How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’

People with persistent predatory personalities cause an inordinate amount of pain. Recently, our shared understanding of them has grown – and it could help protect us

The classic checklist for psychopathy was developed in 1980 by Prof Robert Hare, who is still the recognised giant of the territory. The 20 traits, which ranged from pathological lying to a lack of empathy, were based entirely on prison populations. This worked because not only did Hare have the benefit of a large sample, with pronounced psychopathic behaviours, but he was able to compare interviews and self-reporting with data collected about the individuals – so inconsistencies could be identified.

However, Hare knew this approach was limited. In 1976, he said that he simply didn’t know to what extent his results could be generalised to non-incarcerated psychopaths, including female ones. “Research into the socially successful psychopath is badly needed,” he concluded. Even decades later in the early 2000s, when Hare wanted to look into psychopaths in politics, he still needed to go to prison to find them (Pinochet’s henchmen in Chilean jails). Research into the higher-functioning psychopath – who doesn’t get caught, or maybe doesn’t even resort to crime – has proved elusive, not least because self-reporting questionnaires don’t work. Psychopaths lie; arguably, that’s their main thing.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

The flat-pack skyscraper: how wood can shape the cities of the future

Our buildings are monuments to extraction and extreme emissions. But what if we turned from destructive concrete to timber?

• Last chance to buy the summer issue of The Long Read magazine, now with 15% off. Click here to order

I travelled to Oslo in the early autumn. It felt like arriving into the future. Or, at least, a fragment of a possible future. I drove north in the quiet digital bubble of my electric rental car. In 2024, Norway became the first country in the world where electric cars outnumbered petrol cars.

A smooth, pristine motorway unfolded between farmlands and low hillsides of dense green forest. Long tunnels carried the route up above the banks of Lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake. After a little more than an hour, the road curved downward to run parallel to the lakeshore.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

I tried 11 coffees from Counter Culture, the accessible small-batch roaster converting coffee slobs to snobs

I’ll never go back to Starbucks after trying this specialty brand. Level up your morning coffee with well-made beans and the right roast for you

• Four ways to brew better drip coffee

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

I’m an empathetic girl, except when it comes to anyone who despises the taste of coffee.

Having perfected my at-home cup, I can’t fathom anyone disliking the warming flavors that incentivize me to leave my bed every morning. In fact, I’m convinced I could convert tea loyalists and energy drink lovers into coffee connoisseurs if they set aside their Folgers and tried quality beans.

I never leave home without my trusty, leakproof Owala coffee mug

Published: August 26, 2026, 12:15 pm

Everyone hates datacentres. Do we really need them? – podcast

AI companies have promised us world-shifting technology. But there’s a cost: loud, unsightly datacentres that drain environmental resources. As the government pushes their rapid growth, can local communities do anything to push back? Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s global technology reporter Aisha Down about the backlash to datacentres across the UK and around the world

For tickets to the Science Weekly live event at the London podcast festival on the future of AI, visit the event page at kingsplace.co.uk

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

‘9 to 5? She was full-on round the clock!’ Dolly Parton celebrated by kd lang, Peggy Seeger, Annie Lennox and more

Musicians and performers pay tribute to the country legend who managed to be a generational talent, a formidable entrepreneur, a dedicated philanthropist and a truly kind person

Shirley Collins, singer-songwriter

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:46 am

The Nazis drove Bauhaus out of town. Now the far right is waging another war against the movement

Poll to take place in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, where Bauhaus blossomed a century ago – and where AfD is promising ‘patriotic culture policy’ if it wins

The city of Dessau, where the Bauhaus design school flourished a century ago, catapulted Germany into the modern era and revolutionised global design.

It is also where the Nazis drove the avant garde movement out of town and attempted to crush its utopian principles. A hundred years later, another high-stakes culture war over its legacy is looming.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

Meta agrees to major changes to Facebook and Instagram as it settles US trial over teen addiction for up to $18bn

US tech giant agrees to establish further protections for teens such as daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use

Meta agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit on Wednesday. Dozens of US states had accused the tech giant of addicting and harming children with dangerous products.

The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to $18bn. Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use nationwide in the US.

Published: August 26, 2026, 1:30 pm

Nepal flash flood live updates: more than 1,000 people missing after glacial collapse at Tibet border

At least 165 people have died, with hundreds of foreign nationals from India, US, UK, Australia, Malaysia and Ukraine among those missing

• Flash floods on Nepal-Tibet border leave scores dead and hundreds missing

• Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded

• Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?

Eyewitness accounts have been emerging from the Tibetan side of the border, with a woman saying she was travelling from Gyirong town towards Nepal on Wednesday morning when her group encountered the flood about 4km from Gyirong port.

“Trees and electricity poles had already been knocked down, and the flood water was bearing down on us. We didn’t dare turn around, so we could only reverse,” the woman, surnamed Fang, told Xiaoxiang Morning News.

I was really scared. My whole body was trembling.

Published: August 26, 2026, 11:17 pm

Trial date set for four accused of involvement in 9/11 plot

The men have spent years at Guantánamo Bay, with legal proceedings mired in pre-trial conflicts over CIA’s interrogation methods

A trial date has been set for four men who have spent years held in Guantánamo Bay for their alleged involvement in the 9/11 attack, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused as the mastermind of the plot.

In a ruling that came just weeks before the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack that brought down the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City and killed nearly 3,000 people, Judge Lt Col Michael Schrama issued an order Wednesday, for the trial to begin on 5 June 2028.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:06 pm

Ex-JPMorgan Chase executive shared confidential bank information with Epstein

Jes Staley told US House committee he also was at one point named a trustee of convicted sex offender’s estate

Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley told US lawmakers he repeatedly shared confidential and market-sensitive bank ⁠information with Jeffrey Epstein and ⁠was at one ​point named as a trustee of his estate, according to a transcript released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday.

These admissions come as lawmakers investigate the late convicted ⁠sex offender’s ties with political and business elites. Staley appeared before the committee in July as part of its investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Transcripts ⁠from the meeting were released on Wednesday.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:25 pm

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejoins DSA after membership lapse of seven years

Then House candidate joined Democratic Socialists of America in 2018 but didn’t renew membership after a year

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America after not renewing her membership for seven years, amid speculation that she might run for president in 2028.

The 36-year-old New York representative and one of the country’s most prominent democratic socialists renewed her membership in the group’s national organization after reports emerged earlier this month that it had lapsed. Ocasio-Cortez initially joined the group in 2018.

Published: August 26, 2026, 3:11 pm

Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97

From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations

• Kusama – a life in pictures

• Was Kusama the world’s favourite artist?

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese outsider artist who reached superstar status after decades living in a psychiatric hospital, has died aged 97.

Kusama died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August, her company Yayoi Kusama Inc announced in a statement on Thursday.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:17 pm

Ghent professors challenged expertise of Jason Arday’s plagiarism accuser

Allegations Nathan Cofnas was unqualified for Ghent role and would cause ‘negative impact’ made to senior leaders months ago

Nathan Cofnas, the academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism, has been accused of having “very limited expertise” for his academic role by professors also working at Ghent University, who say he has a “far-right agenda”.

Cofnas secured a postdoctoral research role “on the future of liberalism” at Belgium’s Ghent University in March. Weeks later, Ghent’s department of philosophy and moral sciences handed a 19-page statement to university officials, setting out why it believed it was “improbable” that Cofnas was the best candidate.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:00 pm

California man who brought guillotine to US Capitol grounds pleads not guilty

Philan-Tam-Duy Le, 35, was arrested on misdemeanor weapon charge, but judge declines to keep him in jail

A California man who was arrested this week for having a wooden guillotine near the US Capitol grounds pleaded not guilty at a Wednesday arraignment to a misdemeanor weapon charge, court records show.

Prosecutors sought to keep 35-year-old Philan-Tam-Duy Le in jail, but Judge Robert Hildum of the District of Columbia superior court declined the request, according to the Washington Post.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:47 pm

France to relax cheese production rules after drought takes toll on grazing land

Comté, beaufort and abondance makers can temporarily supplement cows’ diets as there is ‘no grass left to eat’

Strict production rules will be loosened for some of France’s most famous cheeses after drought and repeated heatwaves dried out grazing pastures, threatening the livelihoods of traditional dairy workers.

Comté, a hard cheese made from raw cows’ milk in the Jura mountains, is France’s top-selling traditional cheese, with more than 62,000 tonnes produced last year. The government announced on Wednesday that its producers would be granted a temporary change to strict rules on grazing after farmers said extreme heat had scorched their pastures, putting production at risk.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

How the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded – a visual guide

US Geological Survey says massive glacial collapse caused catastrophic flash floods in the Himalayan border region of Nepal ⁠and Tibet

• Follow latest updates live

• Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods?

The massive glacial collapse that caused catastrophic flash floods in the Himalayan border region of Nepal ⁠and Tibet has killed at least 165 people, though the number of dead is set to rise, with local officials saying more than 1,000 were missing.

Officials said 826 people were missing in Nepal, among them 579 tourists from two dozen countries, including India, the US, Australia, Britain and Canada. Chinese ‌state media said 558 people were missing ​in Tibet’s Gyirong ⁠county. It was not immediately clear if the missing counts were separate or some people been counted twice.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:19 pm

Man in prison in New York advances in primary for Alaska’s US House seat

Democrat Eric Hafner, to be released in 2036, also ran for seat in 2024, securing spot on that general election ballot

A man who is serving time in a federal prison in New York advanced on Wednesday from the primary for Alaska’s lone US House seat.

