The Nepal-Tibet flood disaster, Russian strikes in Kyiv, Israeli settlers in the West Bank and tributes to Dolly Parton - the past seven days as captured by the world's leading photojournalists Continue reading...

Defending champion arrives at Flushing Meadows in poor form and with a host of challengers looking to usurp herUnder any normal circumstances Aryna Sabalenka would not have lost her third-round match at the Cincinnati Open last week. For all of her unforced errors, indecisiveness and the obvious tension surrounding her tennis, the world No 1 had led the unheralded Sara Bejlek 5-1 in the first set tie-break and then 4-1 in set two. She gave herself more than enough chances to close out a comfortable win.Instead Sabalenka returns to New York trying to find a path through her greatest crisis since she first reached No 1 in the rankings more than three years ago. That straight-sets loss in Cincinnati extended a mediocre 17-7 record dating back to the beginning of April during which she has not reached a final. She has just one more chance to turn her fortunes around as she tries to claim her first grand slam title of the year at the US Open, the tournament she has won on the last two occasions. Continue reading...

However, Kevin Warsh didn't say if interest rates would change in coming months, as inflation remains stubbornThe US Federal Reserve is not done fighting high inflation, its chair, Kevin Warsh, said in his first major speech in the role on Friday, emphasizing that it was the Fed's job to deliver stable prices".Warsh did not indicate where the Fed will take interest rates in the coming months, despite US inflation remaining stubbornly above the central bank's 2% target amid the war in Iran. But his speech was taken by markets as a signal that rates may rise in the coming months, a move that may put him at odds with Donald Trump, who has aggressively called for rates to be cut. Continue reading...

Officials said Tyrin Johnson turned toward guard members with gun while running as report shows he was shot in backTennessee national guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime taskforce in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back, according to an autopsy report obtained by the Associated Press, contradicting police accounts that said the man was facing the troops when they fired.Authorities have said that Tyrin Johnson turned toward guard members with a gun while running from them in the early morning hours after the Fourth of July holiday in Memphis when he was fatally shot in the chest. Continue reading...

President faces criticism over plan to import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffsDonald Trump has pledged to allow cattle ranchers and farmers to process their own food amid a backlash from the US agricultural sector over his decision to pause US tariffs on foreign beef.The US president has been sharply criticized, including from members of his own party, since announcing the US will temporarily import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffs in an effort to bring down prices. Continue reading...

State to offer up to 5,000 trappers chance to snare reptiles whose numbers have risen to 3m from fewer than 100,000The first recreational alligator hunt in Louisiana in more than half a century is about to commence in the swamps of that state, with up to 5,000 hopeful trappers facing strict rules in order to snare a reptile.The state's fish and wildlife commission banned alligator hunting in 1962 to allow the species to recover after decades of unregulated killings for meat and hides dropped numbers there to below 100,000. Continue reading...

X2 ride at Magic Mountain has been closed for a month after one rider experienced brain compression and another remains in comaAn infamous Six Flags Magic Mountain rollercoaster, long favored by intrepid theme park goers, has been closed for more than a month after two people say they experienced brain injuries after riding it, according to a new CNN investigation.The X2 rollercoaster sends riders plummeting and twisting hundreds of feet, reaching up to 76mph (about 122km/h) as the seats rotate 360 degrees. On the southern California theme park's website, it's advertised as a rite of passage for daredevils. Continue reading...

Helipad relocation led in part to incident where Marine One, carrying the president, had close call with passenger jetSafety officials say the relocation of a helipad amid Donald Trump's multi-project White House reconstruction led in part to an incident earlier this month in which a military helicopter carrying the president came too close to a passenger jet.A preliminary report published on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blamed communication issues" for the failure of the crew of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, to give the required three minutes' notice to air traffic controllers that they were about to take off from the White House. Continue reading...

Anti-vaxxers are spreading conspiracy theories after two recent measles-associated deaths in PennsylvaniaAnti-vaccine activists are trying to track down the families of two people, including at least one newborn, who died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania, as governor Josh Shapiro tangles with Robert F Kennedy Jr over his inaccurate and misleading claims".Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), suggested late Wednesday that the deaths in the state may have been fabricated" after a Republican coroner - an elected political office in Lancaster county - claimed one of the measles-associated deaths was unrelated to the virus, although the given cause would be consistent with measles. Continue reading...

