Hayden Panettiere: an actor so magnetic that entire shows were rewritten for her

She starred in her first soap opera at 4 – then the hit show Heroes was totally reworked to allow her character, Claire the regenerating cheerleader, to live on. We celebrate the star, who has died age 36

• Hayden Panettiere – a life in pictures
• Hayden Panettiere obituary

When Hayden Panettiere arrived as Claire Bennet in Heroes, in 2006, she was 17 but not a newcomer. She’d starred in Tiger Cruise, a Disney Channel movie, two years before and was the pin-perfect image of that teen-star world – blond, cute, perky, resourceful and all-American. Bennet the superhero was all those things, amped up to the point of fascinating distortion. She was a cheerleader who could endlessly regenerate. It was a topic of hot debate on fan sites whether or not she could feel pain, a question that was resolved piecemeal through the series. She could, but could instantly overcome it with her superpower – that fact partly informed the view of one academic, professor Olvido Andújar Molina, that Bennet was standing in for the American dream, its core components being strength, resilience and a sweet-natured homeliness.

In Tiger Cruise, Panettiere had filled a similar role, the cute-as-a-button daughter of a naval commander, producing this elemental, almost mournful Oz-like message: “Everything you long for is right here at home.” She was from a showbiz family, her mother, Lesley Vogel, was a soap actor, and her brother, Jansen, who also possessed those perfectly symmetrical features, co-starred in Tiger Cruise, and later, in 2011, in The Forger (better known as the last film Lauren Bacall ever made). Jansen also died horribly young, of complications from an engorged heart, in 2023 aged 28. Panettiere got her first soap opera gig, in One Life to Live, at the age of four, and went on to a recurring role into Guiding Light before she was 10. She was the voice of Dot in A Bug’s Life, and was nominated for a Grammy for her work on the film.

Published: August 17, 2026, 7:26 am

Trump’s tough-guy image has been undone by his own actions | Mohamad Bazzi

The president was forced to hide in a catering truck amid the Iran war, in an encapsulation of the conflict’s failures

For decades, Donald Trump cultivated a public image based on strength and dominance. He was a brash New York real estate mogul; a reality TV star who deployed his signature phrase: “You’re fired!” to eliminate contestants from The Apprentice; and eventually US president and undisputed leader of the Republican party.

In recent months, Trump has taken his boastfulness to an extreme, reportedly telling confidants that he’s “the most powerful person to ever live” and comparing himself with some of history’s most feared leaders, including Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin and Mao.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

‘Preserve the stuff we own’: how right-to-repair laws are surging across the US

Federal and state lawmakers have proposed several bills to make it easier for owners to fix items such as phones, cars, wheelchairs and more

Aaron Lehman is the fifth generation to run his family farm in central Iowa. He uses six tractors and grows corn, soybeans, oats and hay on 500 acres.

He enjoys it because “the time you put in, the money you put in, the things you learn can be put to immediate use to benefit your farm and benefit your family”, Lehman, 58, said.

Published: August 17, 2026, 7:00 am

A tale of two Dan Sullivans: Republicans with same name contest Alaska primary

Democrat Mary Peltola, who won the red state’s House seat twice, is also running to unseat the incumbent senator

Dan J Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher and US Forest Service employee living in the town of Petersburg in south-eastern Alaska, who is running as a Republican for the US Senate. Dan S Sullivan is a Republican US senator, who has represented Alaska since 2015.

Both candidates will appear on the ballot, one name after the other, when Alaskans vote in primary elections this week – a complicated quirk of the contest that has drawn howls from Republicans.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

How ‘forensic fandom’ in Lindsay Clancy trial threaten postpartum psychosis awareness

Clancy’s livestreamed trial has become fodder for amateur sleuths to push viral conspiracy theories that threaten to undermine efforts to destigmatize illness, experts say

Meghan Cliffel was riding the subway in New York City in December 2015 when she became convinced the entire city belonged to a cult that was plotting to kill her and her two daughters. When she got back to her Manhattan apartment she believed the talking heads on the television were speaking to her directly, threatening her, and that the refrigerator was emitting poisonous gas. Her husband, she feared, was part of the cult too.

“I punch him in the face trying to get to the kids,” Cliffel recalled, “Then I’m ultimately trying to get to the roof of our building because I believe if I get up there and show I’m willing to jump, that that’ll show my loyalty to the cult and hopefully stop this whole thing.”

Published: August 17, 2026, 4:00 am

I tried everything to rid my yard of mosquitoes. This German-engineered trap finally worked

After trying nearly everything to prevent mosquito bites, I tested Biogents’ traps, used by the CDC and WHO, to find if backyard results are worth $200

• This $380 kayak goes from backseat to lake in 10 minutes

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

Don’t get me wrong: I’m a peaceful person with compassion for all earthly creatures. Except mosquitoes, which deserve all the swats, cursing and loathing they get.

As someone for whom a single bite brings big, red, itchy lumps that last for days, I’ve done everything imaginable for relief. I’ve removed any standing water I could find, slathered myself with Deet, picaridin and eucalyptus oil until I smelled like a chemical waste dump, and worn hats, long sleeves and shirts soaked in alleged repellants, but none of it works.

Published: August 17, 2026, 7:15 am

US gas prices reach highest ever recorded for August amid stalled talks with Iran

Energy prices have been high since the US-Israel war with Iran began and the strait of Hormuz was blocked

US gas prices this month are so far the highest ever recorded for August as peace talks between the US and Iran have stalled and Donald Trump launched fresh threats against Oman.

The national average price of gas was $4.06 per gallon on Monday, according to data from AAA, $0.05 higher than last week and $1 more expensive than a year ago. In California and Hawaii, averages hit about $5.50 a gallon.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:51 am

Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to his overtures when asked about scaling back US drills with South Korea – live

Trump also claims he’s ‘actually making it much safer’ for South Korea by scaling back joint military drills just days after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles

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Republican senator Thom Tillis deplored Trump’s decision to cut US military drills with South Korea, which comes despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield expertise, including new drone tactics, from assisting Russia with its war in Ukraine.

Tillis wrote on X:

South Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities. Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of North Korea’s troops to support Putin’s systematic kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:54 pm

Trump administration pauses border construction in Big Bend national park

Controversial project has faced bipartisan opposition by critics who say it mars pristine environmental area in Texas

Construction on a US-Mexico border project in Big Bend national park has halted, the Trump administration said Monday, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) evaluates the controversial project in Texas.

“CBP is pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park while I visit and conduct a personal, on-the-ground evaluation,” CBP’s head, Rodney Scott, wrote in a social media post.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:55 pm

Netanyahu party campaign billboard likens Mamdani to leaders of Iran and Hezbollah

Likud’s depiction of Zohran Mamdani is latest move in spat between Israel’s prime minister and New York City mayor

Benjamin Netanyahu’s party has compared the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, to the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah on a campaign billboard.

The billboard in central Tel Aviv depicts Mamdani alongside the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and the chief of the militant group Hezbollah, Naim Qassem.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:54 pm

Luigi Mangione New York murder trial postponed after guilty plea in federal case

Lawyers seek dismissal of state charges after Mangione pleaded guilty in federal case over Brian Thompson killing

A New York state ⁠judge on Monday ⁠effectively ​postponed Luigi Mangione’s trial on murder and weapons charges over ⁠the 2024 killing of a health insurance company CEO, after Mangione pleaded ⁠guilty last week to separate federal charges.

The ​trial had ‌previously been ‌scheduled to begin on September 8. Mangione ‌has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. Mangione’s lawyers on Friday asked New York state justice Gregory Carro, who is overseeing the state case, ‌to dismiss the charges.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:39 pm

Trump tells 10-year-old rescued by teen lifeguard: ‘I don’t know if I’d do it’

President hosts Nathanial Rai and lifeguard Ryder Williams at White House after video of California rescue went viral

Nathanial Rai had been swept off his feet along the California coast, was rescued by a 16-year-old lifeguard – and was now sitting in the Oval Office with Donald Trump.

Of the rescuer, Ryder Williams, Trump said to Rai: “He’s a real hero. I don’t know if I’d do it.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:19 pm

Tupac Shakur murder trial: prosecutors allege Duane Davis plotted killing to avenge nephew

Shakur’s entourage was filmed beating Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson, Davis’s nephew, in September 1996

• What we know about Tupac Shakur’s death

The trial of a former gang leader accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap star Tupac Shakur began in a Las Vegas courtroom on Monday, featuring testimony from a witness to the shooting and a former police officer.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is on trial for murder for his alleged role in the shooting of Shakur, who died after a drive-by shooting. Prosecutors allege Davis was the “on-the-ground, on-site commander of the effort to kill Tupac” and that he planned the shooting in retaliation for Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’s nephew.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:57 pm

US supreme court again rejects Trump’s bid to overturn E Jean Carroll verdict

Decision leaves intact $5m civil judgment against Trump after jury found him liable for sexually abusing writer

The US supreme court has rejected for a second time Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a jury verdict in 2023 that found him liable for sexually ​abusing writer E Jean Carroll, and later defaming her.

