More Americans report shoplifting as inflation climbs, survey finds

Thirty percent of respondents said they shoplifted this year, with most citing affordability concerns and financial hardship.

Nicaragua's President Ortega says no more elections, extending his 20-year rule

The announcement effectively canceled Nicaragua's next elections, originally scheduled for November 2027.

$100M New Jersey deli fraudster James Patten sentenced to 21 months in prison

The notorious New Jersey deli fraud case led to losses of more than $5 million for victims that included two U.S. universities.

Watch Live: Hegseth, Caine testify before Senate panel amid escalating Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are testifying before a Senate committee amid escalations in the war with Iran.

Tropical Storm Bertha strengthens, threatening Gulf Coast. See its path.

Tropical Storm Bertha is the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

‘There’s no way they can survive’: Trump defends new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods – US politics live

US president claims ‘Canada has been very tough on us over the years’ as Mark Carney says he has agreed to ‘intensify negotiations’ with US

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US gas prices have continued to rise since the conflict with Iran resumed this month. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), a gallon of fuel is now just over $4 – almost a dollar more than a year ago.

It comes as Brent Crude, the international oil benchmark, is now up by almost 2% to $90.92 a barrel.

RFK Jr. says cyclospora outbreak is 'under control'

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday said that the ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis is "under control" despite criticism.

Saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for solo on The Pink Panther Theme, dies aged 94

Jazz saxophonist – who recorded with artists Frank Sinatra, BB King and more – died in Los Angeles, reports say

The US jazz saxophonist Plas Johnson, best known for his solo riff on the timeless classic The Pink Panther Theme, has died at the age of 94, according to reports.

The native of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, died on 15 July, according to a report from the Los Angeles jazz radio station KKJZ.

Senate committee advances Clayton's nomination for intelligence chief

The Senate Intelligence Committee advanced Jay Clayton's nomination for director of national intelligence, despite opposition from Democrats.

Boeing and Airbus prepare for next narrow-body battle – but airlines aren’t pushing for new jets yet

Boeing and Airbus are preparing their next narrow-body jets, but airlines and investors remain focused on production, deliveries and current aircraft.

‘The explosion is what I remember’: man nearly sucked out of Ryanair plane recounts ordeal

Exclusive: Ljubisa Karović tells Guardian the fact that he lived to tell the tale is nothing short of a miracle

It is the explosion just before he was nearly sucked out of the aircraft that Ljubisa Karović remembers. The thunderous noise of the window shattering that roused him from slumber in seat 11F, his window seat on the early morning Ryanair flight from Greece to Germany.

Eleven days and 11 nights later, it remains the prelude “to the chaos, the catastrophe” that keeps him awake at night.

IRS chief Frank Bisignano dismisses JPMorgan spying allegations

Bisignano denied allegations The Wall Street Journal reported that he surveilled his colleagues while working at JPMorgan more than a decade ago.

Trump pledges to ‘take care of’ Houthis if group blocks Saudi ships – Middle East crisis live

The Iran-based group said it plans to impose an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea

Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, is due to meet Donald Trump for the first time today as he wraps up a four-day visit to Washington.

The meeting coincides with ongoing US-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel. The two sides announced a “framework agreement” on 26 June which stipulates the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The Guardian view on Ukraine’s challenges, inside and out: tensions at home arise from the struggle against Russia | Editorial

The row over the sacking of the popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, highlights questions about the country’s military and political direction

Even as Ukraine’s civilians endure brutal strikes by Russia, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to call for the departure of the commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Demonstrators are furious that Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week sacked Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular young defence minister, after he clashed with the general.

The 35-year-old politician, widely credited for significant improvements in Ukraine’s military performance and reducing corruption, made a scathing attack on the general after his dismissal – accusing him of blocking reforms and refusing to cooperate. Now it is widely rumoured that Gen Syrskyi will depart. The general claims to have been “surprised to learn …[of] a conflict” but seems to have seen the minister as exceeding his remit and effectively taking control of units. The pair also butted heads over Mr Fedorov’s plans to improve recruitment and training to reduce the deep anger created by the conscription system. A Soviet-schooled military officer deeply embedded within institutions has tussled with a young civilian disruptor taking a more agile, improvisational approach.

Is that food really made with 100% avocado oil? Likely not

A new study finds that consumers who are paying a premium for foods advertised as made with avocado oil are probably not getting what they think they're buying.

Manchester United supporters groups in uproar over suspension of season tickets

• Fans claim they are being ‘treated as suspects’

• Club planning to reinstate tickets before season begins

Manchester United’s official Fans’ Forum, Manchester United Supporters Trust (Must), The 1958 and five other such groups have complained to the club over supporters being “treated as suspects” after some had season tickets suspended as part of a move to stop the illegal reselling of seats.

United last week contacted fans who used six or more devices to access accounts linked to the club or to forward tickets as in their view this suggested the potential buying of seats to resell. Members are only allowed to forward tickets to other members, or sell them back to United.

GLP-1s are linked to a 17% drop in worker sick leave, new study finds

Here's how weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could reduce worker illness and save companies money.

RFK Jr says cyclospora outbreak is ‘under control’ after FDA recall reversal

Health secretary says source has been identified despite experts warning infections are likely to keep rising

The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has said the ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis – the illness caused by the cyclospora parasite that causes watery and explosive diarrhea – is “under control”.