Thai navy says routine' visit' will allow personnel to rest and recuperate amid reports of poor conditions onboardThe USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is set to make a temporary stop in Thailand next week as it heads back to the United States, Thai navy officials said, after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea supporting US operations against Iran amid recent reports of poor living conditions and low morale onboard the vessel.The Lincoln left the Middle East several days ago after being relieved by the USS George Washington, and is now heading home to San Diego. A Thai navy official told Reuters this week that the carrier was expected to make a brief port visit in Thailand next week for the crew to rest and recuperate before continuing their journey home. Continue reading...

The Gotham striker said she was stepping away from the sport, but then signed for Al Qadsiah. The move sparked questions over professionalism and raised concerns of LGBTQ+ fans who have disavowed the Saudi leagueA recent World Cup winner joins a historically downtrodden club, immediately leads them to their first championship, praises the level of play in the league, speaks fondly of living in the club's market, extends her contract with the club, leads the club to another championship, is named a league MVP finalist, and breaks the club's all-time scoring record. That's the fairytale of Esther Gonzalez and Gotham FC - a story that ended abruptly, just nine days after that scoring record was set. On 27 July, Gotham announced that they had mutually parted ways with the striker as she temporarily steps away from soccer to attend to personal matters in Spain". The announcement of her departure was full of gushing words going both directions, and was met with understanding and support from the women's soccer world.But less than a month after Gonzalez left Gotham, Al Qadsiah, a club in the Saudi Women's Premier League, announced her as their newest signing, on a one-season contract with an option to extend for a second. NWSL journalist Jenna Tonelli soon reported, League sources tell me that Gotham did not expect Esther to sign with another club this soon." Questions swirled: did she actually intend to take a break from soccer when she left Gotham? And why would a player who just had a child with her female partner choose to play in Saudi Arabia, a country where same-sex relations are criminalized? Continue reading...

More than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and in Tibet after catastrophic flash floods swept through the region, killing at least 469. Plus: Six months of the war in Iran

Decision to rescind roadless rule' opens more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and loggingMore than 400 endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration's decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades.According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era roadless rule" could put 7.4m acres of endangered-species habitat and nearly 1,800 miles of protected rivers and streams at risk, while opening more than 45m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and logging. Continue reading...

Terrified of being seen as a loser, Donald Trump is nonsensically lashing out - even against our old friend CanadaI'm still grieving Dolly Parton. I never met her and always wanted to. She was almost exactly my age and my height and had values I deeply admired. Her death leaves a hole in the firmament.Which brings me to the person whose values are as far from Dolly Parton's as any human could possibly be and still claim to be human. I'm referring, of course, to the current occupant of the Oval Office. Continue reading...

Unpopular new policy comes as midterms loom and control of Congress could be decided by several Michigan racesEvery day $1bn worth of goods crosses the river dividing Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America's auto industry.News this week of Donald Trump's escalating trade spat with Canada has everyone worried. Political and economic leaders and observers labeled the move an act of hubris" , blamed Trump's ego", and called the escalation insanity". Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges sound is nuisance for up to one mile around datacenter as residents experience noises from DataOneIt's a sound Steve Brown, a 63-year-old Vineland, New Jersey resident, literally hears in his sleep: BGRRRRRRRRRRR.It drones, oscillates, growls - these are machines at industrial scale. Are they generators? Pumps? Fans? Brown does not know what equipment causes the sound or why. He only knows two things: he's tired of it, and it's coming from DataOne - a 350MW datacenter under construction a little more than a mile from his home of 25 years.This article was amended on 28 August 2026. A previous version referred to the Michigan law firm Liddle Sheets PC as Liddle Sheets Coulson. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Michael Boren, a senior official overseeing the US Forest Service, is accused by Democratic senators of inappropriate interference'Donald Trump's administration is facing calls to launch an investigation into allegations that Michael Boren, a senior official who oversees the US Forest Service, pressed agency staff to deploy additional resources to fight a fire burning near his Idaho ranch.Three Democratic senators accused Boren of inappropriate interference" in a letter seen by the Guardian, demanding answers from Brooke Rollins, US agricultural secretary. Boren serves as undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment. Continue reading...