The court announced the decision in an unsigned order on Monday, without providing an explanation of their decision. The order just listed the US president’s petition, along with several other petitions, under “rehearings denied”.

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:49 am

Louisiana man allegedly killed his wife and drove her body across states before arrest

Authorities say man, 50, shot wife in Louisiana and put her body in car before driving and being stopped in Tennessee

A man in Louisiana killed his wife and then took her body on a driving tour through several states before he was arrested in Tennessee, authorities allege.

The suspect’s macabre purported odyssey began in Baton Rouge when, according to Louisiana investigators, Tyronne Brazille, 50, shot dead his wife, Lanessa Bradford, also 50, during an argument at the city’s Independence Community Park.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:54 am

Nolan Wells’ death made Black parents say the quiet part out loud – Stateside with Kai and Carter

When 18-year-old Nolan Wells went missing, his story immediately touched a nerve in Black families. He was last seen while hanging out with a group of white friends, at a popular beach near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Wells never came home from the trip, and he was found dead days later. Many questions about how he died remain unanswered publicly. And the mystery surrounding his death has revived an old conversation within Black communities: are we ever truly safe in white-dominated spaces? Who will feel responsible for our children’s safety when we send them out into a world where Black life is not valued? Host Kai Wright talks with historian Stacey Patton and writer Ashley Stoney about why Wells’ story has captured so much attention – and sparked so much anxiety – among Black parents, in particular. What does our collective reaction to Wells’ disappearance and death reveal about the limits of interracial society today?

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:45 pm

Can Trump’s peace plan for Gaza be saved? – The Latest

Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is on a diplomatic mission in the Middle East to meet Hamas officials and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to salvage a ceasefire in Gaza. The talks come after Netanyahu rejected the US-backed 15-point peace plan for the territory in a rare public break with the Trump administration this month. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to global editor Devika Bhat

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:43 am

Joy in Hollywood as historic Cinerama dome to reopen: ‘People still want to go to the movies’

Sony Pictures in July announced that the celebrated theater, built in 1963 and shuttered during Covid, will reopen in 2028

Drive down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and you’ll see a movie theater straight out of The Jetsons.

Built in 1963, the Cinerama dome is instantly memorable: a white, geodesic construction that looks like a giant golf ball cut in half and plopped down in the middle of the city.

Published: August 16, 2026, 4:00 am

‘Awed by nature’: fans mourn California’s beloved Jackie the bald eagle, whose legacy soars on

Famous raptor helped livestream viewers in difficult moments, and inspired a conservation project at her lake home

The bald eagle Jackie made her home on the shore of southern California’s Big Bear Lake for most of her 14 years. But her death earlier this week drew international attention.

The Los Angeles Times described her as “arguably the world’s most famous bald eagle”. For years, millions of people tuned into a live stream of Jackie’s nest, watching her rear her eaglets, work out life with her mate, Shadow, and, perhaps most memorably, incubate her eggs while almost completely buried in snow.

Published: August 16, 2026, 7:00 am

Lala weakens to tropical storm as it lashes Hawaii with heavy wind and rain

Hurricane Lala downgraded after skirting Big Island as one person dies and 183,000 still without power

Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts. Total rainfall of nearly 3ft (1 meter) was expected on the higher windward slopes, turning rivers into raging torrents and threatening mudslides.

The Hawaii governor, Josh Green, said at least one person died in a car accident in the South Point area of the Big Island, where more than 100 homes were destroyed. A little over 183,000 utility customers remained without power across Hawaii by Sunday mid-afternoon, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, and 19 roofs were lost, Green said.

Published: August 16, 2026, 4:45 pm

Hollywood continues to fail child stars and Hayden Panettiere is the latest casualty | Jesse Hassenger

The untimely death of the Heroes and Scream star was a tragic ending to a life filled with darkness in an industry that still lets its younger stars down

• Hayden Panettiere: an actor so magnetic that entire shows were rewritten for her

• Hayden Panettiere – a life in pictures

• Hayden Panettiere obituary

For a little while, it looked as if maybe former child actors had shed the stigma, long understandably held, that Hollywood success at a young age would lead to tragedy later in life. Child stars from the 1970s and 1980s seemed particularly mistreated and/or self-destructive, whether born into dysfunctional Hollywood families, like Tatum O’Neal, or the result of more sui generis success, like Brad Renfro, River Phoenix, or Corey Haim. But as these cases became more notorious, they seemed to act as cautionary tales for a generation of stars that seemed – broadly speaking – to be receiving better guidance, whether from family, friends, or themselves.

Look at the astonishingly well-adjusted core cast of Harry Potter kids, who worked for a full decade, from their pre-teen years to young adulthood: among Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, there are more awards, charity work and seemingly happy relationships than genuine scandals. (The biggest malfeasance of anyone in the trio? Some mild tax problems for Grint.) Other awards-show fixtures like Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Kieran Culkin have come out the other side of child stardom with terrific careers and strong reputations closer to the Jodie Foster model. Even Lindsay Lohan, whose behavior in the 2000s and into the 2010s seemed to signal impending tragedy, seems to be doing well: sober, happily married, and back on the big screen last year with the hit sequel Freakier Friday. In terms of more recent young stars, a pop singer like Olivia Rodrigo appears to have much more autonomy than Britney Spears did, even in her early-2000s heyday.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:48 pm

‘I was carrying a lot of shame’: why people are sharing breakdowns of their debt online

In an era of transparency, people are more willing to talk about money struggles on the internet, breaking one of the last social taboos

Discussions regarding personal finances have traditionally been taboo. But gen Z and millennials in the US are finally normalizing conversations about money, openly sharing about salaries, rent and investment strategies, but also their (sometimes substantial) debt.

In recent years, financial influencers (finfluencers) – some licensed professionals, others not – have gained visibility, sharing advice on once-covert, perhaps unsexy topics such as Roth IRA contributions, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and maxing out 401(k)s. The most popular have a big audience: for instance, Humphrey Yang, a former financial adviser, has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, and Erika Kullberg, an attorney and financial expert, has more than 20 million followers across social media.

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:00 am

‘She never forgot where she came from’: Bonnie Tyler mourners turn out for Swansea service

Many in the crowd watching on screen outside minster have stories of meeting or knowing singer, who died in July

Bonnie Tyler’s songs have echoed through her home town of Swansea in recent days in memory of the late singer, but on Monday the church bells stopped and wellwishers lining the streets fell silent as her coffin arrived for a service celebrating her life.

As the white coffin, covered in bouquets of white roses, was carried into the minster, shouts of “God bless you Bonnie” and “bye Bonnie” punctured the quiet. Those gathered to pay their respects burst into applause. Tyler’s If I Sing You a Love Song and It’s a Heartache played before the private service began, which mourners outside watched on a screen in nearby St David’s Square.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:28 am

Shark selfies: why ‘finfluencers’ need to put their cameras away

More and more people are posting footage of themselves touching sharks or even riding them. This is, of course, a terrible idea

Name: Shark selfies.

Age: The phrase seems to have emerged in summer 2014 and will hopefully be retired as soon as possible.

Published: August 17, 2026, 10:10 am

A job that changed me: After years of being a marriage celebrant, I became uneasy with the institution

My favourite part was sitting with couples, talking about their lives and why they wanted to marry. But I’m equally happy to have left it behind

• Read more in this series here

I was in my mid-20s in the mid-2000s when I became a professional yapper. I’d had to bow out of a career in Auslan interpreting due to injury, but could still talk under wet concrete. Studying to become a civil marriage celebrant felt logical – I wanted to know what love was, and I knew it could show me.

Being appointed by the attorney general’s department involved a Certificate III and rigorous application process. I had to prove I was “of good standing” and “believed in the definition of marriage”. As a card-carrying homosexual, I wrote about my belief in all kinds of love, including marriage. It couldn’t take that long, I thought, for us to be recognised as having committed partnerships. Waiting a long, loathsome decade proved me wrong.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:00 am

‘You’ve got to see this girl!’ Tanita Tikaram on making Twist in My Sobriety

‘People tell me it helped them with their rehab. I have to explain: Sorry, it’s not about alcohol – I was just a kid singing about injustice’

I wrote the lyrics on the floor of my bedroom in Basingstoke when I was 16 or 17, as a way of decompressing from studying for my A-levels. I had the idea for “Twist in my …” something, but didn’t know what else to put in there. I tried “Twist in my gravity” before ending up with “sobriety”, but it’s not a song about alcohol. It’s about feeling that things aren’t right in the world, and that adults can do terrible or immoral things – but none of it will change you. Fundamentally, it’s a song by an alienated teenager who feels there’s a lot of injustice. There’s something lovely about how intensely you feel things as a teenager.

