The weekend is 100 years old – but have ‘skiveday Fridays’ and hybrid working ruined it for everyone?

In 1926, Henry Ford gave his employees both Saturdays and Sundays off – and the two-day chunk of time to party, pray or simply do nothing was born. Now it’s changed beyond recognition

For 11 years, from 1929 to 1940, the Soviet Union did not have weekends. Instead, to increase productivity citizens were allocated a day off in every seven at random. With 80% of the population at work on any given day, factories never had to power down.

A letter from a disgruntled worker to Pravda newspaper, published soon after the implementation of this new working calendar, outlined the problems: “What is there for us to do at home if our wives are in the factory, our children at school, and nobody can visit us?” the letter-writer asked. “It is no holiday if you have to have it alone.” Parents found themselves at home while their children were at school, or with kids unsupervised while they were on shift. With no shared day off, extended family gatherings became impossible. The workforce became demoralised and listless, the projected spike in productivity never materialised, and the policy was first modified, then abandoned altogether.

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:00 pm

Destroyed crops, riverbed cyclists and a ‘Rock of Starvation’: how drought has devastated the Danube

The Guardian travelled 100 miles along the EU’s longest river, where some residents are struggling to secure drinking water

For centuries, the rock was seen as a warning. When it began to emerge from the Danube, beneath Gellért Hill in Budapest, it meant the river had fallen so low that floating mills could no longer operate, crops were probably failing, and hunger would almost certainly follow. That is why, in the Hungarian capital, where over time the boulder became little more than a legend, it was named Ínség-szikla – the Rock of Starvation.

Today, amid record-low water levels on the Danube, the rock has not only emerged from the water, but surfaced almost in its entirety, along with the sandy riverbed on which it rests, astonishing geologists and government scientists sent to examine it. And, much as the rock was said to warn, Hungary is now facing an unprecedented energy crisis that has forced the country to shut down all but one of its Danube-cooled nuclear reactors for the first time in 44 years.

Published: August 15, 2026, 9:00 pm

Marco Rubio has unique power to promote peace, but he hasn’t. He is almost as bad for the world as Trump | Simon Tisdall

As chief US diplomat, Rubio could do great good. His pandering and neglect are a disgrace we shouldn’t ignore

Viewed from the state department in Washington DC, the world is on fire – but record heatwaves are not to blame. The unresolved Iran war has badly burned Donald Trump. His military campaign conclusively failed, energy and food prices are still rising, and a Republican rout in November’s midterm elections looms. Humiliatingly, Israel this week flatly rejected his latest Gaza peace proposals, days after Trump congratulated himself on a “historic breakthrough”. In Europe, Russia’s attacks on Nato allies grow increasingly brazen, threatening a wider escalation. The Ukraine war, which Trump vowed to end, is now well into its fifth year, with civilians on both sides caught in the killing fields. And these are just the bigger firestorms. There are plenty more.

Rarely has the need for effective, professional diplomacy been more pressing. So step forward Marco Rubio, US secretary of state and chief American diplomat. These are challenges that, if successfully tackled, could propel the 55-year-old son of Cuban immigrants and the former US senator for Florida into pole position in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination race. Here is a chance for Rubio to defy critics who dismiss him as a lickspittle and Trump dogsbody, and transform himself into respected global statesman. His boss mocked him as “little Marco” and a “loser” when they were election rivals in 2016. (Rubio called him a conman.) Now is Rubio’s opportunity to go big, be brave and prove he’s a winner.

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:00 pm

10 delicious and safe summer salad recipes during cyclospora outbreak

Many people in the US are avoiding lettuce in the wake of the cyclospora outbreak. Here are 10 crispy and crunchy salad options from Ottolenghi’s signature spices to Nik Sharma’s fruity grains, from our huge recipe collection

A fresh, crunchy salad by Yotam Ottolenghi. Cucumber is a hard-working salad component at the best of times but, here, with the combination of curried, crunchy nuts and a sweet-sour tamarind dressing, it will work overtime on your meal-prep menu.

Published: August 15, 2026, 5:00 am

The Fauci hearing was painful to watch. But we need answers on Covid-19’s origin| David Relman

Despite the recent hearings in Congress, we seem to be even further from the goal of understanding Covid-19’s origin’s than we have ever been

As a microbiologist and infectious disease clinician, it has been tough to watch the recent devolution of public discourse on Covid-19 origins. It has been especially difficult for me to read the comments of Anthony Fauci about the origins debate in his now-public diary. And it has been painful to watch the televised spectacle hosted by the US senator Rand Paul on 29 July involving a hostile interrogation of Fauci.

Despite many early pleas, including my own, for a dispassionate, objective assessment of what we know, don’t know and need to know about Covid-19 origins, we seem to be even further from this goal now than we have ever been – plagued by politicization, polarization and illogical thinking.

David Relman is a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford University. He was an inaugural member of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:00 am

Where healthcare could sway voters, organizers ramp up an old tactic: talking to people

In Wisconsin, voters weigh candidates who backed cuts to Medicaid, and those who want to expand it

Going door to door in western Wisconsin multiple times per week, Bill Hogseth tells strangers about his seizure.

