General news

• How Trump could undermine the midterms

  26-07-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The president really has no power over elections – but that hasn’t stopped Trump from laying the groundwork to challenge results in NovemberWhen Donald Trump commandeered primetime US television last Friday, he delivered a familiar, but still extraordinary, message. The president argued once again that the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, were illegitimate.US elections are “vulnerable to being rigged and stolen”, Trump alleged, claiming that &ldqu
  
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• Burnham says there are ‘big decisions’ ahead on making council tax fairer – UK politics live

  27-07-2026 12:09 via theguardian.com
  Labour’s 2024 manifesto did not include any specific commitments on council tax but two models are being floatedKeir Starmer resisting calls to stand down was “selfish and stubborn”, according to the current sole Scottish Labour leadership contender, Monica Lennon.As the Press Association reports, the earliest high profile call for Starmer to quit came from former Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who broke cover in February. Sarwar is now leaving Holyrood having been given a
  
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• Commonwealth Games 2026: athletics begins, plus swimming and gymnastics on day four – live

  27-07-2026 12:08 via theguardian.com
  Live updates from Monday’s action around GlasgowLatest medal table | Follow us on TikTok | Mail TahaNigeria’s Edidiong Umoafia claims the first gold medal of the day, finishing with a score of 319 after lifting 147kg in the snatch and 172kg in the clean and jerk. England’s Jonathan Chin has to settle for fourth.Athletics: Do you, like myself, imagine what poses you’d strike for the camera before your 100m heat? No, just me? OK. After nine heats in the men’s 100m, th
  
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• There was one thing I swore I’d never do on WhatsApp. And now I’ve gone and done it | Polly Hudson

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Leaving your blue ticks on used to be a sign that you were trustworthy. These days it conveys a certain ‘pick me’ energyGenuine question: am I the last person in the world who still has my blue ticks on? In the early days of WhatsApp, if someone had gone into their privacy settings and turned them off, so you could never be sure when or even if this person had read your message, that told you all you needed to know. No blue ticks = red flag. Here was a slippery, sneaky individual, no
  
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• The Phantom Pain of Rojava review – Kurdish veterans of the war against IS tell story of courage and survival

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Maryam Ebrahimi’s documentary about a home for survivors of the war in northern Syria is tender, gentle and incredibly movingSpeaking over footage filmed at the funeral of a female army commander, documentary-maker Maryam Ebrahimi notes that it’s the first time she has seen women carrying a coffin in the Middle East. As they move through crowd of mourners, she adds: “Their sisterhood amazes me.” Ebrahimi is talking about the women of Rojava, the Kurdish-led autonomous soc
  
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• The pet I’ll never forget: Morris the staffie – the shameless thief who stole an entire roast chicken

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Abandoned at the age of two, he pinched everything from birthday cake to raw potatoes. Beneath the comic greed was a much-loved companion who kept us laughing for 12 yearsWe adopted Morris after he’d been abandoned in a park at the age of two. The shelter named him Kai but it didn’t suit him. An old soul (read: curmudgeon) who tried to pull us into old-school boozers, and who demanded routine and treated walks as a favour to us, Morris was perfect.Incorrigibly lazy and happiest on th
  
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• ‘The greatest album never made’: the untold story of George Michael’s secret, star-packed duets project

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Suing his record label and sick of being a sex symbol, the singer spent 1992 working on the Trojan Souls for stars including Aretha Franklin and Bryan Ferry. Now, newly released studio footage shows him in his creative primeWham! special: read Andrew Ridgeley on their bizarre 1985 trip to ChinaThe George Michael album that never was began in defiance and ended in grief. It was 1992. Mired in a toxic dispute with Sony Records, Michael chose to keep busy and declare his independence by making an a
  
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• Joyce Carol Oates thinks the 90s TV adaptation of The Odyssey is the best. I beg to differ | Stuart Heritage

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The Hallmark Channel’s ropey version of The Odyssey is going viral for its star-studded cast. Christopher Nolan’s film only looks better by comparison Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey is far from the first committed to screen. As early as 1911, Italian director Guiseppe de Liguoro made a silent version entitled L’Odissea. Readers of a certain age may remember watching the futuristic animated series Ulysses 31 throughout the 1980s. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is b
  
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• ‘Impossible things are possible’: the murals celebrating lives beyond homelessness

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  St Mungo’s project aims to challenge stereotypes by narrating stories of people supported out of rough sleepingIn his days of rough sleeping, Lee, 54, recalls the nights that were so cold it hurt. Having lived in North America for several years – including a year spent sleeping rough in Canada – he returned home to London for mental health support, hoping the NHS would be able to help. Instead, he ended up homeless.On his first night on the streets of London, a St Mungo’s
  
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• From Ukraine and Sudan to Gaza: why have hospitals become a target of war?