Published: August 17, 2026, 7:21 am

'Cheese and onion crisps topping wasn't on my bingo card': exploring British-style pizza

Restaurant critic and award-winning food writer Jimi Famurewa travels from Belfast to Edinburgh and London to meet the inventive DIY chefs stretching US, Italian and British pizza styles to come up with delicious new flavour combos

Published: August 17, 2026, 4:15 am

Italy’s mythic ‘month off’ in August was hard won. It would be good for us all | Jamie Mackay

The villeggiatura, a month-long break, was popularised in the 1960s when trade unions were strong – and so was economic productivity

On the Riviera di Ponente, sandwiched between the glitzy resort towns of the Ligurian coast, sits the Albenga plain. Dotted with campsites and bungalows, the area developed during Italy’s postwar boom as an affordable refuge for workers to escape the smog of nearby industrial cities like Turin and Milan. While much of the surrounding coast is now given over to boutique lidos, this corner of the riviera is still a place where families gather in the shade of eucalyptus trees to play cards, share picnics and nap through the afternoon heat to the chorus of cicadas. These are the stubborn devotees of villeggiatura: Italy’s mythic, month-long summer break.

The origins of villeggiatura go back to the Renaissance, when nobles would leave their urban palazzos for gilded countryside villas in the hills, for weeks at a time. During the 20th century, however, middle- and working-class Italians made their own claim on it, transforming an aristocratic privilege into a mass ritual. By the 1960s, millions of Italians had come to consider a long summer break a fundamental right, spending holidays in ancestral villages, seaside campsites, or even company-sponsored holiday resorts. It was the era immortalised in Gino Paoli’s 1963 jukebox hit Sapore di Sale (The Taste of Salt), which celebrates “lazy days passing by” at the beach, dreaming “of a different world” beyond the factory and office.

Jamie Mackay is a writer and translator based in Florence

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:00 pm

As Ebola kills thousands in DRC, a perfect storm is making the virus hard to stop | Devi Sridhar

New species and regional instability are factors – but decisions made in the US and Britain are also costing lives

Did you know that there is a major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it’s on track to be the deadliest ever? It is already the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history, with the fastest community transmission we have ever seen. It’s estimated that there have been at least 4,900 cases and more than 2,300 deaths, giving a mortality rate close to 50%. The situation is bad. That’s the consensus among global health experts.

Yet this Ebola outbreak isn’t attracting much media or public attention. If I compare it with working on the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the current silence is astounding. That year, Ebola was one of the most Googled terms in the world, covered regularly on broadcast news in many countries outside the region, attracting newspaper headlines and magazine covers. Perhaps everyone is just tired of disease after the pandemic – Covid-19 fatigue, as it’s called. Trust me, no one wants to hear about infectious diseases.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:15 am

Is dating draining your bank account? Here’s a cheap solution | Dave Schilling

I understand gen Z’s concerns about the cost of romance. But anything can be a date if you want it to be

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column imploring young people to keep trying to find love, to not become cynical about romance and avoid the temptation of the accursed “loneliness influencers” peddling antisocial behavior as some sort of newfangled experiment that no one had thought of before. I stand here today saying, hey, I can’t be right all the time. Maybe it is better to be alone, since it costs a hell of a lot less.

Apparently, young people across the country are forgoing dating because it’s too damn expensive. Or at least, I think they are, based on the multiple newspaper articles saying so that came out in the last two weeks. As the New York Times put it, the “prospect of a tab of $150 or more for two entrées, two drinks, an appetizer and tip” is too pricey for many gen Z singles. I say, only $150? Where are you going, Chili’s? I went on a date with (shameful brag incoming) a very famous political figure from the late 90s and spent twice that amount, sending my bank account into cardiac arrest. I practically begged her to get dessert, even though it was clear our decade of age difference and general lack of chemistry meant I was better off going home and journaling about it. I paid for the whole thing, and in return, I got an amazing story to tell at parties.

Published: August 17, 2026, 5:00 am

Every year, humans speak less and less. That’s bad news, even if you hate mindless chit-chat

Silent retreats are all the rage; hotel guests are embracing ‘hushpitatility’. But won’t this leave us more isolated?

Are we becoming too quiet? As a joyless, intolerant shrew, my kneejerk answer is a predictable “if only” (writing this on a train full of happy holidaymakers isn’t helping). But am I wrong? I find myself confronted with evidence that people are taking the expression “say less” literally. A study recently reported in the Atlantic found that daily spoken word counts declined by around 300 every year between 2005 and 2019. A sample group of 2,197 participants, aged between 10 and 94, wore devices that randomly recorded them as they went about their lives; each year, they spoke on average 338 fewer words than the year before. For under-25s, the decline was even steeper: 451 fewer words.

Even I can see that’s worrying. Spending time with other people is good for our brains, health and mood, while, as the US surgeon general put it so starkly in 2023, “lacking social connection can increase the risk for premature death as much as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day”.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

Sharks have always stoked panic in Australia. While scientific understanding grows, conservation efforts can be unseated by fear | Anna Clark

From Aboriginal rock art to colonial encounters, sharks have been a figure of fear and fascination throughout the long human history of this continent

Is there a more primal fear among beach-goers than the shark? Although many more Australians drown each year at the beach than are killed by these creatures, it’s sharks that inhabit the jagged edges of our collective consciousness.

After a terrifying spate of bites earlier this year, calls for shark culls resurfaced. Ocean swimming and surfing didn’t seem quite the same healthy pursuits they had just months earlier.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:00 am

The Guardian view on Jason Arday: a tragedy that demands reflection | Editorial

Legitimate scrutiny became entangled with a racial argument about merit and diversity. His death raises questions about how society treats black success and failure

The tragic death of Jason Arday raises serious questions about race, institutional authority and what happens to people in a society increasingly organised around public reputation. Arday, who resigned earlier this month as a professor at the University of Cambridge, was found dead at his home last week. He was 41. His family and friends have lost somebody they loved and cared for. Arday had publicly said that the scrutiny of allegations concerning his academic work and claims he had made about his life was taking a profound toll. That he then died amid an intense and continuing media examination of his life is deeply troubling.

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, was right to call this “a moment for reflection”. This does not mean suppressing difficult questions, ignoring why there remain a pitifully small number of black professors in British universities, or attacking legitimate journalism. But in a polarised world it should see the media ask how proper scrutiny can widen into something more encompassing; how race affects the meaning attached to an individual’s alleged failings; and whether separate valid stories can, via social media, have an overwhelming effect. In Arday’s case, alleged shortcomings in his record rapidly became weaponised by the right in an argument about diversity and black academic advancement.

Published: August 17, 2026, 11:24 am

Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City opener was startlingly bad

The Community Shield isn’t always a sign of things to come, but City’s form in their defeat to Arsenal is concerning in the wake of Pep Guardiola’s departure

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There are caveats. It was only the Community Shield – and no side has gone on to win the league after lifting the Community Shield since 2018. It was against the league champions, whose pre-season has involved far less strenuous travel than their own. By the time the season really gets going, there will be greater clarity in central midfield, with Rodri set to complete his move to Barcelona imminently. But this was a startlingly bad opening for Enzo Maresca at Manchester City.

Succeeding a manager of Pep Guardiola’s stature is never easy, as numerous clubs have found. But it’s not just Guardiola’s stature, the sense that whoever follows him stands in his shadow. It’s that his style of play is so idiosyncratic that the transition process inevitably becomes more difficult. Even though Maresca was Guardiola’s assistant at City in 2022-23, and his football is Guardiola-inspired, it is not identical, not least because Guardiola was always evolving. Even allowing for all that, though, it was remarkable how poorly City defended in their 3-0 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday.

This is an extract from Soccer Desk, a newsletter from the Guardian US. Subscribe for free here.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:00 am

Fifa chief sacked after criticism of Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan

• Kevin Lamour said Fifa administration was ‘deceived’

• Chief operating officer knew he could lose his job

The Fifa chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour, has been sacked after openly criticising Gianni Infantino’s ill-fated plan to sell parts of the World Cup to private investors.

In a significant development at the pinnacle of world football’s deeply troubled governing body, Lamour has departed less than two years after joining from a previous role at Uefa. He had come out strongly against Infantino’s FFE scheme after it was revealed, saying Fifa’s administration had been “deceived” and that the president “believes he embodies Fifa when he is supposed to be at its service”.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:25 pm

NBA blasts ESPN for ‘inaccuracies’ in report on Kawhi Leonard-Clippers investigation

• NBA is looking into claims of salary cap circumvention

• ESPN says league has no proof owner funneled money

• Steve Ballmer denies allegations; Leonard trade on hold

The NBA has disputed an ESPN report on the league’s investigation into possible salary cap circumvention by the Los Angeles Clippers.

On Monday, ESPN reported that, after an 11-month investigation, the NBA was not able to show proof that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money to Kawhi Leonard via team sponsorships to bypass the salary cap. The outlet also said the two sides have been “negotiating a resolution to the investigation”.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:31 pm

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter consider selling Chelsea shares to Clearlake Capital

• Chelsea chair Boehly and Walter each own about 13%

• Sale would give Clearlake effective control of club at 86%

The Chelsea chair, Todd Boehly, and director Mark Walter are considering selling their shares in the club to the majority owners, Clearlake Capital, in a deal that would give the private equity company complete control at Stamford Bridge.