Kennedy made the remarks one day after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did an about-face on a 27-state recall of shredded iceberg lettuce, calling the reported product a “false positive”.

Airbus to test folding wings for next generation of bestselling planes

Such technology solves problem of longer, thinner, energy-saving wings not fitting in airports around the world

Airbus has said it will test folding wings for the next generation of its bestselling planes, as the world’s largest planemaker races to work out the shape of future commercial aircraft by the end of the decade.

Longer, thinner wings made of light but strong composite materials offer the promise of energy savings but present a problem for manufacturers because they will not fit in airports around the world, many of which are already at or near full capacity.

Nebius stock surges 17% as Nvidia discloses significant stake in neocloud

Nvidia said it would invest $2 billion into Nebius in March.

Liverpool owner in talks to sell stake to QPR co-owner Amit Bhatia

• Bhatia backed by father-in-law Lakshmi Mittal

• Minority stake deal values the club at £4.5bn

Liverpool’s owner is in talks over selling a significant minority stake to a consortium led by the Queens Park Rangers co-owner Amit Bhatia and backed by his father-in-law Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire Indian steel magnate.

Fenway Sports Group confirmed in a statement to the Financial Times that it had begun negotiations with a group led by Bhatia over a potential share sale that would value Liverpool at about £4.5bn.

How much wealth you need to thrive based on your age

Three in four American households lack the wealth to weather financial setbacks and achieve major life milestones.

GM beats on earnings, raises guidance amid 'resilient' consumer, pricing

GM raised several key earnings forecasts after beating Wall Street's second-quarter expectations as its North American operations continue to drive results.

Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn

A ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coast

Up to 13 million people in the UK face the long-term risk of coastal flooding due to the climate crisis, scientists have warned, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario” suggesting the need for the large-scale movement of populations away from a dramatically reshaped coast.

Even if today’s global pledges to cut carbon pollution are met, about 1.4 million more people will be exposed to coastal floods in 2200 and 1.7 million in 2300 due to the sea level rise driven by melting ice caps and warming oceans.

Man attacked by bison recalls terrifying encounter: "He could have gored me"

Carl Isom-McDaniel was on a walk with his grandson at Yellowstone National Park earlier this month when a bison suddenly charged at him and threw him 8 feet into the air.

Video appears to show United employee threatening to call ICE on customer

A United Airlines employee appears to have been caught on video threatening to call ICE on a passenger last week at San Francisco International Airport.

‘We were at their mercy’: inside the Amazon tactics that hiked prices across the internet

Internal emails revealed in court and interviews with ex-employees describe how Amazon’s practices drove up prices for competitors like Walmart and Target. Amazon denies price-fixing claims and says it works to lower costs for consumers

A “modern leather” table lamp, listed online at Walmart, shot up from $24.99 to $39.

The price of an air fryer on a retail site called Newegg went from $84.99 to $149.99.

An electric ice-cream maker was listed at just $17.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. Then it became unavailable at Best Buy, and more than tripled in price to $59.99 at Amazon.

Milky Way splendour, Beluga whales and Larry the cat: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Trump admin. halts $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his agency is pausing $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California and $199 million to Minnesota.

Tour de France 2026: Evenepoel wins stage 16 time trial but Lipowitz crashes out – live

Tour de France updates from Évian to Thonon-les-Bains
Stage-by-stage guide | Team guide | You can mail Tom

We could have a new leader here, Mattia Cattaneo (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) is on a heater. He’s gone through the 1km to go marker with a nine second advantage on Armirail. Can he hold it?

There are five points on offer in the polkadot race today for the rider that posts the quickest time up the Côte de Larringes. Pogacar is the current leader in the mountains classification but Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick-Step) is wearing the jersey (skinsuit today) because the race leader can’t wear both. The Frenchman will be emptying the tank up the climb, not worrying too much about his overall time, and hoping the GC leaders try to pace themselves a bit more evenly later on. Paret-Peintre has about 4km to go on the climb. One to keep an eye on.

India’s Cockroach movement protesters show no sign of backing down

Thousands of people again on the streets of Delhi calling for education reforms despite police violence on Monday

Taru had come to the protest prepared this time. In one hand was an anti-government poster and in the other was a bicycle helmet. “We need to have protection in case Delhi police beat us up again,” said the 25-year-old, who stood among her friends. “We are not scared of them and we won’t run away, no matter what they do. We’ll stay here till they listen.”

On Tuesday, central Delhi still thronged with thousands of protesters, as an unprecedented expression of dissent against the powerful ruling Narendra Modi government showed no sign of abating.

US troops killed: has Trump lost control of Iran war? - The Latest

The US has carried out a fresh round of strikes against Iran, after three US soldiers were killed in action.

The Pentagon has also admitted that nearly 100 US service members have been injured over the last two weeks, as Tehran launched a wave of reprisals to the tenth consecutive nights of attacks, even as peace talks mediated by Pakistan continue.

Lucy Hough speaks to senior international correspondent Julian Borger

Woman attacked by bear while hiking with friend and dogs in Alaska

A woman suffered injuries after being attacked by a brown bear in southern Alaska, where she was out hiking with a friend and three dogs, authorities said.

The Dink review – Jake Johnson’s pickleball comedy serves up engagingly silly laughs

Johnson is delusional ex-tennis player The Hammer, who has to switch to the sport he loathes after injury

There’s some funny stuff here in this engagingly silly sports comedy from producer-star Jake Johnson about the world of pickleball, and how this (allegedly) facile pseudo-tennis game for children and old people threatens to infantilise and dumb down the world of tennis itself.

