Hyundai to increase U.S. production at new Georgia plant, CEO tells CNBC

The previously undisclosed capacity increase is part of Hyundai's plan to invest $26 billion in the U.S. through 2028.

Bessent's efforts in the Treasury market so far haven't worked. Here's what else he can try

Market experts showed skepticism at whether the push would succeed against a bevy of factors working against Treasurys.

What to do if you see a giant, invasive spider popping up in multiple states

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park told visitors Tuesday that invasive Joro spiders "may be hanging in a web near you."

Warsh faces Fed independence test as Bessent moves in on central bank's turf

Bessent’s effort to tamp down long-term Treasury yields could force Warsh to clarify how far the Fed should go in coordinating on bonds and the balance sheet.

White House faces scrutiny over top Trump aide Natalie Harp – live

Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president

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An FBI team seized electronic devices from former US representative Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport on Saturday, then raided his home in Washington, DC, the next day, CNN reported Thursday.

The raid is part of a federal investigation into the sexual assault allegations which ultimately drove the Bay Area Democrat to resign from office in April, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department subsequently opened criminal investigations on Swalwell.

Coinbase CEO says CLARITY Act will prevent another FTX collapse

Brian Armstrong made the case for the cryptocurrency legislation, which is scheduled for a Senate vote in September.

Lindsay Clancy murder trial draws some 300 US supporters, many of them women: ‘nobody takes us seriously’

The attorney for Clancy, who strangled her three children, says she suffered from postpartum psychosis

Hundreds of Lindsay Clancy supporters, many wearing pink clothing emblazoned with phrases such as “Believe”, “She Needed Help” and “Peace For Lindsay”, gathered on Thursday outside the courthouse where she is on trial in the killings of her three children.

Several of the 300 women, and a few men, said Clancy’s story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women. Clancy’s lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill.

The Iran war and tariffs are costing farmers. Will Republicans pay in November?

In some tight midterm races, how farmers frustrated with the war and rising costs vote could make a difference.

Gianni Infantino eyes junior tournament in Dominican Republic as potential route out of crisis

• Meetings around event seen as chance to lobby for votes

• Fifa president may meet his most credible challenger

Gianni Infantino wants to split the European and North American coalition that is seeking to oust him by attending a junior tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend in another gamble to cling on to power from the Fifa president.

The Guardian has learned that Infantino has made plans to attend the U14 Boys Challenge competition organised by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), 21 of whose associations are voting members of Fifa, despite being urged to stay away from the event by senior figures within Concacaf – the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football – which is working with Uefa to remove him.

Premier League returns and Arsenal sense opportunity with rivals in flux

New managers galore suggest many of the usual suspects will struggle to dethrone the champions, but their own hunger could be the key

Mikel Arteta wants to get his messaging absolutely right. According to him, Arsenal are not about to defend their Premier League title. They are set to attack another one.

Remember Win the dog, who the manager brought in to the club’s training ground a few years back? She must now be called “Won”. But it is when Arteta quibbles over another bout of semantics that he highlights why he is entering the new season with such energy and optimism.

FBI seizes Swalwell's devices, executes warrants in sexual misconduct probe

FBI agents executed search warrants targeting former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and seized his electronic devices, two sources told CBS News.

The fight to protect Big Bend, one of America's last wild places

Months after Congress approved billions for infrastructure across one of the least-trafficked stretches of the southern border, bulldozers arrived at Big Bend National Park.

Harry Brook keeps England well on top of Pakistan in first Test despite late wickets

• First Test day two: Pakistan 171; England 366 for eight

• Hosts slip from 322 for five to 364 for eight

The clock had just ticked past 7pm, there was still half an hour of play left on this soggy second day, and it looked for all money that Harry Brook would end a year-long wait for his 11th Test century with a first at his home ground of Headingley.

Brook had agonisingly missed out by one run against India here last summer. And this time, against a ragged Pakistan side that had handed him a life second ball amid another outing to forget, the box was practically begging to be ticked.

New details about Trump's plans for the Kennedy Center and White House ballroom

The latest court filings in cases involving the Kennedy Center and the White House ballroom project detail the work being done at the two institutions.

Drug mix-up at Nashville hospital causes complications in 4 patients

Four patients at Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown received incorrect medications last week, CBS affiliate WTVF reported.

‘Here we go’: Carlos Alcaraz confirms US Open return after four-month injury absence

• Seven-time major winner has not played since April

• Spaniard missed French Open and Wimbledon

• US Open announces record $108m prize fund

Carlos Alcaraz has won his battle to be fit for the US Open.

The seven-time grand slam champion has not played on the ATP Tour since April due to an ongoing wrist issue, but enlisted the help of football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano to announce his comeback.

New U.S. sanctions target cocaine smuggling network in Ecuador

The U.S. on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on 15 individuals and entities based in Ecuador for their roles in an alleged maritime cocaine trafficking operation.

Stripe to buy OpenRouter as fintech expands deeper into AI

Stripe said it's acquiring OpenRouter, as the payments company expands into the artificial intelligence model market.

Academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism suspended by his university

Researcher Nathan Cofnas previously claimed Black people would hold few high-profile positions in a meritocracy

Nathan Cofnas, the academic who made plagiarism allegations against Prof Jason Arday before his death, has been suspended by a university.

Arday, 41, resigned from his role at the University of Cambridge this month after coverage of Cofnas’s accusations of plagiarism. The allegations, which were not proven in any formal investigation, triggered questions about Arday’s achievements.

US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East to relieve troubled USS Lincoln

USS George Washington will replace warship families say suffers from shortages, plumbing problems and low morale

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, where it is expected to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln from its record deployment amid concerns about poor living conditions and morale.

US Central Command announced on Thursday that the Washington arrived in the area on Wednesday, and posted an image of sailors working on the flight deck as the ship transited the Arabian Sea. No date has yet been announced for the Lincoln to return to the US.

