Japan v Australia: rugby union international – live

• Updates as Wallabies begin new era under Les Kiss

• Kick-off: 7pm local in Osaka/8pm AEST | Email us

“Deep care,” is the message from Les Kiss ahead of his first match in charge of Australia. He wants his team to care about every second, on and off the pitch, when they’re on national team duty.

The 2026 Test calendar is a patchwork quilt of matches scattered around the world as the the All Blacks and Springboks flex their financial muscles and teams begin preparations for next year’s World Cup.

Switzerland is a neutral nation but has more nuclear bunkers than any country in the world

Instead of scrapping its network of bomb shelters after the Cold War, Switzerland kept building them. The country has more than 370,000 nuclear bomb shelters. Some are now used to house migrants.

Parenting is hard. Should we let AI do it for us? | Dave Schilling

Tech companies offer eye-movement trackers, personalized podcasts and ‘optimized nap predictions’. Who actually needs this?

What job in our world is less lucrative than being a parent? A Hollywood internship? Volunteering at a soup kitchen? Professional writer? Parenting is the only job you have to pay money to do. Lots of money. Lodging, clothes, food, school, Pokémon cards – it really adds up. And it’s getting worse. According to the tech industry, I have to strap my drooling offspring to a computer in order to ensure the baby’s survival.

Parents are being offered life-altering advancements in artificial intelligence that purport to make this taxing endeavor a tiny bit easier. OpenAI is suggesting its latest products can make child-rearing more efficient: its boss, Sam Altman, suggests generating a podcast about your kid’s life that you can listen to in the morning on the way to school. How entertaining would a podcast “that talks about one kid’s soccer game that afternoon, one kid’s upcoming birthday, some news, etc” actually be? “Jimmy needs to work on his dribbling.” Great. I think he knows already. He’s not going to be the next Messi, so how about we switch back to music?

The ornithological artist drawing 1,000 birds by hand – all for an app that wants you off your phone

The mission of the Flock app is quietly subversive: to encourage users to ditch their screens and explore the wonderful world of birding

On a brilliantly bright afternoon in his gallery and studio in Bolinas, a small town on the northern California coast, Keith Hansen was putting the finishing touches on a watercolor of an almost improbably flamboyant painted bunting.

With an ultra-fine sable brush, he made a few intricate additions to the cobalt blue plumage on the bunting’s head, and, satisfied with his work, slipped the watercolor into a stout binder that every few days welcomes a new addition.

Senate confirms Todd Blanche as attorney general

In a narrow 50-49 vote, President Trump's former defense lawyer was confirmed as attorney general in a vote early Saturday.

‘She’s the voice of a really particular moment’: how Phoebe Bridgers became her generation’s defining songwriter

The US songwriter’s third album has drawn rave reviews, she counts Taylor Swift as a fan and pop bears the imprint of her wit and pathos. Her peers explain how she did it

This week, indie star Phoebe Bridgers releases her long-awaited third album, six years since her pandemic-era breakthrough. Alongside a slew of glittering reviews for Lost Weekend, including five stars from the Guardian, with it comes her first solo charting single in the UK – although the Californian musician’s influence runs far deeper than reviews or record sales could measure. Just how did a RuneScape-referencing, Halloween-costumed Berklee drop-out become the most influential songwriter of the 2020s?

Bridgers’ idiosyncratic writing has shaped the sound of the decade. Her second album Punisher, released in June 2020 (and recorded many months before), spookily anticipated that strange, lonely year: in her eerie double-tracked vocals (a nod to Bridgers’ musical hero, Elliott Smith), Bridgers sang of empty shopping malls and conspiracy theories over lush, unsettling music made from watery electric guitar, Mellotron, strings, screams and birdsong. Today, Bridgers’ distinctive mix of dry wit and pathos is traceable in the lyrics of pop’s new chart toppers, such as Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, while heavyweights across generations and genres, including Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and SZA, have clamoured for collaborations. “She is the reference now,” Swift told the Guardian in 2022.

President Xi nevers wastes a good crisis. As Iran, Ukraine and Palestine distract the world, he tightens his grip | Simon Tisdall

Ever the strategist, the Chinese leader is taking the offensive, both abroad and at home. That’s bad news for global order, and minorities in his country

Imagine what would happen if a British prime minister in London told the Scots they could not have their own parliament, national football team or fly the saltire. Or if the Welsh were told their language and poetry were banned and must no longer be taught in schools. The ensuing uproar would probably destroy the United Kingdom. Yet that’s exactly what Xi Jinping, China’s communist emperor, is telling the roughly 125 million members of the 55 ethnic and religious minorities who together comprise about 9% of the country’s (majority Han Chinese) population.