Dusty (Johnson) is a middle-aged loser, delusionally nicknamed The Hammer, who once showed early promise at tennis before getting crushed by a humiliating teen encounter with the young Andy Roddick (playing himself in cameo). These days Dusty coaches at the tennis club owned by his dad (Ed Harris), who is scowlingly contemptuous of everything Dusty says and does. Only one thing allows poor Dusty to reclaim his self-respect as a man and a tennis player: his utter loathing for pickleball, whose followers are grudgingly permitted one of their toytown mini-courts at the club – and he duly gets a meet-cute quarrel with pickleball enthusiast Candace (Mary Steenburgen).

‘Pasta windows’: a charming Italian restaurant tradition – or the sign of a terrible tourist trap?

A woman ostentatiously making her own pasta in an eaterie in Florence or Rome might seem the height of authenticity. But travellers, beware ...

Name: Pasta windows.

Age: Pretty new.

Ann Widdecombe was hit on head repeatedly with hammer, court told

Joshua Kerry appears at Westminster magistrates court charged with murder of former MP earlier this month

A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of the former MP and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.

Joshua Kerry, 28, is accused of killing the 78-year-old former Conservative minister at her home in Haytor, Devon, earlier this month, by hitting her on the head with a hammer 21 times.

French Open becomes first grand slam to offer players share of tournament revenue

• Move is significant step in row over prize money

• US Open will come under pressure to follow suit

The French Open has become the first grand slam tournament to offer players a share of the event’s revenue in a significant step forward in the row over prize money. Officials from Roland Garros made the offer to the players’ representative, Larry Scott, in talks at Wimbledon a fortnight ago in a move that will increase pressure on the US Open, which is due to announce its prize fund for this year’s tournament at the start of next month.

While an agreement has yet to be reached, the French Open’s willingness to commit to a profit-share model to determine prize money is a major development, and sets Roland Garros apart from the three other grand slam tournaments.

SpaceX sets earnings date, triggering first lock-up expiration for millions of shares

SpaceX's stock gained on Tuesday and looked to snap a seven-day losing streak after announcing Aug. 4 as its maiden earnings report

Tropical Storm Bertha threatens Gulf Coast with flooding and storm surge

Tropical Storm Bertha formed on Monday, threatening the Gulf Coast. Meanwhile in the Midwest, severe storms caused flooding in Des Moines, Iowa, and several tornadoes were spotted in northern Wisconsin. Lana Zak reports.

In the US, the 2026 World Cup’s legacy will be an invitation to do it all again | Leander Schaerlaeckens

Fifa’s gargantuan revenue influx from the tournament, with little left over for locals, will beget more exploitation

You do not, under any circumstance, have to hand it to Fifa.

You do, however, have to acknowledge that the 2026 World Cup was successful in all of the ways it was intended to be successful. The soccer was interesting and competitive and dramatic, albeit mostly not great – not that this really a necessary ingredient for a compelling sporting product. People came and watched in overwhelming numbers. There was fun and folklore; underdog surprises; heroic storylines that might have been hackneyed had they been works of fiction. The whole thing made vast sums of money for its organizer. More money, by an order of billions, than even Fifa itself had projected, per the Guardian’s reporting.

Trump imposing 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods over alleged trade discrimination

Canada's relationship with the U.S. has frayed amid Trump's tariff-heavy agenda and vocal displeasure with the nations' trilateral trade pact with Mexico.

Russian warship carries out rare live-fire exercise 45 miles off UK coast

New defence secretary Wes Streeting denounces drill by Neustrashimy as ‘performative and irresponsible’

A Russian warship fired its main cannon in a short notice test 45 miles south of Plymouth on Monday, the day Andy Burnham was appointed as prime minister.

The Neustrashimy suddenly announced it intended to fire its guns in the morning and requested that a British warship, which had been tracking it, retreat a couple of miles to a safe distance.

Spanish hotel chain ceases operations in Cuba under pressure from Washington

Meliá group says Donald Trump’s sanctions make it ‘impossible’ to keep any of its 34 sites open

A Spanish hotel chain is to cease all operations in Cuba at the end of the week due to “major difficulties” in doing business on the island under growing pressure from Washington.

The latest US sanctions make it “impossible, de facto and de jure, to maintain even minimal operational stability”, the Meliá group explained in a statement on Tuesday to the Spanish stock market regulator.

Hunter Biden for president? Stranger things have happened | Arwa Mahdawi

Once Republicans’ favourite punchline, Joe Biden’s son is now building an online following by trolling JD Vance, taunting Trump and embracing the absurdity of US politics

What sort of longshot candidate do we reckon is going to run for US president in 2028? The Rock? Kim Kardashian? Kermit the Frog? US politics has become so debased that being rich, famous and a natural-born citizen (sorry, Zohran Mamdani) now seem to be the only qualifications required for a job in the White House.

Which is why you shouldn’t entirely write off murmurings that Hunter Biden might be interested in following in his daddy’s presidential footsteps. When asked by a Fox News reporter about Hunter’s 2028 odds last month, Donald Trump suggested Joe Biden’s prodigal son might “do well”. If other “basket case[s]” in the Democratic party could do well, Trump added, then Hunter probably had a shot. Various analysts appear to agree. “Could Hunter Biden run for office? Don’t rule it out,” a recent Times headline blared. The article quotes a Biden biographer saying: “With a character like Hunter Biden in a populist, social media-driven political environment, you have to never say never.”

