The Guardian

AI safety requires more than just slowing our pace | Stuart Russell

Stuart Russell — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:00:31 GMT

Safety requirements are non-negotiable. They depend on meeting concrete goals, not just adjusting a timeline

It has been a week of high drama in AI, precipitated by the resignation of the AI safety researcher Jacob Coxon from Anthropic. This followed several weeks of increasingly lurid and disturbing revelations about the OpenAI/Hugging Face incident.

My inbox yesterday included a message from Business Insider with the subject line: “AI doomsday debate reaches boiling point”.

‘The entire world belongs to Matthew Rhys, and we just live in it’: why the incredible actor broke Emmy records

Stuart Heritage — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:30:32 GMT

The star of Widow’s Bay is that rarest of talents – someone who can do whatever he wants and make it utterly believable. No wonder he just made TV history

On Monday night, Matthew Rhys made history. He is now officially the first actor ever to win Emmy awards for lead roles in all three categories: drama, comedy and limited series. To make things even more extraordinary, he won two of those awards in a single night.

In the comedy category, Rhys won best lead for Widow’s Bay, the superlative Apple comedy horror where he stars as an indecisive mayor whose island suddenly plays host to a supernatural haunting. He also won best lead actor in a limited series or anthology for The Beast in Me, the Netflix drama about a property developer who may (or may not, no spoilers) have murdered his wife. Add this to his 2018 win for The Americans and the trifecta is complete. In other words, the entire world belongs to Matthew Rhys, and we’re all just living in it.

The love of her life died at sea hunting shipwrecks. Now she’s taking the helm

AJ McDougall — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:00:43 GMT

After Jennifer Sellitti lost her partner Joe Mazraani, she thought everything was over. Then she inherited his ship

After Joe died, Jennifer Sellitti felt as though she were living underwater.

Other people became murky, their words muffled. She slept constantly; unconsciousness was a blessing. On the worst days, memories bowled her over.

‘I created my mom and talk to her’: AI ghosts and deathslop are changing the way we mourn

Alaina Demopoulos — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:30:43 GMT

The rise of AI-generated tributes and bots for ‘talking’ to the dead has experts concerned more people will grieve in isolation

Tributes rolled in after the death of Dolly Parton last month. Jack White performed Jolene at a London gig. Kesha sang Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You), a single her mother wrote for the country music titan. Even Pitbull stopped his Madison Square Garden show to memorialize Parton and all the other “powerful women” in the crowd. But one of the strangest – and most viral – eulogies did not come from a celebrity. It did not even come from a person.

Run Jolene, at just under five minutes, is an earworm of a country song, containing all the cliches of the genre: twangy singer, banjo licks, corny lyrics. Those lyrics concern Jolene, the fictional romantic rival made infamous by Parton. “Somebody better warn Jolene / Dolly’s coming through those gates,” the voice croons. “Run Jolene / Girl you better move your feet.”

Who is Umar Kremlev, the Russian oligarch who reportedly helped pay for Donald Trump Jr’s wedding?

Pjotr Sauer — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:00:29 GMT

The businessman has spent the past decade moving through some of Russia’s most politically connected circles

Umar Kremlev, the Russian oligarch at the centre of reports that he helped pay for Donald Trump Jr’s wedding in the Bahamas, has spent the past decade moving through some of Russia’s most politically connected circles.

Born in 1982 in Serpukhov, an industrial town about 60 miles south of Moscow, he has said he boxed until the age of 19 but never turned professional, blaming what he later called a lack of discipline.

The trans CIA official ousted by Trump: ‘We’re a government crippled by its own decisions’

Sam Levin — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:00:41 GMT

Julia Curlee, a former senior CIA officer, speaks on Trump administration’s purge of national security staff, attacks on DEI and failures in Iran war

When the White House fired Julia Curlee from her senior intelligence position in March 2025, her boss had an odd request: please still show up to work on Monday, but be “discreet”.

The longtime CIA analyst had served in Donald Trump’s first term, briefing Vice-President Mike Pence; worked for Joe Biden as a national security director; and stayed on for Trump’s return. She had known her days might be numbered as the incoming White House was ousting national security staffers en masse. Curlee is also transgender, which made her particularly vulnerable as the new administration made anti-trans policies a top priority. But she didn’t understand her boss’s message until she opened her phone and saw the X post:

Revealed: ICE lost count of miscarriages, while detaining a record number of pregnant women

Maanvi Singh, Amy Qin, Will Craft and Flávio Pessoa — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:30:53 GMT

ICE says it has no updated information on the number of miscarriages after 3 October 2025. Lawmakers, advocates and immigration attorneys have raised alarms that pregnant detainees are not receiving basic prenatal care and screenings

ICE is arresting a record number of pregnant women and teenagers – placing them in detention centers where they say it can be exceedingly difficult to access medical care. At the same time, the agency appears to have lost count of how many suffered a miscarriage.

Government documents obtained by the Guardian show that the Trump administration placed more pregnant immigrants in detention last fall and winter than at any time over the previous year.

Trump facing AI backlash in Congress as push for guardrails intensifies

David Smith and Chris Stein in Washington and Nick Robins-Early in New York — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:39:40 GMT

President has dismissed anxieties over AI’s dangerous potential even as Democrats and some Republicans acknowledge risks

Analysis: Why a decade of doomsday warnings failed to slow AI race

Donald Trump is facing a rare backlash from the US Congress as Democrats and some Republicans push for guardrails on the world’s most powerful AI companies.

Concerns over the dangerous potential of AI reached fever pitch this week after tech leaders sounded the alarm over the rapid advancement of the technology and its potential threat to humanity.

Trump blasts decision that blocks mail-in voting executive orders: ‘This court has really let our country down’ – live

Shrai Popat (now) and Tom Ambrose (earlier) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:34:36 GMT

The president called mail-in voting – which he has used on several occasions to cast a ballot – ‘a laughing stock’ across the world

Kash Patel, the FBI director, is now testifying before lawmakers on the Senate judiciary committee. A reminder that the last time he appeared before Congress was in May, when he sparred with senators on the appropriations committee and denied – under oath – allegations of excessive drinking and unexplained absences on the job, dismissing them as “baseless” during a fiery congressional hearing.

Today’s hearing is also expected to be full of heated exchanges. “Mr Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history,” said Senator Dick Durbin, the judiciary committee’s top Democrat. “The bureau has been reshaped as a political weapon against President Trump’s political enemies and a shield to protect the president and his MAGA loyalists, not the American people.”

Russian warship fires flares at Danish helicopter as Nato jets shoot down drone over Lithuania

Jon Henley Europe correspondent — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:18:20 GMT

Ursula von der Leyen says incidents ‘part of broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe’

A Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea and an Italian Nato fighter jet shot down a drone carrying an explosive device over Lithuania in what the EU described as “reckless and dangerous” Russian behaviour.

Poland also scrambled fighter jets “due to the activity of Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory”, the day after Polish security forces retrieved a suspected Russian drone adrift in its waters.

US surgeon general nominee made $270,000 from supplement company

Michelle R Smith — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:43 GMT

Tobacco investments raise new concerns about Dr Nicole Saphier ahead of confirmation hearing

Donald Trump’s nominee for US surgeon general reported more than $200,000 in business income from a company she owns that sells dietary supplements, a loosely regulated industry that health and consumer advocates say raises concerns about her record and which some critics allege are akin to “snake oil”.

Dr Nicole Saphier, who specializes in breast cancer as a radiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey and was formerly a Fox News contributor, is facing a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She filed a financial disclosure and ethics agreement last week.

World’s top 20 private equity firms produce more greenhouse gases a year than most countries, report finds

Sara Sneath — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:42:59 GMT

Firms manage $7.3tn in assets and could afford to transition away from fossil fuels yet invest in natural gas and coal-fired plants to power datacenters

The energy portfolios of 20 private equity firms produce 1.5bn tons of greenhouse gases a year, more than the annual emissions of any country except China, the US, India and Russia, according to a new report.

Together, these firms manage $7.3tn in assets of all kinds, affording them the ability to shape the pace of the transition away from fossil fuels. However their energy investments include significant fossil fuel assets including natural gas and coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to datacenters.

Democrat sends letter to White House over Trump Jr wedding bankrolled by Russian oligarch

Ariana Baio — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:29:29 GMT

Robert Garcia expresses concern over ‘any possible foreign entanglement’ between White House and Umar Kremlev

Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, is investigating potential ties between the White House and a Russian oligarch who paid for a portion of Donald Trump Jr’s wedding.

In a letter sent to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, on Monday, Garcia expressed concern about “any possible foreign entanglement” between the president’s son and the oligarch, Umar Kremlev. Garcia asked Wiles to provide documents, records and communications between the White House and Trump Jr about Kremlev, among other requests.

Emmys 2026: Widow’s Bay dominates as Matthew Rhys and Jean Smart land historic wins

Sian Cain — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 03:31:32 GMT

Rhys becomes first actor to win lead acting awards for different shows in the same night, while Hacks’ Smart is the first woman to win for every season of a show

Matthew Rhys has become the first actor in 78 years of Emmys history to win multiple lead actor awards for performances in different shows in the same year, for Widow’s Bay and The Beast in Me.

The 51-year-old Welsh actor won outstanding lead actor in a comedy for Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay and outstanding lead actor in a limited series for his role in Netflix’s The Beast in Me at the ceremony on Monday night. With his 2018 win of outstanding lead actor in a drama for The Americans, he is the first male performer to win all three lead acting categories.

Texas police department ordered closed for failing to provide any benefit to community

Richard Luscombe — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:15:25 GMT

Disbanding of department in Trinidad comes after arrest of a resident for posting about issues with local water supply

A police department in Texas that arrested a local resident for complaining on social media about their city’s contaminated water supply has been ordered closed after failing to prove it provided any benefit to the community.

State officials stepped in to investigate after Jennifer Combs spent a night in jail in May after a post appeared on her Facebook page suggesting people were hospitalized by bacteria in the water pipes of Trinidad, a municipality in Henderson county about 75 miles south-east of Dallas.

US confirms for first time it has deployed weapons in space

Oliver Holmes — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:55:31 GMT

Analysts warn of an acceleration in high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth’s orbit

The US has deployed weapons in space, the US military has confirmed, in an extraordinary public announcement that analysts warn will accelerate a high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth’s orbit.

The US secretary of the air force, Troy Meink, said Washington had active “on-orbit” weapons, meaning they had been deployed and were circling the globe.

Judge blocks Trump limits on how long foreign students and journalists can stay in US

Reuters — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:48:35 GMT

Ruling comes a day before homeland security department’s substantial restrictions were set to take effect

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would ⁠limit how long foreign students and ⁠journalists can remain in the US without applying for extensions.

F Dennis Saylor, the US district judge in Boston, ruled in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before ⁠the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s rule was set to take effect.

Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board to vote on closing building for renovations

Joseph Gedeon in Washington — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:41:26 GMT

Scheduled vote on closure comes after board quietly shelved a vote to restore Trump’s name to building’s facade

The Kennedy Center’s Trump-appointed board will vote Tuesday on closing the institution’s main building for renovations, after quietly shelving a planned vote to restore Donald Trump’s name to the facade.

In a notice filed Monday in the US district court for the District of Columbia, government lawyers disclosed that Joe LaFauci, the center’s vice-president of board relations, told the board that Tuesday’s meeting “is now focused exclusively on the necessary closure of the Center”, citing “recently exacerbated structural emergencies”.

Gavin Newsom says he will not run for president in 2028 if Kamala Harris does

Roque Planas — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 01:34:57 GMT

In interview, term-limited California governor said running against former VP would ‘waste everybody’s time’

Gavin Newsom, the California governor, will not run for president if former vice-president Kamala Harris does, he said in a forthcoming interview with CNN.

Newsom and Harris, both from California, are widely viewed as two of the top establishment frontrunners in the coming Democratic presidential primary. Newsom, who terms out this year as governor, has increasingly portrayed himself as a foil to Trump and is widely viewed as positioning himself for a 2028 presidential bid.