Army to nix drone battalion set up to absorb lessons from Ukraine war

The decision to phase out the Army drone battalion comes amid tension between senior officers who envisioned the unit and the acting chief of staff of the Army.

‘Biased’ Channel 4 programme on ADHD misrepresented my views, says expert

Prof Katya Rubia withdraws support for The Great ADHD Myth? as other leading figures voice criticisms

A contributor to a controversial Channel 4 documentary on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has withdrawn her support for the programme, saying it was biased and could lead to an increased suicide risk by encouraging parents to take their children off medication.

Katya Rubia, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, also said The Great ADHD Myth? misrepresented her views.

Harry and Meghan’s security funding on UK return is private matter, Burnham says

Prime minister wishes couple well in their move back from the US to a non-royal residence outside London

• Harry and Meghan: key moments and controversies since US move

Security arrangements for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex while living in the UK are a “private matter”, Andy Burnham has said, after news that Harry and Meghan intend to relocate to Britain from the US this month.

The UK prime minister refused to be drawn on security funding, saying: “This is a private matter. It’s a matter for Harry and Meghan, and we wish them well in the moves that they’re making.”

The Guardian view on Trump’s MMR executive order: endangering the children he claims to care about | Editorial

The president’s empty advice that children should receive separate jabs against measles, mumps and rubella will only lead to less take-up by parents

Nobody wants to hurt a child. The howl of pain, the tears, the look of betrayed shock all make it very hard to deliver a cherished small person to the needle-wielding nurse. But that’s part of being a responsible parent. It becomes a lot tougher if mum or dad is being fed mixed and erroneous messages about the benefits and harms of vaccination.

Parents have to make a lot of decisions about what’s right for their child, from the school they should go to and the food they should eat to the hours they should spend on the phone or watching TV. In the US, Donald Trump wants them to add another: do they choose to give their children separate jabs against measles, mumps and rubella, involving six visits to the clinic, or should they opt for the combined MMR vaccine, which does the job in two? For decades, the vast majority of families have been taking the advice of doctors, accepting their assurance that the MMR vaccine is safe and very effective. But what are they to think when a US president announces that the triple jab could be “quite lethal” and signs an executive order advising states to offer separate vaccines?

Man arrested over Nord Stream bombing was consultant on film about it starring Sean Penn

Volodymyr Zhuravlev had been consulted on Snake Island, a dramatised reconstruction of incident

Earlier this month locals in Zagreb noticed something odd outside an art deco building. Sandbags and barricades appeared in front of the Esplanade hotel, along with a film crew and extras sporting Ukrainian military uniforms. Soon afterwards the actors Sean Penn and Adrien Brody were spotted on the set in the Croatian capital, together with Doug Liman, the Hollywood director of the Jason Bourne movies.

Liman had come to shoot his latest fictional political thriller. Its subject: the 2022 Nord Stream explosions, in which a team of Ukrainian divers allegedly blew up a pipeline supplying Russian natural gas to Germany. One of the chief suspects, Volodymyr Zhuravlev, had twice eluded the Germany authorities: once allegedly slipping out of Poland in the boot of a diplomatic car, and on another occasion freed by a court.

Mark Zuckerberg buys 440-acre Strancally castle estate in Ireland

Meta chief executive paid roughly €20m for gothic-style mansion built in 1830 and its surroundings

It stretches the definition of pied-à-terre but Mark Zuckerberg now has a pad in Ireland: Strancally castle.

The Meta chief executive and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have bought the gothic-style mansion and its 178-hectare (440-acre) estate in county Waterford to use as a base during visits to Ireland.

Rebecca Hendin on the return of Harry and Meghan – cartoon

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Clear Eyes eye drops recalled nationwide over contamination risk, FDA says

The recall affects 15mL bottles of Clear Eyes' Maximum Itchy Eye Relief.

Michael Carrick rejects ‘ridiculous’ talk of easy start to Manchester United season

• United face promoted sides Hull and Ipswich

• ‘It’s not favourable. It’s an easy thing to throw out there’

Michael Carrick has dismissed suggestions that Manchester United’s opening two games against Hull and Ipswich represent a favourable start to the season. United travel to Hull for Saturday’s opening match before hosting Ipswich a week on Sunday. Both sides were promoted from the Championship.

Carrick is adamant neither game will prove easy. “For all of us to know this league, there’s no favourable start, I think it’s a tough start,” he said. “A promoted team away from home is a tough game.

FTC says "personalized pricing" based on consumer data could violate law

The FTC warned businesses against changing prices based on their analysis of a customer's personal data, which could violate consumer law.

Three things to know about the $40 trillion federal debt

The U.S. federal debt hit a record $40 trillion this week. The debt has doubled since 2017, and just paying interest on the accumulated debt now costs the government more than $1 trillion a year.

Mary Heilmann obituary

Playful American painter whose works were informed by her previous focus on ceramics and sculpture

Visitors to Mary Heilmann’s show at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2016 were offered the novel experience of looking at art while scooting about on wheeled wooden chairs. These, too, turned out to be artworks. One, Sunny Chair for the Whitechapel, had been made by Heilmann for the occasion. Rough-hewn from plywood, backed in nylon webbing and painted bright yellow, it seemed happily untidy; as an object, but also as a type. This was true of all the works in Looking at Pictures, and was intentional.

Heilmann, who has died aged 86, had an untidy past as a maker. It was while doing a BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1959-62), that she discovered ceramics, which were to occupy her first decade as an artist. The untidiness of her artistic history, however, was to be shaped by more than her choice of materials.

What to know about Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump's pick to lead the FDA

Dr. Heidi Overton is currently working as a White House policy aide. If confirmed, she would lead an agency of 18,000 staffers who study and regulate food, drugs, medical devices, tobacco and more.

