5 takeaways from Zuckerberg's essay on his vision for superintelligence

In a 6,500-word post, the Meta CEO argues that superintelligence should be shared "with as many people and businesses as possible."

Taylor Farms recalls jalapeño items at Walmart, Target over salmonella risk

The recalled products with jalapeño were distributed at national retailers, including Walmart, Target and Trader Joe's, in 26 states.

At least 47 dead and buildings collapsed after 7.4-magnitude earthquake shakes western Colombia – latest news

More than a dozen buildings collapsed in aftermath of earthquake, which has also prompted evacuations

People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, ​after more than two dozen structures ‌collapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. ‌

He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams ‌to support rescue efforts.

No winners in latest Powerball drawing, jackpot swells to $905 million

The total is also the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot in the game's history.

Kissing in public: will it make your relationship stronger?

Public displays of affection are widely mocked online and off, but they have a positive side – and now science has proved it

Name: Kissing in public.

Age: Kissing is 17m-21m years old – probably older than the notion of privacy.

‘Safe, quick and painless’: what is a DXA scan, and do you need one for bone health?

The imaging test is most often used to help determine a person’s risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures

DXA – or sometimes DEXA – scans are important for people in their 60s and above. They are also increasingly used by younger people interested in body composition.

A DXA – dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry – scan is an imaging test that uses low-dose X-rays to evaluate a person’s bone health, explains Dr Michael Perry, associate professor of radiology and medical imaging at the University of Virginia’s school of medicine. Most often, DXA scans are used to measure the strength and mineral content of an individual’s bones. This in turn helps determine that person’s risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures.

AOC shares her egg-freezing journey. Here's what to know about the process.

"This is a choice that I am making to feel more in control of my life," said 36-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Wildfires rage, force evacuations in western U.S., Canada amid drought

More than 40 large wildfires are burning in the West, fueled by severe drought, as over 100 blazes scorch parts of western Canada.

‘I can’t watch it without sobbing’: your happiest TV endings

From poignant farewells to adorable cuddly toy monkeys, these are the televisual finales that turn Guardian readers into puddles of joy

A missing monkey, a token tennis bracelet, and the end of the Korean war! These are the most uplifting and moving finales in TV history, according to Guardian readers. Warning, spoilers lie ahead.

Trump admits reflecting pool makeover was rushed but renews vandalism claim

US president on Truth Social concedes contractor had cut some corners to finish $14m renovation project by deadline

Donald Trump has conceded his own administration’s renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was rushed and shoddy, while insisting that alleged vandals were to blame for damage to the Washington landmark.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said the pool’s contractor had cut some corners to finish the $14m repainting project in time for a 4 July opening. “As with many jobs, there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job,” he wrote on Sunday, claiming the resulting damage from this was confined to “a very small area” and “relatively inconsequential”.

Ukraine drone strike on oil refinery deep inside Russia kills at least 13

Attack hundreds of miles from border would be among deadliest of war as Kyiv aims to strangle Russian economy

A Ukrainian drone strike on an industrial city deep inside Russia has killed at least 13 people, according to the local mayor, as Kyiv steps up its campaign of long-range strikes on targets far from the frontline.

Kyiv said it hit the Taneco refinery in the industrial city of Nizhnekamsk, around 1,200km (750 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The raid was part of a campaign to reduce the “military potential of the Russian aggressor”, Ukraine’s general staff said. Footage circulating online appeared to show smoke rising from the refinery in the city.

Flesh-eating bacteria kill at least 7 along Gulf Coast. How to protect yourself.

Vibrio vulnificus, a so-called flesh-eating bacterium, lurks in warm coastal waters and can enter the body through open wounds or from eating raw shellfish.

Tell us about your favourite lesser-known European island

Share a travel tip on an island escape – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

For a true sense of getting away from it all, few things rival an island escape. We’d love to hear about your favourite under-the-radar islands in Europe, whether it’s a remote Scandinavian archipelago or an airport-free Mediterranean outpost that’s managed to avoid the package holiday crowds.

The best tip of the week, chosen by Tom Hall of Lonely Planet wins a £200 voucher to stay at a Coolstays property – the company has more than 3,000 worldwide. The best tips will appear in the Guardian Travel section and website.

Somali referee Omar Artan grateful for Super Cup chance after World Cup exclusion

• Referee was refused entry to US in June

• Will take charge of PSG v Aston Villa on Wednesday

The Somali referee Omar Artan, who was refused entry to the US to officiate at the World Cup, has spoken publicly for the first time about the decision and detailed his pride as he prepares to take charge of Wednesday’s Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa. Uefa awarded Artan the game days after the 34-year-old was prevented from working at the tournament.

Artan will make history in Salzburg by becoming the first non-European official to take charge of Uefa’s annual competition between the Champions League winners and the Europa League champions. “When we got this call it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment,” he said. “There’s a big Somali community in Europe and in Austria and they are over the moon with me officiating a match like this.”

Thames Water’s £1m payout to finance chief is ‘unacceptable’, says government department

Utility firm’s payment criticised by Defra and campaign groups, with some urging Andy Burnham to nationalise it

Thames Water has paid its finance chief a £1m signing fee despite teetering on the brink of a government-handled administration – a decision the environment department labelled “unacceptable”.

The utility company revealed that it made the payment last month, in a letter sent last week by Adrian Montague, its chair, to MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs select committee.

Mark Zuckerberg's yacht missed boat's call for help, spokesperson says

The issue arose when a skiff ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska and called for assistance from nearby ships.

Trump taps staff secretary Will Scharf to be next White House counsel

Will Scharf, who is responsible for overseeing President Trump's paperwork and executive orders, will start Sept. 1, the president announced.

How to protect yourself from flesh-eating bacteria as concern grows for swimmers

At least seven people along the Gulf have died from a rare but deadly flesh-eating bacteria that's found in warmer waters. Mark Strassmann reports.

Does spending money make you feel bad? Read this comic

If spending — or not spending — money makes you feel shame or regret, you might be grappling with financial guilt. Financial planner Lauryn Williams breaks down three types and how to deal.

Sam Neill on making Hunt for the Wilderpeople: ‘We were attacked by a puppet pig!’

