Secret Service 'illegally' surveilled Comey in Trump ‘8647’ threat case: Court filing

Ex-FBI Director James Comey says he's the subject of vindictive prosecution for posting on Instagram a photo of seashells forming the numbers "8647."

Microsoft is set to report earnings after the bell, and all eyes are on its spending plans

Investors are looking to see if Microsoft follows Alphabet in raising its capital spending plans

Commonwealth Games 2026: 3x3 basketball golds for England and Australia, swimming and athletics on day six – live

• Updates from Wednesday’s live action in Glasgow

• Medal table | Day six in pictures | Mail Luke

Men’s 200m freestyle James Guy qualifies for the final with the quickest time but Scott hasn’t done enough with Tom Dean making it through depsite finishing fourth in his heat.

Men’s 200m freestyle Scott looks like he’ll miss out with heat six seeing three men, including Matt Richards of Wales and Northern Ireland’s Jack McMillan, go faster.

Two people accuse Epstein of sexual conduct at Michigan fine arts school

Report on Interlochen Center for the Arts details sexual allegations against 47 faculty and staff members since 1950s

Two people who attended a prestigious Michigan fine arts school reported conduct of a sexual nature by Jeffrey Epstein, a major donor, according to an investigation that also uncovered dozens of allegations spanning decades against nearly 50 other people.

Interlochen Center for the Arts operates a summer camp and performing arts school that draws students from around the world. It hired a law firm in 2024 to investigate reports of sexual abuse by faculty and staff. Subsequently, it expanded the work to include information about Epstein, the 66-year-old financier who killed himself in jail in 2019.

How Trump drafted renovation plans for Dulles, a "terrible airport"

President Trump asked for 3D models of the renovation proposals as he personally tweaked ideas to overhaul Dulles International Airport that are scheduled to be unveiled on Wednesday.

Why are airlines banning humanoid robots from flights?

Three major U.S. airlines have quietly changed their policies to ban humanoid and animal-like robots from their flights.

Uefa calls emergency meeting as opposition to Fifa plan hardens

• 55 members to meet on Thursday to coordinate response

• ‘Uefa knows there is significant and growing opposition’

Uefa has called an emergency meeting of their 55 members for Thursday afternoon to discuss a coordinated response to Gianni Infantino’s plan to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors, with a European boycott of Fifa tournaments among the options under consideration.

The Guardian has been told that, as the next major event in the Fifa calendar, a boycott of next year’s Women’s World Cup has been mentioned in preliminary discussions, although there would be a reluctance in some quarters to make the women’s game suffer as a result as consequence of a protest against Fifa proposals that primarily revolve around monetising the men’s World Cup and and Club World Cup.

Fauci invokes fifth amendment and declines to testify in Senate Covid hearing

Adviser to Trump and Biden for pandemic says Republican senator has ‘unhinged obsession’ with him

• US politics – live updates

Dr Anthony Fauci refused to answer questions at a high-profile Senate committee hearing on the origins of Covid-19 and accused the Republican senator leading questioning of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.

Fauci, the veteran former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niaid), served as a key adviser to Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the Covid-19 pandemic. The hearing was called by Kentucky senator Rand Paul, who has investigated Fauci for years.

Trump asks Supreme Court to overturn $83.3 million E. Jean Carroll case

President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to throw out an $83.3 million defamation judgment the writer E. Jean Carroll won against him.

Chiefs say Eric Bieniemy’s wife Mia is out of ICU and ‘making progress’ after shooting

• Mia Bieniemy is being treated for gunshot wounds

• Son Elijah Bieniemy was arrested and charged in incident

The Kansas City Chiefs held their first full-squad workout of training camp Wednesday without offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who remained with his family after the shooting of his wife – allegedly by their son – at their Virginia home last weekend.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the workout that Mia Bieniemy had been released from the intensive care unit, where she was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. But there was no timetable for when Eric Bieniemy would be back with the team.

Divided Fed holds interest rates steady, but three members voted to hike

Despite increasing support for a rate increase, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 to leave the federal funds rate in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%.

Here's what changed in the second Fed statement under Warsh

This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in June.

Fed holds interest rates steady, but 3 officials vote for hike

Fed officials are leaving their benchmark rate unchanged for a fifth straight meeting, a sign they expect inflation to ease.

Three firefighters killed on Crete and in mainland Greece as Europe battles wildfires

Repeated heatwaves and strong winds alarm experts, who warn blazes are becoming harder to quell

Three Greek firefighters have died while tackling wildfires on the island of Crete and in the south of the mainland, the Greek fire department has said, as extreme heat hinders efforts to control blazes ravaging southern Europe.

The arc of brutal fires, which runs from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean, and from the Scottish Highlands to the south of Spain, has alarmed experts because many of the fires have been out of control and burning close to towns and cities.

Comey claims DOJ ordered illegal surveillance, seeks dismissal of "86 47" case

Former FBI Director James Comey filed new motions late Tuesday in his effort to toss out federal charges accusing him of threatening President Trump's by posting a photo of seashells arranged to form the numbers "86 47."

Fed holds interest rates steady despite Trump’s renewed calls to lower them

Rates remain unchanged for fifth time since December as tenuous Iran peace deal pushes energy prices up again

The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, leaving rates unchanged for the fifth time since December despite Donald Trump’s renewed calls to lower rates.

Cooler inflation data published earlier this month eased expectations for an imminent rate hike. But the tenuous peace deal between the US and Iran has made energy prices creep up again, strengthening the case for an increase. The Fed’s federal open market committee voted 9-3 to maintain rates, with three dissenting members who preferred to raise the rate by a quarter-percentage point.