Eric Hafner, a registered Democrat, also ran for the seat in 2024 and secured a spot on the general election ballot that November despite a challenge brought by the Alaska Democratic party.

Published: August 26, 2026, 3:14 pm

Should Kamala Harris run for president again? ‘Nope,’ says Iowa Democrat

‘We need some new leadership,’ says the Democratic nominee for governor in Iowa, Rob Sand

• US politics live – latest updates

The Democratic nominee for governor in Iowa bluntly answered a question that scores of national Democrats have thus far refused to respond to.

Asked by Politico whether the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, should run for president again, Rob Sand responded: “Nope.”

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:52 am

Trump downplays Moscow visit by CIA director as ‘semi-routine’

President denies visit was to gain support for Iran sanctions or due to fears that Putin plans to ‘test Nato resolve’

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip.

Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland.

Published: August 26, 2026, 11:21 am

How to lose Trump’s trade war: test Canada’s resolve with threats to hockey sticks

The US president expected Ottawa to bow to tariff demands, but Canada is striking back – and it could cost Americans

• This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday

Earlier this year, a survey found that Canada, along with Switzerland, was the best-liked country in the world. We all know this kind of polling is about as scientific as a high school popularity contest, but at least anecdotally, Canadians have a reputation for being friendly and welcoming, respectful and polite. Many people would find it difficult to dislike Canadians.

But not Donald Trump, who in a “hold my beer” moment this week demonstrated that he, at least, finds it easy to resent Canadians. The US president called the country “difficult and unreasonable”, and in a particularly hysterical moment, threatened to rename a lake, after trade talks collapsed.

Published: August 26, 2026, 11:15 am

Japan killed 14,000 bears after a rise in deadly attacks on people – but will it work?

Bears killed 13 people in Japan last year, as a lack of forest foods increased conflicts. Yet some say the country’s controversial cull could threaten the endangered species

Every summer, millions of people escape the heat and humidity of Tokyo by heading to the tranquil resort town of Karuizawa in Japan’s Nagano prefecture – just an hour by bullet train from the capital. Here, at the foot of Mount Asama, visitors stroll bamboo-lined pathways, cycle in verdant highlands, and practise the wellness ritual of shinrin-yoku, bathing among the cool hinoki forests. It would be the ideal nature retreat – if it wasn’t for the bears.

From June to August, bears often move close to Karuizawa, feeding on the mulberries, ants, leaves and cherry blossoms that grow near the town. Unlike nuts, these foods are low in calories, spurring the bears to seek out further sustenance. “They’re more likely to get close to residential spaces to see what they can find,” says Amelia Hiorns, a British zoologist who previously worked with Picchio Wildlife Research Centre in the town. “This combines with the busiest season for tourists.”

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

‘You can taste the ash’: surviving in America’s wildfire smoke capital

A magical corner of Oregon has the highest US rate of wildfire smoke deaths. How do residents live with the haze – and grief?

Driving into the county, you can’t miss the sign.

“IT’S THE CLIMATE”.

Published: August 26, 2026, 5:00 am

Instagram CEO denies company hid low use of teen safety feature in Meta trial

Adam Mosseri is first top executive from Meta to testify in blockbuster lawsuit brought by 29 US states

Instagram’s CEO disputed allegations by US prosecutors that his company hid negative information from the public while testifying during a blockbuster social media trial.

“I am not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,” the CEO, Adam Mosseri, told a California courtroom on Tuesday.

Published: August 25, 2026, 5:07 pm

Gavin Newsom puts Spanish-style California mansion up for sale for $7.5m

The 12-bath, seven-bed home near the state capital boasts a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, a pool and a tennis court

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has put his Sacramento-area mansion up for sale, before his term ends in January.

The 12-bath, seven-bed Spanish-style home in Fair Oaks, a suburb of the California capital, hit the market on Monday with an asking price of $7.5m. The estate, which sits on a 8.2-acre (3.3-hectare) parcel of land, boasts an array of amenities including a full-size tennis court, a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, a pool, a cold plunge and a hot tub, according to a Zillow listing from realtors Matthew Hindy and Nick Sadek.

Published: August 25, 2026, 3:55 pm

The ex-gang member breaking the cycle of violence among LA youths

‘A child isn’t born to commit gun violence,’ Francisco Villarruel says

Francisco Villarruel and Gustavo Galvez sat in a park in Los Angeles reminiscing on their first boxing lesson together. They had gone to a big commercial gym, where they took turns hitting boxing pads and doing footwork exercises. They then started regularly training together.

For Villarruel, 40, working out together wasn’t really about boxing. It was about giving Galvez, 19, an opportunity to open up and to mentor someone whose pain he understands. “ I think a lot of the traumatic scenarios that he went through are very similar to mine in my upbringing,” Villarruel said.

Published: August 25, 2026, 8:00 am

US Catholic churches see a record number of conversions: ‘It’s a real shift’

After decades of declining religious affiliation, churches in southern California have seen an increase among gen Z

Alicia Martinez pulls on an oversized, chocolate-brown leather jacket – an incongruous choice for the July heat in Los Angeles. Later that day, she plans to see The Odyssey in a frigid theater. But first, there is mass.

Martinez, 24, enters Our Savior Parish, the castle-like church beside her workplace, the University of Southern California. Inside, she dips her fingers in holy water, makes the sign of the cross on her forehead, and enters the main part of the church in hushed reverence.

Published: August 25, 2026, 7:00 am

Jeers, walkouts, stage invasions: will Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists trigger British audiences too?

It has inspired violent protests from Norway to Rome – and now it’s hitting the UK. Playwright Tiago Rodrigues explains why the far-right speech at the drama’s climax has proved so incendiary

In February, turbulent scenes inside a German theatre made headlines around the globe. During the final act of a play at Schauspielhaus theatre in Bochum, the audience first jeered and whistled at a performer in the role of a far-right politician. An orange lobbed from the auditorium narrowly missed its target; eventually, two spectators climbed on to the stage and tried to wrestle the actor off. News of the incident travelled around the world: it seemed a bizarre throwback to a world in which people were not able to tell the difference between art and real life, like 19th-century Parisians stampeding out of a cinema after watching a train hurtle towards the camera.

For the man who wrote the play, however, it was nothing unusual. “I was not surprised by the reaction,” says Portuguese playwright Tiago Rodrigues. “I was surprised by the fact that it was so surprising for so many people.” He describes the audience’s reaction to his play Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists as “very intense”, but also “typical”.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

Dalliance review – a rare drama so beautifully written you will be instantly devoted

Hugo Weaving stars in this wonderful Australian series about old friends in their 60s. It is a feast of hilarity and heartbreak – and there needs to be more TV like it

With Dalliance, television continues its brave expeditions into unknown narrative lands. It was forced first to venture into women’s stories (using female writers, directors, stars and, oh my goodness, sometimes it was just wall-to-wall womanity, you know?) in the post-Weinstein years. Previously unassailable figures were toppling like ninepins and investors needed to take refuge in those unlikely to have problematic pasts who were likely to tank projects the moment any reporter turned a beady eye upon them.

That turned out quite well. Women were not as boring as we had been led to believe, and were often capable of anchoring quite interesting, intelligent or funny shows. Sometimes they were all three at the same time, even if they weren’t called Fleabag.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

Rainbow Warrior review – spies bomb activists in truly gasp-inducing TV

The bizarre story of French secret agents blowing up a Greenpeace ship in New Zealand is rivetingly retold by the eco-veterans – revealing an increasingly unhinged litany of lies, denials and James Bond-style antics

When DS Terry Batchelor received the call informing him of the whereabouts of the French couple suspected of bombing the Rainbow Warrior, he was eating a pie. The suspects were in Auckland, he learned, preparing to return their hired Toyota HiAce campervan to the rental depot. A scoop! Batchelor, who was based nearby, gathered his team and set off in hot – and ultimately successful – pursuit. And the pie? “Actually,” reflects the retiree, peering at us over his moustache, “I hadn’t started the pie yet.” A pause, heavy with the threat of italics. “But I was about to.”

There is a lot of this sort of thing in Sky Documentaries’ Rainbow Warrior, a feature-length retelling of the events surrounding the July 1985 sinking of the titular Greenpeace flagship. That is to say; granular recollections, delivered by elderly men with combative facial hair, seemingly irrelevant in isolation but riveting and oddly comforting when viewed as part of a startling and frequently unhinged whole.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:00 pm

Architourism in France: the retro futurist seaside town near Montpellier that’s out of this world

Built in the 60s and 70s to curb a holiday exodus to Spain, with apartments inspired by Mayan pyramids and featuring ‘intergalactic curves’, La Grande-Motte is having another moment in the sun with fans of modern architecture

My dream holiday is a trip back in time. Not to see the results of seismic Pompeii or 15th-century Machu Picchu – although I love both – but somewhere created specifically between the mid 1950s and 1970s, when cities were getting weird. I love postwar architourism, exploring urban planning at its most frenzied and optimistic. I have relished trips to Niemeyer’s Brasília and Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh in India, where the monumental and visionary modernist architecture and interiors are at odds with the minimal population. So La Grande-Motte, the retro futurist folly of a resort town on the southern coast of France, a 30-minute drive from Montpellier, had long been on my “must visit” list.

