselves how long can the stock market keep climbing. Is it safe to buy more shares? Is their pension or equity portfolio vulnerable should financial markets, and especially those in the US, come crashing down to earth?

When stock markets rise to historically high levels – and beyond the level when normal profits can sustain share prices – a few “experts” typically warn of an impending crash.

U.S. strikes Iran after Trump accuses Tehran of ceasefire violation in Strait of Hormuz

The attack comes as the United States and Iran are supposed to be engaging in a 60-period of no hostilities as they hold talks to end their war.

Fireworks sales soar ahead of Fourth of July

Backyard fireworks sales in the U.S. have skyrocketed this year. Meanwhile, gas and ground beef prices remain high.

Appeals court rejects Trump EPA bid to abandon rule restricting deadly soot pollution

Decision leaves in place Biden-era standard on pollution from coal-fired plants, factories and other industrial sources

A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to abandon a Biden-era rule that sets tough standards for deadly soot pollution.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel is a setback for the Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda and its repeated efforts to boost coal, a reliable but polluting energy source.

‘Like a dead body’: after warehouse fire, LA residents say air thick with smell of rotting food

Cleanup under way after week-long fire at a Boyle Heights facility spoiled tens of millions of pounds of frozen food

Something is rotten in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

For a week, thick black smoke filled the air while a massive warehouse burned near downtown Los Angeles, prompting a state of emergency and evacuation orders in the immediate area as air quality worsened. Firefighters finally extinguished the flames on Wednesday, but not before half the warehouse’s 85m lbs of frozen food were lost in the fire – leaving roughly 40m lbs of food to rot.

6/27: CBS Saturday Morning

The U.S. launched retaliatory strikes on Iran on Friday. Meanwhile, Venezuelans search for earthquake survivors and Europeans are battling a deadly heat wave.

Uzbekistan makes its World Cup debut, a first for Central Asia

The country is the first Central Asian nation to qualify for the World Cup, and Uzbek fans have reveled in showcasing their country and culture. The country's president calls the team a symbol of the "new Uzbekistan."

Red Lobster's Ultimate Endless Shrimp promotion is described as a 'car crash' for the company, lawsuit says

"Thai Union doubled down on a campaign to squeeze out every drop of value that it could," creditors said

The memory shortage shaking Apple and Microsoft is 'existential crisis' for smaller players

While Apple and Microsoft raise prices on key devices to help cover the soaring costs of memory, smaller consumer electronics companies are in dire straits.

Copenhagen on a plate: eat and drink your way around with our expert picks

Insider knowledge of the Danish capital’s food scene: four chefs (and our head of food) share their favourite spots

• Where Copenhagen leads, the food world still follows

It has to be Københavns Bageri; they upgrade beloved Danish classics using the best ingredients. The cardamom buns are second to none, but the “potato cake” – that’s a choux bun filled with vanilla custard and topped with a cocoa-dusted marzipan disc to resemble a potato – might be my favourite. MF

For bread, go to Tír Bakery in the morning and stand in line – they sell out every day, but their bread is the best. For croissants, go to Bageriet B and sit outside and enjoy a good filter coffee. TH

Australia to double penalty for social media ban breaches to $99m as tech giants accused of ‘not doing enough’

Prime minister Anthony Albanese says too many children still on platforms but he is ‘heartened’ by world-leading law

• Social media bans go global: big tech faces a reckoning after Australia’s crackdown

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The federal government will double the penalty for breaches of Australia’s youth social media ban to $99m, arguing tech companies are “not doing enough” to keep children off harmful social media sites.

And the eSafety commissioner, now investigating potential breaches of the law by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, will have its information-gathering powers strengthened under proposed further reforms.

The UFC match plot: how a far-right group tried to assassinate Trump at his own event

Court files show how men connected through TikTok and encrypted apps planned attack on White House UFC fight

When Tycen Proper, 19, finished high school, his family gave him at least $3,000 of “graduation money”, according to court documents. Despite the generosity, he seemed content to just live at his parents’ home, in a tiny Ohio town near Amish country, and spend more and more time on the internet.