Taylor Lorenz on the global effort to ban kids from social media – Stateside with Kai and Carter

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:45:39 GMT

What are we going to do about kids and social media? Lawsuit after lawsuit has accused the biggest social media platforms in the US of designing their products to be addictive and of endangering children. Meta recently settled one of those lawsuits, agreeing to pay up to $17.1bn in penalties and to limit how kids use its platforms, like Instagram and Facebook. (They did not admit to any wrongdoing.) The rest of the world is embracing a different solution that tech journalist Taylor Lorenz tells Carter Sherman would forever change the way we use the internet: social media bans. Last year, Australia became the first country to ban people under 16 from social media, and this week, the European Union is expected to propose a similar ban. If it goes into effect, the EU ban would be, by far, the world’s biggest effort to block kids from social media. But, as Lorenz points out, these laws raise all kinds of questions about civil liberties, data privacy, and the future of free speech on the internet.

‘I believed the hype’: the white South Africans denied refugee status in the US

Rachel Savage in Johannesburg — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:27 GMT

Drive to save thousands of Afrikaners from false claims of ‘white genocide’ appears to show signs of slowing

When Donald Trump announced in February 2025 that the US would accept Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees, many white South Africans who believed that they were victims of racism in their country thought that their prayers had been answered.

However, in the past few months, dozens of applicants to the refugee programme have been rejected, with many left dismayed and confused as to why they would be left to face what Trump has falsely claimed is a “white genocide” in South Africa.

Firefighters make progress to contain northern California’s Lucas fire

Roque Planas — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:53:57 GMT

Cal Fire official says Sunday was ‘big turning point’ to reduce blaze in Lake county, now 30% contained

Firefighters made progress toward containing northern California’s Lucas fire, state officials said on Sunday.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which has burned more than 4,120 acres across Lake and Mendocino counties. The fire was 30% contained by Monday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, or Cal Fire.

San Jose officer fired for misusing Flock camera database in domestic abuse case

Roque Planas — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 20:05:22 GMT

Police officer shared location of a woman with his relative who is accused of abusing woman

A San Jose police officer was fired for using his department’s Flock license plate tracking system to share the location of a woman with the suspect accused of abusing her, Chief Paul Joseph told NBC Bay Area on Friday.

The firing marks another in a growing number of cases of misuse of a controversial surveillance technology that has expanded rapidly over the last several years.

Burning Man at 40: the once anarchic desert festival faces a midlife crisis

Lois Beckett — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:16:08 GMT

The subversive bacchanal for San Francisco’s eccentric underground is ageing out amid an influx of the super-rich

Burning Man, the infamous arts festival in the Nevada desert, turned 40 this year, and it’s showing some distinct signs of middle age.

It’s not just the tech billionaires who show up to party, the chartered flights straight to the desert or the HBO documentary about behind-the-scenes power struggles. The tens of thousands of people who assemble each year to create a tent city in the wilderness appear to be growing older, and it doesn’t seem that they’re being replaced by as many younger “burners”, as festival participants are called.

Fossilized 10,000-year-old mastodon tooth found by California scientist

Uwa Ede-Osifo — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 20:34:58 GMT

Molar from large mammal that once lived in North America is in ‘immaculate condition’ after discovery in Bay Area

A 10,000 year-old tooth in remarkable condition from an ancient Pacific mastodon, a large mammal that once inhabited North America, was recently discovered by a California scientist.

Brigid Lynch, a geomorphologist, was working at a preserve in San Mateo county, when she stumbled across a peculiar rock.

No Big Deal review – is this how AI ends humanity … with a sitcom so bad it bores you to death?

Stuart Heritage — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:53 GMT

The characters are dead-eyed waxworks which speak with all the nuance of a satnav. But this AI-created workplace comedy is so bad that even the greatest actors alive couldn’t stop it being unwatchable

As you will no doubt be aware, one Anthropic researcher claimed there is a greater than one in 10 chance that AI will end all of humanity as we know it within the next decade. However, now that I’ve given it some thought, I think this statistic might actually be a little conservative. This is because I have just watched an episode of a sitcom created by AI, and if I ever have to do it again I’m genuinely going to die of boredom.

The show is No Big Deal, and it premiered on YouTube on Friday. I was apparently only the 376th person to watch it. This is by no means a recommendation that you become the 377th, more a warning to avoid it if your algorithm ever decides it hates you enough to suggest this.

‘I’m fearless. I was in a boys’ rugby team’: Slow Horses’ Aimee-Ffion Edwards on playing a cocaine-snorting spy

Donna Ferguson — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:48:09 GMT

She has played rugby for Wales, is putting a Welsh spin on Princess Leia and is returning to TV screens as Shirley, the explosive, traumatised MI5 agent. Why is Edwards so drawn to liars, crooks and sneaks?

There was a moment, just before Aimee-Ffion Edwards jumped off a nightclub balcony in Slow Horses, when she had to lie to herself about what she was about to do. “It was quite hard,” says the actor. “You basically tell yourself, ‘You’re not jumping.’ Obviously, you know you’re harnessed in, but you’re also going, ‘This is mad! This is mad! This is mad!’”

She laughs. “I couldn’t feel my fingers for a second. I was like, ‘Huwwaah!’” She sucks in her breath, then says: “But there were 200 people stood there watching. You’re like, ‘Well, I gotta do it.’”

The Debut review – Julianne Moore is a thrill in Jesse Eisenberg’s oddball comedy

Richard Lawson in Toronto — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:51:47 GMT

Toronto film festival: riotous lead performance holds together third movie from actor turned film-maker, about a housewife who joins a local musical

Jesse Eisenberg’s last two directorial efforts – the prickly comedy When You Finish Saving the World and the slightly softer A Real Pain – are small films rooted in the real world. They have their little idiosyncrasies, their bits of cinematic flair, but they keep their feet grounded in the here and now. For his third film, Eisenberg has said goodbye to all that (or most of that) and run headlong at the surreal and the absurd, borrowing from Charlie Kaufman and other oddballs to tell a small story in a big way.

The Debut is about a repressed housewife, Mona (Julianne Moore), who decides to audition for a role in a community theater production of a musical called Nosy Neighbors, one of those gassy Manhattan trifles that were so ubiquitous on Broadway a half century ago. Mona’s kids are about to fly the nest, and her husband barely seems to notice her when she’s standing right next to him. So why not have a little creative adventure?

Benedict Cumberbatch on his Earth-saving eco film: ‘We are in the last grab of the extraction era’

Helena Horton — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:25 GMT

From Obama’s chef to a big cat obsessive, the actor has gathered experts from all over the world for a film about how to heal our besieged planet. He talks about naysayers, elephant tusks – and the wonders of venison

Benedict Cumberbatch is dreading stepping outside. He’s speaking to me from his air-conditioned hotel room in Soho at the peak of the summer heat. Few doubt that climate breakdown was a major cause of those scorchers, with nature, farming and water supplies all placed under huge strain. By midsummer, according to a report co-authored by the Met Office, there were 2,700 excess deaths in England and Wales due to the searing heat.

But for Cumberbatch, in a bittersweet way, the record-breaking temperatures have come at a good time. The actor has been on a tour to promote his new documentary, How to Live on Earth. “The irony is not lost on anyone,” he says. “We’re living in the results of climate breakdown so stepping outside is – literally – a call to action.”

All the Wrong Moves by Anthony Scaramucci review – confessions of an ex-Trumper

Zoe Williams — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:00:31 GMT

The president’s former press secretary has learned all the right lessons, but how come it took him so long?

The most interesting chapter in Anthony Scaramucci’s All the Wrong Moves is the one where the hedge funder turned podcaster goes to work for Donald Trump. It’s summer 2017, and he’s been given the job of comms director, which he doesn’t know how to do, but he and Trump think it’ll work out because they’re both from New York. Or maybe he took it because he had “Potomac fever”, which afflicts Wall Street financiers who find themselves on the riverfront in Washington DC thinking they know how to run a country just because they’re “full of power and judgmental insight … about to fix everything”.

This appointment lasts only 11 days, not even enough time to be truly tainted by Trump’s first term, though it is enough time for Scaramucci to miss the birth of his son. The account is a mea culpa soup, with the author full of regrets for his hubris, his impulsivity, his “pride, egotism and asinine stupidity”, the fact that, despite the clear-sightedness bestowed by his humble beginnings, he’d come to assume the collective biases of the rich people he hung out with.

Opposition to Mamdani’s 9/11 remembrance was painful to witness | Francine Prose

Francine Prose — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:00:45 GMT

A petition against the mayor’s presence reeked of Islamophobia – and ran counter to the sense of togetherness that followed the attacks

Everyone who was in New York on 11 September 2001 has their 9/11 story. My husband and I were at JFK, boarding a plane to San Francisco. Our two sons were home in lower Manhattan, a block away from my 85-year-old mother. They watched the towers fall from our corner. The weather was radiantly beautiful.

For a long time, the faces of the missing were everywhere. Their eyes seemed to follow us from the makeshift shrine outside St Vincent’s Hospital to the window of our local bodega. We cried at random moments. We slept badly.

The incoming ‘super’ El Niño will create chaos around the world. And we are far from ready for it | Bill McGuire

Bill McGuire — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 05:00:27 GMT

One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way, strengthened by the climate crisis. We need leaders who make things better not worse

If you think you have heard enough about the growing “super” El Niño, trust me, you are going to hear a lot more. What is happening in the equatorial Pacific is jaw-dropping and could well mark one of the biggest global weather upheavals in a millennium. It will spawn a string of weather catastrophes around our world in what remains of this year and in 2027, and there is no reason to think the UK will be immune.

To recap briefly, El Niño involves a heating of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific ocean. It happens every few years and is part of a natural cycle termed the El Niño southern oscillation, which switches between warm (El Niño) and cool (La Niña) phases. El Niños that see heating reach or exceed 2C are defined as “super” but this one, which is forecast to top-out at an astonishing 4C later this year, is so much bigger, the term “hyper” might be more appropriate.

Bill McGuire is professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL. His latest book is The Fate of the World: A History and Future of the Climate Crisis (HarperCollins Publishers, £20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Are you outraged by Sydney Sweeney – again? More fool you | Marina Hyde

Marina Hyde — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:49:48 GMT

Today it’s a silly sports betting ad, but I can’t see anything she’s done that’s worth this ire. She’s in her 20s: she does dumb things. Enjoy!

Would it be insanely unfashionable to defend Sydney Sweeney? You may or may not have heard that the Euphoria star has done an ad for a sports betting site. Sorry, I think we still have to call them “sports prediction markets” in the United States, which only recently popped its legalised sports betting cherry, and is behaving like a complete teenage boy about the whole thing. Anyway, among other poses, the ad features a naked Sydney holding a couple of American footballs over her breasts, which are – and I feel she would want us to acknowledge this – seriously among the very best in Hollywood. Maybe THE best. Listen, it is what it is. Life would be very boring if we couldn’t say so with a twinkle.

Forgive me. Life is, in fact, very, very boring, because yet another Sydney Sweeney-advertising-centred firestorm has been ignited by this ad. (Last year, some lunatic genuinely suggested her “good jeans” American Eagle ad was something to do with white supremacy and eugenics.) Her latest product endorsement has drawn the ire of a cascade of female athletes, who have described it variously as demeaning women’s sport, sexualised representation of athletes, and “a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, [and] every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is – teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity”.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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.

What a Time to be Alive! by Marina Hyde (Guardian Faber, £20). To support the Guardian, order your signed copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

I know why many east Germans vote AfD. And no, it’s not an inherited longing for dictatorship | Carolin Würfel

Carolin Würfel — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:27 GMT

Grievance politics has grown in the east of the country where I was born. But west Germans have hard questions to answer too

The fear that a fascist, far-right movement would rise to power again in Germany has been with me since my youth. On 6 September, the far-right, anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a landslide in Saxony-Anhalt, becoming the biggest party in the state parliament, with a shocking 44% of the vote, on a record turnout. If it finds a way to power it will be the first far-right party to govern a German state since the Nazi era.

The night before the vote, I sent a message to a friend, who, like myself, has an East German background. Was she as worried, scared even, about the vote as I was, I asked. I’d fallen into a loop for days, scrolling videos, reels, reports, interviews done on the ground. And I knew these AfD voters. They could have been relatives, friends of my parents, old teachers, former schoolmates. Why were they saying such incoherent stuff?

