I traded booze for THC drinks. But are there hidden risks?

Giving up alcohol changed my life, but I wanted to know whether cannabis cocktails were too good to be true

Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire, has said he avoids substances like caffeine because he likes “rawdogging” reality. I, on the other hand, do not. I mean, have you seen reality lately?

For most of my adult life, alcohol has been my preferred way to take the edge off. But, like a lot of other people, I got older and realized regular drinking was not doing me any favours. Last year, I experimented with “intermittent sobriety”, taking months off here and there. It helped, but it was also easy to slip back into bad habits.

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:00 pm

No Squid Game? Or Patrick Schwarzenegger? This year’s biggest Emmy surprises

While Severance, The Studio and Adolescence triumphed, this year’s TV nominees also saw some major snubs

• Emmy nominations 2025: the list of key categories

I don’t know if you had the time or the energy to watch today’s Emmy nominations on YouTube, but if you did – and you followed along with the comments in real time – then you will know that there was one glaring omission that has sent the entire world into a screaming tailspin of panic and terror. I am talking, of course, about Thanos from Squid Game.

For some, Thanos – a purple-haired Konglish-spewing drug-addicted rapper played by the Korean performer T.O.P – was the standout actor of the entire year, in any genre or format. But not only was this a bad result for Thanos, it was a bad result for Squid Game altogether. A show that comprehensively did the numbers for Netflix found itself being locked out of all categories. Still, at least it finds itself in decent company; Black Doves, Netflix’s other wildly entertaining genre series, also found itself snubbed. As was The Handmaid’s Tale, which is admittedly a little less surprising, given the amount of heat it has lost in the years since it debuted.

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:19 pm

Trump isn't a reliable ally – but Nato dollars can be more persuasive than Putin's propaganda | Rafael Behr

There is no guarantee the US president’s impatience with Russia will last, but the Kremlin may come to regret testing his patience

Before Donald Trump was a politician he was a property tycoon. Naturally, he thought he could fix the Ukraine war with a real-estate deal. In exchange for a ceasefire, Vladimir Putin would get to keep territory he had already seized.

But before Putin was a politician he was a KGB agent who mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union. His idea of a fair solution begins with Ukraine’s total submission to an imperial Russian motherland.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Published: July 16, 2025, 5:00 am

CIA historian Tim Weiner: ‘Trump has put national security in the hands of crackpots and fools’

The longtime chronicler of the spy agency on his Legacy of Ashes follow-up and what keeps him up at night

It may seem perverse to pity the Central Intelligence Agency. The powerful spy organization’s history is rich with failures and abuses – from the Cuban missile crisis to the post-9/11 torture program to its role in the overthrow of a long string of democratically elected leaders. But among the many consequences of Donald Trump’s open hostility toward America’s intelligence community is that no less a CIA critic than Tim Weiner now sounds like a defender.

To understand why, Weiner – author of the unsparing history of the agency, the 2007 bestseller Legacy of Ashes – suggested a thought experiment in a recent interview: imagine spending years as an intelligence officer, working diligently to subvert the Kremlin, only to watch the US stand with Russia, Iran and North Korea, as it did in February when it voted against a UN resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine. In that moment, Weiner said: “You come to the realization, if you hadn’t already: ‘My God, the president of the United States has gone over to the other side. He has joined the authoritarian axis.’”

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:54 pm

‘I have a huge case brewing’: US readers’ frustrations with canceling various subscriptions

Readers share their experiences after a US appeals court vacated the FTC’s ‘click-to-cancel’ rule

Canceling subscriptions could continue to be a grueling process after the US court of appeals for the eighth circuit vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required companies to allow consumers to cancel subscriptions using the same method they used to sign up.

The court’s decision came down due to the commission behind it failing to follow required procedures under the FTC Act. In response, the Guardian asked readers to share their experiences while trying to cancel their various subscriptions - from Hulu, to Roblox, to dating apps. These are their stories.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

‘He didn’t think he was a good man’: new book reveals unseen portrait of JFK

In an exhaustively researched book, J Randy Taraborrelli looks at the private, public and secret lives of the president

J Randy Taraborrelli has already written five books on the Kennedy family but his sixth, JFK: Public, Private, Secret, is his first that’s directly about John F Kennedy, 35th US president from 1961 until his assassination in Dallas two years later.

“I have been writing about the Kennedys from Jackie’s perspective for 25 years,” Taraborrelli said, referring to Jacqueline Kennedy, the first lady who lived for another 30 years after he was shot, a figure of worldwide fascination.

Published: July 15, 2025, 9:13 am

US House speaker Mike Johnson calls for release of Epstein files amid backlash

Trump has faced growing resentment over the decision of his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to withhold information

• US politics – live updates

• Analysis: How Epstein files uproar became a vehicle for QAnon

Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, called for the justice department to make public documents related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, breaking with Donald Trump over an issue that has roiled the president’s rightwing base.

It was a rare moment of friction between Trump and the speaker, a top ally on Capitol Hill, and came as the president faces growing backlash from conservatives who had expected him to make public everything known about Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while in federal custody as he faced sex-trafficking charges.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:50 pm

Trump administration removes 2,000 national guard troops deployed in LA

Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, reduced military in the city, which had erupted in protest over Ice raids

The Trump administration said it would scale down its military operation in Los Angeles with the removal of half of the national guard troops that were deployed to the area last month amid protests over the federal government’s mass immigration sweeps.

Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, ordered the release of 2,000 national guard troops, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, significantly reducing the military presence in the city.

Published: July 15, 2025, 11:33 pm

Houthi-linked dealers sell arms on X and WhatsApp, report says

Traders affiliated to Iran-backed rebel group found to have been running weapon stores on social media for years

Arms dealers affiliated with Houthi militants in Yemen are using X and Meta platforms to traffic weapons – some US-made – in apparent violation of the social media firms’ policies, a report has revealed.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed group of rebels who have controlled swathes of Yemen since 2014, are designated as a terrorist organisation by the US, Canada and other countries.

Published: July 16, 2025, 4:00 am

Adelita Grijalva wins Arizona Democratic primary for House seat

Grijalva beat Gen Z activist Deja Foxx in the race and will succeed her late father, Raúl Grijalva, in the role

Adelita Grijalva won the Democratic House primary in Arizona to succeed her father, beating a young social media activist in a closely watched election seen as a test of the party’s generational divide.

Raúl Grijalva, a longtime congressman in southern Arizona, died from cancer earlier this year and left a vacancy in the state’s seventh district. The younger Grijalva, a 54-year-old who served for 20 years on a Tucson school board, has been a Pima county supervisor since 2020.

Published: July 16, 2025, 3:39 am

US university leaders challenge campus antisemitism claims in House hearing

Republican-led committee accused UC Berkeley, City University of New York and Georgetown University of bias

• Key takeaways from the House antisemitism hearing

Rich Lyons, the University of California, Berkeley, chancellor, challenged US House Republicans on Tuesday as they questioned Lyons and leaders of Georgetown University and the City University of New York in the latest hearing on antisemitism in higher education.