Clearlake, whose investment is managed by Behdad Eghbali and José E Feliciano, already owns more than 60% of Chelsea, but in an unusual arrangement agreed when buying the club from Roman Abramovich four years ago, they share operational control with a consortium led by Boehly, who along with Walter and Hansjörg Wyss each own about 13%.

Published: August 17, 2026, 11:56 am

Cyclists criticise ‘catastrophic’ safety measures after Finlay Tarling’s death

• Riders’ union expresses fury about Volta a Portugal

• Tarling died after collision with non-race vehicle

The professional cycling community has reacted with fury to the death of the teenage Welsh rider, Finlay Tarling, in the Volta a Portugal, with a leading former professional describing the race’s safety measures as “catastrophic”.

Tarling, the younger brother of the Netcompany Ineos professional Josh Tarling, was in collision with a non-race vehicle driving towards the peloton while he competed in the Portuguese race’s eighth stage. The 19-year-old’s death on Friday has led to a surge of anger, with the riders’ union, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), describing itself as “furious”.

Published: August 16, 2026, 10:40 am

Geno Auriemma on UConn’s basketball dynasty: ‘We’ve tried for 40 years to empower women’

The 12-time national title-winning coach discusses Connecticut’s time on top, his bond with Paige Bueckers, the Pat Summitt rivalry and why he isn’t retiring just yet

Let’s get one thing out of the way right from the jump: UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma says he isn’t retiring anytime in the “foreseeable future”.

That may come as a relief to fans of the program who have never known anyone else to be at its helm. Though he declined to promise an exact timeline, Auriemma made one thing clear while speaking to the Guardian last week: he’s going to be sticking around.

Published: August 17, 2026, 2:00 am

Djokovic’s medical malaise in Cincinnati exposes fraying edges of ageing great’s game

First-round exit for 24-time grand slam winner made for a difficult watch but there is an emerging pattern of saving his best for the big occasion

Novak Djokovic walked from the ­stadium court in Cincinnati to the corridor reserved for post-match press interviews practically without breaking stride. The 39-year-old had been cruising up a set and well on his way to a seemingly comfortable victory when he began to feel the full force of the elements. Djokovic would devote much of his time during the final two sets to crouching on all fours between points, vomiting into towels and desperately struggling to perform.

Such was his disappointment with his ageing body failing him once again that Djokovic, who is usually one of the most loquacious on the tour, briskly answered four questions in about a minute before offering his thanks and striding to the locker room. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there.

Published: August 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

Premier League to allow audio of conversations between players and referees

• Audio to be used during live broadcasts for first time

• Move is part of an expansion of the RefCam system

The Premier League will permit audio of on-field conversations between players and referees during live broadcasts for the first time this season.

The use of audio by the Premier League’s domestic TV rights holders, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, is part of an expansion of the RefCam system, which became a permanent feature of top-flight coverage last season after a six-week trial at the start of the campaign. The head-mounted RefCams were used by broadcasters to ­provide near‑instant replays of match ­incidents from a new angle in an attempt to enhance the viewer experience, but under the terms of their agreement with clubs the audio captured by the cameras was not televised until several days later.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:40 am

The Hotspot | Extreme heat has changed elite sport this summer – it must adapt to survive

In today’s newsletter: how climate crisis is affecting athletes and what steps are being taken to protect them from rising temperatures

The mercury-shattering European summer pants alongside us on the back straight, looming as we hug the shadows, sweaty sandals on the parched earth. Across Asia, Africa and North America, inhabitants have endured the warmest July of their lives.

In Toronto, Alex Hutchinson, author of the bestseller Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, has just come back from an early run. “Here I am in Canada, a famously frosty country, and my general take when I wrote ‘Endure’ in the 2010s was that heat was not that big a deal. Occasionally, people died of heat, often in the deep south of the US, often returning to football practise in August, when they were not prepared, but that was rare.

Published: August 17, 2026, 2:33 am

Hayden Panettiere, actor in Heroes and Nashville, dies aged 36

Panettiere’s death was announced by her father, who called her ‘an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy’

• Hayden Panettiere – a life in pictures

• Hayden Panettiere: an actor so magnetic that entire shows were rewritten for her

• Hayden Panettiere obituary

Hayden Panettiere, the actor known for her roles in television shows such as Heroes and Nashville, has died at the age of 36.

Panettiere’s death was confirmed in a statement from her representative to the Guardian on Sunday night, after it was first reported on US network ABC News. No cause of death was given.

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:39 pm

Storm Lala damages bridges and more than 100 homes on Hawaii’s Big Island

Storm left more than 100,000 without power as utility crews warn that those in rural areas may face outages for weeks

Hawaii residents began to clean up after tropical storm Lala blew past the Big Island, leaving more than 100,000 without power and damaging at least 100 homes and bridges.

Lala was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it grazed the islands, but it brought heavy rains and winds to the Big Island. Hawaii’s total rainfall over 48 hours topped 3.5ft in some areas, according to AccuWeather. The rising floodwaters damaged or swept away about 100 homes in the area, along with six bridges.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:57 pm

Tens of thousands pay tribute to Jason Arday at Trafalgar Square vigil

MPs, friends and campaigners gathered to remember former Cambridge professor after his death on Friday

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square in London to remember and pay tribute to Jason Arday, the former Cambridge professor who died on Friday.

Stand Up to Racism, which organised the vigil, estimated that 30,000 mourners had gathered in the square to listen to emotional speeches from MPs, friends and campaigners on Arday’s life and legacy and join in a minute’s silence. Many were dressed in black and held flowers, which they were asked to leave beneath Nelson’s column. People also carried placards reading “rest in power”.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:32 pm

Alzheimer’s research is latest casualty in Trump administration war against ‘DEI’

Grant cancellations at leading research institutions appear to target study of impacts of racism on brain health

A new round of scientific grant cancellations has hit brain health and Alzheimer’s disease research at two leading research institutions, Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh.

The latest cancellations are the Trump administration’s most recent effort to remove disfavored topics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) $47bn scientific portfolio – and appear to target the study of the impacts of racism.

Published: August 17, 2026, 5:00 am

Holy water: nuns fight Italian town’s plans to take away their beach club

Sisters argue they should retain concession in Ligurian town of Spotorno because it funds charitable activities

A group of Italian nuns is fighting back against local council plans to take their beach club away from them – the latest flashpoint in the long-running debate about the monopoly of private concessions along Italy’s coastline.

The dispute, described as “a holy war” by some local press, unfolded when a 50-metre stretch of sand at Bagni Gino Garrone, a beach resort in the Ligurian coastal town of Spotorno managed by nuns from the Suore di Carità di Santa Maria order, was designated for public bidding by authorities as they seek to comply with EU beach concession laws as well as regional regulations on free beach quotas.

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:44 am

British Muslim student with valid visa refused entry to US after 23-hour detention

Laith Alani, who had booked week-long trip to visit theme parks and family, believes US border force profiled him on arrival in Orlando

A British student who was detained and deported after flying to the US claims he was profiled for being Muslim.

Laith Alani said he felt as if he had been kidnapped when he was interrogated for nine hours and detained in a holding cell for another 14 hours by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at Orlando international airport.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:00 am

Leading economies’ borrowing costs hit highest since 2008 crisis

Concern over impact of Iran war pushes up government bond yields in US, UK, France, Germany and Japan

Government borrowing costs in several advanced economies hit their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, or even earlier, on Monday as investors feared the Middle East crisis would keep inflation persistently high.

Concerns over rising prices and government spending pushed up the cost of debt issued by Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Tokyo and London as investors fretted that rising prices would push up interest rates.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:13 am

Senior Russian banker fired after scathing speech on wartime economy

Andrei Klepach of VEB said Russia’s economy was falling behind China, US and ‘in some respects Ukraine’

• Europe live – latest updates

The chief economist at Russia’s second-largest bank has been fired after a series of critical comments about the state of the economy, including warnings that Moscow would not win a prolonged economic war with Ukraine.

Andrei Klepach, who had served in the role at the state-controlled development bank VEB since 2014, was fired days after Russian media reported on a scathing speech he had delivered to fellow economists in May.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:29 am

Claude to start watermarking AI-generated text – but will it make quality worse?

Anthropic says it will change way chatbot makes small, random choices, to comply with EU regulation

The world is familiar by now with the usual tropes of machine-generated text: overuse of the word “delve”, an excess of em dashes, and the chirpy, relentless construction of “it’s not X but Y”.

But is it about to get even worse?

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:52 am

AI eyes in the sky: new satellites and artificial intelligence are transforming wildfire detection

Hi-tech cameras orbiting Earth and on the ground, along with AI, help firefighters extinguish blazes before they spread

The fires in Spokane, Washington, this summer are the latest reminder that when a wildfire is detected can be just as important as where it starts. A blaze found within minutes can often be contained before it spreads. Wait too long, and a small spark can become a major disaster.