But Proper did have ambition of a kind, an affidavit says. He quit his job to focus on a special project that he was planning with friends from the internet. His mother saw him studying maps of Washington DC. He also put his graduation money into investments that made his father uneasy: a rifle, a shotgun, body armor, ammunition.

The UFC fighter who mocked Michelle Obama claims it was all a compliment | Arwa Mahdawi

Clearly, the former first lady should have been flattered by the remark at the White House cage match

Michelle Obama should feel honoured, apparently.

Do you know what the greatest compliment you can give a woman is? It’s not telling her she’s smart or kind or funny. No, it’s calling her a man. After all, what could be better than being a man?

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Opinion: Ranch dressing is a winner at the World Cup games

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on the popularity of ranch dressing among international visitors to the U.S. during the World Cup games.

Police arrived to arrest her father for sexual abuse. But he was making it all up

Mark described abusing his daughter in a chatroom. Then it turned out nothing he had posted was true – and he walked free. With ‘fantasy abuse’ on the rise, can Emily and her mother win their fight to make it illegal?

For the first 20 years of her life, Emily had what she thought was a “completely normal” relationship with her dad, Mark. “He was an ordinary man,” she says. “A good dad. We were really close.” Then one morning, police officers arrived at her family home to arrest him for sexually abusing her. Emily wasn’t there. “I had just moved out to live with friends and start my first proper job,” she explains, “but the police didn’t know that. They were trying to protect me.” Emily is telling this story two years on, with her mum, Fiona, by her side. They are close, supporting each other during this difficult conversation, finishing each other’s sentences.

When Fiona heard the door go at 7am, she had just got up. “I wasn’t even fully dressed,” she says. “It sounds stupid but I had just got on an exercise bike so I was in a T-shirt and pants. I looked out of the bedroom window and saw eight people on the doorstep. They weren’t in uniform but they looked official. They had lanyards on and a dog with them.

Trump administration partially lifts export ban on Anthropic's most advanced AI model

The U.S. government is asserting a new level of influence over AI, controlling which companies can access Anthropic's new models. OpenAI agreed to let the administration screen users of its new model.

David Hencke, Guardian journalist who exposed cash-for-questions scandal, dies aged 79

Former Westminster correspondent earned a reputation for uncovering political wrongdoing in the 1990s

The acclaimed journalist David Hencke, whose career at the Guardian spanned more than three decades, has died of liver cancer aged 79.

As Westminster correspondent, Hencke was instrumental in exposing the cash-for-questions scandal that forced the resignations of two Conservative ministers, and the scoop that led to Peter Mandelson’s first resignation from government.

Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness review – a total TV shambles from Larry David

There are glimpses of the Curb star at his razor-like best here – but they are desperately few. It’s mainly worth watching for the immaculate Obama intro

It is always an emotional blow to see former US president Barack Obama pop up on one’s screen. The Instagram algorithm sends me a lot of him, because it knows I always click on him being charming with babies, statesmanlike in speeches, cool at rallies, articulate and witty at anything, endlessly composed, compassionate, intelligent, handsome, thoughtful – a fully functioning adult human, if you want the short version. The algorithm does not know that I jack-knife in pain before I click and weep softly at how far we – the US sneezed, but the UK has surely caught a cold – have fallen.

And then he turns up at the beginning of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: an Almost History of America (one of the offspring of his and Michelle’s TV company, Higher Ground Productions) to remind us that on top of all that he also has immaculate comic timing. As he walks through what I assume is the new Barack Obama Presidential Center, he modulates his performance so beautifully that I almost began to softly weep again. If I’d known what a shambles was to follow after this masterclass, I would have sobbed.

Best thing I ever ate? Dim sum in Happy Gathering, a small Chinese corner of Wales

Heaven is a round table in a favourite Cardiff restaurant, and dainty dim sum tucked inside bamboo baskets

Whenever someone asks what my death row meal would be, I say dim sum without fail. It’s cheating, I know; a loophole where you don’t have to choose. I’ve spent more time thinking about it than I’d like to admit, but what I love most about dim sum is that you never have the same experience twice – a bit like snowflakes, no two are ever the same.