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  International law states only military sites can be targeted during conflicts, but this is routinely being ignoredTwice every day, Liubov Martynenko leaves the underground maternity ward where she works in Kherson and travels by ambulance to collect meals from another hospital in the Ukrainian city’s “red zone”, close to the Dnipro River and the Russian forces on the other side.On 4 June , just before midday, the vehicle entered the grounds of Luchansky city clinical hospital a
  
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• AI can fuel biological weapons. We must harness its power for defense | Annie Jacobsen

  27-07-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The offensive potential is no longer theoretical. We need to develop systems to strengthen public health as quickly as AI is accelerating biological designAs artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the biological sciences, it is pushing the future of biology in two opposing directions. AI can help bad actors generate recipes for biological weapons with just a few keystrokes and computational prompts. At the same time, AI can track disease outbreaks and deliver critical public health informati
  
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• Europe wildfires live: Spain faces two ‘decisive’ days to contain wildfires before next heatwave, minister says

  27-07-2026 11:56 via theguardian.com
  Firefighters in France and Spain face another day battling wildfires that have seen hundreds of thousands of people evacuatedPedro Sánchez says Spain is suffering effects of climate crisis as firefighters battle wildfires in FranceProvisional data on wildfires in Spain shows that more than 170,000 hectares of forest land have been affected since the beginning of the year – a nearly sixfold increase on the almost 29,000 recorded in the same period in 2025.35 major fires have been rec
  
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• Unauthorised version of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey shared on X

  27-07-2026 11:38 via theguardian.com
  A high-quality pirated version of the summer’s hit movie was leaked on Elon Musk’s X platform and viewed more than 3m times before being removed A leaked copy of The Odyssey has been taken down from Elon Musk’s X platform but only after a post flagging it gained millions of views.A high-quality pirated version of the film went viral at the weekend after an account linked to it saying “Someone uploaded ‘The Odyssey’ full movie on X. Can you believe it?”.
  
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• Here’s why India’s cockroach protests were such a success – and why the Mamdani effect means more to come | Mukul Kesavan

  27-07-2026 11:16 via theguardian.com
  The young leaders are eloquent and organised – and now they know what victory looks like. That could be a huge headache for Narendra ModiThe rebellion in India of the young, led by the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), unfolded against a backdrop of large, abstract, geometrical structures – arcs, planes, hemispheres – that together make up an observatory called Jantar Mantar, built in the early 18th century to refine almanacs and tell time. Jantar Mantar has been a byword for politi
  
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• Bill Oddie, naturalist and broadcaster, dies aged 85

  27-07-2026 11:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Coming to fame in The Goodies, Oddie was later known for his wildlife expertise and presented BBC SpringwatchThe writer, comedian and conservationist Bill Oddie has died aged 85. Having come to prominence with the comedy group The Goodies, Oddie later established himself as an authority on wildlife, presenting television series including the BBC’s Springwatch and Autumnwatch.Oddie’s agent paid tribute to his “intelligence and wit”. In a statement, David Foster said: &ldqu
  
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• ‘The plane movie I’ll watch anytime’: why Up in the Air is my feelgood movie

  27-07-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The latest in our series of writers’ most pleasurable comfort films is a journey through US airports with George ClooneyAirports have always been my happy place. From shiny citadels jutting out of the desert to shoddier European hubs located 120 miles outside the city they’re designated to serve; I love them all. With so many stories to be told, all those connections and people colliding, it’s a first-class seat to life itself. Which should go some way to explaining why I hold
  
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• Glitched into empty space: why video games are obsessed with the Backrooms

  27-07-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The horror movie sensation of 2026 has its roots in gaming’s discovery of ‘noclip’ – and the hidden virtual realms that could be opened up inside games. Developers explain how everyone got lost in these liminal spacesIt starts on 4chan, in a May 2019 thread entitled “unsettling images”. The first post was a photo showing an empty room with the now iconic yellow wallpaper, no natural lighting and a kind of inexplicable jutting half-wall. Shortly afterwards, ano
  
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• Fifa president Gianni Infantino accuses critics of spreading hate at World Cup

  27-07-2026 10:49 via theguardian.com
  Infantino claims critics of World Cup ‘missed it all’ He again defends Balogun affair and treatment of IranThe Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, has hit back at critics of the World Cup, accusing them of spreading hate and false narratives while defending the tournament ⁠as a success that celebrated ⁠unity, safety and inclusion.In ​an open letter published on Monday, Infantino said detractors had overlooked the joy and togetherness experienced by millions of fans ar
  
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• Football transfer rumours: Arsenal and Liverpool battle it out for Bradley Barcola?

  27-07-2026 10:37 via theguardian.com
  Today’s rumours are back with a vengeanceLike baggy trousers, small sunglasses and leopard print, transfer rumours are back in a big way. And there can be no doubting the transfer ambition of Premier League champions Arsenal, who are eyeing up either Vinícius Júnior or Bradley Barcola as a deluxe Leandro Trossard replacement.One sticking point for the Gunners is the former’s apparent desire to stay put at Real Madrid, while Liverpool appear to be favourites for Barcola
  
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• Palestine Action activists face being sentenced as terrorists over bank damage

  27-07-2026 10:13 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Judge intends to consider ‘terrorist connection’ after convicting five for damage to Barclays in BurnleyFive Palestine Action activists face being sentenced as terrorists for breaking windows and throwing red paint at a branch of Barclays Bank in Lancashire.Brendon O’Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70, were found guilty of causing £212,000 of damage during a direct action protest in Burnley in August 2024.
  