Football Daily | Here are 48 reasons to cherish the World Cup (minus the Geopolitics)

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The Geopolitics World Cup is already fading from view, replaced by a thin July gruel of pre-season friendlies and transfer tales. But there’s still time to cast another look back over the 48-team, 104-game, 308-goal leviathan that has dominated the last six weeks of our lives. Without further ado, here are 48 reasons to cherish this year’s World Cup (minus the Geopolitics).

‘The scrutiny is constant’: referee Anthony Taylor retires from football

• The 47-year-old took charge of five World Cup matches

• Taylor has refereed in the Premier League for 16 years

Anthony Taylor has announced his retirement from elite refereeing after a distinguished career spanning more than two decades and 831 matches.

One of England’s most accomplished officials, the 47-year-old officiated 668 matches in the professional game in England. He brings the curtain down on his career following his final appointment – the World Cup last-16 game between Portugal and Spain in the US.

GM announces new gas-powered Cadillac vehicles amid EV pullback

GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday the next-generation Cadillacs will include new versions of the CT5 sedan, XT5 midsize SUV and discontinued three-row XT6 SUV.

Zendaya faces backlash for wearing ancient Iranian jewellery at Odyssey event

Film star promotes Christopher Nolan film epic wearing gold artefacts dating back almost 3,000 years

The Odyssey is a story about a Greek king’s long journey home. But a pair of earrings worn on the new film adaptation’s press tour – and their long separation from their homeland – is sparking controversy.

At a photocall in London, Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena in the Christopher Nolan film, wore a pair of earrings fashioned from Iranian artefacts dating back to 700BC.

Milky Way flipped in collision with dwarf galaxy 10bn years ago, astronomers say

Durham University researchers find cataclysmic direct hit with Gaia Sausage sent Milky Way into its current position

Astronomers have found evidence that the Milky Way was flipped on its side following a direct hit from a wayward galaxy long before the solar system was born.

The cataclysmic collision took place about 10bn years ago when the Milky Way was struck head-on by an incoming dwarf galaxy known – for purely astronomical reasons – as the Gaia Sausage.

Nvidia details its next-generation Vera CPU for AI, setting up challenge to AMD and Intel

Nvidia released new information about its data center CPU, called Vera, that prospective customers need to fully evaluate the chip.

Taylor Farms pulls iceberg lettuce linked to cyclosporiasis outbreak

Taylor Farms said none of its branded salads or kits contain the iceberg lettuce associated with the outbreak.

Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly, alleging misleading GLP-1 advertising

Novo asked the court to permanently stop Lilly from running the "deceptive" ads and require the drugmaker to issue corrective advertising.

Wall Street is selling more rental homes, as buying ban takes effect

The largest landlords are all net sellers year to date, with 3,180 more homes sold than bought since Jan. 1.

Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly, accusing it of false advertising

The lawsuit alleges that Eli Lilly misled consumers by using outdated clinical trial data to make its drugs appear more effective than Novo's.

‘Sit down!’: Australian MP yells at dog then snaps at presenter in live interview

Barnaby Joyce had been defending One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s ‘working holiday’ on ABC current affairs show

The Australian politician Pauline Hanson – a populist, hard-right figure in the Nigel Farage mould – probably expected her European tour to generate headlines.

But the One Nation party leader, who is riding high in the polls, could not have anticipated that coverage would become dominated by one of her MPs yelling at his dog on national television.

Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the world

The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief has saved 26m lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countries

No part of the United States’ anti-HIV programme has escaped unscathed from Donald Trump’s funding cuts, despite pledges from the administration to protect care that saved lives around the world, a new report has found.

Funding cuts to the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) have caused “severe and devastating” disruption globally, with thousands of staff laid off and many clinics closed, according to research being presented next week at the 26th International Aids Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It warns that changes in US policy risk reversing progress in the fight against HIV/Aids.

Stand still, make eye contact: Denmark tells tourists how to behave in a wolf encounter

Government urges visitors not to approach or feed wolves as it manages safety amid growing population

Danish authorities have advised tourists to stand still, make eye contact and put up “maximum resistance” in the event of attack if they encounter a wolf while on holiday.

After a 200-year absence, wolves started returning to Denmark in 2012. There are now estimated to be 49 wolves on the Danish peninsula of Jutland.

2 soldiers from Texas and Hawaii killed in Iran strike in Jordan; 1 still missing

U.S. forces launched a new round of airstrikes against Iran at the direction of President Trump following the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in an Iranian strike in Jordan.

US claims of Cuba’s ‘unique threat’ jar with reality of hunger and blackouts

State department’s 100-page report is latest push in Trump administration campaign to bring down government

The US government’s latest allegations that Cuba is behind “many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history” and that its leaders pose “a unique threat to American homeland security” have come as startling revelations to those living under the six-month-long US oil blockade in Havana, where desperate people search through piles of uncollected rubbish for food, or else swelter at home in 24-hour-plus blackouts.

The unsigned 100-page report, Cuba: Capital of 21st-Century Communism, published by the US state department on Monday, blames Havana for everything from “the George Floyd riots to the rise of antifa to the explosion of pro-terrorist activism on American college campuses”.