Xi claims his sinicisation policy, embodied in a new “ethnic unity” law, will boost national identity and integration and, by expanding compulsory use of the Mandarin language, improve life and work prospects. Minorities should “hug tightly like pomegranate seeds” to build a strong, united China, he says. But Tibetans, Mongolians, Uyghurs and others who value their separate language and customs fiercely object to what they see as forced assimilation into a conformist, intolerant monoculture dominated by the Communist party’s tunnel vision. For them, it’s ethnic cleansing by another name.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

‘Can’t stop smiling!’ The wait is over for epic Game of Thrones prequel The Mad King

New play, which has been a decade in the works, opens at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon after five previews were cancelled

A winter of discontent is anticipated by the embattled characters in Game of Thrones, but the Royal Shakespeare Company is banking on a glorious summer with its world premiere of a prequel to the hit TV series based on George RR Martin’s fantasy novels.

The new play, The Mad King, arrives 30 years to the month after the original publication of A Game of Thrones, the first novel in Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire. It has a gala performance in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday evening in a reconfigured Royal Shakespeare theatre with a capacity of 870. Tickets for the entire run, priced from £10 to £95, have already sold out.

Nazi shipwrecks emerge from the depths as Europe’s Danube dries up

Unexploded ordnance and a military motorcycle also recovered owing to record heat and drought conditions

Record-low water levels in the Danube have exposed remnants of Europe’s Nazi past, with dozens of second world war warships emerging from the riverbed during an intense drought.

In the middle of the river on the Serbian and Romanian border, a broken-up hull was visible on a sandbank that is normally underwater. Other vessels were partly submerged, some still believed to be laden with weapons.

Liverpool agree to sign Barcelona’s Ronald Araújo on loan as Jacquet cover

• Andoni Iraola moves to improve defensive options

• Uruguay defender expected to complete his medical

Liverpool have agreed to sign Ronald Araújo on a season-long loan from Barcelona after Andoni Iraola was faced with lack of defensive options for the start of the new season.

Concerns over Jérémy Jacquet – the France Under -21 defender who arrived last season for more than £50m – and injuries to Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni have left Liverpool short of options at the back after the departure of Ibrahima Konaté on a free transfer to Real Madrid.

The Women's Professional Baseball League makes its historic debut

The Los Angeles Queens, the New York Heights, the Boston Hunters and the San Francisco Firebells take the field in Springfield, Ill., as the Women's Pro Baseball League kicks off its inaugural season.

The Uplift: Hot ones

Vladimir Duthiers meets Sean Evans, host of "Hot Ones," the online show that has celebrities answer questions while attempting to eat chicken wings that get progressively spicier. Can Vlad stand the heat?

‘You can feel the warmth of the sun’: Bertram Greenhough’s best phone picture

The Brighton-based photographer was walking along a crowded beach looking for ice-cream when he spotted this calm, minimalist scene

Bertram Greenhough had promised his six-year-old daughter Audrey an ice-cream. It was a warm June day in Brighton and the pair were playing tourists in their own city, having just visited an upside-down house near the i360 observation tower. The beach was packed, and they were heading in the direction of the Palace Pier so that Greenhough could stay true to his word. Along the way, they passed this lifeguard shelter.

“I often walk around Brighton with my SLR film camera – very hipster of me. However, that day I only had my phone,” Greenhough recalls. “But, as the adage goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. I saw this calm, minimalist scene suspended above thousands of people and I remember saying to my daughter, ‘Oh, look at that, I need to take a picture!’ She had no idea what I was talking about!”

Christopher Harry on a summer of devastating wildfires – cartoon

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Private prisons announce $1.4 billion in revenue as immigration detentions climb

That revenue does not include net proceeds of $1.6 billion made by CoreCivic after the recent sale of four of their facilities to the Department of Homeland Security.

Federal funds can't be used to give test strips to drug users, raising overdose fears

Drug addiction groups are reeling after Trump officials said federal grants cannot be used to hand out test strips to drug users. The strips help users check street drugs for dangerous adulterants.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino denies claims Uefa paid off alleged ‘lover’

• Infantino was Uefa general secretary from 2009 to 2016

• ‘These allegations … are categorically untrue,’ says Fifa

Uefa has confirmed a “departure payment” was made to a female employee who is alleged to have been in a relationship with Gianni Infantino while he was the organisation’s general secretary, allegations Fifa has dismissed as “categorically untrue”.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday night that the woman received a six-figure sum following the alleged relationship with Infantino. In a statement, Uefa confirmed a payment was made along with covering the fees for an MBA course, which it said was “in line” with regulations at the time.

High divers take the plunge in Paris for a new test of reclaimed Seine’s water

• European Aquatics Championships taking place in city

• Threat to water quality tested two years after Games

Paris is staging its first high-diving competition in the Seine, with athletes launching themselves from a 20-metre platform in front of the Eiffel Tower – a spectacular new test of the city’s effort to reclaim its river for sport. The event on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim has also exposed the fragility of that ambition.

Organisers suspended training on Thursday when traces of hydrocarbons were detected upstream. By Friday, the French Swimming Federation said the affected area had been treated, allowing athletes to return to the water and the event to proceed as planned. High diving concludes on Saturday with the final two rounds and medal events, while the broader European Aquatics Championships run through to 16 August.

