‘The Trump-Putin relationship is the biggest mystery in international politics’: foreign correspondent Luke Harding answered your questions

The Guardian’s Luke Harding discussed Trump, Putin and the state of the war in Ukraine, his expulsion from Russia, his new book Betrayal, and his career as a foreign correspondent

Ipswichred asks: Why is Russia considered a wider threat when it cannot even defeat Ukraine?

Pressfreedomorbust asks: What do you think is the likelihood of Russia taking military action (drones or troops) against another country such as Poland or Estonia? This would force Nato to use its military resources on this second conflict instead of supplying Ukraine.

Russia says it is at war not just with Ukraine, but the “collective west”. Accordingly, it carries out a number of hostile actions against the UK and EU countries. They include sabotage (undersea cables, bombs on cargo planes), disinformation and support for pro-Russian Eurosceptic parties (AFD in Germany, Reform in Britain, etc.)

Last year Moscow sent a swarm of decoy drones into Poland, to probe Nato’s defences. European leaders are generally reluctant to describe the Kremlin’s acts as war, preferring to use the qualifier “hybrid”. For now Putin is bogged down in Ukraine. In the meantime, Russia’s diversionary behaviour will continue. I wouldn’t rule out some kind of military “provocation”, probably limited in scope, against a Nato country.

He’s safe. There was much speculation around the time of the full-scale invasion that Putin was sick and possibly dying. This turned out to be wishful thinking. Similarly, there is little prospect of a palace coup or popular revolution in Russia. The reality is Putin will stay in power for life. Most people support him, state propaganda is as potent as ever, and the security services keep a close eye on dissent. Many of those who oppose him left the country in 2022. The majority are passive and fatalistic. The fate of Alexey Navalny - murdered in a Siberian gulag in 2024, likely on Putin’s orders - sent its own grim message.

Burnham to take Zelenskyy’s pleas for Patriot missiles to Trump – Europe live

UK PM to join delegation of leaders lobbying US president to step up supplies, as Kremlin accuses Burnham of wanting to continue war

• Burnham plans trip to New York as Ukraine pleads for US-made missiles

Vatican envoy Paul Gallagher met Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow earlier today, and Reuters has some snap quotes from Pope Leo XIV’s representative following the meeting. He is quoted as saying that “The Ukrainian war must end” and that the pair discussed “avenues for pursuing lasting and just peace in Ukraine”.

In relation to the post on a US military plane landing in Moscow (at 11:23), Reuters reported that the last time a US jet flew to Russia from Europe was in ​January, when special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin for peace talks.

Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's effort to overturn sex-trafficking conviction

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's effort to toss out her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence.

US Catholic churches see a record number of conversions: ‘It’s a real shift’

After decades of declining religious affiliation, churches in southern California have seen an increase among gen Z

Alicia Martinez pulls on an oversized, chocolate-brown leather jacket – an incongruous choice for the July heat in Los Angeles. Later that day, she plans to see The Odyssey in a frigid theater. But first, there is mass.

Martinez, 24, enters Our Savior Parish, the castle-like church beside her workplace, the University of Southern California. Inside, she dips her fingers in holy water, makes the sign of the cross on her forehead, and enters the main part of the church in hushed reverence.

‘Not any old vermin’: rats numbers are on the rise thanks to global heating – and poison may not be the answer

Robert Corrigan has been dealing with the ‘smart’ rodents all his life – and believes there are better solutions to deal with the growing infestation in the world’s cities

“The rodents have paid for every single bill I’ve ever had – every mortgage, every car payment, every pint of Guinness,” says Dr Robert Corrigan. “It’s been a great ride and I’m still at it.”

New York-based Corrigan is one of the most respected voices in the world of rodentology. Now in his 70s, he has devoted his entire adult life to studying rats and our relationship with them.

England captain Joe Root ‘hacked off’ and ‘disappointed’ at Carse incident

• Root says cricketers need to avoid ‘stupid mistakes’

• Carse dropped from squad following handcuffs incident

Joe Root has spoken of his desire to remodel England’s dressing room into a group that inspires “supporters to look at us and not just revere what we do on the field but off it as well” after the conduct of the nation’s cricketers was once again called into question following the emergence of videos showing Brydon Carse being escorted from a Derby nightclub in handcuffs late on Saturday night.

The England captain said he was “really hacked off” to be forced once again to address player behaviour, after a string of similar stories over the past eight months. But he repeatedly and pointedly referred to Carse’s misdemeanour, which led to the 31-year-old being briefly arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly before being de-arrested and released without charge, as an “isolated incident”.

Callaway Golf CEO says "mistakes were made" over controversial ad

The ad for a new driver had sparked an online backlash, with viewers criticizing the spot for trivializing violence against women.

Trump claims US could rename Lake Ontario as Lake America amid Canada trade war – live

Lake Ontario lies on the border between the two countries, with New York state on one side and Toronto, the capital of Canada’s Ontario province, on the other

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On Truth Social, however, the president shot down assertions that the US talks with Canada collapsed in part due a proposed trade deal that would have weakened French language protections.

“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!” he wrote. “In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec.”

Lindsay Clancy trial moves toward closing arguments, with final witness expected soon

The prosecution's final rebuttal witness is expected Tuesday in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother who admitted to killing her children in a state of postpartum psychosis. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday.

At least one in four former NFL players in study suffered from degenerative brain disease CTE

• 215 of 235 donated brains showed signs of CTE

• Condition can only be diagnosed after death

• Symptoms include problems with memory and mood

At least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 was found to have had chronic ⁠traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to a study released on Tuesday.

Out of the 878 former players who died during that time frame, 235 donated their brains for study, researchers said, with 215 ⁠of those donated brains ⁠found to have CTE, ​a degenerative disease that can only definitively be diagnosed after death. CTE is associated with repeated blows to the head, including concussions. Symptoms include difficulty with attention and memory, dementia, mood disorders and headaches.

Trump threatens to change Lake Ontario's name as trade war with Canada heats up

President Trump said the U.S. is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America" amid an escalating trade fight with Canada.

Three years after his death, the Met goes after Mohamed Al Fayed. As for his enablers – well, you can’t rush things, can you? | Marina Hyde

The crimes he stands accused of required whole armies of facilitators. Don’t the victims deserve to see them face justice too?

How reassuring to learn that police investigating claims of sexual assault against Mohamed Al Fayed have handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service, a mere three years after the former Harrods owner’s death at the age of 94, and just decades after the first survivors made reports of abuse. The CPS has said it won’t provide a timescale for any decision, to which we might remark: no shit. With this case, the one thing you could never accuse any of the authorities of is being bound by anything approaching a timescale.