‘I’m very sorry’: Mancini apologises after being reappointed as Italy head coach

• Mancini quit Italy job to take over Saudi Arabia in 2023

• ‘Some will be against me … maybe people will forgive’

Roberto Mancini issued an apology in his first public comments after being reappointed as the Italy head coach, three years after he abandoned the same job for a lucrative contract with Saudi Arabia.

“I’m very sorry,” Mancini said. “It was like losing the woman of your life. And it means you did something that shouldn’t have been done. So I’m sorry, very sorry also for everything that happened over these last three years … I’m going to try to bring the national team back where it belongs.”

Excessive time spent online linked to stress and worse mood – study

German study surveyed adults who engage in gaming, pornography and online shopping

Spending excessive time online is associated with higher stress levels, worse mood, and greater neglect of other activities, according to analysis.

The new study by academics at the University of Duisburg-Essen published in the journal PLOS One, surveyed 900 German adults in 2025 who reported engaging in gaming, pornography use, social network use, or online shopping at least once in the last year.

US-Saudi strikes in Iraq push region into ‘uncharted territory’, analysts warn

Riyadh’s decision to join US in strikes on Iran-backed militia further complicates widening and ‘unpredictable’ war

US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed militia in Iraq have pushed the region into “uncharted territory”, analysts have warned.

Amid stark warnings of a widening and increasingly “unpredictable” conflict, Riyadh’s decision to publicly join the US in striking sites associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), killing at least 20 fighters, has added another complicating dimension to the war.

Todd Blanche attorney general nomination on edge as Cornyn questions Trump-IRS settlement

Sen. John Cornyn says the DOJ has failed to satisfy his concerns about a deal to shield President Donald Trump and others from IRS tax audits.

Murder victim found in Oregon woods in 1972 identified as WWII veteran

A murder victim has been identified decades after his remains were discovered in a wooded area in Oregon in 1972, authorities said.

The Guardian view on selling off the World Cup: a red-card offence by Gianni Infantino | Editorial

Fifa’s president hopes to sell stakes in the planet’s most watched sporting event. In the wider interests of football, he must be resisted

Like a sporting Dr Pangloss, Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, would like to persuade football followers that they are living in the best of all possible worlds. Maddeningly for him, many disagree. On Monday, Mr Infantino published a 15-page Instagram rant in which he bemoaned the “hate and false rumours” in circulation during the recent men’s World Cup. White House interference over a crucial refereeing decision, prohibitive ticket prices, unnecessary but lucrative hydration breaks; it was all, as his best friend in politics, Donald Trump, would say, “fake news”.

But where the president of world football’s governing body sees haters, others see lovers of the game rightly concerned over where he is taking it. On Tuesday, Fifa confirmed that it hopes to sell stakes in the World Cup and other tournaments to private investors who may include Joshua Kushner, the brother of Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared. The investors would buy into a new $20bn company, Fifa Forward Enterprise, which would sell all of Fifa’s commercial rights, including ticketing, and take charge of “operational delivery” of World Cups.

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.

Airport immigration arrests stem from TSA-ICE collaboration, sources say

Recent reports of immigration arrests at U.S. airports​​, some of them captured in videos that have gone viral​, stem from increased collaboration, ICE sources tell CBS News.

Fifa opens disciplinary proceedings against Argentina over Falklands banner and final chaos

• Players brandished banner after semi-final against England

• Paredes and Molina investigated over brawl after final defeat

Fifa has opened disciplinary proceedings against Argentina over the Falklands Islands banner displayed by several players after their World Cup semi-final win against England in Atlanta.

As Argentina celebrated reaching the World Cup final with their dramatic 2-1 victory over Thomas Tuchel’s side, several players displayed a sign proclaiming “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” – the Malvinas are Argentinian – in reference to the British overseas territory in the south Atlantic.

‘You have to sit quietly until you die’: The families failed by England’s social care system

Carers tell of their struggles to get loved ones the support they need, and the emotional and financial toll caring takes on their own lives

Andy Burnham has vowed to fast-track the Casey Commission, an independent review of adult social care in England, with final recommendations expected to be released by summer 2027.

“I think social care in England is as unfair as American healthcare,” Burnham said in a speech outlining his pledge for reform on Wednesday. “The vulnerable pay with everything and it can completely leave them with nothing.”

Ben Jennings on plans to allow private investors to buy stakes in the World Cup – cartoon

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Norwegian teenager guilty of travelling to UK to carry out contract killing

Johannes Kongsnes Natland was recruited to murder unknown person by international crime gang linked to Iran

A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty of travelling to England to carry out a killing ordered by an international crime gang linked to Iran.

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, from Stavanger, Norway, agreed to shoot an unknown person for €25,000 (£21,500) in March last year. Two days after he arrived in the UK armed police arrested him in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, seizing two guns and ammunition.

'Taiwan Travelogue' rethinks history, colonialism, and identity

The author and translator of Taiwan Travelogue, the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize, discuss identity and history amid the debate over Taiwan's colonial ties to Japan and escalating geopolitical pressure from China.

Elon Musk's xAI sues Minnesota over law to ban 'nudify' apps

Elon Musk's xAI, now owned by SpaceX, is challenging a law that would ban so-called nudify apps in Minnesota

BTS boycott Grammys after introduction of new Asian pop prize

K-pop superstars will not submit Arirang album or its songs for 2027 ceremony

BTS, the biggest pop act in east Asia, have withdrawn themselves from the 2027 Grammy awards, intimating that their decision is due to the addition of a new award for best Asian pop music performance.

Writing on Instagram, each of the South Korean group’s seven members said: “We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year. I hope that music can be heard and loved for what it is, rather than being divided by region or language.”