Hogseth, the co-executive director and lead organizer of the nonpartisan group GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin (Groww), tells them about waking up in an ambulance, and the impact of the seizure on his ability to drive and work. Usually standing on their doorsteps, he asks to hear their stories too – about ambulance rides, hospital bills, broken bones.

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:00 am

US navy veterans and military health experts express concern over USS Abraham Lincoln sailors

Prolonged deployment is coupled with reports of water shortages, plumbing issues and attempts to jump overboard

• Trump downplays concerns about sailors onboard USS Abraham Lincoln

US navy veterans and military health experts are expressing concerns about the strain on sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent nearly nine months at sea supporting US operations in the Middle East, amid reports of poor living conditions and worsening mental health among its crew.

The San Diego-based aircraft carrier left port on 21 November, originally bound for the Pacific, but was redirected to the Middle East as the US-Israel war with Iran began. It has now spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea without a significant port visit, with its deployment repeatedly extended.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:00 am

Trump shows off article on lower drug prices that says Biden deserves credit, not him

US president credits himself with lowest drug prices in 60 years, when article says drop is more likely due to Biden

The White House flooded social media on Saturday with an image of Donald Trump showing off the recent Washington Post headline “Prescription drug prices record sharpest drop in more than 60 years”, but failed to mention that experts cited in the article actually attributed the price drop to Joe Biden, not Trump.

On its official accounts, the White House triumphantly captioned the photograph of Trump: “POV: you bring the receipts.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, also shared it.

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:02 pm

Double jeopardy could spell end of state case after Luigi Mangione’s guilty plea

Defense argues New York cannot try Mangione over same act or offense as federal case in killing of Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione’s plea to federal stalking charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s death has spurred questions about the fate of the separate Manhattan murder case against him, with experts saying New York’s double-jeopardy law could derail that trial.

Mangione pleaded guilty to one count of interstate stalking resulting in death, and one count of cyberstalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death, in connection with the 4 December 2024 shooting outside a Midtown hotel. Both charges carry a potential maximum life sentence.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:00 am

Torrential rain and flood kill nine in Japan amid wettest month in decades

Downpours in Japan’s east have snarled roads, caused power outages and destroyed homes in Chiba prefecture

Heavy rain that battered eastern Japan has left nine people dead, the public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday, after an “unprecedented” deluge that flooded more than a thousand homes and snarled up roads and rail services.

Torrential downpours that started late on Thursday have triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time.

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:08 pm

Rescue teams search for survivors in Indonesia after powerful earthquake

Searchers dig through collapsed buildings and debris after 7.7 magnitude quake killed at least 51 people

Rescue crews dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris in eastern Indonesia on Sunday as they searched for bodies and possible survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 51 people, injured more than 100 and displaced thousands.

At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the national disaster management agency said. Rescuers were still searching for people feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Published: August 15, 2026, 8:57 pm

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon kill 11 in worst toll since June truce

Rescue services search for survivors and bodies after airstrikes hit homes in Ansar and Deir al-Zahrani

Eleven people have been killed, including three children, and 19 injured in two Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, the worst toll since deals in June brought a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli warplanes bombed a home on the outskirts of the village of Ansar, killing seven people and flattening the building early on Saturday morning. Rescue services were working at the site to try to find survivors and locate bodies.

Published: August 15, 2026, 6:55 am

Ex-officer accused of plotting New Orleans attack is released after jury declines to indict

Former law enforcement officer was accused of planning to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a jazz festival

A white former law enforcement officer accused of planning to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a New Orleans festival was quietly released from custody over the summer after a grand jury found there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime.

A Louisiana grand jury in June declined to indict Christopher Gillum on a state terrorism charge that could have carried up to a 15-year sentence, court records show.

Published: August 15, 2026, 9:40 am

Teenager pleads guilty to attacking California sea lion in viral video

Tyler Muehl, 18, could face a year in prison for kicking marine animal four times on La Jolla coast

An 18-year-old California man has admitted he kicked a sea lion in a video that went viral recently – while referring to himself by the name of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor – and has pleaded guilty to a federal crime.

Tyler Muehl, of San Diego’s La Jolla neighborhood, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after acknowledging in court on Thursday that he violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s prohibition on harassment of wildlife, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Published: August 15, 2026, 6:54 am

Massive egg recall in US south and south-west due to salmonella outbreak

About 1.6m dozen eggs from Texas recalled amid one of the largest recorded foodborne illness outbreaks in US history

A massive egg recall affecting nearly 1.6m dozen eggs has been elevated to the US Food and Drug Administration’s highest-risk warning as officials investigate a salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 100 people.

The FDA on 12 August reclassified the recall of nearly 1.6m dozen white and brown cage-free eggs over concerns they may be contaminated with salmonella.

Published: August 15, 2026, 9:01 am

Gorging on bearcam: the livestream of big beasts eating that draws millions

Ahead of Fat Bear Week, avid fans are glued to the spectacle of brown bears devouring salmon at Brooks Falls in Alaska

One of this summer’s biggest onscreen hits has had big beasts, great escapes and choppy waters, but it’s not Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey – it’s a livestream of Alaskan brown bears catching salmon.