The president senses a crisis in his cult of personality. He believes the path to victory is through unwavering devotionDonald Trump has framed his theme for the midterm elections. It has come to him as naturally and inevitably as staring into the mirror, beyond any logic or argument, his definitive answer to no specific issue, providing no understanding of any particular problem, but transcending all of them. His political theme is more primal than programmatic, more instinctive than analytical, a heartfelt expression to protect his greatest romantic attachment, his obsessive fixation, his idealized object: himself.Trump's campaign theme is unrequited love. Unlike the pollsters, media consultants and pundits, he alone has grasped the magnitude and the source of the existential crisis threatening his politics. He has identified the problem for the Republicans as the faltering measure of complete devotion to him. His demand has nothing to do with mutual affection. It is a ploy to reassert his slipping control, a manipulative test to prove loyalty to him, or else. There can be no absolute rule without an absolute ruler; no absolute ruler without absolute submission; no absolute submission without the expression of absolute love. His sadness at its fading gives way to anger, paranoia and greater acts of retribution. He equates the fear he instills as a form of love. Trump accepts subservience, from whatever motive, as affection or its closest equivalent. He cares nothing about sincerity, so it's all in the show. The less love displayed, the more fear required. Yet there is no rebound, but only deeper rejection. Continue reading...

The site once paired news and scores with distinctive voices. Its overhaul under Sinclair Media is the latest sign that serious tennis writing in the US is becoming endangeredA few weeks ago, as I often do, I went to the Tennis.com site to get an update about a match and to check out the commentary from my fellow tennis journalists. I was taken aback when, instead of the usual colorful graphics and info, I was greeted with a rudimentary-looking homepage that displayed only scores and rankings.At first I thought it was a glitch of some sort. But sadly, no. As it turns out, Tennis.com, originally the online site of Tennis Magazine, is under a complete overhaul and will no longer be the home of esteemed writers such as Steve Tignor and Pete Bodo, robbing fans of unique and personal takes on the sport. It appears the longest running American tennis-specific publication is no longer alive in any form. Continue reading...

The singer had a serendipitous mixture of humor, humility and humanity. We could all stand to channel it a bit moreThe moment that the world found out that Dolly Parton had died, I was in a hair salon in the reddest congressional district in New York state. The neighborhood on the shore of Lake Erie where I move every summer voted solidly for Donald Trump in 2024.I often pass a lawn sign that has something misogynistic to say about New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, and the mere mention of Kamala Harris's name can bring derisive jokes. Of course, there certainly are liberals and independents to be found, but on balance the area leans right. Continue reading...

America's second biggest sporting obsession returns this weekend, which means marching bands, 100,000-seat stadiums, ancient rivalries and, increasingly, the operating model of a sport being invented in real timeIs college football healthy? It's a seductive question, one that now comes up every year around this time. Actually, it never recedes, so it's just with the sport all the time. It's also the wrong question, because whoever answers it is free to choose their own adventure. The television ratings are way up there in the galaxy. Money rains down on dozens of programs and thousands of players. Marching bands continue to march. Yet a lot of teams are stranded by realignment or an economic inability to keep up in a transfer arms race. Their fans - actually any team's fans - may be exhausted by escalating asks for their dollars.If you have been checked out of the sport for a while ahead of this weekend's first set of games, you may feel like your body has been frozen for a few decades. Indiana, (yes, really) are the defending national champs, fresh off a 16-0 season that puts them on the list of the handful of best teams ever. Texas Tech, once likened to Siberia by a former coach who is now a US senator, are the fiercest program in the Big 12. Ole Miss are good for the first time since integration. At least Ohio State and Georgia are still powerhouses. Continue reading...

President's directive stalls for a second time about a week before the first postal ballots are due to be sent outA federal judge on Thursday halted - at least for the moment - attempts to implement Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail voting.The president's directive stalled for a second time about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. In the US district court, Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on the government implementing the order in a case that could be headed back to the supreme court, which on Monday overturned an earlier ruling of hers that had blocked Trump's order from taking effect. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed.

Decision allows manufacturers to begin shipping doses, but confusion remains about insurance coverageThe US Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, allowing manufacturers to begin shipping doses to pharmacies and doctors' offices across the country.The FDA approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech's updated Covid vaccines, the companies said on Thursday, after an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target the dominant XFG variant. Continue reading...

Three employees of Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news service, allege they were fired after reporting on USS Abraham LincolnThree journalists who were fired by the Pentagon from a US government-funded news outlet sued the Department of Defense in federal court on Thursday, arguing their dismissals were illegal and violated their first amendment rights to free speech.The three journalists were all employees of Stars and Stripes, which their court filing calls the U.S. military's independent news source since the Civil War with a long history of editorial independence, free from news management or censorship by military command". Continue reading...

Mark Carney rejects attempt to rename lake as did several US governors, with Tony Evers mocking the move

Newly obtained records indicate health secretary lied about Samoa trip during Senate confirmation hearings last yearA senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year.Ron Wyden of Oregon said: RFK's platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress." Continue reading...