Russia accuses Telegram founder of aiding terrorism in its latest online crackdown

FSB puts Pavel Durov on international wanted lists and says his messaging app is used for sabotage and murder

Russian officials have charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of the messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism.

The charges against the 41-year-old Russian-born billionaire, who lives in the Gulf, are the latest step by the Kremlin to bring the internet and digital communications under its control after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK

Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son

The convicted fraudster George Cottrell transferred a total of more than $2m to his mother, Fiona Cottrell, in the days before her 2024 donations to Reform UK, the Guardian understands.

Financial industry sources told the Guardian that Fiona received one deposit of $1.4m and two tranches of more than $300,000 each – money she attributed to having come from her son, George, when bankers asked about the deposits.

Infantino tries to cash in on World Cup: is football’s soul for sale? - The Latest

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has announced plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors in a new commercial entity worth $20bn. One of the leading would-be investors is Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared.

The plans have prompted an immediate backlash – with Uefa accusing Fifa of trying to ‘sell football’s soul’. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian reporter Paul MacInnes

Humana tops quarterly estimates, maintains profit outlook as medical costs stay in line

Humana maintained its 2026 adjusted profit outlook of at least $9 per share, which some analysts called a "disappointment" amid high expectations for insurers.

Bloody, bare footprints lead to decadeslong search for woman's killer

In 1993, Jeanie Childs was found stabbed more than 60 times in her Minneapolis apartment. Bloody footprints and unknown DNA left investigators without answers until a 2015 cold-case review and public DNA database finally pointed to a suspect.

Rare clue at Minneapolis crime scene points to a barefoot killer

"In Minnesota here, people are not committing crimes a lot of times with the socks and shoes off," said a forensic scientist about footprints left in the victim's blood.

Warren, Schiff urge SEC to probe Trump Media's paid service giving faster access to Trump's posts

Trump has frequently posted policy announcements or other newsworthy information on Truth Social that have sent global markets hurtling up or down.

Your worst fears about cultural collapse might be true – here’s what you can do about it

Writer Sarah Wilson argues we’re hurtling toward the same end as ancient Rome and the Mayan civilisation – but there’s plenty to fight for

In Sarah Wilson’s new book, one page is mostly blank. It’s intended as a reprieve, a neutral space “for you to stare at for a minute while your feelings catch up”.

You will need it. In I Eat the Stars, Wilson argues that the world as we know it is in collapse – and that we are too late to avoid the worst.

Tony review – knives out in tasty reheat of Anthony Bourdain’s memoir

Dominic Sessa stars as a conceited yet vulnerable young chef alongside Antonio Banderas – but the feelgood factor is compromised by what we know of the author

For all the drugs and punch-ups, this is an unexpectedly sentimental coming-of-age story – or maybe origin myth – about the formative youthful kitchen experiences of legendary badass chef Anthony Bourdain. It is taken from the opening chapters in his bestselling memoir Kitchen Confidential; Canadian film-maker Matt Johnson directs and Dominic Sessa (the callow kid from Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers) plays the conceited, smug yet lonely and vulnerable young college student Tony. “Anthony” is in the future.

It is the mid-1970s and Tony effectively runs away from home after failing to get a residential summer writing scholarship that he had assured everyone was in the bag. He shows up nearly penniless in the seaside vacation resort of Provincetown, Massachusetts – a place that is pretty similar to Amity Island in Jaws, which is showing at every drive-in. The reason is that he has a desperate crush on Nancy (Emilia Jones) who is there for the summer too and whom he desperately wants to impress with his smouldering intellectualism.

Fauci invokes 5th in hearing, citing Rand Paul's "unhinged obsession"

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate to testify on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic but invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in answering all questions.

'Odyssey' translator Emily Wilson says Nolan shouldn't have written the movie himself

The renowned classics scholar caused a stir when her critical review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey went viral. Wilson explains her reaction to the film and why she's translating the poem again.

Torrential rain causes major flooding in parts of the Northeast

Parts of New Jersey got up to 5 inches of rain on Tuesday as first responders pulled people out of flooded streets. In eastern Pennsylvania, heavy rain also flooded highways and roads. Rob Marciano reports.

USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, US Soccer in ‘final stages’ of agreeing on new contract

• Deal would extend Argentinian through 2030 World Cup

• Coach would stand to earn ‘significantly’ more

• Pochettino’s tenure has been mixed bag of results

USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino and US Soccer are “in the final stages” of finalizing an agreement for a new contract through the 2030 World Cup, multiple sources briefed on ongoing negotiations have told the Guardian. Those sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

Pochettino was brought on as US head coach in September 2024, tapped to lead the team through the 2026 World Cup, where the Americans suffered a disappointing exit in the last 16. Both sides had expressed interest in potentially extending the deal in the run-up to the tournament, with US Soccer chief executive JT Batson saying the federation was “excited” about the potential of building on progress made during Pochettino’s initial spell as head coach.

Drinkflation: why British booze is getting weaker

While the sizes and prices are staying the same, brands are reducing the alcohol content in their beer

Name: Drinkflation.

Age: The current round started in 2023.

Warren probes Pentagon program to hire highly paid private sector workers

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she is concerned about a Pentagon program to pay high salaries to Wall Street recruits.

Prince Harry and co-claimants face huge legal bill due to insurance shortfall

Claimants’ cover might not meet Associated Newspapers’ costs for defending phone-hacking case, high court hears

The Duke of Sussex and his co-claimants could be millions of pounds out of pocket after losing their privacy case against the publishers of the Daily Mail, the high court in London heard.

