Sonam Wangchuk’s fast was spark that drove youth protest movement – and now he wants to cleanse the political system For 26 days, India watched as Sonam Wangchuk wasted away. His hunger strike, held in solidarity with India’s “Cockroach” youth protest movement, would prove to be one of the most politically consequential fasts held in the country’s modern history. Many in the country view the gruelling fast, which began on 28 June, as the crucial spark that helped propel the Cockroach movement...

Death rate three to four times higher than among general population blamed on isolation of those leaving care ‘He was left on his own’: the care-leaver lives lost to a system that abandons them at 18 Profound isolation contributed to the deaths of more than 100 care leavers in England in a year, with a dramatic drop-off in support from social services at 18 leading to catastrophic consequences, a review has found. A government-commissioned report into the early deaths of young people who le...

Dr Kirk Heilbrun says he believes Clancy took children’s lives so they wouldn’t ‘suffer’ after she killed herself With just days to go before the murder trial for Lindsay Clancy concludes, a forensic psychologist called by the prosecution testified on Monday that he did not believe she was experiencing acute psychosis when she killed her three children. Kirk Heilbrun, who reportedly performed psychiatric tests on Clancy in April, told the court that he questioned her claims that a hallucinate...

Oliver Glasner wants two more buys in transfer window Aston Villa target Club Brugge defender Joel Ordóñez Nottingham Forest are in advanced talks with Chelsea over a deal for Liam Delap. Oliver Glasner wants two more signings before the transfer window closes a week on Tuesday. Delap, who was on Forest’s radar when the striker opted to join Chelsea from Ipswich, is out of favour at Stamford Bridge and has been training away from Xabi Alonso’s first team. The 23-year-old was left out of Che...

Justices’ ruling comes after lower courts had blocked president’s election order ahead of November midterms Donald Trump’s administration can proceed with a nationwide crackdown on mail-in voting, the US supreme court has ruled, approving its emergency appeal. It remains unclear, however, how his administration can implement the decision in time for the midterm elections in November, and the ruling leaves room for legal challenges. Continue reading...

Commuters warned journey may take an extra 45 minutes as ‘limited’ buses replace north short trains. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action. We begin with a classic “commuter chaos” update: there are widespread train cancellations in Sydney this morning due to problems with overhead wiring at a maj...

Palmeiras winger’s arrival paves way for Savinho exit City monitoring Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo Manchester City have agreed a €37.5m plus €2.5m (£34m) deal for the Palmeiras winger Allan Elias, with the club also in advanced negotiations to sell Nico González to Newcastle. The 22-year-old Elias – known as Allan – made his senior debut for Palmeiras last year and has made 96 appearances for the club, scoring nine goals and making 12 assists. He is yet to play for Brazil. Continue reading...

A day after suggesting other projects were more important to Victorians, Carroll has committed to pushing ahead on train line Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has made an about-face, committing to pushing ahead with the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop while promising to reduce its total cost by about 6%. Carroll will on Tuesday announce changes to the scope of the first stage of the project, known as SRL East – a 26km stre...

Washington launches campaign to isolate Tehran but it is unclear whether it would apply sanctions to China The US has threatened to impose severe sanctions against any country or entity maintaining economic ties with Iran, hoping to achieve with economic measures what military means have so far failed to do. However, it is unclear how far the Trump administration is prepared to go in confronting China, Iran’s biggest trading partner, which has signalled its resistance to US economic pressure ...

Prime minister praised for rejecting US trade proposal as Trump shows little interest in retreating from dispute Are you a Canadian boycotting US products? We’d like to hear from you Mark Carney said on Monday that while American negotiators saw the French language in Canada as an “irritant … in Quebec, these are rights,” days after receiving widespread praise from political leaders for rejecting a US trade proposal that many perceived as weakening the country’s Francophone culture. The pri...

Video posted on social media shows three people climbing out of sewer system at 4am, months after similar reports New York City’s police department (NYPD) says it is investigating a recent video of three people emerging from a manhole in the latest such episode to cause mystery. Posted to TikTok on Friday, the video showed three people – one after the other – climbing out of a manhole at 4.19am on 18 August wearing headlamps and black overalls near Madison Square Garden. Continue reading...

Two activists who organised commemorations of the bloody crackdown on China’s 1989 pro-democracy protests now face jail. Remembering is not a crime For decades, Hong Kong mourned when the mainland could not. Its huge annual Tiananmen vigil kept alive the memory of the 1989 pro-reform protests in Beijing, and of the massacre that suppressed them. Along with Macau, it was the only place in China where the anniversary could be publicly marked and the truth preserved. But the crackdown on the 201...