The story does, however, certainly have scale. So far, more than 400 allegations including rape, sexual assault, sexual exploitation and human trafficking have been made against Al Fayed by at least 156 women – abuse he got away with, having died without any charges ever being brought against him. The claims span the years 1977 to 2014. At least 21 women came forward while he was alive, and there have been extraordinary rundowns in news articles and documentaries about all the alleged enablers of his wicked behaviour, from lawyers to mouthpieces to security henchmen to the doctors who carried out “purity examinations” on his young female PAs.

‘An enchanting oasis’: Venetian island with Napoleonic fort up for sale

Smaller than a football pitch, Crevan has a rich history – but how rich its buyer needs to be is strictly under wraps

An island in the Venice lagoon boasting a Napoleonic fort and lush gardens is up for sale.

Described as an “enchanting oasis of peace and beauty”, Crevan offers a “spectacular view” of Venice’s main island, but is far from its crowds.

United Airlines adds 2027 flights spanning Sardinia to Okinawa. Here's what it says about travel today

United is betting big on premium, international travel with a host of new routes.

Questions arise after Trump administration announces Iran sanctions

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement Monday on Iran sanctions has raised questions over how they might be implemented. Meanwhile, Canada is set to announce retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Weijia Jiang has the latest.

Canada poised to retaliate against Trump tariffs: 'We're not waiting by the phone'

Canadian trade negotiators left the U.S. last week after failing to clinch a trade deal that would stop President Donald Trump's new tariffs from taking effect.

United's next decision: What to do with all those Boeing 737 Max 10 seats it ordered years ago

United Airlines wanted to put lie-flat premium seats on its Max 10 planes once they were certified, but that has been delayed by years.

Apple announces new Mac Mini and Mac Studio models with AI upgrades

"With these frameworks and new chips, developers can run and fine-tune large AI models locally on their Mac," Apple said.

Multiple people dead, including kids, in shooting and fire at Montana home

The suspect in the incident later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, law enforcement said.

Supreme Court will allow citizenship checks on mail-in ballots

The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with citizenship checks on mail-in ballots, ruling states suing the White House over President Trump's executive order don't have the legal right to challenge it. Ed O'Keefe has the latest.

Verdi opera rehearsal and a police tribute: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

U.S. Air Force major criminally charged for criticizing Trump

U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson, who has served for 17 years, now faces rare criminal charges for criticizing President Trump. Watson has been detained twice recently for similar charges. Charlie D'Agata reports

Third drone and suspected military explosives found near Leipzig airport

Local media report discovery by German investigators after attempted attack on cargo and military logistics hub

• Europe live – latest updates

German investigators uncovered a third drone and suspected military explosives thought to be connected to an attempted attack on Leipzig airport, local media have reported.

The drone was discovered in Kabelsketal, just to the west of the airport, along with about 50g (1.8oz) of a suspected military explosive on 14 August, 10 days after the unsuccessful sabotage. Leipzig airport is a cargo and military logistics hub used by Nato and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines for transporting military supplies.

Firefighters work to contain Hawk Fire near Reno

Firefighters in Nevada are working to contain the Hawk Fire as more than 20,000 residents are still unable to return home and schools remain closed. Meanwhile, wildfires continue to singe other parts of the western U.S. Jason Allen reports.

We asked our climate reporters to highlight one idea for positive change. We got a chronicle of global transformation

There are countless initiatives around the world that can inspire people and spur them into action. Amid the devastation of the climate crisis, our journalists strive to highlight these stories of hope

• Climate campaign 2026: help us reach 30,000 acts of support

The news is very often about the bad things (especially if you’re on the Guardian’s environment desk). Wildfires, floods, tipping points, billionaires making huge profits and buying themselves island refuges for the apocalypse … And yet, ticking along beside that is the steady pulse of what the rest of humanity is doing in response to the climate crisis. From housing developments with no cars to buildings made out of hemp, all over the planet people are ploughing ahead and changing their neighbourhoods and cities and the world.

But as news stories typically need to be about new developments or things people didn’t previously know about, it can be hard to cover all those brilliant initiatives being undertaken in the background – no matter how cheering they are. Which is why, back in 2023, we decided to ignore the usual rules about what constitutes “news” and start writing about them anyway. Readers, we knew, would like to hear about them.

Climate campaign 2026: help us reach 30,000 acts of support

Andrew Tate rented supercars to appear ‘uberwealthy’, says his lawyer

Self-described misogynist and his brother, Tristan, are playing role to generate income from online attention, Miami court filing says

Andrew Tate rented supercars and borrowed a yacht to appear “uberwealthy” and generate online engagement, his lawyer has said.

Legal representatives for the self-described misogynist social media influencer and his brother, Tristan Tate, have claimed the pair deliberately portray themselves as far wealthier than they are because their “business model depends on online attention”.

Angel Reese breaks two WNBA rebounding records in one night during Dream win

• 24-year-old breaks single game and single season record

• Reese’s 26 rebounds help Atlanta to win over Los Angeles

Angel Reese rebounded her way into the record books not once, but twice in one night. Reese set a WNBA record with 26 rebounds in the Atlanta Dream’s 78-71 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday, pushing her past the season record in the same game.

“Last time I was here, I didn’t miss any shots. Tonight I couldn’t hit [anything] so I knew I was going be able to get them on the rebounding side,” Reese said after the game. “I just want to be there for my team. Offensively, defensively, whatever it takes to win.”

How to use up leftover party wine | Kitchen aide

Sauces, reductions, deglazing: our expert panel has plenty of options for making the most of undrunk vino – whether you’ve got just a capful or a whole carafe to get through

What can I do with wine left over from a party?
Rob, by email
This is a novel concept, perhaps, but the answer essentially comes down to the quantity: “If we’re talking dribbles of red or white, that’s simple,” says Jon Atashroo, head chef/owner of Where There’s Smoke in North Yorkshire. “They go into sauces, whether that’s for pasta or to deglaze a pan before making a gravy.” Joe Otway, chef/co-owner of Higher Ground in Manchester, couldn’t agree more: “Reducing wine, be it white or red, in the base of anything is generally a good idea.” Take something tomato-based, such as ragu or chilli, as an example: “Once you’ve sweated the vegetables and there’s caramelisation on the bottom of the pan, a glass of red wine will add acidity, depth and sweetness.” And remember, you can always freeze wine dregs for later use: simply pour into ice-cube trays and stash.