We’ve been desperate for someone to take on Donald Trump. Who knew it would be Coldplay’s Chris Martin? | Simon Price

The World Cup left us with some surprising heroes. Kudos to pop’s leader of the bland and his very public rebuke to hatred and division

Long before the United States turned the World Cup final into an orgy of pop music and advertising, the signs were already there that this year’s co-hosts should never have been allowed within a thousand miles of the tournament. The garish half-time show curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay seemed to reinforce that – but then came a moment of improbable genius.

I was surprised. The last time America hosted, the problem wasn’t commercial overkill so much as sheer shrugging apathy. I was in New York during USA ’94. Apart from a few flapping banners outside the Nike store, you wouldn’t have known one of the world’s biggest sporting events was taking place. This, in hindsight, was a blessing. Football was allowed to football.

Simon Price is a music journalist and author

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.

Man recalls moment he was attacked by bison at Yellowstone: "He could have gored me"

The man who was attacked by a bison at Yellowstone National Park earlier this month is speaking out for the first time about the terrifying encounter. Carl Isom-McDaniel, 65, and his grandson were on a walk when the bison suddenly charged at them and flipped McDaniel 8 feet into the air. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

Prosecutors to present evidence at hearing for musician D4vd

Musician D4vd will be in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing in a murder case. Prosecutors will present evidence, claiming he is responsible for the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Lilia Luciano reports.

Splatoon Raiders review – Nintendo’s inky shooter fades to grey

Nintendo Switch 2
The single-player offshoot of the quirky and colourful multiplayer series is disappointingly run-of-the-mill

Splatoon is among Nintendo’s most ingenious inventions of the last decade: a series of shooting games whose paint-splattered turf war nature means being bad at shooting is just as valuable as – if not more so than – being good. It is also blessed with an abundance of personality, with vibrant characters, a richly imagined world, and a hipness that the competition can only dream of achieving. Unfortunately, Splatoon Raiders makes it difficult to remember all of this.

The first spinoff in the ink-soaked franchise, Splatoon Raiders is advertised as a single player-focused entry in this primarily multiplayer series. While this is true enough – one can play through the entire game solo just fine – Raiders is clearly best enjoyed cooperatively with up to three others. Players start each session on a hideout ship where they can upgrade their equipment and tweak their play style before heading out on bite-sized repeatable missions, and this structure is tailor-made for teaming up with friends or helping out strangers (the game lets you do either), as each person works towards creating their ultimate squid-kid avatar of chaos.

Splatoon Raiders is out 23 July; £41.99

U.S. strikes Iran and Houthis threaten Saudi Arabia shipping as mediators push 10-day ceasefire

The latest cycle of strikes comes amid reports that regional mediators have presented Washington and Tehran with a proposal for a 10-day ceasefire.

Nolan Wells remembered amid probe into his death: "We'll continue to fight for you"

Family and friends in Mississippi gathered to remember the life of Nolan Wells two weeks after the 18-year-old's mysterious death. Skyler Henry reports.

Intel's foundry lands first named customer under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, as Fortinet signs on for security chips

Fortinet is the first announced corporate customer for Intel's foundry under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over the chipmaker in March 2025.

The best games of 2026 so far, picked by NPR's staff

Titans like Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert dominated in the first half of the gaming year, with early-access sequels like Slay the Spire 2 and Subnautica 2 not far behind.

Ford recalls nearly 388,000 vehicles over seat issue

The recall affects certain 2020-2027 Aviator and 2020-2026 Explorer vehicles.

‘Reclaim football’: Sepp Blatter joins La Liga chief in call for Gianni Infantino to resign

• Blatter attacks successor as Fifa president

• Javier Tebas says system is ‘rotten at its core’

The Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has come in for heavy criticism from his predecessor, Sepp Blatter, and the La Liga president, Javier Tebas, with the pair united in the belief that he should stand down.

As Spain celebrated their World Cup win on Sunday, Tebas accused Infantino of “destroying the football industry” by prioritising the World Cup over national competitions. He claimed “his time is up”. Blatter has called for “fans, players and national associations to reclaim football and bring it back to its roots under new leadership”.

‘The utmost respect for him’: Alex Ferguson pays tribute to Kevin Keegan

• Ferguson says Keegan’s Newcastle was their best team

• ‘Kevin carried the love of the game on his sleeve’

Sir Alex Ferguson has saluted Kevin Keegan for building Newcastle’s “greatest team”. Keegan, who had cancer, died on Monday at the age of 75 and Ferguson has joined the tributes for one of football’s most endearing characters.

Ferguson and Keegan were involved a fierce battle for Premier League supremacy, with Ferguson’s Manchester United pipping Newcastle to the title in 1996. “I had the utmost respect for him,” Ferguson told Track Radio. “We had many duels when he was manager of Newcastle, but the job he did at Newcastle was fantastic. He re-energised that club and he brought that enthusiasm and fanaticism great supporters can give.

Trump administration sought phone records of New York Times journalists and their relatives

Officials sought identity of sources ‘long before’ reporters wrote about the president’s Air Force One jet from Qatar

Donald Trump’s administration sought phone records of several New York Times journalists and even those of some of their relatives, according to a motion unsealed Monday – an unusually aggressive attempt to unmask the confidential sources of reporters who wrote about the president’s Air Force One jet from Qatar.

The Trump administration’s push to compel the identity of sources in the form of additional subpoenas comes at a time when the executive branch’s relationship with the press is increasingly contentious. The efforts, described in a letter-motion filed by the Times over the weekend, were more expansive than previously known, the newspaper noted – and also covered a time frame that exceeded the news articles in question.