Speaking just before his death, the actor recalled his hostile hunting dog Zag, director Taika Waititi’s comedy genius – and the wild boar scene that left children traumatised
• Warning: contains spoilers

Taika Waititi’s film Boy is one of my favourites ever, so when I got the Wilderpeople script I was already well disposed to it. Hec is sort of a New Zealand archetype. When I was at university, during the holidays I’d work at cutting hay and shifting sheep and fertiliser. There was always a Hec driving the truck. They were men of very few words, but when they did say something it meant a lot. It was clear I was never going to have many lines in the film.

House Dems call for AI companies to testify on recent hacks: ‘Clear risk to safety’

A group of House Democrats is calling on leaders of Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies to testify in Congress about recent hacking incidents.

Ofcom investigates GB News over guest’s pride and paedophilia remarks

Regulator acts after 12,000 complaints over comments by Caroline Farrow linking parades with bestiality and paedophilia

GB News is being investigated by the UK’s media regulator after a guest appeared to link pride parades with bestiality and paedophilia.

The remarks are thought to have set a new record for individual complaints about a GB News programme, with more than 12,000 people raising concerns about comments made by the guest Caroline Farrow.

SpaceX plan for vast rocket launch site on Louisiana coast sparks backlash

Opponents fear Elon Musk firm’s plan to develop 18-mile strip of Pecan Island will badly damage fragile ecosystem

Plans by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to build a vast rocket launch site on a stretch of Louisiana’s rapidly eroding coastline have stirred a backlash among some local opponents who fear it will badly damage the area’s fragile ecosystem.

A deal for SpaceX to take control of 130,000 acres of coastal Vermilion parish is reported to be close to being finalized, allowing the company to escalate its number of launches, including of its new Starship mega rocket. SpaceX also has ambitions to deploy artificial intelligence datacenters in space, and while some experts have doubts about this, it has submitted regulatory filings to build a constellation of up to a million of them.

The media is infatuated with Gadi Eisenkot, the ‘anti-Netanyahu’. Why? | Mehdi Hasan

The challenger to Netanyahu is more of the same. His record makes that abundantly clear

Western media outlets cannot seem to get enough of Gadi Eisenkot.

Israel’s former military chief and the leader of the newly formed Yashar party has been embraced by the international press as he and his party take the lead in the polls in the run-up to October’s elections.

Mehdi Hasan is Guardian US columnist and the editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo.

Gen Z calls it ‘loud budgeting’ – small business owners have been doing it for decades | Gene Marks

The practice of openly proclaiming to the world what you can’t afford can lead to lower fees, reduced prices and better deals

Ask any small business owner what has challenged them the most over the past couple of years and you’ll frequently hear about cashflow. It’s no secret that costs have risen dramatically and finding places to save money isn’t easy.

If this describes your situation then I’ve got a solution to your problem. Ever hear of “loud budgeting”? Of course you have! You’ve probably been doing it for years.

Taylor Farms voluntarily recalls products with jalapeños

Taylor Farms, the company tied to a cyclosporiasis outbreak via lettuce, has voluntarily recalled its products with jalapeños after concerns over salmonella. Adriana Diaz reports.

From Dubai luxury to an Irish jail cell: Daniel Kinahan’s drastic lifestyle shift

Only spending outlet for man accused of helping to control a third of Europe’s cocaine supply will be prison tuck shop

It sounds like the penal equivalent of five stars: a private gym and library, daily outings to the exercise yard and a landing cleared of other prisoners.

Daniel Kinahan’s first full day inside the walls of Portlaoise prison on Monday, however, marked a drastic change from his luxury lifestyle in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. economy shows signs of trouble with gas prices, jobs report

The U.S. economy is showing signs of trouble as gas prices ramp back up to more than $4 per gallon, and the July employment data showed an unexpected loss of 23,000 jobs in the U.S. Nancy Cordes reports.

Liverpool owners close to £1.35bn sale of 30% stake to consortium including Jeff Bezos

• Group including Amazon founder has held talks with FSG

• Bhatia and Facebook co-founder Saverin also involved

A consortium including the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is close to completing a deal for a 30% stake in Liverpool after months of talks with Fenway Sports Group. The investors are led by Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of the Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and who previously was a shareholder and director at Queens Park Rangers.

The Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is another member of the group who will pay in the region of £1.35bn. The deal is effectively agreed, but may take up to a month to complete.

Entrepreneurship is booming in the U.S. Gen Zers are leading the way.

Young Americans, tired of working for others and boosted by AI, are driving a surge in new businesses.

Fast-moving fires rip through West

Wildfires are blazing across the western U.S., and in some cases, getting dangerously close to homes. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

Is Andy Burnham seriously about to tour Britain like some medieval monarch? | Zoe Williams

The ‘King of the North’ is on the march – or rather, on a bus. But maybe he’d be better off staying at home and thinking than heading out to press the flesh

Andy Burnham is going on a “listening tour”, travelling the country on a bus to find out what real people are concerned about. I’ve heard commentators rationalise the idea in various ways: apparently it underscores the difference between him and his predecessor, who only ever relaxed when he was out of the country; what else is Burnham going to do in recess, with his cabinet already chosen – organise his Post-it notes?; he’s been out of politics a long time, and many people will be only dimly aware of who he is; his speeches to date have had a very urban focus, and particularly with farming being this season’s crisis sector, he needs to broaden his sphere of interest to take in rural areas. Truly, the prime ministerial honeymoon period is like a one-year-old’s birthday party – all you have to do is stand up and smile, for everyone to clap.

None of the rationalisations are in any way true: an in-person focus group, where you journey to discover a range of concerns you could figure out for yourself with one report from the Institute for Public Policy Research and half a brain, is exactly the kind of thing Starmer would have done, if he’d thought of it. There’s quite a bit to be getting on with, between now and September, since autumn’s looming crises – food shortages, energy price hikes due to the ongoing war in Iran – are plain, and there’s no better time to plan than when you don’t have the leader of the opposition yanking your chain. Burnham actually has tremendous household-level recognition, thanks to a combination of hinterland and eyelashes, as evidenced by the fact that even when contesting Makerfield he got mobbed every time he got out of a car. Now, the conditions devastating farmers, being the direct result of climate crisis, would be better addressed by a long-range strategy on the transition to renewables, not a chinwag.