The Brooks Falls bearcam at Katmai national park in the US was watched 7.3m times between 22 June and 4 August – up 70% from the same period last year and more than double the views it attracted in 2024.

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:00 pm

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv faces missile barrage after Zelenskyy targets Russian satellite network

Kyiv mayor says attack has caused fires in at least two districts; Ukraine hits Russian rocket facility in long-range strike. What we know on day 1,636

Russian forces launched a missile ⁠attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, sparking fires in ⁠at least ⁠two districts of the Ukrainian capital, the city’s mayor said. Kyiv’s ⁠military administration said one person had been injured. Witnesses reported explosions in the city amid air alerts that sounded after 2am.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on ⁠Telegram, said falling ​debris had ‌caused a ‌fire in a non-residential part of ‌a northern suburb. Several cars were on fire, and another fire had broken out in an area just south of the city ‌centre, he said. Unofficial ​Telegram channels posted photos of what were described as market stalls ablaze. Russia ‌has in ​recent ​weeks been staging intensive air attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine says long-range strikes hit a Russian military airfield and a rocket centre ⁠that supports ⁠Russia’s nascent Starlink-style satellite ​internet network. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said Flamingo cruise missiles struck the rocket facility, about 900km from Ukraine’s border, as part of Kyiv’s campaign to pressure Moscow to end ⁠the war by targeting sites deep inside Russia.“It is important that Russia’s war potential be reduced. Peace is needed, and this must be evident in Russia – through concrete damage ⁠to specific facilities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. He said the airfield hosted aircraft used to attack Ukraine.

Ukraine’s armed forces said direct hits were ‌recorded at the airfield in Russia’s ‌Nizhny Novgorod region and the Progress rocket centre in Samara region, sparking fires ‌at both sites. The Samara plant produces rockets used to launch satellites for the Rassvet broadband network, which Russia is developing as an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink. Starlink operates in Ukraine but not in Russia, giving Kyiv an advantage in drone operations and battlefield communications.

In Samara region, local officials said air defences had repelled a “massive missile attack”. “Samara’s industrial infrastructure ‌sustained localised damage,” Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said in an online post. Emergency services were working at the scene, he said.

Russia has ⁠asked Washington and ⁠Ankara ⁠to explain reports ​of possible plans ⁠to transfer to Kyiv a “substantial ⁠arsenal” ​of ‌US weapons ‌and ammunition ‌held by Turkey, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said ‌on Saturday. Such a transfer would ​cause “serious harm … to our bilateral relations ⁠with Washington and ​Ankara,” the spokesperson ​said in ​a ‌statement.

A Russian strike on an apartment block in south-eastern Ukraine on Saturday killed a three-month-old baby and wounded 11 people, local officials said. Drones hit the building in the town of Marhanets, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.

Russia’s defence ​ministry on Saturday said in the ‌past 24 hours its drones ​and missiles had ​struck Ukrainian logistics centres and energy and transport infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army, as well as assembly workshops for long-range drones and drone boats.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has told Russian president Vladimir Putin in a letter that he was “proud” of their countries’ strong ties, state media reported. North Korea has become a key ally of the Kremlin, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology, analysts say. Kim added that he had a “firm belief” that Russia would thrive and defend its “territorial integrity” under Putin’s “wise leadership”.

In a letter to Kim delivered on Friday to mark Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of the second world war, Putin said relations between the two countries had reached the “unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership”. “Our states are actively cooperating in all the sectors while making concerted efforts to ensure the regional security and stability,” the Russian leader said.

The exchange of letters follows Ukraine’s accusation this month that Moscow had launched North Korean ballistic missiles in a strike that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens. Kyiv has also recently said that up to 50,000 North Korean troops are due to deploy to Russia, although it has provided no evidence to back the claim or a timeframe for the deployment.

Published: August 15, 2026, 7:22 pm

World’s Ugliest Dog contest 2026 – in pictures

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at the World’s Ugliest Dog contest, which marked its 50th year at the Sonoma County Fair in California. The competition, which promotes dog adoptions and ‘the imperfections that make all dogs special’, was won this year by Jinny Lu, a pug from South Korea

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:26 pm

I haven’t dated for years and want to try again. How do I prepare for the storm | Annalisa Barbieri

Do you really want to date, or do you just feel you should? Be kind to yourself, and maybe try real-world dating and avoid the apps for now

I haven’t been on a date in eight years and want to start next year. How can I prepare for the storm?

I want to love and care for someone. I long for a supportive, funny life partner. Should I say that to a man? And is that too much in a dating profile?

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:00 pm

Fire rangers of Mongolian steppe: climate crisis spurs revival of ancient knowledge – photo essay

Fire has always be part of life on the grasslands, but has grown worse due to rising temperatures and severe droughts. In response, people have turned to their nomadic heritage to help tackle the blazes

Sodnomjamts Damchaabadgar squats in a shallow, rocky depression, working quietly with his hands. Inches above the rim of the pit, the wind whips across the grasslands. But in the marginal shelter of the dig site the air remains calm – essential for delicate operations.

Damchaabadgar, a research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, has erected a ger, a traditional nomad’s tent, nearby, which serves as his sleeping quarters and a field station.