The committee accused the schools of failing to respond adequately to allegations of bias or discrimination, however the university leaders said that disciplinary action had been taken where appropriate and stressed the importance of protecting free speech.

Published: July 16, 2025, 12:25 am

‘An insult’: Malaysians slam nomination of ‘alpha-male’ Nick Adams as US ambassador

Adams’ comments about Israel have provoked particular concern in Malaysia, a staunch supporter of Palestine

Former government ministers and youth politicians in Muslim-majority Malaysia have slammed a decision to nominate right-wing influencer Nick Adams as US ambassador to the country, calling it an insult to the nation.

Donald Trump announced last week that Nick Adams, a self-proclaimed “alpha male”, had been announced as ambassador to Malaysia, praising him as a “incredible patriot”.

Published: July 16, 2025, 2:02 am

Senate Republicans advance Trump bill to cancel $9bn in approved spending

President is looking to clawback money from public media and foreign aid programs to seemingly control US debt

Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced Donald Trump’s request to cancel about $9bn in previously approved spending, overcoming concerns about what the rescissions could mean for impoverished people around the globe and for public radio and television stations in their home states.

JD Vance broke the tie on the procedural vote, allowing the measure to advance, 51-50.

Published: July 16, 2025, 2:18 am

Man who fatally shot two people outside Florida bar is executed

Michael Bell receives lethal injection for 1993 attempted revenge killings of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith

A man convicted of fatally shooting two people outside a Florida bar in 1993 as part of an attempted revenge killing was executed Tuesday evening, the 26th person put to death in the US this year.

Michael Bernard Bell, 54, was pronounced dead at 6.25pm local time after receiving a lethal injection at Florida state prison near Starke, said Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for the state governor, Ron DeSantis. Bell was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1993 murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.

Published: July 16, 2025, 12:11 am

Hunter missing in Japan as spate of bear attacks triggers emergency to be declared in northern town

Search for missing man comes after series of attacks across Japan this month in which at least two people have died

Authorities in Japan are searching for a hunter who went missing on a mountain in Hokkaido near where a brown bear was recently spotted, amid a spate of deadly attacks by the animals that has triggered the declaration of a bear emergency in one town.

The hunter was reported missing by a friend on Mt Esan on Tuesday afternoon in the northern island of Hokkaido after he failed to return home. A rifle believed to belong to the missing man was found on the side of a mountain road, and bloodstains were discovered nearby. A large brown bear was seen near the road on Saturday.

Published: July 16, 2025, 5:26 am

JP Morgan chief defends independence of Fed chair amid Trump attacks

Jamie Dimon cautions against interference as treasury secretary says process to replace Jerome Powell has begun

The boss of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, has defended the “absolutely critical” independence of the Federal Reserve chair, as Donald Trump continues to demand immediate cuts in interest rates.

The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Tuesday that a formal process for choosing a successor to the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, had already begun – despite the fact that his term does not end until next May.

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:06 pm

Republicans race to slash $9bn for public broadcasting and foreign aid

GOP aiming to meet Friday deadline mandated by law for bill, known as a rescissions package, to pass Congress

Senate Republicans may as soon as Tuesday move to pass legislation slashing up to $9bn in funds Congress had earlier approved for foreign aid programs and public broadcasting, as part of Donald Trump’s campaign of dramatic government spending cuts.

The GOP is racing to meet a Friday deadline mandated by law for the bill, known as a rescissions package, to pass Congress, otherwise the Trump administration will be forced to spend the money. The House of Representatives approved the legislation last month by a narrow majority.

Published: July 15, 2025, 8:09 pm

Two-thirds of DoJ unit defending Trump policies in court have quit

Seven lawyers cite punishing workload and the need to defend policies that some felt were not legally justifiable

The US justice department unit charged with defending against legal challenges to signature Trump administration policies – such as restricting birthright citizenship and slashing funding to Harvard University – has lost nearly two-thirds of its staff, according to a list seen by Reuters.

Sixty-nine of the roughly 110 lawyers in the federal programs branch have voluntarily left the unit since Donald Trump’s election in November or have announced plans to leave, according to the list compiled by former justice department lawyers and reviewed by Reuters.

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:43 pm

Trump unveils $70bn AI and energy plan at summit with oil and tech bigwigs

Pittsburgh event angers climate groups as Trump ties AI expansion to oil and gas, sidelining renewable energy

Donald Trump joined big oil and technology bosses on Tuesday at a major artificial intelligence and energy summit in Pittsburgh, outraging environmentalists and community organizations.

The event came weeks after the passage of a mega-bill that experts say could stymy AI growth with its attacks on renewable energy.

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:16 pm

‘I was raped. And my dreams were shattered’ – Gina Miller on abuse, cancer and the toxic race for Cambridge chancellor

She is the lawyer who fought against Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Now she’s vying to be the university’s first female chancellor – all while going through chemotherapy. She talks about the attack that destroyed her own student years

My first question for Gina Miller is the same one I put to all interviewees – what did you have for breakfast? Since she’s not a chef or a famous foodie, but the activist who fought Boris Johnson over his Brexit plans, and is now standing for chancellor of the University of Cambridge, this is more a journalistic ritual designed to test whether the recording device is working. But her response is startling.

“I rarely have time for breakfast,” says Miller, who turned 60 this year. “I’m only just able to drink coffee again after my chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which is amazing. As my dose has just been reduced, I was able to have the one cup I’m limited to today.”

Published: July 16, 2025, 4:00 am

‘A relentless, destructive energy’: inside the trial of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon

An intimate account of an unprecedented trial

If we believe her parents, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, a baby girl was born on Christmas Eve, 2022, in the upstairs bedroom of Woodcutters Cottage in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Her mother knelt against the double bed and gave birth without assistance or complication. The baby spent the first days of her life in the small stone-terraced cottage and then began her travels, mostly carried by her mother in a sling, hidden under a burgundy puffer jacket. She travelled far for a newborn, passing through bus stations and port towns, hotels and cafes, cities and fields, from north to south, west to east. We know she lived for at least two weeks, but we don’t know, and can never know, precisely how she died. She was called Victoria.

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:14 pm

Left turns: How a terrible war injury led to the birth of one-handed piano music

After losing his arm in the first world war, pianist Paul Wittgenstein commissioned extraordinary new works that he could perform with just his left hand. I’m aiming to keep his incredible legacy alive at this year’s Proms

I love talking to people about piano music written for the left hand. It’s a corner of the repertoire that’s often seen as a mysterious niche – yet it comprises a handful of hidden gems for solo piano and a few celebrated concertos too.