Is it OK to talk about Ariana Grande’s body? There is no right answer

I wish I could say that expressing concern for the pop star’s health is helpful – but I know from experience it’s not that simple

The last time I opened X, a photo of Ariana Grande leaning over in a low-cut black dress, clavicle showing, was at the top of the feed. The post read: “hey @grok make Ariana Grande healthy and fat”.

Images of celebrities at their most skeletal regularly rise to the top of social feeds because they generate enormous, dissenting engagement. Social media platforms have made half-hearted efforts to suppress explicit pro-eating disorder content; Instagram and TikTok redirect searches for “thinspo” toward support resources. Yet over the past couple weeks, Grande has sent users into a frenzy that outstrips the platforms’ attempts.

Sex, drugs and washing dishes: inside Anthony Bourdain’s unruly younger years

In the acclaimed new drama Tony, the early career of the late food writer and chef is brought to life, and those who knew him best are now also looking back

The novelist Michael Cunningham has described Provincetown, on the tip of Cape Cod, as “the only small town I know of where those who live unconventionally seem to outnumber those who live within the prescribed bounds of home and licensed marriage, respectable job, and biological children. It is one of the places in the world you can disappear into.”

This idiosyncratic bohemia has attracted the likes of Edward Hopper, Eugene O’Neill, Mark Rothko and Tennessee Williams along with poets, dropouts, drag queens and drifters. In the summer of 1975 came a lanky, restless 19-year-old from New Jersey with no job and no money, sleeping on the floor of a shared cottage while his roommates worked to pay the rent. His name was Anthony Bourdain, who would later become a celebrity chef, author and television globetrotter.

Stockard Channing: ‘I cried at the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong!’

The actor on being told she was no Ingrid Bergman, forgetting her lines on stage, and not caring about getting older

Born in New York City, Stockard Channing, 82, played Rizzo in the 1978 film Grease. In 1985, she received a Tony for her performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and in 1994 was Oscar-nominated for her role in the film Six Degrees of Separation. She has three Emmys for her TV work, which includes The West Wing. She makes her directorial debut at the Edinburgh festival with Krapp’s Last Tape, in aid of the Wembley to Soweto Foundation, Upstairs at the Roxy until 31 August. Her latest film is Practical Magic 2. She lives in London.

What is your greatest fear?
Climate change.

Data centers are a political issue crossing party lines, driving voters to candidates

Wisconsin Democratic candidate for governor Francesca Hong called for a moratorium on data centers. So did Ohio Republican governor hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, as data centers begin to dominate campaigns.

Trump loyalist Todd Blanche confirmed by Senate as US attorney general

Major win for president as former personal lawyer wins approval despite outcry over $1.8bn slush fund

The US senate voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general in a major win for Donald Trump, who will now have his one-time personal attorney sitting atop the nation’s law enforcement apparatus.

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana cast the deciding vote in Blanche’s favor after two other Republicans – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – voted against him. Every Democrat rejected Blanche’s nomination.

Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general

The Senate narrowly confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday morning, elevating President Trump's former personal lawyer to head the Justice Department.

Senate approves bill to fund government into December

The measure was approved in a 90 to 6 vote and now goes to the House.

‘I hate what AI is doing to the minds and happiness of the young’: Katherine Rundell on the view from the classroom

Education is at a crossroads, argues the author and academic. Should we embrace new technology in the name of efficiency, or is it time to fight back?

If you set out to design from scratch a tool to facilitate authoritarian rule, it would look exactly like AI. You would cherish it for its ability to destabilise our shared reality and its creation of disinformation on a scale unprecedented in human history. With it you need no armies of typists and artists to spread your propaganda. It can enable mass surveillance and thereby put shackles on those who seek to resist you. Its lethal autonomous weapons systems can perfect and normalise remote killing. It will turbocharge inequality; it is already facilitating a breathtaking shift of power and wealth from the hands of the many to the hands of a tiny number of men who – to put it in terms for which I can’t be sued – seem to hold dangerously damaged views about the value and dignity of human life.

AI could be a magnificent thing. It could revolutionise medicine, speed the cure of cancer, assist disabled people, transform the way we are able to understand data, democratise access to the law, bolster disaster early warning systems and uncover hitherto unimagined truths about the Earth’s ecosystems. But if it ends up in the hands of crooks and despots that will be completely irrelevant.

This burning summer is the proof: the voices of climate denial aren’t just delusional, they’re deadly | Sadiq Khan

Look at our blazing forests and parched cities. Green policies aren’t a ‘luxury’, and we can’t burn more oil and gas. People need the truth

• Report: Sadiq Khan calls on Andy Burnham to commit to climate action as pressure grows over North Sea oil

Europe is burning. This summer, an unprecedented series of heatwaves has swept through the continent and across many parts of the globe. The consequences have been nothing short of catastrophic. In recent weeks deadly blazes have torn through France, Greece and Spain, killing firefighters, forcing people from their homes and robbing them of their livelihoods.