The tourist board of this Occitanie seaside town likes to flag up some superficial parallels between it and the aforementioned cities, but this isn’t a high-concept capital city or administrative hub. It was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s purely to persuade the French to stop going south to the Costa Brava in Spain. As part of an initiative by the French government, a stretch of windswept mosquito-infested coast between Montpellier and Perpignan, including Gruissan and Port Leucate, was reimagined as an alternative to the Côte d’Azur with several new-build beach towns. La Grande-Motte would be the weirdest project. It was made for fun. It’s also well positioned to visit the nearby salt marshes and 13th-century walled-in town of Aigues-Mortes, for when you want to feel as if you’ve ticked a few more holiday boxes.

Published: August 26, 2026, 11:00 pm

Hot ticket: UK’s first sauna theatre draws swimwear-clad audiences

The 80-seat venue at Edinburgh fringe combines sauna rituals with theatre, music, storytelling … and sweat

Tucked away behind the Summerhall arts centre is the hottest new venue at the Edinburgh fringe … quite literally. The Sauna theatre has proved popular among theatregoers at the world’s largest performing arts festival, with shows inside its purpose-built, 80-seat sauna drawing sweaty, swimwear-clad crowds.

Visitors may be forgiven for thinking the sauna is a gimmick, especially at the fringe where absurd, experimental and ludicrous performances are not uncommon. This year they include a man drinking his own urine, someone singing the same song over and over, physical feats of exertion and several fully naked shows.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:00 pm

‘132F’: meet the man calling out NYC’s infernally hot subway stations

Jack Klein takes heat readings, gives fans to overheated passengers and lugs big jugs of water into the stations

On a recent August day in the subterranean furnace of New York City’s subway, one bearded, curly-haired man was studying his phone for different reasons than the other wilting passengers – to track the soaring temperatures and ponder how underground train stations can cool down in an era of climate crisis.

Jack Klein, a 31-year-old construction site manager, has in the past two years taken it upon himself to become a sort of guerrilla subway heat operative, sticking teardrop-shaped thermometers to steel beams in seven of the hottest Manhattan stations and posting social media videos of the hades-like summer temperatures that commuters have to endure.

Published: August 26, 2026, 3:00 am

Goodbye, Dolly Parton: a gay icon whose appeal reached across age, class and politics, and into the Maga heartlands | Emma Brockes

Straight women loved her, so did Eminem. Even Donald Trump found something nice to say. Her allure had no boundaries and was truly unique

I was at the National Theatre in London on Tuesday night, at a production of Pride, which tells the story of the unlikely alliance between gay activists and Welsh miners during the 1984 miners’ strike, when news broke of Dolly Parton’s death. Well. Against the sadness, one couldn’t help smiling. At a very gay production, attended by a majority gay audience, I half expected them to stop the show or call out a team from St John Ambulance bearing stretchers. In the script for Pride, references to Judy Garland and Ethel Merman serve as shorthand for gay sensibilities, but it could just as easily have been Dolly Parton. The queen of country and crossover pop was beloved by so many communities – many antagonistic to each other – but it was perhaps her gay fans who claimed her most vociferously and publicly.

When we got home my friends and I danced around to 9 to 5, and on Wednesday morning it was Here You Come, Again (“looking better than a body has a right to” – oh, Dolly) on a loop, along with her 1971 hit Coat of Many Colors.

Published: August 26, 2026, 5:33 am

This is the question Democrats should ask voters in order to win this November | Robert Reich

They should ask the question Reagan asked at the end of his debate against Jimmy Carter: ‘Are you better off now than you were before this presidency?’

The midterm elections are already upon us, and every Democrat and independent running against a Republican should ask voters the question Ronald Reagan asked on 28 October 1980, at the end of his televised debate against Jimmy Carter: “Are you better off now than you were before this presidency?”

Unless you’re very, very rich, the answer is obviously: “No, I’m worse off.”

Energy bills have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation while Trump has been president. The national average monthly utility bill reached $280 in early 2026, a 12% increase since the end of 2024, just before the second Trump administration took office.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:00 am

Jed York’s trailer park arrest exposed inequality in America | Lee Escobedo

The San Francisco 49ers owner’s arrest in Ohio over the weekend was quickly put behind him. Others are not so lucky

The Wheat Hill Mobile Home Community sits off state Route 170, on the edge of East Palestine, Ohio, a town most Americans only learned about because a train derailed there in February 2023 and released toxic chemicals into the creek. I grew up in a trailer park like this one, and know the sights. The grid of aluminum boxes in rows. Skirting the color of old teeth, some of it buckled, some patched with a piece of lattice. The window units huff and puff in August, dripping dark condensation on to the gravel.

I’m sure there were drugs on my street. I’m sure somebody was selling sex. I never saw it. What I saw were families raising kids in 800 square feet and people the country had already written off, living next to each other and mostly getting along.

Published: August 26, 2026, 2:00 am

How Mark Carney’s speeches have become political earthquakes | Ted Widmer

The quiet-spoken Canadian prime minister has spoken unutterable truths

Is it perhaps a sign of the times that Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, has become a thrilling orator? A sober banker, he speaks calmly, without many vocal inflections. We expect Canadians to be somewhat flat; even a little boring, and yet Carney has already delivered two remarkable speeches in 2026, and the year is far from over.

The first, at Davos, described a “rupture in the world order”, and “the end of a pleasant fiction”. By that, he meant that the world could no longer depend on the United States to lead the Pax Americana that has largely kept the peace since the end of the second world war.

Published: August 26, 2026, 3:00 am

‘Find out who you are, and do it on purpose’: unabashedly herself, Dolly Parton was an icon to LGBTQ fans

Parton’s gift lay in uniting everyone from God-fearing country fans to queer devotees. The way she saw me when I met her made me feel like a flower turning towards the sun

• Alexis Petridis on Dolly Parton’s peerless career that turned country music cliches inside out
•Dolly Parton – a life in pictures
• Country music legend Dolly Parton dies aged 80 – latest updates
•Share your tributes and memories of Dolly Parton

In a crowded field, perhaps the gayest thing about me is that I didn’t spend my teenage gap year pilgrimaging to India or Thailand in search of myself. Instead, I hitch-hiked to Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s theme park in Tennessee. Even at 19, I suspected that the answers to life’s most pressing questions could be found at the feet of the Dolly Lama.

I was right. I completed the last leg of my journey with a florist who was running deliveries up the mountain. One of his customers was a former school friend of Dolly’s, and I took the opportunity to breathlessly enquire whether her classmates had always known that Parton would become a huge star. “We didn’t, but she did,” she drawled. Exquisite.

This shining example of self-belief powered me through my early career in magazine writing, until I struck gold four years later when I was flown to Nashville to interview Dolly about her most recent album. Entering her private rehearsal space, my head was 100% buzzing static and 0% functioning brain. My sense of impostor syndrome was undimmed when Dolly appeared wearing what looked like three stacked wigs and a pair of fishnet cutoff leggings, assumed an incredulous expression and wheezed: “Are you my interviewer? But you’re a baaaby!” before gripping my waist in her hot pink taloned hands.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:40 am

My mum has died – and there is one kind of response I can’t stand | Polly Hudson

The platitudes, euphemisms and cliches are excruciating. But the people who say nothing at all are the worst

Luckily, I already knew having a comic thought at a tragic moment is a natural stress response, or I might have worried. My mum has died, making me an orphan – and what first popped into my head was how annoyed Larry David would be.

In Curb Your Enthusiasm, when Marty Funkhouser’s mother’s wheelchair was run over by a car, he proclaimed himself an orphan. David informed him he was too old to be an orphan. Funkhouser insisted that if your parents are dead, you’re an orphan.

Published: August 26, 2026, 8:40 am

The Guardian view on child marriage: girls should not be wives | Editorial

There’s growing agreement that under-18s need to be protected – but international turmoil is pushing many towards wedlock

Every minute, 23 girls around the world wed, according to the Girls Not Brides campaign, a coalition of more than 1,000 organisations across 100 countries. No child should be married. But girls are far more likely to be affected than boys, accounting for nine in 10 of those wed before 18, and their spouses are often much older men. The consequences, beyond the immediate threat of sexual violence, include the shortening of their education, increased risks of poverty and domestic abuse, and poor health, including high rates of maternal mortality. In spring, the Center for Global Development thinktank estimated that child marriage costs $175bn annually in lost productivity and increased health risks.

The good news is that the last decade has seen a drop in rates; last year alone, Grenada, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Kuwait and Portugal introduced bans. But there are disturbing signs of regression elsewhere. In May, the Taliban issued a new judicial code enabling child marriage below the previous minimum age of 16, and preventing wives from ending marriages they entered as children if their husbands object. Previous protections were inadequate and often poorly enforced; now even those have been swept away. Activists say forced and early marriages have soared since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, thanks to the ban on secondary education and the state of the economy.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:25 am

Muchová and Menšík win $1m US Open mixed doubles title in late-night thriller

• Czech pair beat Bencic and Cobolli in deciding tiebreak

• Revamped event draws strong crowds at Arthur Ashe

• Singles stars dominate after doubles specialists exit

To many who came to the US Open grounds this week, the showpiece of the mixed doubles championship came Tuesday afternoon, with the returns of Serena Williams (after four years away from tennis) and Carlos Alcaraz (after four months out with a wrist injury).