Moving on to medium amounts, we’re talking “stewy, fish-type things”, Atashroo says, perhaps moules marinière. Another good option is pickling: “A basic recipe is one part caster sugar, one part white-wine vinegar and one part white wine. And if you’re pickling something like beetroot, cook it in that mix, while if you’re using cucumbers, say, they go in cold.” That said, a current Atashroo go-to is altogether sweeter: “Weigh some red wine, though I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with white wine, too, add 20% of its weight in sugar, and reduce to a syrup – you’re looking for the consistency of strawberry sauce.” The result is complex and acidic, “almost like reduced port”, and great for drizzling over vanilla ice-cream. While we’re talking desserts, few things are better than fruit (peaches, figs, pears) poached in wine, either.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

No, AI doesn’t mean the end of mathematics – at least not yet | Bruce Schneier and Kasra Rafi

Mathematicians are raising concerns that the technology could kill their profession. But they still have abilities AI doesn’t

Earlier this month, about 40 top mathematicians gathered at OpenAI’s offices to discuss the future of their profession. The meeting was off-the-record, but if recent articles by mathematicians are any guide, it was mostly pretty glum. People fear for their jobs, their careers and the work they love.

We think the contrary view is more likely, at least in the short-term. AI models are nowhere near as capable as experienced academic mathematicians.

Nvidia’s dependence on hyperscalers faces big test in earnings report

Nvidia is trying to expand its customer base by creating new financing options that allow for more clients to purchase its costly systems.

Artist known for sculptures of Mao Zedong jailed for slandering ‘heroes and martyrs’

Gao Zhen sentenced to three years in prison after already spending two years in detention

Gao Zhen, a prominent Chinese artist known for provocative sculptures of the former leader Mao Zedong, has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of slandering China’s “heroes and martyrs”. The sentencing came two years after he was detained while visiting the country with his family, according to his wife and human rights groups.

The case has attracted international condemnation, largely because the artworks at the centre of the case were created more than 10 years before China created the law under which Gao was charged.

China denounces US threat of sanctions over trade with Iran

Beijing says it will take ‘all necessary measures’ to protect its interests as US steps up efforts to isolate Tehran

• Explainer: could US sanctions threaten China-Iran ties?

China has denounced the threat of US sanctions for its trade with Iran, saying any such measures would be illegal, and warned it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its national interests.

Beijing’s rejection of the US threat of secondary sanctions for any country or entity continuing to trade with Tehran had been predicted. China buys an estimated 80% of Iran’s oil exports and it has defied previous US efforts to limit the flow of revenue to the Tehran regime.

Climate-saving wonder – or €240m vanity bauble that ages like milk? The rocks set to hit Rotterdam docks

MVRDV – the firm behind Marble Arch Mound – says Rotterdam ROCKS! will inspire visitors to live sustainably. But in an era when the greenest building is the one that already exists, this tottering cairn looks set to misfire

‘It looks like something Shrek would throw up,” sniffed one online commentator, unflatteringly comparing Rotterdam ROCKS!, the recently unveiled proposal for a waterfront site in Europe’s largest port, with the vomitings of a cartoon ogre. Designed by Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, which gave London the supremely underwhelming Marble Arch Mound in 2021, Rotterdam ROCKS! (the use of EMPHATIC CAPITALS connoting an in-your-face energy) is the winner of a major architectural competition intended to create “a new world wonder”.

But instead of a modern Hanging Gardens of Babylon or contemporary Colossus of Rhodes, MVRDV’s super slick renderings depict a pile of artificial “rocks” (or ROCKS!) stacked together in a humongously scaled tottering cairn, wreathed in suspiciously luxuriant foliage and sluiced by a preposterous waterfall.

Meta goes on trial as Silicon Valley faces a growing backlash

Also: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his surprising sympathy over the construction of datacenters across the country

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you from a sunny park in New York City, which was supposed to endure rain all weekend but in fact delivered the best weather of the year.

‘We are hitting a different chapter’: OpenAI leader warns of threat of ‘persistent’ AI cyber-attacks

OpenAI announces slowing pace of development after hack by rogue agent

OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens with stronger safeguards

‘Digging the grave of my profession’: the Hollywood creatives training AI to do their jobs

Will AI give you the job? Automated hiring tools spark discrimination and secrecy lawsuits

After more than 15 years of laptops in the classroom, do Australian schools need a rethink?

Crypto bank part-owned by Trump family offers depositors way to ‘gain favor’ with White House, experts say

Did someone wearing Meta Glasses film you today? Are you sure?

Trump calls leaders to isolate Iran. And, SCOTUS backs Trump for now on mail-in voting

President Trump is calling on world leaders to join his economic war against Iran. And, the Supreme Court is backing the president for now on his order to restrict mail-in voting.

Russian stadium says it will not host Kanye concerts – but promoter says shows have not been cancelled

The controversial rapper now known as Ye was due to play two huge shows at St Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena, which now states it cannot host performances for contractual reasons

The St Petersburg stadium that was set to host two concerts by Ye – making the rapper formerly known as Kanye West the biggest western act to play in Russia since start of the Ukraine war – has now said that the concerts will not take place at the venue, although the promoter has stressed that they have not been cancelled.

Gazprom Arena had previously posted on social media saying that “the most influential musical artist of our time” would perform there on 10 and 11 October. “This is no joke!” the post stated. The event sold out immediately, including tickets priced at £1390 ($1896).

Two planned datacentres will have higher UK carbon emissions than ExxonMobil, analysis finds

Exclusive: Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire sites predicted to emit 4.5m tonnes a year when fully running

The carbon emissions from just two planned datacentres in England will exceed all of the fossil fuel company ExxonMobil’s UK emissions, analysis has revealed.

Experts have said this demonstrates the “serious threat” datacentres pose to the UK’s legally binding climate goals.

‘The day I disclose, my career is over’: the journalist facing an $800 daily fine to keep her sources secret

If Catherine Herridge’s petition to the US supreme court fails, she’ll be on the hook for a daily fine until she discloses her sources – a case unsettling press freedom organizations

For 18 days this summer, veteran journalist Catherine Herridge walked to her Washington DC mailbox and dropped off a check for $800. The money was required by law to cover a judge-imposed sanction after she was found in contempt of court in 2024 for refusing to disclose her sources. It fell to her 21-year-old son James to provide the moral support Herridge needed. “He understands the pressure that I’ve been under,” she said. “It was very hard, personally.”

The check drop is now on hold. The judge who issued that order, Christopher R Cooper, has since clarified that Herridge doesn’t need to pay the fine until she has a chance to plead her case to the supreme court, which she petitioned late last week.