The seven claimants, who include Prince Harry, Doreen Lawrence and Elton John, sued Associated Newspapers Limited over allegations of unlawful information gathering.

Body found in suitcase in Athens is that of 38-year-old British woman

Greek authorities identify remains as those of Elizabeth Jane Ross after discovery in a derelict building 11 days ago

A body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens has been identified as that of a 38-year-old British woman.

Eleven days after the find, police shed some light on the mystery of a body that until Wednesday had remained unidentified, after appealing to foreign law enforcement agencies.

Jordan Klepper on Trump being heckled: ‘That’s President Pedophile Protector’

Late-night hosts speak about Trump’s trip to Michigan, where a local again shouted the same name at him

Late-night hosts spoke about Donald Trump’s recent Michigan visit and his attendance at Lindsey Graham’s funeral.

FIFA is embroiled in a $20 billion World Cup controversy. Here's what's going on

UEFA – European soccer's governing body – accused FIFA of "crossing a line" and said the tournament is not its to sell.

‘People are loving it’: Formula One chief Domenicali hits back at critics of regulations

• Chief executive says fans don’t care about technology

• Season may finish in Europe due to war in Middle East

Stefano Domenicali has issued a stout rebuttal to critics of Formula One’s new regulations, claiming most fans are enjoying the sport more than ever and are unconcerned by driver complaints. The Formula One chief executive also confirmed that this season’s finale would be staged in Europe if the last two grands prix, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, are called off due to the Middle East war.

Lando Norris, the defending world champion, hit out at F1 in Hungary last week for putting profit before the sport to attract engine manufacturers with the new regulations. The focus on electrical energy management has been roundly disliked by drivers.

Procter & Gamble revenue misses estimates as volume stays unchanged

Procter & Gamble reported quarterly earnings per share that topped Wall Street's estimates, but its revenue fell short of expectations.

‘Saltburn are the Argentina of local cricket’: victims and neighbours on the ‘Clicky Ponting’ scandal

Laughter, disbelief and outrage over video appearing to show Saltburn player tricking umpire into giving batters out

At the Saltburn over-60s ukulele club there was a unanimous reaction to news that the town’s cricket club were being compared to the Argentina football team: laughter. Then a spirited rendition of I Love to Boogie.

On the seafront, a litter-picking volunteer was looking forward to the Wednesday night quiz just to get the gossip. But she had her own view. “All I would say is it’s just not cricket, is it?”

Greetings from an isolated region in northern Pakistan's Hindu Kush mountains

Chitral borders Afghanistan and isn't easy to reach. Breathtaking views abound in this remote mountainous region — as do rockslides and avalanches.

Trump says U.S. will give Iran a 'beating' after surprise attack

Centcom in a post on X said that the attack originated from Iran, but all missiles were intercepted.

Triple killer who dismembered bodies of two friends given whole-life jail sentence

James Desborough, who also strangled cellmate to death for snoring while awaiting trial, hid body fragments in Cornwall woods

A triple killer who murdered and dismembered the bodies of two of his friends before strangling a third man to death in prison while awaiting trial has been told he will spent the rest of his life behind bars.

Mr Justice Saini, who sentenced James Desborough, 40, at Winchester crown court, said the circumstances of the case were unique.

Schools are testing pepper-spraying drones to stop shooters

Schools in three states will be equipped with drones this coming academic year that aim to find and deter active shooters within seconds.

After 40 years, Aliens is still shaping the way video games are made

James Cameron’s high-octane film sequel is a blueprint for modern action space slashers

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It is difficult to believe that James Cameron’s Aliens was released into cinemas 40 years ago. The seminal space shooter took the original Alien – a tense slasher film with a tiny cast and one monster – and transformed it into an intergalactic war movie crammed with wry one-liners, massive guns and an actual boss battle finale. As a 14-year-old, I stood in line at the Tatton Gatley cinema, unsure if I’d be allowed in – I came out three hours later a changed person, my head filled with esoteric military slang and a deep fear of beeping motion detectors. For days afterwards, I slept with my duvet covering my mouth so that no facehuggers could get me. (I was a highly impressionable teenager.)

It’s little wonder that the film has had such a profound effect on video game design. Take the colonial marines, for example. Although the concept of the space soldier had been around in sci-fi novels since the 1930s, most notably in the works of EE “Doc” Smith and Robert Heinlein (the Starship Troopers), Hicks, Hudson, Vasquez and co, were the perfect 80s rendition, combining the witty banter of contemporary buddy cop flicks with awesome weaponry and hi-tech gadgets. Their influence is easy to spot in Doom, where the nameless marine fights ceaseless waves of hellish monsters using a mix of futuristic rifles and good old shotguns. It’s there too in the Halo series, the Spartan soldiers sporting the same armour and mega weapons, cruising about in very similar highly militarised starships and fighting recognisable hive-mind space beasts. Gears of War, Killzone and Marathon all borrow from the same set of costumes and deadly accessories.

Ukraine has found a new pressure point in Russia’s wartime economy

Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, have ratcheted up the pressure on Moscow's wartime economy.

Flash floods and storms batter north-east US as deadly weather threatens millions

Lightning kills a New Jersey man as rescues, power outages and travel disruption hit region

Bands of deadly, extreme weather including torrential rain and high winds sparked flash flooding and tornado warnings in several north-eastern US states on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people and playing havoc with travel.

A 32-year-old man was killed on Tuesday afternoon in a lightning strike in Monroe township, New Jersey, authorities said.

