2026 News Archive

Channel 4’s programme wastes a chance to ask important questions about how ADHD is diagnosed and treated, instead indulging in unscientific methods and conspiracy theories Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University When Channel 4 announced that it would air a documentary titled The Great ADHD Myth?, an outpouring of fury followed. Despite this, I set out to approach it as a scientist – not just as a scientist whose own work has dealt with developmental disorders, but as someone who has enormous respect for the scientific process and for the importance of evidence-led debate. Channel 4’s press release claimed the documentary sought to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a “genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”. At one level this is a brave enterprise. ADHD is recognised worldwide as a disorder, by the World Health Organization and our own NHS among others. Estimates suggest ADHD affects roughly 8% of children and adolescents and about 3% of adults worldwide. To overturn this consensus would require robust, reproducible findings capable of explaining away decades of genetic, developmental and clinical research. The press release described the documentary as “science-led”, which hinted at just such an enterprise. Was it really science-led? Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, and the author of the books The Gendered Brain and The Lost Girls of Autism 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..

Trade body says local chains would have to balance concerns with potential benefits of AI-enabled technology Cinemas across the UK are considering banning customers from wearing Meta’s smart glasses amid fears they could be used to pirate films. The UK Cinema Association (UKCA) trade body said that a number of local chains could end up introducing policies that restrict camera-enabled smart glasses at the big screen, adding to a growing list of venues concerned about covert use...

A reworking of the spacecraft’s power systems could extend the nearly 50-year-old Voyagers’ exploration of interstellar space into the early 2030s.

At Southern Zonal Council Meeting, V.D. Satheesan also urges Union government to annul the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026

The denial came two days after Syria accused Israel of hitting a disused military air base near the northwestern city of Aleppo that was damaged during the civil war

President Trump appeared to suggest that the United States would impose economic penalties on countries that do business with Iran, though he did not specify what actions he would take.

U Min Zin, a scholar who studied Myanmar, is one of two U.S. citizens the department has designated as wrongfully detained in China.

Assembly George Square, Edinburgh The US comic’s troupe tell the tale of a special guest’s romantic encounter, in this case Travis’s frontman – but their incoherence makes for a scatty if fun show It’s a lovely format for improv: a special guest tells David Magidoff the story of some romantic (mis)adventure from their past, and Magidoff and pals turn it into an extemporised musical. Shades of Improbable theatre’s tender and funny Lifegame, many moons ago – although Making Love is more knockabout than that. Between musicians and improvisers, US actor and comedian Magidoff assembles no fewer than nine bodies on stage. It’s a lot, populating the stage with a surfeit of comic ideas, occasionally at the expense of the affaire du coeur that Travis frontman Fran Healy has offered up as raw material. Magidoff is a Travis fanboy; he has Healy sing two songs, and gets starry-eyed about it, before the show proper begins. In conversation, the genial Healy then volunteers a droll story of teenage infidelity, a drunken tryst with a girl from another part of Glasgow, which he wrongly thinks will insulate him from discovery. The improvisers, led by Magidoff, then take over, goofing into being several scenes in which young Fran and his pal cop off with two Protestant schoolgirls, then must face the music when their misdemeanour is exposed. At Assembly George Square, Edinburgh, until 23 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews..

Spanish authorities have cleared the El Trampolín beach area in Ceuta, relocating around 1,500 migrants and asylum seekers according to official government figures. This large-scale operation addresses the humanitarian crisis triggered when thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco on 30 and 31 July.

The Spanish government announced on Thursday the creation of shelters for 1,800 migrants in Ceuta in a bid to relieve the humanitarian crisis there following last month's influx from Morocco. Some 72,000 migrants breached the border in an unprecedented and deadly rush into the north African territory on July 30-31, with 70,000 having since returned to Morocco, according to Spanish government figures. FRANCE 24's Sarah Morris reports from Madrid, Spain.

From feelgood romances to heated interactions, here are the films that best capture the seasonal moment Let’s begin at the end. 2 September 1962: the final night of the summer vacation; one last big blowout before adult life intervenes. George Lucas’s rambunctious salute to footloose youth paints vivid vignettes of Modesto, California, rocking around the clock with its loose-knit gaggle of characters. But this has one eye on the meter and knows that time is running short...