I’m a psychoanalyst. Social media is damaging children’s inner lives in ways we don’t fully understand | Robin Kirman

Robin Kirman — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:00:32 GMT

Discussion has focused on behavioral outcomes. But Meta’s settlement shines a light on damage to young people’s emerging desires and identities

During the landmark social media addiction trial that led to Meta’s recent $17.1bn settlement, a therapist testified that she had once asked the plaintiff – a young woman named Kaley, who had been using social media since she was six – what her miracle day would look like: what she wished to come true, if anything were possible. Kaley replied that she would be prettier.

As a psychoanalyst, I find that exchange devastating in a particular way. A miracle day is an invitation to engage with the full range of human desire: with what one might accomplish or experience, whom one might encounter or love. Kaley’s answer contracted the world and all its possibility into a single preoccupation with her own image.

Patrick Mahomes triumphant on NFL return as Chiefs beat up misfiring Broncos

Agencies — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 03:38:50 GMT

Denver Broncos 10–31 Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs QB throws two TDs on return from torn ACL
Kenneth Walker III rushes for 173 yards on debut

Kenneth Walker III ran for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns on his Chiefs debut, stealing some of the spotlight from Patrick Mahomes as Kansas City defeated the Denver Broncos 31-10 on Monday night.

The big question, even after Mahomes participated in the entire offseason program and every practice of training camp, was how his surgically repaired left knee would hold up nine months to the day since he tore his ACL. He erased many of those doubts when he capped the Chiefs’ opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

From influencers to brutal finishes, US Open 2026 was worst grand slam in recent memory | Tumaini Carayol

Tumaini Carayol — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:48:31 GMT

Despite the drama on the court, the poor condition of Arthur Ashe Stadium was just one problem among many

At the end of another comically late night and early morning in Flushing Meadows, when the remaining spectators were departing, a familiar scene was unfolding on the US Open tournament grounds. A handful of workers had congregated directly beneath a hole in the ceiling inside one of the tournament shops as they tried to stop water from flowing out of a broken pipe and ruining thousands of pounds worth of merchandise below.

This was not a surprising sight. Upon entering Arthur Ashe Stadium this year, fans were greeted by some ominous signs: “Pardon our appearance while we write the next chapter of Arthur Ashe Stadium.” The tournament’s appearance, it must be said, was hideous. Inside the corridors and rooms at one of the biggest sporting events in the world, it felt like its main building was falling apart.

Manchester United shocked as talented youngster JJ Gabriel asks to leave

Dominic Booth — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:18:24 GMT

15-year-old wants his registration to be cancelled
He was to be in squad to face Brighton on Wednesday

Manchester United have been left confused and shocked by the news that the talented 15-year-old player JJ Gabriel has asked to leave the club, a day before he was to be included in the first-team squad to face Brighton.

Gabriel could have become United’s youngest player in the Carabao Cup third-round tie at Old Trafford on Wednesday. But the Guardian understands he has asked for his registration to be cancelled.

‘I loved my time in the FBI but nothing can compare to the NFL’: Charles ‘Peanut’ Tillman on his unlikely career path

Gavin Willacy — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:03:18 GMT

The player who invented the Peanut Punch talks about his nomadic childhood, love of Chicago and time as a cop

By No Helmets Required

Defensive back Charles Tillman played 168 games for his hometown team Chicago Bears across 13 NFL seasons. Nicknamed “Peanut” as a child by his mother, he became renowned for the Peanut Punch, where he would whack the ball out of the hands of unsuspecting receivers. After retiring from playing, he spent eight years in the FBI before quitting over the Trump administration’s ICE policies and tactics. Now 45, he spent some of his summer in England, teaching flag football to kids in Liverpool.

You went to a dozen schools around the world as a child. Do you share your own experiences when you coach kids now? “Absolutely. I share a great deal because it helped shape me into the person I am today. My dad being in the military and us moving around so much helped my personality. I’m very outgoing and a lot of that stems from my childhood, always being the new kid in school and having to make new friends. So, I talk about those experiences with the kids when it feels appropriate.”

USMNT roster prediction: a big chance for Cavan Sullivan and other young prospects

Pablo Iglesias Maurer and Jeff Rueter — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:30:42 GMT

The United States’ next World Cup cycle gets underway with this week’s squad selection – here’s who we think will make the cut

Pablo: Matt Turner (New England Revolution), Brian Schwake (Nashville SC), Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Diego Kochen (Lyngby)

NHL star Alex Ovechkin appears in campaign ad for pro-Putin United Russia party

Robert Mackey and Tom Lutz — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 03:53:12 GMT

Capitals star is long-time supporter of Russian leader
Ovechkin is NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer, has appeared in a campaign ad for the United Russia party, which supports Vladimir Putin, as he prepares for the new hockey season.

The Russian business newspaper Vedomosti published images of the Washington Capitals star alongside pro-Putin figures such as Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, the leading parliamentary candidate on United Russia’s list, and Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the propaganda network RT.

How Promise David emerged from Maltese shadows into the Premier League

Martin Bauman — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:00:31 GMT

Former teammates and coaches rave about Brighton’s summer signing, who impressed with Canada at the World Cup

Promise David had a five-year plan. He would score bags of goals, earn a transfer to a top European league and play for Canada at the 2026 World Cup. There was just one problem: apart from his parents, teammates and coaches, no one in soccer seemed to know his name.

It was 2023, and the striker was scrapping for minutes in Estonia’s Meistriliiga – a league small enough that streaming services didn’t bother with its matches. He was 22 and already a football nomad. He had been cut from his home town club’s academy. Passed over by NCAA college programs. Relegated to the reserve squad of almost every club he played for.

Are Manchester United as poor as the early Premier League table suggests?

Jamie Jackson — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:00:28 GMT

Michael Carrick’s side are 13th in the table after four games but, City mitigation aside, several areas need attention

Manchester United are 13th in the Premier League, having taken four points from their first four games: a 2-0 defeat at Hull, 5-2 win against Ipswich, 2-2 draw at Everton and the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday. Mitigation regarding the City reverse can be found in the derby coming three days after the Champions League win against Sabah on Thursday, with Enzo Maresca’s side having 48 hours more rest after winning at Porto. So are United, who host Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before visiting Fulham in the league on Sunday, as poor as the table suggests?

Hyrox changes rules and apologises for allowing Australian athlete who soiled herself to continue

Ima Caldwell — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 02:16:46 GMT

Australian Joanna Wietrzyk went on to win fitness race in Beijing
Hyrox admits making mistake by ‘not reacting immediately’

Organisers of the global indoor fitness competition Hyrox have apologised and pledged immediate rule changes after an Australian athlete was allowed to finish and win an event in Beijing despite soiling herself mid-race.

Footage of world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk competing on Saturday showed her continuing through demanding exercises and using communal equipment, with faecal matter visibly running down her legs. The incident went viral on social media and triggered debate about Hyrox’s health and safety standards, and athlete responsibility.

Houthis seize strategic Red Sea islands as analysts warn of impending oil crunch

Jonathan Yerushalmy — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:22:16 GMT

The militant group in Yemen captured the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish, near the chokepoint of the Bab al-Mandab strait

Yemen’s Houthi militants have seized two strategic islands in the Red Sea, reinforcing the Iran-backed group’s ability to control a key shipping route, as concerns mount that the world is facing a new oil supply crisis.

The seizure of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish is the latest in the militant group’s swift advance across Yemen’s Red Sea coast, after the capture of the port of Mokha and Perim island in the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Three babies might have survived if hospital had acted over Lucy Letby concerns, inquiry finds

Josh Halliday North of England editor — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:58:48 GMT

Lady Justice Thirlwall condemns ‘complete failure’ to protect babies on neonatal unit at Countess of Chester hospital

Lucy Letby public inquiry report published – latest updates

Three babies might have survived and seven others could have been protected if hospital bosses and doctors had taken action over concerns about the nurse Lucy Letby, an official inquiry into the deaths has concluded.

A public inquiry led by Lady Justice Thirlwall found a “complete failure” to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England.

Ebola outbreak in DRC has peaked, say authorities, as infection rates slow

Prosper Heri Ngorora in Goma — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:26 GMT

Almost 3,500 people have died in outbreak and experts say more must be done to ensure Bundibugyo is under control

Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have announced that the Ebola outbreak ravaging parts of the country has reached its peak.

For the first time since the epidemic was declared in May, the numbers of people becoming infected is slowing down, according to officials.

Researchers warn social media driving harmful misuse of Alzheimer’s blood tests

Melissa Davey Medical editor — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:30:43 GMT

Exclusive: Alzheimer’s blood tests should not be used on their own and risk leading people to believe they are inevitably going to develop dementia

Researchers have warned that social media may be misleading healthy people into taking Alzheimer’s blood tests, causing severe anxiety over biological markers that may never actually cause dementia.

Blood-based biomarker tests, such as p-tau217 and p-tau181, detect biological signs of changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which is a progressive brain disorder and the leading cause of dementia.

A Brooklyn bodega cat was stolen – and a community has rallied to try to find him

Ramon Antonio Vargas — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:26:17 GMT

Two people appeared to take three-month-old Jabal the kitten in plain view of a surveillance camera

Owners of a New York City bodega on Monday were holding out hope that they would be reunited with their store’s kitten after a couple passing by the store days earlier appeared to abduct the cat in plain view of a surveillance camera and ignited an intense grassroots search effort.

The plight of three-month-old Jabal began on Thursday morning in Brooklyn, when he went just outside the Eighth Street Mini Market where he lives as it opened for the day. A man walking alongside a woman passed the Park Slope market then picked up Jabal, and the pair took off as the kitten visibly squirmed, according to store surveillance video which the bodega’s owner, Imad “Jimmy” Innab, reviewed after he noticed the cat had gone missing.

They’re the sopranos of the forest, so what’s silencing the gibbons’ morning chorus?

Rebecca Ratcliffe — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 05:00:26 GMT

As human development and roads increasingly fragment their habitats, a study suggests traffic noise could be altering the animals’ wake-up call

Dawn has broken, and the air is cool and still. It’s at about this time that gibbons usually erupt into song, wa-oo-ing and wa-ing from the highest branches and filling the tree tops with rich melodies. But in this corner of Malaysian forest, bordered by housing and roads, the resident white-handed gibbons are quiet. All that can be heard is the hum of traffic from a nearby highway.

This isn’t a rare occurrence for this group of gibbons, according to research, which found these particular gibbons, named Mambang and Walinong, appeared to be producing far fewer morning songs than others that are not exposed to the same level of traffic noise.

US ‘super-emitters’ of planet heating methane identified by satellite analysis

Oliver Milman — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:42:35 GMT

Energy Transfer, whose CEO is a major Trump donor, named as biggest single methane producer in new rankings

Down a short gravel track in a largely nondescript corner of Louisiana sits a gas processing facility, operated by a company whose chief executive is a major donor to Donald Trump. It may be the largest emitter of methane in the US.

The Energy Transfer site, located near the city of Shreveport, is named as the biggest single “super emitter” in new rankings of US oil and gas operations for the largest releases of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is rapidly overheating our planet, according to a new UCLA study, which is based on satellite data.

US ends limits on coal and gas plant emissions, removing key tool to battle climate crisis

Oliver Milman — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:17:19 GMT

Trump’s EPA strips itself of regulation ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet polluters

On the heels of the hottest summer ever recorded in the US, the Trump administration has said it will erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it will strip itself of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming from power plants under the Clean Air Act, removing a key tool to address the climate crisis.

Disaster insurance, datacenters, right to repair: meet the midterm candidates running on green policies

Dharna Noor — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 11:00:56 GMT

Some of the everyday struggles animating voters have a climate link lurking in the background

When Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a law erasing the words “climate change” from state statutes in May 2024 – colloquially known as the “don’t say climate change” law – Democrats were outraged. Just six months later, many liberal politicians began to go quiet on the issue themselves. After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, mentions of the climate crisis started to disappear from Democrats’ rhetoric. As the 2026 midterms approach, that retreat is still shaping how some candidates talk about climate on the campaign trail.