Dim sum covers all bases – there’s no settling on one thing: it’s a chance to sample everything as you work your way through the menu. It doesn’t fit neatly into starters, mains and desserts, but exists as its own genre, borderless and all-encompassing. It’s overwhelming, loud and chaotic for first-timers; an assault on all the senses, but in the best way.

Forget crumbling democracy: America’s biggest crisis is a stagnant, murky pool | Dave Schilling

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is a painful metaphor for the state of our union

When you hear the word “pool” in these sun-baked days of summer, you might think of taking a cheeky dip in the water to cool off the skin that is conspicuously peeling off your haggard body. Everyone (except me) loves a pool. Donald Trump really loves a pool, but not the kind you can swim in. Or stand too close to. Or enjoy at all, really.

The state of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool rehabilitation effort has become the primary crisis affecting the United States. That is, if you ask the current administration. Limiting the right to vote is running a close second in the World Cup of Political Football, but it’s the reflecting pool that is attracting the most fervent attention. As emergencies go, it’s as thrilling as watching a really large body of still water in the middle of a park. The paint is peeling and it’s full of green algae.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

The Uplift: The American Dream

We celebrate the United States ahead of its 250th anniversary with stories about American heroes and pastimes. The founder of e.l.f. Cosmetics shares how he made a massive life change to become a Catholic priest.

If a Lyme disease vaccine gets approved, how would it go over? We asked hunters

Drugmakers are working on a potential new shot to prevent the tick-borne illness. How might it fare in the era of vaccine skepticism?

Letlow, Fleming face off for Cassidy's seat in Louisiana GOP Senate runoff

Louisianans are voting Saturday in the state's Republican Senate runoff, as two candidates vie to replace Sen. Bill Cassidy, who did not receive enough votes in the primary to advance.

Sam Lau on clever ways to cut costs at a wedding – cartoon

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How coach Mauricio Pochettino made believers out of the U.S. World Cup team

Pochettino was the biggest name the U.S. men's soccer team had ever hired. His rebuild was bumpy at times — but now, with the U.S. headed to the World Cup knockout stage, the players are all in.

As Supreme Court expands Trump's immigration power, experts warn of steeper U.S. population decline

The U.S. population was already aging and tilting toward decline. After the Supreme Court confirmed Trump's power to deport hundreds of thousands of foreign migrants, population decline could accelerate.

Inside a secretive Ukrainian team launching deep drone strikes at Russia

Ukraine's long-range drones are striking deep inside Russia, up to 1,200 miles away, hitting oil refineries and depots. NPR recently spent time with one of the Ukrainian strike teams launching drones at Russian targets.

Haunted hooks and bone-chilling screams: how Chanel Beads became the indie breakout of the year

Tipped by Lorde and Billie Eilish, the New York musician twists sublime folk and chaotic synths into bewitching new shapes

At first Shane Lavers can’t get through. Then he’s on video call but I cannot speak. When we finally make a clear connection over the phone, I can hear that he’s surrounded by nature, with faint snatches of birdsong at the edge of his measured, slightly gravelly speech. The musician who performs both in and as Chanel Beads (it remains unclear even to its core members whether they’re a band or a solo project) is on location shooting a music video somewhere on the coast of North Carolina. Encountering him as a disembodied voice, never mind one competing with worldly twittering and chirping, somehow feels more fitting than it would for most other musicians.

For years, Lavers has honed in on a cryptic, panoramic sound that ricochets from catchy, shout-along rock music to flare-ups of dissonant experimental noise. If the typical payoff of a pop song is to encapsulate a clear emotional arch in three-minute, verse-chorus structures, the appeal of a Chanel Beads track is much more unwieldy. Earlier singles such as Ef, Police Scanner and Male Friendship flicker in and out of focus, establishing a ground-floor of groove, only for Lavers and his bandmates to upend it with swelling strings, chiming guitar and ear-splitting samples. Lyrically, his songwriting gathers around an unstable emotional core that is so dense in its unspoken feeling that it manages to achieve an aching kind of orbit. It’s Lavers’s great talent to handle all of that swirling intensity while keeping everything suspended in the air.