Cost of living has hit campaign group while multinationals are threatening to squeeze out independent breweries For centuries, the wooden real ale pump has been the hallmark of a good British boozer. But now problems are brewing for the proper pint, as the Campaign for Real Ale has seen its membership sink to an eight-year low and its accounts show it is firmly in the red, making an £800,000 loss last year. Real ale is a traditional draught cask beer, a “living” product that is produced and ...

Restore Britain leader paid up to £1,476 an hour by platform, which critics say is financially incentivising inflammatory content Rupert Lowe, the leader of Restore Britain, is on course to earn as much from the social media platform X as he does from his salary as an MP, after surging income from posts that include demands for mass deportations. Lowe has earned £932 an hour for his posts on X, formerly Twitter, since the start of the year, according to his own declarations in the register of...

As well as immediate military help and diplomatic backing the prime minister could be useful in dealing with the US Since moving into Downing Street in July, Andy Burnham – a foreign policy neophyte – has expressed strong support for Ukraine. But on Monday he saw the bitter human cost of the war up close for the first time, visiting Kyiv during his first international trip as prime minister. The occasion was the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave awards to th...

The host also discussed the rise of forgotten monthly subscriptions for anything from dishwashers to litter boxes On the Sunday night episode of his HBO show, John Oliver discussed the rise of subscription-based business models across the worlds of music, film and TV, beauty, food, cleaning services and more. “Subscriptions are now basically everywhere and many of us don’t even realize how much we spend on them,” Oliver said. Continue reading...

Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles The cult star proves she is ready for pop’s big leagues in a show that blends chaotic punk energy with technical finesse The last time Slayyyter toured, in 2023, she struggled to break even and had to fly home boxes of unsold merch. Back then, she was still largely the domain of Twitter gays: a subcultural figure to those who assessed music in terms of “flops” and “bops”. Then, midway through 2025, she released the electro-trashy Beat Up Chanel$, and suddenly ca...

Arbitrator determined the Post improperly fired Karen Attiah, a union-protected employee, over social media posts An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the then recently slain conservative activist. On Monday, an arbitrator ruled that the Post had violated her rights as a union-protected employee and or...

Child wandered on field during MNUFC’s 5-1 win Minnesota posts win was ‘Like taking money from a baby’ A toddler interrupted a Major League Soccer match between Minnesota United and San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday by invading the pitch – a bizarre scene punctuated by an on-air analyst saying, “There’s a baby on the field.” With a minute and a half to play in the game that Minnesota won 5-1 at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, the small child took to the field – and the referee blew his ...

Barcelona target left exposed after draw with Villarreal as supporters vented their fury at his ‘dream’ to leave Julián Alvarez entered a long, dark tunnel on his own. “We’re stronger together,” Giuliano Simeone said but that wasn’t the way it went. At the end of their first home game of the season, a 2-2 draw with Villarreal, all of Atlético Madrid’s players gathered by the centre circle, shook hands with their opponents and each other, then headed towards the south end of the Metropolitano....

More than 3,000 products were shown at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing as China showcased its rapidly growing robotics industry. The event, which ran from 19-23 August, showcased the latest advances across the robotics industry, from humanoid robots to embodied intelligence and cutting-edge components Continue reading...

Dario Vidosic has added nous and potential in a bid to build on a season that saw the club get to a first FA Cup final Guardian writers’ predicted position: 6th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season’s position: 7th Continue reading...

The failure to replace Robert Sánchez remains a mystery but the new-look front three should buy time for the new manager’s principles to bed in After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws, there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And while they were far from flawless, there were at least some indications that they could mount some k...

About 40% of £10bn from Affordable Homes Programme will now go on types of housing such as sheltered and shared ownership Andy Burnham has backtracked on his proposal to rip up the government’s housing plans and boost social home building. Ministers laid out plans on Monday to spend an initial £10bn from the 10-year Affordable Homes Programme on a mix of subsidised housing types in England, in line with the Starmer government’s policy. Continue reading...

This was a crash course for Xabi Alonso in life at Chelsea. His new side thrilled in possession at Craven Cottage. The front three of João Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers combined to devastating effect and there was even an assist for the new £52m centre-back, Maxence Lacroix. At times the only issue was the two No 10s both laying claim to the ice cold celebration. Palmer had a point to prove after missing out on England’s World Cup squad and Rogers scored on his debut after his £117m mo...