Trump EPA aims to exempt datacenters from disclosing air pollution, advocates warn

Trump administration proposes new rule to dismantle requirement for datacenters to publicly report air pollution

A new rule proposed by the Trump administration aims to kill public notification for datacenter air pollution, public health advocates warn, and allow emission permits to be issued behind closed doors.

The datacenters are often sources of nitrogen oxide, which helps form ozone, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, among other pollutants.

How the AIDS crisis helped create a multibillion-dollar death-speculation market

Investors will buy your life insurance policy today — and collect the payout when you die.

US building twice as much gas-fired capacity as China in AI boom, analysis finds

There has been a 76% increase in under-construction gas-fired projects amid ‘frenzy’ to build more datacenters

The US has surged ahead of China in the building of new gas-fired power generation, largely to feed a boom in artificial intelligence (AI) that is adding vast amounts of planet-heating emissions, a new analysis has found.

For decades, China’s rapid economic growth has seen it outpace the US in the addition of new gas power generation but a recent “frenzy” in datacenter construction for AI has reversed this, said Global Energy Monitor (Gem) in its new report.

Food has turned into a class war – and it’s ruined my appetite | Zoe Williams

More than half of what Brits eat is ultra-processed. Now we’re a nation of food snobs – with no ingredient safe from judgment

Lewis Bassett is a young sociologist and chef who I first encountered through his podcast, The Full English, where he thinks about the cultural meaning of, say, Delia Smith; gazpacho; whelks. This was thinking you didn’t know you needed until you heard it. Now he’s written a book of the same name, asking: why do we eat the way we do in Britain, and why do we think the way we do, even about the stuff we wouldn’t be caught dead eating?

About 57% of all the food eaten in Britain is ultra-processed, which feels familiar from at least a decade of hand-wringing about it, but is radically defamiliarised when set against the rest of Europe. In France it’s 14%, and Italy is also in the teens. It’s amazing they don’t all live to be 150. And while this plainly has its roots in inequality, there is a hefty side order of attitude, which Bassett contemplates while working through the history of sourdough, curry and olive oil, and describing his own life cheffing in fancy kitchens and gastropubs.

Trump’s justice department has found a new way for presidents to avoid accountability | Claire Finkelstein

A recent memo claiming executive privilege over communications with private advisers invites corruption

A recent office of legal counsel memo on executive privilege maintains that private advisers to a president can avoid responding to a subpoena by asserting the president’s executive privilege. The ability of presidents to shield communications from public view through claims of executive privilege, whether their own or those of a senior adviser, was already a powerful tool for presidents to avoid accountability. But if courts accept the OLC’s new interpretation of presidential privilege, it will be substantially harder to call witnesses to testify before Congress or in court proceedings regarding possible wrongdoing by the presidents.

Equipping presidents with extensive power to block witnesses in legal proceedings is a dangerous practice that invites corruption by presidents and their advisers. Consider the former White House counsel Don McGahn’s 2019 refusal to testify in response to a subpoena by the House judiciary committee in connection with the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump. McGahn didn’t come up with that idea on his own. It was the Trump White House that sought to bar McGahn from testifying through an assertion of a type of executive privilege known as “testimonial immunity.” Ironically, Mueller was investigating whether Trump obstructed justice, among other things, by demanding that McGahn fire Mueller himself. Trump’s insistence that McGahn not testify, backed up by a 2019 OLC opinion, effectively made the first Trump administration complicit in the very obstruction under investigation.

US Treasury’s Scott Bessent ‘will lose’ battle with bond markets, former mentor warns

Trump ally should cut budget deficit rather than try to suppress bond yields, says billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller

Scott Bessent’s attempt to calm the bond markets and push down America’s cost of borrowing have attracted a rebuke from the US Treasury secretary’s former mentor.

The billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who worked with Bessent at George Soros’s fund management firm in the 1990s, has warned that his former pupil is courting danger by trying to suppress US bond yields.

David Squires on … boos, barcodes and buzzcuts as the Premier League returns

Our cartoonist looks back at the big storylines and fresh looks as the English top flight swung back into action

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

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

Yorkshireman believed to be first Briton to die fighting for Russia against Ukraine

Bradley Townsend reportedly killed by a drone on 10 June in Donetsk region after joining up with separatists

• Europe live – latest updates

A man from South Yorkshire is believed to be the first British citizen to die fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Bradley Townsend, a 33-year-old fisher from Barnsley, left Britain in April to join up with Russian separatists in eastern Donbas to aid in their invasion of Ukraine, despite having no previous combat experience or familiar ties to eastern Europe. Alongside 49-year-old Ben Stimson and 39-year-old Aiden Minnis, Townsend was granted Russian citizenship for joining the country’s military campaign.

Savinho seals £75m Spurs move from Manchester City – and changes name to Sávio

• Spurs could pay £85m including add-ons for winger

• De Zerbi says Sávio will bring ‘imagination and quality’

Savinho has completed his £75m move to Tottenham from Manchester City and marked the beginning of a new chapter in his career by indicating that he wants to be known as Sávio from now on.

The Brazil winger, who will cost up to an additional £10m in add-ons, will have Sávio on the back of his shirt. The fee represents a record sale for City, who signed him from Troyes in 2024 for £30.8m.

Can Trump's economic war against Iran do what airstrikes and negotiations couldn't?

What a new round of U.S. sanctions could mean after nearly six months of war with Iran — and years of economic pressure on the country.

The whitewashing of the Green India Mission forest expansion project

The flagship environmental initiative has achieved ‘negligible’ results. Why so little progress, and what are the risks as the planet gets hotter? Plus, fusion dance pioneer Usha Jey

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India set out to expand its forested areas a decade ago. Last week, however, we learned that the forest cover programme had barely taken root when the government’s auditors released their findings of the flagship Green India Mission. The shortfall of 97.57% from India’s initial pledge in 2014 was stark enough to alarm the government’s own auditor, who described the progress as “negligible”.

Yet if you ask the government about forest cover, you’ll get a far greener picture.

‘Environmental violence’: inside the fight to save indigenous land from becoming a nuclear dumping ground

New documentary To Use a Mountain spotlights the pain and triumph of resisting government efforts to turn parts of rural US into disposal sites

Nuclear energy was supposed to be our salvation, humanity’s chance to retool technology first conceived as a weapon of mass destruction into an engine of limitless prosperity. But even as the industry touted nuclear fission as an economic game-changer (never mind the astronomical startup costs), a safety paragon (never mind the spills at Chornobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima) and harmless fodder for an American comedy institution (never mind that glowing rod on Homer’s back or the three-eyed fish), there was no getting around the matter of what to do with all the toxic waste (never mind nuclear’s claimed green credentials).