Australian rider says she was nearly hit by car at Tour of Britain Women

• Maeve Plouffe says incident on Wednesday was ‘scary’

• Josh Tarling to ride in Vuelta in memory of brother Fin

The Australian rider Maeve Plouffe has said she was nearly hit by a non-race car during the opening stage of the Tour of Britain Women.

With cycling still coming to terms with the death at the Volta a Portugal of the 19-year-old British rider Finlay Tarling, killed last week in a collision with a vehicle that had entered the course, Plouffe said the incident occurred as she was chasing the peloton after a puncture on Wednesday.

U.S. designates American citizen held by China as wrongfully detained

Min Zin is the second American academic to be designated as wrongfully detained in recent months.

Why are Prince Harry and Meghan moving back to the UK? – The Latest

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US: a decision that was subject to intense media scrutiny. The couple and their two children are expected to relocate later in August to a non-royal residence. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to senior national news editor Aaron Sharp

Bond market sell-off threatens to drive up loan costs

The yield on the 30-year Treasury this week hit its highest level since 2007, a rise that could put upward pressure on borrowing costs.

Why is the Trump administration causing turmoil in the bond markets? | Richard Partington

As yields are dragged higher in the UK, Europe and Japan, the impact for consumers and businesses will be far-reaching

• ‘Starve the beast’? The $40tn cost of Republicans’ false promises to cut spending

Government borrowing costs around the world have surged to the highest levels in decades amid growing fears over US bond market turmoil.

Anxiety about Donald Trump’s handling of the US economy, and concern that the US president’s war with Iran is driving up inflation, are causing a sell-off in the US bond market.

‘Enzo is a Chelsea player,’ says Alonso but doesn’t guarantee Fernández’s future

• Midfielder linked with £120m move to Manchester City

• Chelsea still interested in Bournemouth’s Alex Scott

Xabi Alonso has refused to offer any guarantee that Chelsea will hold firm if Manchester City try to sign Enzo Fernández.

Fernández’s future remains up in the air and the prospect of him leaving Stamford Bridge has not gone away, even though Chelsea’s unofficial deadline for clubs to make written bids of £120m for the 25-year-old Argentina midfielder has already passed. City, who are also tracking Roma’s Manu Koné, have targeted Fernández as part of their midfield rebuild after Rodri’s move to Barcelona and are weighing up whether to make a move before the transfer window shuts.

US man sentenced to 77 years for child sexual abuse tied to online extremist group

Kyle Spitze of Tennessee faced federal charges for targeting girls online as part of ‘764 network’ investigated by FBI

A 27-year-old Tennessee man described by the US justice department as a “nihilistic violent extremist” was sentenced to 77 years in prison on Wednesday for his targeting of girls online as part of the 764 network, an online group the FBI calls a form of “modern-day terrorism”.

Kyle Spitze of Friendsville received the federal sentence on Wednesday for “production of child sexual abuse material, abetting the distribution of animal crushing videos, and possessing and accessing with the intent to view”, the justice department said in a statement.

US deports 20 people to Liberia, the first of 1,200 migrants under Trump deal

Agreement is among largest third-country deportations driven by Trump administration’s immigration crackdown

The United States sent 20 deportees to Liberia, who arrived on Thursday as part of 1,200 migrants that the African country will receive under a new deal.

The deportees arrived at the Roberts international airport outside Monrovia. The Liberia-US agreement is among the largest third-country deportations driven by the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

Marvel’s Wolverine: Spider-Man developers turn to a more cutthroat character

Even film-makers have been inspired by Insomniac’s take on Spidey. But the studio’s tried and tested format might not fit a superhero with such sharp claws

The recent Marvel’s Spider-Man games have become so tightly interwoven with the character’s core that they’ve been cited, by both actor Tom Holland and director Destin Daniel Cretton, as an influence on this year’s blockbuster film Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Now the same development studio – Sony-owned Insomniac Games – is taking on one of Marvel’s other most recognisable characters in his first video game-starring role since some deeply mid-tier film tie-ins back in the 00s. So can they pull off the same trick with Marvel’s Wolverine?

Storywise it certainly takes a similar approach, once again grabbing ideas from a wide selection of inspirations and remixing them into a brand-new continuity. We first meet this version of Wolverine as he is discovered: wild-eyed, wilder haired and practically nude. Before we see his saviour’s face, we hear a well-spoken voice (provided by legendary game actor Troy Baker) promising a safe place “for people like us”. Surely this is Charles Xavier?

Bessent says Treasury buyback operation could be more than $4 billion

Bessent said his department is going "make a market" in the longer-dated securities where yields have been surging lately.

Maracanã to host opening game and final at next year’s Women’s World Cup

• Stadium has hosted two men’s World Cup finals

• Arena Itaquera in São Paulo will host 10 matches

The Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro will host the opening game and the final of next year’s Women’s World Cup. The 78,838-capacity stadium, which hosted the finals of the 1950 and 2014 men’s World Cups as well as the finals of the Olympic football competitions in 2016, will be the venue for Brazil’s opening Group A match on 24 June, before staging the final on 25 July.

Fifa released the schedule for all 64 matches for the tournament, which features 32 teams. The draw will take place after more of the qualification playoffs have been contested.

D.C.'s IndyCar race will zoom past museums. Some worry it could harm the art inside

Sunday's course takes high-speed cars right past the National Gallery of Art and three Smithsonian museums. Art experts worry about the works inside, but organizers say they don't expect damage.

Tell us: what small accomplishment brings you joy?

It’s not always about the big things we achieve, sometimes the little accomplishments can be enjoyable. Tell us about yours here

Sometimes it’s the smallest accomplishments which bring the biggest joy. Something as simple as reorganising your cutlery drawer, for example, or repairing garden fence can prove surprisingly satisfying; it needn’t be just running a marathon or writing a novel provide a sense of achievement.