The US president signed order on 27 August amid growing trade war with Canada after the US enacted tariffs against its northern neighbor Continue reading...

Jes Staley made comments to US lawmakers investigating his links to the convicted sex offenderThe former Barclays boss Jes Staley has denied having sex with a woman dressed as Snow White, after being questioned about an infamous email exchange about Disney princesses with Jeffrey Epstein.The comments were detailed in newly released transcripts from a closed-door interview last month with US lawmakers as part of their investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Experts and former officials say accounts are running dry, and funding a war with no clear endgame is the main challengeDonald Trump's war on Iran has driven the US military into a severe financial crisis, with the US navy forced to transfer money from its payroll and other sources to cover the costs of combat, according to documents obtained by the Guardian, and interviews with navy officials, contractors and defense analysts.The US-Israeli operation, which has depleted US munitions stockpiles and prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes that have wrecked strategic bases across the Middle East, is piling pressure on budgets across the military. Continue reading...

The state concludes: This wasn't a woman suffering from a lack of care' or a lack of resources'

One wonders when, if ever, a US broadcast can win the same plaudits presenting the English league with a more American voiceThere they were again, signaling with their unchanging faces and voices and their unchanging studio backdrop that another Premier League season had begun. On Friday afternoon, and again on Saturday and Sunday morning, Rebecca Lowe welcomed American viewers to what is somehow already the 14th season of the world's most popular sporting circuit to air on NBC.She was flanked, as ever, by her merry band of pundits, her gang of fellow British expats. The Robbies and the other ones. Also, Tim Howard as the token American, albeit one who spent 13 seasons of his goalkeeping career in the Premier League, deemed sufficiently English by osmosis to join the crew.Leander Schaerlaeckens is the author of The Long Game: U.S. Men's Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, which is out now. He teaches at Marist University. Continue reading...

Move from USPS comes amid Trump administration's efforts to restrict mail-in voting in November's midtermsThe US Postal Service (USPS) said on Thursday that new requirements for mail-in voting are now in effect as Donald Trump seeks to crack down on the practice. The move is expected to trigger a new round of legal challenges.The Trump administration has sought to impose new rules requiring state election leaders to submit their voter rolls for inspection as part of a broader bid to increase federal government oversight over voting and elections. Continue reading...

Burnham has nothing to hide as he prepares to meet president he once called poisonous. It may actually win him more respectIt makes a pleasant change. Not so long ago, Keir Starmer was falling over himself in his efforts to keep things sweet with Donald Trump. Offering the US president a second state visit within minutes of meeting him. Everyone knows you should never put out on the first date: it only makes the other person think you're a pushover. Sure enough, The Donald banked the marching bands and the Windsor silver service, made polite conversation for three days and then went back to trash-talking him.Yet still, Starmer just sat there and took it. As if one word of criticism would be too much. Wittering on about the special relationship" as if Trump gave a moment's thought to the UK before he did anything. The rest of us wouldn't have put money on the US president even being able to locate Britain on a map. It was only latterly, when The Donald chose to bomb Iran, that the penny finally dropped for Keir. And even then he looked pained by the apparent betrayal, as he resisted the calls of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage to join in the war. Continue reading...

American talks life on the professional circuit and those making sacrifices for a pay cheque, often compromising physical and mental welfareFor the American tennis veteran Mackenzie McDonald the players' ongoing push for greater prize money and welfare contributions from the grand slam tournaments could result in the difference between simply putting food on the table and making a decent living.After 10 years on the ATP Tour the 31-year-old is not pleading poverty but knows from personal experience that life on the professional circuit can be a hand-to-mouth existence, with players' physical and mental welfare often compromised due to their desperation to get back on court. Continue reading...

Judge rules Christian Castro, accused of shooting man and lying about it, cannot be held pending extradition requestAn Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail on Thursday, after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota.Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center in Brownsville. He motioned his hand toward a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and quickly got into an SUV that drove off. Continue reading...

Adam Kalkstein compared administration's order to trying to teach the law' without mentioning the constitution'The only climate scientist teaching at West Point, the US army's military academy, was fired after he resisted an order to stop teaching about the human causes of the climate emergency, a lawsuit claims.Dr Adam Kalkstein, a civilian professor of geography at the New York institution, was terminated after the spring semester this year, six months after a testy meeting with Brig Gen Shane Reeves, then dean of West Point's academic board, the court filing said. Continue reading...