With most people, the conversation quickly turns to Ravel’s legendary Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (1929-30). This masterwork, a favourite among pianists, has been performed by some of the world’s greatest keyboard titans and – as a pianist born without my right hand – holds a special place in my own output. But there are a great deal more pieces for the left hand out there.

Published: July 16, 2025, 4:00 am

A moment that changed me: I stopped drinking – and realised what friendship really meant

I always thought hitting the bottle made me the life and soul of the party, but sobriety helped me to be honest with myself – and make genuine connections with other people

The conversation began with an apology. I’d rehearsed it many times, trying not to sound too defensive or pitiful. I’d walked through every potential rejection that might come as a result of letting my friend Gillian into a side of my life I’d tried hard to keep hidden. But she had just told me that she wanted to come to visit me in New Haven, so I was cornered. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sober now.” I felt embarrassed. “I have stopped drinking,” I added, to clarify. “If you visit, I can’t drink with you.”

In the pause that followed, I imagined her politely trying to work her way out of coming to see me, now that our favourite thing to do together wasn’t an option.

Published: July 16, 2025, 5:55 am

Foodie Finland: the best restaurants and cafes in Helsinki

Finns’ deep affinity with nature is blossoming in its restaurants, where a new generation of chefs are fusing local wild produce with more exotic flavours – all at reasonable prices

Unexpectedly, porridge is a Finnish obsession, available in petrol stations, schools and on national airline flights. But Helsinki’s gastronomic offerings are a lot wilder, featuring reindeer, moose, pike perch, salmon soup, herring, seaweed – and even bear meat. And from summer into autumn, Finns’ deep affinity with nature blossoms, fusing local organic produce with foraged berries and mushrooms. This inspires menus to feature whimsical fusions of textures and flavours, all straight from the land.

Garlanded with superlatives, from “friendliest” and “happiest” to “world’s most sustainable city”, this breezy Nordic capital is fast catching up on its foodie neighbours. Enriched by immigrant chefs, the youthful, turbocharged culinary scene now abounds in excellent mid-range restaurants with affordable tasting menus – although wine prices are steep (from €10/£8.60 for a 120ml glass). Vegan and vegetarian alternatives are omnipresent, as are non-alcoholic drinks, many berry based. Tips are unnecessary, aesthetics pared down, locals unostentatious and dining starts early, at 5pm. And, this being Finland, you can digest your meal in a sauna, whether at an island restaurant (Lonna) or high in the sky on the Ferris wheel (SkySauna).

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Nothing Phone 3 review: a quirky, slick Android alternative

Novel design and cool software proves phones can still be fun, but this one struggles to beat flagship rivals

The Phone 3 is London-based Nothing’s latest attempt to get people to ditch Samsung or Apple phones for something a bit different, a little quirky and more fun.

As the firm’s first high-end Android in several years, it has most of what you’d expect a flagship phone to have. But where it tries to set itself apart is with slick, dot-matrix-inspired software and a design on the back that includes a small, unique LED screen.

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Meet the unstoppable Octowoman! LensCulture’s greatest portraits – in pictures

From kids sat in dusty vintage cars to a moving exploration of the Rwandan genocide, these spectacular images triumphed at the 2025 LensCulture awards

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Trust in the US is eroding. Now the question isn’t if the dollar will lose supremacy: it’s when | Kenneth Mohammed

De-dollarisation is not a threat to global stability. Countries are simply questioning the rules of a game long rigged in Washington’s favour

For more than eight decades, the US dollar has reigned supreme as the world’s reserve currency – a position cemented at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 and reinforced by America’s postwar industrial power and military dominance.

Today, that supremacy is facing growing resistance from multiple directions – from African revolutionary movements to economic recalibrations in Europe, and from the counterbalance efforts of Brics nations to the geopolitical entanglements of Ukraine and Israel.

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

Does Kash Patel deserve to run the FBI? Of course he does – and I’ll take a lie detector test to prove it | Arwa Mahdawi

He may be insecure and lack any obvious qualifications, but he’s also extremely devoted to Donald Trump. And isn’t that what really matters?

‘Once upon a time, in the land of the free, there lived a wizard called Kash the Distinguished Discoverer.” That piece of verbal wizardry is the opening line of a children’s book trilogy called The Plot Against the King (aimed at children aged three and above) by a Mr Kash Patel. The first book, published in 2022, is like Harry Potter for conspiracy theorists. Kash helps King Donald battle Hillary Queenton and a “shifty knight”, who have been spreading lies about the king working with the Russionians. In the final book in the trilogy (The Plot Against the King 3: The Return of the King) a couple of villains called Comma‑la‑la‑la and Baron Von Biden make an appearance.

Not so long ago, publishing deeply weird books about the president while also promoting wild QAnon conspiracy theories would get you put on some kind of watchlist. Now it gets you a top job as the guy in charge of watchlists. Patel is not just a children’s book author; he is also the director of the FBI. His chief qualification for the role appears to be his extreme devotion to President Donald Trump. He certainly didn’t have any FBI experience before getting the job as head of the agency.

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: July 15, 2025, 12:31 pm

Stephen Lillie on Donald Trump’s arms deal with Nato – cartoon

Published: July 15, 2025, 1:48 pm

In Trump’s game of chicken, the EU cannot afford to back down | Nathalie Tocci

When threatened with US tariffs, Europe was initially bullish. But the influence of nationalist leaders sympathetic to Trump has caused a split

Donald Trump’s trade policy has been labelled “Taco” – “Trump always chickens out” – by his critics. But when it comes to his latest trade war with the EU, it’s Brussels that risks chickening out. The US and the EU have been negotiating for months on an agreement. This week Trump made the shock announcement that the US would hit the EU with punitive tariffs on goods at a crippling 30% rate from 1 August. This was in addition to separate steel and aluminium tariffs, and cars at even more punitive rates.

Blindsided Brussels negotiators calculated the economic damage, and ministers talked about retaliation. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, warned that “all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests” would be taken. But so far, despite the tough words, the EU is holding back.

Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:28 pm

Looking for a job? Who you know probably matters more than what you know | Zoe Williams

Forget polishing your CV – you’re better off working on your connections. That’s the depressing reality when every vacancy attracts thousands of applications, all written by AI

It’s only when you meet a couple of people who have just landed a job that you realise how long it’s been since you heard of that happening. I was chatting to two nearly-graduates last week, who both had something to go on to, and fair play, they were chemists, and I’ve never met one of those before. It’s possible they always saunter into work.

The story you hear far more often from graduates is that it’s a wasteland – that every new post has 2,000 applications, all identical because they’re AI-generated anyway, and it’s an AI bot that reads the damn things, so it wouldn’t be able to tell a personal touch even if there was one. Applying for work is like throwing your hat into a ring that’s on fire: your chances of success are mythically small and your hat – or, if you prefer, your self-esteem – will be destroyed in the process.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it’s more than a mistake | Editorial

Israel’s military blamed the deaths of six Palestinian children on Sunday on a technical error. But a staggering toll continues to mount

On Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant.