With this in mind, we want to hear about the small accomplishments which give you joy.

Blue Giant by Jordan Prosser review – would life be better on Mars?

Melancholy and humour pierce Prosser’s second novel, which swings in zany directions as its fabulous central character tries to escape the shitshows of 21st-century life

Do you have what it takes to survive on Mars? Abby Horne, the protagonist of Jordan Prosser’s second novel, Blue Giant, is certain that she has the chops. When an egocentric tech billionaire named Tor Skovgaard invites volunteers to join a mission to Mars, a “new chapter in the history of human civilisation”, Abby thinks she’s found her calling – or at least a way to escape her chaotic life.

To apply to MarsNow, she just has to shoot “a video of no longer than FIVE minutes in length stating why YOU are the BEST candidate to take HUMANITY to the STARS”. She must, she resolves, find a gimmick, “something I can do that no one else can”. Abby embarks on a training program that involves holding her breath and solving puzzles at the bottom of Fitzroy pool, desperate not to blow this one chance to shine.

Fat people cannot win, regardless of what we do. And I’ve had enough

Using weight loss drugs like Ozempic is not ‘cheating’ – and why does it matter how a person changes their body anyway?

As you might know if you read my columns, see me a mile away, or talk to me for five seconds, I am a card-carrying lifelong member of the Fat Lesbian Club. However, ever since I first laid eyes on the television show Roseanne (very important to me) as a small child, the actor John Goodman has held a special place in my heart. It was confusing for me: did I want to be Dan Conner, or be with Dan Conner? I’m still not sure. He has always been so hot to me, from Dan on Roseanne to Fred Flintstone to Walter in The Big Lebowski. His body has now drawn attention in the last week or so, after a photo of him showing significant weight loss went viral.

It’s not Goodman’s 74-year-old body (his choice) I want to discuss, but instead the arguments that broke out about how he lost the weight. On one side there were many people congratulating him on his hard work. Then there were people claiming he had taken Ozempic so it wasn’t actually hard work, and then there were people defending that by saying he’d been losing weight for years, so he’d done it the “right way”, actually.

‘Rival courts’: Prince Harry’s surprise UK return may provoke royal spot of bother

Family relationships remain damaged and there is no clarity on how Sussexes’ security concerns have been resolved

Just as the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ from the UK six years ago came as a complete surprise, so too is their shock announcement they now intend to return.

Their unilateral decision could fairly be said to have blind-sided the royals. King Charles was only informed on Sunday and is said not to have been involved in the decision making. No mention was made when Harry, Meghan and their two children visited Charles at his private home, Highgrove, last month.

Destruction in Kyiv, monsoon flooding and a pink lake: photos of the day – Thursday

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

Pilot killed as plane collides with police helicopter at airport, officials say

One person was killed and two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were injured when a small plane collided with a state police helicopter on the ground in central Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Democrats narrow 2028 convention finalists to 3 cities

The Democratic National Committee is on the hunt for the best host city for the 2028 Democratic convention.

More technology in schools has led to a decline in learning, neuroscientist says

Neuroscientist and educator Jared Cooney Horvath testified before the Senate earlier this year on the impacts of classroom technology. Horvath shares his thoughts on screen time and education.

Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, says equalities minister

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says politicians have helped fuel hatred and that police are not taking violence against women and girls seriously enough

Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, the equalities minister has said, as she warned that young men were being sucked into violent misogyny by the “cesspit” of social media.

Bridget Phillipson said she was increasingly worried about how commonplace misogyny and racism had become, fuelled by online interactions and statements by politicians she said would not have been acceptable a few years ago.

Walmart says it is using $2.9 billion in tariff refunds to lower prices

The company told CBS News it will direct the refunds toward groceries and general merchandise.

Where commercial real estate demand is the highest, according to new data

The National Association of Realtors has released a new index that uses factors in local economies to indicate future demand.

‘I need to think like a CEO’: Weezer on the shifting sands of success, ugly feelings and the joy of spreadsheets

As the self-professed geeky rockers release their conceptual 20th album, Rivers Cuomo and Patrick Wilson discuss dodging failure, being saved by fans and their obsessive creativity

The first song Rivers Cuomo wrote for Weezer’s new album, their 20th, blatantly mimics the US rockers’ 1994 debut single, Undone (The Sweater Song). On the track CEO, the singer-guitarist grumbles over a slow, Velvets-y backing about having to crank out “another 90s jam” and wishing he could do “something new – but nobody wants to hear that”. It’s a deliciously meta moment, but also one that allows Cuomo to gently vent “my frustrations over people wanting me to just write songs about our first two albums”.

Cuomo wrote the song straight after SZNZ, the four-album song-cycle Weezer released throughout 2022, each album named after a season. That project fed his notoriously intense, analytic and occasionally obsessive approach to songwriting. Thanks to the kind of data artists have at their fingertips in the streaming age, though, he realised that, with each subsequent SZNZ, “fewer and fewer people were listening to them”.

AI apps that can digitally undress any photo pose back-to-school risk

Think that back-to-school photo is safe to post online? Bad actors could use AI "nudify" apps to make it X-rated.

USAA's National Military Monument honors millions of U.S. veterans

For America's 250th birthday, USAA unveiled The National Military Monument in Washington, D.C., a living tribute to the more than 41 million veterans who have served the U.S. USAA Senior Vice President Rob Braggs shares that the monument will stay open through Nov. 12. Visit https://monument250.usaa360.com/ for more information. (Sponsored by USAA)

Lobsters and acidic seas: can shellfish help neutralise one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more CO2, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research

For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs.

The only thing more debated than the recipe is the price: the once-humble roll now routinely fetches $30 (£22), or even $50, in a sign of the changing times – and seas.

