2026/08/15 Daily Edition

Guardian readers reflect on the ableism rife in the debate about Ray-Ban Meta eyewear, despite the life-changing difference they can make Your editorial on Meta’s smart glasses acknowledges their value to blind and visually impaired people, then asks that this “not be allowed to distract” from the harms (The Guardian view on Meta’s smart glasses: regulators must get on the front foot, 10 August). As an optometrist who owns a small independent practice, I’d suggest that it is visually impaired people who are being treated as the distraction. I was reluctant to stock Ray‑Ban Meta, having no fondness for Meta or Luxottica, but colleagues persuaded me of the benefits for people with sight impairment. The reality has surpassed that. The majority of our buyers have a visual impairment or learning difficulty. One man, practically illiterate, now has the world read to him...

Venezuela's government freed 131 detained ​prisoners on Friday, as human rights groups hailed releases of some ​people ‌they say were being held ⁠unjustly or for political reasons.

District attorney says Arjun Aravind, 17, used internet and AI to search for fantasy stories regarding killing of his family A Massachusetts teenager accused of killing his mother and younger brother is being held without bail as authorities investigate a double-murder case that prosecutors say is connected to his use of ChatGPT. Arjun Aravind, 17, appeared on Thursday morning for his arraignment in Concord district court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf to murder and several additional charges...

It marked the first time a court had heard Mangione describe how he committed a crime that garnered worldwide attention.

It’s sporadically very funny, but the tone of this blackly comic murder-mystery is all over the place. It wants to tackle big issues, but seems afraid of its own politics ‘But I can’t get an F,” wails Elise (Lydia West) in the first episode of the Australian campus comedy He Had It Coming, shoulders slumping like soufflés as her tutor peers pityingly at her terrible paintings. “I’m here on a scholarship? I’m here to be an artist?!” Alas, poor Elise. No amount of wounded upspeak can disguise the fact that she is an aspiring artist in much the same way a bag of flour is an aspiring pastry. Her “work”, bless it, consists of daubing clothes on to impressionist nudes – a “protest”, apparently, against the patriarchy and its preoccupation with “ancient bush”. Unctuous Professor Phoenix (Harry Greenwood) is unimpressed. “Hmm,” he sighs, pouting affectedly at Elise’s “feminist reimagining” of Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe; the picnic’s enigmatic nude now sporting a pair of jeans and oversized novelty spectacles. Mon Dieu! The problem, explains Phoenix, slowly, is a lack of ambition. Feminist art isn’t for amateurs. “Be radical,” he smirks, as Elise quietly broils with rage. “Don’t settle for mediocrity.” The nerve! “These men are holding us back,” she roars later at new pal Barbara (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), a prickly fashion influencer who is being slut-shamed by the campus jocks for having tipsily humped a stranger’s thigh at a party. “Yes,” agrees Barbara. “Let’s go vandalise something!” And so to the quadrant, where, in the dead of night, a mallet is applied to the genitals of the statue of the university’s hopelessly male namesake. He Had It Coming aired on BBC Three and is available on iPlayer in the UK and on Stan in Australia..

The State-wide demonstrations were held to criticise the TVK-led regime for not fully waiving cooperative crop loans and on its ‘lax’ handling of the Mekedatu issue

The TV personality posted in Brazil "the police will not be able to catch" him, a court hears.

The BBC's lawyers argue Trump's family members "have personal knowledge" of his intentions in the speech he gave outside the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

A potential mid-air collision was averted in the US after a Phoenix air traffic controller recognised that two American Airlines planes were mistakenly flying under the same number, and acted quickly to keep them apart.

As per the Articles of Association of Tata Sons, both Sir Dorab Tata Trust (SDTT) and SRTT have to jointly nominate three members to the five-member selection committee.

The momentum is firmly underway towards achieving our target of 60 million tonnes of production in the current financial year and scaling up to 100 MT by 2030.

Foreign portfolio investors’ (FPIs) pullback has resulted in net outflows of ₹2.4 lakh crore as of August 14

Commercial vehicle maker flags commodity cost pressures, maintains ₹1,000-crore investment plan and says AI is deployed to improve productivity and not replace workforce

Ramsey stars in a new film about a cancer survivor who attends “chemo camp” and finds friendship, love and freedom.

"Coal demand is projected to rise further to an estimated 1.6 billion tonnes by 2030," Dutt said, adding that we are at an "inflection point" where we are shifting from a scarcity scenario to one of surplus

New Delhi sold 50 billion rupees ($524 ⁠million) of 30-year sovereign green bonds, at a so-called greenium of four basis points on Friday, leading to an average premium of four bps ‌in the fiscal half-year, the highest since such sales began in the second half of fiscal 2023

Supreme Court bars BCI from taking coercive action against NALSAR students, faculty, or administration and seeks affidavit; plea by NALSAR alumni says BCI letters create a chilling effect on the freedom of speech

The current account deficit was primarily driven by a widening merchandise trade deficit, which rose to $30.2 billion in June 2026 from $19.2 billion a year earlier

The overall kitty had jumped by $10.512 billion to $692.866 billion in the previous reporting week ended July 31

Sergei Lavrov said the alleged U.S. support included the supply of intelligence

A new poll shows Lula leading Bolsonaro, but the gap has closed ahead of Brazil's high-stakes presidential election.

In the last few months and over a year now, we have had several engagements and several ministerial visits from Afghanistan, says Randhir Jaiswal

Police said that there was an argument over the bill after which the accused — Beeru Tomar — unleashed his pet dogs on them, and that one of the employees suffered dog bite injuries

Mangione has long denied his role in the killing but pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges on August 14, 2026

J&K CM Omar Abdullah accused the Centre of dilly dallying on the issue of Transaction of Business Rules, mandatory to be drafted as per the J&K Reorganisation Act to define the roles and domains of the office of Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers and the Lok Bhavan

Kashmir’s famed ₹700-crore bat-making industry supports at least 50,000 livelihoods. Since 2021, its bats have made their way to cricket grounds around the world, with 47 international players using Kashmir willow bats in major tournaments. But a shortage of willow, climate change, and smuggling are putting the industry under pressure. Peerzada Ashiq reports on its rise and the challenges threatening its future

Families are demanding answers over loved ones buried under rubble in Cali, Colombia after Monday’s 7.4 magnitude quake.

US President Trump says that 'pretty soon' he will declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory once Iran is defeated.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary led the Tiranga Yatra as part of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign-2026 in Munger district, whereas the 209 CoBRA Battalion (CRPF) organised a motorcycle Tiranga Yatra to foster patriotism, national integration, and respect for the Tricolour in Jharkhand

A group of activists from Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has written to CM Suvendu Adhikari and the police seeking clarification over the survey and also urged to maintain transparency

Rakesh Handu, a Pandit social activist, said he was in touch with the six Pandit employees whose names and mobile numbers figured in the threat letter online and “were shifted to Jammu”

Quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km early on Saturday morning A powerful 7.7-magnitude quake has struck off the coast of Indonesia, the US Geological Survey said. No immediate casualties or damage were reported. The quake hit Indonesia’s Flores region with a depth of 10km at 5:58am on Saturday Indonesia time. It’s epicentre was 68km (42 miles) north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province...