US Southern Command has struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two accused of trafficking drugs After a pause of more than two months, the US military announced Monday that it once again carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs. It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly year-long US campaign of bombing alleged drug boats off Latin America’s Caribbean coast and in th...

Possession numbers, the intense physicality and the pure rhythm of games all felt noticeably new as the season began There has been something oddly narcotic and moreish about the drip-drip of fresh Pep Guardiola content either side of the start of the new Premier League season. Eras come and go. Everything dies, baby, that’s a fact. But four-part Amazon Prime documentaries make angels of us all. So we have continued to feast on the Pep-at-City visuals: dead jeopardy, reheated beefs, the uplif...

Discussions surround £50m loan package Clubs rejected £35m NRL deal last week The Rugby Football League (RFL) is exploring radically different terms to the funding deal initially offered by Australia’s NRL with talks under way over seeking a £50m loan package to replace the guaranteed investment of £35m that was rejected last week. The Guardian has seen details of an alternative vision produced by Rugby League Commercial in a document entitled Project Magic, which the 14 Super League clubs ...

Move is latest deterioration in trade relations between two neighbors with historically strong economic ties Donald Trump announced a new 50% tariff on automobiles and crucial raw materials from Canada, the latest deterioration in trade relations between the two neighbors with historically strong economic ties. Trump said that the increased tariffs would start 1 January 2027 on all cars, trucks, automobile parts and steel. He also derided the nation’s tariffs on American farmers, writing on s...

President accused of being power hungry by ‘Fifa Legends’ Samuel Eto’o claims chief has not ‘done anything wrong’ A group of influential current and former footballers have added to the pressure on Gianni Infantino by calling for change at the top of Fifa, saying “enough is enough” in a statement shared widely across social media. The intervention is particularly significant given some of those behind its circulation have undertaken ambassadorial activities for Fifa as part of its “Fifa Leg...

London and Kyiv in deal to help stop protesters and hostile states targeting military bases and critical infrastructure AI models trained on Ukrainian battlefield data will be used to stop protesters and foreign states targeting UK defence sites, railways and energy plants under a deal struck between London and Kyiv. Private companies will also be given access to the vast trove of data from Ukraine’s Avengers AI lab to help build new systems, the first agreement of its kind in the UK. Contin...

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off ⚽ Sign up for the Football Daily email | Follow on TikTok Good evening and welcome to live coverage of Fulham v Chelsea at Craven Cottage. A west London derby, involving the last two managers of Real Madrid, should a solid entertainment option, especially as the alternatives on UK television include Street Cops: Catching the Yobs, Donnie Swaggart* and a repeat of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in which Marty says his grave is being disturbed,...

Balding says victory is ‘very unlikely’ but there is a good chance he will improve on second-place finishes achieved in 2021 and 2024 The British Flat trainers’ championship winners’ club is among the most exclusive in the sport, with just a dozen new members through its doors in the past 50 years. Aidan O’Brien, John Gosden, Richard Hannon Jr and Charlie Appleby, meanwhile, are the only trainers to win a first title outright this century. Becoming the fifth seems to be the last thing on Andr...

Spokesperson for Duke of Sussex says he remains an ‘active and avid supporter’ of African Parks’ mission The Duke of Sussex has stepped down from the board of a major African wildlife charity that had been at the centre of a human rights controversy. Prince Harry’s spokesperson confirmed he was no longer a trustee of African Parks, which admitted last year that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in the Republic of the Congo. Continue reading...

Bannau Brycheiniog, Wales The traditional fire might be banned this year, but festivalgoers are treated by energetic performances by Four Tet, Tamikrest and Westside Cowboy Driving towards the bucolic Welsh valley that’s home to the Green Man festival feels a little apocalyptic this year. Charred peat and grassland smoulder on the hillsides, the remnants of one of the 20 wildfires that blazed through south and west Wales the previous week. The dangerously dry conditions pose a problem for the...

Andy Burnham is making his first foreign visit as prime minister to Ukraine, marking the country’s independence day. Burnham will use the trip to announce that the UK government will declassify information about missiles to help Ukraine build its own. Lucy Hough speaks to senior international correspondent Luke Harding – watch on YouTube Continue reading...