Scott Lord brings in his catch of lobster to the wharf in Tenants Harbor, Maine

Aigul Akhmetshina: Mujer Fatal album review – classy and sensual in music from Bizet to Britten and Bernstein

Akhmetshina/Pappano
(Decca)
The mezzo-soprano lends supple and elegant voice to opera arias and musical numbers that explore womanhood

Acclaimed for embodying opera’s femme fatales such as Carmen and Dalia, Aigul Akhmetshina explores womanhood more broadly on her second album, Mujer Fatal. Accompanied on piano by Antonio Pappano, the repertoire ranges from Spanish, French and Russian art song, to Broadway and beyond.

The title track, written by Elena Roussanova especially for the Bashkortostan-born mezzo-soprano, sets the tone. Akhmetshina’s supple instrument wraps itself around the languid vocal lines while Pappano’s sensitive touch draws out the music’s delicate melismas. Two of Montsalvatge’s Canciones Negras find the singer spinning long-breathed melodies, dipping down elegantly into her burgundy lower register.

Little Animals review – Motherland milquetoast creates a clever climate plea

Traverse at Royal Lyceum Studio, Edinburgh
Paul Ready’s playwriting debut expertly utilises his bumbling acting persona to examine what is enough in our response to climate emergency

Nobody does self-effacement as well as Paul Ready. The Motherland/Ann Droid actor excels at playing the kind of man who apologises for his own existence, well-meaning, but insecure – often comically so. He hesitates, smiles sheepishly, backtracks and gabbles to fill the silence. He, he, he is forever launching, launching into sentences, sentences that never get all the way to the … We get the gist.

It is the same now he is making his playwriting debut with Little Animals and it works to his advantage. Performing in the round to a small audience, he gives every impression of having interrupted us in the middle of something else. We are not here, he ascertains, to remember his good friend Richard, in fact, we did not even know him, but sorry, if it is all right, he will tell us about him anyway.

Member of online extremist network "764" gets record 77 years in prison

A member of the online extremist network "764," which targets children and minors online, received a record 77-year federal prison sentence on Wednesday.

Small plane crashes into state police helicopter near runway in Pennsylvania

A small plane collided with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter hovering several feet off the ground during a routine training exercise at a small airport. The pilot was killed, but the troopers suffered only minor injuries. Michael George has more details.

The best books to read in August: new paperbacks from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Salman Rushdie and Werner Herzog

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some wonderful new paperbacks, from a short story collection by a literary great to razor-sharp criticism

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Inside a Phoenix cooling center as dangerous heat bakes Arizona

Heat-related deaths in Arizona's Maricopa County have more than doubled since last year. Jason Allen visited a cooling center in Phoenix to see how the community is managing dangerous heat.

Amy Lee of Evanescence: ‘I could happily do an entire album of nothing but Portishead covers’

As her band hits the road, the metal trailblazer answers your questions on sexualisation in show business, finding inspiration in dreams and Spinal Tap moments on tour

You wrote Bring Me to Life when you were 19. When you perform it now, how do you relate to the younger you? becgoldsmith
I was in an abusive relationship, so Bring Me to Life was partly about processing the reality of that abuse and asking myself, what are you gonna do about it? Like, pick yourself up. I wrote it when I was crushing on my [now] husband, but the theme is about a quest for something bigger: opening your heart, finding more depth. It’s very empowering to perform it now in huge places; I’m very proud of the 19-year-old me that wrote it.

Artists often reveal their influences through the songs they choose to cover. You’ve performed both It’s a Fire and Glory Box by Portishead. What drew you to those songs? VerulamiumParkRanger
Beth Gibbons was one of my greatest vocal and musical inspirations. In the 90s when I was a young teen really feeling music I loved Portishead, Massive Attack and the whole trip-hop vibe. It was dark and cool, really different. Beth’s vocals have a way of teetering on an emotional crack, on the edge of wild, barely restrained emotion but never belting, which I always thought was so cool and enticing. I could happily do an entire album of nothing but Portishead covers.

Hyundai's new flagship vehicle is a large luxury Genesis EV

The GV90 features a new design direction for Genesis and expands the Hyundai brand's lineup to seven vehicles in the U.S.

Tice defends suspension of Reform UK activist over Farage criticism

Party’s deputy leader makes comments as he unveils new policy to subsidise more apprenticeships

Reform UK’s deputy leader has defended the party’s suspension of a senior activist who criticised Nigel Farage, saying internal disagreements should be kept “behind closed doors”.

Richard Tice, who is also the party’s business spokesperson, made the comments as he unveiled a new policy of subsidising more apprenticeships, paid for by cutting student loans for foreign nationals and those studying what he termed “Mickey Mouse” degrees.

Boohoo fined €2.3m by French watchdog over deceptive discounts

Fashion site also broke rules on labelling by using terms ‘leather’ or ‘suede’ for synthetic products

The British online fashion seller Boohoo has been fined €2.3m (£2m) by France’s consumer watchdog ⁠for deceptive ⁠practices ​such as offering fake discounts.

The Manchester-based firm, whose parent company renamed itself Debenhams Group last year, was found to have exaggerated the discounts it was offering, giving shoppers a false impression ⁠of the savings they were making, ​according to the directorate-general for competition, ‌consumer affairs and ‌fraud control.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir posts video of gallows site for hanging Palestinians

Far-right minister says those convicted in military courts of terror offences will be executed after passing of death penalty law that does not apply to Jewish extremists

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences – but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes – will be hanged.

Ben-Givr, who has previously attracted international sanctions and condemnation for his activities, said the new execution site would be equipped with viewing booths for families of victims to watch the hangings.