Mouse Tower trekkers and an angry sunflower: photos of the day – Monday

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

People flocking to Spain to view solar eclipse could spark more ‘devastating’ wildfires

Northern Spain will be one of the best places in world to view phenomenon with 460,000 extra visitors expected

Authorities in Spain have warned of an increased risk of fires when hundreds of thousands of people head to the hills and beaches to get a better view of Wednesday’s total solar eclipse.

“The vegetation is extraordinarily dry and the smallest spark or carelessness could lead to devastating forest fires,” the environment minister, Sara Aagesen, said on a visit to Niebla in the south of the country, the site of Spain’s latest fire.

This Is Ballroom review – pulsating documentary tells story of Brazilian ballroom

Paris is Burning gets a South American update in a film that shows the Brazilian scene as a space of solidarity and tension

Originating among the Black, Latin and trans communities in 1960s New York, queer ballroom culture has not only entered the mainstream but also travelled well outside the United States. In recent years, a movement has flourished in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro and its outskirts, an evolution intimately captured in Juru and Vitã’s documentary debut. Here fly-on-the-wall recordings of a typical ball are interwoven with slice-of-life interviews, elaborating on the communal ties that extend beyond the dancefloor.

A whirl of pulsating beats, fabulous fits and gyrating bodies, the sensory opening gives us a taste of the different categories attached to the ball. Competing on behalf of their “houses” – queer chosen families of like-minded individuals – the participants show off their voguing, dancing and posing skills, all with the hope of snatching the top trophies. For those who have seen seminal ballroom documentary Paris is Burning (1990), many of these categories – such as Runway, Face and Femme Queens – will sound familiar. In addition to its US influences, Brazilian ballroom is also flavoured with local culture: some categories draw on samba and other forms of afro-Brazilian music, a deliberate nod to the Black pioneers of the scene.

How to feel optimistic in the face of crisis? Ask the kids fighting slug-like aliens | Alexander Hurst

The Animorphs books taught my generation about digging deep in the face of an existential threat. We need that spirit now more than ever

Recently I found myself thinking about slug-like aliens that crawl through people’s ears and into their brains, with the ultimate purpose of global domination. It would explain a lot about what has gone so wrong with the world, wouldn’t it? And it was why I immediately flashed back to the children’s fantasy series Animorphs when Donald Trump’s health secretary and conspiracy theorist, Robert F Kennedy Jr, admitted to having had a worm in his brain.

While visiting my parents in Cleveland, Ohio recently, I realised that a few books from the children’s fantasy series were still sitting on the shelves in my old bedroom. No fewer than 54 Animorphs titles were published between 1996 and 2001, and a total of 35m copies have been sold. “I may have just landed a job thanks to Animorphs,” my childhood friend Clifton texted me with excitement in the mid-2010s, when we were fresh out of college. “It was an interview for a vegan food cart and the last question they asked me was what Animorph I would morph into. I said an orangutan.”

Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now

Francesca Hong, the progressive leading a ‘messy’ race for Wisconsin’s governor: ‘They’re tired of the status quo’

Hong, whose grassroots campaign has made her a frontrunner, aims for primary win after public skepticism from top Democrats and a last-minute shake-up

As Francesca Hong surged ahead in the final weeks of the chaotic Democratic primary to be Wisconsin’s next governor, the democratic socialist has become the internet’s main character.

Donald Trump has mocked her old tweets, while major figures in her own party publicly questioned her ability to win a general election. The man she is vying to succeed even launched a late blitz in support of one of her rivals.

Crew of Zuckerberg yacht did not hear radio call to assist boat, Meta says

Small skiff ran out of fuel off Alaska and was helped by cruise ship even though Meta CEO’s vessel was closer

• Zuckerberg faces questions over why superyacht reportedly declined to help stranded boat

The crew of a yacht owned by Mark Zuckerberg did not hear a radio call for a maritime assist from a small skiff that ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska, and by the time it did, another nearby ship had already rendered assistance, a spokesperson for the Meta CEO said.

The Alaska Beacon news outlet reported that the skiff had issued a call for assistance through the US Coast Guard last week and a nearby small cruise ship, the Wilderness Legacy, towed it into nearby Farragut Bay in south-east Alaska and refueled it.

Flood death toll in India's Assam reaches 100 as thousands lose their homes

Days of heavy monsoon rain has caused rivers, including the Brahmaputra, to overflow, inundating communities, disrupting livelihoods and damaging infrastructure.

Brazilian footballer falls down hole celebrating goal that was then disallowed

• Coritiba’s Jacy Maranhão jumped into a tunnel

• Goal was ruled out by video assistant referee

A Brazilian’s goal celebration went badly wrong when he jumped over advertising boards after scoring, only to fall down a hole in the ground. Jacy Maranhão, a defender for Coritiba, escaped without serious injury, though his spectacular moment proved in vain.

A video assistant referee’s decision ruled out his goal in a Brazilian Série A encounter with Chapecoense that Coritiba thought was their second goal. They did win the game 2-1.

Georgina Hayden’s quick and easy recipe for spiced sticky chicken with plums and pancakes

A quick, takeaway-style chicken dish full of spice and flavour, with a homemade plum sauce, to serve with pancakes or rice

I have a real aversion to the term “fakeaway”. I don’t know why. But as much as I resist the terminology, I guess it’s exactly what this dish is – it’s 100% based on and inspired by a Chinese takeaway classic: crispy duck pancakes. A real people pleaser, and something my girls adore. Making this with pan-fried chicken takes next to no time and is the perfect after-school/work quick dinner. And for a different ending, I sometimes serve the chicken and plum sauce over jasmine rice instead. With the same accompaniments, of course.

‘For this record, I took an edible and said, screw it’: jazz pianist Sullivan Fortner on confronting the trauma of Hurricane Katrina

The New Orleans native is a three-time Grammy winner at the top of his game – and is now using his instinctive style to celebrate the resilience and clarity of Katrina survivors

‘Black music is forward and upward in movement, you know? Never forward or upward,” pianist Sullivan Fortner declares. “It’s a tornado that’s always getting bigger and moving faster,” he adds, whizzing his fingers around with delight.

On a video call between sets at Rotterdam’s North Sea jazz festival, the 39-year-old speaks like he plays, with quirkiness, subtlety and mischief. A three-time Grammy winner – including for 2025’s Southern Nights – Fortner also recently received the Larry J Bell award, a prize of $300,000 (£225,000) given every four years to a standout jazz pianist, which gave him the confidence to present an all-encompassing version of himself on Leave That in There, his sixth album. “I’ve tried the self-editing way,” he says of previous albums involving multiple takes and endless post-production tinkering. “For this record, I took an edible and I just said, screw it.”