As her band hits the road, the metal trailblazer answers your questions on sexualisation in show business, finding inspiration in dreams and Spinal Tap moments on tour You wrote Bring Me to Life when you were 19. When you perform it now, how do you relate to the younger you? becgoldsmith I was in an abusive relationship, so Bring Me to Life was partly about processing the reality of that abuse and asking myself, what are you gonna do about it? Like, pick yourself up. I wrote it when I was crushing on my [now] husband, but the theme is about a quest for something bigger: opening your heart, finding more depth. It’s very empowering to perform it now in huge places; I’m very proud of the 19-year-old me that wrote it. Artists often reveal their influences through the songs they choose to cover. You’ve performed both It’s a Fire and Glory Box by Portishead. What drew you to those songs? VerulamiumParkRanger Beth Gibbons was one of my greatest vocal and musical inspirations. In the 90s when I was a young teen really feeling music I loved Portishead, Massive Attack and the whole trip-hop vibe. It was dark and cool, really different. Beth’s vocals have a way of teetering on an emotional crack, on the edge of wild, barely restrained emotion but never belting, which I always thought was so cool and enticing. I could happily do an entire album of nothing but Portishead covers...

The code-hopping winger is one of the hottest properties in world rugby but says she feels ‘vulnerable’ ahead of her eagerly-anticipated first 15s Test cap Maddison Levi is widely considered the most exciting rugby player in the country. But this weekend the Gold Coast 24-year-old is a “vulnerable” rookie as she faces up to the biggest challenge of her career: finally making her hotly-anticipated debut in the 15-a-side game for Australia in a historic Test against New Zealand on Saturday. “I’m really excited,” Levi says. “Representing Australia in two codes is a pretty special achievement and this is a new environment and a massive challenge. I know I’ll probably make mistakes out there and I’m feeling pretty vulnerable but I’ve always set myself high standards and this is about me becoming a better player.”..

Coventry’s £26m record signing from Nordsjælland, a Right to Dream academy alumnus, can make a top-flight splash It is mid-July in Kössen, an Austrian village on the edge of the Alps, close to the German border, at Nordsjælland’s pre-season camp. The Danish Superliga club’s coaching staff, including Michael Essien, are preparing for the new campaign, the stunning scenery par for the course. Every training session is recorded by a drone. The operator with the joystick in his hands? Well, that would be Caleb Yirenkyi, the Ghana midfielder who returned a week early from his post-World Cup break. He requested to join his teammates in the drills, but after physios told the 20-year-old he required more rest Yirenkyi did the next best thing. It is a story that speaks volumes of his modest character and, a month on, he is poised to make his Premier League debut at Arsenal on Friday after Coventry made him their £26m record signing...

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some wonderful new paperbacks, from a short story collection by a literary great to razor-sharp criticism..

As the self-professed geeky rockers release their conceptual 20th album, Rivers Cuomo and Patrick Wilson discuss dodging failure, being saved by fans and their obsessive creativity The first song Rivers Cuomo wrote for Weezer’s new album, their 20th, blatantly mimics the US rockers’ 1994 debut single, Undone (The Sweater Song). On the track CEO, the singer-guitarist grumbles over a slow, Velvets-y backing about having to crank out “another 90s jam” and wishing he could do “something new – but nobody wants to hear that”. It’s a deliciously meta moment, but also one that allows Cuomo to gently vent “my frustrations over people wanting me to just write songs about our first two albums”. Cuomo wrote the song straight after SZNZ, the four-album song-cycle Weezer released throughout 2022, each album named after a season. That project fed his notoriously intense, analytic and occasionally obsessive approach to songwriting. Thanks to the kind of data artists have at their fingertips in the streaming age, though, he realised that, with each subsequent SZNZ, “fewer and fewer people were listening to them”...

Derailed carriages lifted using two cranes as workers operate under ‘very challenging circumstances’ Business live – latest updates The East Sussex railway line on which a train derailed will reopen in September as crews continue to remove the carriages that left the track. Rail bosses said they were prioritising reopening the route before the end of the school holidays, despite recovery workers operating under “very challenging circumstances”...