The trend, known as “climate-hushing”, may reflect the limitations of Joe Biden’s climate policies, said Daniel Aldana Cohen, assistant sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies climate politics and inequality. Green jobs and housing investments fell short of the climate movement’s desires, consumer incentives disproportionately benefited wealthier households, and Democrats struggled to effectively communicate their accomplishments. The president has since rolled back many Biden-era clean energy incentives and regulations.

Mitch McConnell returns to Senate after months-long absence

Chris Stein in Washington — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:19:30 GMT

The 84-year-old said he was prepared to cast his first vote after rampant speculation about his health

Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate majority leader, returned to the Capitol on Monday and cast his first vote after a months‑long absence that fueled rampant speculation about his health.

One of the highest-profile figures in Congress, the 84-year-old senator has been away from the Senate since mid-June, following what his office said was a fall that left him hospitalized. After weeks of silence, that spurred demands for greater transparency and stoked online conspiracies, McConnell disclosed that he had been “briefly unconscious” and “also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia”. He was discharged from a rehabilitation center last month.

Trump administration changes how it counts measles deaths amid Pennsylvania outbreak

Melody Schreiber — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 20:35:25 GMT

CDC announces changes to how it reports measles deaths as Pennsylvania continues to confirm more cases

The Trump administration has changed the way it counts measles deaths amid an outbreak in Pennsylvania, which on Sunday saw the third apparent measles-related death in the state reported by a local coroner.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now using data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is a way to track mortality trends over time, according to a note published to the agency’s website on 4 September.

Russian oligarch close to Putin paid for part of Donald Trump Jr’s lavish wedding

Lucy Campbell — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 22:28:51 GMT

US president’s eldest child married Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in three-day celebration across two exclusive private islands

Donald Trump Jr and his wife, Bettina, confirmed on Monday that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin partially paid for the couple’s wedding celebrations in May, following a ProPublica report revealing Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the events.

Trump Jr, the US president’s eldest child, married the Palm Beach socialite in a lavish three-day celebration across two exclusive private islands in May.

Imran Khan’s sons accuse Pakistani army chief of vendetta against imprisoned father

Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi and Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:23:16 GMT

Kasim and Sulaiman Khan tell Guardian they believe ex-PM is being ‘slowly killed’ by harsh treatment, driven by Asim Munir

The sons of Imran Khan have accused Pakistan’s powerful army chief of a “personal vendetta” against the incarcerated former prime minister and expressed fears their father is being “slowly killed” in jail, as international pressure mounts over his prison conditions.

Kasim Khan, 27, and Sulaiman Khan, 29, have become strong advocates for the release of their father, who has been held in Adiala prison in Rawalpindi since his arrest in 2023, and is serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges.

UK sanctions on Israel ‘fall far short’ of its obligations, legal experts say

Haroon Siddique and Geneva Abdul — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:54:14 GMT

More than 130 sign letter to PM saying international law requires further measures to stop illegal settlements

More than 130 legal experts, including 18 king’s counsel (KCs), have written to Andy Burnham saying that sanctions on Israeli settlements “fall far short” of Britain’s obligations under the international court of justice’s (ICJ’s) finding that the occupation is unlawful.

The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, last week announced an import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine and other measures. Signatories to the letter to the prime minister, including the leading lawyers Michael Mansfield KC and Imran Khan KC, and the former lord justice of appeal Alan Moses, say it is not enough.

How enslavement became state-backed operation supported by Conservative and Lib Dem forerunners

David Conn Investigations correspondent; Illustration by Palesa Monareng — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 05:00:28 GMT

Tory and Whig MPs were central to funding trafficking of enslaved people and many opposed abolition of the slave trade

There is a British culture of celebrating the abolition of slavery without acknowledging that the country enslaved and trafficked millions of African people for centuries.

The newly published Register of British Slave Traders, which documents the thousands of investors in Britain’s near 250-year trafficking of more than 3 million enslaved African people, shows that it was a state-backed operation, fully supported by both major political parties at the time, the Tories and Whigs – the forerunners of today’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats respectively.

China dismisses AI ‘fearmongering’ as spy chief warns of threat to Communist party rule

Oliver Holmes — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 19:04:10 GMT

Beijing hits back after Anthropic CEO calls for US to impede China’s progress in AI

China has dismissed what it said were “fearmongering” calls for the US to block Beijing’s AI industry, even as the top Chinese spy chief warned the evolving technology could threaten Communist party rule.

The US tech entrepreneur and Anthropic chief executive, Dario Amodei, wrote an essay published over the weekend that called for a global slowdown in AI capabilities, but also said Washington should actively impede Beijing’s advancement in order to keep a technological edge.

Pre-Existing Condition review – Lupita Nyong’o is phenomenal in domestic abuse drama

Juan A Ramírez — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:20 GMT

Greenwich House Theater, New York
The Oscar-winning actor transfixes in Marin Ireland’s masterfully nuanced play about a woman reeling from a toxic relationship

Paradoxically, the more stars step into the lead role in Pre-Existing Condition, the more the brilliance of Marin Ireland’s domestic abuse play takes center stage. Not that it ever suffered from a lack of acting talent – when it premiered in 2024, at New York’s tiny Connelly Theater Upstairs, it counted Tatiana Maslany, Edie Falco and Deirdre O’Connell among the actors who played its central character in quick succession, for only a few weeks each. And this return engagement, at the larger Greenwich House Theater across town, kicks off with Lupita Nyong’o, before making way for Phillipa Soo, Susannah Flood, Hari Nef, Falco again and Whitney White.

It’s a straightforward conceit, perfectly calibrated for a 75-minute run time. A woman (whom the script refers to as A, currently played by Nyong’o) is dealing with the aftermath of a breakup triggered by her partner hitting her. When we meet her, someone (perhaps a lawyer, or a therapist) is laying out the reality of her situation: even with the deep pockets required to go to court, it’s been seven months since the incident, it happened across state lines and she never called the police. “You have to be ready for a fight,” she tells A. “Which, just from our short time with each other, I can already tell that you’re not.”

‘A double entendre in every crevice’: what, beyond near-naked tennis, is Sydney Sweeney’s game?

Zoe Williams — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:05:08 GMT

With her new, semi-nude advert for sports site Novig, the actor cements her reputation as the anti-woke poster girl. But is it real – or just provocation with a soft porn gaze?

Bear with me here, but I’m beginning to suspect Sydney Sweeney is a very fine actor. It’s a skill she has been recognised for in the past, of course, winning nominations for Emmys for Euphoria and The White Lotus, but I mean it in a deeper sense, related to her work in advertising rather than drama – can she do more than play a role? Can she make you feel what she’s feeling?

In her “controversial” new ad for the sports prediction site Novig (the scare quotes are because, when you’re begging for controversy this hard, you shouldn’t just be handed it on a plate), she adopts the garb of various sports. Her face, body, aspect, gait and mien are all carefully configured to amp up the erotic overtones to the maximum degree, and yet the feeling that beams out of each image is: “This is really going to piss people off, and I couldn’t be more delighted.” Her expression is so speechful that you cannot help but share in some of her hellion joy.

Grey’s Anatomy: the steamy and often thrilling medical drama is still endlessly watchable

Patrick Lenton — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:54 GMT

It launched the careers of Sandra Oh and Katherine Heigl, popularised terms like ‘vajayjay’ and even managed to make bowel obstruction sexy

From The Pitt to the recent Australian hit The F Ward, audiences just cannot get enough of shows about doctors who not only know how to conduct open heart surgery, but also mend their own broken hearts along the way.

In many ways you could say that Grey’s Anatomy, and other iconic medical dramas like ER, ran in dramatic slow motion through hospital corridors first so that The Pitt could also run (though in a slightly grittier and more realistic way).

Legend of Destruction review – starry voices grace animated telling of the Jewish revolt against the Romans

Leslie Felperin — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:00:40 GMT

Eight years in the making, the innovative film uses painted still images – it’s like being read a graphic novel by a cast including Oscar Isaac, Evangeline Lilly and Elliott Gould

This Israeli animated film has been largely hanging around in limbo since it was finished in 2021 after taking eight years to complete – though this may or may not be due to the international opprobrium that Israel has attracted in the intervening period. It’s actually a rather fascinating film, if oddly told and a bit severe. Legend of Destruction isn’t about the current conflict, taking place as it does in the first century, 66 years after the birth of Christ – although of course, if you squint a bit, parallels with current events are there to be discerned. Revolutions fracture from within, hegemons topple due to their own greedy self-destruction, and in the end ordinary people are the ones who suffer and die as cities burn. Fill in the blanks as you see fit.

Cleaving pretty closely to the known facts as recorded by Flavius Josephus’ The Jewish War and the Talmud, the script by director Gidi Dar and Shuli Rand recounts how Jewish resistance rose up in Judea, particularly in Jerusalem, against the occupying Romans and the reigning Jewish elite, including the Temple’s high priests and queen Berenice of Cilicia (Evangeline Lilly), over excessive taxation. Our protagonist narrator is ordinary schlemiel Ben Batich (voiced in this English language version by Oscar Isaac), who becomes a leader of one faction after he snaps and can no longer agree with the pleas for patience and tolerance from his mother (Marilu Henner) and rabbi uncle Yohanan ben Zakkai (Elliott Gould).

In an age of superhero fatigue, Marvel’s best shot is to think small – and outside the box

Ben Child — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:46:05 GMT

Sebastian Stan says he pitched Marvel a mid-budget thriller starring his Winter Soldier character. Perhaps the studio should give it – and other modestly scaled vehicles – the green light

Blink a little and you might think we are back in 2019. The latest Spider-Man film, Brand New Day, has just passed $2.4bn at the global box office, to become the third-highest grossing film of all time behind Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Meanwhile Avengers: Doomsday is reported to have already earned more than $50m in US ticket presales alone, despite the fact that it doesn’t come out until December. Clearly we are in the middle of a superhero renaissance.

And yet it doesn’t really feel like it, largely because it is something of a turnaround for Marvel, after a pretty disappointing 2025 in which all three of the studio’s releases underperformed. Captain America: Brave New World took $415m worldwide, Thunderbolts* managed $382m and even the well-reviewed The Fantastic Four: First Steps stalled at $521m, against a reported $200m budget. These are hardly Madame Web numbers but they do suggest there is still a problem about what to do with all those superheroes who cannot sustain a $300m multiversal extravaganza.

‘I never pass up a rewatch’: why Valley Girl is my feelgood movie

Annie Zaleski — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:00:53 GMT

The latest in our series of writers explaining their most rewatched comfort films brings us back to 1980s LA

As a teenager growing up in the 1990s, I was deeply obsessed with all things 1980s pop culture. Chalk it up to nostalgia for my Care Bears-filled childhood – or a stubborn adolescent desire to separate myself from the Dave Matthews Band-loving, khaki-wearing kids at my high school. (Mission accomplished: it’s safe to say I was the only person I knew rocking a bandana tied around my pants leg or a Wild Boys-era Duran Duran shirt.)

Back then, I was especially drawn to 1980s teen movies. In my own life, I was having zero luck finding a New Romantic Romeo; instead, I pined after artsy, sensitive boys who didn’t know I existed. But throughout these films, even the most awkward characters managed to find a happy ending, with the ultimate examples being Samantha (Molly Ringwald) in Sixteen Candles landing hunky Jake Ryan or Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) linking up with Rat (Brian Backer) in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

‘The cauldron was already bubbling …’ Green Lung, Druidess and the return of folk horror to British heavy metal

Michael Hann — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:31:21 GMT

Playing a sound rooted in 80s bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar, metal bands are once again gravitating towards dark folklore – but in a ‘Glastonbury crystal shop’ kind of way

Behind Tom Templar’s shoulder as we talk over video call is a poster for The Wicker Man, the 1973 cult folk-horror film set on a remote Scottish island, whose sunniness conceals – inevitably – a dark secret. It’s fitting, because Templar is the singer of Green Lung, the breakout British metal band who immerse themselves in British mythology. The forthcoming Necropolitan, their fourth album devoted to the folklore of the isles, takes its inspiration from the “Magnificent Seven” London cemeteries built in the 1830s and 40s, and from the Necropolis railway, which transported the dead out of the city. No generic demons here: this is metal in the spirit of Fairport Convention as much as Black Sabbath.