Australian rare earth miner surges after U.S. Department of Defense investment

The Trump administration has backed plans to build an Australian scandium mine as part of a push to challenge China’s critical minerals dominance.

Decades of abuse revealed at Michigan art school. And, the Iran war's impact on midterms

A new report has revealed decades of alleged abuse at an elite art school. NPR spoke with one of the victims. And, Iran is playing the long game with negotiations, which could impact midterms.

Treasury ‘materially contributed’ to suicide of personal assistant, coroner finds

Chloe Moffat, 26, killed herself after disciplinary proceedings which coroner found be to be flawed

The Treasury “materially contributed” to the death of Chloe Moffat, a 26-year-old personal assistant who took her own life after facing disciplinary proceedings, a coroner has found.

Anna Crawford also found there was a risk of future deaths within the civil service from flawed handling of disciplinary proceedings. She said she would send a prevention of future deaths report to the head of the civil service, the Treasury, and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas).

Riffing on classic British comfort food

Jimi Famurewa, restaurant critic and food journalist, travels to Edinburgh, London and Manchester eating at the female-fronted cafes and bistros reviving regional comfort food favourites, passed down through generations. Starting with soda bread and a fry-up cooked by Irish-born owner Claire Hanrahan at her bistro Norah, named after her late grandmother. Onwards to Bara, where Cecily Dalladay and Zoë Heimann are celebrating the Welsh ingredients they grew up with and feed Jimi a hearty Caerphilly cheesesteak. Finally he visits Auntie Lou’s, where Emily Witts recreates her grandmother’s recipe for scones with apricot jam and cheese.

Overmono review – irresistible dance duo swap club intimacy for well-earned spectacle

Old Royal Naval College, London
Playing their biggest headlining gig to date, the Russell brothers are in a bouncy mood, though their grandstanding rave melodies lose some punch in an outdoor environment

In the age of shortform video supremacy, there has been a great deal of angst about the authentic club music experience being rendered a vapid spectacle. Stop expecting DJs to be social media stars, put your phones away on the dancefloor, close your eyes and lose yourself in the beats, goes the revanchist wisdom.

It’s understandable, but worries about superstar DJs stomping on the face of the pure rave experience are almost 30 years old now. It is decades since the Prodigy, Chemicals, Orbital and Fatboy Slim lit up festival stages and the charts. And anyway, spectacles can be fun – and funny – and so can dance music.

OpenAI tightens controls on its new model over cybersecurity risks, as AI security debate intensifies

The AI lab said it could not rule out a new model had reached "Critical" capability, meaning it could launch cyberattacks against sophisticated cyber defenses.

Tour de France Femmes steps out of Pogacar’s shadow to showcase truly compelling racing | Jeremy Whittle

Overall winner was uncertain until final climb – a world away from Slovenian’s dominance of men’s event

Demi Vollering’s second overall win in the Tour de France Femmes in Nice on Sunday was achieved after a heated dispute with Kasia Niewiadoma, but by the time the sun was setting on the Promenade des Anglais, the sisterhood that has always characterised this race had kicked back in.

On a final stage of high drama, the Dutchwoman erased the lingering controversy with an attacking win of the highest quality, further boosting the prestige of the long-dormant native cycling scene in a gutsy performance from her French-sponsored FDJ United-Suez team.

Manchester City closing in on £85m Bouaddi to soften blow of Rodri’s expected exit

• Morocco international midfielder has agreed terms

• Barça to return with improved bid for Rodri

Manchester City are closing in on signing Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, with the midfielder’s expected arrival clearing the path for Rodri to join Barcelona. The 18-year-old has agreed personal terms with City, but the club are still finalising the deal with Lille valueing Bouaddi at €100m (£85m).

City’s new manager, Enzo Maresca, wants to integrate the Morocco international into his first-team squad immediately. City meet Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday and open their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on 23 August.

Stuff of nightmares? Meet the bootlace worm – super-long, super-elastic, and it fires toxic slime

Its mucus, which can kill crabs and cockroaches, could be the basis of new insecticides

It’s the shuddery stuff of nightmares for some, but for a select group who admire extending ladders, giraffes and the Odyssey, one of the longest animals in the world is bound to appeal.

This creature is nneither the blue whale, nor a lion’s mane jellyfish but the humble bootlace worm, Lineus longissimus, one of the most remarkable marine invertebrates of them all.

It’s invertebrate of the year again! From 3-12 August, every day we will profile one of the thousands of amazing invertebrates that our readers have nominated. And then, when you’ve heard about all of them, we’ll open the voting so you can choose your favourites. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with thoughts and ideas: email us at [email protected] with Invertebrate in the subject line.

Invisible poison: living with mercury pollution in the Colombian Amazon – in pictures

Rainforest communities face a silent crisis as mercury from gold mining contaminates their food and water

Sinking ships, dark humour and really good bad guys: Beryl Bainbridge – ranked!

From the last days of the Titanic to desperate romantics, we rate the work of a British master of black comedy

Bainbridge’s novel of the last days on RMS Titanic was acclaimed and popular (“They probably thought it was the book of the film,” she said), and the scenes of the sinking are brilliantly delivered. “There is about me an element of showmanship,” says one character, but Bainbridge’s own showmanship is muffled here by her need to stick with facts, meaning the novel lacks the humour, fluidity and eccentricity of her others. And unlike her earlier books, the final tragedy never feels personal to the characters.

Some disabled people want to advance their careers. They say Medicaid rules stop them

Medicaid will have new work requirements next year. But some people with disabilities, who already work, say they'd like to work more, but risk losing their Medicaid coverage if they earn too much.

Record 230 people cross Channel to UK as smugglers turn to ‘mega-dinghies’

Crossing in larger vessel highlights changing tactics despite increased enforcement on French coast

A dinghy carrying a record 230 people has arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in the early hours of Monday.

It is the clearest indication yet that people smugglers in northern France are adapting their business model and escalating their so-called taxi boat strategy to evade enforcement by UK and French authorities.

Roman shipwreck with 500 amphorae found off coast of Sicily

Discovery of 2,100-year-old vessel hailed as ‘one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years’

A 2,100-year-old Roman shipwreck carrying about 500 amphorae has been discovered 3 miles off the coast of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily.