The stagnant state of that dirty business brought Casey Carter, the director of the new avant-garde documentary called To Use a Mountain, back to his interview with a Washington state farmer who was part of a class-action lawsuit against the government over the release of radioactive material from the Hanford nuclear reservation – site of the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor. The farmer’s words still echo, despite ultimately being cut to fit the film’s 90-minute runtime. “He joked that nuclear power is the only faith-based energy because everyone always asks, ‘Do you believe in it?’” Carter says. “He was like, ‘You don’t have to believe in solar. It’s just a pretty good idea.’”

Luka Dončić looks like a superstar adrift at the Lakers

The Slovenian is one of the best players on the planet. But factors largely beyond his control have started to turn his career into a slog

Luka Dončić must feel as though, these past few months, he’s been twirling in a washing machine. He announced a separation from his fiancee in March; reports followed of a prolonged custody battle over their two daughters. As Dončić plays in the NBA and his children live in Slovenia, he doesn’t see them much as is. But after the reports of the rift with his ex emerged, he started playing some of the best basketball of his life: he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 15-2 record in March, a stretch that included a torrential 60-point display against the Miami Heat. Behind Dončić’s brightening star, the Lakers seemed to be sharpening into a real contender. Then Dončić tweaked his hamstring in April and the illusion shattered. He watched from the sidelines as the Lakers limped out of the playoffs with an inevitable second-round defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Actually, Dončić must feel as if he’s been in turmoil for the past few years. He made his first – and so far only – NBA finals in 2024, leading the Dallas Mavericks there with a barrage of awesome shotmaking. As the best offensive player on the court while playing through multiple injuries, Dončić and his Mavs lost to the far deeper Boston Celtics in five games. As thanks, the Mavericks traded Dončić to the Lakers, citing defensive concerns, when what had really doomed them against the Celtics was that no one aside from Luka – who led his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals in that series – could play at the requisite level to win.

At least 25% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE, study finds

Playing football has long been linked to the brain disease known as CTE, but how prevalent it is is still unknown. A new study of former NFL players who died recently found that at least 25% had CTE.

Churches, libraries and breweries: Inside DHS' covert surveillance operation

DHS allegedly went undercover at community meetings, subpoenaed the financial records of labor unions, and created dossiers on people at a church gathering, according to court filings.

Morning news brief

A look at the new round of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, Iran vows to retaliate, SCOTUS hands President Trump a temporary win on his efforts to restrict voting by mail.

Football transfer rumours: Manchester City and Spurs chase Cody Gakpo?

Today’s rumours are so severely underwhelmed

After Aston Villa endured a day to forget on the Premier League’s opening weekend, it only stands to reason that they must sign players, and ideally good ones. Milan wide man Rafael Leão has flirted with a move to England in the past and he could be the answer to Unai Emery’s attacking troubles, if that answer is not named Nicolas Jackson or Jean-Philippe Mateta.

And Villa are not just concentrating their efforts on reshaping their forward line. Rangers’ Nicolas Raskin could fit the bill in midfield, where they looked light in the shellacking by Brighton, while Club Brugge centre-back Joel Ordóñez looks to be coming in after Southampton pushed back on Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

‘Small changes can make a big difference’: how getting farmers, fishers and beavers together could save a Cornish river

A local initiative is testing simple ways to stop algal blooms in the River Fal threatening some of England’s most biodiverse marine habitats

On a rocky beach in Cornwall, a group of wetsuit-clad freedivers and snorkellers are wading into the shallows. Below St Mawes Castle, built by Henry VIII to defend Falmouth harbour, they disappear in a swish of florescent pink and green fins.

They are volunteers, trained by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust to use underwater cameras and floating GPS devices to detect changes in marine habitats over time.

Two volunteers, Simon Tagney and Max Behnert, prepare to survey the seabed beneath the 16th-century St Mawes Castle. Photograph: Luke Gartside/The Guardian

Seam me up, Scotty! After 60 years, Star Trek has had a muppet takeover. About time too

Star Wars has embraced the magic of puppetry since the 70s, but Trekkers have been starved of any muppet action … until now. The creators of Strange New Worlds talk about boldly sewing where no one has sewn before

It’s life, Jim – but very much not as we know it.

In fact, when it comes to the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the life forms in question are less flesh-and-blood and more fabric-and-felt – as the series becomes the latest sci-fi show to embrace the magic of puppetry.

Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter review – hope amid the hopelessness

A writer and activist links the climate crisis to battles for justice around the world in this vital book

It has become increasingly difficult to change our minds, to question our own views or to find common ground with people we disagree with, all of which makes Natasha Walter’s new book both refreshing and exhilarating.

In her ebullient 1998 debut The New Feminism, Walter hailed Margaret Thatcher as a trailblazer. In this fiercer, bleaker work, she rips into the “glossy language of aspiration feminism”, “the message that the individual woman can do anything she wants if she only has the necessary courage”. That kind of feminism inspired an “explosion of books and films about pioneers and heroines, about bossy women and gutsy girls” which retold the feminist story as “a succession of isolated campaigns, led by outsize individuals”.

Soft Spot review – this wine-glass circus has a lot of bottle

Zoo Southside, Edinburgh
A handstand artist and a juggler slide, toss, stack and stand on umpteen glasses without a drop of wine in sight

This Swedish circus two-hander begins with the performers offstage, and what sounds like the high-pitched notes of a glass harp. But the wine glasses here – first six of them, then dozens – are used for acrobatic tricks rather than music.

Stina Otterström is a handstand artist, Arttu Lahtinen is a juggler. Together, they execute a series of increasingly fiddly, full-bodied duets. Otterström’s strength is immediately contrasted with the fragility of this most familiar, yet hazardous, of props. Her first inversions involve holding the stems between her toes, passing them from one foot to the other, or balancing their bases on her soles. Lahtinen gives us variations on the tablecloth pull-trick and the buzz wire game, balancing glasses on planks of wood that he glides perilously close around Otterström’s body. Empty glasses are expertly slid, tossed, stacked and stood upon. Have we no wine here?

At Zoo Southside, Edinburgh, until 30 August

All our Edinburgh festival reviews

Triage by Claudia Rankine review – how should we respond to the world’s atrocities?