To the players who remained in the field after Williams and Alcaraz exited in the quarter-finals, the real highlight was Wednesday night’s final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with its $1m in prize money on the line. Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík made the most of the spotlight, beating Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 1-6 (10-6) for the title.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:15 pm

Roger Goodell says NFL is reviewing Jed York’s arrest under personal conduct policy

• Goodell confirms review after Ohio prostitution sting

• York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges

• NFL has previously disciplined owners for misconduct

Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL is looking into whether San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York will be punished for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after he was caught in a prostitution sting in Ohio.

“It’s being reviewed under the personal conduct policy,” Goodell said Wednesday at the owners’ meetings in Atlanta. “We’ll do that and when there’s something to be reported we’ll talk.”

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:44 pm

NFL finally calls time on beleaguered Pro Bowl after years of format changes

• League ends flag football and skills competitions

• Only original 88 selections will earn Pro Bowl status

• Players to be honored at Super Bowl week in LA

The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event.

Beginning ⁠with the 2026 season, 88 Pro Bowlers will be selected but the NFL no longer plans to stage an ⁠AFC-NFC game, a ⁠flag-football matchup ​or an accompanying series of competitions. The players chosen will instead be invited to next year’s Super Bowl site in ⁠Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:38 pm

LIV Golf to lay off majority of staff amid ‘compressed timeline’ for new investors

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF have ended financial support

• Chief executive working on deal but needs players’ buy-in

LIV Golf informed the majority of its workforce on Wednesday that they will be laid off in the first week of September.

The news ⁠comes three days after the 2026 season concluded in Indianapolis and four months after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced it was ending its financial support ⁠of the league after ⁠spending more than $5bn over the past five years.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:36 am

Sávio savours debut goal as Spurs coast to emphatic Carabao Cup win over Charlton

A new season at the snazziest modern stadium in England and something extremely welcome for Tottenham. A home win over domestic opposition. There were only four of them last time out; three in the Premier League with the final one – over Everton on the last day – helping them to avoid relegation. Had they lost that, this Carabao Cup fixture against Charlton would also have been played in the Championship.

Spurs needed this tonic for another reason – to begin the clean-up operation after Saturday’s awful 3-0 defeat at Brentford.

Published: August 26, 2026, 1:58 pm

Angel Reese is turning trolls and talk of ‘mebounds’ into fuel for a breakthrough

The star known as Bayou Barbie is shining in Atlanta. The longer her haters dwell on her lowlights, the more they miss her transformation into an all-around force

On 16 August, the Atlanta Dream faced the Indiana Fever in the WNBA’s showcase matchup, and Angel Reese had a chance to don the cape. Tied at 81, the Dream had possession with five seconds left in regulation when Rhyne Howard launched a deep three-pointer. Reese was perfectly positioned under the basket, snagging Howard’s air ball with an outstretched hand. But in the rush to win the game, Reese forced a shot off the backboard that caromed off the front rim – and Naz Hillmon’s putback fizzled as the buzzer sounded. After Indiana escaped with a 95-91 overtime victory, Reese beat herself up over the loss.

“I didn’t sleep,” she told reporters days later. “The competitor in me wanted to win that game so bad. I replayed that play so many times.” Reese vowed to shrug the game off and do better. Damned if she hasn’t proved herself to be a woman of her word.

Published: August 26, 2026, 3:00 am

Ayyoub Bouaddi: maths student, chess fan and Manchester City’s new Rodri

The £85m midfielder passed his exams a year early, is studying for a degree and is ready to tackle Premier League learning curve

“He’s like a computer,” the former Lille head of academy recruitment, Mathieu Frison, says of the €100m (£85.7m) Manchester City recruit Ayyoub Bouaddi. “You teach him something, he learns it and can do it immediately.” Bouaddi has the mountainous challenge at his new club of replacing the world’s best central midfielder. It would be difficult for anyone but at 18 it feels monumental, although those who know the Morocco international best would not bet against him.

Bouaddi has known only Lille and Ligue 1 but is entering one of the biggest clubs in the world where a season without a trophy is deemed a failure. For someone so young, however, he has plenty of experience. He made his European debut three days after his 16th birthday and has played three full seasons in the first team, culminating in a place at the World Cup this summer.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:00 am

Chicago Sky ban Enes Kanter Freedom from home games, calling him ‘a potential threat’

• Former NBA center barred from Sky home games

• Freedom was ejected after confrontation with Cloud

• Owner says Kanter intended to ‘be provocative’

• Opinion: Kanter is using his freedom to punch down

The Chicago Sky have banned Enes Kanter Freedom from their home games after the former NBA center was ejected from Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Fever.

Owner Michael Alter made the announcement in a rare news conference on Tuesday. Alter told reporters Freedom is not allowed inside of Wintrust Arena for Sky games “unless sometime in the future he’s able to prove to us to our satisfaction that he is able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat”.

Published: August 25, 2026, 10:04 pm

Judge blocks Minnesota bid to extradite Texas ICE agent accused of shooting man

Christian Castro charged with assault after allegedly shooting Venezuelan man and remains in custody in Texas

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of firing his gun and wounding a Venezuelan man in the leg is caught in an interstate extradition dispute between Texas and Minnesota – and could walk out of a Texas jail as soon as Wednesday after a federal judge refused to intervene.

Christian Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime by another, in relation to the incident in which he was involved in the wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

Published: August 26, 2026, 12:45 pm

Baby with rare heart defect at center of surrogacy case in critical condition

Biological parents have secured restraining order against surrogate as lawsuit continues and baby receives care

The baby with a rare life-threatening heart defect at the center of a legal battle between his biological parents and the surrogate who carried him is in critical condition, court documents show, as the escalating custody case continues.

“He’s our child,” the baby’s biological mother Nausheen Gilkar told the court on Tuesday, wiping away tears on the witness stand. “She’s unstable,” Gilkar said of surrogate McKenna West, who was sitting across from her in the Dallas courtroom. “She’s trying to take him from us.”

Published: August 26, 2026, 1:40 pm

Busy Philipps reveals brain tumour diagnosis: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’

Actor says she had the ‘weirdest six months of my life’, after being diagnosed days after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died of cancer

Busy Philipps has revealed she had a brain tumour removed, which was diagnosed shortly after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died from bowel cancer.

The 47-year-old, born Elizabeth Philipps, starred in the hit US teen drama as Audrey Liddell opposite Van Der Beek, who died in February aged 48 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:09 pm

Ukraine war briefing: Reboot of ‘fortress belt’ defences as Zelenskyy visits frontline

Two modern commanders appointed on Donetsk front after dismissal of ‘Soviet-era’ Oleksandr Syrskyi as head of military. What we know on day 1,645

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed two of Ukraine’s most prominent commanders to oversee and strengthen defences of the “fortress belt” of industrialised cities in the Donetsk region. Visiting the frontline, Zelenskyy said Third Army Corps leader Andrii Biletskyi and Denys Prokopenko, commander of the First Corps ⁠Azov, would head new groupings. Both units are known for embracing Nato-style doctrine and new technology.

Russian forces are putting pressure on the cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – all critical strongholds for Ukraine. According to open-source mapping group Deep State, Moscow’s ‌troops have been infiltrating deeper into Kostiantynivka, with the Ukrainians weeding them out from houses, basements and ruins. Russia was also stepping up its air and artillery ​attacks on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk to prepare for a targeted offensive on those cities, Deep State said.

Ukrainian military analyst Mykola Bielieskov told Reuters the appointments were “the right move” in giving Ukraine’s new commander in chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, greater scope for strategic planning. His predecessor, the “Soviet-era” general Oleksandr Syrskyi, was criticised for micromanagement. Ukrainian drone forces commander Robert Brovdi, a leader of Kyiv’s mid and long-range strike campaigns, praised the appointments as an important step towards “network-centric warfare … This is exactly what ‘Smart War’ is,” he posted.

Ukraine hit ⁠16 sites in Russia ⁠over ⁠the past day ​including oil facilities and ⁠logistics, Zelenskyy said ⁠on Wednesday. The ‌targets also included ‌airfields, a missile unit, a military enterprise and infrastructure that ‌Moscow uses to launch attacks against ​Ukraine. Ukraine’s military general staff said its forces struck a Lukoil refinery overnight in Kstovo, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, setting it on fire. The refinery can process 125m barrels annually. Long-range Ukrainian drones burned a Wildberries warehouse to the ground in the Tambov region south-east of Moscow, Russian authorities said on Wednesday.

A ⁠Russian guided aerial ⁠bomb ⁠attack seriously ​damaged a combined ⁠heat and power plant ⁠in ​Ukraine’s southern ‌city ‌of Kherson, ‌the plant’s owner, Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz, said ‌on Wednesday. The extent of ​the damage would be ⁠assessed as ​soon as ​the security ​situation allowed, ​Naftogaz ‌said.