Frank Beard obituary

Drummer with ZZ Top for more than five decades whose mastery of the ‘Texas shuffle’ was central to their sound

Renowned for being the only member of the Texan trio ZZ Top not to wear an outlandishly luxuriant beard, in spite of his surname, Frank Beard, who has died aged 77, spent more than 55 years as the band’s drummer, appearing on all their albums from ZZ Top’s First Album in 1971 to La Futura in 2012. He was also an indispensable fixture in their live performances, apart from brief interludes caused by illness in 2002 and 2005. Earlier this month, he was forced to miss further shows on ZZ Top’s The Big One! Tour, including a date at the Hollywood Bowl.

ZZ Top carved a singular niche for themselves with their unique blend of stripped-down blues and gutsy rock’n’roll, played with economy and focus. Beard was a master of the “Texas shuffle” beat, of which the critic David Sinclair noted that “it required looseness and absolute precision at the same time. ZZ Top’s grooves swing hard, but they never drift.”

It's finally raining, but the drought's not over

After a summer that has seen England and Wales experience the driest July since records began, rain is finally on the horizon. But with reservoirs at ‘exceptionally low’ levels, will there be enough rain to replenish stocks? Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Anna Murgatroyd, a lecturer in hydrology at Newcastle University, about how much rain we need to see us through next summer, why we’re now at increased risk of floods, and what we can all be doing to take better care of our water supplies

There is nothing scientific about The Great ADHD Myth? ‘documentary’ | Gina Rippon

Channel 4’s programme wastes a chance to ask important questions about how ADHD is diagnosed and treated, instead indulging in unscientific methods and conspiracy theories

• Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University

When Channel 4 announced that it would air a documentary titled The Great ADHD Myth?, an outpouring of fury followed. Despite this, I set out to approach it as a scientist – not just as a scientist whose own work has dealt with developmental disorders, but as someone who has enormous respect for the scientific process and for the importance of evidence-led debate.

Channel 4’s press release claimed the documentary sought to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a “genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”. At one level this is a brave enterprise. ADHD is recognised worldwide as a disorder, by the World Health Organization and our own NHS among others. Estimates suggest ADHD affects roughly 8% of children and adolescents and about 3% of adults worldwide. To overturn this consensus would require robust, reproducible findings capable of explaining away decades of genetic, developmental and clinical research. The press release described the documentary as “science-led”, which hinted at just such an enterprise. Was it really science-led?

Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, and the author of The Gendered Brain

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.

Hazy sunshine, factor-50 smiles and Cliff Richard at the wheel: the 20 best summer holiday movies – ranked!

From feelgood romances to heated interactions, here are the films that best capture the seasonal moment

Let’s begin at the end. 2 September 1962: the final night of the summer vacation; one last big blowout before adult life intervenes. George Lucas’s rambunctious salute to footloose youth paints vivid vignettes of Modesto, California, rocking around the clock with its loose-knit gaggle of characters. But this has one eye on the meter and knows that time is running short.

Founder of China’s Evergrande jailed for life after pleading guilty to fraud

Hui Ka Yan also forfeits all his personal property and the company he set up is given hefty fines

• Business live – latest updates

The founder of Evergrande, one of China’s largest property developers, has been sentenced to life in prison and had all of his personal property confiscated.

Hui Ka Yan, 67 and once named by Forbes as China’s richest man, with a net worth of $42.5bn (£31.2bn) in 2017, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges.

When it comes to rosé, pink doesn’t have to mean Provence

From Morocco to Monmouth, there’s a whole world of blushing rosé wines to discover

Hello, from rosé season, the only time of year I order wine like a patriarchal septuagenarian. For this fleeting moment in the wine-drinking calendar, questions are out and assumptions are in; everyone’s happy to drink pink – specifically, pale, dry and berry-crisp Provence rosé. Blushing like cheeks in a summer romance, pale rosé captures something of the hazy holiday spirit: easy, fun, objectively delicious. The liquid equivalent of chips with ketchup, it’s a safe bet.

Finding a wine that almost everyone approves of is close to the holy grail – and if Provence has cracked it so everyone’s happy, why deviate? But unless you’re in primary school, chances are you wouldn’t eat chips at every meal, and I’d apply the same logic here. We’re human! We’re omnivores! And even within the category of rosé, there is a world to discover beyond the Provençal style that dominates supermarket shelves. What’s more, the likes of Whispering Angel may make decision-making easy, but they also command some hefty prices (£22.50 on Ocado at the time of writing).

Where did all the XXL clothes go? Fashion brands are scrapping plus sizes in the GLP-1 era

As weight-loss drugs gain popularity in the US, brands are scaling back their ranges – and frustrating customers

In March 2023, the model, activist and writer Tess Holliday announced that she had been working as a size and inclusivity consultant for H&M. The fruits of their partnership felt like “one of the most meaningful things that I’ve done in my career”, she told US Vogue at the time. The fashion juggernaut had committed to an expansion of its sizes, from XL to 4XL, and to increased body diversity of its models.

This bucked a trend, coming at an otherwise gloomy time for plus-sized fashion. By 2023, the fashion industry was in the grips of an Ozempic-fuelled celebration of skinny bodies, after its brief flirtation with curves during the body positivity movement of the late 2010s.

Como mayor bans bikes in city centre after being hit ‘by one of these beasts’

Alessandro Rapinese denies he is waging personal vendetta against cyclists amid a public backlash

The mayor of Como has set the wheels of controversy in motion for banning bikes in the walled historical centre of the lakeside city after being hit by one.

Alessandro Rapinese’s ban, which comes into force in September, targets about 30 streets and means cyclists, whether on e-bikes or push bikes, will have to dismount and walk through those areas.

​My coastal road trip confirms that seaside ​food ​still ​beats ​fine ​dining

​A​ family holiday shaped by salt air, seagulls and unpredictable weather proves that the seaside serves a kind of joy no restaurant can engineer

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There are few things more powerful than the smell of salt, vinegar and hot oil carried on a sea breeze. Or sugar-coated doughnuts, still warm in a grease-stained paper bag. Such distinctly British perfumes are the smell of my summer, because my family and I are road-tripping through the UK and Ireland. We are embracing as much of coastline as we can, while battling seagulls and unpredictable weather along the way. And, unlike the carefully curated dining experiences we seek on holidays abroad, seaside food has always been wonderfully simple. It is rarely elegant, but it is pure comfort and nostalgia.