As shocking as Sunday’s deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel’s military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a “technical error with the munition” caused it to miss its intended target and added that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.

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: July 15, 2025, 5:40 pm

Tour de France’s phoney war gets dose of reality as Pogacar v Vingegaard hits the mountains | William Fotheringham

There are questions around the race contenders’ teams but Wout van Aert’s form could be key for the Danish challenger

There is always a sense of phoney war in the run-in to the Tour de France’s first stage in the high mountains, and at least one debate of the opening 10 days of this year’s race fits that context to a T. Has Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team at times been towing the bunch deliberately in order to ensure that Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey? It’s a gloriously arcane question, the kind that only comes up in the Tour’s opening phase, but it distracts from a point that could be key in the next 10 days: how the two teams manage the race will probably be decisive.

Firstly, a brief explainer. The received wisdom in cycling lore is that holding the yellow jersey early in a Grand Tour can be as much a curse as a blessing, because the daily media and podium duties cut into recovery time. Hence the thinking goes that Visma might have been chasing down the odd move purposely to keep Pogacar in the maillot jaune, so that he will be answering media questions and hanging about waiting to go on the podium, while Vingegaard has his feet up. Only Visma’s management know if this was the case, but what is certain is that the febrile atmosphere between the two teams will intensify from here on in.

Published: July 15, 2025, 7:37 pm

Jets reportedly agree second $100m deal in two days to lock in star CB Sauce Gardner

• 24-year-old set to sign $120.4m extension through 2030

• Jets also set up $130m deal with WR Garrett Wilson

The New York Jets are making Sauce Gardner the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.

The Jets and Gardner agreed on a four-year, $120.4m extension through the 2030 season, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement had not been announced.

Published: July 15, 2025, 7:53 pm

NWSL and US Soccer’s lack of transgender policy targeted by conservative lobby groups

The NWSL’s transgender participation policy, thought to still be in place, was abandoned in 2022, the league confirmed

As the United States supreme court agrees to hear two cases in the fall intended to enforce bans on transgender women from sport, the Guardian can reveal that the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has not renewed its 2021 policy on transgender players and is operating with no policy on the subject.

The NWSL established a policy in 2021, stating: “athletes who transition from male to female are eligible to compete” if they declare their gender identity is female – subject to testosterone levels being “within typical limits of women athletes”. The 2021 policy also stated athletes designated female at birth transitioning to male and undergoing testosterone hormone therapy were ineligible to compete in the NWSL.

Published: July 15, 2025, 11:00 am

‘What is the point?’ Scottie Scheffler questions golf and life before Open

World No 1 vows to quit sport if it affects family life and asks why winning is so important for an ‘awesome’ two minutes

Since the age of three, when he was given a plastic set of clubs, Scottie Scheffler has wanted to be the best golfer in the world. He has won three majors, been ranked world No 1 since 2023, and is the favourite for the Open this week. But during an extraordinary press conference at Portrush on Tuesday, the American peered into an existential void as he asked himself: what is the point of it all?

Scheffler was clearly happy, and his determination to win this week was clear. He also spoke eloquently on the challenges of links golf. But a hitherto unremarkable press conference suddenly veered into a deeper philosophical search for meaning when the 29-year-old was asked how long he had ever celebrated a victory.

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:37 pm

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini guilty of murdering father-in-law after property dispute

• 51-year-old also guilty of shooting mother-in-law

• Crime occurred after dispute over renovation project

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting that claimed the life of his father-in-law and left his mother-in-law injured.

The attack took place in June 2021 in North Lake Tahoe, California. Serafini was found guilty of killing Robert Gary Spohr, 70, who was found dead in a house from a single gunshot. Serafini was also found guilty of shooting Spohr’s wife, Wendy Wood, then 68, twice in the head. She recovered from the injures but took her own life one year later. Her family said the trauma of the attack led to her death.

Published: July 15, 2025, 3:12 pm

Dumper’s delight: Cal Raleigh becomes first catcher to win Home Run Derby

• Mariners star takes home $1m first prize for victory

• Oneil Cruz hits 513ft homer during contest

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh won his first All-Star Home Run Derby after leading the big leagues in long balls going into the break, defeating Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in the final round on Monday night.

The Mariners slugger, nicknamed Big Dumper, advanced from the first round on a tiebreaker by less than an inch over the Athletics’ Brent Rooker, then won his semi-final 19-13 over Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz, whose 513ft first-round drive over Truist Park’s right-center field seats was the longest of the night.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:28 am

Rage against the machines: ignore the fury at Wimbledon, AI in sport works | Sean Ingle

In the fevered environments within sporting arenas, anything that can help an official has to be a good thing

We are all suckers for a good story. And there was certainly a cracking two‑parter at Wimbledon this year. First came the news that 300 line judges had been replaced by artificial intelligence robots. Then, a few days later, it turned out there were some embarrassing gremlins in the machine. Not since Roger Federer hung up his Wilson racket has there been a sweeter spot hit during the Wimbledon fortnight.

First the new electronic line-judging system failed to spot that Sonay Kartal had whacked a ball long during her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – which led to the Russian losing a game she otherwise would have won. Although, ironically, it happened only because an official had accidentally switched the system off.

Published: July 15, 2025, 7:00 am

Mike Waltz grilled over Signal chat during confirmation hearing for UN role

Ex-national security adviser questioned about controversy during a Senate hearing to be US ambassador to UN

Just over two months after being ousted as national security adviser, Mike Waltz faced lawmakers on Tuesday during a confirmation hearing to be US ambassador to the UN, telling them that he planned to make the world body “great again”.

“We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk – where China, Russia, Europe and the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts,” Waltz told the Senate foreign relations committee about the UN. “But after 80 years, it’s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.”

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:09 pm

American Idol music supervisor and her husband found dead in their LA home

Police say suspect arrested in connection with the deaths after finding the couple’s bodies with gunshot wounds

Los Angeles police discovered American Idol music supervisor Robin Kaye and her husband, musician Thomas Deluca, dead in their Encino home on Monday, in what authorities are investigating as a double homicide.

After responding to the neighborhood for a welfare check, officers told celebrity news site TMZ, which first reported the news, that they found blood outside the couple’s $4.5m home. Inside, police discovered Kaye and Deluca’s bodies, in separate rooms, with gunshot wounds, NBC Los Angeles reports, citing police statements.

Published: July 16, 2025, 1:40 am

Family of US citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers calls on Trump administration to prosecute killers

Sayfollah Musallet’s relatives criticize US government over West Bank killing: ‘Somebody needs to be held accountable’

Relatives of Sayfollah Musallet, a US citizen from Florida beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, are calling for the Trump administration to arrest and prosecute those responsible for his killing.

The 20-year-old from Tampa was visiting his family in an area near Ramallah, and died last week trying to protect their farm from invaders, they said at an emotional press conference in Florida on Monday afternoon.