See Tropical Storm Bertha's projected path as it strengthens in Gulf

Tropical Storm Bertha formed on Monday and strengthened early Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico. CBS News meteorologist Rob Marciano has the latest on the storm's path.

Nearly 100 U.S. service members injured in Iranian strikes this month, Pentagon says

Almost 100 U.S. service members have been injured, with most returning to duty, in Iranian strikes in the Middle East this month, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told CBS News. It comes as the Iran war continues to escalate. Charlie D'Agata has the latest.

Football, golf … behold the future of world sport: Donald Trump as referee-in-chief | Marina Hyde

After his dubious intervention at the World Cup, the president is now an arbiter of high-level fairway disputes. There’s one word for that: SAD!

For so many of us around the world, the final scenes of the World Cup were a chance to switch off the TV with an eye-roll and observe mildly: “Well, I think that’s quite enough America for us all for a while now.” And yet: there can and must always be more. It is simply the way of things. If you thought the World Cup being carried on to the pitch ahead of Sunday’s final in some kind of Louis Vuitton sex trunk was the nadir of hysterical trashiness in sport, then simply recall the lesson of the past few years and expand your mind. It can always get trashier.

To the parched fairways of Royal Birkdale, then, the host of this year’s Open Championship, which – yesssssss! – was won by someone other than Bryson DeChambeau or Scottie Scheffler or any of the other radioactively ghastly US golfers you’d cheerfully head-flush in a Mar-a-Lago loo just as long as you could clear the classified documents out of it first. It has now been revealed that, during his heated row over a two-shot penalty he was handed for improving the area for his backswing, DeChambeau has been accused of threatening to call the US president unless it was all resolved in his favour. To repeat: threatening to call Donald Trump.

Headaches for Silicon Valley as China chips away at the US’s lead in the AI race

Google’s AI struggles scream trouble as new Chinese models (again) throw US tech dominance into question

Hello, I’m Blake Montgomery, writing to you after a double-header feature of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the World Cup final. What a great Sunday. Today in tech, we’re discussing how China is chipping away at the US’s lead in the AI race and how Silicon Valley’s workers are taking action to protect their jobs from AI.

New York becomes first state to impose one-year pause on new AI datacenters

Trump rails against New York’s statewide datacenter moratorium

Albanese’s AI blueprint sparks calls for datacentre moratorium until new regulations in place

‘Adversarial clothing’: are garments designed to confuse facial recognition systems about to go mainstream?

IBM loses quarter of its value as tech giant’s shares plunge and profits falter

‘What’s the point?’ Teenagers give their verdict on Britain’s social media curfew

Amazon Web Services customers receive bills for up to $1.5tn after global glitch

Trump made $1.4bn from crypto in one year. Is Justin Sun the man who helped him do it?

Entangled and Woven review – exquisitely spun textiles that cross borders, culture and time

The Whitworth, Manchester
Manchester’s past as a centre of textile production forms the starting point of this seamless showcase of skills

How many hands did it take to make this show? That is to say, how many artisans, craftspeople, weavers and artists’ hands did these pieces pass through? For this is a textile exhibition that doesn’t just celebrate a short list of singular artists, but rather the many highly skilled craftspeople and communities repeating the stitches and specialities of their ancestors. Take Entangled Memories, Interwoven Stories by Péro for example: it was made by 50 artisans and took 18,000 hours to complete. And that’s one piece, in an exhibition that spans three galleries.

These many hands and hours make Entangled and Woven an exquisitely beautiful exhibition. Every slip of fabric is layered with delicate detail and texture. Fabrics are airy and ethereal one moment, and weighty and dipped in deep indigo the next. It is hot, the fabrics sway and flicker in the fans, and hands flicker quickly in the video works capturing the creation of the pieces. I am mesmerised.

India's youth-led Cockroach movement vows to continue protest after police crackdown

The movement, which began as a satirical protest, has evolved into a nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

101 uses for an empty vanilla pod | Kitchen aide

Those expensive pods will bring their heavenly aroma to syrups, compotes, baked goods, desserts – and even your underwear drawer

Can you do anything with vanilla pods once you’ve scraped out the seeds? They’re so expensive.
Jo, by email
“I put them in my knicker drawer,” says Sarah Lemanski, owner of Nova Bakehouse in Leeds. “They scent it nicely, that’s for sure.” But, culinarily speaking, and beyond custards and the like, Lemanski often uses them in vanilla syrup: “Chop the pod quite small, then dry-toast it with some of the sugar for the syrup – I use a 2:1 sugar-to-water ratio – to give it body.” The Guardian’s own Benjamina Ebuehi is very much in agreement, and keeps a stash of said vanilla syrup in the fridge to fuel her matcha habit: “I can’t be paying £6 for one every day.” (It would work well in iced coffee, too.)

“Even when you’ve scraped out as much as you can from a pod, there are always some seeds left inside,” Ebuehi says, so there’s still so much flavour to be had in there. Perhaps the easiest way to keep the love alive is by sticking a spent pod in a fruit compote: “Once that’s cooled, get it in the fridge, but leave the pod in there, so it continues to seep out that flavour.” You could apply a similar tactic to jam.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president | Bhaskar Sunkara

The congresswoman can run a serious national campaign on the left and pull a movement in behind it. She should get in early

In the summer of 2018, almost no one thought Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could beat Joe Crowley. Crowley was a 10-term incumbent, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, a man some thought would one day be speaker. A 28-year-old former bartender and democratic socialist was the longest of long shots to succeed him. But ever since she did, the political establishment has been trying to decide whether to take her seriously.