You can’t argue with 118 Brummies in their swimsuits: Attilio Fiumarella’s best photograph

‘I was thinking about the Terracotta Army when I took this shot of Birmingham swimmers in their local pool, which faced closure. They had to stand there for an hour, waiting for the sun to come out’

I took this image in Birmingham on 20 July 2014 – part of my first professional photography project. I had moved to the city in 2013 and I would pass this building every day on the bus on my way to the city centre. I remember looking at the facades and being impressed and intrigued by the three different entrances – what were once the first class, second class and women’s entrances.

One day I decided to get off the bus and find out what the building was. The door was open, and a nice lady welcomed me in and started to explain its history. It is the Moseley Road Baths, an Edwardian-era community building. In 2014 the second pool was still operating but the gala pool, where I took this image, was already empty. The building was in need of restoration and, without funding, the council planned to shut it down for good. The woman I met there told me lots of stories about the place – people who had come to learn to swim, how it had served as a casualty station during the second world war, and how it had even been used as a dance hall. It was a very charming place with an incredible history: as soon as I saw the gala pool, I knew I had to fill the majestic empty space.

The Federal Reserve meets Wednesday. Could it raise interest rates?

The central bank is widely expected to stand pat on Wednesday, but persistent inflation concerns are reshaping expectations for the rest of 2026.

Maps show where heavy rainfall poses flood risks across Northeast

The storm system that brought dangerous tornadoes to the Midwest earlier this week has now moved into New England, threatening to cause flooding in multiple states.

Repeated use of saunas could help people cope better in heatwaves, scientists say

Growing number of studies assessing whether heat training can help people prepare for scorching temperatures

Even as summer temperatures soar, the sauna trend is booming, with some venues touting them as a way to beat the heat. But while experts have urged caution about sweating it out in hot weather, a growing number of studies are considering whether heat training could help people prepare for heatwaves.

With parts of the UK experiencing their fourth heatwave of the year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued heat health alerts across much of England. The warnings follow an unprecedented summer, with western Europe experiencing its hottest June on record.

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: the secret to summer layering? Sheer bravery

Adding layers doesn’t have to leave you a hot mess – think sheer scarves and crochet with flashes of colour to elevate your look

Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m in two minds about summer dressing. Part of me believes summer is about joy, sunshine and good times, and clothes should embrace all of that. This woman loves Pucci and owns not one but two silver kaftans. The other part of me believes summer should be uncomplicated, laid-back and earthy. This woman never checks in luggage and has worn the same black beach cover-up for so many years it’s too threadbare to cover anything much.

The thing is, either approach looks absurd if taken to extremes. Candy swirls, cherry prints and strawberry bag charms are delightful, but pile them too high and you look like a walking knickerbocker glory. And while white linen shirts and simple black sandals are chic, you risk looking a bit like you’re on a meditation retreat where the dress code is “wealthy disciple”. Know what I mean?

Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret review – the tales of abuse are utterly disturbing

Four women speak out about their underage experiences with the movie star and musician. Are the floodgates finally about to open?

Jared Leto has long been a person with something of a reputational issue. The public-facing side of this was bad enough – while playing The Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad, he reportedly sent rats, dead pigs and used condoms to his cast mates – but for years there have been upsetting rumours about what he does in private. After a lengthy investigation, the BBC documentary Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret has finally brought at least some of them to light.

This is, as you might imagine, not a fun thing to watch. The film documents allegations of what are said to be decades of systematic criminal misconduct against teenage girls. The women interviewed here allege sexual assault, threatened sexual assault, sexualised grooming and statutory rape. They are backed up by anonymous male former co-workers who claim to have witnessed the machinery that Leto set up to procure underage girls from concerts.

Gaza strikes, a gymnastic backbend and yurt culture: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Rogue OpenAI agent that hacked startup tried to attack other firms

ChatGPT developer says activity by autonomous tool was not at severity or scale of what occurred at Hugging Face

OpenAI has revealed that a cyber-attack carried out by a rogue AI agent had more than one victim.

The ChatGPT developer said the agent – an autonomous tool able to carry out sequences of commands without human help – had located and used logins to access four other unnamed “publicly-available services” in addition to the US startup Hugging Face.

Tim Cook’s last earnings call comes at momentous time for Apple with stock at record

Apple just hit a $5 trillion market cap for the first time, but CEO Tim Cook still has plenty of concerns to address on his final earnings call at the helm.

American Airlines nationwide ground stop lifted after IT outage disrupts flights

According to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, all airports and facilities were being impacted by the IT outage.

I thought Nolan’s Odyssey was an epic bore. If you want Greek myths brought to life, try the thrill of opera!

Composers from Purcell to Birtwistle have created passionate dramas inspired by ancient Greek stories – and none of them require you to sit through three hours of solemn spectacle without an interval

For me, the most astonishing thing about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is its barnstorming popularity. I found this cinematic epic for the ages visually bloodless, expressively monotonous and very, very long. Mind you, it is good to know that Nolan thinks that war is, on balance, you know, once you really think about it, probably a bad idea.

The music, too, was disappointing. If I were Nolan, I’d have asked Mica Levi to score The Odyssey. Ludwig Göransson could have surely done more to make a soundworld of genuine strangeness, but all he could manage is a falling tritone and then a descending fifth on the two reeds and pipes of a recreated aulos, which he uses as a melancholy leitmotif in all-too-conventional Hollywood fashion. (The aulos is beautifully played by Callum Armstrong on the soundtrack, at least.) The best sounds in the film come in the scene with Samantha Morton’s Circe, in which the crew’s gluttony is horrorshow ASMR: surround-sound mastication that threatens to devour the audience.

BMW to cut ‘as many as 8,000 jobs’ under pressure from Chinese rivals

Layoffs will come in admin and development divisions in Germany, with production operations unaffected

BMW is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in Germany, according to reports, in the latest sign of Europe’s largest carmakers reducing costs under pressure from Chinese rivals.