This mindset shift can help you get better at using up your leftovers

Don't let your leftovers go to waste. Cookbook authors share clever storage techniques — like an "Eat Me First" box in your fridge — and cooking tricks to help you make the most of your food scraps.

Gracie the giraffe who wandered off in Texas found safe – for real this time

Animal who went missing from private ranch for nearly two weeks had been falsely reported as found earlier in the week

A giraffe who absconded from a private game ranch in rural Texas and effectively went missing for nearly two weeks was found safe on Friday just a few miles away from the homestead, according to authorities.

An aerial search ultimately pinpointed the whereabouts of Gracie “the w[a]ndering giraffe”, said Nathan Johnson, the Real county sheriff, in a Facebook post announcing the success of efforts to find the creature.

Dave Eggers: ‘Once you have a machine think and write for you, you’re cooked as a species’

As his new novel is published, the US author talks about nurturing the next generation of creatives, debating Sam Altman – and why he writes on a boat in San Francisco Bay

At Dave Eggers’s suggestion, we’re starting the interview by life drawing together. The novelist dropped out of art school but has been drawing for decades, and his new book is set in the art world. Prudence, our model, stands before us with her palms open, nude but for a pair of black knee-high socks. This, unsurprisingly, is an interview first for me. Eggers shows me how to hold my pencil at arm’s length and use my thumb to measure Prudence’s proportions. Since the pandemic, he’s been organising regular life‑drawing sessions in the book-lined offices of McSweeney’s, the publishing house and literary journal he founded in San Francisco in 1998. He loves the element of chance in figure drawing – you never know which sketch will work out – and believes it helps cultivate empathy.

How so, asks Prudence, helpfully interviewing him for me, because I’ve been thrown off my game. “I feel like in three hours of drawing a human, you learn so much about them and there is so much affection that comes from carefully trying to get them right,” he says.

Screen time can damage under-twos’ development, landmark study suggests

Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices

Screen time for babies and toddlers under the age of two has been linked with long-term negative effects on health and quality of life and should be avoided, according to a landmark study.

It warns that using screens during that period may lead to wide-ranging developmental concerns and calls for further urgent investigation of the risks smartphones, tablets and other digital devices pose to infants.

Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: only Larry David would have the titanium balls to pull this off

It’s Curb Your Enthusiasm in britches and bonnets, poking hole after hole in American lore – and it’s so audacious it will make your jaw drop. Brace yourself!

‘I hear America singing,” wrote Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass. He didn’t say that the song was “USA! USA!” backed by a klaxon and accompanied by a foam finger. For a country evangelical about its superiority, there is a dark and sizable underbelly they would prefer to ignore. A pretty big overbelly, too. Yet every society has its truth tellers – and they’re generally obnoxious types who can’t let things go.

Who better to educate America on its history, then, than Larry David? Loads of people. But none of them have a series on HBO, executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America reimagines key scenes from 250 years of US history, as if they were a series of rapidly escalating, socially awkward celebrations of epic pettiness. In other word, it’s Curb Your Enthusiasm in britches and bonnets. I’m excited.

Where Copenhagen leads, the food world still follows

Two decades after chefs rewrote the rules at Noma, Copenhagen’s food scene still flies the flag for seasonality and innovation – progressive, sustainable and uniquely Danish

I didn’t realise I was a fussy eater until I left Denmark. During 12 years of living Danishly, with regular trips to the capital, I just … liked most things. Danes specialise in high-quality, organic produce, eaten as close to its natural state as possible. Denmark has very specific, diverse climatic conditions, making seasonal eating a science. Forget root vegetables in autumn and strawberries in summer – we’re talking micro seasons, week to week, with cabbage, kale, apples, potatoes, berries and rye a speciality. None are around for long, but when they are, they’re fabulous – and the seasonal Nordic diet has been proven to be as healthy as the renowned Mediterranean diet and better for the planet. No wonder Copenhageners look so smug.