The American poet and essayist weaves memoir, fiction, criticism and lyrical lament into a tale of friendship in an age of existential crisis

“Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental,” writes the multi-award winning Jamaican-American poet, essayist and playwright Claudia Rankine in the disclaimer to her latest work. “Unless it isn’t.” The pretzel-logic of this statement, its assertive ambiguity, sets the tone for a book that digs directly into the question of what we are to do with the idea of truth, when the world we live in is asking us “to hold, visually and emotionally, realities we do not yet have a viable system of language for”. In Triage, Rankine borrows from her personal history and from a world whose landscape now encompasses “the rise of fascism, the implementation through deportations of the Great Replacement theory, the starvation of devastated populations subjected to war and climate change”, and uses the material she gathers to pose a simple question. When faced with realities such as these, what do you do? Do you stand, or do you fall?

The book begins with a friendship. Two young people – our narrator, and another she refers to only as “the theorist” – meet in college in the late 20th century, and are drawn to each other. They’re passionate; they’re idealistic; they’re committed to the activism of the time (“shantytowns were built on campus to protest apartheid South Africa”) and steeped in the texts and authors and philosophical conceits of the humanities. Over time, they develop a game. “When we spied each other during the day,” the narrator explains, “we had to collapse.”

‘There was a lot of doubt and pain’: Arthur Fery on his dream Wimbledon run and the next step

British No 2 looks back on ‘Fery-tale’ after dealing with injury and shares his ranking goals before US Open debut

“I was around 300 in the world and still really struggling with my arm,” Arthur Fery says as he explains how life has changed from this time last year when, after his shock appearance in the Wimbledon semi-finals, he rose to No 36 in the rankings. His run of five victories, which produced a stunning turnaround in his career, was celebrated as a glorious “Fery-tale”.

But it does not take long in the company of the measured and thoughtful 24-year-old for the grit to emerge from the deeper shadows in his story. There has been more pain than glory in the long hard slog to this point but, amid the doubt caused by his injury, Fery’s self-belief has remained intact. As he says in Cincinnati, his success at Wimbledon provides a dizzying contrast to the testing times he has endured.

The war on ‘loudcasting’ phones can be won, but it will take some very British nudging | Dan Hancox

Although mobiles blared in public are nothing new, this crop of headphone-dodging irritants are truly maddening. It’s time to take them on

‘Interesting cities can’t be quiet”, runs one of grime DJ and music industry thinker Elijah’s epigrams – and in its essential spirit, he is right. Silent, tidy, prim cities should be treated with suspicion. Any such atmosphere denotes that something has gone wrong at a macro level: either you’ve wound up in an authoritarian regime or, worse, Switzerland.

But not all urban sounds are created equal, and some are more unwelcome than others. Take the tide of (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube) reels crashing on the shores of our collective attention on public transport, thanks to the astonishing number of grown adults who think it’s OK to surf the slopwave without headphones.

Dan Hancox is a writer and editor covering music, politics and cities. His latest book is Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World

Going with the grain: how restoring biodiversity led one farmer back to heritage wheat

Henry Astor looked back to his grandfather’s time for the inspiration to find older varieties that could help nature on his Cotswold farm

It is the earliest harvest Henry Astor can remember. But walking through the scorched wheatfields of his Cotswolds farm, signs of life are everywhere – swarms of insects, kaleidoscopic wildflower meadows, bushy hedgerows several metres wide. A yellowhammer perches on a nearby tree.

There are 18 other red-listed birds on the farm, says Astor, who this year ringed 23 barn owls, three kestrels, two little owls as well as goshawk chicks. “Last winter we had clouds of goldfinch, chaffinch and greenfinch,” he says. Britain has lost 73 million birds since 1970; but at Bruern Farms, a small but welcome reversal is taking shape.

Boat trips, swimming and seafood: 10 of the UK’s best harbour towns and villages

From smoked kippers in Northumberland to dolphin spotting in Dorset and a palm-fringed village on a sea loch in the Scottish Highlands

The historic harbour is the hub of this working East Neuk fishing port, home to a fleet of about 30 small trawlers and creel boats. Their catches are sold at the covered market on the quay each weekday morning, and served at the harbourside Dory Bistro and Chip Ahoy at the Larachmhor pub. Pittenweem (which means “place of the cave”) also has a Victorian-era swimming pool next to the beach, which is filled by the tide twice a day. After falling into disrepair, it was saved by a local group called the West Braes Project and reopened in 2021, along with the crazy golf course. Early each August, there is an annual arts festival with exhibits by nearly 200 artists in harbourside spaces, heritage buildings, homes and studios. Pittenweem is flanked by two other pretty harbour villages, St Monans and Anstruther, while a third, Crail, is a little further north; the Fife Coastal Path links them all. The Bank in Anstruther has harbour-view rooms (doubles from £120 B&B).

‘Why isn’t there hip-hop in 3/4 time?’: the groups reinventing a Polish folk dance for the modern age

The oberek is a traditional dance beloved of state folk ensembles – but a new generation of musicians is reconfiguring its music into wild new forms, merging folk steps with electronics and the sound of Chicago footwork

It’s 6pm on the first day of OFF festival in Katowice, and a crowd is gathering in front of one of the stages to watch newcomers Tercet Imperial. Sporting disco outfits of nylon jackets, tracksuits and Chicago Bulls caps, keyboardist Piotr Zabrodzki deploys resonant acid melodies, while drummer Jan Emil Młynarski plays a rapid, irregular rhythm that brings to mind the scattergun beats of footwork, the ghetto-house subgenre that grew out of Chicago in the late 90s.

Not many of those jerking their limbs to the music in front of the stage are likely to realise that they are listening to a distinctly Polish sound: that of the oberek, a traditional dance in triple metre whose name derives from the Polish verb “to spin”, because it usually accompanies couples whirling across dancefloors in a circular motion.

‘My way to escape reality’: LensCulture street photography awards 2026 winners – in pictures

From pre-dawn Vietnam to cats scaling walls, the scenes in these prize-winning photographs show how the everyday can become mysterious, poetic and surreal

‘Petty grievances’ and an alleged troublemaker: unsealed Murdoch court documents give rare glimpse into bitter succession battle

Rupert Murdoch said in newly released correspondence that it would be a disaster if his media empire fell into the ‘wrong hands’

A year ago, Rupert Murdoch resolved the long-running fight over which of his children would control his sprawling media empire, ending a bitter legal battle and anointing his eldest son, Lachlan, as his successor.