“My big thesis is that heavy metal has become a form of folk music in the past couple of decades,” says Templar. “They’re both riff-based, circling around similar tropes, and about reinventing what has gone before. Metal even feels like a folk movement, in the way it’s full of festivals no one else has heard of. There’s such a thriving ecosystem.” Green Lung have certainly been nourished by it: at this year’s Desertfest in London, their T-shirts felt like an unofficial uniform.

Beck: Ride Lonesome review – stunning end to the heartache trilogy of Sea Change and Morning Phase

Alexis Petridis — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:00:58 GMT

(Iliad/Capitol)
On his first album in seven years, Beck keeps the quality control extremely high as he surveys mid-50s malaise in the wake of divorce

The last time Beck released an album it was 2019 and the singer-songwriter found himself in a strange and unenviable position. In some quarters, the arrival of Hyperspace was eagerly anticipated precisely because his personal life was in turmoil. Nine months before its release, his 15-year marriage to actor Marissa Ribisi had ended in divorce, an experience he understandably described as heartbreaking. Unfortunately for him, there exists a pervasive argument that Beck’s greatest work is born out of misery.

His beloved 2002 album Sea Change featured a set of disconsolate acoustic songs written in the wake of a break-up with his long-term girlfriend Leigh Limon that Beck had initially thought were too personal for public consumption. They were certainly very different from the knowing, postmodern approach with which he’d made his name, but no matter: Sea Change went on to become a huge critical and commercial success. It wasn’t entirely clear what prompted the gloomy mood of 2014’s Morning Phase, but it very much seemed to be cut from similar musical and lyrical cloth. Some critics suggested it was the best album of his career; it subsequently won three Grammys, including album of the year. Given the circumstances, there was much pre-release speculation that Hyperspace would be a companion piece.

A great time with Uncle Junior from the Sopranos: best podcasts of the week

Hannah J Davies and Hollie Richardson — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:25 GMT

Fans of the show will not want to miss this revealing new series with Dominic Chianese and his son. Plus, a political drama that’s as thrilling as a Bourne novel

The Sopranos star Dominic Chianese (95) and his son Dominic Chianese Jr (62) helm this new series – a cosy father-son catchup, and all the better for it. Choice cuts include Chianese Sr’s admission that he thought the show was a spoof at first, playing his first scene as crime boss Junior for laughs. As for “Jimmy” Gandolfini, he was “in the same stratosphere as Al Pacino ... acting with him was so easy because he was so real and so believable”. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

100 years after John Coltrane’s birth, secret tapes are emerging. What can they tell us about jazz’s great rulebreaker?

Ammar Kalia — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:00:03 GMT

The sax star turned his back on fame to embrace free jazz. Caught on a tape machine hidden in an overcoat, newly revealed recordings show how he did it

In August 1965, at the height of his fame, saxophonist John Coltrane headlined the DownBeat jazz festival in Chicago. Taking to the stage with a new member of his band, young experimentalist Archie Shepp on tenor, Coltrane’s quartet blew through a series of jagged and free improvisations, straying from structured compositions and, instead, hurling down sheets of sound so loud and aggressive that they reportedly caused widespread walk-outs. DownBeat’s own reviewer later wrote: “They gave as tasteless a display of musicianship as I’ve ever heard … Shepp and Coltrane seemed to be more interested in trying to out-honk, out-squeal and out-bleat each other than in playing music.”

That 1965 performance should have been a triumphant moment, after five years of Coltrane’s star ascending. Since leaving Miles Davis’s “first great quintet”, with whom he had recorded what would become the bestselling jazz album of all time – 1959’s Kind of Blue – Coltrane founded an entirely new harmonic language in jazz with the 1960 release of his solo LP Giant Steps, had a radio hit with his 1961 version of The Sound of Music’s My Favourite Things and, in January 1965, formulated his own spiritual imagining of jazz music with the Grammy-nominated album A Love Supreme. He was already a giant of the genre, contributing dozens of compositions to the standard repertoire, but two years later, in 1967, aged just 40, he would be dead of liver cancer.

The Rouse by China Miéville review – a mighty achievement from the ‘new weird’ author

Stuart Kelly — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:00:29 GMT

Twenty years in the writing, this paranormal epic of cold war espionage and family tragedy is a quantum leap in terms of ambition and moral seriousness

China Miéville’s epic new novel is presented as being “20 years in the making”. It is quite a testament to how extravagant – even Stakhanovite – his imagination is that during that period he also produced six novels (including The City & the City and The Book of Elsewhere, co-written with Keanu Reeves), two novellas, two series of graphic novels, a children’s book, a volume of short stories and two works of nonfiction, on the October Revolution and the Communist Manifesto.

It does not mean that these works were, as Graham Greene called The Third Man and Our Man in Havana, “entertainments” – Embassytown, to my mind, is the best translation of deconstructionist philosophy into science fiction – but certainly The Rouse is a quantum jump in terms of ambition, moral seriousness and stylistic bravado. It means that rather than classifying Miéville with “the new weird” or “speculative fantasy”, he ought to be compared to Roberto Bolaño or Mircea Cărtărescu. This new novel is equally maximalist, dense, disorienting and discomfiting, reflecting how surreal our reality seems to have become.

End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor review – the fightback starts here

Daniel Trilling — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:25 GMT

A sharp analysis of the damage wrought by the reckless super-rich, and a progressive toolkit for repairing it

The more power the radical rightwing nationalists of our age accrue, the greater the risk that their destructive brand of politics becomes normalised. We should not, for instance, regard it as normal that the man in charge of one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals casually promises “a whole civilisation will die tonight”. We should not accept that history’s first trillionaire is allowed to spread racist conspiracy theories to a hitherto unimaginable extent. We should be alarmed that, here in the UK, a party tipped to lead a potential future government is trying to cruise to power in the slipstream of this international movement.

In fact, we shouldn’t just be alarmed by such developments: we should stop them and urgently repair the damage already done. But how? And what is the nature of that damage? This bold, clarifying intervention from Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor provides some of the answers. “End times fascism” is their term for a convergence of interests that can broadly be understood as a response to the climate crisis. Faced with a world coming under unprecedented strain from environmental shocks and an unequal, resource-hungry economic system, today’s reactionaries are effectively saying: bring it on.

Farewell to Eden by Sebastian Faulks review – conflict and compromise, from a veteran of the genre

Michael Donkor — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 08:00:26 GMT

A returning British soldier is haunted by his time in Palestine in this panoramic epic set after the second world war

Sebastian Faulks’s latest book focuses on the most irreconcilable geopolitical struggle of our age, the Israel-Palestine conflict. While “the sound of mortar and machine gun, the collision of flesh and metal” are integral to Faulks’s best known works, such as Birdsong, in his 17th novel the military presence is a peacekeeping one. It’s 1946 and infantry officer Philip Deval, who saw action in Normandy, is deployed to the Holy Land to take part in maintaining Britain’s mandate in Palestine. Initially Philip is second in command of a battalion overseeing febrile relationships between Jewish and Arab communities. Britain’s profound failures and manipulation in the region, and the imminence of its disastrous departure from the territory, come under scrutiny.

While able to drum up motivation and cheer for the men in his battalions, privately Philip wrestles with inner melancholy. He is “shrouded” in a “loneliness … that insulates him from the world”. Experiences on the battlefield and other, slowly elucidated tragedies have led to his pessimistic bent. Much of what Philip observes in the Middle East, and his “foreboding” sense of its intractable problems, only confirms his despairing sense of human nature. It also underlines his ambivalence towards notions of divine benevolence.

Emily St John Mandel: ‘When half the electorate disagrees on basic reality, how do you come back from that?’

Hannah Marriott — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 11:00:03 GMT

Her hit novel Station Eleven seemed to predict the pandemic, now the novelist is tackling the future of the US. She talks about chance, world-building and experiencing a ‘tiny bit’ of clairvoyance

When Emily St John Mandel was a child she had a dream that would stay with her for decades. It was a nightmare in which “I was trying to find my dad in a crowd, and there were other people who looked like him but weren’t him”, she says. “It just kind of struck my imagination.”

Forty-ish years later, Mandel’s seventh novel, Exit Party, opens with a gathering in Los Angeles, 2031, where bizarre things happen. Doubles of some guests appear. Someone else disappears altogether. The novel then alternates between two potential future Americas, one riven by the chaos of civil war, the other a surveillance state.

Raiding the past: Lara Croft relives her first adventure in Legacy of Atlantis

Tom Regan — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:05:05 GMT

We have a first play of the forthcoming Tomb Raider remake and speak with its developers. Can they improve on the gameplay without losing what made the 1996 original such a classic?

We join Lara Croft in St Francis’ Folly – inspired by the Unesco-listed monasteries of Meteora in Greece – as the light shines through the cracked ceiling and a flock of bats glide across the vast ruins below. When Lara leaps down to the monastery’s crumbling pillared courtyard, it becomes clear that these screeching, leathery creatures aren’t just set dressing. As they lurch towards her with unpredictable movements, she dispatches the swarm with a flurry of gun fire and panicked punches.

It’s a suitably cinematic reintroduction to our heroine and her very first adventure. Co-developed by longtime Lara custodians Crystal Dynamics and Polish studio Flying Wild Hog, Legacy of Atlantis is a reimagining of the classic 1996 game Tomb Raider, and this familiar cliffside location is now brimming with new life and believable detail. Yet while our reunion gets off to an auspicious start, I have my concerns. It feels like reconnecting with an old friend at the pub, only for them to begin spouting conspiracy theories two pints in.

Marvel’s Wolverine review – a gloriously conflicted lead is let down by crude, boring battling

Keith Stuart — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:00:40 GMT

PlayStation 5; Insomniac Games
Logan is well realised by Liam McIntyre and some exquisite character art, but there are lapses in narrative and emotional arcs and some of the combat feels like a chore

It was always going to be difficult to follow Spider-Man. Insomniac’s three games based around the web-slinger are masterpieces of superhero wish fulfilment, allowing you to swoop above a depiction of Manhattan alive with graffiti artists, roving journalists and gun-toting gangsters. If anyone should be up to the task, it’s Wolverine. A beloved Marvel stalwart, his life much darker and bloodier than Peter Parker’s, he seems the ideal protagonist for a moody action adventure. Yet somehow this well-made game falls short of its potential.

Set years before the founding of the X-Men, Marvel’s Wolverine sees a disenfranchised Logan falling back in with Sabretooth and Mystique when their mentor Nathaniel Essex is kidnapped by mutant-hating billionaire Bolivar Trask. This archetypal tech bro has a disturbing plan for world domination and the X Team are out to stop him – but there is a secret buried in Wolverine’s past that’s about to cause an eruption. It’s a decent setup, filled with the sort of intrigue, violence and Freudian tension we expect from the X-Men.

‘Ruin and decay bring a chance of rebirth’: Hidetaka Miyazaki on uniting players in a damaged world

Kirk McKeand — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:00:49 GMT

As FromSoftware’s new multiplayer game The Duskbloods nears release, the legendary game director behind Dark Souls talks connection, pessimism and of course, feet

Since 2009’s Demon’s Souls, Japanese video game director Hidetaka Miyazaki has shown the world a different way to think about game design. His games defy convention with punishing fights, obscure rules, and unknowable, inhospitable worlds. The “Soulslike” genre – named after Demon’s Souls and its sequel Dark Souls – is now ubiquitous, influencing multimillion-sellers from God of War and Star Wars: Jedi to Hollow Knight. Miyazaki’s most recent success, 2022’s Elden Ring, which credited Game of Thrones author George RR Martin as a co-creator, sold over 30m copies and inspired Alex Garland to adapt it for the big screen at A24. It earned Miyazaki a spot on Time magazine’s “most influential” list, an accolade he shares with just one other game developer: Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyazaki is now 51 and has been FromSoftware’s president since 2014, elevated from game designer to CEO after the success of the Souls series. He has a cherubic face that could pass for 35. He rarely speaks publicly, and never on camera. When he does speak, he answers questions like one of his characters – softly, sadly, his head bowed, making eye-contact only when I am speaking. Outside the studio where we speak is the sprawl of Tokyo’s Shinjuku, an ever-changing maze where tourists get lost and pop-up stores appear and vanish without a trace. Today, a J-pop band performs in the square as the cicadas scream from the trees. A gilded statue of Malania, one of Elden Ring’s toughest bosses, looms over this dimly lit conference room inside From’s headquarters, a bonfire checkpoint away from the chaos.