But the city’s food scene hasn’t always been so good. Many who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s report being reared on canned food and frozen vegetables, with pork and potatoes, smørrebrød (open sandwiches) or junk food making up much of the offerings. (You’re never far from a pølservogn, or “hot dog wagon”, in Copenhagen – doling out bright red wieners baked in their own bready prophylactic.)

The Guide #249: As Glastonbury has a fallow year, here’s why more much-loved culture should down tools

In this week’s newsletter: The festival always comes back fresher after allowing Worthy Farm to recover from its yearly musical extravaganza. Star Wars and Charli xcx could learn a thing or two

In any other year this week’s Guide would be arriving into your inbox from Worthy Farm, home of Glastonbury festival. Not in 2026 though: for the first time since the Covid pandemic, which poleaxed two consecutive years of the festival, Glasto is a no-show. The reason? It has booked in one of its occasional fallow years, which allows the dairy farmland on which the festival sits a chance to recover from a half decade of camping, trampling and moshing. It also gives its organisers a rare window to recharge their batteries and plan for the festival’s future, and its detractors a year off from declaring its headliners “the worst ever”, again.

For long-term Glasto-goers, it’s always bittersweet when the fallow year rolls around – the last was in 2018 – but this year it does feel like a bullet dodged, given that the event would have landed bang in the middle of a truly dangerous heatwave (my face, and many others, would have turned a previously undiscovered shade of beetroot). And moreover, the fallow year often works a treat: when the festival returns the year after, it tends to be re-energised, with new stages, stronger lineups and well rested people running the show.

How do dolphins’ blowholes work and how fast do clouds travel? The kids’ quiz

Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes

• ​Submit a question

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.

Australian man arrested in Thailand after 17-year-old’s body found in suitcase

The 46-year-old was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to board a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to police and local media

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An Australian man has been arrested at a Thai airport in connection with the alleged murder of a 17-year-old girl whose naked body was found in a suitcase, according to local police.

The man, 46, was stopped at about 9.30pm on Friday while preparing to travel on a Jetstar flight to Perth, according to local media.

‘I understand why some people think I’m a bitch’: world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka on screaming, stunt matches, and why she’s much nicer off court

Last month she had a post-defeat meltdown and insisted she was done with tennis. On the eve of Wimbledon, she talks about what really happened – and why her ‘aggressive’ face gives people the wrong impression

It’s less than a month since Aryna Sabalenka told the world that she felt like walking away from tennis. The world No 1 had suffered an almighty implosion. Sabalenka is as famous for her implosions as she is for her on-court ferocity. But this was a different level.

She had been playing at her imperious best in the French Open, one of tennis’s four major tournaments. Winner after winner from the back of the court, and when she bullied her opponents back to the baseline she’d dupe them with the most delicate drop-shot. In the last 16 against Naomi Osaka she looked invincible. And then came the quarter-final. By now, all her main rivals were out. The 28-year-old had a clear path through to winning her fifth grand slam singles title. Again, she was playing well against the world’s No 25, Diana Shnaider. Sabalenka won the first set easily, 6-3, and was 5-3 up in the second set. Victory was an inevitability. And then it happened. One game lost. Then another. And another. The wind had picked up, playing conditions got ever worse, the organisers failed to close the roof. And Sabalenka was walloping shot after shot out of court.

Venice protest planned for US ambassador’s superyacht visit

Activists aim to repeat disruption of Jeff Bezos’s wedding when billionaire Tilman Fertitta drops anchor

Protesters in Venice are planning to disrupt a visit by the billionaire US ambassador to Italy in his 117-metre superyacht, which they fear he plans to dock in the lagoon city.

“We ruined the party for Jeff Bezos’s wedding last year – this year let’s ruin the ambassador’s tour!” said Stella Faye, a 28-year-old researcher and activist, at a meeting of about 40 demonstrators on Thursday.