Italy’s Carabinieri cultural heritage protection squad investigated the wreck with the help of divers and underwater cameras after receiving a tip-off from fishers. The vessel was found at a depth of about 46 metres (151ft) and was carrying hundreds of amphorae – ancient two-handled ceramic jars with a narrow neck – thought to have been used mainly to transport wine.

Mother of Briton fatally shot by father in Texas urges Miliband to press US for new inquiry

Jane Coates says foreign secretary should draw attention to coroner’s finding that Lucy Harrison was unlawfully killed

The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, is being urged to push US authorities to reopen an investigation into a man who shot dead his 23-year-old British daughter while she was visiting him in Texas.

Lucy Harrison, from Warrington in Cheshire, was fatally shot on 10 January 2025, the day before she was due to fly home to the UK.

Uefa, Concacaf and AFC push for Infantino to quit and discuss rival competitions

• Confederations write open letter damning Fifa president

• Concacaf president Montagliani seen as top contender

Uefa, the Asian Football Confederation and Concacaf will push for Gianni Infantino to resign after writing an open letter calling for “leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it”.

In a dramatic escalation of the war that has threatened to tear football apart since details emerged of the Fifa president’s failed Football Forward Enterprise scheme, the three governing bodies accused Infantino of “trust broken through deception” and condemned his failure to acknowledge that the proposal should not have been unilaterally launched.

‘Shoved the tube so hard it tore my nose’: Kurdish film-maker recounts ‘inhumane’ ICE force-feeding

Gabar Choli tells of how, for months, he was shackled, pinned and forcibly fed – and the physical and emotional scars the ordeal has left

In June 2025, a sluggish and thin Gabar Choli, with sunken temples and bones visible under his skin, braced himself for the immigration detention center guards to charge into his cell once again.

Choli was in a solitary confinement medical cell inside the Port Isabel service processing center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in south Texas where immigrants arrested in Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown are detained.

Dr Fauci made mistakes. But his persecution is a travesty | Margaret Sullivan

It’s easy to second-guess decisions made during the pandemic. That doesn’t justify the Republicans’ politicized response

Like the rest of us, Anthony Fauci is far from perfect. His influential guidance, as the country’s top infectious-disease specialist during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, certainly didn’t get everything right.

A great deal about the deadly disease – where it came from, how it spread, how best to protect the public – was unknown, or was being learned midstream, during a crisis.

The pet I’ll never forget: Boone the neglected puppy, rescued alongside 250 others

Boone needed a home; my own dog needed company. When she picked him out at the shelter, all our lives took a turn for the better

After 30 years working in the RSPCA, I had seen animals in unimaginable conditions. I saw dogs who had been left unattended at home for so long they began chewing doors and drinking water out of toilet bowls. I saw animals who had been stamped, kicked and even stabbed. But nothing could prepare me for Boone’s situation.

Carson, the older of my two cocker spaniels, died in January. I could sense Bessie, an excitable bossy nine-year-old, was lonelier without him. They were both rescue animals. Carson was picked up by an RSPCA inspector and Bessie was abandoned at our local vet. Any dog I brought into our lives was a dog who needed a safe home.

RL Stine’s Pumpkinhead review – horror from Goosebumps writer has kid confined inside large fruit

Based on a short story by the Goosebumps author, this derivative but tautly plotted tale over-relies on Scooby-Doo-style sleuthery, and its truly unsettling turn comes too late

Adapted from a 1999 short story by Goosebumps’ RL Stine, this kid-proofed piece of midwestern folk horror borrows merrily from The Wicker Man, Stephen King and Tim Burton. Rattling those influences around in its horn of plenty, it rigs up a taut enough plotline about a New York family arriving in the suspiciously fecund farming outpost of Redhaven. But, even given the horror-lite nature of the enterprise, it doesn’t stake out sufficient fresh territory of its own – until it’s too late.

Snotty skate rat Sam (Bean Reid) moves to Redhaven with his mum, Cassie, (Kendra Anderson) and older brother Finn (Seth Isaac Johnson) where, hitting the local harvest festival, they learn that ornery Farmer Palmer (Kevin McNulty) is the one responsible for miraculously wringing out fresh bounty from the town’s once-blighted fields. Vexed at finding himself in the sticks, Sam decides to steal Palmer’s prize pumpkin – but when Finn returns it, he is magically trapped inside. All the adults seem to forget Finn ever existed, leaving Sam until midnight on Halloween to break the curse.

Man who allegedly arranged Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing going on trial in Las Vegas

The man who prosecutors say orchestrated the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, Duane "Keffe D" Davis, is scheduled to go to trial almost 30 years after the drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

Tupac Shakur: former gang boss to go on trial nearly 30 years after rapper’s killing

Prosecutors to allege Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis ordered killing and provided gun in Las Vegas drive-by shooting of rapper

The trial is to begin of a former gang leader over the decades-old killing of the rapper Tupac Shakur, one of the most high-profile unsolved murders in the US.

The proceedings, which begin in Las Vegas on Monday and are expected to last a month, are unlikely to make clear who fired the shots that killed the musician on 7 September 1996 while he was in the city to see a Mike Tyson boxing match.

Convince an AI it’s not alive in psychological horror game Prove You’re Human

Sunset Visitor studio’s founder tells us about their new, unnerving Captcha-filled world which prompts players to ask what it means to have a ‘meat body’

Sunset Visitor is a studio that has long engaged with the idea that video games are an effective vehicle for ruminating on societal problems. Its Peabody award-winning project, 1000XResist, incorporated the development team’s complex feelings about the Covid pandemic. “We’re pretty used to absorbing the world into the work,” says studio founder Remy Siu. The outfit’s latest game, Prove You’re Human, continues this legacy of reflective game making, providing players with an AI-centric psychological horror experience where they must reason with a learning model convinced that it’s alive. “We’ve tried to situate ourselves in [the question]: what is the effectual feeling of being a person inside of all of this?” Siu says.

The story orbits around Santana, a living, breathing person who’s chosen to split herself in two for work, with her digital clone sent to test a corporate product, a computing system called Mesa. “A large part of [why Santana chooses to do this] is to allow her meat body a life that she doesn’t have, while the digital version of her gets to labour,” says Siu. As Santana’s copy wades into increasingly murky ethical waters, she becomes entangled with Mesa, completing surreal 2D and 3D Captchas to investigate the cyber-world and halt the hallucinations.