First up, fish and chips, in my opinion, they remain the undisputed king of Britain’s coastal cuisine. Every seaside town insists that theirs is the best (so far, the finest I’ve tried were in Yorkshire, but I am prepared for that to change on this holiday). If you are at home this summer, or not near a British seaside, you can, of course, have a go at making your own. Tim Hughes’s and Felicity Cloake’s recipes are as authentic as they come, along with a crisp beer batter for firm white fish. For a slight twist, Yotam Ottolenghi’s fish and spiced sweet potato chips is an excellent, inspired dish. Either way, all options deliver.

More than a dozen killed as Kyiv comes under intense Russian bombardment

Missile and drone attack one of heaviest since war began, with children’s hospital and residential areas hit

A heavy Russian missile and drone bombardment has killed at least 15 people in and around Kyiv in one of the most intense aerial attacks on Ukraine’s capital since the start of the war.

Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said homes, a school and a children’s medical centre were among the buildings damaged overnight in an attack that began at about midnight and was continuing into the early afternoon.

U.S. debt tops $40 trillion. And, new census report Trump is touting raises concerns

The U.S. debt has surpassed $40 trillion. And, a new census report on noncitizen voting that President Trump is touting has ties to a think tank aligned with him, raising concerns among experts.

Lambchop: Punching the Clown review – spectral, spellbindingly ambiguous stirring of US history

(City Slang)
Sounding weathered but undimmed, Kurt Wagner feels as if he’s standing right in front of you as he sings superb, choir-swathed songs that invite and unsettle

Thirty-two years on from their debut album – and 26 from Nixon, the gorgeous country/soul confection that brought “Nashville’s most fucked-up country band” to a wider audience – Lambchop find themselves in a curious position. Their sole continuous member Kurt Wagner has displayed an admirable disinclination to rest on his laurels. He followed up Nixon with the austere, piano-driven Is a Woman and subsequently diverted into electronics, smothered his voice in Auto-Tune and distortion. Their last album, 2022’s The Bible, threw up everything from house music to glitchy rhythms to ambient drift to accompany Wagner’s pained ruminations on mortality and faith.

Throughout, Lambchop have kept up a remarkable level of quality control that’s meant they’ve ended up being slightly underrated or at least taken for granted. There’s been no career-defining crossover hit, no unexpected viral success, no foundation-shaking disaster followed by an attention-grabbing return to form; just a stream of really good albums and positive reviews. It’s the kind of steady success that’s hard to maintain but easy to overlook in an attention-deficit economy.

Can a managerial merry-go-round in Serie A stop Inter’s dominance?

Milan, Napoli and Atalanta all have new head coaches as Italian football hopes to return to the spotlight

And so, calcio’s “third apocalypse” has passed. A lot of Italians enjoyed the World Cup more than they expected. Without a team to cheer for, again, a country turned its attention to different sports. And found its athletes dominating them.

On the day Spain defeated Argentina in New Jersey, Kimi Antonelli, the first Italian to win a Formula One race in 20 years, extended his lead in the standings by triumphing again at the Belgian Grand Prix. A week before that, Jannik Sinner defended his men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

Humans have learned to fear ‘bugs’, but we shouldn’t – life as we know it hinges on invertebrates | Chris Packham

At this point of the crisis in our relations with the natural world, we’ve got to protect these creatures – and we are running out of time

• Read more from the Guardian’s invertebrate of the year 2026

Too many animals are regarded as “bugs”. And, if anything is a bug, it is a short step to it becoming a “pest”. Too many of us have a learned fear – it’s not innate – of anything with six legs or antennae.

I’m a big fan of the invertebrates and I love the Guardian’s invertebrate of the year competition because it focuses people’s attention on the little things rather than the typical animal superstars – the pandas, tigers and orangutans. In their diversity and varied ecology, the million-plus invertebrates on our planet often lead far more intricate and interesting lives than large animals with spines, like us. We urgently need to generate a much broader awareness of their beauty and importance. All these small creatures are as integral a part of our ecosystems as the fluffy things that we may want to put on our calendars.

From McDonald’s to Congress: can a former fry cook flip a key district for Democrats?

Manny Rutinel hopes price-tag politics can win key voters in Colorado House race

During his presidential campaign in October 2024, Donald Trump staged a photo op at a McDonald’s franchise in Pennsylvania, where he was briefly taught how to work the fryer and drive-thru window at the closed restaurant, while making several unsubstantiated claims about Kamala Harris’s past summer job at McDonald’s.

The posturing around McDonald’s garnered significant publicity, as Trump and Republicans capitalized on an affordability crisis triggered by high inflation that occurred globally due to the Covid pandemic.

How parents and schools can protect kids from AI-generated pornography and "nudify" apps

AI "nudify" apps can turn an innocent photo into an X-rated image with just a few swipes, posing a risk to students as they return to school. Michelle DeLaune, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, shares ways parents can protect their children.

Post your questions for Beck

The genre-hopping hitmaker’s new album fingerpicks the same melancholy heartstrings as Sea Change. You can ask him anything in our upcoming reader interview

News of a Beck album is always cause for celebration, especially when it’s seven years since the last one – 2019’s Hyperspace – but even more so when it’s recorded with the same wrecking crew as the melancholy classics Sea Change and Morning Phase (having originally got together for 1998’s Mutations). That’s Smokey Hormel, Joey Waronker, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Roger Joseph Manning Jr and Jason Falkner; Nigel Godrich also joined on mixing. Beck said: “This time it felt like the playing and the chemistry had evolved and deepened – a sound that’s come together over the decades of working together.”