Published: July 15, 2025, 9:44 pm

Ukraine awaiting details on ‘billions of dollars’ worth of weapons promised by Trump

US president said to have discussed providing Patriot missiles and long-range Tomahawks but no agreement has been reached

Ukraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv.

At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine.

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:14 pm

French PM may scrap two public holidays to reduce country’s crippling debt

François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’

France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.

Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.

Published: July 15, 2025, 5:22 pm

New York county clerk rejects Texas’s effort to fine doctor in abortion pill case

A New York doctor faced a $113,000 penalty from Texas after being accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines

A New York county clerk again rejected an effort by Texas to fine a New York-based doctor accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines, in a case that could tee up a US supreme court showdown between states that protect abortion access and those that ban it.

On Monday, the acting Ulster county clerk, Taylor Bruck, rejected a court filing by Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, which sought to collect a $113,000 penalty against Dr Margaret Carpenter. Paxton had sued Carpenter in December 2024 over allegations she shipped abortion pills to a Texas woman in defiance of the state’s ban on virtually all abortions. When Carpenter did not show up to a court hearing earlier this year, a judge automatically ruled against her and ordered her to pay the fine as well as stop mailing pills to Texas.

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:47 pm

Europe gives Iran deadline to contain nuclear programme or see sanctions reinstated

UK, France and Germany say without firm commitment from Iran by 29 August they will reapply embargos that were lifted 10 years ago

The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced.

Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.”

Published: July 15, 2025, 5:43 pm

Death threats and falsehoods among online abuse reported by land and climate defenders

Survey across six continents uncovers accounts of abuse causing defenders to fear for their safety

Death threats, doxing and cyber-attacks are just some of the online threats recounted by land and climate defenders in a new report, amid concerns that harassment is having a chilling effect on environmental activism.

Interviews and questionaires sent out to more than 200 environmental defenders across six continents by Global Witness found that nine in 10 activists reported receiving abuse over their work. Three in four defenders who said they had experienced offline harm believed that digital harassment contributed to it.

Published: July 16, 2025, 4:00 am

Republicans complain to Canada over wildfire smoke despite supporting planet-heating bill

Lawmakers send letter railing against ‘suffocating’ smoke days after voting for Trump plan likely to boost pollution

A group of Republican lawmakers has complained that smoke from Canadian wildfires is ruining summer for Americans, just days after voting for a major bill that will cause more of the planet-heating pollution that is worsening wildfires.

In a letter sent to Canada’s ambassador to the US, six Republican members of Congress wrote that wildfire smoke from Canada had been an issue for several years and recently their voters “have had to deal with suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke filling the air to begin the summer”.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

Trump administration dashes hopes of anti-pollution plan for JD Vance’s home town

The $1.6bn Biden-era plan for a gas-powered blast furnace at a steel mill in Middletown, Ohio, is indefinitely on hold

A Biden-era plan to implement a gas-powered blast furnace at a steel mill in Ohio, which would have eliminated tons of greenhouse gases from the local environment year over year and created more than a thousand jobs, has been put on hold indefinitely by the Trump administration.

Experts and locals say the setback could greatly affect the health and financial state of those living around the mill.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

Could giving this pod of dolphins the same legal rights as humans help keep them safe?

With a bottlenose population threatened by fishing gear, boats and pollution, campaigners on South Korea’s Jeju island are lobbying to extend legal status to the vulnerable cetaceans

It is a beautiful sunny day on the island of Jeju in South Korea and as the boat cuts through the water all seems calm and clear. Then they start to appear – one telltale fin and then another. Soon, a pod of eight or nine dolphins can be seen moving through the sea, seemingly following the path of the boat.

But as they start to jump and dive, fins cutting through the air, it becomes apparent that one dolphin is missing the appendage, his body breaking the surface but without the telltale profile of his companions. His name, given to him by a local environmental group, is Orae, which literally translates as “long”, but in this context means “wishing him a long life”.

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:00 am

Texas death toll reaches 134 as new flash flood watch issued

Authorities admit ‘we don’t know how many we lost’ as local officials receive death threats

At least 134 people have now been confirmed to have died during the Texas Hill Country flooding on 4 July, according to an ABC News report.

Crews are continuing to search for the 101 people still missing.

Published: July 15, 2025, 7:55 pm

Trump administration seeks to end bond hearings for immigrants without legal status

Under new policy, such immigrants would not be able to request bond from immigration judge before deportation

The Trump administration is reportedly seeking to bar millions of immigrants who allegedly arrived in the US without legal status from receiving a bond hearing as they try to fight their deportations in court.

The new policy would apply during removal proceedings, which can take years, for millions of immigrants who entered the country from Mexico in recent decades, according to a report from the Washington Post, which reviewed documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).

Published: July 15, 2025, 8:14 pm

Federal grand jury indicts man accused of killing Minnesota lawmaker

Vance Boelter is accused of shooting dead Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark

A man has been indicted on charges of murdering a prominent Minnesota state representative and her husband and seriously wounding a state senator and his wife.

Vance Boelter, who is accused of shooting dead Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, while disguised as a police officer, was indicted by a federal grand jury. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:10 pm

Republican leading inquiry into Biden’s autopen use has digitally signed letters

James Comer has used a digital signature on documents throughout his investigation into Biden’s use of an autopen

A Kentucky Republican leading the Trump administration’s investigation into Joe Biden’s mental capacities during his time in office, including Biden’s reliance, like many other presidents, on an automatic signature machine, has been shown to have used a digital signature himself in the course of the investigation.

NBC reported that some letters and subpoena notices issued by James Comer, which were sent out in connection to his investigation into Biden’s use of the so-called autopen, bore a digital signature.

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:28 pm

‘Inquisitive, relaxed’ humpback whale swimming in Sydney Harbour delays ferries and boats

Whale is having a ‘full harbour experience’, says an expert aboard a maritime boat shadowing the supersized mammal

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

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

An “inquisitive” humpback whale that wandered from its usual migratory route and into the centre of Sydney Harbour is causing “navigational challenges” for ferries and vessels as its tour of the world-famous harbour continues.

The sub-adult whale was spotted by commuters on a harbour ferry service near Fort Denison about 8am on Wednesday. It swam to Circular Quay – Sydney’s central ferry terminal – before moving east towards the defence base of Garden Island then to Watsons Bay and north to Balmoral Bay.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:12 am

Two men behind ‘senseless’ felling of Sycamore Gap tree jailed for more than four years

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, sentenced for act of criminal damage that sparked widespread sadness and anger

Two men who carried out a “moronic mission” to fell one of the most loved and photographed trees in the UK have been jailed.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each given prison sentences of four years and three months for an act of criminal damage that caused the Sycamore Gap tree to crash down on to Hadrian’s wall in Northumberland on a stormy September night in 2023.