For a while it decided not to. The Missouri representative Emanuel Cleaver said the Democratic caucus did not need her “sniping”, while the then senator Claire McCaskill dismissed her as a “bright and shiny new object”. Ocasio-Cortez seemed to enjoy the response. Asked on 60 Minutes whether she wanted people to underestimate her, she said: “Absolutely. That’s how I won my primary.”

We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires

Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat

Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, as members said they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts.

Thirteen communities in Ontario province have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Iran-backed Houthis announce blockade. And, Cyclospora source remains unknown

Iran-backed Houthis say they will blockade a waterway on the Red Sea. And, the FDA continues to investigate Taylor Farms lettuce as a source of the Cyclospora outbreak despite a retracted test.

David Squires on … Spain winning the World Cup final in the shadow of Trump

Our cartoonist looks back at the final game of the 2026 World Cup as Donald Trump watched Spain triumph again

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

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

Share your thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

We would like to hear your thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s adaption of Homer’s epic

The Odyssey has stormed the global box office, taking US$264m (£196m, A$378m) in its opening weekend, according to studio Universal Pictures.

Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya, the blockbuster is an adaptation of Homer’s epic, which follows Odysseus as he makes his 10-year journey home after fighting in the Trojan war. It’s also the first feature movie to be filmed entirely with Imax cameras – a system of very heavy and loud cameras that capture a sharper, brighter and higher-resolution content.

‘No electricity, no water, no fuel’: Ukrainian drone strikes bring darkness to Crimea’s summer

Interviews with residents of Russian-held region point to frustration with Moscow as Ukrainian campaign to isolate it takes toll on daily life

First, the guests stopped coming. As Ukrainian drones and missiles pounded Crimea throughout the spring and into the summer, Russian tourists began cancelling their bookings at the small guesthouse Marina runs in Yevpatoria, a resort town on the peninsula’s Black Sea coast.

Then petrol became scarce, making it harder to stock the business with food and other essentials. Now, electricity and running water are cut off for much of the day, just as the summer heat sets in.

From Bernie to Mamdani, how the Occupy movement transformed American politics

Yotam Marom, who helped lead Occupy Wall Street, discusses why power must be built through movements, not simply through elected officials

Yotam Marom knows why the Occupy Wall Street movement fell apart 15 years ago. The New York-based organizer and author was a key participant in the nationwide constellation of encampments and rolling protests that brought tens of thousands of people into its fold. But the movement could not withstand police raids, evictions, a bitter winter and, as Marom sees it, an internal “politics of powerlessness”, which mistook a healthy distrust of institutional power for a failure to build a strong, coherent strategy for political change. Occupy splintered within a few short months and never seriously revived.

As he recounts in his new book, For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness, Marom has again and again seen similar dynamics weigh down social movements in his work as an organizer and facilitator. He founded the Wildfire Project, a training organization for grassroots groups, and has worked with organizations including the Sunrise Movement agitating against climate decimation, the abolitionist Dream Defenders fighting for racial justice, the Uncommitted movement to end Democratic party support for Israel’s war crimes, tenants unions battling landlords, and more.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth goes to the Hill with nearly $90B funding request

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth will appear on the Hill on Tuesday. He's looking for a nearly $90 billion funding boost, as the Iran war once again flares.

Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

The best economic ideas from around the world — Planet Money Summer School is back

Our free economics course for your ears is on a quest for great economics ideas.

How soccer brings a Bhutanese community together in Harrisburg, Pa.

Harrisburg is home to one of the nation's largest communities of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees and their families. Through soccer, generations have found connection, belonging and a way to carry forward a shared history.

Only four years to the next men’s World Cup – what can we expect from the 2030 edition?

If you thought the 2026 tournament was sprawling, think again with six host countries over three continents getting involved in four years’ time

If the 2026 World Cup was the tournament’s largest edition yet – featuring 48 teams for the first time in its 96-year history, being played in three different countries – the 2030 World Cup is going to have an even bigger footprint.

Amid U.S.-Iran war, Houthi rebels threaten to blockade another key strait

The Houthis, a Shia militia in Yemen that's aligned with Iran, have announced a naval blockade of a key waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Protests in Italy after death of Moroccan man under police restraint

Teargas and water cannon used on protesters after Abderrahim ⁠Fakir died pleading for help from police

Police have clashed with demonstrators during a protest in the Italian city of Bologna after a Moroccan-born man died pleading for help under police restraint.

Human rights campaigners and Italy’s opposition parties have demanded urgent answers over the death on Sunday of Abderrahim ⁠Fakir, 42, who had lived in Italy since he was five years old and ran a small removals and cleaning business.

‘His chords are like sheets of diamond ice’: the beguiling psych-folk of late cult songwriter Ed Askew

The late songwriter released around 50 records, writing gay love songs and effortless folk songs from folk’s fringes. Fans including Bill Callahan explain his singular brilliance

In a grainy television clip from 1986, a flame-haired and neckerchiefed troubadour plucks away at a lute-like instrument, harmonica under chin, the gentle ripples giving way to a voice full of longing. This performance, uploaded to YouTube in 2010, has generated only a handful of comments, but peruse any of them (“Ed the Great!”; “pure gold”) and you begin to understand the passion that Ed Askew – an under-the-radar US poet, artist and musician – has inspired over the years.