Blind date: ‘She seemed to like me, but I’ve been wrong about this kind of thing before’

Philip, 74, an antiquarian book dealer, meets Carol, 66, who is retired

What were you hoping for?
Reciprocated love at first sight (I don’t ask for much in this life). To meet a kindred spirit who might even become a partner.

People in Britain used to agree to disagree. Since Brexit, they no longer dare to talk about difficult things | Elif Shafak

Studies suggest the country is more divided than ever – but we won’t come together unless we begin to talk rationally and calmly

• Read more from the Brexit Vote: 10 Years On series

When I first moved to England, nearly two decades ago, I was invited to attend a talk in London on “the future of British identity”. It was a heated debate from the start, and it became all the more intense when the subject of putting colonial history in the school curriculum was raised. The two main speakers held opposite views and they traded barbs wrapped in velvet – scathing but polite at the same time. It wasn’t just the particulars of the oratory that stayed with me, but what happened afterwards. When the session was over, I saw the speakers shake hands, and then I heard one of them casually ask the other whether he would like to go for a pint. Off they went looking for a nearby pub, these two men who were at loggerheads on so many issues.

I stood there absorbing what I had just witnessed. That two people with clashing worldviews could still find the openness of heart to share a drink together somehow left a bigger impact on me than anything that had been said that evening. This is because I came from Türkiye, a country of profound political chasms and unhealed social fractures. Equally, I had lived in the US for about five years in the aftermath of 9/11 – writing and teaching in various universities in Boston, Michigan and Arizona, which gave me the chance to observe the deepening fissures between liberal campuses and anti-liberal small towns.

Profound lessons from dog training, the story of the Brexit campaign and France’s struggle with heat-trap homes

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days

Social media bans go global: big tech faces a reckoning after Australia’s crackdown

As a host of countries move to rein in social media use by children, could this be technology’s big tobacco moment?

Do you really need to speak German to take a cooling dip? This row in Halle raises all manner of red flags | Fatma Aydemir

A pool manager invoked safety to bar non-German speakers during the heatwave. With the far right soaring, the move is making everyone less safe

Humans are vulnerable in water. Beaches have red flags; swimming pools have flashy warning signs to remind us of our vulnerability when we just want to cool down in the midst of a searing heatwave. Pool rules are essential, especially when children are around, or tourists who don’t know about the local safety measures. With pictograms and whistling lifeguards, swimming pools usually manage to communicate danger without requiring visitors to pass a language test at the entrance. Until now, that is.

In the eastern German city of Halle, a public swimming lake turned away visitors who did not speak German during one of the hottest weeks of the year. The operator of the Heidebad natural pool at Heidesee lake, Mathias Nobel, argued that people without sufficient language skills may fail to understand the rules and thereby put themselves at risk. He said that as a trained lifeguard, he recently had to rescue a small child without armbands from the water, since the lake, a flooded former opencast mine, had a steeply sloping shoreline.

Buttigieg targeted by fake report to child protective services

Michigan State Police said law enforcement and Child Protective Services confirmed a report against Pete Buttigieg was unsubstantiated and false.

Ukraine war briefing: Russian-occupied Crimea declares ‘emergency’ as Zelenskyy’s forces step up attacks

Ukrainian president says Crimea at centre of Kyiv’s ‘policy of ensuring justice’ against Moscow. What we know on day 1,584

Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea have declared an “emergency situation” in a bid to ease the fallout from increasing Ukrainian aerial attacks on the peninsula. Friday’s announcement came amid fuel shortages and power cuts triggered by the Ukrainian attacks on logistics chains and oil facilities across Crimea, the rest of Russian-occupied Ukraine and southern Russia. Kyiv calls its stepped up air attacks fair retribution for Russia’s near-daily barrages on Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying on social media: “We are doing everything to force Russia to end the war and restore justice. And it is Crimea that is at the centre of this policy of ensuring justice.”