With Tuesday marking Britain’s 34th day of temperatures exceeding 30C (86F) this year, the UK has also found itself reckoning with ferocious heat. Wildfires have forced evacuations in Suffolk and the Cairngorms. In London – where parks have become burnt, brittle and brown – hundreds of grass fires have put our firefighters under pressure like never before. In July, the weather station at Kew Gardens recorded its first ever month without rain since it started operating in 1871. As rivers run dry and reservoirs run low, farmers are warning of food shortages amid the deepening drought. With thousands of deaths already estimated to be linked to the extreme heat we saw in May and June alone, it’s likely this figure will climb higher still.

Sadiq Khan is mayor of London

Planting the seeds? Teenagers from across global divide talk peace in Devon

UK hosts decades-old event for first time where many participants are from opposite sides of global disputes from Israel and Palestine, to India and Pakistan

On the surface it looks like a normal summer school in the Devon countryside, with teenagers playing volleyball in the sun, doing arts and crafts in the hall, and preparing for the night’s talent show.

But behind the scenes, intensive discussions are taking place. Many of these teenagers come from opposite sides of historical national conflicts – from Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan.

Spanish mountain village braces for astrotourists lured by total solar eclipse

Somosierra will be prime spot to view celestial alignment on 12 August, an event that poses logistical challenges

Little stirs in the mountains above Somosierra beyond the wind that lashes the flat peaks, the cows that graze on parched grass and the sun that beats down on the abandoned aerodrome where generations of glider pilots learned to ride air currents alongside squadrons of vultures and red kites.

But all this stillness will disappear, albeit temporarily, on the evening of 12 August, when swathes of northern and eastern Spain and the Balearic islands experience a total solar eclipse, the likes of which has not been seen here for more than 120 years.

Two weeks that rocked Fifa: how Gianni Infantino unravelled, day by day

Fifa’s president ended the World Cup on a high, but is now battling to save his job after a series of self-inflicted blows

Rising number of UK children report seeing explicit deepfakes of themselves

Exclusive: anonymous flagging service says cases have surged, as watchdog says AI is making sexualised or ‘nudified’ content easier to produce

Children in the UK have reported a surge in explicit deepfake images featuring their likenesses, as a safety watchdog warned AI is making such content easier to produce.

The Report Remove service, which blocks intimate images from appearing online, said there had been a rapid increase in imagery that had been digitally manipulated or “faked” in some way, including with AI and nudification tools.

The night Belfast burned: how the Northern Ireland race riots unfolded

A horrific knife attack on a street in June sparked another summer’s night of racial violence, stoked by loyalist groups. How did the unrest erupt – and why do many fear it will happen again?

Shortly after 10.30pm on Monday 8 June, as a summer twilight lingered over Belfast, a horrific scene unfolded on Kinnaird Avenue: a man straddled and repeatedly stabbed a figure lying on the ground in a bloody assault that ended only after onlookers intervened.

Others captured the drama on cameraphones and uploaded the footage to social media. Once seen, the grainy images were hard to forget, and by dawn on Tuesday 9 June they were ricocheting around X, WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and other platforms.

Human Centipede director Tom Six reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis in ‘final film’

The Dutch creator of the controversial trilogy set to detail struggles with neurological disease in homemade documentary, after spending six years ‘as a recluse’

Tom Six, the film-maker behind schlock horror phenomenon The Human Centipede, has revealed that he has been living as “a full-blown recluse” in a darkened Amsterdam apartment for six years after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

In The End of Tom Six, a homemade documentary that the Dutch director said would be his final film, he says that the stress over his failure to find a distributor for the follow-up to the Centipede trilogy significantly exacerbated his condition.

Union calls for robust review of OBR over fears it holds back economic growth

TUC will urge John Healey to order ‘root and branch’ assessment of watchdog amid claims its forecasts downplay investment benefits

The TUC is urging the new chancellor, John Healey, to order a “root and branch” review of the Office for Budget Responsibility, claiming the forecaster’s approach holds back investment.

With Andy Burnham promising “good growth in every postcode”, the union umbrella body is calling on Healey to use his first budget on 28 October to re-examine the assessments of the watchdog.

Inside the startup drone maker powering Ukraine's deep-strike campaign

Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh says Ukraine has "learned the hard way" that military leverage is integral to to bringing diplomacy within reach.

Blind date: ‘I asked him to compliment my outfit and he said he didn’t really like it’

Imogen, 31, a doctor, meets Andy, 36, founder of a consultancy firm

What were you hoping for?
Something to tell the group chat that would elicit more :o reactions than usual.

Meera Sodha’s recipe for Limmat’s apple cake | Meera Sodha recipes

With its sweet, caramelised edge and soft, creamy apple centre, you’ll be thinking about this cake for months after the first bite

For better or for worse (definitely for worse), this column is one-way. If we could talk, I’d ask you about the most mindblowing things you’ve eaten in your wild and precious life (feel free to use the comments). This year, for me, it was chef Lili’s apple cake at her restaurant, Limmat in Marseille. I’ve never had anything like it: a cake of pure apple – one and a half kilos – sliced and bound together with a breath of flour, a trickle of cream, a spoonful of sugar, a couple of eggs and a lot of time (in the oven). The result is a caramelised edge and a heavenly, scoopable, custard-like apple centre. Heavenly.