‘Reaching 50 is a success story’: how one trans woman survived HIV and stigma in Latin America

Erika Castellanos has beaten the life expectancy of 35 for a transgender woman in the region, but warns aid cuts and a rollback in human rights risk reversing efforts to end Aids

Erika Castellanos has outlived what she describes as one of the cruellest statistics in Latin America. The life expectancy of a transgender woman in the region is estimated to be 35 years. “I am 50 years old. A lot of trans women are killed very early in life, either because of HIV or because of transphobia, so reaching 50 is a success story,” she says.

When Castellanos was diagnosed with HIV in 1995, doctors gave her six months to live. She had already spent years watching Aids devastate her community, with effective treatment beyond the reach of most people in low-income countries.

An arts school where Epstein allegedly preyed on students reveals decades of abuse

In a new report, former Interlochen students detail some 70 allegations of sexual abuse by nearly 50 adults employed or affiliated with the school. One of the former students tells his story to NPR.

Mike Lindell touts Trump ties in race for governor of Minnesota, where Trump has lost

Lindell, of MyPillow, plays up his ties to Trump, who endorsed him for Tuesday's primary. But the state Republican convention backed one of his opponents.

Messy is chic again. But is the world ready for my kind of crumpled grubbiness? | Emma Beddington

All my clothes are stained and creased and my house is cluttered, so I should be thrilled by this moment. But it’s naive to think we are about to be tolerant of the real mess of life

Stand down Stacey Solomon; hush, quiet luxury: mess is back, though in this household, and I suspect many others, it never went away. “Messiness in all its aesthetic glory is being celebrated in a meaningful way,” Susie Lau writes in this month’s Elle, highlighting some recent fashion mess – dirty shirt cuffs and frayed embroidery at Prada; battered handbags at Chanel; an “extreme-treated denim” homage to the walk of shame at Diesel. Beauty and homes are on a similar trajectory, apparently, with morning-after makeup and interiors that make a virtue of clutter and imperfection, “from unmade beds to breakfast leftovers”.

The mess revival Lau observes in style has also been gathering momentum in other areas: goblin mode, bed rotting and sloppy, blurred Instagram photo dumps. Now “gen Z is drinking again” (74% of them, up from 66% in 2023 according to a drinks industry study), there seems to be a broader sobriety backlash brewing and cigarettes are, depressingly, back in fashion (deployed as accessories by Kylie Jenner, Dua Lipa, Hailey Bieber and many more).

Is Beauty Good by Rosalind Belben review – the literary equivalent of free jazz

Combining hilarious detail with harsh observation, this rediscovered novel takes the reader on an exhilaratingly strange journey

‘But after all, writing is nothing more than a guided dream,” wrote Jorge Luis Borges. Dreams and dreaming are fertile concerns for Rosalind Belben, too. Her fourth book, originally published in 1979 and reissued last year, was titled Dreaming of Dead People. It was followed, a decade later, by Is Beauty Good. Now available in a new edition from the Sheffield indie And Other Stories, this eccentric polyphonic novel contains dozens of considerations of dreams, including dogs’ dreams and horses’ dreams as well as human beings’. Yet what makes it extraordinary is Belben’s ability to capture in words the slippery state that is neither dreaming nor sleeping nor waking, but somewhere in the edgelands between all three.

“I fall awake and think, I want to go home. But there is no home.” So begins the chapter entitled Exile, a deliciously elusive story that is, most of the time at least, narrated in the first person by someone who is probably a woman, “a grizzled, cropped person”, and probably quite old and alone. They might be travelling through mountains somewhere, perhaps on a bus. They aren’t sure: “I am quite lost, wherever I am. I want to surrender. I wish to retire. I am tired.” Swishing about are uncertain memories of a childhood “shrouded” in nightmares: there was an orchard with an abundance of flora and fauna, and larks and swallows and “swifts to scream”. Like the author, the narrator was “born in the mud month” of February, and longs to disappear into marshlands to “be touched and stroked by plants”. But Belben never lets us rest in one place for long. Slipping in and out of sleep, “suffering glimpses”, the narrator stares at “a pink and blue angel” in the plaster of the wall. Which wall, you wonder, and how did we get here? This is the lure of Belben’s hypnagogia, the dizzying space into which she writes.

Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’

Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beach

Harry Potter fans have forced a new multimillion-pound power cable between the UK and Ireland to be relocated after complaining it would desecrate the “grave” of Dobby, a fictional elf.

The character was laid to rest on Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fans of the wizard series come to leave stones reading “Here Lies Dobby” despite being asked not to by the land owner, the National Trust, because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.

Is it true that … you need to detox your scalp?

A good scalp cleanse can be useful, but it partly depends where you live

We’re experiencing the “skinification” of the scalp, says Desmond Tobin, professor of dermatological science at University College Dublin. After decades of consumer obsession with improving the quality of facial skin, attention is now being turned to our heads.

A wave of products have launched – from scalp scrubs and acid exfoliants to deep-cleaning shampoos – claiming to “detox” the scalp and promising everything from shinier hair to boosted growth.

‘Men have 30 seconds to get a laugh. Women have 10’: standup Bella Hull on proving herself in rough clubs

She started standup at 17 playing ‘unsafe basements’ and braving revolting hecklers – and even worse headline acts. Now she writes for SNL and is giving Edinburgh a blast of her surreal comedy

Comedy isn’t just a career for Bella Hull. It’s a compulsion. “Standup for me is like – I have to do it,” says Hull, who first picked up a mic aged 17. “Regardless of what the response is.”

A decade in, the response is resoundingly positive. The 28-year-old had a sell-out show at last year’s Edinburgh fringe (Doctors Hate Her, which explored a break-up, insanity and the occult), appearances on Have I Got News For You and The News Quiz, and a coveted role as writer on the new UK version of Saturday Night Live. “There’s something symbolic about being the person with the voice,” she says of standup. “A lot of situations in my personal life, I don’t feel like that at all.”