Two gers stand alone against the vast openness of the steppe in Eastern Mongolia. The ger – often called a yurt outside Mongolia – is a round dwelling designed to be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:00 pm

‘The spirit of resistance’: De Gaulle biopic turns into surprise hit for France’s younger viewers

Historians argue box office enthusiasm shows desire for unifying figure as country faces political division

On 18 June 1940, Charles de Gaulle, then a little-known junior army officer, sat in a BBC studio in London and made his famous rallying call for the French to resist the Nazi occupation and its puppet Vichy government.

In the eyes of the British prime minister Winston Churchill, De Gaulle was an arrogant, stubborn and defiant thorn in his and the allies’ side, but the Frenchman never stopped believing in the greatness of France and the need for resistance.

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:00 pm

‘My electric toaster is more than 100 years old’: readers on their ancient appliances

After news that a couple from Gloucestershire are still using an Electrolux fridge from the 1930s, we asked readers about their experiences. From a 50-year-old TV to a 75-year-old vacuum cleaner, here are the old faithfuls

I have a 1974 Janex Batman and Robin wind-up talking alarm clock. Amazingly, it still works even though it’s more than 50 years old. It plays audio of Batman and Robin having a discussion on why should really get up and out of bed. I love it. Every time I see it, I smile. Jason Connolly, 57, district nurse, Macandrew Bay, New Zealand

Published: August 15, 2026, 9:00 pm

Kinz, London W11: ‘No bells, no whistles, just Lebanese food cooked with immense pride’ – restaurant review

Home cooking, but in the most complimentary sense

Some developers would rip the soul out of a 1930s banking hall, but Kinz, a new all-day Lebanese brasserie housed in a former Lloyds Bank in Notting Hill, instead makes a feature of its chunky vault door. Where W11 residents once kept their cash, diners can now take a seat and sip Lebanese wine from the Bekaa valley. After all, what visit to the bank wouldn’t be improved by a cold glass of Chateau Musar Jeune?

This triple-height room with mezzanine seating is a very different proposition from all those tiny, homespun Lebanese restaurants typically anchored around Edgware Road since the 1970s. Kinz may offer kibbeh nayyeh (finely minced raw lamb and beef with bulgur, spices and pine nuts), shish barak (tiny lamb and herb dumplings in yoghurt sauce) and warak enab (lamb-stuffed vine leaves and baby courgettes), as do many places in pockets across west London, but there is something altogether more cinematic about this elegant setting.

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:00 pm

Sure, ‘Woke 1’ had its issues – but we have far bigger problems on our hands | Arwa Mahdawi

AOC’s remarks about past excesses have been ripped out of context. Progressives shouldn’t get roped into this sideshow

There is probably no word that has been more used and abused in the last decade than “woke”. It has been rendered completely meaningless, but it refuses to die. Indeed, it has now taken on new life: in the past week, there’s been a flurry of headlines about “Woke 1.0” or “Woke One”. If you haven’t seen the phrase pop up in your newsfeed yet, it will soon.

So what is this cursed phrase? There’s no official definition, but the term is largely being used to refer to the period between 2018 and 2021 when social justice language was at its peak in mainstream culture. Certain progressives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have started to use “Woke 1” disparagingly, as a way to distance themselves from that period and signal that they stand for a new form of left-leaning politics that is more palatable to centrist Democrats. “Woke 2”, I suppose.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Published: August 15, 2026, 5:00 am

It’s the SUV tyranny: where have all the normal family cars gone? | Coco Khan

They rule the roads and, in their wake, even old-style saloons have been supersized. It’s an illusion of consumer choice

Recently, while traipsing from showroom to showroom in search of a used car for my growing clan, the iconic line from Christopher Nolan’s seminal Batman movie The Dark Knight came to mind: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” And by villain, of course, I mean an SUV driver.

Because, if you haven’t shopped for a secondhand family car recently, I’ll save you the shock: wherever you look, it’s SUVs.

Published: August 15, 2026, 12:00 am

Community Shield offers insight into Arsenal’s desire and Maresca’s Manchester City impact | Jonathan Wilson

Curtain-raiser can offer clues but it is no reliable pointer to a season – its winners have not landed the title since 2018

The doubt for anyone when a long-strived-for goal has been achieved is hunger. Arsenal waited 22 years for their 14th league title and, compounding the yearning, finished second three times in a row before finally lifting the Premier League trophy in May. The physical exertions of last season were immense – as seen by Declan Rice’s clear exhaustion and Bukayo Saka’s intermittent contributions at the World Cup, where William Saliba picked up a back injury – but so too was the emotional strain.

The first weeks of a new season after a major tournament, especially the World Cup, are often a little erratic anyway, but this feels like a particularly unpredictable start to a campaign. Nine of the 20 Premier League clubs have changed manager this summer. For the first time in 40 years, none of the five big managerial beasts of the Premier League era – Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola – will be in charge of a club. There are unknowns and uncertainty everywhere, even at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta may be the longest-serving manager in the league but there are questions even there; it would be no great surprise if Arsenal were to start slowly.