Andy Burnham is making his first foreign visit as prime minister to Ukraine, marking the country’s independence day. Burnham will use the trip to announce that the UK government will declassify information about missiles to help Ukraine build its own. Lucy Hough speaks to senior international correspondent Luke Harding – watch on YouTube Luke’s new book Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest is out on Thursday Continue reading...

After higher prices for winter kick in, energy debt unpaid for more than 30 days likely to rise, says Energy UK Households in Great Britain could owe their energy suppliers as much as £7bn by the end of the year after higher gas and electricity prices forecast for the winter kick in, an industry group is warning. Domestic energy debt and arrears climbed by about £500m over the past year to a record £6bn at the end of June as the Middle East conflict continued to stoke rising gas market prices...

On a panel show last week, everyone in the audience wanted to talk about the climate emergency, but the lines rolled out by a Tory MP simply dissolved on contact with reality As it is August, and everyone with stronger opinions is currently on holiday, last week I went on Any Questions?, the BBC Radio 4 panel show. I had prepared beforehand with a friend whose life’s work it is to make sure people don’t say anything stupid on the radio (or TV), and we’d talked about everything – the strait of...

Despite its global reputation, my time there felt less sexy party, more wholesome summer camp. Then one day my boss told me a hard truth When I tell people I spent a chunk of my early 20s working at a hipster clothing retailer infamous for salacious ads and sexual assault allegations, I’m usually met with scandalised interest. I imagine what they imagine: a harshly lit harem of flesh and vice, where young women were offered up on an altar of mid-priced T-shirts. We had our moments. An occasio...

Karen Solomon had been missing for six days after her husband Kurt Solomon was found dead at their home A mental health advocate suspected of killing her police officer husband was found dead on Monday, six days after she disappeared from her Massachusetts home, authorities said. Karen Solomon, an advocate who called for improvements and greater awareness of police mental health issues, had disappeared after Worcester police officer Kurt Solomon was found dead at their home just before 5.30am...

One-fifth of deaths of those in care occur at 18, in what experts call a ‘care cliff’, as vital support is lost ‘Immense drop-off’ in support contributing to care leaver deaths in England, review says David* spent most of his childhood in and out of care after experiencing abuse and neglect, and spent his teenage years in a children’s home, where a nurse helped him keep track of his type 1 diabetes. But as he approached 18, things changed: he was moved into supported accommodation on his o...

Analysis finds ‘high certainty evidence’ of their effectiveness for the 1.7bn people worldwide with musculoskeletal conditions Traditional Chinese exercises such as tai chi can offer wide-ranging benefits for people with musculoskeletal disorders, improving physical function, pain, mental health, sleep quality and bone mineral density, according to the largest review of its kind. More than 1.7bn people have musculoskeletal conditions worldwide. While prevalence varies by age and diagnosis, pe...

Retailer removes kid’s clown costume after people said it resembled a racist caricature used in minstrel shows Target, the US retail corporation, said it pulled a controversial Halloween costume off its shelves after criticism across social media that it resembled a racist caricature. The ad image for the costume, sold as the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,” depicted a Black child in a bright orange and black top with solid black gloves and a mask with a wide, to...

In Trump administration’s plan, California, Arizona and Nevada face about a 20% cut to water supply over two years Nevada filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration’s new plan for the imperiled Colorado River, launching what could become the first of many court battles over the waterway that supplies 40 million people, dozens of tribes and 5.5m acres of farm land across the American west. The federal plan, issued Friday, cut roughly 20% from the water supplied to l...

A child invaded the pitch and interrupted a Major League Soccer match between Minnesota United and San Jose Earthquakes on 22 August Continue reading...

Blaze near Crawley destroyed 140 vehicles, damaged nearby businesses and led to power cuts on Saturday night A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire tore through a car park used by people flying from Gatwick airport, destroying about 140 vehicles. The blaze eruptedat Caldyne business park near Crawley, about eight miles from the airport just after 9pm on Saturday. Images showed vehicles on fire and enormous plumes of smoke rising close to overhead power lines. Continue rea...

Everything Sprouts recalls products after CDC says agency is aware of dozens of food-poisoning cases nationally US healthcare officials recently said a food-poisoning outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts and involving multiple germs had sickened people in at least 15 states. Officials announced the outbreak after documenting more than three dozen cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency was aware of at least 55 cases nati...