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:19 pm

Navalny’s widow leads calls for Italy to cancel concert by pro-Putin conductor

Valery Gergiev, an ally of Russian leader, is due to perform in Europe for first time since full-scale invasion of Ukraine

The widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is leading calls for Italy to scrap a performance by a Russian orchestra conductor with close ties to Vladimir Putin at a music festival in southern Italy.

Valery Gergiev, who has been a close ally of Putin since the early 1990s, will perform in Europe for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine after being invited to Un’Estate da Re festival in La Reggia di Caserta, a former Bourbon palace and Unesco world heritage site in Campania, on 27 July.

Published: July 15, 2025, 1:43 pm

Recent ‘tough period’ is not the real existential threat facing the BBC

Shifting media landscape and declining income from licence fee point to tough financial choices ahead

As understatement goes, Tim Davie appeared to have mastered it as he presented the BBC’s annual report. Questions poured in over whether he had ever considered his position as a succession of problems landed on his desk this year. In response, he acknowledged he and the BBC had faced a “tough period”.

The failure to cut a Glastonbury livestream, missed opportunities to address the behaviour of former presenter Gregg Wallace and criticism over its handling of two Gaza documentaries have seen a huge amount of opprobrium heading the BBC’s way in recent weeks.

Published: July 15, 2025, 5:37 pm

In defence of Step Brothers: the platonic ideal of Obama-era comedy

Watching Will Ferrell and John C Reilly as a pair of large adult sons feels like witnessing the dying embers of the gen X sensibility – before the world got cruel and idiots took over

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

It’s 2008. George W Bush is wrapping up his presidency. The world’s economy is in turmoil, but Obama is ascendant. The US’s – and the world’s – problems will soon be solved once and for all.

The peak comedy of this era is, of course, Step Brothers. Adam McKay’s previous hit collaborations with Will Ferrell, Anchorman and Talladega Nights, hit a rich seam of man-children being elevated to folk-hero status. We could call it a thematic trilogy, if we were being a bit pretentious – like Ingmar Bergman’s faith trilogy, but with more prosthetic testicles.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Published: July 15, 2025, 3:00 pm

‘A rarefied world of privilege’: lives of the New England upper class – in pictures

Tina Barney’s decades-long exploration of the bourgeois set her family belonged to reveals the strange rituals and claustrophobic banality of rich people’s everyday lives

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:00 am

Four Letters of Love review

Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne and Pierce Brosnan feature in sugary story of destiny and dreams, which brings together two troubled young people and a prize painting

Niall Williams has adapted his own international bestseller for this slushy romantic drama set in the west of Ireland, about love and destiny and dreams never given up on. For me, it pushed the bounds of absurdity and melodrama one step too far, though it undoubtedly has an audience. Something here reminded me of the romdram hits of author Nicholas Sparks, and particularly Message in a Bottle – although to be fair it should be borne in mind that Williams published his novel a year before Sparks’ book came out.

Two young lives unfold in parallel, fated to be brought together. Fionn O’Shea is Nicholas Coughlan, whose civil-servant dad William (Pierce Brosnan) has an epiphany at work one day when a lozenge of sunlight is blazoned on his drab desk and he abandons his job and heads west from Dublin to pursue his new vocation of painting. It is around these parts that Isabel (played by the excellent Ann Skelly, from Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy’s Rose Plays Julie) has been traumatised by her brother’s illness and is on the point of being sent away to be schooled by nuns and parted from her kindly parents – poet and schoolteacher Muiris (Gabriel Byrne) and Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter).

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

‘The soldiers want you to see what they’re going through’: the heartbreaking follow-up to 20 Days in Mariupol

While Mstyslav Chernov was on the Oscars circuit with his first Ukraine war film, soldiers in his latest – made using bodycams – were dying. He explains why he needed to join them in the trenches

It was in Sloviansk, in the rear of eastern Ukraine’s frontline, that I first met journalist and film-maker Mstyslav Chernov. It was the autumn of 2023 and he was telling me about the film that would later win him and his team an Oscar: 20 Days in Mariupol, a horrifying documentary assembled from the news footage he and his team had gathered there, in the first month of the full-scale invasion. That September day of our interview, though – amid what would turn out to be Ukraine’s disappointing counteroffensive of 2023 – he was making his second film, one that took him to the heart of the combat zone, called 2,000 Meters to Andriivka. It is, if anything, even more powerful than its predecessor: a piece of frontline reporting that truly deserves the name, its footage gathered from soldiers’ own bodycams as well as from Chernov and his small crew on the ground among them. He puts the viewer into the trenches alongside the combatants. It is terrifying, bloody and heartbreakingly sad. You will not emerge from this film unchanged.

The soldiers on whom Chernov focuses are members of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade. They have a mission: to liberate the village of Andriivka, in the Donetsk region, and hoist the blue-and-yellow flag above it. Their sole route to this village is through a narrow strip of forest with flat, open fields either side. The wood, with its sketchy cover, is both their protection and, in many cases, their grave. The painful, dangerous advance through this 2km provides the structure of the film. And yet, for all that the film borrows the conventions of a thriller for its propulsive plotline, it is its tenderness, both in its gaze and in the relationships between the men that it depicts, that really destroyed me.

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:00 pm

Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado review – plucky teen explorer goes looking for lost Incan magic

Inoffensive adventure story updates Dora the Explorer as she goes in search of the legendary golden sun that will grant one wish

If you have a bunch of eight-year-olds over for a sleepover and you’re looking for something to stick on the TV, you could do worse than this straight-to-streaming live-action adaptation of the animated show Dora the Explorer. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Dora and the Lost City of Gold from 2019, with a new star in the shape of Samantha Lorraine, and aimed at slightly older kids than the cartoon. There are action sequences looted from Raiders of the Lost Ark that had my eight-year-old squealing at the screen, though as it’s determined to be undemanding and inoffensive, it’s got that plasticky quality that middling kids’ films tend to have.

Lorraine plays Dora, a teenage explorer who’s grown up in the Amazon, raised on her grandfather’s stories about the Incas. For years, Dora has been searching for clues to find Sol Dorado, a legendary golden sun that will grant one wish, joined by her cousin Diego (Jacob Rodriguez). The scriptwriters deserve credit for resisting the temptation to bolt on a love interest; instead, we have cousin Diego in the role conventionally given to a female character: the pretty but non-essential sidekick.

Published: July 15, 2025, 12:00 pm

Tin Soldier review – Jamie Foxx leads with his hairdo in thriller about a soldier infiltrating a cult

Scott Eastwood and Robert De Niro also star in this confusing film about an ex-soldier sent to penetrate a cult compound

Make no mistake: this action thriller is a mangled, dreary, unlovely mess and so much less than the sum of its parts – despite relatively blameless supporting turns from Robert De Niro and John Leguizamo. There’s a more culpably hammy performance from Jamie Foxx, who rocks a ginormous, weirdly contoured afro so bizarre that it’s almost worth the price alone. (He is also one of many executive producers on the project.) But Foxx’s tonsorial effort is not enough to counteract the fact that this is a pretty lousy film, only worth it if you like “sneerwatching”.