Published: August 15, 2026, 12:00 pm

Claressa Shields eyes Britain’s Price after stopping Kaye Scott to reclaim titles

• American stops Sydneysider at 1:38 of sixth round

• Shields claims WBA and WBC belts after 38lb cut

• Lauren Price identified as preferred next opponent

Claressa Shields completed a remarkable descent from heavyweight to middleweight, stopping Australia’s Kaye Scott in the sixth round to capture the WBA and WBC titles in a fight that went off early Sunday morning at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

The five-division world champion and double Olympic gold medalist dominated her outclassed opponent from the opening bell before dropping Scott in the sixth and overwhelming her against the ropes after the action resumed. With the 42-year-old champion unable to defend herself from another sustained barrage, Scott’s corner threw several towels into the ring and the contest was waved off after 1min 38sec.

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:49 pm

The Fair Hill Five: horse racing’s bizarre transatlantic betting coup – explained

Four horses with little record of success suddenly won in the US. A seemingly coordinated betting operation across London did too – and now racing authorities want answers

To understand why horse racing on both sides of the pond has been gripped by the Fair Hill Five over the past week, start with a basic principle of betting: when two unlikely horses win in back-to-back races, a wager correctly picking both should pay off handsomely. Last Sunday at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park, it did not.

The sequence began with The Great Amira, a 17-1 longshot who went from finishing last in her previous two starts to winning wire to wire by nine and a half lengths. Her trainer then won the very next race with Tepeyac, who went off at about 4-1, and the meager Daily Double payout for picking both outsiders suggested the exact combination had been unusually well backed. Later that afternoon, two more longshot winners emerged at Saratoga. They were among five runners with recent workouts at Maryland’s Fair Hill Training Center, the common link behind the name Fair Hill Five.

Published: August 16, 2026, 12:00 am

American Kate Douglass breaks 50m freestyle world record twice in one day

• American clocks 23.19sec to win final at Pan Pacs

• Douglass had first broken record with 23.49sec in heats

Kate Douglass lowered her own world record in the women’s 50m freestyle for the second time in one day, winning the Pan Pacific Championships final in 23.19sec.

In the morning preliminaries, the 24-year-old American swam 23.49 to take the mark away from teammate Gretchen Walsh, who finished second in the evening final in 23.74. Australia’s reigning world champion Meg Harris was third in 23.89.

Published: August 15, 2026, 8:08 pm

Novak Djokovic suffers in Cincinnati heat as Thiago Agustín Tirante inflicts shock defeat

• Argentinian powers to 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory

• Heat and humidity take toll on Djokovic

• Britain’s Fery holds off Duckworth 6-4, 2-6, 7-6

The scoreboard did not yet indicate that anything was awry, but even as Novak Djokovic led by a set in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open, he was already struggling badly.

From the second set onwards, he spent much of his time between points squatting and bending over as he desperately tried to catch his breath in the notorious Ohioan humidity. He was eventually dispatched 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Thiago Agustín Tirante of Argentina, who took this golden opportunity to register the biggest win of his career.

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:35 pm

Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez makes MLB history with three homers in first three at-bats

• 23-year-old hits home run on first pitch in majors

• Báez drives in five during 8-4 victory over Cubs

• Rookie was called up from Triple-A earlier in day

Joshua Báez became the first player to hit three home runs in his first three at-bats in the major leagues, leading the St Louis Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

The 23-year-old left fielder, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, hit the first pitch he saw into the Wrigley Field bleachers, then homered in his next two at-bats. He also drove in five runs.

Published: August 15, 2026, 2:24 pm

As ESPN cuts familiar faces, its retreat from serious NBA coverage is complete

As ESPN cuts expert voices and rewards viral argument, fans who want to understand basketball are building a smarter conversation elsewhere

After the Phoenix Suns dumped the Golden State Warriors out of last season’s play-in, Stephen A Smith settled behind the First Take desk to explain why Steve Kerr might have coached his last game. Midway through the burial, he claimed the Warriors hadn’t “been to the playoffs since that championship in 2022” – a four-year drought in his telling – before grumbling that Golden State could pay someone far less than $17m a year to miss the postseason.

Cool. Except the drought never happened. Golden State reached the conference semi-finals in 2023 and again in 2025. ESPN anchor Shae Cornette, who had command of the basic facts, tried to smuggle that inconvenient reality into the discussion. It went nowhere. Apparently, nobody on an ESPN set is permitted to correct the franchise “star”. Only weeks earlier, Smith had been inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame for his work in media.

Published: August 15, 2026, 2:00 am

Prichard Colón, boxer left with brain damage after 2015 fight, dies aged 33

• Puerto Rican suffered brain bleed in only defeat

• WBC blamed illegal blows to back of the head

• Colón had won his first 16 professional fights

The boxing world was in mourning Friday following the death of Puerto Rican fighter Prichard Colón at the age of 33, 11 years after he sustained brain damage in the only defeat of his professional career.