Now, court documents have offered a rare glimpse into the family’s clashes before the decision, revealing the patriarch’s view of son James as a troublemaker who had to be ousted from the business and detailing tensions between Murdoch’s four eldest children and their airing of “petty grievances” about their father.

Climate damage would obliterate any economic benefits of new North Sea fields, analysis shows

Exclusive: Economic harm of CO2 pollution from Rosebank and Jackdaw forecast to far outweigh any boost to UK

The climate damage caused by developing the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields under consideration by the UK government would destroy their economic benefits many times over, according to an analysis.

It estimates the economic damage caused by the carbon pollution from the oil and gas produced would be between £119bn and £336bn in the coming decades, compared with the £28.7bn in value to the UK estimated by Adura, the fossil fuel company promoting the new fields.

Canadians do not seek a trade war – but nor will we be bullied by Donald Trump | Jen Gerson

A fundamental rupture in the values that have united North America is not a problem that can be wished away: this is a warning to the western alliance

The Canadians are exceedingly angry. I realise this can sometimes be difficult for foreigners to deduce, given our national struggle to express the full range of human emotion outside ice hockey riots. However, let me assure you that the prime minister Canadians saw take the stage on Saturday morning in the wake of the collapse in trade negotiations with the US was a Mark Carney practically vibrating with fury.

“You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” he said, in a rare press conference that was as candid and clear as he ever tends to be. “That’s fine … We’ve got the reserves, we’ve got the resilience, we’ve got the plan, we’ve got the focus. We’re gonna respond, we’re going to focus on what we can control and what we’re going to build.”

Jen Gerson is a Canadian commentator and co-founder of The Line. She lives in Calgary, Alberta

‘Like smoking a cigarette’: Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super ‘El Niño’

In Indonesia’s Kalimantan, fires have ravaged tens of thousands of acres, with suffocating smoke reaching Malaysia and putting Singapore on alert

Suwadi can barely see five metres in front of him when he steps outside his home in Indonesian Borneo.

Each breath, he says, feels “like smoking a cigarette”.

The other Post Office scandal: how organised crime launders money on the high street

Hundreds of millions of pounds of dirty money are being deposited at post offices every year. So why are the police reluctant to investigate the scale of the problem?

• Last chance to buy the summer issue of The Long Read magazine, now with 15% off. Click here to order

Leicestershire police won’t say who first told them about Jigar Gheewala, but you can see why, once they had heard of him, they decided to find out more. Gheewala was unemployed, had no apparent income, yet lived in a £1.3m house and sent his three children to private school. “He was a declared bankrupt, with a bank account that was absolutely not reflective of what it should be,” said financial crime supervisor Laura Panter of Leicestershire police’s economic crime team. “That was our starting point.”

Over the course of 2020, despite being on benefits, Gheewala’s bank account received more than £880,000 in cash in 200 different deposits. He was, it turned out, a money launderer, but not the kind you’ll see in the movies. Gheewala’s deposits had been made not in Liechtenstein or on Grand Cayman, but at various post office branches in Leicester, one thick wodge of banknotes after another.

NHS England to offer women ‘gamechanging’ free home testing kits for cervical cancer

NHS has target of eliminating the cancer by 2040, but up to 4 million eligible women are not up to date with screening

Millions of women in England who have missed cervical screening appointments will be offered free home testing kits on the NHS.

The move comes amid concerns that only two-thirds of women attend in-person cervical screening appointments when asked to do so, leaving as many as 4 million women not up to date.

The ear witness: Turner-winner Lawrence Abu Hamdan and his ‘sound evidence’ exposés of human rights abuses

From killings in Gaza to the alleged use of a sonic weapon on a vigil in Belgrade, the Lebanese-British artist reveals how his work for activist group Earshot is inseparable from his art

Lawrence Abu Hamdan has a double identity. He is an artist who, in 2019, jointly won the Turner prize; and one of his works is, for my money, among the most striking on show at this year’s Venice Biennale. But he is also the director of a young NGO, founded in 2023, called Earshot, which investigates human rights abuses using sound evidence. In less euphemistic language, that means, on occasion, investigating horrific killings. He and his team might analyse the direction and position of bullets Israeli soldiers have fired at emergency workers in Gaza, or build evidence that a sonic weapon was likely used to disperse a mass silent vigil in Belgrade.

The foundational work he did in this field was a project with the London-based research agency Forensic Architecture for Amnesty International. Back in 2016, he interviewed rare survivors of the unimaginably barbaric conditions in Syria’s Sednaya prison. There was a paradox at play in this murderous place – prisoners were held in complete darkness, and enforced silence, killed for making any sound. Listening was both the inmates’ only source of information, and a tool for survival and resistance. Their acute sonic memories of screams of distress and pain; keys turning in locks; bread being slapped down outside their cells; even of lice being snapped – helped Abu Hamdan and his colleagues build a picture of the prison architecture and its conditions, nearly a decade before it was opened to the light after the fall of the bloody Assad regime.

At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves

True figure likely to be much higher as it only covers about half of continent and does not include August totals

At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.

Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.

Japan enlists 1,800 people to drag a 360-tonne castle keep using ropes and rollers

After repairs to Hirosaki Castle in Aomori prefecture, officials employed a technique known as hikiya to move the structure more than two metres

To chants of “so-re, so-re”, about 1,800 people came together in northern Japan over the weekend to pull a 360-tonne castle keep a little more than two metres closer to its original resting place as part of ongoing renovations.

The keep – a fortified tower within a castle – had to be moved to repair a wall that was damaged in a major earthquake.

Ex-NBA center ejected from WNBA game after being confronted by player

The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women should be allowed to participate in the league.

Supreme Court allows Trump to implement parts of order restricting mail voting

The Supreme Court divided 6-3 in granting the Trump administration's request for emergency relief.

Trump announces 50% tariffs on Canadian automotive and steel imports

President Trump said tariffs on Canadian automotive and steel imports will rise to 50% on Jan. 1, 2027, in a social media post.

New evidence emerges in deadly 1988 Lockerbie bombing, delaying trial

A federal judge has postponed a trial in the U.S. for a Libyan man charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, citing the discovery of new evidence.

‘Honest leaders are the first step to a better future’: Cockroach hunger striker targets India’s political class

Sonam Wangchuk’s fast was spark that drove youth protest movement – and now he wants to cleanse the political system

For 26 days, India watched as Sonam Wangchuk wasted away. His hunger strike, held in solidarity with India’s “Cockroach” youth protest movement, would prove to be one of the most politically consequential fasts held in the country’s modern history.