‘I couldn’t breathe’: the deadly health burden of wildfire smoke

Scientists race to untangle complex links between exposure and mortality as fire weather grows more prevalent

A thousand kilometres from the infernos gorging on northern Ontario’s boreal forests, Erin O’Connor watched the sky above Canada’s biggest city turn an “almost post-apocalyptic” orange as it filled with light-scattering particles of soot and ash. Stepping outside the halls of Toronto General hospital, where air filters were keeping patients safe from the worst of the fumes, she was struck by a smell so strong it felt like standing by a campfire.

“It really hit you in the face as soon as you walked outside,” said O’Connor, who runs University Health Network’s emergency department and saw a rise in patients presenting with allergies and shortness of breath. “As the days progressed, it was like that everywhere. It seemed even inside you could smell that burning.”

‘We have no tents or blankets’: Ceuta migrants struggle to survive brutal heat and freezing nights

Authorities wrestle with fallout from mass border crossing, as tense Spanish enclave fears it will happen again

Along the wide avenues and tree-lined plazas of Ceuta’s centre, there were few hints of the recent events that catapulted the Spanish enclave on the north African coast into global headlines.

But less than a mile away from the bustling bars and restaurants, at the nearby El Trampolín beach, the lingering impact was impossible to ignore.

US promises $1bn in security aid to Colombia as new rightwing president pledges drugs crackdown

Trump ally Abelardo De La ‌Espriella vows to start ‘profound transformation’ of country’s destiny as he is sworn in

The ​Trump administration plans to provide $1bn in security assistance to the ⁠government of Colombia’s new ​rightwing ‌president, the US state department announced, soon after Abelardo De La ‌Espriella was sworn in and used his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, as well as austerity measures to restore confidence in the economy.

De La Espriella, 48, won June’s runoff election with ⁠promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink ⁠the state by as much as 40% and ​revive the oil and gas sector.

Germans hogging the sunloungers? Poll finds Italians and French are worse

British and Germans themselves share stereotype but other nationalities are likelier to put out towels – or umbrellas

Germans are sunlounger hoggers, or so the longstanding stereotype goes. But not only is that cultural trope mostly confined to British – and, even more so, German – perceptions, surprising new data reveals that in fact Italian and French holidaymakers are the ones most likely to use their towel to stake their claim to a sunlounger.

A poll by YouGov of Europeans holidaymakers found that while many Germans (51%) and Britons (46%) associate Germans with the ritual of waking up at the crack of dawn to mark their spot, the perception barely exists elsewhere in Europe, with just 5-17% of those surveyed in other countries sharing the stereotype.

Pentagon revokes security clearance of former Air Force chief

The Pentagon alleged that former U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall disclosed sensitive information about Air Force One's capabilities to the media.

Ukraine war briefing: Wildberries warehouse struck by Kyiv’s drones more than 2,000km from Russian border

Depot hit in city of Ekaterinburg and hundreds evacuated in latest attack on Russian online retail giant. What we know on day 1,625

Trump announces $180 million to boost mining education

President Trump announced over $180 million in grants to boost educational programs for the mining industry, part of a bid to increase critical mineral production.

NBA player Brandon Clarke died from effects of heroin and cocaine, officials say

Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died in May from the effects of heroin and cocaine, authorities said Friday.

Water rationing begins in Puerto Rico amid drought crisis: "It's brutal"

Puerto Rico's massive rationing measure comes amid a severe drought on top of shortages due to infrastructure issues.

How a duck's friendship helped a golden retriever overcome health issues

Justin and Tori Cannarelli of New York almost have a typical American family with their two children and a dog. But they also have one very unique member: a duck.

3 mothers sue to block Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in public schools

The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 10 last year, which requires all public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.

How a duck helped a dog recover from panic attacks, medication that brought him down

Steve Hartman explores the unique bond between a family's duck and dog.

Outer Banks community spending $50 million to save its beachfront economy

A $50 million effort is underway to restore miles of eroded shoreline in Buxton, a village on one of the barrier islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Puerto Rico faces severe drought as 180,000 households and businesses forced to ration water

Puerto Rico is in the midst of its worst drought in decades. Lilia Luciano shares the details.

North Carolina communities scramble to protect shorelines as erosion eats away at homes

Communities in North Carolina are scrambling to protect their shorelines as rising sea levels and erosion threaten homes, with many lost in the past few years. Skyler Henry has more.

July jobs report reveals unexpected loss of 23,000 jobs

Friday's jobs report showed employers shed jobs last month, rather than adding 95,000 new hires that had been forecast by economists.

Cassidy backs Blanche for attorney general, clearing way for confirmation

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, announced he will vote to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general.

Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Ogles projected to lose GOP primary in Tennessee

Two-term Rep. Andy Ogles lost the Republican primary for his Tennessee House seat, The Associated Press projects, despite securing an endorsement from President Trump.