The Russia-installed governor of Sevastopol said emergency ⁠crews had worked to ease power cuts but told residents of Crimea’s largest city to use appliances sparingly to ⁠avoid power overloads and shortages. Crimea authorities have already suspended fuel sales to private motorists, and Sevastopol introduced restrictions on operating ⁠hours for public transport, shops, cafes and street lights. The restrictions come as Russian air defences shot down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over Moscow and Crimea, its defence ministry said on Friday – one of the highest figures since the start of the war. “Today, Ukraine is depriving Russia of this launchpad and drawing a line under its attempts to normalise war,” Zelenskyy said.

Two countries on Nato’s eastern flank have warned that Russia is preparing a possible “provocation” in the Baltic states or Poland in an effort to test the cohesion of the western military alliance, reports Dan Sabbagh. Western sources also fear there could be danger on the horizon because the Kremlin is coming under pressure from Ukraine’s campaign of long-range attacks on targets near Moscow and St Petersburg.

A Russian drone ⁠strike on ⁠Friday ​killed two passengers aboard a minibus in Ukraine’s south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and ⁠one person in the border Sumy region, regional officials said. Dnipropetrovsk’s regional ⁠governor said on two people ‌died and 12 were injured, including two ‌children, in the strike in Nikopol, while Sumy’s regional governor said a drone strike there killed a man in a village outside ⁠the main regional centre, also called Sumy.

An oil tanker suspected of being part of ⁠Russia’s “shadow fleet” was taken to waters near Marseille on Friday, a ⁠day after it ⁠was ​seized by France’s navy near Sicily, local authorities said. The vessel, the Deliver, ⁠is one of nine ships that have been seized across Europe since the ⁠start of 2026, all thought to have been ​used by Russia ‌to evade ‌western sanctions on its oil trade. The Russian embassy in ​France called the seizure “piracy”.

Ukraine plans to build domestic computing capacity for artificial intelligence with Kyivstar, the company said on Friday. Kyivstar said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the economy ministry at the ⁠Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk, while parent VEON would provide financial backing for a first phase ​that Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said could ‌need at least 3-5 ‌megawatts of capacity and tens of millions of dollars. “The biggest consumer of Ukrainian AI ‌right now is the military,” Komarov told Reuters. “You cannot run military computing somewhere outside. It is a matter of national security.”

Ukraine and Russia swapped 160 captured soldiers on Friday, Moscow and Kyiv said, the latest prisoner of war exchange in war. Zelenskyy said the Ukrainians had all been held captive since 2022 and posted pictures on social media of the men wrapped in Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flags, smiling and embracing each other. After the release Russian ⁠human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said she and her Ukrainian counterpart ⁠Dmytro Lubinets had agreed to ⁠jointly visit prisoners ​of ‌war and ‌had exchanged lists ‌of soldiers being held by both countries, Russia’s state RIA news agency ‌reported.

Former Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov, once seen as a possible successor to President Vladimir Putin, has died at the age of 73. Ivanov ⁠was a key member ⁠of the group known as ​the “siloviki”, or strongmen, who, like Putin, had risen through the ranks of the Soviet KGB security service and wielded huge influence after Putin took power at the turn of the millennium. The Kremlin said in a statement on Friday that Putin “expressed his deepest condolences” to Ivanov’s family and friends. Ivanov helped shape Russia’s post-Soviet security state and later framed Nato’s expansion as a strategic concern for Russia.

Exonerated man's widow calls settlement in yogurt shop murders "blood money"

The city of Austin agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement to be split among four men — including to the widow and daughter of Maurice Pierce — who were wrongfully accused of murdering four teenage girls in a Texas yogurt shop.

Trump news at a glance: president tests out a new ‘red scare’ ahead of midterms

Republican strategists believe rise of Mamdani could present opportunity to tag Democrats with most extreme views of the left – key US politics stories from Friday 26 June

Donald Trump has previewed a Republican strategy for the midterm elections, seizing on a progressive sweep in New York to portray Democrats as “godless communists” who pose an existential threat to the nation.

The US president, who was a child during the “red scare”, seized on wins by democratic socialists backed by the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, to stoke fears that the Democratic party has embraced extremism that could lead to the violent persecution of Christians.