A new effort to shorten that timeline began in July when a SpaceX rocket carried the first three FireSat satellites into orbit. The trio is the first part of a planned network of 50 satellites built solely to spot wildfires while they are still small enough to stop.

Published: August 17, 2026, 5:00 am

European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves

Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought

Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests.

French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:01 am

UK government ‘irresponsible’ for not publishing emergency drought plans

Campaigners demand greater transparency into water companies’ plans not made public due to ‘security reasons’

The UK government has been accused of a lack of transparency and of acting irresponsibly for refusing to publish the emergency drought plans that are produced by water companies.

Water firms are required to publish statutory drought plans every five years to detail the actions needed to ensure public water supply is maintained and the environment is protected during drought.

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:56 am

Spotlight on UN desertification summit as it mulls how to spend $12bn war chest

Extreme weather has raised the significance of Cop17 talks starting this week on tackling drought and land degradation

As swathes of the northern hemisphere bake in what could be the hottest year on record, with wildfires blazing across North America and Europe and heatwaves afflicting millions across Asia, the UN’s bi-annual talks on desertification have assumed much greater importance – and have started attracting more money.

Work will begin this week on allocating more than $12bn (£8.9bn) to vulnerable countries to help them deal with drought and land degradation, when scores of countries gather in Mongolia for Cop17.

Published: August 16, 2026, 10:00 pm

Teenager charged with murder after mass shooting at Kentucky park

Sixteen-year-old dead and four others wounded including two children at community celebration in Lexington

Authorities in Kentucky charged an 18-year-old man with murder and several counts of assault after a shooting in Lexington park left a teenager dead and four others injured – one of multiple similar cases around the US over the weekend.

Jametrius Griffin was arrested less than 24 hours after Saturday night’s mass shooting at Charles Young Park in the city’s downtown. According to the Lexington police department, officers responded to reports of gunfire in the park at about 7pm and found five people shot, including two adults, a 14-year-old and a four-year-old.

Published: August 17, 2026, 5:55 am

New Mexico’s attorney general pushes new social media safety laws after $900m court victory over Meta

Exclusive: Raúl Torrez is drafting two bills with state lawmakers to bolster consumer protections and child safety online, building on state’s landmark case against Meta

New Mexico’s attorney general is mounting a full-court press against technology companies to improve their child safety measures, capitalizing on a landmark win in court against Meta earlier this year.

Raúl Torrez is working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills he says will strengthen consumer protections and child safety online. The legislation, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, will build on the state’s case against the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. A jury found in March that the company misled its users about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. The social media giant was fined nearly $1bn as a result of the case.

Published: August 17, 2026, 4:00 am

Rhossi, a rare sea turtle, recovers after 5,000-mile trek from Wales to Texas

Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, near death on Welsh beach in 2023, is thriving in Houston despite lingering pneumonia

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle native to the Gulf of Mexico is largely thriving after he was found nearly dead on a beach in Wales in late 2023, nursed back to health and then flown to Houston recently to continue recovering – though scans revealed signs that the creature has been grappling with lingering pneumonia, according to his caretakers.

Rhossi’s condition was detailed in a blogpost on Friday from the Houston zoo, whose veterinary team was tasked with caring for the creature – believed to be no older than age four – and giving him the best chance possible at an eventual, successful return to the wild.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

Todd Blanche declines to pledge independence from White House

US attorney general says no one in his role ‘should ever’ make this vow amid concern over Trump steering DoJ

US attorney general Todd Blanche on Sunday declined to assure that the federal justice department he helms would always act independently of the White House and Donald Trump.

“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” he said when asked about the topic by NBC’s Meet the Press host, Kristen Welker. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that.”

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:33 am

Niu Lai: derided animated film rivals blockbusters at Chinese box office

Commentary about the ‘so bad it’s good’ qualities of mother and son’s movie has driven people to see it at cinema

A crude, low-tech animation about a cow and a skylark has become a sleeper hit at China’s box office, sitting alongside blockbusters such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day in cinema revenue rankings.

Niu Lai, which translates to The Cow is Coming, is an 86-minute budget animation about a newborn calf and a skylark whose relationship develops over the course of an abstract dream sequence.

Published: August 17, 2026, 9:30 am

Johnny Depp in talks to return to Pirates of the Caribbean franchise

The actor, who previously said he would not play Captain Jack Sparrow again for ‘$300m and a million alpacas’, is being lined up for sixth film in the series according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer

Johnny Depp is in talks to return as Captain Jack Sparrow in a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film, according to the producer of the series, Jerry Bruckheimer. Bruckheimer told Deadline: “We’re talking with Johnny, we’re working on a screenplay, and hopefully we can get this done.” This is despite the actor having said under oath in 2022, during the notorious televised trial of the defamation case he brought against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, that Disney had dropped him from the series and he would not play Sparrow again even if he were offered “$300m and a million alpacas”.

Depp first appeared as the charismatic, roguish, rum-swilling Captain Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, and it has become his most recognisable – and profitable – role. Taking its name and golden age of piracy setting from a ride at the Disney World theme park, the swashbuckling adventure also featured Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush, and grossed more than $650m (£480m) at the worldwide box office.

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:14 am

US tourist dies after being struck by lightning on Italy’s Mount Etna

Italian firefighters say a man, 29, was killed by a lightning strike on the Sicily volcano while hiking in a restricted area

A tourist from the US was killed by a lightning strike on Sicily’s Mount Etna while hiking in an area that was closed to visitors due to recent volcanic activity, Italian firefighters said on Monday.

The 29-year-old man from Kansas was rescued by helicopter after being struck Sunday evening in an exposed area above the tree line. He was later declared dead by medical personnel. His name was not released.

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:26 am

People with severe intellectual disabilities live 24 years less on average

Exclusive: Research also finds stark ethnic disparities, and 40% of deaths among group classed as avoidable

People living with severe intellectual disabilities are dying 24 years younger on average than the wider population, a study has found, with 40% of such deaths being avoidable.

The study also found that within this group, people from minority ethnic backgrounds were dying 14 years younger than their white counterparts.

Published: August 17, 2026, 11:00 am

‘Can we accept what we have done or not done?’: harrowing film follows doctors in Gaza

American Doctor follows three volunteer doctors as they try to save lives on the frontline and then return to the US to become advocates in congress

When she wanted to confront Americans about the consequences of their actions – or inactions – in Gaza, Poh Si Teng reached for a genre with mass popular appeal: the medical drama.

“Whether it’s The Pitt, Grey’s Anatomy, House, ER, even a comedy like Scrubs, you name it,” the documentary film-maker says via Zoom from her New York apartment. “I thought to myself, there’s something about medical dramas and doctors and human mortality in this space so let’s make The Pitt. The difference is it’s real and it’s set in Gaza and maybe this is the way to bring Palestine back to the United States.”

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

‘His ache is real’: Bob Dylan and more on the wild genius of honky-tonk hellraiser Gary Stewart

Worshipped by everyone from Willie Nelson to Joe Strummer, the country star with the amazing voice imploded in a blaze of guns, knives, drugs and infidelities. What’s behind his astonishing posthumous rediscovery?

‘He sings like a man arguing with destiny. It sounds like the ache is real, that the ruin is real,” Bob Dylan tells me. “There’s a cracked truth there. What’s unsettling about him is that he sounds like he’s already living in the aftermath.” Dylan is talking about the late US singer-songwriter Gary Stewart. I had approached him because he was one of the few people to speak highly of this country music maverick.

Even while still alive, Stewart was a ghostlike figure. He had a period in the Nashville spotlight in the mid-1970s, but his death in December 2003 aged 59 barely registered. Stewart had been forgotten after he cast aside stardom in order to hunker down in a Florida trailer park where he and his wife Mary Lou consumed quaaludes, meth, marijuana and cocaine in industrial quantities.

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:00 pm

Lanterns review – Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre’s alien-hunting superhero caper is a bust

Sure, it’s got evil extraterrestrials trying to detonate whole towns … but not even the almighty Green Lantern and his mesmerising protege can save this show from feeling a whole lot of meh

It is my personal belief that you are starting off on the back foot whenever you’re given a superhero who draws their powers from an extrinsic item. Captain America is nothing without his shield. Elon Musk could build a metal suit and proto-heart and become Iron Man, which tells you everything you need to know about the problem. And, most pertinently, as we’re about to discuss the latest iteration of the Green Lantern legend, there’s the Green Lantern and his big green ring. It grants the wearer mighty powers but periodically needs recharging from a big green power pack. Plus, Green Lanterns themselves are ultimately employees of Green Lantern Corps, a cosmic law enforcement agency run by the Guardians. They are a race of immortals who live on the planet Oa, but by that point there’s a lot of meh to cut your way through.