Helicopter fighting massive Utah wildfire crashes, no word on 2 people aboard

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the helicopter crashed in Richfield, which is about 160 miles south of Salt Lake City.

U.S. targets Iran's banking system, companies with new sanctions

This is the eighth round of Iran-related sanctions announced by the Trump administration this year.

8/7: CBS Evening News

Police release footage of In-N-Out shooting; Blanche likely to be confirmed as attorney general.

Idaho police release video of In-N-Out Burger mass shooting that killed three

Officials praise unarmed employee from nearby store for engaging 24-year-old gunman who later killed himself

Police released video on Friday of a mass shooting that killed three people at an Idaho In-N-Out Burger restaurant last weekend, and praised an unarmed employee from a nearby store who engaged the gunman outdoors, slowing him down and possibly preventing more deaths as authorities were catching up.

The video released by the police also showed at least three people confronted the gunman with their own weapons during the incident.

Appeals court blocks Trump's White House ballroom, teeing up Supreme Court fight

A federal appeals court said the White House lacks the authority to unilaterally construct the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. President Trump said the administration will appeal to the Supreme Court.

8/7: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Senate navigating several matters ahead of summer recess; No U.S.-Iran deal yet on Strait of Hormuz.

A quandary for the Fed: Dealing with hot inflation and cool job growth

A sudden slump in hiring has dramatically changed the outlook for the Federal Reserve's September interest rate decision.

US police officer accused of killing three people in Mexico arrested at border

Chad Eberle of Texas charged over deadly shooting in Saltillo that officials say stemmed from custody dispute

A Texas police officer has been arrested in Mexico after authorities there accused him of killing three people and critically injuring the mother of his child in what investigators say stemmed from a dispute over the custody of the minor.

The Coahuila attorney general’s office said 35-year-old Chad Eberle was arrested on Wednesday at the border on a warrant accusing him of femicide and qualified homicide, according to La Razon de Mexico, a newspaper based in Mexico City. Under Mexican law, femicide refers to the intentional killing of a woman or girl because of her gender.

Video shows gunman start deadly rampage at Idaho In-N-Out drive-thru

Three people were killed in the shooting that started at an In-N-Out restaurant in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Pentagon releases new batch of UFO files: "Did you see that?"

The Pentagon on Friday released a new batch of documents and images related to UFOs, the fifth disclosure in recent months about the strange encounters.

Women in Maine may choose the victor in this year's Senate race

The race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is one of the nation's most high-profile Senate contests this year -- and may ultimately be decided by an especially powerful voting bloc: Maine women.

US Senate passes Russia sanctions bill championed by Lindsey Graham

Late senator spent final days of his life working to advance bill that will now head to the House after 86-11 Senate vote

By a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.

The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honor of the late senator’s work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the sole Republican to oppose the legislation, together with 10 Democrats.

DOJ's top prosecutor in LA hires aide with pending battery charge, DUIs

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli hired former top aide Shawn Lewis to be a federal law enforcement liaison, though Lewis has three prior convictions for driving under the influence and a pending battery charge.

Trump renews push to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Trump is once again threatening to fire Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud after an earlier effort to remove Cook was struck down by the Supreme Court.

Russia sanctions bill honoring Lindsey Graham breezes through Senate, heads to House

A measure to impose new sanctions on Russian oil purchasers easily cleared the Senate and heads to the House.

U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July

Nonfarm payrolls were projected to increase by 83,000 in July while the unemployment rate would hold steady at 4.2%, according to the Dow Jones consensus.

Trump mounts new effort to fire Fed's Lisa Cook after Supreme Court ruling

The White House has informed Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, that President Trump is considering firing her.

Trump renews bid to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook despite supreme court ruling

White House continues to target Cook despite decision from justices that upheld Federal Reserve’s independence

Donald Trump is attempting once again to oust the US Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud, despite a recent US supreme court decision that upheld the central bank’s independence.

Cook reportedly received a letter from the White House this week that provided notice, in accordance to the supreme court’s June ruling, that Trump was “considering removing” her from her Fed position over the same claims of mortgage fraud that he levied against her last summer.

Energy company sues data center over who should pay for AI buildout

At issue is who pays to expand energy infrastructure when a data center​​ needs as much electricity​ as a midsize city.

Burger King overtakes Wendy's as the nation's second-largest burger chain

Burger King is once again the second-largest burger chain in the U.S. by system-wide sales.

Another court blocks White House ballroom work, teeing up a Supreme Court review

A federal appeals court says above-ground construction cannot continue without approval from Congress, siding with historic preservation advocates.

Here are three key takeaways from the disappointing July jobs report

Nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in July, but so did the unemployment rate, leaving investors with mixed signals.

Trump teased an Iran deal that didn't come, but markets soared. Here’s why it keeps happening

As oil reserves and munitions stockpiles reportedly dwindle, analysts wonder how much longer markets will pounce when the Trump admin. dangles an Iran deal.

Monty Roberts, who trained horses through trust, dies at 91

The internationally acclaimed horseman defied the conventional method of breaking horses and developed his own gentler approach — based on horses' non-verbal language. Roberts spoke with Fresh Air in 1997.