There were explosions ​in ⁠the ⁠Ukrainian capital ​of ‌Kyiv ‌early ‌on Thursday, ‌a ​Reuters ⁠witness ​said. Around the same time, Russia ⁠attacked an industrial facility ⁠in ⁠the central ​Ukrainian city of ⁠Kryvyi Rih with ballistic missiles, ⁠injuring two ​people, ‌said Oleksandr ‌Vilkul, the head of ‌the city’s defence council. It came after Bloomberg reported that Russia was considering ⁠stepping up its ballistic missile strikes ⁠on ⁠Kyiv, including ​targets in the city centre, ⁠and on critical infrastructure elsewhere in ⁠Ukraine after concluding that ​efforts ‌to negotiate ‌a peace deal ‌had reached a dead end. While Ukraine has repeatedly offered ceasefires and negotiations, the Kremlin has not altered its demands – chief among which is total control of Ukraine’s Donbas region.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded Ukraine’s Order of Freedom to Elon Musk, whose SpaceX has provided Starlink satellite internet to Ukraine’s military. Musk has restricted its use over Russian territory – a policy Zelenskyy hopes to change so that Ukrainian weapons can use Starlink to navigate to their targets.

Ukraine freed 10 Russian prisoners of war, Russia’s human rights commissioner said on Wednesday. On Monday, Russia released 10 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were previously thought to be missing.

A pro-Russian hacker group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a cyber-attack on Digdir, the Norwegian government’s digital services agency. The denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks tried to overwhelm the agency’s computers to block services, including one that enables citizens to use one login across multiple public services. A Digdir spokesperson said the agency still managed to keep the services running “practically all the time”. The pro-Russian hacker group Server Killers said it attacked because Norway renewed its security cooperation with Ukraine on 23 August.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:34 pm

Final witness in Lindsay Clancy trial says he doesn’t believe she heard a voice during killings

FBI psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff says he has treated only two women with postpartum psychosis, both decades earlier

Testimony finished in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Wednesday, as a final witness for the prosecution laid out that he believed the Massachusetts mother knew right from wrong when she took the lives of her three young children before attempting to commit suicide in 2023.

Closing arguments are expected to begin on Thursday. The jury will then start deliberating.

Published: August 26, 2026, 2:52 pm

Fake US thinktank set up and funded by Israel sought to game AI for propaganda

In effort to prime chatbots to make pro-Israel arguments the site published 124 reports, over 560,000 words in nine days, Guardian analysis shows

A pro-Israel messaging website badged with the name of a thinktank that does not exist has published more than half a million words in nine days, built on a commercial platform that promises to optimize content so that AI chatbots will cite it.

The site gives Israel’s position on subjects including the torture of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli war crimes and whether Israel has deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza, all presented as neutral research.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:00 am

Cyborg cockroaches with tiny syringes designed to join search and rescue teams in major disasters

Giant burrowing cockroaches with added cameras and medical injectors are being tested as potential ‘first responders’ in earthquakes

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

For people trapped under rubble in an earthquake or similar disaster, the arrival of a fleet of cockroaches could one day be the difference between life and death.

Biorobotics engineers have been working on the design of six-legged cyborg insects with cameras and miniature medical injectors for search and rescue missions.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:16 pm

​W​hy are European leaders staying silent after our summer of climate shock?

Lethal temperatures ​and wildfires have exposed a widening gulf between voters demanding ​action and politicians unwilling to confront the long-term choices global heating requires

• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

The climate crisis means “we’re going to have to change everything – the way we live, the way we produce, the way we trade,” France’s veteran radical-left firebrand, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, told the summer congress of his France Insoumise party last weekend.

The term “climate change”, said Mélenchon – the most likely rival to Marine Le Pen in next year’s presidential run-off, according to one poll this week – may sound “almost reassuring”, but its actual impact will feel like “landing on another planet whenever we leave home”.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:40 am

1.3m plastic bottles collected in a day in global volunteer ocean cleanup

Ocean Conservancy says last year’s cleanup collected 13.9m pieces of rubbish from beaches and rivers worldwide

More than 1.3m plastic bottles were collected from beaches, rivers and waterways last year during the world’s largest single-day volunteer ocean cleanup.

About 630,000 people took part in the International Coastal Cleanup in 2025, removing almost 13.9m pieces of rubbish from more than 15,000 miles of coastline and waterways.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:00 am

‘National scandal’: extreme heat linked to 40,000 deaths in England between 1988 and 2025

ONS data shows rising toll of climate crisis, with officials warning this summer on track to set further records

More than 40,000 extra people died on the hottest days in England between 1988 and 2025 than would be expected in normal temperatures, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.

The figures do not include this summer, when England has sweltered under a succession of heatwaves and is on track to record its highest ever number of heat-related deaths. The UK Health Security Agency announced on 30 July that an estimated 2,877 people had died in the May and June heatwaves alone. The total is almost double the figure for the whole summer in 2025.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:45 am

Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’

Protests and petitions planned amid growing concerns over impact of climate crisis on numbers of Alpine rodent

Animal rights campaigners are gearing up for protests and petitions aimed at persuading the French government to ban the hunting of Alpine marmots.

Open season on the rodents, members of the squirrel and groundhog family, begins in September, a few weeks before they go into a long winter hibernation.

Published: August 25, 2026, 9:00 pm

Modern cowboys are saddling up in the US West. And they’re on a whole new mission

In states like Montana, range riders can play a key role in a wild landscape where livestock and predators navigate life together

For most people, the word “cowboy” still summons a figure from Western folklore – a rough rider with a weathered face and a steely gaze, a self-reliant loner who answers to nobody, is fearless in the face of danger, and protects his lands from predators – animal and human alike.

But over the past 15 years, a new range rider has emerged in the American West, one that is out on a wholly different mission: to live in a wild landscape where livestock and predators can co-exist.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:00 am

Hope and concern swirl for Ohioans around ‘world’s largest datacenter’

Piketon datacenter promises to generate thousands of jobs, but environmental groups voice concern over project

On a winding road tucked away behind forests in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio is where OpenAI, Nvidia and Japanese investors are set to spend $500bn on one of the largest artificial intelligence datacenters on the planet.

Last March, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick and a host of Japanese and other dignitaries briefly descended on Piketon to enthusiastically break ground on a project to build 8GW worth of AI computing power.

Published: August 26, 2026, 5:00 am

Texas law banning drag shows where children may be present struck down again

‘This is a profoundly flawed decision that endangers our children and is an affront to Texas values,’ Ken Paxton says

A federal judge has, for a second time, struck down a Texas state law banning drag performances in settings where children may be present.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, US district judge David Hittner said Texas cannot enforce its drag show ban. He said that the measure improperly restricts speech and violates the first amendment of the US constitution.

Published: August 26, 2026, 8:14 am

FDA gives expedited approval to new groundbreaking pancreatic cancer drug

FDA officials approve first-of-a-kind pill called daraxonrasib to fight one of the deadliest types of cancer

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering US patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of the disease.

FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, that blocks a mutated protein which fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases. It’s an approach that has eluded drugmakers for decades.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:48 am

London neurosurgeons perform first successful AI-assisted operation to remove brain tumour

Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoided

Neurosurgeons in London have performed the world’s first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said.

The surgery was performed in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust, but details were kept secret until Thursday while the patient, Rhys Hibbert, recovered.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:01 pm

Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived back in UK, say reports

Harry, Meghan and family expected to enjoy ‘extended stay’ with children Archie and Lilibet already enrolled at school

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived back in the UK, landing at Birmingham airport, according to reports.

Prince Harry, Meghan, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to enjoy an “extended stay” in Britain, with the children already enrolled at school in the UK and due to start next week.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:08 am

US issues sanctions against UK-based direct action group Palestine Action

US labels group ‘global terrorist’ as Palestine Action challenge against proscription in UK nears supreme court hearing

The US ⁠has ​issued sanctions against ⁠the UK-based direct action organisation Palestine ⁠Action, describing it as a “transnational terror group”.

The US Department of the Treasury labelled Palestine Action a specially designated global terrorist on Wednesday, which allows the US to freeze the assets of foreign individuals and entities.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:45 am

Women using HRT at lower risk of dementia, study suggests

Scientists found those who had used hormone replacement therapy were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia

Hormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk of dementia, a study has found.

Scientists tracked more than 180,000 postmenopausal women in the UK in the largest study of its kind. They found that those who had used HRT were 10% less likely to develop any type of dementia and 16% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the most common form, compared with those who had never used it.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:16 am

Kolkhoz by Emmanuel Carrère review – intricate portrait of an elite French family

The author of The Adversary and Yoga unearths a history that includes the Nazis, Russia, and the Académie Française

When Emmanuel Carrère’s mother, Hélène, died in 2023, at the age of 94, President Macron spoke at her memorial. She had been “perpetual secretary” of the Académie Française, in effect its head, and 200 people gathered at Les Invalides in Paris to pay tribute. Emmanuel’s father, Louis, was there too, in a wheelchair, only half aware of what was going on. This 400-page memoir, translated into English by John Lambert, is a homage to both parents and the unlikely history that brought them together. It’s also an act of reparation towards Hélène, whom Emmanuel worshipped as a child but upset as an adult by publishing a book that she’d forbidden him to write.