Many in the country view the gruelling fast, which began on 28 June, as the crucial spark that helped propel the Cockroach movement into one of the most formidable challenges to the government of prime minister, Narendra Modi, in more than a decade.

Hawk Fire evacuations in Reno slightly eased as firefighters make gains

Shifting winds challenged firefighters battling the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, that was keeping tens of thousands of people evacuated.

49ers owner arrested in police setup

The owner of the San Francisco 49ers was arrested this weekend at a trailer park, allegedly there to pay $140 for sex in what turned out to be a police setup. Carter Evans reports.

Why Trump's Canada tariffs are likely to have a modest impact on prices

Although some Canadian goods will get more expensive in the U.S., trade experts don't expect a broader inflation spike.

23-year-old pilot pulls off crash landing near busy Florida beach

Dramatic video captured a 23-year-old pilot's small plane in trouble, landing off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida. Kris Van Cleave reports.

Trade war of words intensifies between U.S., Canada

The Trump administration announced its so-called "economic D-Day" plans against Iran on Monday, while also lashing out at Canada and threatening more tariffs. Nancy Cordes has more details on this and a new Supreme Court ruling backing Trump's order to limit mail-in ballots.

Mystery under the streets of New York City as 3 people emerge from manhole

Video captured three people wearing headlamps and rubber overalls emerging from a manhole in New York City last week during the overnight hours. This is at least the third such sighting, and police cannot fully explain it. Tom Hanson has more details.

Lindsay Clancy defense calls for mistrial after witness brings up Clancy's Catholic faith

Closing arguments are expected this week in the murder case of Lindsay Clancy. The defense called for a mistrial on Monday after a prosecution witness brought up Clancy's Catholic faith and the concept of mortal sin. Shanelle Kaul has more details from the courthouse.

Rush to escape in Nevada as Hawk Fire sweeps into Reno neighborhoods

Authorities in Nevada told tens of thousands of people to evacuate ahead of a fast-moving wildfire on Monday. Jason Allen reports from the scene.

Mark Walter's TWG Global hires Goldman veteran Markowitz as top lawyer amid probe of insurers

Federal authorities are investigating how two insurers that are part of Mark Walter's business empire classified more than $20 billion in loans to his companies.

Glaring weakness in goal remains but early signs Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea should be fun | Jonathan Wilson

The failure to replace Robert Sánchez remains a mystery but the new-look front three should buy time for the new manager’s principles to bed in

After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws, there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And while they were far from flawless, there were at least some indications that they could mount some kind of challenge.

They looked extremely dangerous in the final third, and Cole Palmer was involved in all three Chelsea goals, perhaps benefiting from a first summer off in three years. But they were rather less impressive through midfield or at the back, despite Josh Acheampong’s all-action performance, while goalkeeper remains the problem it has been since Thibaut Courtois left.

8/24: CBS Evening News

Fast-moving wildfires drive thousands from their homes; Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney asks the judge to declare a mistrial.

Gen Xers fret over Social Security. "I will likely be working in retirement."

Millions of Generation X Americans expect to depend on Social Security as their main — or only — source of retirement income.

Nearly 25% of workers are "functionally unemployed," analysis finds

An alternative measure of unemployment that accounts for wages suggests the U.S. labor market is weaker than it looks.

8/24: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Trump administration unveils new sanctions against Iran; Supreme Court allows Trump order overhauling mail-in voting to proceed for now.

8-year-old girl dies from brain-eating amoeba infection in Louisiana

Lillian Smart, 8, has died after being infected by an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater, her family said.

Bessent announces campaign to create "economic onslaught" against Iran and its partners

The Trump administration is trying to pull all economic levers at its disposal to cripple Tehran.

‘Enough is enough’: players pile pressure on under-fire Gianni Infantino to resign

• President accused by ‘Fifa Legends’ of being power hungry

• Samuel Eto’o claims chief has not ‘done anything wrong’

A group of influential current and former footballers have added to the pressure on Gianni Infantino by calling for change at the top of Fifa, saying “enough is enough” in a statement shared widely across social media.

The intervention is particularly significant given some of those behind its circulation have undertaken ambassadorial activities for Fifa as part of its “Fifa Legends” programme. Among them is the former Manchester United and Arsenal defender Mikaël Silvestre, who also sits on the governing body’s 16-member players’ voice panel designed to assist with anti-racism initiatives.

Trump Media CEO defends selling faster access to president's Truth Social posts, says more have signed up

Trump Media interim CEO Kevin McGurn defended his company offering faster access to President Donald Trump's Truth Social posts.

The Guardian view on Britain helping Ukraine: build the weapons independence Kyiv needs | Editorial

Moscow hopes western politics will weaken support for Kyiv. The UK and Europe’s answer should be to make Ukraine increasingly capable of defending itself alone

The events of the past few days on Europe’s borders may mark a turning point in Russia’s war on Ukraine. While the political skies in Kyiv have darkened for Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the military picture looks brighter. Ukraine can already send swarms of drones against Russian oil facilities, e-commerce warehouses and airfields. Andy Burnham’s arrival in Kyiv marks a step forward. Britain is releasing classified information on its components of Scalp, the French version of the Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missile, enabling its assembly in Ukraine. This is more than another weapon for Kyiv. Britain is helping Ukraine become less dependent on the western armoury.

Moscow sabre-rattles, but Britain should hold its nerve. Kyiv has been at the mercy of its allies, waiting to replenish weapons stockpiles and release sophisticated arms. Producing its own hi-tech armoury gives Ukraine greater freedom of action because western governments have let go. Two years ago it was different. Joe Biden waited until November 2024 before letting Ukraine strike deep into Russia with US weapons. Yet thresholds once deemed dangerously escalatory have since been crossed without provoking a Russia-Nato war. Kyiv is now being trusted with something more consequential: a measure of weapons independence.

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

The Guardian view on the Tiananmen vigil convictions: Hong Kong too has been silenced. Others should speak out | Editorial

Two activists who organised commemorations of the bloody crackdown on China’s 1989 pro-democracy protests now face jail. Remembering is not a crime

For decades, Hong Kong mourned when the mainland could not. Its huge annual Tiananmen vigil kept alive the memory of the 1989 pro-reform protests in Beijing, and of the massacre that suppressed them. Along with Macau, it was the only place in China where the anniversary could be publicly marked and the truth preserved.

But the crackdown on the 2019 uprising in Hong Kong has crushed the freedoms that the region once enjoyed. That year’s vigil was the last. On Friday, two leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance, which organised the commemoration, were convicted of incitement to subversion under the draconian national security law. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41, face up to 10 years in jail.

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