Grand Theft Auto VI is a phenomenon – but there is much more to the gaming world

Keith Stuart — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:00:26 GMT

As Rockstar’s blockbuster prepares to dominate the headlines, it’s time for the mainstream media to stop treating video games as a novelty that needs explaining

Predictably, the Grand Theft Auto VI “extended look” which premiered on Netflix last week was a success for all involved. The 30-minute preview scorched to No 1 on the viewing chart and even brought the site down for a few minutes as millions of gamers tried to watch what was, effectively, a very long teaser trailer. According to data collated by Eurogamer, more than 9,000 Twitch streamers covered the show leading to 5,227,798 hours of viewing there alone. And this was just the beginning of what will surely be two months of escalating hype – and unprecedented media attention.

Call me cynical, but I suspect the coverage of GTA VI in the media over the next few weeks will follow a familiar pattern. Mostly, it will be five-minute slots wedged in near the end of news bulletins in which games journalists, industry analysts and other pundits will be asked why the game is such a big deal, how much it cost to make and how much revenue it will generate. Perhaps a few will try to reignite the hoary old “violence in video games” debate, there will be presenters laughingly admitting they’ve not touched a game since Pac-Man, rolling their eyes and wallowing in their ignorance, in a way they never would while discussing any other art form. Somebody will venture the subversive view that “games are no longer just for kids”; somebody else will say “games make more money than films and music put together”. And that will be that, job done for another decade … or until there’s a funny story about Pokémon.

‘She went to her studio every day and no one was allowed near it’: the glorious nature paintings of Yasmin David

Alice Fisher — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:06:24 GMT

Her father was Laurie Lee, her mother the bohemian Lorna Garman, and the full extent of her talent wasn’t apparent until after her death. A revelatory exhibition places David at the heart of British landscape painting

When Clio David was growing up, her mother’s studio was off-limits. The wooden outbuilding where her mother, Yasmin, went to paint was in the apple orchards that surrounded her childhood home in south Devon. It had once been a dormitory for the students of Dartington Hall, a progressive school where Clio’s father taught during the 1960s.

“It was somewhere she went every day to paint and work, and no one was allowed near it,” says Clio. “The walls of our house were covered in her paintings, but the studio was a private place.”

Venice best actress winner says she signed on at Danish job centre days before her victory

Philip Oltermann European culture editor — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:37:22 GMT

Mathilde Arcel, who won the Volpi Cup on Saturday for her role in Golden Lion winner Woman Unknown, said job offers have now begun to arrive

The winner of this year’s best actress prize at the Venice film festival has revealed that she is on unemployment benefits and had to fly to back to Copenhagen to report to the job centre before receiving her award.

On Saturday night, Danish actor Mathilde Arcel won the prestigious Volpi Cup for her first leading role in a feature film, May el-Toukhy’s post-second world war drama Woman Unknown, which also won the Golden Lion award for best film.

She was the Royal Ballet’s first ‘young choreographer’ – Charlotte Edmonds’ next 10 years show how dance is changing

Lyndsey Winship — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 10:29:12 GMT

As a teenager, Edmonds had a three-year residency at the Royal Opera House. Her eclectic career – creating NFTs, adverts and films as well as for the stage – reveals a precarious industry moving in new directions

At the age of 18, Charlotte Edmonds was such a promising choreographer (“astonishing”, in the words of the Observer) that the Royal Ballet invented a whole new job for her. As the company’s “young choreographer”, she spent three years learning everything she could at one of the world’s biggest dance institutions. “It’s mad to think that happened,” she says, a decade on.

With that kind of start, you’d expect Edmonds’ career to have followed a predictable narrative, choreographing for the big ballet brands, maybe setting up her own company. But that’s not exactly how it’s gone. Her eclectic portfolio reflects how the dance industry has changed and become ever more precarious, but also expanded in uncharted directions. She has indeed made short works for a number of European ballet companies, but she’s spent more time recently making films, music videos and adverts for the likes of Budweiser and Nike, as well as advocating for artists with dyslexia and launching her own video series, Cameo, in which she interviews female and non-binary choreographers to counter a lack of representation.

Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after ‘free Palestine’ speech

Adrian Horton — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:39:57 GMT

The American rapper will no longer support Sheeran’s US leg of Loop tour after comments at MetLife Stadium show

Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of the US leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour, after the American rapper drew headlines for saying “free Palestine” on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

In a brief speech between songs on 4 September, the Grammy-winning artist told the audience he wanted the people of Gaza and “the occupied West Bank” to know “we have not forgotten about them”, prompting a petition from the Israeli American Council demanding his removal from the tour.

The pirates arrived with AK-47s. They took us hostage – then the torture began

Rose George — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:26 GMT

Chirag Bahri was working on board a tanker when six men seized it. For almost eight months, he and his colleagues were held captive, an experience that would change his life for ever

It was at noon on 8 May 2010 when the pirates came. Chirag Bahri remembers the exact time and date because it marked the start of the seven months and 20 days he was held hostage by a gang of Somali pirates. Bahri was 28 at the time, and working as second engineer on a chemical tanker, Marida Marguerite. It was his 12th journey through the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. It had been a good job for a young man from landlocked Uttar Pradesh in India, and Bahri was about to be promoted. “But then, piracy,” he says.

The ship had been 120 miles off the coast of Oman, partway through a run taking benzene – a raw material used in petrochemicals – from Kandla Port in India to Antwerp in Belgium. The piracy problem in the Indian Ocean was well known; Somalis armed with AK-47s were setting out in fast skiffs and taking ships hostage. Yet commercial vessels, including the Marida Marguerite, remained undefended.

The wilting rose emoji: what its rise and fall tells us about gen Alpha

Lucy Knight — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 04:00:25 GMT

It was the fastest-growing emoji in 2025 – but if you’re older than 16, it has probably passed you by. Now, just as twentysomethings are catching up, it’s over

In the 2025 hit Netflix show Adolescence, DI Luke Bascombe’s 13-year-old son, Adam, has to explain to his father the way his generation use heart emojis. “Red means love, purple: horny, yellow: ‘I’m interested, are you interested?’, pink: ‘I’m interested but not in sex,’ orange: ‘You’re going to be fine,’” he explains. “It all has a meaning. Everything has a meaning.”

And those meanings are constantly evolving. Take the skull (), for example, which has come to be used as a reaction for finding something funny – a visual shorthand for the slang phrase: “I’m dead.” Or the wilting rose () which was, according to Google data analysed by the New York Times, the fastest-growing emoji in terms of popularity in 2025 – and was the 93rd most used. That the previously obscure wilting rose is now in the top 100 emojis is thanks to generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2024), who use it in place of the broken heart emoji () to signify sadness, or ironically, to suggest mock-heartbreak.

Hard truths about solo homeownership – and the tools that made these women DIY pros

Tracy Allison — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:15:25 GMT

Women who have tackled home repairs and renovations share hard-earned tips and tools that helped them patch drywall, refinish floors and build decks

I entered homeownership the same way I started driving on the highway: learning on the fly and in a blind panic. I bought my house in my late 20s, with minimal home-maintenance knowledge, a flathead screwdriver, a rubber mallet that had lived through the Carter administration – and the realization that throughout my life, I had been spared from doing the dirty work at the cost of learning how it was done.

Many of my (male) friends growing up had nice power drills their fathers had given them, along with lessons on how to use them safely – an education that, for them, seemed to happen almost by default. As a kid, I prepared for my Girl Scouts troop’s big annual event, the cookie sale, while my brother’s Cub Scouts troop was learning to use coping saws and screwdrivers for the Pinewood derby. As recently as this year, I struck up a conversation with a welder and expressed my longtime interest in learning the skill, only to have him say it would probably be too difficult for me.

Am I walking my dog all wrong?

Lauren Gould — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 19:15:11 GMT

Walking your dog is crucial for its health, but many owners (me included) aren’t doing so properly, experts say

Each week the Filter newsletter cuts through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better – from what is worth buying to the tools, habits and ideas that actually last.

My family dog, Cocoa, calls the shots.

My deep fryer lives in a tool polycule. Here’s how to stop buying things your friends already own

Nick Mokey — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 14:15:04 GMT

The key to happiness isn’t hoarding gadgets – it’s loaning them out and buying fewer things

They live under your bed and in your basement, your garage and probably in that weird cabinet above the fridge that requires a stepstool.

Alton Brown calls them unitaskers: the tools and appliances that aspire to do only one thing and do it well. Pasta makers and juicers are the classics, but they exist outside the kitchen, too. Do you really need to own a post-hole digger? Seasonal candle molds?

Breville Eye Q toaster review: a ‘revolutionary device’ that makes perfect toast without me trying

Jonathan Deutsch — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:15:35 GMT

I toasted just about every kind of bread in Breville’s new Eye Q – and each slice came out perfectly toasted

It’s a centuries-old problem: how to prepare the perfect slice of toast. Historical toasters range from a simple iron frame standing slices of bread in front of a hearth to Rube Goldberg-like contraptions of springs and knobs that turn, flip and eject.

The core technology of the toaster has changed little in the past 100 years. A coil of high-resistance wires is activated for a certain period, and the radiant heat from that coil warms and browns the bread. The only measure of doneness that a traditional toaster has is time, but, as anyone who has had burnt toast for breakfast knows, time is a very imprecise proxy.

For perfectly toasted bread every time:
Breville Eye Q Auto 4 Slice Toaster

I'm a pro chef – here's why this tiny knife sharpener belongs in the kitchen of any serious cook

Jonathan Deutsch — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:15:07 GMT

This sharpener is easy to use and does the job well enough to please a professional chef

In every cooking class that I teach, knife sharpening is the first lesson my students learn. Dull knives are inefficient and dangerous – a dull blade can slide right off the curvature of an onion into the flesh of the hand holding it.

At the Drexel Food Lab, where I’m a certified research chef and culinary educator, we use a Tormek T2 Pro Kitchen Knife Sharpener, donated by the company, to sharpen our knives. It is a dream piece of equipment that can sharpen any knife we throw at it, from a pile of our classes’ cheap stainless steel Dexter kitchen knives to a high-end carbon steel Japanese slicer for our instructors’ use.

I tried the new Anydeli plastic-free containers: ‘The perfect food storage finally exists’

Emily Farris — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:38:10 GMT

These food storage containers with clever, reheat-friendly vented lids are ‘endlessly versatile, lightweight and durable’. After selling out for months after launch in April, they are now back in stock

You know those round deli containers people love to keep after getting takeout pho? Recently, I’ve been using some new food storage containers in the same shape that stack the same convenient way. But that’s where the similarities end.

The Anydeli plastic-free silicone containers were just released by Anyday, the maker of my favorite glass food storage system. (I raved about those previously.) After testing a set at home for a few weeks, I have no notes. Well, I have notes, but they’re all very positive, because the containers are endlessly versatile, lightweight and durable enough to send in my kids’ lunchboxes without worry. They’re also cute.

The Anyday glass food containers transformed how I store leftovers

The best plastic-free food storage containers: Anydeli Silicone Mixed Set of 3

The best plastic-free food storage full set: Anydeli Silicone Mixed Set of 6

The six best e-readers in the US, for every kind of book lover

Text and photography by Jenny McGrath — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:36:43 GMT

Whether you’re on a budget, looking for an easy way to read when you travel, or want one for kids, here are our picks for the best ebook readers

Bookworms may still cherish the feel of leafing through pages, the whiff of new-book smell, and stacking their shelves with beloved tomes, but nothing beats an e-reader (ebook reader) for convenience.

You can bring your entire library on vacation without an extra suitcase. If you’re working through a 1,349-page novel such as Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, your wrists will thank you. And unlike a phone, your e-reader won’t constantly interrupt you with news alerts and texts, so you can lose yourself in a new world or focus on learning something new.