Colón’s death was confirmed in statements by the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Organization late Thursday.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:42 am

Transfer roundup: Aston Villa close on Japan keeper Zion Suzuki as Emiliano Martínez nears exit

• PSG sign Spain’s Ferran Torres from Barcelona

• Djed Spence completes move to Inter from Spurs

Aston Villa are preparing for the potential exit of goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez by accelerating a move for Parma’s Zion Suzuki. Juventus have revived their interest in Martínez, who is open to leaving after six seasons at Villa and is increasingly likely to depart during this transfer window. Villa are advancing a deal to sign Suzuki as the Argentina No 1’s replacement.

Villa dismissed an offer from Juve for Martínez earlier this summer, but Juve have now revisited a move for the 33-year-old, who is under contract until 2029. Juve are also thought to be monitoring Ederson, now of Fenerbahce, and Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario. Suzuki was poised to join Paris Saint-Germain this week but the Champions League winners, who defeated Villa in the Super Cup in Salzburg on Wednesday, pulled out of a deal worth about €35m (£30m).

Published: August 15, 2026, 10:53 am

NSW to begin Australia’s biggest gun buyback in decades in wake of Bondi terror attack

Albanese and Minns said buyback would begin in two phases from 2 November, with state and commonwealth to split costs

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New South Wales will become the first state to undertake Australia’s biggest gun buyback in 30 years in a jointly funded scheme in response to the Bondi beach terror attack.

Anthony Albanese and the Minns government said the buyback would begin in two phases from 2 November.

Published: August 15, 2026, 6:13 pm

Alaska candidate for US Senate rejects Kamala Harris’s unsolicited support

Former VP sent fundraising appeal for Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign – with half of donations going to Harris’s organization

Alaska US Senate candidate Mary Peltola has rejected the support of Kamala Harris, her fellow Democrat, after the 2024 presidential candidate sent out a seemingly unsolicited fundraising appeal on Peltola’s behalf.

Harris, who lost Alaska – typically a Republican-voting state – by 13 points during her unsuccessful White House run, on Wednesday sent an email from her political organization to supporters of Peltola, a former US House member.

Published: August 15, 2026, 8:07 am

‘Our children are less cognitively capable,’ says neuroscientist who wants to cut screen use in schools

Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and develop

Jared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.

A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. “This might be one of the hardest truths our generation has to face,” he writes in his book, The Digital Delusion.

Published: August 16, 2026, 12:00 am

New York City man charged with hate crimes after alleged synagogue assault

Police say Larry Montes struck a woman and a security guard after he disrupted Shabbat services

A New York City man is facing hate crime charges after police say he assaulted a woman and a security team member while disrupting Shabbat services at Central Synagogue in Manhattan – all in plain view of a live stream.

The New York police department identified the suspect in the case as Larry Montes, 46, who was arrested after the episode at the synagogue. Montes was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, along with other alleged violations, police said.

Published: August 15, 2026, 1:02 pm

Lindsay Clancy murder trial: prosecutors revive theory of faked suicide attempt

Prosecutors pointed to internet searches made on the family computer in the months before the killings to make their case

Prosecutors revived a theory in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial case this week, suggesting she had faked a suicide attempt after allegedly strangling her three children.

While prosecutors have been arguing that Clancy acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible, her defense has said she suffered from postpartum psychosis.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:00 am

Tributes paid to Jason Arday after former Cambridge professor’s death

Andy Burnham calls for reflection after ‘tragedy on so many levels’ in comments echoed by London mayor Sadiq Khan

Andy Burnham has called the death of Jason Arday, whose body was found at his home in south London on Friday, a “tragedy on so many levels”.

Arday resigned as a professor at the University of Cambridge last week after allegations of plagiarism, which he denied. He was pronounced dead just after 3pm on Friday.

Published: August 15, 2026, 5:22 am

‘He had magnetism’: Lula returns to site of political origins to launch fourth-term campaign

Brazil’s president was union chief who led metalworkers’ strikes of 1979-80 that paved the way for return of democracy

Day after day, tens of thousands of metalworkers would cram on to the football pitch in São Paulo’s industrial suburbs to demand higher wages and, perhaps unwittingly, transform the destiny of Brazil.

“You weren’t just documenting a fact – you were documenting history,” said photographer Jesus Carlos, who immortalised the now legendary strikes of 1979 and 1980 with his 24mm lens.

Published: August 15, 2026, 6:00 am

Zimbabwe boat accident death toll hits 68 as 22 more bodies recovered

Eighteen children among the people killed after ferry capsized on Lake Kariba

Twenty-two more bodies have been recovered after a boat accident in Zimbabwe, taking the death toll to 68, police said on Saturday.

The ferry capsized on Tuesday on Lake Kariba, on the border with Zambia. An investigation has suggested it was overloaded when it turned over during heavy winds.

Published: August 15, 2026, 12:39 pm

Gen Z flocks to BirdTok as birding takes flight: ‘It’s a craving for something real’

Social media and Shazam-like birdsong apps drawing young people to hobby as they seek a gentler connection to the outside world

Sorry Elon, but they’re not your kind of tweets. Social media users are flocking to TikTok to join a burgeoning trend for birding videos as the hobby attracts a younger demographic.

With the internet ever more cluttered with polarising, shouty and AI content, evidence is emerging of Britons preferring a gentler, more melodic window on the world in the shape of footage of the nation’s feathered friends.