“He was living in a world that was for people who didn’t fit in,” Askew’s collaborator, Jerry David DeCicca, says on the free-spiritedness of his friend, whose musical life began with discovering the 10-stringed tiple as a teenager in the 1950s and ended with his death a year ago, aged 84, on the verge of him releasing his album The Final Painting, now being released posthumously this month.

Social Darwinists to tech bros: tracing the long fight against equality in US

Historian Kim Phillips-Fein’s book Country of Lords looks back at the many men who have tried to fight against egalitarianism, from John Adams to Peter Thiel

The historian Kim Phillips-Fein’s new book is published amid celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence and its truth “self-evident, that all men are created equal”. Country of Lords, however, is a history of Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight Against Equality in America.

Concise and hard-hitting, the book arrives at a time of glaring social and economic inequality, Phillips-Fein seeing Elon Musk “emerging as a trillionaire very much on people’s minds, with a deep level of discomfort, both fear and anger about what this portends”.

‘A big job ahead of him’: world leaders congratulate Andy Burnham as he becomes Britain’s PM

Beyond the diplomatic platitudes global media focuses on the ‘immense’ scale of the challenge he faces in the job

• UK politics live – latest updates

World leaders have warmly congratulated Andy Burnham on his entry into 10 Downing Street as Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, but international media largely focused on the scale of the challenges awaiting him.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said he hoped for a deeper relationship “in the service of our peoples, and by giving new momentum to the partnership between the UK and the EU” rekindled by Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer.

Bub – living an artist’s dreams and dreads in New York

An autobiographical game about the devastating effects of chronic illness on an artist’s creative life gives players the chance to slow the pace right down

Bub does not look like a traditional video game. Artist and stop-motion animator Case Jernigan spends hours, days, months in his studio drawing, painting and delicately cutting out pieces of collected paper, while coder and gameplay designer Todd Anderson builds scripts and physics simulations to make them into a game.

In Bub, you play through the life of an artist in New York City, making art but also diving into his early memories and imaginative dreams. “You go from present day New York City into his childhood, or different sort of visions, which are all rendered in stop motion,” says Anderson. “His story is told in the present day, but also how he’s making sense of his past.”

These Wild English by Nicola Wilding review – explaining a mother’s drift to the far right

A documentary-maker probes family history and the darker corners of the internet to solve an urgent political puzzle

When Sandra Forsyth began marching in support of the English Defence League, her daughter Nicola Wilding hoped it was a phase. The Cumbria-bred, Dover-dwelling Sandra was about to turn 60 and had been dealing with a lot of stress. Not only had her son been sentenced to two years in prison for armed robbery, but she was working at a home for adults with complex needs. She liked the job, but it could be gruelling – especially when clients hurled furniture at her or ripped sinks off walls.

Then, in May 2013, came the death of Lee Rigby, a drummer with the Second Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers who was murdered by two Islamist terrorists using machetes. Sandra didn’t know Rigby, Wilding notes, but his death nonetheless brought her pent-up rage to the surface. She began watching videos on Facebook by a man named Tommy Robinson, who wanted to know why the country’s brave soldiers were being murdered. By September of that year, she was protesting on the streets of London.

Houseplant hacks: does dividing supermarket basil help it survive?

Seeds are packed into shop-bought pots, meaning they compete and wear themselves out. The best bet is to divide and conquer

The problem
We’ve all done it: picked up a lush, generous-looking pot of basil from the supermarket – full of promise and pesto plans, and within a fortnight it has collapsed into a dried-out, leggy mess. You assume you did something wrong. In reality, the plant was set up to fail before it even reached your kitchen.

The hack
That full, bushy pot is not actually one plant; it is dozens of basil seedlings crammed into a single container to look bushy on the shelf. Packed that tightly, they compete for light, water and root space, and exhaust themselves within days. The fix is to divide the overcrowded mass into smaller, separated clumps and give each one room to actually grow.

Board short summer: why everyone suddenly wants to look like a surfer

Surfboards, knee-length shorts, wetsuits, flip-flops: all have been seen on the catwalks this year. But what do actual surfers think of the trend? We went to Newquay to find out

Summer is here, and with it the annual scramble to decide what kind of season we’re supposed to be having. What will it be? On offer in 2026 are “freaky sandal summer”, which requires you to wear weird shoes, and “euromaxxing”, which is presumably about making the most of the easyJet sale without considering the environmental impact. Maybe “poet girl summer” is for you, whereby you listen to Gracie Abrams while wearing a silk camisole. Or simply “no mascara summer”, which I won’t spell out but sounds quite appealing.

The most plausible contender is “board short summer”, a phrase coined by Marie Claire, which broadly involves dressing like you surf even if you’ve never set foot on a board.

I was struggling after eight rounds of IVF – then a midwife became my surrogate

Narzny McKinney and her surrogate, Sarah, discuss their experience – and the misconceptions that surround the practice

• UK surrogacy law ‘creaking at seams’ as demand rises sharply

After struggling with infertility and eight unsuccessful rounds of IVF, Narzny McKinney had two precious embryos left – her last chance to have biological children. After considering her options, she made the decision to find a surrogate to carry her child for her.

“We were eight years down the line at this point and I just didn’t want to risk anything going wrong,” she said. “It was a tough decision but it was absolutely the right thing to do.”