Hélène grew up in stateless poverty in Paris, the daughter of Georges Zourabichvili, whose parents had fled Georgia in 1921, and Nathalie von Pelken, who as a child had six governesses, one for each day excluding Sunday. Though “the magical world of the fallen Russian aristocracy” was the backdrop, conditions were tough, not least after Georges disappeared in 1944, murdered by partisans for alleged Nazi collaboration. Hélène was 15 at the time and unsuccessfully tried to hide the truth about George’s death from her younger brother, Nicolas.

Published: August 26, 2026, 11:00 pm

Farewell, Dr Frank-N-Furter: why Tim Curry’s Rocky Horror Show will go on

The versatile stage performer will always be remembered for his defining film role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which turned him into an icon of 70s underground cinema and proto-punk
• Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It, dies aged 80
• Tim Curry on sexuality, surviving a stroke and 50 years of stardom
• Clowns, corsets and kings – a life in pictures

Over the past decade, the issues of trans identity and gender fluidity couldn’t have been more contemporary, and Tim Curry was an integral part of what might be called their pre-history in pop culture. He was an icon – though maybe now a dimly remembered icon – of the 70s underground cinema and proto-punk.

Curry was a good-looking actor with a tremendous speaking and singing voice, and a versatile performer – he got Tony nominations for his varied stage work on Broadway as Mozart in Amadeus, Alan Swann in My Favorite Year (the part Peter O’Toole played on screen) and as King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot. But it was his strange destiny to be remembered for one role: at once indelibly prominent and weirdly peripheral. He was the sensational Dr Frank-N-Furter in the thoroughly outrageous Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), the screen version of the 1973 stage show.

Published: August 26, 2026, 9:02 am

The Dog Stars review – Ridley Scott’s lethargic postapocalyptic drama is a misfire

An adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel never finds its footing with overly familiar survival beats and a glum lack of energy

Looking towards the end of an August movie dumping ground littered with more unwanted trash than usual, there seemed to be a faint glimmer of hope, a shiny treasure poking out through the dusty mass of unnecessary sequels and sex purge romcoms. Somehow, there was a $110m-budget adaptation of an acclaimed novel directed by Ridley Scott, led by a recently Oscar-nominated rising star with support from two Oscar-nominated actors and an Oscar winner. But why then would such a film be unveiled in between the summer blockbuster season and the upcoming deluge of prestige fall festival big hitters? A cursed weekend that’s recently been home to Jay Roach’s heinous War of the Roses remake, Dennis Quaid’s Ronald Reagan biopic and George Miller’s hard-to-define and even harder-to-love flop Three Thousand Years of Longing.

Ever since The Dog Stars, based on Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, had been yanked from its far more encouraging date at the end of March, there were multiple red flags flying and the rotten end of August has ultimately become an appropriate punishment for a limp and lethargic film that only briefly fascinates in pushing us to wonder what anyone was really hoping this would end up being. It’s yet another grubby postapocalyptic survival tale, an overcrowded subgenre that hasn’t just reached maximum capacity on the big screen but on the small one too. In a world of seven Walking Dead shows, the beats are now far too familiar – artfully dishevelled actors grieve for the past and fear for the future as they scramble to find and protect resources – and there’s nothing new or notable here to conjure anything but deja vu.

Published: August 25, 2026, 5:00 pm

The Last Sunrise review – Amazon’s soapy YA romance is thankless and bland

Another familiar concoction fails to make use of its sunny location and chooses cheap melodrama over romantic charm

A titular sunrise, a summer fling fantasy, exorbitant wealth, impossibly sculpted bodies: such are the profitable story ingredients that make up The Last Sunrise, the latest offering in Amazon’s endless catalogue of “romance content”. I wouldn’t ordinarily use that term to describe a film, but it fits The Last Sunrise (indifferently directed by Carlson Young) like a glove. The movie is an adaptation of the 2025 novel of the same title by Anna Todd, whose After series – itself adapted from Todd’s phenomenally popular One Direction fan fiction – was wrung dry between 2019 and 2024.

In recent years, a particular romance category has yielded high returns for Amazon: from this summer’s Every Year After to The Summer I Turned Pretty’s memorable run, these stories are easily palatable, set in idyllic locations, and orbit attractive, heterosexual, wealthy couples. Nothing new there – one need look no further than any run-of-the-mill 2000s romcom to find the same tropes. But the narrative simplicity that once made room for electric chemistry between leads, perfectly tailored wardrobes and irresistibly depicted locales has given way to cheap melodrama. With its improbable plot twists, family secrets and at least one across-the-face slap, The Last Sunrise is more soap opera than Under the Tuscan Sun.

Published: August 26, 2026, 12:01 am

‘Environmental violence’: inside the fight to save indigenous land from becoming a nuclear dumping ground

New documentary To Use a Mountain spotlights the pain and triumph of resisting government efforts to turn parts of rural US into disposal sites

Nuclear energy was supposed to be our salvation, humanity’s chance to retool technology first conceived as a weapon of mass destruction into an engine of limitless prosperity. But even as the industry touted nuclear fission as an economic game-changer (never mind the astronomical startup costs), a safety paragon (never mind the spills at Chornobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima) and harmless fodder for an American comedy institution (never mind that glowing rod on Homer’s back or the three-eyed fish), there was no getting around the matter of what to do with all the toxic waste (never mind nuclear’s claimed green credentials).

The stagnant state of that dirty business brought Casey Carter, the director of the new avant-garde documentary called To Use a Mountain, back to his interview with a Washington state farmer who was part of a class-action lawsuit against the government over the release of radioactive material from the Hanford nuclear reservation – site of the world’s first full-scale plutonium production reactor. The farmer’s words still echo, despite ultimately being cut to fit the film’s 90-minute runtime. “He joked that nuclear power is the only faith-based energy because everyone always asks, ‘Do you believe in it?’” Carter says. “He was like, ‘You don’t have to believe in solar. It’s just a pretty good idea.’”

Published: August 25, 2026, 2:00 am

The Airport Chaplain review – thoroughly bingeable TV about ‘Batman in a hi-vis vest’

This moreish show about a do-gooder keen to save the day stars Hugo Weaving and The Pitt’s Shabana Azeez … and it’s pressure-packed from the get-go

Hugo Weaving plays the eponymous airport chaplain in this pacy and moreish eight-part series, which was co-created by Elise McCredie and Jude Troy, and directed with jittery flair by Bonnie Moir and Tig Terera. In case you were wondering, yes, that profession really does exist.

I doubt the lives of real airport chaplains are anywhere near as frenetic as those of this show’s protagonist, Tobias Wallace (Weaving), whose existence is a testament to that old saying: “Not all heroes wear capes.” Sometimes, they wear hi-vis.

Published: August 25, 2026, 8:00 am

From Jolene to Islands in the Stream: Dolly Parton’s 10 best recordings

The late star created some of the most beloved country and pop songs in American music

• Alexis Petridis on Dolly Parton’s peerless career that turned country music cliches inside out

• Dolly Parton – a life in pictures

• Country music legend Dolly Parton dies aged 80 – latest updates

The death of Dolly Parton today at age 80 has the world mourning one of America’s most beloved entertainers: a generation-spanning performer and country music icon who took as much pride in her music as she did her sparkling appearance. Parton’s impressive musical output across a 60-year career and a whopping 50 albums was built on a foundation of her undeniable knack for songwriting: ranging from heartfelt lyrics to catchy hooks. Here are just 10 of Parton’s greatest contributions to the American musical lexicon.

Published: August 25, 2026, 11:00 pm

Backwoods Barbie and the ‘God almighty’ PMS Blues: Dolly Parton’s 10 best deep cuts

From heartbreaking spoken word to wry takes on the double standards women face, here are some of the late country singer’s lesser known gems

• Alexis Petridis on Dolly Parton’s peerless career

• Dolly Parton – a life in pictures

• Share your tributes and memories of Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton was one of the most gifted narrative lyricists ever – particularly when it came to telling the stories of women’s experiences. This is one of her more harrowing stories about a young woman (see also: The Bridge). Some will recognise this as a track on Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood’s album Nancy and Lee (where the backing singing is replaced with sweeping orchestra). But the clarity of Parton’s voice on the original, taken from her fifth album, 1970’s The Fairest of Them All, is staggering.

Published: August 26, 2026, 2:00 am

The rise of ‘biogossip’: Rachel Cusk’s Natalie Portman novel is the latest in a delicious literary lineage

The much-discussed Life of M is the latest in a lineage of celebrity satire that spans from Virginia Woolf to The Devil Wears Prada

In Rachel Cusk’s new novel, Life of M, the famous actor protagonist participates in an event at a book store after hours. The actor, M, is joined by “a writer of some renown” and a fashion model who possesses “some vague self-absorption”. A brand sponsored the affair. I spent literal hours trying to find the real-world equivalent of the opaque fictional passage. I scrolled through the backlogs of influencers I know to appear bookish in their content, who might have fallen prey to Dior’s Ulysses tote bag drop or Miu Miu’s “literary club”. I even stooped so low as to DM a Natalie Portman fan account, asking for leads.

As has been widely reported, M’s character is based on Portman. One journalist was credited with the scoop, but she simply finished her advance copy sooner than the rest of us; it’s clear from page three, when Cusk describes M’s breakout film as having “immediately brought her childhood to an end” (obviously Léon: The Professional; Portman was 11 when she was cast) and a later film about obsessive, wild ballerinas (Black Swan). But the rumor that Portman is unhappy with her portrayal – an impression that cannot immediately be gleaned from the book itself, especially depending on interpretation of its final lines – has trickled down to the raggiest of tabloids.