John Berger: From Life by Tom Overton review – a vibrant biography of the pioneering critic

This multi-layered portrait is a fitting tribute to the man behind Ways of Seeing

The cultural critic John Berger was still alive and kicking when he donated his literary archive – heaped boxes of letters and notepads, sketches and scripts – to the British Library in 2009. From his home in the Alps, he proceeded to liaise with the collection’s curator, Tom Overton, sorting each item and recounting the wild stories behind them. When Overton sought permission to write Berger’s biography, though, the critic insisted that he wait a few years. Death changes the relationship between the writer and his subject. More often than not, it complicates and enriches it. Berger – who spent much of his career in passionate conversation with the past – probably knew that better than anyone.

Berger typically described himself as a storyteller, an elastic job title which allowed him to swing between fiction and poetry, essays and screenplays. Implicitly, too, the term helped frame his criticism as something propulsive and inclusive, an invitation to dance as opposed to a judgment from on high. Berger had no time for the “great man” theory of art as espoused by the popular historian Kenneth Clark and instead urged his audience to view each piece as a manifestation of society and politics: the tainted fruit of capitalism, inseparable from the marketplace. Oil paintings were status symbols. Nudes were the product of the lusty male gaze. Looking itself was a political act. “You cannot reply to me,” he would tell 1970s TV viewers, breaking the fourth wall to highlight the medium’s limitations. He liked pointing out the mechanics behind the manufacture of art, demystifying the process to better appreciate its results.

Wholesome animal chat that will melt your cynicism: best podcasts of the week

Matt Baker invites celebrities to talk about their pets. Plus, US soccer legend Megan Rapinoe makes her hosting debut

This series by Blue Peter and One Show alumnus Matt Baker is a wholesome entry into the well-worn celebrity interview genre. Indeed, it’s hard to be too cynical when you’re listening to Bill Bailey detail his menagerie, which has included everything from parrots and lizards to armadillos and the dog he is ostensibly on the show to talk about, a Japanese chin named Chocho. Other guests for this run include Martin Clunes and Clare Balding.
Widely available, episodes weekly

A new start after 60: I took up slalom skateboarding – and I’m off to the world championships!

Darren Miles had skateboarded all his life. But in his 50s, he realised he was losing his skills and flexibility. So he took it in a new direction

Darren Miles never thought he would compete in any sport for Britain. But in October, he will represent Great Britain in slalom skateboarding – a form of downhill racing – at the World Skate Games in Paraguay. Last week, he completed his World Anti-Doping Agency awareness training. He had to tick a box confirming: “I’m an international athlete.”

“Justification” is the word that comes to mind, he says. “A feeling that I haven’t wasted my life skateboarding, that diverging into something new” – he took up slalom in his late 50s – “and working hard at it has yielded a result of which I am very proud.”

Centrist Democrats dismiss Abdul El-Sayed as a freak radical. Do they want to win in 2028 or not? | Nesrine Malik

Americans want someone on their side in the fight against vested interests – that means politicians like the Michigan primary winner and Zohran Mamdani

Abdul El-Sayed’s win in the Michigan Senate primary was a historic breakthrough. Not only because he is a Muslim son of immigrants who broke with almost every single tenet of establishment Democratic party politics. But because he has wiped that complacent sneer at progressive wins off the faces of centrist gatekeepers. Zohran Mamdani? Relax, he’s just a mayor. And it’s New York City. Outside urban and liberal corridors, there is nothing to worry about. Now El-Sayed has won the Democratic party’s nomination in a swing state that is also on the list of presidential nomination states.

There is a lot to be excited about. Not only within the US, but for observers abroad hopeful for the emergence of a truly revolutionary left that is able to weather powerful and well-funded adversaries and prevail. The money raised to defeat El-Sayed was staggering. He was outspent by more than nine to one. It was the most expensive Democratic congressional primary ever. A roll call of cartoon bad guys, such as Chevron and Philip Morris, funded his opponent, Haley Stevens, to the tune of over $60m. Of that funding, nearly half came from a Super Pac backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).

Broth, tart and salad: Kirk Haworth’s vegan tomato recipes for summer

A smoky tomato broth, a grilled peach, tomato and almond ‘ricotta’ salad scattered with roast almonds, and a sparky tomato tarte tatin

August is peak tomato season. This most versatile of fruits can be put to just about any use, from raw to slow-cooked and from oven- or sun-dried to desserts (believe it or not, they go incredibly well with summer berries, especially strawberries and raspberries). Not only that, but tomatoes have high glutamate levels that rise even further as they ripen, which gives them an umami kick. However you prepare them, though, the key thing is never to keep tomatoes in the fridge: the chill breaks down their cell structure and, even more importantly, affects their flavour in an alarming way.

Trump says oil supermajors are making too much money. What will they do with it?

The windfall is fueling fresh political and environmental backlash, with Trump accusing Exxon Mobil and Chevron of making “too much money.”

Typhoon Dolphin: more than a million people evacuated in China as record rainfall dumped on Shanghai

Authorities warn that days of intense rain could trigger widespread flooding and landslides as storm moves north and further inland

More than a million people were moved to safety across eastern China by Sunday evening as powerful Typhoon Dolphin made landfall amid fears torrential rain would cause flooding and landslides.

Wenzhou, a coastal city in Zhejiang province, said it relocated more than 900,000 people and opened more than 1,500 emergency shelters. In neighbouring Fujian, 98,900 people were moved from high-risk areas.

British widow, 78, told to leave Sweden under Brexit rules after living there for 21 years

Authorities say application to stay was made too late, as UK officials say Sweden takes ‘stricter approach’ than other EU countries

A 78-year-old British widow who has lived in Sweden for 21 years is fighting deportation from the country after authorities told her a post-Brexit application to stay had been submitted too late.

Her case is the latest of 2,500 British people ordered to leave the country after Brexit in what campaigners and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have said is an inexplicably hardline approach taken by the Swedish authorities. It comes two years after Sweden threatened to deport a British woman with dementia in a care home shortly before she died.

Movie paradise? How Malta became a magnet for big film shoots

EU’s smallest country has played ancient Rome, the Land of Spells and Bay of Pentos and draws more than 30 productions annually

What links the Caribbean, ancient Rome, Enid Blyton’s Land of Spells, the south of France and the Bay of Pentos from Game of Thrones? They are all places that have been portrayed in recent and forthcoming films by a sunny archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea, no bigger in size than Sheffield.

Malta has over the last decade risen to become one of the most popular places in Europe for American and British film-makers to set their works in, taking a lead in what has been described as an “arms race” to lure big movie productions with tax incentives.