A first taste of their wares is already available in Ride Lonesome, a wise, almost cosmic ode to keepin’ on keepin’ on, and the serene, fingerpicked In the Night.

Tell us: have you slowed down your smart TV or bought an older model?

We’d like to hear from people who are disabling smart TV features, disconnecting from the internet or choosing older, simpler televisions

Smart TVs have become the go-to way to watch entertainment at home and have introduced apps, internet browsing, personalised advertising and even data tracking to our viewing habits.

These additional features reportedly slow down smart TVs, prompting guides on how to improve their performance and have led some to seek out simpler alternatives.

North Korea fires 10 missiles day after Trump curtails South Korea joint drills

Launches, detected by South Korea and Japan, came after US scaled back exercises with South Korea in apparent overture to Kim Jong-un

North Korea has launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea, South Korea’s military said, a day after Pyongyang shrugged off Donald Trump’s order to scale back US military drills with South Korea in an apparent attempt to resume diplomacy.

The joint chiefs of staff said the missiles were launched from the region of Pyongyang at around 5pm (08.00 GMT) on Thursday towards North Korea’s eastern waters.

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

Democrats have called World Liberty Financial Trust Company a stark example of corruption but officials claim there is no insider dealing

Two fundamentals underpin the business model of a new crypto bank partly owned by the Trump family. The first is that there is almost no risk it can lose money, according to cryptocurrency experts – and the second, they say, is that the sole logical motivation for depositors to put in their funds is the prospect of a financial connection to a US president and his relatives.

World Liberty Financial Trust Company received conditional approval this month from the US office of the comptroller of the currency (OCC) to start a bank. An entity affiliated with Donald Trump and his family members owns about 38% of the company. The agency is led by a political appointee of the US president.

We are finally witnessing the decline of corporate Democrats | Robert Reich

Americans are backing progressives not because they want socialism, but because they want candidates who will fight for the working class

Most discussions about the Democratic party in this election cycle focus on the remarkable rise of progressive Democrats, such as the Florida state representative Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist who scored an upset win in the Democratic US Senate primary on Tuesday.

But an equally big story is the remarkable decline of corporate Democrats.

North Korea fires a suspected missile toward the sea, Japan says

The suspected launch on Thursday comes a day after North Korea shrugged off a U.S. decision to scale back military drills with South Korea in an apparent bid to resume diplomacy.

Without action wildfires in Europe will increase 39% even in best-case climate scenario, study finds

Improvements in fire management however could mitigate increases by more than 70%, study shows

Wildfires are projected to burn 39% more of Europe by the end of the century even in the best-case scenario for stopping the planet from heating, a study has found, unless action is taken to manage them better.

The increase in hot, dry and windy weather that leads to small fires turning into raging infernos is to engulf more of Europe as carbon pollution pushes temperatures higher. In the worst-case scenario the researchers modelled, which would see global heating reach 3.6C above preindustrial levels, the burnt area would almost triple.

‘It was a damn unicorn’: the pioneering, divisive power of Paul Simon’s Graceland at 40

On its anniversary, the author of a new book about the album explains the complex legacy and masterful musicianship of the 1986 classic

It was the summer of 1984 and things weren’t going well for Paul Simon. The year prior, a blockbuster Simon and Garfunkel tour ended in bickering. Meanwhile, even though the 1980 single Late in the Evening reached the US Top 10, Simon’s last two albums had not sold very well, and his marriage to Carrie Fisher was starting to unravel. In the midst of all that the 43-year-old folk icon was steadily working on building a beach home out on the far end of Long Island.

Many of Simon’s pilgrimages from Manhattan out to Montauk were soundtracked by a bootleg tape of accordion-heavy mbaqanga, a South African music style with jazz rhythms and bright guitar chords, he had received from a friend. It was on those drives that the seeds of Graceland, the crown jewel of Simon’s discography, were planted. “Many of us, in that day and age, found a moment of self-reflection – of being able to go deep inside ourselves – when we were in the car on these road trips,” said Ashley Kahn, whose new book, Days of Miracle and Wonder, follows the gestation process of Graceland. “If it wasn’t the radio, it was cassettes.”

Which country makes the best jollof rice? D.C. foodies put it to a blind test

One of the most famous dishes across West Africa is jollof rice — fragrant rice cooked down with spices, tomatoes and meat. But which version is best? A traveling festival aims to find out.

The system meant to protect ICE detainees has collapsed

Critics say it is the reason why more detainees are risking their lives to protest inhumane conditions and legal rights violations, in the form of widespread hunger strikes.

Max Verstappen signs new Red Bull contract to stay in F1 until 2030

• Dutch driver was linked with Mercedes and McLaren

• Verstappen: ‘I never felt that desire or need to change’

Max Verstappen has ended speculation about his future in Formula One by signing a new contract with his Red Bull team that will extend to the end of 2030, after almost 18 months of uncertainty around the Dutchman.

After being linked with moves to Mercedes and McLaren, Verstappen’s commitment to Red Bull ensures that all the major seats in the leading F1 teams are now locked in for next year, just as the sport’s silly season in terms of transfer speculation is beginning.

Trump scaling down U.S.-South Korea drills could risk more than just joint military readiness

The move by Trump also will start to raise questions about the credibility of Washington's commitment to alliances.

Premier League: nine newcomers to watch in the top flight this season

Newcastle, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Leeds, Coventry, Aston Villa, Hull and Ipswich have all brought in exciting players

By Opta Analyst

Anthony Gordon will be a difficult act to follow at Newcastle, but Touré could be a shrewd replacement. Blessed with electric pace, the 20-year-old is a bit more of an old-fashioned winger in that he predominantly plays from the left and is left-footed. As a result, he was more of a creator than a goalscorer for Hoffenheim last season.