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• What If We Got AI Right? by Eleanor Drage review – avoiding apocalypse

  27-07-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  The academic’s ambitious guide to the ethics of tech falls short of its promise to provide meaningful answersThe AI ethicist Eleanor Drage believes that to thrive alongside artificial intelligence, humans need to recognise AI’s “humanity”. She means that while we often speak of AI as though it were some mystical, formless thing, it is the product of hours of human labour, in silicon and quartz mines, microchip factories and data labelling centres. If citizens want to
  
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• Nearly 20 Georgia O’Keeffe works to go on display in UK for first time

  27-07-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Ghost Ranch exhibition at Courtauld in London will look at how artist’s New Mexico home shaped her life and workAs soon as Georgia O’Keeffe was shown Ghost Ranch, she knew it was her place.The remote property in the shadow of the mountains north of Santa Fe in New Mexico would become the artist’s summer residence for decades – a setting that fascinated her, inspired several paintings and is where her ashes were scattered. “I knew the minute I got up here that this w
  
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• Amid the social and political panic about falling birthrates, why not ask new mothers what they think? | Lucy Jones

  27-07-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  New research reveals deep anxieties. Medals and cash bonuses have been mooted as incentives, but the real need is for women to have their feelings valuedIt seems as though every week brings another news story on declining global birthrates. A number of political leaders have been panicking for a while, of course, instructing citizens to reproduce in tones so beguiling, who could possibly resist? JD Vance: “I want more babies”; Jacob Rees-Mogg: “We need more babies”. While
  
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• A Dairy Story review – giving cows and calves a happier life through progressive farming

  27-07-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Filled with shots of emerald pastures and gambolling animals, this documentary shows that challenging accepted practices can benefit animals and the environmentA new addition to the ranks of neo-rural cinema that is getting its hands dirty with the realities of the modern countryside, this mellow Scottish documentary lauds the emerging practice of cow-and-calf farming. It focuses on Rainton Farm in Dumfries and Galloway where, instead of the dairy-industry norm of separating calves from their mo
  
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• Uganda begins emergency food handouts after 19 die from hunger

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Government move follows months of drought and crop failures in Karamoja, with 1.5m people facing malnutritionUganda has launched emergency food relief distribution after at least 19 deaths from hunger were reported in an area of prolonged drought in the east of the country.A crisis has been building in the Karamoja region of Uganda as crops have failed without the season’s expected rains, leaving the region’s 1.5 million people facing acute food shortages and rising malnutrition. Con
  
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• ‘They’re anxious about everything’: life for young people seeking work in Dudley and Lewisham

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Challenges vary from poor transport links to high numbers of people flocking to the area looking for workWhen 19-year-old Dejanae set her online job search criteria for the local area, she was shocked at how few options came back. She studied animal science in college but is struggling to find work in the West Midlands.“It’s hard. You put Dudley, but it’s mainly jobs outside Dudley that come up because there just isn’t much here,” she said. “Even jobs in Birmi
  
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• Tadej Pogacar’s ability to win unopposed stands champion out among Tour legends | William Fotheringham

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Slovene is youngest of riders to win five Tours de France and few would bet against him claiming sixth victory next yearThe 2026 Tour de France served up an epic battle that lasted for day after day between two protagonists of the highest calibre with different skillsets, a tale of epic breakaways, intriguing team tactics and reversals of fortune, building to a spectacular climax on the race’s toughest stage. The contest for the green jersey of points winner between Mads Pedersen and Jaspe
  
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• Leeds’s red button win over Bradford shows stakes are high in Super League’s Sky talks

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Rivals Round was broadly a hit but the product needs to look as good as it can to secure a favourable broadcast dealThere is still plenty for all 14 Super League clubs to play for as the regular season approaches the final stretch. But as the competition enters a potentially era-defining fortnight, there are arguably much bigger narratives at play for the sport off the field than on it.There is a mixture of familiarity and freshness at the top with seven rounds to go. Two of the competition&rsqu
  
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• Is it true that … sit-ups are the best exercise for abs?

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  The classic gym routine doesn’t isolate your stomach muscles as much as you might think, but here are five that willIf someone in a film or TV show wants a six-pack, chances are they’ll drop to the floor and start doing sit-ups. According to Dr Lee Brown, senior lecturer in strength and conditioning at the University of East London, that’s more Hollywood than science.“It’s embedded in the archaic practices of boxing coaches and therefore everyone seems to
  
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• Burnham is master of his message for now. But he should know this: media foes will offer no respite | Tom Baldwin

  27-07-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  While the new PM’s slick social media operation can help him bypass the hostile press that devoured Starmer, he will still need friends in the fourth estateAndy Burnham has been in politics long enough to know that the largely friendly media coverage he’s received so far would turn hostile once he was inside Downing Street. And, within hours of becoming prime minister, some familiar predators were circling as they tried to decide whether to attack him for being too leftwing, too insu
  
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