What we like and dislike about every e-reader

How I tested (and who I am)

More info: ebook reader questions and answers

Can a $159 Bluetooth sleep mask actually help you snooze better? I tested to find out

Juno DeMelo — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:07:09 GMT

Bluetooth sleep masks block out light and let you stream audio. I spent weeks testing some of the top-rated ones on the market

My sister has fallen asleep to the dulcet tones of Law & Order every night for years. I myself am partial to the sound of rain at bedtime. A friend, meanwhile, swears by sleepcasts. One gadget that could work for all of us – and may work well for you too – is a Bluetooth sleep mask.

If you like to listen to something as you nod off, earbuds specially designed for sleep are certainly an option. But some people (like my sister, who has a newborn) don’t want to block out all noise, which earbuds tend to do. Others just don’t like the feeling of having something jammed in their ear canals all night, especially if they sleep on their side or stomach.

The best stain removers for clothing (and the worst)

Jenny McGrath — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:19:33 GMT

We tested OxiClean, Tide pens, Zout and 11 other stain removers against blotches of oil, wine, turmeric and many other tough stains – here’s what to stock in your laundry room

After a particularly lively night, you might find your favorite shirt covered in splashes of wine, coffee or mustard – or if you’re really unlucky, all three. These can all be stubborn stains, and their chemical makeup is different. Is there a single stain remover that can combat them all?

To find out, I tested more than a dozen popular stain removers on all those messes plus several more, including grass, lipstick and ink. They aren’t all recommended, but I tried many home options, like OxiClean, Zout, Shout and Seventh Generation, along with Tide pens and Miss Mouth’s wipes that are easy to take on the go. Since we’re not always at home when a laundry disaster strikes, I also tried pens and wipes that are easy to stow in a bag or purse.

All our stain remover picks, explained

How we tested (and our mission at The Filter US)

Other stain removers we reviewed

FAQ: my advice on clothing stain removal

‘It’s about controlling your entire body’: how to start doing handstands

Madeleine Aggeler — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:00:10 GMT

Handstands display a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt – and they look cool. Experts share their advice for building up strength and practicing

My aspirations in life are modest: I want to write, spend time with my loved ones, and someday find a lipstick that flatters my skintone. But perhaps my greatest ambition is this: I want to be able to do a handstand.

Why? It turns the world upside down. It seems fun. It displays a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt. And it looks cool! Maybe it has to do with that one time in third grade when all my friends could do a handstand and I couldn’t, but that’s for me and my therapist to sort out later.

Not glamorous, but common: how to manage dandruff at home and when to get help

Keren Landman — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 16:00:07 GMT

Experts don’t know exactly what causes dandruff, but if you’re seeing light flakes on your scalp, over-the-counter products can help

You spy a scatter of white flakes on your collar. Or you’ve got an itch that won’t quit, no matter how much you wash your hair. Dandruff isn’t glamorous, but it’s common: about half the world’s population has it.

An itchy, flaking scalp is rarely dangerous, but it can be annoying. Here’s what you need to know about what might be causing your flakes, what you can do about it, and when it’s time to get help.

A scientist said bananas ‘kill’ the benefit of blueberries. Is that true?

Adrienne Matei — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:00:40 GMT

Can blending these popular fruits in a smoothie adversely affect the berries’ nutritional benefits? Experts weigh in

This year was shaping up to be a banner year for bananas: they were lauded as “2026’s big viral taste”, landed pride of place as Prada’s new lip balm flavor, and were even deemed “the next pumpkin spice”.

But this summer, the Mel Robbins Podcast featured Dr Rhonda Patrick, a biomedical scientist, who said that adding banana to a blueberry smoothie could adversely affect the nutritional benefits of the berries.

‘I’m sick of her talking about it’: 11 readers share how GLP-1s have affected their relationships

Madeleine Aggeler — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:00:03 GMT

As weight loss drugs have risen all around the world, it has reshaped users’ relationships for better and for worse

As GLP-1 use continues to rise in the US and the UK, people’s bodies are being reshaped – as are their relationships.

“Relationships tend to develop a sense of equilibrium and predictability over time,” says Dr Lindsey Berisha, a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with clients using GLP-1s for over 10 years. “When one partner undergoes a significant change, it can shift that equilibrium, and even positive change can create uncertainty for both partners.”

‘But enough about you …’ How to survive in a world of monologuists, interrupters and trauma dumpers

Anita Chaudhuri — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 13:00:05 GMT

Conversations are supposed to be two-sided – but all too often we come up against someone who’s passionately, exclusively in love with the sound of their own voice. Time to fight back …

When I was in my early teens, I was often invited round to a schoolfriend’s house for dinner. Her family struck me as wildly progressive: they were Danish and indulged in all sorts of “out-there” activities – fondues, candle-making and, most terrifying of all, the talking stick.

Before the meal was served, someone would retrieve the sacred broom handle and it would be passed around the table. You could speak only if you had possession of the stick. Despite it being the most stressful thing ever (it meant being in the spotlight, and then remembering to keep quiet the rest of the time), I now frequently yearn for a more convenient version of that stick.

For example, I met a friend recently who I see infrequently but keep up with via voice notes. No sooner had we sat down than he launched into a long discourse about his new marathon training food plan. He only broke the flow to order an omelette: “Four egg whites, two yolks, is that possible?” (We were in my local greasy spoon, so the request was greeted with mirth.) When we left, 90 minutes later, he finally had the grace to turn to me and ask: “And how are things with you?”

Walking home, I felt a mixture of disappointment and irritation. Had he always been so self-absorbed? So uninterested in anyone else? I couldn’t help wondering if our one-sided virtual updates had played a part in the problem.

There is a name for this type of egocentric behaviour – “conversational narcissism”. Although it was coined by the sociologist Charles Derber in his 1979 book The Pursuit of Attention, the term seems more relevant than ever. “WhatsApp communication and voice notes are really a series of monologues,” says Charlotte Fox Weber, a psychotherapist. “In face-to-face situations, people are forgetting how to pause naturally, to make space to hear and listen. And people are chatting on the phone – an activity that at least requires turn-taking in a defined way – much less often.”

A lot of our communication online can feel weirdly transactional, focused on logistics or niche WhatsApp groups. According to Tamu Thomas, a life coach and author, this has damaged the art of improvised conversation. “People have less capacity for meandering conversations that don’t have a purpose,” she says. “A good dialogue is a back-and-forth between two people discovering new things about each other, even if they have known each other for years. Because there are now so many different channels available to stay in touch, some people are confusing communication with connection.”

Knowledge is power, though. If you can recognise the five types of common conversation hogger, it will be much easier to handle them.

My partner’s sister has published a family memoir that's unfair to him. Should we cut ties? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 05:00:03 GMT

She should have been much more careful, but everyone has their own version of the ‘truth’. Does your partner want a reconciliation?

My sister-in-law wrote and published an emotionally charged “memoir” of family dislocation and trauma, in which she massaged the truth of her family’s past to portray my partner as emotionally damaged. (In fact, he is empathetic and was beloved by those he worked with.) Theirs was a complex family story, and there were many omissions and mistruths, which she failed to factcheck with us.

She tried to de‑identify her brother, but he would be recognisable to anyone with a rudimentary ability to search the internet. Legal action was considered, but decided against. Who gets to tell a story in these times? Whose story is more “true”? And should we cut off all ties or attempt reconciliation?

The moment I knew: I had planned to break up with him – then he snuck out of school to buy me hot chips

Maleah Pearce — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 20:00:43 GMT

Maleah Pearce wanted to end her relationship with high school ‘bad boy’ Dylan before they grew too attached. Then one lunchtime, he brought her a surprise

Find more stories from the moment I knew series

Dylan and I first started dating in high school when we were 16. He was a “bad boy” who got drunk at parties and occasionally spoke to other people with his fists.

One night, I was sitting at my computer, chatting with friends on MSN and Facebook and Dylan’s name popped up. I enjoyed playing online checkers with people from school, so I invited him to a game. During the game we chatted online, which led to flirting. The winner got to choose what they wanted. I lost and what did Dylan ask for? To date me. We agreed to one date at the movies and to declare to the school we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I thought this was hilarious, though I planned to break up with him after a few days.

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My mother-in-law buys overly girly clothes for my daughter. I try to be gracious but it kills me – do I tell her to stop?

Eleanor Gordon-Smith — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:00:41 GMT

There’s a risk in trying to get our girls away from frilly skirts that we swing all the way to a different kind of enforcement, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes

Read more Leading questions

I am the mother of a six-year-old girl, and I have relatively progressive views about gender. Among other things, I try to give my daughter a choice of clothes that are practical – T-shirts, leggings – and that tend to be unisex in colour scheme. There are no overly fussy and frilly skirts and dresses in pink and sparkles in her wardrobe. As much as possible, I try to buy non-sweatshop brands. These choices are part of a world system of values I want to show my daughter – that being a “girl” is so much more than just wearing a frilly dress; that we can have well-made things without contributing to the suffering of others.

My mother-in-law, on the other hand, loves buying these sorts of clothes for her granddaughter. She is a kind and caring woman, and this is one of her love languages. These clothes are often gauche, overly feminine, expensive and poorly made.

Double cleansing: should we really be cleaning ourselves twice in each shower?

Leah Harper — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 11:34:08 GMT

This idea has suddenly gained huge popularity online. But is it just a way to sell us more products – and could it potentially damage our skin?

Gone are the days of the speedy shower; a quick lather with a squirt of shower gel will, apparently, no longer cut it. Double cleansing – once the remit of facial skincare and shampoo routines – has steadily trickled into body-care, too. But should you simply stock up on twice as much shower gel? Is it any more hygienic? And how clean do we really need to be?

As always, TikTok – or rather, #ShowerTok – has a huge number of devotees to this new trend. “Double cleansing will change your life,” says self-care advocate Xara Beqele (@xarabeq) in a video that has almost 10,000 likes. “I think double cleansing is the most effective thing I have added for my shower. I just smell better, feel clean.” Likewise, digital creator Terree Ann (@terreetaughtme) calls double cleansing the body a “hygiene must”. “If you are only washing your body with a hydrating body wash, that’s like washing your body with lotion,” she says in a video that has been shared more than 6,000 times. “If you’re only going in with a scented body wash on top of unclean skin, that’s like spraying Febreze to try to mask the funk instead of properly removing it.” Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that recent research found gen Zs take longer showers than any other age group – despite being most anxious about the climate crisis.

Is it true that … having a hot drink will cool you down?

Kate Lloyd — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 07:00:25 GMT

A warm cup of tea can trigger sweating and lower your body temperature, but only if you’re in an airy space

Could a warm cup of tea really be the key to cooling down in hot weather? Or is that just something caffeine fiends tell themselves when they’re still working through a pot of coffee as the temperature hits 30C?

Prof John Tregoning, the author of Live Forever? A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death, says it depends on the circumstances. He points to the work of Australian scientist Prof Ollie Jay, who is a world leader in researching heat and how it balances out in your body.

I survived a stroke during an ocean swim. Here’s what I’ve learned about fear

Graham Russell — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 20:00:44 GMT

After his stroke in rough surf, Graham Russell embarked on an unexpected journey into fear. Three lessons helped him return to the joy of the ocean

Looking out over the ocean, I would watch the waves sparkling in the sunlight as they grew and spilled into a burst of froth. It was a fun way to relax, to breathe deep and enjoy an awesome display of energy. But lately it had become exhausting.

In winter last year I tore the lining of an artery in my neck during a rough ocean swim off the Central Coast of New South Wales. It caused a stroke while I was in the water, which saw me scrambling back to shore where a surfer noticed me and sounded the alarm. Six months later, the injury had healed, and my motor functions were all back to normal. But as I prepared for a dip in calm conditions on a sunny day in January, I paused. An unexpected journey into fear began.