Published: August 15, 2026, 2:00 am

At least five people dead in Indiana amid worst flooding in over 30 years, officials say

National Weather Service reports that more than 11in of rain fell over a two-day period in some areas

At least five people are dead after devastating floods that swept through Indiana this week, officials said, as storms continued to batter the state on Saturday and first responders used boats to rescue more people from rising waters in neighborhoods along the White River in Indianapolis.

The mayor of Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, and other state officials implored residents in areas at risk of flooding to heed any evacuation warnings at a news conference.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:56 pm

How to buy a ‘mega-dinghy’: the perilous new model of Channel crossing

Boats carrying hundreds of people are a clear and alarming trend. But where do such large vessels come from?

Providing a large dinghy for use in the choppy seas of western Europe was not a problem, as long as the order was for more than 20 vessels, they said. The sales manager at the Chinese company even had an online brochure for an undercover Guardian reporter, posing as a prospective client, to peruse.

They had a production capacity of 500 boats a month and, yes, it was possible to get even bigger ones for the right price. They could do a seven or even an eight-metre military-style dinghy for $1,678 (£1,238) a boat, without the engines, but that would be lacking CE certification, the mandatory mark that shows a product meets EU health and safety requirements.

Additional reporting by Lyndon Li

Published: August 15, 2026, 5:00 am

Missed out on tickets to see the Bayeux tapestry in London? A £1,000 hotel stay will get you in

British Museum’s £33 tickets sold out in a day but some slots have been reserved for guests at five-star One Aldwych

Those hoping to snare a glimpse of the Bayeux tapestry when it comes to the British Museum this September faced nine-hour online queues, with the £33 tickets sold out within a day.

But the monied guests of a five-star hotel in Covent Garden have not had to go to such arduous lengths to get a view of the nearly 1,000-year-old depiction of William the Conqueror’s victory over King Harold II of England at Hastings in 1066.

Published: August 15, 2026, 6:00 am

Moroccan police arrest more than 100 people as they attempt to enter Ceuta

Border security tightened after social media posts call for another mass crossing into Spain’s north African territory

Moroccan police have arrested 111 people as they tried to enter Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, amid ⁠tightened security on both sides after social media posts ​called for another mass crossing.

The attempted crossing on Saturday came two weeks after more than 72,000 migrants surged into Ceuta, causing tensions within the EU and prompting anti-immigration rhetoric among far-right parties worldwide. At least 96 people died trying to ⁠reach European soil.

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:08 am

Safety check calls after Irish teenager electrocuted taking shower in Greece

Alex McKee died when picking up showerhead in ‘outdoor and rudimentary’ bathroom on Kimolos

The death of an Irish teenager, electrocuted while taking a shower in a holiday home in Greece, has led to calls for tighter checks on appliances at tourist accommodation.

Alex McKee, 17, is said to have died instantly when picking up the showerhead in a bathroom described as “outdoor and rudimentary” on Kimolos.

Published: August 15, 2026, 7:26 am

Atsuko Okatsuka: ‘Fans have cut their hair to look like mine, which is a huge commitment’

The comedian and actor on her love for White Chicks, getting a bad Yelp review as a dog walker and doing stand-up during an earthquake

You went to film school, what movie do you rewatch or return to most?

This would not be an answer that my film school would respect, or expect: White Chicks by the Wayans brothers. It’s about two brothers who are pretending to be rich white girls from the Hamptons. I love when something’s super stupid and silly, and there’s a scene where this group of [white] girls is in the car singing, and the two brothers have to pretend to know Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles, and I was like, “Oh my god, I’ve been there!”

Published: August 15, 2026, 1:00 pm

The moment I knew: I heard her beautiful laugh again, and all my emotions came flooding back

Eddie Botha felt an easy connection with Jennifer. But when she went away for a trip, he thought that was the end of their growing romance

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

I met Jennifer at a Guy Sebastian concert in Kuala Lumpur in 2005. It was strange I was there because I’m kind of anti-pop music, but we were introduced there by a mutual friend. We didn’t talk that much but I immediately liked Jen and invited her to dinner the following week.

That first date wasn’t in a fancy restaurant and we sat in the corner and talked for over an hour. I liked that she wasn’t at all bothered by the simplicity of the dining room. Being a foreigner in Malaysia, I immediately felt with Jen that there wasn’t as much of a culture gap as I’d felt with others. I could talk to her easily and was struck by her warmth and openness. And it was there that I first heard her laugh beaming out across the room, a pure, joyous sound.

Published: August 15, 2026, 1:00 pm

Art Spiegelman: ‘The US needs a counter-revolution’

More than four decades after his Holocaust story Maus transformed the graphic novel genre, Art Spiegelman discusses Trump, the shadow of 9/11 and the rise of fascism in America

When the cartoonist Art Spiegelman began dating his future wife, Françoise Mouly, in the mid 70s, she would tell him not to worry about walking her home, because even the New York muggers didn’t bother venturing to where she lived in Soho. He moved in with her quite suddenly not long after, when his apartment in Greenwich Village burned down. His landlord, who lived on the ground floor, was a hoarder – once, when he came to collect Spiegelman’s rent, a cockroach crawled up from under his shirt collar – and eventually his accumulated junk caught alight.