Published: August 26, 2026, 2:00 am

Passage by Colin Thubron review – mortality and memory in a gem of a novel

A terminally ill woman makes a final trip to Egypt in an exquisitely wrought portrait of end-of-life reckoning

Virginia Woolf said of Middlemarch that it is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people. In the shallow and infantilising age through which we are living, Colin Thubron dares to assume that his readers are adults. Passage is a very beautiful, very moving, authentic work of art. Hardly more than a novella, it sits lightly in the hand, but its emotional and aesthetic weight overtips the balance.

Thubron began his career as a travel writer and a large part of the action of Passage is set in a vividly but economically evoked Egypt. This is not the teeming Egypt of Cairo or Alexandria, but of the countryside, the villages, and the great immemorial tombs and ancient monuments. The best travel writers know that “abroad” is most convincingly evoked not by awed exclamations at the world’s wonders, but by an attitude of relaxed familiarity. Thubron is obviously an old Egypt hand, or at least has the skill to convince us that he is.

Published: August 25, 2026, 11:00 pm

Triage by Claudia Rankine review – how should we respond to the world’s atrocities?

The American poet and essayist weaves memoir, fiction, criticism and lyrical lament into a tale of friendship in an age of existential crisis

“Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental,” writes the multi-award winning Jamaican-American poet, essayist and playwright Claudia Rankine in the disclaimer to her latest work. “Unless it isn’t.” The pretzel-logic of this statement, its assertive ambiguity, sets the tone for a book that digs directly into the question of what we are to do with the idea of truth, when the world we live in is asking us “to hold, visually and emotionally, realities we do not yet have a viable system of language for”. In Triage, Rankine borrows from her personal history and from a world whose landscape now encompasses “the rise of fascism, the implementation through deportations of the Great Replacement theory, the starvation of devastated populations subjected to war and climate change”, and uses the material she gathers to pose a simple question. When faced with realities such as these, what do you do? Do you stand, or do you fall?

The book begins with a friendship. Two young people – our narrator, and another she refers to only as “the theorist” – meet in college in the late 20th century, and are drawn to each other. They’re passionate; they’re idealistic; they’re committed to the activism of the time (“shantytowns were built on campus to protest apartheid South Africa”) and steeped in the texts and authors and philosophical conceits of the humanities. Over time, they develop a game. “When we spied each other during the day,” the narrator explains, “we had to collapse.”

Published: August 25, 2026, 1:00 am

Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter review – hope amid the hopelessness

A writer and activist links the climate crisis to battles for justice around the world in this vital book

It has become increasingly difficult to change our minds, to question our own views or to find common ground with people we disagree with, all of which makes Natasha Walter’s new book both refreshing and exhilarating.

In her ebullient 1998 debut The New Feminism, Walter hailed Margaret Thatcher as a trailblazer. In this fiercer, bleaker work, she rips into the “glossy language of aspiration feminism”, “the message that the individual woman can do anything she wants if she only has the necessary courage”. That kind of feminism inspired an “explosion of books and films about pioneers and heroines, about bossy women and gutsy girls” which retold the feminist story as “a succession of isolated campaigns, led by outsize individuals”.

Published: August 25, 2026, 1:00 am

With the end of physical media in sight, gamers have had enough

An increasing tension between players and publishers about ownership of titles could lead to a divestment from the system the big companies are trying to enforce

At the time of press, there is a well-publicised protest taking place in the video games community. PlayStation 5 owners are being encouraged to log off from their consoles between 23 and 30 August – no playing games, no downloading new titles. The motivating factor is Sony’s decision to cease physical game disc production from January 2028. After that, games will only be released as digital products. In an act of poor timing or wilful defiance, Sony chose this week to send out a mass email reminding customers of their PS5 terms and conditions: “The software is licensed to you, not sold,” states the relevant clause. “You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play … ” It knows, of course, that most customers won’t open the email, let alone read it.

There has always been a tension between game players and game publishers – an underlying sense of mutual mistrust. Players are wary of their favourite franchises being canned, or games being delayed or released with bugs. Publishers and manufacturers are wary of piracy and the capricious tastes of consumers. But now the atmosphere among many game players feels more starkly political than ever. Microsoft has been targeted by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for its ties to the Israeli military; the consumer advocacy group Stop Killing Games is gaining support; players have protested over the purchase of Electronic Arts by a Saudi-led consortium – boycotts have been proposed in part due to the possible ramifications regarding LGBTQ+ content in titles such as The Sims. As the games industry has grown and globalised, its impact on culture, society and politics has increased. Yet, on an individual level, gamers and consumers are feeling increasingly powerless.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:00 am

Vholume review – a headlong rush of parkour perfection in a brutalist wonderland

PC; Nathan Grange, Léonard Lemaitre, Niels Tiercelin, IronEqual
Race across impossible dystopian cityscapes in this exhilarating game of wall-runs, death-chancing leaps and split-second improvisation

At first, Vholume seems like a quick rush through some smartly selected references. Has this breathless yet austere parkour game been designed or ingeniously curated? The urban gymnast moveset comes from Mirror’s Edge. Level names use terms like conapt, first coined by Philip K Dick. And the environments themselves are dystopian and surreal, Half-Life 2’s City 17 colliding with the blasted avenues and mute archways of de Chirico. Many games have influences. Vholume has actual taste.

All the surface stuff fades away when the game is in motion, however. Vholume’s an on-foot racing game in which you hoof it through spectacularly odd environments, moving from one beam of concrete to the next. You’re clipping your wall-runs and power-slides together to bridge seemingly impossible gaps between buildings, forever in search of the next stretch of track, the next turn, the next jump that gets you to the level’s exit and the worldwide leaderboards. And once that’s done, you have a choice: onwards to another gauntlet, or back to the start of this one again to slice a few microseconds off your score? Or maybe you’d rather head over to multiplayer to race against the ghosts of others?

Published: August 26, 2026, 5:30 am

A Pocket Full of Slagford – a retro-futurist take on Thatcher-era northern England

Developer Patrick Grant was born in Australia and lives in New Zealand, but a childhood of British TV inspired him to set a comedy game in a bleak vision of the north

Something is amiss in the dingy town of Slagford, and curious scamp Pip Bunting is the only one who can find out what. So quit your mithering, it’s time to discover just how grim it truly is up north.

A Pocket Full of Slagford is an upcoming retro-styled 3D puzzle adventure game set in a surreal alternative-reality near-future northern England that never escaped the clutches of Thatcherism. The story follows the misadventures of a young local lad from the eponymous Slagford after he takes ownership of a mysterious relic that lets him wreak havoc on reality.

Published: August 25, 2026, 2:00 am

Mel Brooks’ 20 favorite films to be screened in LA for 100th birthday

Comedian and director’s picks for American Cinematheque series range from Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights to Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit

Twenty of Mel Brooks’ favorite films of the past century will be screening this fall in Los Angeles, as part of a film series the 100-year-old comedian and director programmed himself.

The American Cinematheque, Los Angeles’ year-round nonprofit film festival, worked with Brooks to put together his favorites list, which starts with Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, from 1931, and ends with Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi’s 2019 dark comedy about a Nazi-era German boy who has Adolf Hitler as his imaginary friend.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:29 am

Judge awards Blake Lively $400,000 in legal fees in Justin Baldoni case

The actor had sought $8m in attorney costs resulting from her protracted legal battle with Baldoni

Blake Lively has been awarded more than $400,000 in attorneys’ fees after her 18-month legal battle with Justin Baldoni.

On Wednesday, judge Lewis Liman awarded the actor $363,245.40 in attorneys’ fees and $44,206.35 in costs, figures far lower than the $8m Lively had sought.

Published: August 26, 2026, 10:45 am

Rupert Grint to reprise role of Ron Weasley in Harry Potter stage show

Like co-star Tom Felton, Grint will once again play the role that made him famous, in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Rupert Grint is set to reprise the role of Ron Weasley in the Broadway hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The actor will join the long-running stage show for 17 weeks starting in February 2027.

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:49 am

‘It was the hardcore equivalent of being a Deadhead’: consciousness-raising punk movement Krishnacore returns

First-wave punks rejected religion – but come the 90s, bands embracing eastern thought found legions of devotees. Ahead of reformations and reissues, they discuss the Bhagavad Gita, brawls and tulasi beads in the pit

Whether wielded as shock tactic or part of a considered philosophical stance, mockery and distrust of religion have been baked into punk rock’s DNA from the get-go. The Damned, Crass, the Germs and the Dead Kennedys all proffered early potshots and takedowns, and if Bad Brains received a grudging pass for their Rastafari leanings, in general, songs kowtowing to gods or masters were about as likely to win you scene cred as praise for Reagan, cops or nuclear war.

As the 80s ticked into the 90s, however, something curious began to happen: a clutch of bands emerged who were wise to the hardcore classicism of Minor Threat and SSD but also looked east to Krishna consciousness. Leading the way was Ray “Raghunath” Cappo who, barely into his 20s, had already broken down walls as frontman for Youth of Today, a New York band who combined a straight-edge philosophy with animal-rights advocacy and a sense of full-throated positivity. He and guitarist John Porcelly had “witnessed enough young people screwing up their lives that we thought, as simple as it is, it’s a positive message. Let’s rally behind it,” he says. “And it became big, bigger than we expected.”