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From ‘Ozempic breath’ to hair loss: sorting the science from the hype about weight loss jabs

Isabelle Aron — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:00:07 GMT

Do you gain weight once you stop using them? Do they make your face saggy? Can they improve your mental health? Experts explain whether 13 common beliefs about GLP-1s are true or false

FALSE “GLP-1 medications mimic Glucagon-like peptide-1 – one of the hormones involved in appetite regulation. It doesn’t completely suppress hunger, but it is powerful,” says Dr Federica Amati, nutrition lead at Imperial College School of Medicine and author of The Appetite Reset. “The medicine is about 1,000 times stronger than what we naturally produce from our gut,” she explains. As food passes through the gut, cells called L-cells sense the nutrients, which sparks the production of the GLP-1 hormone. Without the drugs, these bursts of GLP-1 production last a few minutes. “It’s a bit like a sparkler. In comparison, the drugs are like a bonfire that roars for a week,” says Amati. Because the GLP-1 hormone stays in your body for longer if you are on the drugs, you feel fuller faster and your appetite gets suppressed, but you will eventually get hungry.

Bob Mackie, costume designer to stars daring to be noticed, dies aged 87

Lauren Cochrane — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:39:17 GMT

Famous for his flamboyant outfits, he helped celebrities including Cher, Tina Turner and Elton John cause a stir

Bob Mackie, the costume designer behind some of the most sexy and glamorous outfits worn by celebrities in the past 50 years, has died at the age of 87.

“He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a fashion and costume designer, which is all he ever wanted to do,” read a statement posted on his Instagram account. “His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”

‘I love the boldness of modernism’: New York fashion week goes highbrow

Jess Cartner-Morley in New York — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 12:08:33 GMT

Georgia O’Keeffe inspires the latest Calvin Klein while Michael Kors feels indebted to Alexander Calder

Calvin Klein has taken a highbrow turn in the two years since Veronica Leoni took charge. The Italian designer, a philosophy graduate who was schooled in the chic design studios of Jil Sander and Celine, has shifted away from jeans, boxer shorts and logos, stripping the brand to its minimalist bones: slip dresses and simple coats, slim skirts and crisp T-shirts.

Leoni called this the “discipline of removal”. Her muse this season was Georgia O’Keeffe, an artist who the brand’s namesake founder admired. Klein bought O’Keeffe’s painting Summer Days in 1983 for $1m, subsequently donating it to the Whitney Museum. A checked pattern taken from O’Keeffe’s distinctive capsule wardrobe of utilitarian chic appeared on this catwalk as a wrap coat, hardware-free with a fabric belt and no buttons.

‘She changed the beauty industry’: how Charlotte Mensah brought black hair into the spotlight

Sinéad Campbell — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 10:19:44 GMT

A new exhibition in London celebrates the influential hairstylist whose clients include Janelle Monáe and Zadie Smith. She explains her story – and why she’s on a mission to ensure stylists are trained to work with all hair types

When Charlotte Mensah was a young child growing up in Accra, Ghana in the 1970s, she would spend hours watching her aunties having their hair intricately threaded, an ancient African technique where hair is wrapped tightly using yarn or thread. She didn’t know then that she would go on to become one of the most influential hairdressers in the UK. Renowned for championing natural black hair textures, she has worked as hairstylist to singers Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu, and the writer Zadie Smith.

According to Smith, in an essay she penned about Mensah’s magic earlier this year: “Charlotte can make a great mane of braids appear where previously there were only split ends and hair loss.”

It’s a slam dunk for Tommy Hilfiger as stars turn out for Plaza homecoming

Jess Cartner-Morley in New York — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:21:09 GMT

Preppy is back in the zeitgeist, says designer, blending sportswear codes and collegiate chic at New York show

Tommy Hilfiger’s front row was a slam dunk. The Knicks are the kings of New York right now, so scoring Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Miles McBride, three of the team’s stars, for the guest list of his New York catwalk show was a victory. Travis Kelce, who is co-designing another upcoming collection with Hilfiger and had been rumoured to attend this event with his new bride, was a no show, but you can’t win them all.

Tommy Hilfiger is all about sport. The design vocabulary of oversized jerseys, team stripes, rugby shirts and letterman jackets draws heavily on the visual language of the stadium. Kelce, whose NFL tunnel walks have become a catwalk of their own, is the latest in a line of sporting ambassadors that includes Thierry Henry, Rafael Nadal and Lewis Hamilton. Hilfiger has long stood for a certain glossy stars-and-stripes Americana – its graphic red, white and blue logo is a riff on the flag – but American identity is delicate cultural territory right now. Sport, which unites audiences across all backgrounds and political allegiances, gives the brand a wholesome place to congregate. “People really like him,” Hilfiger said backstage, explaining why he chose to collaborate with Kelce. “He’s really humble, down to earth, sweet, fun, and funny. And a superstar athlete.”

Gua sha looks good on Instagram – but is it worth the hype or a waste of time?

Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:55 GMT

The practice does increase blood flow to parts of the body, but experts say this isn’t necessarily a health benefit: ‘A punch to the nose also increases blood flow’

Read more in the Antiviral series

The world of wellness fads is a cyclical place. Everything comes back into fashion when a new generation of influencers decides to switch it up. Pretty much every current hype was popular in decades past, from extreme juicing to genital sunning and everything in between.

Gua sha is the ancient practice of scraping the skin to form mild bruises – called petechiae – which are thought to do a variety of helpful things for your body. The practice has been around in China for centuries and has spread through the wonders of social media to all corners of the globe.

Fast, furious and potentially fatal: why are supercars suddenly so popular?

Steve Rose — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:00:32 GMT

Once the preserve of the ultra-rich, supercars are finding new drivers through rentals, finance deals, influencer culture and the manosphere. But why would anyone want a 200mph vehicle?

‘The £600,000 Lamborghini; that was the first seizure of the operation,” says special chief inspector Geoff Tatman of the Metropolitan police, thinking back to the second weekend of August. “He was stopping at the red lights, revving his engine, waiting for the traffic to clear, then speeding. So on the third time we saw him do it, we stopped him and seized the vehicle.” The car has a top speed of 217mph (350kmh), but the limit on these London streets is 20mph. Over the same weekend, the Metropolitan police seized about 90 more cars with a combined value of more than £8m, an increase on last year’s tally of 72 cars. They were seized for various offences: driving without insurance, driving with incorrect licences or antisocial behaviour. Previously, the Met would have had to let such drivers off with a warning, but the law – section 59 of the Police Reform Act – was strengthened this year to enable the immediate confiscation of vehicles. The seized cars also included a Ferrari Monza worth about £3.4m (the driver only had a provisional UK licence). They were all put on display at Marble Arch, attracting a throng of camera-wielding onlookers (one attender did a seven-hour live blog of the occasion).

Many of the supercars apprehended by the Met in August bore Middle Eastern number plates. It has been a growing trend for car owners from the region to spend summer in London, bringing their cars with them (at a cost of £25,000 upwards). The orange Lamborghini that Tatman seized had Dubai plates. Most of the vehicle owners retrieved their cars the next day after paying fines and presenting the correct paperwork. The Lamborghini driver was subsequently seen driving respectfully and not revving his engine. Lessons were learned, although the question remains: why ship a 200mph car to London to drive in a 20mph zone?

Houseplant hacks: can pothos help new cuttings to root?

Gynelle Leon — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:00:31 GMT

The hormone-packed pothos plant might encourage healthy root growth in other cuttings – or it might not. But you’ve nothing to lose by trying

The problem
Propagation can provide never-ending plants, but sometimes you have to wait weeks for something to happen. Anything that speeds up those reluctant rooters is worth knowing about, especially if it’s free.

The hack
According to a popular plant hack, placing a pothos in the same water as other cuttings encourages them to root faster. This is often attributed to pothos releasing auxins – the plant hormones involved in root development – into the shared water.

Pixel 11 Pro Fold review: the foldable with the best triple camera

Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:24 GMT

Big screen folder with slick software and advanced AI is just like a regular Android when closed

Google’s latest folding phone sticks with its tried and tested design of a traditional phone shape when closed and almost square when open, in the face of new competition from Apple’s squat iPhone fold.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is Google’s fourth-generation folder and is still one of the only models with a full water and dust resistance rating similar to standard slab phones. It costs from £1,799 (€1,999/$1,899/A$2,799), which is £50 (€100/$100/A$100) more than last year as the pressure of RAMageddon continues to push up prices.

The desecration of DC: from a giant arch to a nuke-proof bunker, Trump’s legacy-building blingfest is an architectural atrocity

Oliver Wainwright — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 04:00:21 GMT

A bloated ballroom, a six-storey military HQ, a helipad-cum-cocktail patio, a gilded angel on a giant arch honouring himself … our architecture critic deplores the decorator-in-chief’s mutilation of Washington

When you have a developer as US president, you might expect some zhooshing up of the capital. A few buildings renovated, maybe some parks replanted. But when you have a megalomaniac builder in charge, things can get out of hand. A decade ago, when Donald Trump was first elected, I asked what it might mean for the US to be led by a real estate tycoon whose career had left a trail of broken promises, angry buyers and endless lawsuits, with rules flouted, heritage trampled and the world pockmarked by a fleet of aspirational towers clad with a flimsy veneer of luxury. The answer is worse than I could have imagined.

With the air of a nightmarish Hollywood sequel, Trump 2 has seen the president’s true architectural ambitions unleashed: The Blingpire Strikes Back. As America’s self-styled decorator-in-chief, Trump has not only overseen the gilded mutilation of the White House, but embarked on the Mar-a-Lagofication of Washington DC itself, applying his gold paintbrush to statuary, daubing ponds with flaking pool liner, and brewing plans for a colossal triumphal arch – all procured in a blizzard of no-bid contracts. And, in true dodgy salesman style, this programme of bauble-building is turning out to be a high-profile decoy for deeper damage being wrought elsewhere.

The royal crown branded on enslaved Africans: Britain’s monarchy and the slave trade

David Conn Investigations correspondent — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 05:00:25 GMT

From Elizabeth I’s backing of early voyages to royal investment in trafficking companies, generations of monarchs were central to Britain’s slave trade

Enslaved African people were seared with hot metal brands bearing the royal crown, according to research by historians who have documented the monarchy’s centuries-long involvement in Britain’s slave trade.

The Register of British Slave Traders identifies thousands of people who invested in Britain’s trafficking of enslaved Africans, including kings and queens.

The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 13:00:05 GMT

An unholy alliance is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only a chosen few will emerge unscathed. It’s becoming clear how we stop them

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor: the future according to end times fascism – video

People in the US: how have you coped during this summer of record heat?

Guardian community team — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:00:38 GMT

We’d like to hear from people about the impact of extreme heat this summer – and if you’ve had your power cut

It’s been a record summer of heat in the US with rolling heat domes and July being the hottest month ever recorded in the country, surpassing temperatures stretching back over 132 years of reliable measurements, to 1895. July’s temperatures surpassed previous high marks set in July 1936, in the teeth of dust bowl conditions, and in July 2012.

We want to hear from people across the US on how they have coped with the heat – and what it has meant for utility bills. Has the heat affected you or your family physically? Have you had to change your daily routines?

Have your bills soared with the cost of keeping your home cool?

And we especially want to hear from people who have had their electricity cut off during the extreme heat or have had trouble keeping up with utility payments.

People in the US: how much do you spend on food per month?

Guardian community team — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:31 GMT

We’d like to hear from people in America about how much they’re spending on groceries and going out to eat

Food is expensive and getting more so.

A July Harris poll found that more than half of Americans struggle to afford groceries. In the UK, food prices are on track to rise by 50% since the cost of living crisis began in 2021.

Young people: are you doom-saving or doom-spending? How are you approaching the future?

Guardian community team — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:24:33 GMT

We want to hear from people under 30 about how you feel about the future and whether it’s changed the way you live your life, for better or worse

The future feels a little hard to plan for right now.

We’ve just lived through the hottest summer on record, global conflict looms large and AI has people wondering whether their job will still exist in five years – assuming they’ve got one in the first place.

Tell us: what’s the most surprising experience gift you’ve been given?

Guardian community team — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:19:25 GMT

We’d like to hear from people on the most unusual experience gifts they’ve received

People are buying more experiences as gifts for friends and family.

Whether it’s afternoon tea, skydiving or pottery classes, people are coming up with more unusual ways to treat their loved ones.

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A smiling shepherd, 24-hour prayer and a mountain fresco: photos of the day – Tuesday

Selected by Josy Forsdike — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:29:38 GMT

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