Lanterns, the new televisual venture into the DC Comics universe, keeps all of the above elements and adds a mentor-mentee buddy-cop spine that plays out across two timelines – 2016 and 2026. The ever-dependable Kyle Chandler plays Earth’s current Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Rising star and mesmerising screen presence Aaron Pierre plays his trainee John Stewart (one of DC’s first African American superheroes, who made his debut in 1971). In 2016, Hal is weary and lazy when it comes to teaching John to be – as he sees it – his backup. He has no intention of retiring or being killed (which is an enormous amount of trust to place in a piece of jewellery that comes with a battery worse than your phone’s). The 2016 John, a well-disciplined son of a marine, and a former sniper and architect (and vegan), is a model of quiet endurance, retaining his poise and respecting the chain of command.

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:33 am

‘Fated to become a cult classic’: why Barcelona is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers detailing their most pleasurable comfort films is a trip to 1980s Spain courtesy of Whit Stillman

An hour into Whit Stillman’s 1994 film, Barcelona, the protagonist, Ted Boynton (Taylor Nichols), considers using “maneuver x” in his stalled romantic life. He’s an American working in the Spanish branch of an auto conglomerate, looking for love in the titular city’s post-Franco, sexually liberated nightlife. As Ted explains to his cousin Fred (Chris Eigeman) – visiting as an underqualified scout for a naval diplomatic mission – the sales tactic of “maneuver x” involves removing all pressure and allowing the customer to cross the threshold themselves. No tricks, no cloying, no badgering. Fred thinks the move is just another way of “playing it cool”, and it’s a handy metonym for the film. Barcelona plays it very, very cool.

Which isn’t to say Stillman’s second film, after his Oscar-nominated Metropolitan, is itself cool. Ted likes Glen Miller. He opens conversations with “You know how at parties, everybody talks about marketing?” If you want cool, look to Stillman’s The Last Days of Disco, where Chloë Sevigny frequents an unnamed Studio 54.

Published: August 17, 2026, 2:00 am

‘I see the incredible promise’: on set of an AI film shoot as new studios embrace controversial tech

Amid fears for jobs, some film-makers say AI could enable them to bypass studio giants and take more creative risks

Near the collonaded entrance to Sony Pictures’ historic Culver City film studio, a tech-powered rival has sprung up this summer. The artists at Promise, a new studio feeding off the potential of AI, can glimpse the lots where Singin’ in the Rain and Men in Black were shot, but no longer do they need to get beyond the studio’s high walls to make their visions come true.

From far more modest premises, they are making movies with rapidly accelerating AI models that create backgrounds, special effects and even “synthetic performers” – using US models but also driven by market-leading Chinese AI.

Published: August 16, 2026, 5:00 am

A Rimbaud review – legendary poet’s unlikely transformation into entrepreneur is as odd as ever

Australian actor Blake Draper delivers a committed one-man performance tracking the writer as he morphs from enfant terrible to merchant

US experimentalist Patrick Wang here curates an intriguing if very austere experience, a theatrical-style one-man show about the eventful life of the poet Arthur Rimbaud, presented as a microbudget epic of nearly three hours, an episodic piece taking place entirely within a “black box” stage space, ventilated occasionally by back-projection videos of the great outdoors.

Australian actor Blake Draper plays Rimbaud, with an English accent tinged occasionally with scouse, speaking to a range of invisible characters including his mother, his sister and his lover and artistic comrade Paul Verlaine, whose voices are represented by musical instruments. But fundamentally this is an extended, bravura monologue.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:00 am

‘I had to learn how to be a feminist’: Greg Dulli on surviving grunge, shunning misogyny, and Afghan Whigs’ glorious return

With a soulful sound and soul-baring lyrics, the Afghan Whigs rode the post-Nirvana boom to the big leagues. Their frontman explains his exploration of the male ego – and how Usher got the band back together

The Afghan Whigs were always heavier than their grunge-era brethren. Not musically – their turbulent, sophisticated rock was rooted in soul and funk, and frontman Greg Dulli says the group only embraced distortion in order to be heard over the volume of metalhead drummer Steve Earle’s playing. “Any kind of jangle wasn’t gonna work.” But Dulli’s lyrics, inspired by the likes of Motown bards Holland/Dozier/Holland, were pitch-black, depicting lovers in co-dependent cycles of betrayal and recrimination. Afghan Whigs songs take place in a world where sin is irresistible, punishment inevitable and some kind of judgment inescapable.

“My songs acknowledge consequence, more than they deal in judgment,” Dulli says, between sips of water in the bar of a London hotel. Forty years on from their formation, the Whigs are resurgent. Their new album, Soft Control, ably holds its own with earlier dark masterpieces such as their 1993 breakthrough Gentlemen, and its bleakly funky conceptual follow-up, 1996’s Black Love – records that affirmed their frontman as alt-rock’s poet of arch romantic dysfunction. “I understood sorrow and loss and loneliness from an early age,” he says. His dad was the youngest of 14; several of Dulli’s uncles died when he was young. “I had been there, so why wouldn’t I explore it?”

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine tour review: pop illusion at its most effective – for good and bad

The O2, London
On her last live dates before she steps back from the public eye, Grande holds her own – but it’s also impossible to avoid feeling concerned for her wellbeing

There’s a thrum of excitement in the air as an eight-minute countdown starts and Ariana Grande’s unmistakable silhouette appears on a giant backlit curtain on the stage of the O2. Is it actually her? Posing there for eight minutes before the show starts? It can’t be. But is it? It’s the first time we question what is and isn’t real at this Eternal Sunshine tour stop, a 10-night residency and a robust arena show that ultimately wants us to see one thing and experience another.

Collectively, we’ve been scolded for talking about it – the “endless, ongoing public scrutiny” of Ariana Grande’s body has pushed her to “[take] a step back from visibility” when this tour ends. It can’t be nice or fun to have your body examined and discussed for any reason but it is impossible to witness the 33-year-old’s frame on stage and not be gripped by genuine concern for her. Two songs in, a lump forms in my throat, which is not the intended effect of Positions, the zippy title track of her 2020 album. As the set around her is engulfed in digital flames, Grande sings about her infinite flexibility vis a vis relationship boundaries and sexual olympics and all I can think is: she looks like a little kid.

Published: August 16, 2026, 7:20 am

Brandon Flowers: Thrasher review – Killers frontman’s country pivot is a rootin’ tootin’ cowboy-bootin’ hoot!

(Island)
Even a couple of bafflingly misguided social commentary songs can’t detract from the joys of Flowers’ classically full-throated commitment to the Nashville bit

Here are three immutable facts about Brandon Richard Flowers: he was born just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. He is 45 years old. And he never does anything by halves. When he and his band the Killers debuted in the early 2000s, as disaffected New York cool was on the rise, he was writing scream-along choruses sung in his upper register. When the Killers were searching for a sound even bigger and grander than the euphoric Springsteen pastiche of 2006’s Sam’s Town, they didn’t think twice before recruiting Stuart Price to produce the spangly 2008 disco-rock record Day & Age.

That’s how you get a record like Thrasher. Flowers’ third solo album finds Vegas’s chosen son decamping to Nashville for a full-throated exploration of country music – not subtle, trendy Americana, but rip-snorting, honky-tonking, Nudie suit-wearing country. In many ways, Thrasher is a stylistic follow-up to the Killers’ maudlin 2021 Pressure Machine, which saw Flowers explore windswept balladry and tasteful story-songs. But that record was as forgettable as Thrasher is a hoot; Flowers wilts when he doesn’t fully commit, as was the case on Pressure Machine, and he doesn’t make that mistake here. Thrasher features many of Nashville’s most revered country musicians, including pedal steel legend Bruce Bouton, 85-year-old harmonica player Charlie McCoy, Gillian Welch’s musical partner Dave Rawlings and lauded Americana musician Margo Price.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:00 am

‘Have I tried having sex to my own music? God, no!’: Natalie Imbruglia’s honest playlist

The singer was wooed with some knocked-off Joni Mitchell and might even be persuaded to sing Torn at karaoke. But what fan comment winds her up the most?

The first song I fell in love with
My dad gave me California Dreamin’ by the Mamas & the Papas on vinyl for my fifth birthday. I said: “Oh thanks, Dad,” but really, I thought: “Who is this weird bunch of people?” Obviously, the present was really for him.

The first single I bought
I remember begging my mum to buy me Beat It by Michael Jackson at a record shop in the ’burbs of Sydney. I mean – he’s Michael Jackson.

Published: August 16, 2026, 1:00 am

Conversations with an Executioner: a chilling classic reveals the mind of a Nazi mass murderer

Polish war hero Kazimierz Moczarski spent 255 days sharing a cell with an SS general. Nearly 50 years after it was published, an uncensored version of his account is appearing in English for the first time

In 1949, Kazimierz Moczarski, a leading member of the Polish resistance, was in his fourth year of incarceration when he was moved into a cell with two Nazis at Warsaw’s Mokotów prison. One of them was Jürgen Stroop – a war criminal and SS general who had led the infamous destruction of the Warsaw ghetto and was responsible for the murder or capture of more than 56,000 Jews. They shared the same four walls for 255 consecutive days.