Man, 68, was left searching for help in 116F weather after his car became stuck in mud along remote park road A French tourist recently died in Death Valley national park after a car mishap left him stranded in 116F (47C) weather. The visitor, identified as 68-year-old Pierre Michel Formosa, was traveling with another French man along the park’s remote West Side Road when their vehicle became stuck in mud near Queen of Sheba Mine Road. Continue reading...

Exclusive: internal correspondence reveals USCIS anti-fraud officers shifted on to two ‘high-priority’ initiatives All US immigration officers working for a key anti-fraud unit have been reassigned by Donald Trump’s administration to focus on screening South African refugees and alleged “unlawful” voters. Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) immigration officers have been shifted full-time on to two “high-priority” initiatives, according to internal correspondence seen by ...

Moscow hopes western politics will weaken support for Kyiv. The UK and Europe’s answer should be to make Ukraine increasingly capable of defending itself alone The events of the past few days on Europe’s borders may mark a turning point in Russia’s war on Ukraine. While the political skies in Kyiv have darkened for Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the military picture looks brighter. Ukraine can already send swarms of drones against Russian oil facilities, e-commerce warehouses and airfields. A...

Plan part of a wider policy to remove foreign nationals from social homes and prioritise young British-born couples Social housing tenants will be evicted if they fail to keep their gardens well maintained under a Reform government, the party announced on Monday. Lee Anderson, the party’s chair, said that if Reform came to power, it would insist that those in social rented homes would be required to keep their homes decorated and gardens looked after. Continue reading...

Mette Frederiksen who was attending meeting in Kyiv advises high-profile women to embrace self-acceptance Sick of getting unsolicited beauty tips on social media, even while she’s in a war zone, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen rebuffed a male cosmetic surgeon’s offer to “fix” her and advised women in similar situations to embrace self-acceptance. Frederiksen, a Social Democrat and Denmark’s second female prime minister, posted on Instagram that she had just returned from a trip to Ukr...

We’d like to hear from Canadians who are avoiding American products and what they’re buying instead The US has imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods after trade talks between the two countries collapsed, with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney vowing to respond “dollar for dollar”. As part of the proposed deal, Carney had asked provinces to lift their boycotts of US alcohol, which were introduced in response to earlier tariffs. The boycott has been part of a wider shift in Canadian shop...

46-year-old charged with possessing criminal tools York fined and sentenced to two days in jail 49ers CEO also owns stake in Leeds United The San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York has pleaded no contest to two criminal charges after being arrested in Ohio over the weekend. KRON4 News in San Francisco reported that York was initially arrested on suspicion of engaging in prostitution but that count was amended to a charge of disorderly conduct. He was also charged with possessing criminal tools...

Huge hailstones prompt organisers to act 15km from end Riders seen heading into hotel on route to take cover A torrential hailstorm in ⁠the French Pyrenees forced the ⁠abandonment of ⁠the ​third stage of the Vuelta a ⁠España on Monday. With 15km (9.32 miles) remaining ⁠of the 174km ​ride from ‌Gruissan to ‌Font-Romeu, the skies darkened ‌as the peloton scaled the Col de Mont-Louis and huge hailstones began pelting the ‌riders. More details soon Continue reading...

Sunday’s draw with Newcastle shows Andoni Iraola’s new ideas as manager will need to overcome the squad’s lack of balance Sign up for our free newsletter here The good news for Liverpool is that, Arsenal aside, every other team with vague title aspirations who played over the weekend looked undercooked, and that Andoni Iraola’s men did, in the end, come away from Newcastle with a point. But the vulnerability to the counter that undermined them so often last season has not gone away, and nor...

Michael Gove calls the axing of his Tory strategy ‘bringing back stupid’. He doesn’t seem to care that it did more harm than good GCSE results day was marked with the usual front pages filled with pictures of beaming students. What you didn’t see was the invisible third of 16-year-olds in England who failed their maths and English GCSEs, the obstacle to their future. That’s 360,000 failed in a system designed by Michael Gove as education minister to mark out winners from losers. It’s a cast ...

As holidaymakers descend on Brittany this summer, trebling the population of some villages and towns, local people are unimpressed Name: “Parisians out!” Age: It officially commenced at the start of August. Continue reading...

The distinction has become blurred between something being medically available and actually being medically useful When a friend finally arranges the chat we were meant to have some weeks ago, she apologises profusely for the lack of contact. I tell her she doesn’t need to mollify me but it turns out she is the one in need of sympathy. Her husband had gone into hospital for what was termed a routine procedure. While waiting to collect him, my friend suddenly heard the overhead announcement of...