Businessman was ‘preparing champagne’ to celebrate Caruana Galizia murder, court hears

Taxi driver says he acted as middleman between Yorgen Fenech and three men already convicted of €150,000 contract killing

The businessman accused of paying for hitmen to murder the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was impatient for the killing to take place, and once texted from his boat to say he was “preparing champagne” to celebrate, a jury in Malta has heard.

Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes several Hilton hotels, is on trial in Malta for complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia. She died in a car bombing in October 2017 after publishing a series of revelations about senior politicians that were so damaging they triggered a snap general election.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Wildfires in the US and Europe, Russian strikes in Kyiv, beekeepers in Gaza and the European Aquatics Championships – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

The Guardian view on Jason Arday: diversity advocates must stand firm | Editorial

Serious failings by one academic, and his bosses at the University of Cambridge, should not be allowed to undermine wider progressive goals

Jason Arday’s resignation from the University of Cambridge on Wednesday marked a full stop of sorts, but not an end to the furore surrounding his promotion to a professorship at the age of 37. Academic colleagues have demanded, with justification, that an investigation into his appointment to the faculty of education in 2023, and the subsequent fallout, should include people from outside the university. Allegations of plagiarism and claims made by Mr Arday about his background, career and charity fundraising remain under scrutiny. The memoir for which he said he had received a huge advance, billed as a triumph over adversity including an early autism diagnosis, is scheduled to appear later this month. His publisher, Simon & Schuster, ought to pause while inquiries run their course.

But several things are already clear. By failing to do due diligence on Mr Arday before launching him, with fanfare, as Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor, and through its inadequate response to later challenges, the university has done a serious disservice to black and neurodivergent scholars more widely. It has also set back the efforts of all the people and groups who have worked in good faith, over many years, to boost the presence of underrepresented groups in influential positions.

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 Gianni Infantino: in the interests of the game he professes to love, he should go | Editorial

The Fifa president’s attempt to brazen out the storm, after attempting to sell a stake in the World Cup to private equity, adds insult to injury

“How did you go bankrupt?” a character is asked in Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises. “Gradually, then suddenly” comes the reply. Right now, Fifa’s justly besieged president, Gianni Infantino, is experiencing something similar in relation to the loss  of his own authority.

Since taking over the running of world football’s governing body in 2016, Mr Infantino has survived regular criticism of a monetising approach which has often come at a sporting cost. But since egregious plans to sell a stake in the World Cup to the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law were leaked to the media, his credibility has been draining away at speed.

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.

Cassidy supports Todd Blanche, rescuing Trump's embattled attorney general pick

Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche needs at least 50 votes on the Senate floor to be confirmed after clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Meta ordered to pay $567 million into abatement fund as remedy to child harms case in New Mexico

A judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund after a jury ruled the company violated the state’s unfair practices act.

AI, boy kibble and parasite cleanses: the 11 biggest wellness trends of 2026

Suggestions for improving your wellbeing are more plentiful than ever – and some may even be on to something

Every year, the wellness industry churns out new products and practices that it claims are finally – finally! – the real secret to being well. Sometimes, these trends are legitimate. Sometimes they’re utter nonsense. Often they’re somewhere in between.

These are the wellness trends that have provoked controversy and interest in 2026.

Top Democrat proposes killing tax breaks for overseas oil production

Gas prices in the U.S. averaged $4.06 per gallon on Thursday — a major source of voter discontent heading into November's midterm elections.

Prince to Madonna, Blur to Beth Orton: William Orbit’s 12 greatest recordings

The late producer’s gift for bringing in elements from dance music’s cutting edge drew all manner of music royalty – and he often made them sound better than ever before

• William Orbit, pop producer for Madonna, All Saints and more, dies aged 69

William Orbit’s first band were a curious business. Torch Song had one foot in the pop mainstream – their biggest success came about when one of their tracks was featured on the soundtrack of the Tom Hanks-starring sex comedy Bachelor Party – and one in the left field: they recorded at London’s anarchist hub Centro Iberico, famed for staging gigs by Crass and Throbbing Gristle; they covered the Velvet Underground’s Venus in Furs. Mothdoom Ecstasy is very much of its time – stuttering samples, booming drums – but in its hazy synth textures and ethereal female vocals, you can definitely hear intimations of Orbit’s future approach.

Companies scoff at airlines' cheapest business class tickets. 'The real value is flexibility'

Some companies plan to shun the cheapest business- and premium- economy fares from their executives.

It’s not just Homer: the new generation of poets enjoying epic success

Christopher Nolan’s film has made the Odyssey a bestselling book again, but a slew of new poets are breaking sales records, and have more in common with the ancient Greek than you might expect

The death of poetry – much anticipated, much prematurely mourned – has been put off again, this time by the Odyssey. Thanks to Christopher Nolan’s film, sales of Homer’s epic rose 1,400% in the weeks around release – and it’s not alone. Poetry collections are once again sailing up the charts: Lucas Jones, Donna Ashworth and Nikita Gill, among others, have all burst forth on to the bestseller lists.