A celebrated figure in modern-day Poland, Moczarski was regarded as a threat to the power of the postwar communist regime in the country. Like other resistance members, he was accused of collaboration and arrested. But Moczarski, who spoke German, used his imprisonment with Stroop as an opportunity to investigate a question: what turned some Germans into mass murderers, seeking to impose their “Ordnung”, order, across the world? His book about the experience, Conversations with an Executioner, was published in 1977. An instant bestseller, it was performed as a play the same year, directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is finally being published in the UK this month, in its first uncensored translation into English by Sean Gasper Bye.

Published: August 16, 2026, 11:00 pm

The Ego Trip by Kimon de Greef review – a bizarre tale of psychedelic toads and hair-raising treatments

A journalist investigates the unsettling world of a charismatic shaman and the people who trusted him

Which, in your opinion, is the worst current cultural trend: social media influencers; unregulated wellness practitioners; macho manosphere posturers; psychedelic bores; cultural appropriators? The good news is that, with Octavio Rettig, the central character in Kimon de Greef’s The Ego Trip, you don’t have to choose between them. He’s all five wrapped into one objectionable package, and so much more besides.

The tale begins with the Sonoran desert toad, an improbable amphibian that spends most of its life hiding underground in the baking badlands along the Mexico-Arizona border, and has done so blamelessly for millions of years. Whenever it rains, the toads emerge from their hiding places to mate, laying strings of eggs wherever water has pooled.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:00 am

‘It is not only a future certainty – the disaster is already here’: why we need climate fiction

As wildfires rage across Europe and Britain swelters through its hottest summer on record, literary fiction has a vital role to play in capturing the severe consequences of climate crisis

Earlier this summer, I travelled through Europe on a book tour. Everywhere I went, the heat broke records. In Italy, Germany and Spain, I sought refuge from the afternoon sun in air-conditioned hotels. In normally temperate Zurich, it averaged 37 degrees. I jumped into the Limmat for relief. On my final day in Warsaw, Poland had never been hotter – one of 14 countries to hit a historic high. In June, when I left to return to the US, Europe was scorching. At the end of July, as I write this, it is burning.

Since the heatwaves began, there have been more than 10,000 excess deaths. Yet for many, myself included, the high temperatures brought nothing more than inconvenience – uncomfortable commutes, heat rash, less time outdoors. This seems to be a defining feature of today’s climate crisis; deadly for some, banal for others. Even when the world is on fire, it somehow doesn’t feel like an emergency for everyone.

Published: August 16, 2026, 4:00 am

The Sinking City 2 review – Ukrainian cosmic horror, come hell or high water

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, PC; Frogwares
Frogwares’ Lovecraftian action-horror is full of grim tenacity and pulp paperback charm, despite a few frayed edges

I’m standing in the prosthetics lab of a campy horror hospital, hunting for a preacher’s flayed face to wear so I can trick the world’s grisliest smart doorbell. Pinned to a board in the corner of the room are a dozen X-rays: shattered bones and metal splints in sepia negative, each with a note attached. It’s a stark, clinical intrusion on the theatrical gore elsewhere. It takes a beat to realise that I’m reading the stories of injuries sustained by soldiers fighting for Frogwares’ native Ukraine. Fingers amputated after severe burns. Limbs lost in mine explosions. Toes torn off by shell fire.

Like so many of my favourite PS3-era seven-out-of-tens, The Sinking City 2 is a pulpy action horror. It’s fuelled by scrappy ambition, Lovecraft fan fiction and wonderfully unhinged scenario design. A puzzle that has you determine which talking jarred brain is telling porkies. A scavenger hunt to fix a crane to move a rotting whale carcass. A gunfight amid the grisly results of a siren pop star’s fan meet-up turned battle royale.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:00 am

Ithaca: a scintillating eco-thriller RPG that aims to confront our violent moment

The latest game from ‘reality-inspired’ studio the Pixel Hunt sees you transporting precious human cargo – and deciding what to do with it

Ithaca has one hell of an opening: Penelope, a disillusioned environmental lawyer, stops her car at a petrol station. But upon returning, she discovers something shocking: the unconscious body of an oil company CEO in her boot, his hands hog-tied together, dangling limply towards the vehicle’s number plate.

This tantalising eco-thriller setup is a long way off the typical knights-and-castles fantasy fare of most role-playing games, more How To Blow Up a Pipeline than Dragon Quest. But road-trip RPG Ithaca arrives via refreshingly original developer the Pixel Hunt, a French outfit that specialises in what it calls “reality-inspired” games. The studio has made a number of arresting works in recent years. One was about a Syrian refugee couple making a perilous migrant journey across Europe; another tackled the life-shattering effects of child sexual abuse. The climate crisis was always in the back of Pixel Hunt founder and Ithaca writer Florent Maurin’s mind. After all, he says, it is the uber problem of our day, the problem that touches all others. It was just a case of when, and, more importantly: “What do we say about it?”

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:00 am

‘The kids were right’: 30 years of Pokémon, from school-wide bans to multimillion-dollar trading cards

Pokémon outlived the moral panic of its early days in Australia and its staying power has proved that simple joy can cross borders

There’s a generation of Australians for whom Cheez TV was a religion. Every morning before school, I’d sit in my little white plastic chair about three feet from our big wooden television and watch 90 minutes of cartoons “curated” by the show’s teenage hosts, Jade and Ryan.

Premiering in 1995, Cheez TV dominated the children’s breakfast market by 1998, stealing the crown from Channel Seven’s bogan-muppet icon Agro. A daily dose of Cheez TV was such an important ritual to me that I remember feeling active resentment towards Princess Diana’s death because the news coverage bumped Earthworm Jim.

Published: August 16, 2026, 8:00 am

Beatles film recreates iconic Abbey Road album cover

Social media footage this weekend revealed the cast of Sam Mendes’ four-film band biopic on the zebra crossing near the studio, posing for the famous image

The production team behind the forthcoming four-film Beatles biopic, directed by Sam Mendes, has been spotted filming outside Abbey Road studios in London. Inevitably, this includes a recreation of the celebrated Abbey Road album cover, for which the band was photographed on the nearby pedestrian crossing – now a popular tourist landmark.

Footage posted on social media on Sunday shows the actors playing the Beatles lining up on the kerb and walking across the road. Harris Dickinson, as John Lennon, is leading the walk, with Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison following in sequence.

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:16 am

John Oliver on fetal personhood: ‘It effectively treats women as incubators’

The host discussed problems with giving fetuses equivalent rights to humans after the overturning of Roe v Wade

On his HBO show on Sunday night, John Oliver discussed the debate over fetal personhood and how the topic has become central to the anti-abortion movement in the US.

About a third of US states have established fetal personhood by law, giving legal rights and protections to fetuses and in some cases embryos. As a result, hundreds of women have lost custody to their children for reasons related to their pregnancies.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:45 am

Next year’s Eurovision host is Burgas, not Sofia. Some Bulgarians are baffled

Next year’s competition won’t take place in the country’s capital, an announcement that even surprised Bulgarian winner, Dara

Ever since Bulgarian singer Dara was crowned winner of the Eurovision song contest this May, it has been clear that the Balkan nation would for the first time in its history have the opportunity to host Europe’s biggest party.

So when Bulgarian officials announced last week that the world’s largest live music event in 2027 will be held not in the capital Sofia but in Burgas, a Black Sea port city home to 200,000 people, it came as a surprise – even to last year’s winner.

Published: August 17, 2026, 7:04 am

Post your questions for actor and musician Samantha Morton

As the reader interview goes to Green Man festival, tell us what you would like to ask the garlanded British artist, fresh from her turn as Circe in The Odyssey

At this weekend’s Green Man festival, Samantha Morton will join Guardian writer Kate Hutchinson to discuss a career spanning acting, directing and music.

From her Oscar-nominated performances in Sweet and Lowdown and In America to Morvern Callar, The Serpent Queen and her latest role as Circe in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Morton has become one of Britain’s most distinctive actors. Her directorial debut, The Unloved, won the Bafta for best single drama, while in 2024 she released the deeply personal album Daffodils & Dirt with producer Richard Russell under the name Sam Morton.

Published: August 17, 2026, 1:36 am

‘Look in the mirror. That’s the trick’: our fashion expert Jess Cartner-Morley answered your questions

The Guardian’s fashion editor on tips for the well-dressed man to the ethical issues of fast fashion, how to wear jewellery and whether Andy Burnham looks good

PetertheGray asks: Why are so many high end items made from synthetic fibres? And are synthetics always bad?

Jess:

The answer to the first part of your question is just, price. As to the second part - as a rule of thumb, natural fibres are a sustainable choice. Virgin polyester - which is made from oil, and doesn’t biodegrade - is to be avoided. But there are also sustainable synthetic fibres. Look out for Tencel, which is the most common brand name for a fabric called lyocell, which is made from wood pulp, and is biodegradable.