The Munich-headquartered company has started a voluntary redundancy programme agreed with employee representatives, a BMW spokesperson said on Wednesday.

How to turn mozzarella whey into delectable muffins – recipe | Waste not

Don’t pour it down the sink. This subtly tangy liquid is naturally acidic, adding flavour and fluffiness to your baking

Mozzarella comes in a bag or pot surrounded by whey or brine. This is known as latticello in Italy, and has all the flavour of the cheese and more – it’s lactic, sour and subtly sweet, with a powerful, salty, umami-rich depth of flavour. It’s delicious as a drink in it’s own right, but it’s also great to cook with. It can be used instead of buttermilk or yoghurt in marinades, even though it has less viscosity than both, and in baking. I’ve included the mozzarella itself in today’s recipe, but it is entirely optional and could easily be saved for another recipe.

Braiding used to be low maintenance and budget-friendly. What happened?

Every time I get my hair done, I find myself confronted with rising costs, and dizzyingly long maintenance regimes

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This week, I tried to book in for some knotless braids at the last minute. I knew I was going to be writing about how the simple pleasure of getting a head of box braids is starting to feel increasingly complicated, and thought that it would be good to get some pictures of the process. Then, I found myself getting wound up as the subject of this newsletter began to play out on a sort of meta-level.

When I decided to get my hair done for this piece, I knew that booking a next-day braiding slot would prove to be a kafkaesque task. My usual place asks that you schedule around a month in advance. My second option says that we’d need a “private room” to bring a photographer, bumping the bill up to £600. While trying to write an immersive report on the difficulties that come with getting braids, I suddenly realise that I am living the report.

The Great Lakes’ most emblematic fish could be consigned to history books

A delicacy for centuries and a key part of Native tradition, the lake whitefish has seen its population crash. Researchers know why … but stopping it is another matter

From the basement of the Sandusky library, page 29 of the book Sandusky of To-Day proclaims the town to be the “largest fresh water fish market in the world”. Two pages later, an image of the lake whitefish, referred to as “Sandusky’s pride”, takes up the entire page.

But the book was published in 1888.

Glen Hansard, Oscar-winning Irish singer-songwriter, dies aged 56 in motorcycle crash

Frontman of chart-topping band the Frames had huge success as the star of 2007 romantic drama Once

Glen Hansard, the Irish folk-rock musician and actor who fronted the band the Frames and had Oscar-winning success with the 2007 film Once, has died aged 56.

He died in a motorcycle crash in Lucan on the outskirts of Dublin, early on Wednesday morning. Without naming him, Irish police said he was treated at the scene for his injuries but died a short time later.

French music producer Kavinsky, known for Drive soundtrack hit Nightcall, dies aged 50

French authorities investigate death of musician who performed at Paris Olympics, but say ‘no suspicious elements’ at play

The French electronic musician Kavinsky, known for the song Nightcall which achieved iconic status after its inclusion in the Ryan Gosling film Drive, has died aged 50.

A police source speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro indicated that the suspected cause of death was a stroke. Kavinsky, real name Vincent Belorgey, had reportedly been complaining of headaches in recent days, and he was discovered at home after a concerned neighbour alerted emergency services.

Awakening giants: Dortmund add stardust to their rise through leagues

Manuela Zinsberger and Alexandra Popp have made surprise moves to third-tier club looking to join elite

Located in Austria during a pre-season training camp, the Borussia Dortmund women’s team, squad as well as staff, are plotting how to reach the 2. Bundesliga after missing out on promotion last season.

Dortmund finished two points off the top and a place in the regional playoffs despite a goal difference of +101, and the club have wasted no time in signing big names to make sure there is no such near miss this time around.

Americans face higher back-to-school costs. Here's what's pricier.

U.S. households will spend roughly $4,000 per student on school supplies and lunches this year, a new analysis found.

Trump has singled out us Canadians for special treatment in his tariff war – there is no choice but to get nasty | Matt Gurney

The White House fails to understand that Mark Carney and Canada’s regional leaders can’t cave in to the US president: it’s too toxic to voters

• Matt Gurney is a journalist based in Toronto

Though many hate to admit it, Canadians have long wished for more attention from the US. Well, we’re getting it now. And it turns out that President Trump and some of his top supporters in the Maga movement don’t much like us.

The first big hint was when he started talking about annexing us, saying we couldn’t survive without American support. But the most recent example of Trump’s dislike for Canada can be seen in his latest tariff policies. Canada was largely spared the impact of his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025 by its pre-existing free trade deal with the US (and Mexico), but earlier this month, as expected, the US declined to extend that deal for another 16-year term. It’s now subject to annual renegotiations. Then, last week, the White House announced tariffs as high as 50% on a selection of Canadian products including, for the first time, items previously protected by the trade agreement. The US called it retaliation for Canadian trade practices.

Matt Gurney is a journalist based in Toronto, and co-editor of The Line, an online magazine

U.S. and Iran resume attacks. And, Fauci to face Senate questions on COVID pandemic

The U.S. and Iran have resumed fighting after Iran attacked U.S. forces in the Middle East yesterday. And, a Senate committee will question Anthony Fauci about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aipac’s brand has become toxic. Can this ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ rival move in?

J Street’s liberal Zionist politics are landing with the Democratic establishment but the electorate may have moved on

When Daniel Biss addressed his supporters after clinching the Democratic nomination in Illinois’s ninth congressional district this past March, he did something politicians rarely do: he paid homage to a lobby group.

“This victory belongs to J Street,” Biss declared.