Breaking it down: how to limit the environmental impact of your body after death

From cardboard coffins and natural burials to water-based cremation, Australians are increasingly open to alternative farewells – but the key is to plan

• Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint

• Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected]

It may seem small among the decisions people have to make as they face the end of their life, but what happens to their bodies can make a significant difference to the final cost inflicted on the environment.

In many Western countries, cremation is the most common method of deathcare – chosen by about three-quarters of Australians – but it’s arguably the most environmentally damaging.

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Nurse who went above and beyond gets special send-off: "You're an angel"

Wynola Wayne received a special retirement send-off after 58 years as a nurse. One former patient, Marco Houpe, said, "If it wasn't for her then, I wouldn't be here today."

Nurse who went above and beyond gets heartfelt send-off: "You're an angel"

Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" with the story of a beloved nurse who got no ordinary retirement send-off after 58 years on the job.

Runaway giraffe Gracie found roaming Texas Hill Country after 2-week search

After spending two weeks on the loose, a giraffe named Gracie was spotted Friday just miles from the Texas ranch she escaped in the Texas Hill Country. Mark Strassmann has more.

U.S. loses to Turkey in 2026 World Cup, moves to knockout round

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team suffered its first loss of the 2026 World Cup Thursday night, but will still advance to the knockout round to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday. Nicole Valdes has more.

U.S. strikes Iran after Trump says Tehran committed "foolish violation" of ceasefire

The U.S. struck back at Iran Friday after an Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship Thursday in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said U.S. aircraft hit Iran's missile and drone storage locations. Nikole Killion reports.

Red flag wildfire warnings issued across 8 Western states

Red flag wildfire warnings were posted Friday in eight states from the Pacific Northwest to the Desert Southwest, with gusts of dry air creating blowtorch-like conditions. Carter Evans reports.

FAA investigating low flyover of Boeing 777 at Texas airport

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a low flyover of a Boeing 777 at the Horseshoe Bay Resort Jet Center airport in Texas after a video of the incident went viral. Jason Allen reports.

Appeals court upholds Harvey Weinstein's California rape conviction

A California appeals court has upheld Harvey Weinstein's 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction.

6/26: CBS Evening News

Desperate searches are underway for earthquake survivors in Venezuela; a large jet makes a frighteningly low flyover.

Oracle stock has worst week since 2001 dot-com bust as AI financing concerns escalate

Oracle's surging spending, negative free cash flow and $130 billion debt pile are weighing on the stock.

China's Zhipu is closing in on top U.S. AI models with Anthropic and OpenAI held back

Zhipu's GLM 5.2 shows the AI fight is shifting to who delivers the most intelligence per dollar, making open source suddenly a real contender.

Prosecutor in Charlie Kirk shooting case held in contempt by judge

Judge rebukes Christopher Ballard for talking to media but declines defense’s request to take death penalty off table

A Utah judge held a prosecutor in contempt on Friday for speaking to the media about the murder case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, but did not grant the defense attorney’s request to bar the death penalty as punishment in the case.

Defense attorneys for Tyler James Robinson, the Utah man who allegedly shot Kirk, a conservative political activist, last September, argued in a March court filing that deputy Utah county attorney Christopher Ballard had violated a pre-trial media gag order.

Micron sinks 6%, wrapping a wild week of trading that saw big swings

Micron Technology's shares tumbled on Friday amid a global sell-off in chip stocks.

6/26: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Leon Black testifies before a House panel on the Epstein files; U.S. conducts retaliatory strikes against Iran.

Minnesota fraud suspect arrested in Somalia after 4 years on the run, officials say

Abdikerm Eidleh, accused of playing a key role in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, was arrested in Somalia after more than four years, federal officials said.

Gavin Newsom calls for national billionaires tax: 'It's time for an economic reset'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supports imposing "a true minimum tax on billionaires" and closing "tax-free lifestyle loan" loopholes for the rich.

Trump says Iran violated ceasefire: 'You'll find out' if there will be consequences

The International Maritime Organization earlier paused efforts to evacuate ships and seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo vessel was struck.