I commend both of you for having figured out what you like and what suits you. That’s the hardest part. My personal bugbear front-fastening trousers where the ‘hidden’ hook-and-eye fastening is too close to the edge of the fabric so the metal keeps showing. Drives me insane.

Published: August 17, 2026, 8:19 am

The one change that worked: I sent myself a letter – and realised what’s missing in this world of WhatsApp

I’ve started writing to my sister, my mum, my friends … Not everyone writes back, but when we connect it’s on a deeper level than any group chat

Last January, I received a letter. Most of my post was predictably boring – a statement from the water company, my credit card bill, the occasional update about my pension contributions – but this letter was different. The envelope felt heavier than the run-of-the-mill ones I was used to. It was postmarked Paris, a place I had little connection to, and, most strikingly, it was addressed in messy handwriting – my own.

I had completely forgotten I’d written it until it turned up on my doorstep. On a trip to Paris the year before, I had visited a letter-writing cafe. The idea was simple: you wrote a letter (usually to yourself), the cafe kept it safe and sent it a year later. So, alongside trying escargots for the first time, I wrote a letter filled with questions about my not-so-distant future and addressed it to my home, in London. What will you be doing? Where will you be living? Do you have a boyfriend?

Published: August 17, 2026, 3:00 am

Blankets, baskets and a flask that holds a bottle of wine: nine great picks for an elevated picnic

Retire your plastic cups and paper plates in favor of some sturdy (and chic) upgrades to store and chill food and drinks

• The five best portable coolers in the US – tested

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

Picnics are a spectacular way to enjoy fresh air and sunshine, but packing and lugging food, keeping it chilled, and trying to find a comfortable place to sit might seem like more trouble than it’s worth. If you want to take advantage of the summer weather, whether it’s a barbecue in the park or an al fresco lunch at the beach, all you really need are your favorite foods, a few drinks and a big blanket.

But if the logistics of it all – such as finding the right cooler, plates or containers – are cramping your style, it’s possible to elevate your outdoor dining experience with a few upgrades.

Published: August 16, 2026, 10:15 am

This is how we do it: ‘Sex was our glue – now if we fight, we can’t just screw and come out glowing’

Pam and Mike couldn’t keep their hands off each other when they met. But as aging and biology have taken their toll, their sex life has suffered

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

We haven’t had sex in two years. Mike says it’s because his dick is dead

Published: August 16, 2026, 3:00 am

Is it true that … it’s harder for women to do pull-ups?

The differences in body types does mean that, on average, women find the exercise more difficult – but that’s not the whole story

Pull-ups are a bodyweight exercise where you hang from an overhead bar, usually with an overhand grip, and pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. “They’re a great upper-body exercise,” says Prof Leigh Breen, a specialist in muscle physiology at the University of Leicester. “They primarily work the muscles in the back, but also recruit the arms and the core.” They’re known for being tough – particularly for women. But is that true?

“If we take the population as a whole, doing a pull-up is typically more challenging for the average woman,” says Breen. There are a few reasons for this. First, women naturally tend to carry a smaller proportion of their muscle mass in their upper body than men – and these are the muscles relied upon for the exercise. Second, women generally have a slightly higher body fat percentage than men. Because a pull-up requires you to lift your entire bodyweight, having less upper-body muscle relative to the weight you’re moving can reduce what’s known as your strength-to-weight ratio.

Published: August 17, 2026, 12:00 am

Can exercise really help improve my sex life?

Here’s what experts say about how sex and exercise are linked, and whether the type, timing and intensity of movement matter

Here’s a reason to put your sneakers on: exercise can improve your sex life.

It’s not necessarily about changing how your body looks, or being strong enough to swing from the chandelier. Regular movement improves smaller, less visible bodily functions that increase your desire and capacity for sex – like the release of arousal-promoting hormones and enhanced circulation in the nether regions. Perhaps just as critically, it gets your mind in the right frame to do it.

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:00 am

‘It was barbaric. I was crying my eyes out’: why are so many women left in agony by routine womb examinations?

There are more than 70,000 hysteroscopies every year in England alone. The NHS calls them ‘low complexity’ – yet a shocking number of patients complain of inadequate pain relief and medical staff who refuse to take them seriously

In February this year, Beth Harris sat in the day surgery waiting room of her local hospital and tried to steady her nerves.

She was there for a hysteroscopy, in this case to remove a fibroid. A thin surgical instrument with a lens, a light, a blade and an irrigation system for pumping saline solution would be inserted through her vagina and cervix, into her womb. The saline solution would widen the womb and the fibroid would be shaved away. Her hospital had advised taking paracetamol or ibuprofen an hour before the appointment, which Harris had done. However, the appointment was for 1pm, and by 4pm, she was still waiting in her hospital gown, surrounded by other patients.

Published: August 16, 2026, 6:00 am

‘I don’t always go full banana!’ From the yellow man to a playful shrink, stylish people on what they wear every day – and why

How does a rabbi choose her shoes? Why does a psychoanalyst like slogan tees? And why does a doctor avoid wearing scrubs at work? Seven striking dressers share their surprising style stories

Andrew Geldart, 65, retired engineer, Cornwall

Published: August 16, 2026, 4:00 am

‘Paul McCartney asked for my autograph!’ Su Pollard on Hi-de-Hi! and her amazing celebrity encounters

Even after half a century in the limelight, the actor can still surprise. Who’d have guessed she went clubbing with Freddie Mercury? Or that she watched Blair and Brown strike their fateful deal at Granita?

A quick run-through of some of the 20th-century icons that Su Pollard has met. Paul McCartney? “Absolutely fabulous,” Pollard says. “He was sat leaning against a wall, next to Linda.” She does a great impression of McCartney’s accent. “‘Hey Su, how are you? Love the show. Can I have your autograph? For my mother.’” The show was, of course, the hugely successful BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!, set on an Essex holiday camp and for which Pollard, playing chalet maid Peggy, will for ever be best known.

Queen Elizabeth, after a Royal Variety Performance? “She was absolutely marvellous. What struck me – I’ve always said this – was her skin. I was drawn to her skin. It was all peachified. And beautiful smile, her own teeth. Very regal, very straight-backed, not very tall, and quite a voluptuous bosom.”

Published: August 16, 2026, 11:18 pm

Readers reply: How is it physically possible to continue breaking sporting records?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

• This week’s question: Is it inevitable that consumerism will literally fill up the planet?

Obviously, progressions in sports clothing technology must make a small difference to the abilities of an athlete – but how on earth is it physically possible that we continue to break world records, year on year? Are humans really faster or stronger than they were decades ago? Jennifer Michaelson, Newlyn

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.

Published: August 16, 2026, 6:00 am

Rock stars Ash look back: ‘Mark broke his feet jumping off a balcony – for the rest of the tour he self-medicated with gin and buckets of ice’

The Northern Irish band on jamming together at school, booze and breakdowns, and being a weirdly functional family

Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray are the founding members of Ash. School friends from Downpatrick, County Down, they started out as a covers band called Vietnam in 1989. As Ash, their debut full-length album, 1977, went to No 1 in 1996. Shining Light, from 2001’s Free All Angels, won them an Ivor Novello award. The group have released nine albums, three of which feature guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. They are releasing a 30th anniversary edition of 1977 on 16 October and are on a world tour, including the UK and Ireland, until December.

Published: August 16, 2026, 6:00 am

Coping with 54C heat: Delhi slum diaries detail living in extreme temperatures

With heatwaves now recognised as disasters, personal testimonies are key to a new project that looks to protect those living in the most cramped districts of India’s capital

Every summer evening, Gulshan follows the same routine. She washes the floor of her one-room home several times so it cools a little for her four children to sleep on. Last summer, the family saved enough to buy a desert cooler, which uses evaporation as a cheaper alternative to air conditioning.

The family uses the appliance cautiously to save on energy costs. But even when it is on, Gulshan, who does not use a surname, has to dampen everyone’s clothes before sleeping. The 39-year-old and her children now have rashes and one has a skin infection from the wet cloth against their skin.

Published: August 16, 2026, 9:00 pm

Why cancer, not cost of living, may be the biggest issue in Iowa’s midterm elections

A broad group of diseases in the agricultural powerhouse is top of mind for the midterm elections

In Iowa, one of the key battleground states in November’s midterm elections, just about every political candidate agrees on one thing: something must be done about the state’s rising rates of cancer.

The midwestern state has the second-highest rate of cancer nationwide and, together with Utah and West Virginia, is one of only three states where the incidence of the disease is rising, according to cancer rate monitoring from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Published: August 16, 2026, 5:00 am

Share your memories of someone you lost in 9/11

Did you lose someone in 9/11? What do you want people to remember about them 25 years later?

To mark 25 years since 9/11, we would like to hear from people who lost loved ones in the attacks. What do you want people to remember about them 25 years later?

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Published: August 17, 2026, 4:00 am

Marble dust mounds and a praying mantis: photos of the day – Monday

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

Published: August 17, 2026, 6:03 am