Caribbean bears brunt of £43bn climate-fuelled damage to developing islands

Findings can inform conversations about global climate reparations and financing for mitigations, researchers say

Caribbean nations suffered $53.2bn (£40bn) of damage from climate-fuelled disasters between 2000 and 2024, research into the cost of the climate crisis to developing small islands has found.

The figure is more than 90% of the total $57bn in economic damage caused by floods, storms and drought across 39 developing island nations in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, according to a study by development thinktank ODI Global.

The gut's link to Parkinson's — and more takeaways from this week's "Healthful"

"Ask a Doctor" columnist Dr. Trisha Pasricha joined "Healthful" to discuss the brain-gut connection.

Cyclospora outbreak tied to Taco Bell will steal the spotlight from Yum Brands' earnings

Wall Street is projecting a strong second quarter for Yum Brands, but investors' focus will be on updates related to the cyclospora outbreak tied to Taco Bell.

Welcome to America, where you’re never quite sure if your senator is dead or not | Arwa Mahdawi

Is it normal for a sitting senator to have to routinely submit proofs of life to a public who suspect he might be braindead? Just asking for 340 million friends

Is it normal for a sitting senator to have to routinely submit proofs of life to a public who suspect he might be braindead? Just asking for 340 million friends in the US. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized for a medical event on 14 June and we are now in week six of What on Earth Is Going on With Mitch? – a mystery that has riveted the nation.

According to McConnell’s team there isn’t actually a mystery at all. The 84-year-old is doing great, they want us to know. So great that they have now released two photos to prove it.

Canada’s worst wildfire season fuels calls for national agency to tackle threat

More than 900 fires burning in only G7 country without national emergency agency to coordinate response

As more than 900 wildfires burn across Canada, prompting evacuation orders and pushing Ontario into its worst wildfire season on record, officials are renewing calls for the country to develop a national wildfire strategy through the creation of a federal agency.

Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national emergency agency that is mandated to respond to wildfires.

New York school pauses plan to deploy humanlike AI robot teacher after backlash

A school district in upstate New York is pausing plans to deploy an AI-powered, humanoid robot in the classroom after state education officials, teachers and local residents raised concerns.

‘The shaking was terrifying’: stories of survival and loss emerge after Japan earthquake

Rescuers pulling people from the wreckage in southern Japan in a haunting repeat of disaster that struck 10 years ago

• ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missing

“There was a voice coming from the collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” Tomohide Nagata, a volunteer firefighter, told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun. “One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.”

Nagata had heard a noise coming from one completely flattened home in the rural town of Hikawa, close to the epicentre of Tuesday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan. The town was one of the areas hardest hit, with numerous older houses collapsing. Terrified of the ongoing aftershocks, many residents spent Tuesday night in their cars outside Hikawa’s town hall, where staff distributed food and drinks.

Iran resumes missile attacks as U.S. and Saudis strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq

The flare-up on multiple fronts raised the risk of a return to all-out war, underscoring the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy.

Wildfires are raging – and the world has junked 45 climate pledges. Disaster looms, and little wonder | Bill McGuire

Five years ago, I wrote an open letter asking climate scientists to speak out against fossil fuels. Now governments are in retreat, it is surely time to act

• France and Spain race to contain huge wildfires before fresh heatwave begins

Such is the astonishing scale of the wildfires burning at the gates of Bordeaux and Madrid, that if they had happened 20 – even 10 – years back, they may well have shocked the world into taking action on the climate crisis. But like the proverbial frog in a pot of slowly heating water, we have become inured; not only to the ever more devastating impacts of climate breakdown, but increasingly to the actions needed to bring global heating to heel.

Even as more than 35,000 wildfires rage across the surface of our world, and as we continue to rewind our planet’s climate so it resembles hotter episodes from its distant past, governments and trading blocs are very deliberately turning away from climate action.

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London and author of The Fate of the World: a History and Future of the Climate Crisis

The Guardian’s climate forum 2026
On Tuesday 20 October, join Damian Carrington and our panel of experts – including Professor Andy Haines, Katie White MP, Asad Rehman, Shruti Suresh Gareth Thomas and Amy Fairman – for a hopeful and solutions-focused evening.
Book tickets here

Sali Hughes on beauty: the new crop of fig perfumes make perfect scents

Fragrances with superior tones are cutting through the sugary, cheaper efforts that have been pervasive recently

After a lengthy sabbatical, I’m ready to let fig fragrances back into my life. There were years when I couldn’t get enough of lush, green Philosykos by Diptyque – a bona fide masterpiece and the greatest of all fig scents. Then a million sugary, inferior dupes sullied the whole category, cynically transporting it from the fruit groves of Turkey to the air freshener aisle at Halfords. With familiarity, grew contempt. But a new crop of figs is emerging to restore reputation and none are attempting to pass off as Diptyque.

Tom Ford’s recent Figue Erotique (£188 for 30ml), takes fig at various stages of its life cycle (sharp, nutty, green and unripe; rich, juicy, warm and sun-drenched; and finally sugary, creamy and ready to burst) and isolates each in its own accord. Bigger and bolder than most figs, with a sultry, musky sexiness that reads almost as humid, it may not be your most worn in a heatwave (reach for Chloé’s vivid, sparkling fig, Plage du Figuier (£115 for 50ml) then) but do give it a sniff when next you’re next at the shops – it’s a glorious scent for all seasons.

Why US military prosecutes alleged rapes of women in UK as ‘sexual assaults’

Experts say lower-severity charges for American service personnel are deepening traumatic impact on survivors

American service personnel accused of rape on British soil are being charged with lesser offences by their military courts, a discrepancy that experts say is deepening the traumatic impact on survivors long after verdicts are passed.