This feels like a quintessential New York story, but then much of Spiegelman’s life does, or at least fits with the kind of stories we like to tell ourselves about the city. The Soho apartment Spiegelman and Mouly have lived in for five decades is worth millions now and is surrounded by high-end designers; his studio, down the road, is above a branch of Tiffany’s. “It’s just kind of an embarrassment, I mean Tiffany’s is not my class,” says Spiegelman, who refers to these flash new arrivals, dismissively, as “very fancy airport mall stores”.

Published: August 15, 2026, 1:00 am

Thousands of Bonnie Tyler fans gather to pay respects as coffin brought home

Fans line streets, singing Total Eclipse of the Heart ahead of Welsh singer’s Swansea funeral

Thousands of Bonnie Tyler fans lined the streets of her home town in south Wales to pay respects to the singer as her coffin was brought back to her former home.

The singer, whose real name was Gaynor Sullivan, died unexpectedly on 8 July in Portugal at the age of 75.

Published: August 15, 2026, 11:44 am

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt convinced me to give up on my fashion industry dreams

I was struggling to make ends meet as an unpaid intern when a sarcastic song from the hit comedy gave me the clarity to walk out

It was 3am in the summer of 2017, and I was lying in a triple bunk bed in a hostel in London, listening to the sounds of the 14 other people in my dormitory snoring. I had been working unpaid internships in the fashion industry in London for the past 18 months and living in £12-a-night hostels. When I couldn’t sleep, I would watch TV on my beaten-up phone to drown out the snores. I was watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, an absurdist comedy about a woman who moves to New York after 15 years imprisoned in a doomsday cult’s underground bunker.

Her relentless positivity often inspired me to keep going, but on that particular night, the opposite happened: Kimmy gave me the courage to give up.

Published: August 15, 2026, 4:00 am

Are you tweaking on your partner? From secret boob jobs to Botox on the sly, people explain why they keep their cosmetic procedures hidden

Daniel’s boyfriend thinks his youthful complexion is down to fancy skincare, and Jessica’s nearest and dearest still don’t know she’s had a breast enhancement …

Jessica was at a spa with her friends of more than 20 years when she noticed one stare at her bikini, lock eyes with her and laugh, before asking: “Wait, have you …?” The game was up – eight months after she’d had a secret breast enhancement, she’d been rumbled. Fearing judgment from even her closest circle, she had only spoken to two people who’d had the procedure, for advice, and told a neighbour in case she was unwell after the surgery. “My family still don’t know – most people don’t,” the 42-year-old from London says, including her two children who live between her and her ex-husband. “I’m not alone; I’ve since learned winter is the most popular time for people to get things done, then they can just hide under jumpers while everything settles in, so no one notices.”

For years, celebrities have endured public speculation about their tweakments and surgeries – but as procedures become more commonplace, “civilian” patients are facing the same questions from family and friends. And many of them are choosing to go incognito; some surgeons estimate up to 70% of their clients aren’t telling others about their aesthetic procedures. But what are the practicalities of disguising everything from breast augmentation to filler to hair transplants from your closest circle? And why are so many people spending thousands of pounds to alter their appearance – only to hope that no one notices?

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:59 am

‘I don’t even drink whisky’: Scotland reels in visitors as much of Europe swelters

More direct flights from North America and, say tourism chiefs, Highland warriors and Tartan Army have helped

For the tourist industry, 2026 has been a rocky year, with war, EU border delays, climate and economic woes gnawing away at holiday plans. But while much of Britain is feeling the loss of visitors from the Middle East and beyond, one part is thriving.

Scotland is reeling in ever more visitors, with strong annual growth and a 15% rise in flight bookings to Scottish airports in June and July, compared with a drop in bookings to London and the rest of England in recent months, according to VisitBritain figures.

Published: August 15, 2026, 2:00 am

‘From this perspective, the bullfrog feels powerful and mythical’: Steven Scott Grogin’s best phone picture

The photographer was on an early-morning hike by a lake in Michigan when he spotted the unusually large amphibian, so he dipped his lens below the waterline to get the shot

Steven Scott Grogin describes his mornings in Michigan as a ritual. He wakes up at 6am on the dot to get ready for a hike. His favourite lake, once a quarry pit, is a 30-minute walk away, so he tends to arrive by around 7am. “It’s serene and private, and I feel very peaceful there,” Grogin says. “The terrain changes from flat areas to very hilly sections, and there is a lot of biodiversity.”

As he circled the lake’s perimeter, he saw this American bullfrog in the water. “It was the largest one I’ve ever seen, around six to eight inches long and very hefty,” he says. “Bullfrogs are predators, but they’re also very skittish, so getting close is difficult.”

Published: August 15, 2026, 3:00 am

Corgi high fashion and at the races: in pictures

Lithuania’s capital Vilnius has been billed as the ‘European corgi capital’. Corgi Race Vilnius began during the pandemic as a friendly bet between two owners, and now features sprint heats, a costume parade, a loudest bark contest, and new agility and ‘run and return’ races.

Published: August 15, 2026, 2:19 pm