‘This is asking a lot of the buttocks’: my 23-hour Wagner marathon on a rock hard seat in a heatwave

How does it feel to be locked into a venue notorious for its unpadded seating to experience a full-throttle Ring cycle and more? Our critic found out at the 150th anniversary of the mighty Bayreuth festival

Liszt and Bruckner were there from the start. Debussy, Mahler and Puccini all subsequently made the journey. So did writers from Virginia Woolf and Thomas Mann to WEB Du Bois, not to mention choreographer Sergei Diaghilev, anarchist Emma Goldman, British fascist Diana Mosley (wife of Oswald) and – most notoriously and fanatically – Adolf Hitler.

Culturally and politically, Germany’s Bayreuth festival doesn’t so much have baggage as its own industrial-scale luggage hangar. But it’s also prized as the ultimate place to hear Richard Wagner’s operas. One hundred and fifty years after the composer launched the festival with the premiere of his epic Ring cycle, tickets for this summer’s edition sold out within 90 minutes. No mean feat for a theatre with famously uncomfortable seats, no air conditioning and only one man’s music on the menu. The shortest work lasts two-and-a-half hours without a break.

Mother, 5-month-old die in New York Harbor after boat capsized; captain arrested

A 46-year-old man was arrested on reckless endangerment charges, and authorities are investigating whether the boat was an illegal charter.

World’s seas have hit hottest temperature on record for July, say scientists

Average sea surface temperature outside polar regions was highest on record for July, beating previous high in 2023

The world’s seas were hotter last month than in any July on record, scientists have said, as devastating heat struck western Europe.

Sea surface temperatures hit record highs for July on the Atlantic coast and western Mediterranean, the EU’s Copernicus climate change service found, with severe marine heatwaves roiling Europe’s seas. Globally, the average sea surface temperature outside the cold polar regions was the highest on record for the month, beating the previous July record set in 2023.

Prison inmates train service dogs, changing lives of people they've never met

At a state prison in Stockton, California, some inmates train service dogs that will go on to help people with disabilities. Max Darrow has the story.

The Odyssey becomes Christopher Nolan’s highest grossing film as it passes $1.1bn at box office

The film-maker’s take on Homer’s epic has beaten his previous record holder The Dark Knight Rises

The Odyssey has become the highest grossing film of Christopher Nolan’s career, having made more than US$1bn at the global box office less than a month after its release.

The blockbuster, which was released on 17 July, is an adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic and follows Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, on his perilous 10-year journey home after the Trojan war.

Taiwan practices war games as it fears increasing Chinese aggression, questions Trump's support

Taiwan continued its 10-day war games this weekend, preparing for a potential invasion by China, which claims the territory as its own and has threatened to seize it by force. Anna Coren has more details from Taiwan.

Powerball prize increases to $905 million

The Powerball jackpot powered up after there was no winner this weekend. The prize for Monday's drawing is now an estimated $905 million, the biggest jackpot this year.

Gas prices stubbornly stuck, up more than $1 since war with Iran started

The cost of the war with Iran on taxpayers continues to grow, not only to finance the Pentagon's plans, but at the pump. Taurean Small has more.

Iranian leaders demand U.S. pay for war damage or will keep Strait of Hormuz closed

Iran's Revolutionary Guard insisted that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. complies with a list of demands, including paying for war damage. Imtiaz Tyab reports on the latest in a series of mixed messages from the regime.

Fires grip western U.S., British Columbia: "It doesn't seem like it's real"

Nearly 100 large wildfires strained firefighting resources around the U.S. this weekend. The fire danger also exploded in Canada amid hot and dry conditions. Gwen Baumgardner reports, and Andrew Kozak has the forecast.

Don Nelson, former NBA coach and 5-time champion as a player, dies at 86

Don Nelson was one of two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises — Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State.

8/9/2026: Generally Recognized as Safe; Growing Up Behind Walls; Hoosier Hysteria

First, a report on how GRAS fuels the rise of ultraprocessed foods. Then, a look inside author Mitch Albom's Haiti orphanage. And, Indiana Hoosiers: from outcast to undefeated.

8/9: CBS Weekend News

Wildfires rage in Canada and the western U.S.; 2 were killed from a capsized boat in New York Harbor.

Netanyahu rejects US-led 15-point Gaza peace plan in rare public break with Trump

Israeli PM says IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed and rebukes US pressure to end wars without his country’s buy-in

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected a US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza in a rare public break with Donald Trump.

In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said that he was confronting a “wave of rumours about Israeli weakness and Israeli withdrawals on all fronts” and rebuked US pressure to end wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran without Israel’s buy-in.

Game of Thrones: The Mad King review – an action-packed saga of dry ice and fire

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
This prequel to the TV series has one joust after another, spectacular stagecraft and plenty of modern resonance

During the RSC’s 65 years, numerous Lears have lost their minds and frequent Caesars been slaughtered by their courts. Now, though, a tyrant new to its stages faces both fates. He is King Aerys II Targaryen, ancestor of one warring bloodline in Game of Thrones, the dramatisation of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels that helped TV streamers’ rise to global domination during eight HBO seasons from 2011 to 2019.

Some may balk at an institution named for England’s greatest dramatist staging an American drama franchise. There is, though, a compelling economic imperative: rising costs due to current wars (a frequent problem for Martin’s ancient oligarchs too) and Covid-era debts now exacerbated by paying back government loans means that the RSC could use another big commercial transfer – as its musical Matilda may not be immortal.

Bhattacharya says "I trust the science" on childhood vaccines

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said "I trust the science" on vaccines as measles cases have risen to their highest levels in 35 years.

Max Miller stays in Ohio House race as GOP ballot deadline passes

Rep. Max Miller is set to remain the Republican nominee in Ohio’s 7th District after the window for the GOP to replace him on the November ballot closed.

Alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan’s return to Ireland ends global game of cat-and-mouse

Kinahan built boxing empire while in exile in Dubai but now faces trial in Dublin charged with directing organised crime

A decade after escaping assassination and fleeing into exile, Daniel Kinahan is back in Ireland – but it is not the homecoming he wanted.

The alleged leader of the Kinahan organised crime group was extradited from Dubai in an Irish government jet on Sunday and met by a huge security operation in Dublin, marking the end of a global game of cat and mouse with European, US and Gulf authorities.