The word bestseller, it must be said, conjures up certain images: a TV tie-in cookbook; a sexy thriller. It does not, generally speaking, imply poetry. Poetry is a genre more often relegated to the adolescent, the academic, or the words inside sentimental birthday cards: either over-emotional or elitist, depending on which poet and which perspective. What it certainly is not is a money-spinner: nobody gets into poetry to make the big bucks. Nobody gets into poetry – not these days, anyway, not since Byron’s day – for the fame or the fortune.

Tate brothers’ lawyers urge ⁠US judge to release the two from Miami jail on bail

Andrew and Tristan Tate remain in jail as they fight extradition to UK to face charges of rape, assault and more

Lawyers for Andrew and Tristan Tate urged a ⁠US judge on Friday ⁠to release the ​brothers from a Miami jail as they fight the British government’s efforts to extradite them to face charges of rape, assault and facilitating trafficking for ⁠sexual exploitation.

In a filing in Miami federal court, the Tate brothers’ lawyers said their “extraordinary public visibility” would make it impractical for them to try to flee, meaning there was ⁠no need to keep them behind bars until the extradition proceedings end.

Thailand school shooting: eight killed including suspected attacker, police say

Teenager killed his grandparents ⁠before opening fire at school near Bangkok, where more than 30 were wounded

A Thai teenager killed his grandparents before opening fire at his school, where he shot five people dead and took his own life, police have said, in an attack that has shaken a country struggling to deal with gun violence.

The 14-year-old wounded more than 30 people in the ⁠shooting at the prestigious Debsirin Nonthaburi school northwest of Bangkok. Nine people were in a critical condition, the Thai health department said.

Iran's chief negotiator accuses Trump of 'theater diplomacy' with Hormuz traffic near standstill

The conflict is broadening across the region, with Gulf energy infrastructure and key shipping choke points under renewed threat.

Swedish gummies, Parisian linens and Moroccan mint tea: what travel experts always bring home from their trips

Finding treasures is part of the fun of travel. Here, experts share their top tips on what to buy where

Speciality tea

Sam Neill filmed role in Legend of Zelda film adaptation before his death

The New Zealand actor, who died last month aged 78, will appear in live-action movie of popular video game, which is set for release next year

The New Zealand actor Sam Neill completed filming of a role in the forthcoming adaptation of The Legend of Zelda video game before he died, which will be one of his final screen appearances.

According to a report in Deadline, Neill, who died of pneumonia last month aged 78, will appear in the live-action movie, which finished filming in April this year and is set for release next May. Which role Neill plays has not been announced, but fans of the games have suggested that he would be a good casting choice for the King of Hyrule, the fictional fantasy realm in which the Zelda games are primarily set.

Americans got their biggest raises in 40 years. Inflation took most of it.

The typical American's paycheck has grown faster since 2019 than in any stretch since the early 1980s. But prices climbed nearly as fast, swallowing about 80% of the wage increase.

EA Sports FC 27: what does the next instalment of the world’s biggest football game have in store?

The all-conquering franchise’s revamps are technically impressive, its transfers more true to life – and its new grassroots social hub is surprising fun

As if the world wasn’t sufficiently football-obsessed, it’s time to prepare for the arrival of its biggest football video game. EA Sports FC 27 (the franchise that used to be Fifa – what better time to no longer be Fifa-branded?) is due to be released on 25 September. I just spent two intense days in Vancouver, where the EA FC games are made, playing FC 27 and talking to its developers.

With an annual franchise such as EA FC, it helps to have something fresh to entice regular fans, and FC 27 has a whole new element, entitled the Grounds. It’s a physical hub-type area, similar to the City as seen in 2K’s recent NBA 2K basketball games, but much more pleasant to frequent, split as it is into areas inspired by British, French and Argentinian street-football culture.

Volkswagen controlling families call for faster overhaul to fend off Chinese rivals

Volkswagen's top investor on Friday called on the auto giant to take immediate action to fend off intensifying competition from Chinese car brands.

‘It might be one of the most unpopular tunes ever written!’: kids’ TV composers tell all

Big cheques, standing ovations, irate adults – there are surprising sides to composing a children’s TV theme tune. From Bluey to Byker Grove, the creators of the best reveal the secrets

How do you write TV theme music for children? Does it make you mega-rich? And does the tune itself eventually drive you (and parents everywhere) nuts?

We tracked down the creators of half-a-dozen of TV’s greatest children’s show themes in order to find out. As Bluey’s Joff Bush told us: “The key lesson is that if you’re going to write a theme tune, make sure you really like it because you’re going to hear it a helluva lot!”

Cocktail of the week: Half Cut Market’s peaches & cream – recipe | The good mixer

A frozen piña colada-style boozy drink/dessert

A frozen drink and a classic dessert all rolled into one. Instead of piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, we’re whipping up these and manifesting a sunny summer.

Jayma Voorheis, general manager, Half Cut Market, London N7