None of the big names mentioned above play the lead here. Instead, the hero is one Nash Cavanaugh (a name that sounds generated by an AI bot), as incarnated by a typically lumpen Scott Eastwood. Cavanaugh is a former soldier who was once drawn into the cult created by Foxx’s Leon Prudhomme, also known by his much cooler cult leader moniker, the Bokushi (“pastor” in Japanese). It turns out Prudhomme was originally bankrolled by De Niro’s Ashburn, a shady government agent who had hoped to create a mercenary army. But the Bokushi has instead created his own private Jonestown, full of other ex-soldiers sold on his self-help preaching about how PTSD need not define them, or something like that. What makes him so charismatic is never well defined, but presumably the veterans must be smitten with his R&B-inflected gospel crooning with a special backup band – a vanity moment that’s pure cringe.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

‘The perfect accompaniment to life’: why is a 12th-century nun the hottest name in experimental music?

​A mystic who turned visions into beautiful chants, Hildegard von Bingen has inspired everyone from Grimes to David Lynch. Musicians including Julia Holter explain the hold she has on them

‘And behold! In the 43rd year of my earthly course, as I was gazing with great fear and trembling attention at a heavenly vision, I saw a great splendour in which resounded a voice from Heaven saying to me, ‘O fragile human, ashes of ashes, and filth of filth! Say and write what you see and hear.”

These are the words of 12th-century polymath Hildegard von Bingen (or Hildegard of Bingen), recalling the divine intervention that set her on the path to becoming one of history’s earliest and most influential composers.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

Pan by Michael Clune review – a stunning debut of teen psychosis

This wild ride of a novel is remarkable for the honesty of its treatment of both mental illness and adolescence

The narrator of American nonfiction author Michael Clune’s first novel is the 15-year-old Nicholas, who lives with his father in a housing development so cheap and deracinated it inspires existential terror. It’s a place exposed to “the raw death of the endless future, which at night in the midwest in winter is sometimes bare inches above the roofs”. Just as frightening is Nicholas’s sense that “anything can come in”. One day in January, what comes into Nicholas is the god Pan – a possessing, deranging, life-threatening spirit. Or that, anyhow, is how Nicholas comes to interpret his increasingly disabling anxiety.

Pan is remarkable for the honesty of its treatment of both mental illness and adolescence. It shows more successfully than any other book I’ve read how these can be experienced as black magic – indeed, it allows that they might be black magic. Nicholas successfully prophesies trivial events (the wind rising, someone saying the word “diabetes”) and is haunted by a dead mouse’s squeak. Another boy finds a means of divination in a schlock fantasy novel. Even the pop anthem More Than a Feeling is a path to the uncanny; it’s a song with “a door in the middle of it … like the door on a UFO”. Nicholas becomes convinced that he is perpetually at risk of leaving his body – specifically, that his “looking/thinking could pour or leap out” of his head – and his friends, also being 15 years old, are ready to believe it, too. They are easy prey for Ian, a college-age man who sets himself up as a small-time cult leader among these high-school kids. Ian particularly targets Nicholas, telling him that only they are capable of real thoughts; the others in the group are “Hollows” who have “Solid Mind”, a deterministic mentality with no animating self. “The sound of words from a Hollow mouth,” says Ian, “contains an abyss.” Soon the group is staging rituals incorporating sex, drugs and animal sacrifice.

Published: July 16, 2025, 6:00 am

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley review – teenage mothers and melodrama

This ambitious tale of solidarity and sisterhood in Florida has moments of poetic clarity, but falls short of the author’s dazzling debut

Writers sometimes talk of giving birth to their books, but probably very few are also working as doulas. It’s an experience that clearly informs Leila Mottley’s new novel, The Girls Who Grew Big, in which the struggles of pregnancy and motherhood loom large. Mottley’s work as a doula comes in addition to writing a bestselling debut novel, Nightcrawling, and featuring on Oprah’s Book Club; she was also youth poet laureate of Oakland, California, in 2018. But not much seems beyond the reach of the youngest ever writer to be longlisted for the Booker prize, back in 2022. The pity is that her considerable energy hasn’t translated into a more satisfying second book.

The Girls Who Grew Big tells the story of a gang of teenage mothers and the impromptu community they form in the humid disarray and general dysfunction of Padua, a fictional small town in the Florida panhandle. Led by their de facto leader, Simone, the Girls are a scrappy, ostracised handful of outsiders, variously rejected by their families and harshly judged by locals. Down on their luck and often abandoned by the adults in their lives, they resourcefully become a collective, based in the back of Simone’s truck.

Published: July 15, 2025, 8:00 am

Diljit Dosanjh is one of the biggest Asian stars in the world. So why can’t Indian cinemagoers see his latest film?

Sardaar Ji 3 is breaking box office records despite not being released to its most famous actor’s home audience

He is number one in the UK list of top 50 Asian celebrities in the world, has headlined arenas in the UK, US and across Europe as part of his sold-out Dil-Luminati world tour, and recently strutted the Met Gala carpet in an ivory-toned turban.

But despite Diljit Dosanjh’s stellar status, the Punjabi actor-singer has been caught in a cultural and political row that has halted the Indian release of his latest movie, Sardaar Ji 3.

Published: July 15, 2025, 5:00 am

Emmy nominations 2025: the list of key categories

From The Pitt to The Studio, nominations for the 77th Emmys, hosted by Nate Bargatze, are out ahead of the 14 September show

• Emmy nominations 2025: Severance leads while Adolescence makes impressive showing

Here is the list of 2025 Emmy award nominations:

Published: July 15, 2025, 4:56 pm

‘I wish I’d enjoyed my fame a bit more’: Jim Sturgess on regrets, romance and the art of the mix tape

He broke Hollywood in his early 20s, and found it all extremely scary. Now starring in a beautiful TV romance, Sturgess talks love, Walkmans – and why he might have just found his forever screen partner

Like all good love stories, this one starts with a chance meeting and ends with a reunion. It was 2008, pre-Hardy and Hiddleston, post-Bale and Grant; Jim Sturgess was a rising star and the latest handsome young Brit to break Hollywood. Having landed the lead role in casino thriller 21, Sturgess needed a love interest: cue a slew of chemistry tests with a roll call of beautiful young women, a process Sturgess remembers now as “the most exposed blind date you could ever possibly put yourself through, with five producers watching you from afar”.

Kate Bosworth got the role, but one actor lingered in Sturgess’s mind: an effervescent Australian called Teresa Palmer. “When you do those chemistry tests, they put you through it, so we spent the whole day together,” Sturgess says. “I was really hoping she was going to get the part, because we got on really well. She’s Australian, I’m English, and we were both in Hollywood going, ‘Where the hell are we?’”