Letters obtained by Guardian and AP contradict testimony that 2019 visit to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines'Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, when he told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines".Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that testimony. In one he wrote to the Samoan prime minister before the trip, Kennedy explicitly said he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in the Pacific island nation. In it, he used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times. Continue reading...

It's about kitchen-table populism': focusing on Americans' day-to-day economic strugglesThis year's Democratic primaries look and sound a lot more populist than usual. Brian Poindexter, a union iron worker running on a workers first" message, won a House primary outside Cleveland. Sherrod Brown is mounting a Senate comeback in Ohio on the same rigged system" message that has allowed him to outshine other Democrats in Ohio. Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who built his career fighting corporate landowners, is the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine. And Josh Turek, a self-described prairie populist", is on the Senate ballot in Iowa.In fact, according to research we've conducted through the Center for Working-Class Politics (CWCP), more than 70% of 2026 Democratic candidates now rely on populist rhetoric in their campaigns, laying the blame for our broken system on rich elites of one kind or another. Continue reading...

Plane was headed for airport in Seldovia from Anchorage, and was submerged in water after the crashA small plane carrying four people crashed into shallow waters next to a remote coastal town in Alaska on Wednesday, killing everyone on board, according to officials.The Piper PA-24 was headed for the airport in the small town of Seldovia after taking off from Anchorage, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Seldovia's airport is about 136 miles (219 km) south-west of Anchorage. Continue reading...

Safety features including usage limits and night-time blocks to be set by default. Plus changes to famous French cheeses

Analysis by Institute for Policy Studies found that between 2019 and 2025, CEO compensation increased 41.4%The average CEO of the US's 100 largest, lowest-paying corporations earned 614 times more than their average worker last year, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).IPS's latest executive excess report analyzed compensation at the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay. Between 2019 and 2025, CEO compensation increased 41.4%, unadjusted for inflation, twice as much as the median worker pay increased at these firms during the same period, at 20.7%. Continue reading...

The senator's remarks reflect a turning point in Democrats' attacks on the president. What should we make of them?Apparently, he likes to say her name with a French accent. Na-tah-lee!" the president cries out, in that affected tone of faux-formality that one might use with a person they love but do not quite respect, and she comes running, her thin legs teetering on her heels.Natalie Harp, Trump's 35-year-old executive assistant", was an odd recurring character in the latest blockbuster Trump administration book, Regime Change, by the New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. In the book, Harp features like a silent sentinel, ever present but eerily quiet as Trump rants and raves. It's not exactly clear what the scope of her responsibilities are; though, as Jamelle Bouie points out, the fact that she evidently helps run the president's social media accounts, which can sway markets and influence his foreign counterparts, makes her one of the most powerful people in the federal government. Continue reading...

Ryan Mackenzie, running for re-election, is accused of fabricating' a career in the real estate industryThe Republican congressman Ryan Mackenzie has been accused of embellishing his resume with private sector experience in real estate sales amid an acrimonious showdown over his Pennsylvania seat.Mackenzie, who has previously been accused of lying about his age on Tinder, was a real estate salesperson licensed in PA", according to his LinkedIn profile, and biographies have consistently listed it has his former profession. Continue reading...

The race was at its peak when American riders were regularly challenging for titles. Its return could help prompt a revivalAfter a decade-long absence, the beloved Philadelphia International Cycling Classic is set to return this weekend, with some of the world's best bike-racing teams taking to the famous circuit around the city's leafy Art Museum, Manayunk, and Roxborough areas on Sunday.The race is one of just a handful of events on American soil sanctioned by UCI, cycling's international governing body, and will feature squads such as EF Education EasyPost, Lidl-Trek, Lotto-Intermarche, and Jayco AlUla in the men's race, and powerhouses CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto and Human Powered Health in the women's event. It is classified as a 1.1 race, meaning it's two levels below the top-flight WorldTour, whose races include the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.The Philadelphia Cycling Classic will be livestreamed on Channel 6 ABC, with the women's race kicking off at 8.30am Eastern. The men will follow at 12.30pm. Of course, you could always trek to Philly and become part of the party yourself. I highly recommend snagging a spot somewhere along The Wall. Continue reading...

Tim Curry was a versatile performer on stage and screen who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Curry's best-known roles often required a considerable physical transformation, to the extent that he was unrecognisable in some of them. As Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror's eccentric scientist, he was daubed in garish makeup and dressed in stockings and suspenders. In Ridley Scott's fantasy Legend, he sported giant horns and scarlet skin as the Lord of Darkness, and, in 1990, Curry was transformed with full-face clown makeup to play Pennywise in the TV miniseries It, based on Stephen King's novel