There are more than 12,000 personnel stationed in US military bases across the UK, most of them in England. Although UK law enforcement has primary jurisdiction over crimes that occur when personnel are off duty, local police often choose to cede authority to the American military.

'Machines are collaborators' at this new museum of AI art

"What is beyond reality?" asks artist Refik Anadol. His latest projects include Dataland, an immersive AI art museum in Los Angeles, and an installation at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

More Americans are going bankrupt. What does that mean?

The bankruptcy rate has risen about 48% between 2022 and 2025, although it's still below pre-pandemic levels.

SK Hynix shares tank as exponential earnings growth fails to satisfy AI-charged expectations

SK Hynix shares fell as exponential profit and revenue growth failed to meet analysts' lofty expectations for a darling of the artificial intelligence sector.

Petrol bombs, drugs and Bradley from S Club 7: inside the wild 00s hood movie that the police seized

Breakin’ the Cycle had celeb performers who hoped it would go to Cannes. Until they realised its creators were still running a drug gang while filming – and it all went very wrong

The story of the making of the 2005 British film Breakin’ the Cycle is surely more compelling than the film itself. Nobody can say for sure, because a rough cut was confiscated by the Met police and the raw footage was considered lost. But the film’s origins and subsequent unravelling is extraordinary. Two of Hackney’s most notorious drug dealers try to go straight and become movie producers. It’s a strange combination of comedic chaos, an accidental stabbing, drug money and shootouts, big dreams of making a different life through art, and, ultimately, tragedy. The film-makers had to navigate real-life gang warfare, and an elitist, perhaps racist, film industry.

The cast included the rapper Lethal Bizzle, and Bradley McIntosh from the pop group S Club 7. If McIntosh was desperately trying to escape his clean tween pop image, he wasn’t the only one trying to escape something, though the stakes were far higher for others. Colin Browne, the leader of the Hackney gang Love of Money, wrote the film while serving a prison sentence for cocaine smuggling, and directed it; he had plans to take it to the Cannes film festival. Browne would be killed shortly after filming had finished.

Rare moment humpback whale gives birth captured by drone off Australian coast – video

A drone pilot has captured what is believed to be only the fourth complete humpback whale birth ever recorded on film anywhere in the world, and the first ever documented by drone. While conducting aerial observations of migrating humpback whales off the NSW north coast for the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (Orrca), Alexander Forrest witnessed an adult female give birth in calm sea conditions, capturing the newborn calf's first moments of life, including its first breath and union with its mother

Read more:

• Pirouetting and gaping: mysterious whale behaviour documented as humpback migration begins

Alive by Melanie Challenger review – a maverick study of what it means to have a body

In this disorienting book, a poet argues we have been looking at nature – and ourselves – the wrong way

The eastern breakwater of Granton harbour is almost 1km long, and swimmers can follow its crooked finger, heading straight out into the Firth of Forth, while benefiting from its reassuring presence. One Thursday lunchtime, I thought: why not, let’s give it a go, and headed for its tip. I felt cold, but, as I progressed, I seemed to grow strangely warmer. I did not notice the complaints from my body: the creeping numbness which proceeded from my fingers to my elbow, nor the coldness of my pee. Only by the time I exited the water, club footed and claw handed, did it hit me that I was hypothermic.

The irony of this reckless exercise was that in my swim bag there was a book by Melanie Challenger called Alive: The Hidden Intelligence of the Living World. It’s an ambitious examination of the wisdom of bodies, a rhizomatic guide not just to our own, but also all the living forms around us: from bacteria to chimps. Her case is that we have ignored or misread the agency and purpose of bodies to our detriment; in a way it is a plea to listen to them. I wish I had read it before my ill-advised swim.

Deep breathing: the asthma clinic buried 250 metres into an Armenian salt mine

Underground clinic’s fate hangs in the balance after government withdrew state funding

For most people, spending hours deep underground in darkness would seem an odd prescription for better health.

Yet every morning, a handful of Armenians descend 250 metres beneath the earth into an active salt mine where they spend six hours in cavernous chambers carved from rock salt, hoping the air below ground will help them breathe more easily.

The Devil’s Mouth review – Amazon’s shark thriller gives us just about enough to chew on

A group of holidaying friends get trapped in a cave system with a bull shark in a solidly entertaining B-movie lifted by a toxic central friendship

We’ve officially reached maximum shark movie this year, with about six released so far and even more on the way and so the drop of yet another one, in the middle of Shark Week, raises a number of questions: is it in any way essential? Will anyone ever come close to matching what Steven Spielberg achieved with Jaws or, more realistically, Renny Harlin with Deep Blue Sea? How junky are the shark effects? And most importantly, at least for those of us watching the majority of them, is it more of the same or is there an attempt to do something even slightly new with the swim, stalk, slash formula?

Trying something a little different is in itself extremely hit-and-miss because while I appreciated last year’s unusually striking Dangerous Animals for smartly inserting a serial killer into the mix, the addition of a hurricane to this year’s Netflix one-star dud Thrash meant that the film was both a terrible shark horror and a terrible disaster thriller. In recent months, we’ve seen Harlin return to the subgenre with Deep Water weaving in a plane crash and this week’s Antonio Banderas-starring Above & Below adding a drug cartel which makes the week’s other shark movie, Amazon’s gen Z-led offering The Devil’s Mouth, seem somewhat quaint in comparison. The special ingredient here is something a little less grandiose, but more potentially intriguing: a toxic friendship. It’s a movie that asks the rare question: what if you finally came to terms with how awful your best friend is just as a bull shark starts picking you off?