Published: July 15, 2025, 2:08 pm

Where Oasis, the Killers and Noddy Holder raised hell: Britpop’s debauched HQ, the Columbia hotel

Noel Gallagher named a song after it, Marc Almond practically moved in and the Killers had a bathtub reserved for puking in – but was it rock’n’roll, or just a bit tragic?

In the early 2000s, a member of the New York dance-punk band Radio 4 was walking upstairs when he realised he’d forgotten the key to his room at London’s Columbia hotel. Rather than walk back down the several flights he’d already climbed, he drunkenly decided to jump all the way down to the reception level. When he regained consciousness, a bemused Courtney Love was staring down at his prone body. As was an irate hotel manager, who swiftly barred the band from staying there for years, before the crumpled musician was scooped up to go and spend a few days in hospital.

It was not easy to get barred from the Columbia hotel, but Radio 4 were not the only ones who managed it. Once, at 6am, members of Oasis decided to throw all the furniture in the bar out of the window, piece by piece. When items landed on the hotel manager’s Mercedes, the band had to scarper before the police arrived. It played such a significant part in Oasis’s story that Noel Gallagher wrote a song in tribute to it, Columbia, based on his escapades there back when he was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets.

Published: July 15, 2025, 1:14 pm

Dad has never been afraid to bargain. The day I bought my car, I saw a master at work

My father wanted me to feel satisfied with my purchase. He also thinks I’m stupid with salespeople, liable to say and pay too much

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

I was nine when Dad first gave me the advice that would be a golden thread, a parable of wisdom conveying all his hard-earned knowledge in a few words.

He had just finished a long week at the mixed business we owned in the city, and we were at Menai Marketplace in Sydney’s south for a very special purchase. I was desperate for a PlayStation 1. I pointed at the Big W price tag and asked: “Dad, is this expensive?”

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Published: July 15, 2025, 3:00 pm

‘Don’t ever assume there’s anything to eat!’ 29 tips for perfect vegan holidays, from where to go to how to order

Nowhere should be out of bounds just because you have a plant-based diet. Seasoned travellers explain how to stay happy and hunger-free, whether you’re trekking in Thailand or on a mini-break in Berlin

This spring, I spent five weeks travelling around Mexico – my longest time away from home since becoming a vegan two and a half years ago. It was a learning experience: lots of incredible vegan food, gallons of fall-back guacamole and the odd cheese-related disaster. This is what I found out about being a vegan on holiday, and the advice I received from more seasoned vegan travellers.

Published: July 15, 2025, 9:00 am

The valleys of the Dolomites: exploring Italy’s new network of wild trails

The Via delle Valli is a series of 50 trails aiming to tempt mountain-lovers away from the region’s hotspots and towards lesser-charted country

Thick white cloud hangs outside the windows of Rifugio Segantini, a mountain hut 2,373 metres up in the Italian Alps. But it is shifting, revealing glimpses of the majestic Brenta Dolomites before us: a patch of snow here, a craggy peak there. The view is tantalising, and a couple of times I have run outside in a kind of peekaboo farce to see the full display, only for it to pass behind clouds again.

The refuge – cosy, wooden-clad and packed with hikers – is named after the Italian landscape painter Giovanni Segantini, who was inspired by these mountains. His portrait hangs on the walls and his name is embroidered on the lace curtains. A simple stone building with blue and white shutters in Val d’Amola, the refuge is dwarfed by its rugged surrounds, with Trentino’s highest peak, the snow-capped 3,556-metre Presanella, as a backdrop. The entries in the guestbook are entirely by locals.

Published: July 15, 2025, 6:00 am

Why homemade stir-fry sauces are always better than bought in ones | Kitchen aide

Don’t bother with bought-in bottles, which are often too sweet. It’s easy to make your own, say our cooks – just remember, it’s all about balance …

• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Most stir-fry sauces are sweet, dense and cloying. Any lighter, fresher alternatives?
Louis, Falmouth
If Julie Lin, author of Sama Sama: Comfort Food from my Malaysian-Scottish Kitchen, were to hazard a guess, it would be that Louis is buying shop-bought sauces: “They’re always sweet and dense,” she says. “There’s a phrase we use in Malaysia, agak agak, which means to season until you know that it’s good for you.” And that’s only ever going to come from making it yourself, which for Lin often means her “master wok” sauce. To make a bottle, she combines 75g white sugar, three teaspoons of MSG, and 75ml rice-wine vinegar, and whisks until the sugar dissolves. Stir in 300ml light soy sauce and 100ml dark soy sauce, followed by 50ml sesame oil. Pour that into a sterilised jar or bottle, give it a shake and keep for a month at room temperature. That’s then ready to go, or customise it with, say, chilli or garlic, because one stir-fry sauce is not going to fit all. While the basic master wok number is a good shout for stir-frying noodles, rice or vegetables, however, “if you’re going for a lamb stir-fry, for example, you’ll probably want to add some cumin, garlic and maybe make it more vinegary.”

For Justin Tsang, author of Long Day? Cook This: Easy East Asian Recipes with a Twist, it’s all about balance: “The perfect stir-fry sauce has to be salty, sweet and umami, but it shouldn’t be one more than the other; it should work in harmony.” If your sauce is bordering on too sweet or dense, anything “a bit tart or fruity” will work wonders: “That could be some sort of acid, such as lime juice to finish, or vinegar, or a splash of sharp Worcestershire sauce,” says Tsang, who has also been known to add HP Sauce to the mix. Alternatively, get to know your onions: “Using the finest grater on a box grater, grate a white onion into an almost-pulp, then mix into your sauce, along with a splash of vinegar – that will cut through any sweetness and make it lighter.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Published: July 15, 2025, 12:00 pm

Filtered reality and the soul of Lebanon – readers’ best photographs

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

Published: July 15, 2025, 3:00 pm

Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days: ‘Nobody is safe’

Exclusive: For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportation

Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, came to West Virginia to visit his girlfriend last fall. It was one of many trips he had taken to the US, and he was authorized to travel under a visa waiver program that allows tourists to stay in the country for 90 days.

He had planned to return to Ireland in December, but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days overdue to leave the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody.

Published: July 15, 2025, 10:00 am

Backlash against Mexico City gentrification echoes global anger at overtourism and rising rents

Protests this month laid bare the growing anger from locals against foreigners who have flocked to the Mexican capital since the coronavirus pandemic

The protesters tore through the city chanting angry slogans and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake: shattered glass, broken doors and furious graffiti – “get out of Mexico.”

Some, dressed in black, smashed windows of local businesses. Others marched peacefully but carried signs with angry messages: “You’re a colonizer not a fucking ‘expat’”; “Gringo go home.”

Published: July 15, 2025, 12:00 pm

Protests, fires and a child’s funeral: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Published: July 15, 2025, 12:50 pm