Published: August 26, 2026, 7:00 am

Would you pay for an algorithm to pick your friends? New social apps spread across cities

With many adults admitting they feel lonely, meetup platforms offer the chance to make new connections

Would you pay £20 a month for the chance of making a friend, on the understanding that an algorithm – not you – gets to decide who you’ll meet?

Driven by the decline of “third spaces” such as youth centres and pubs, an increase in remote working and rising loneliness – 40% of adults aged 16 to 29 feel lonely “always, often or some of the time”, according to the Office for National Statistics – paid social events are now in vogue.

Published: August 25, 2026, 11:00 pm

The great Snowdon queue-skipping row – is it really OK to jump the line if you’re not taking a selfie?

The crowds at the top of Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in Wales, are now so huge that seasoned hikers and climbers are simply walking past them. Is everyone just making a mountain out of a molehill?

Name: The Snowdon queue.

Age: A decade and a half, give or take.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:20 am

My pup Koopa and I put 15 dog beds to the test – these are ones that survived

We tried models from Black Lab, K9 Ballistics, Orvis, Znooz and others to find beds that were long-lasting, washable, and most of all, comfortable

• The best dog harnesses and dog toys – pup-tested

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

While our four-legged best friends are often happy enough to sprawl on the floor or curl up on an old blanket, there’s an increasing number of companies out there making plush and durable spots for pampered pups to lie.

But given the destructive tendencies of some dogs and that some of these beds cost well into the hundreds of dollars, buying the wrong one can quickly turn into an expensive mess. We tested 15 different models to find the best for every situation.

Published: August 25, 2026, 12:15 pm

I dug through hundreds of Labor Day sales to find real deals on high-quality products that last

Prepare for autumn with our favorite end-of-season deals on staples including leaf blowers, blankets and bedding

• College grads share the room essentials that weathered the dorm

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

Labor Day offers one last hurrah for summer, a chance to reset for fall, and if you’re shopping, some choice end-of-season discounts.

No matter your plans for the long weekend, we found sales on products to make the most of it while helping you prepare for the colder months ahead.

Published: August 25, 2026, 6:41 am

People’s bodies are changing in the age of Ozempic. How are we meant to talk about it?

Discussing people’s bodies can be fraught. We asked eating disorder experts how to do so – or not – responsibly

In the age of Ozempic and people being open about plastic surgery, discussion about people’s bodies is rife. At the same time, nobody seems quite sure how to talk about them, as shown by recent coverage of celebrities like Ariana Grande.

It is a fraught topic. We asked eating disorder experts for guidelines to follow when talking about other people’s bodies, and how to do so without doing harm.

Published: August 25, 2026, 9:00 am

Creatine: is there truth behind the hype? – video

Creatine has become the go-to supplement for anyone wanting to give their fitness a boost and build muscle. It’s even made it out of the gym, with influencers touting its cognitive benefits. But what’s the science behind creatine, and does the evidence stack up? Madeleine Finlay hears from science editor Ian Sample and Dr Justin Roberts, professor of nutritional physiology at Anglia Ruskin University

Published: August 25, 2026, 4:31 am

Stephen Libby on fashion: I’m on a mission to revive the jumpsuit – they’re practical and stylish

The 70s was a golden era for the jumpsuit, but I’m happy they’re back, thanks to Harry Styles, Benson Boone and – of course – me

Since appearing on The Traitors, I’ve become synonymous with jumpsuits. In fact, I’ve been required to wear one at every public appearance I have made since it aired, despite only wearing two on the show. That’s the power of the jumpsuit, I guess.

When I was packing for the show, I wasn’t even sure I would bring them – and not everyone watching liked them. Lots of people did, but I got messages saying: “What the hell is he wearing?”. The memes were also phenomenal. My favourite was my head on John Travolta’s body in a still from Saturday Night Fever.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:00 am

‘My TikTok was flooded’: Suad Mooge on Ireland’s Rose of Tralee, navigating backlash and celebrating identity

Dublin’s representative in the traditional festival defiantly reckons with xenophobia and balances Gaelic pride with her Somali heritage

• Don’t already get The Long Wave in your inbox? Sign up here

Last week marked the climax of Ireland’s Rose of Tralee festival, an annual celebration of Irish women, culture and the Irish diaspora. When Suad Mooge was chosen as Dublin’s participant in the festival earlier this year, she quickly became a symbol of Ireland’s fraught conversation around immigration and what constitutes Irish identity.

I caught up with Suad on a video call a week after the festival’s culmination, and found someone reflective and determined in the face of criticism.

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:01 am

Is Natalie Portman really the subject of Rachel Cusk’s new novel? Nine things you need to know about the literary hoo-haa

Fiction sleuths are obsessed with the idea that the book, Life of M, is a flagrant riff on the actor’s life. And despite being a firm Cusk fan, Portman is reportedly not happy

Life of M, the latest book by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Cusk, is being billed by its publisher, Faber, as a “blazing interrogation of fame, power, beauty and truth” – and openly alleged as a thinly veiled portrait of Natalie Portman. For weeks before publication, speculation has swirled that its movie-star main character is based on Portman – to her reported displeasure.

With the book out this week, readers and critics alike are judging it as literature and gossip. Don’t want to read it yourself, but want to have an opinion? Here’s your crib sheet.

Published: August 26, 2026, 4:07 am

How to turn the dregs of a ketchup bottle into a classic Marie Rose dressing – recipe | Waste not

Shake up the remnants of a bottle of ketchup with a splash of sprits, a heap of mayonnaise and a few other simple additions, and turn it into one of the culinary world’s most famous sauces

My new favourite preparation for sauces, marinades and dressings is in a near-empty jar, tub or bottle, so I can upcycle all the remains. Rather than washing it and putting it in the recycling, I instead add a few store-cupboard ingredients to create a dressing or sauce, often re-exploring classics such as a retro Marie Rose sauce or my yoghurt-pot chicken. It’s a convenient way to use up the last dregs of a ketchup bottle, for instance, which often seems to harbour exactly the right amount of sauce.

My Marie Rose recipe is inspired by the one in Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham’s 1997 The Prawn Cocktail Years. It’s wonderfully simple, with the sophisticated addition of a dash of cognac, though other recipes use brandy. I had neither, however, but I did have some sweet vermouth left over, which worked exceptionally well, so feel free to experiment with whatever spirits you have to hand – vodka, for instance, works brilliantly, and gives the sauce a nice kick.

Published: August 26, 2026, 5:00 am

A moment that changed me: I sought out rejection. Instead, strangers met me with profound generosity

As I turned 21, fear was holding me back. So I decided to face it headfirst. It taught me that courage leads to connection – and people who owe you nothing can be astonishingly kind

In May 2024, I decided to spend 30 days getting rejected on purpose.

At first, it sounded ridiculous. After all, most people spend their lives actively trying to avoid rejection – and I was deciding to walk, full force, towards it. But it had become obvious, as I turned 21, that my terror of being rejected was holding me back.

Published: August 25, 2026, 10:45 pm

Iran faces strait of Hormuz paradox as strategic value of chokehold erodes

Internal calls to end war get louder as Gulf neighbours plan alternative pipelines to cut reliance on waterway

Is the strait of Hormuz, recently cited by the office of the Iranian supreme leader as “the pillar of Iran’s new security order”, and as transformative as possessing a nuclear weapon, in reality becoming a fast-diminishing asset, leaving Iran increasingly vulnerable to the new planned US wave of economic sanctions?

It is the key debate that is raging inside Iran, with many different conclusions being drawn for Tehran’s negotiating strategy. Those who warn the strait’s value as a chokehold on the world economy will erode, leaving the country without foreign exchange reserves, argue that Iran’s negotiators should seek a deal soon.

Published: August 25, 2026, 9:00 pm

‘It costs a lot of money to look this cheap’: Dolly Parton’s life in quotes

The late singer, actor and philanthropist leaves behind a life and career full of wisdom

• Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and more pay tribute: ‘her legacy will be everlasting’

• Dolly Parton was a rare singer who proved herself to be an electric movie star

• Dolly Parton – a life in pictures

Beloved musician, actor and philanthropist Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80 after an incredible, one-of-a-kind career. The star was known for both her fierce wit and her unflappable positivity.

In a life filled with much-quoted gems of wisdom, here are some of her finest:

Published: August 25, 2026, 1:29 pm

Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border?

Floods and mudslides have swept away houses and roads with many hundreds missing

Hundreds are missing and at least 160 people have died after torrential floods ⁠hit the Himalayan border areas of ⁠Nepal and in ​Tibet in China. An avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods causing widespread damage to villages and infrastructure.

Officials said hundreds of travellers from countries including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Malaysia, were reported missing.

Published: August 26, 2026, 8:09 pm

Share your tributes and memories of Dolly Parton

We would like to hear your tributes and memories of country music star, actor and philanthropist Dolly Parton – whether you met her, or appreciated her work

The death of country music legend Dolly Parton was announced today. She was 80.

The singer-songwriter known for hits such as I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes.

Published: August 25, 2026, 11:51 am

Tribute to Dolly Parton and a tomato festival: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Published: August 26, 2026, 6:12 am