Iran's deep trade ties with Beijing and Moscow could prove difficult for the US to disrupt, say analysts.

Gaël Mocaër and Sebastian Perez Pezzani's detention is "unjustified and disproportionate", Reporters Without Borders says.

Mining activity caused a deadly slope collapse in Narino, claiming 13 lives and injuring seven others.

Iran's foreign minister has dismissed Trump’s latest threats, calling them a “diversion" from America’s own crisis."

A Russian missile barrage overnight on Thursday killed at least 16 people and wounded 40 in Kyiv as explosions echoed across the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had been preparing the attack "for a long time".

Vessel expected to replace USS Lincoln after reports of dire conditions on board raised questions over US war planning.

Joanna Boydell steps down after widespread criticism over company’s handling of guest safety issues Business live – latest updates The boss of Travelodge has resigned after a backlash over security failings at the hotel chain, including a case where a domestic abuser was given a key to a woman’s room before assaulting her. In a company statement on Thursday, Travelodge said Joanna Boydell had stepped down and been temporarily replaced by its finance chief, Ray Reidy. The company has launched a formal search for a permanent substitute...

Four members of an indigenous family are among the dead, witnesses said.

Despite policy victories over Flock, Americans are finding themselves under similar monitoring by a new company – or unable to remove the original cameras Activists in Colorado thought they would be celebrating a victory against mass surveillance in December when the Longmont city council decided to let a contract with Flock Safety lapse. But that excitement was cut short only months later when lawmakers voted to approve a new vendor to install automated license plate readers (ALPRs) on the city’s streets...

Longtime Stars and Stripes publisher Max D Lederer Jr announced his resignation over clashes with the Pentagon.

Updates from all Thursday’s races at York Unexpected Item claims International Stakes There’s a jockey change in this race, by the way, as Tony Piccone’s flight from France to ride Tokaido was cancelled. Clifford Lee steps in to chase a share of the £300k first prize. 2.25 York, Harry’s Half Million by Goffs, 6f, 2yo..

Updates as County Championship returns Sign up for the Spin | Mail Tanya No play at three grounds for now: Old Trafford, Edgbaston, and here at Derby where thunder has just rolled alluringly. Arrive at Derby in teeming rain. Apparently Ben Stokes had a net at 8.30am but it all looks very soggy now...

A revealing Prime Video documentary out Thursday explores the stubbornness, childhood scars and siege mentality still driving Novak Djokovic at 39 The moment comes roughly 20 minutes into the thoughtfully done Prime Video documentary, Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter, where Djokovic, winner of 24 grand slam titles and owner of the most-ever total weeks atop the ATP rankings (428), gets to the core of what has driven him to tennis royalty. Djokovic can rightfully claim the title of the greatest male tennis player who has ever lived (“It is as clear as it gets – he is the best of all time,” Andre Agassi says in the doc) but how tennis fans feel about him has always been more complex than the universal love adorned on contemporaries Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal...

Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more CO2, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research For many in the US region of New England, the lobster roll is synonymous with summertime. Loaded into a toasted bun, chunks of the sweet meat are served hot and soaked in butter, or chilled and slathered in mayonnaise with celery and herbs. The only thing more debated than the recipe is the price: the once-humble roll now routinely fetches $30 (£22), or even $50, in a sign of the changing times – and seas. Scott Lord brings in his catch of lobster to the wharf in Tenants Harbor, Maine..

Suella Braverman also advised student's "not to get ripped off by the great university scam".

Fedorov, a popular figure, is challenging Zelenskyy but holding a vote under Russia's bombs is near impossible.

Berlin has recorded roughly 14,000 heat-related deaths this summer, official data showed Thursday. Europe has experienced a spike in heat-related mortality as the worst-hit countries grapple with historically high temperatures exacerbated by human-driven climate change.

Dozens of questions swirled Thursday as Prince Harry prepares to move back to the UK with his wife and children, six years after his departure sparked a bitter rift with the royal family. In a surprise move, Harry and Meghan "plan to leave the United States by the end of the month to settle in a private, non-royal residence, which is said to be located outside London", The Daily Telegraph reported late on Wednesday. FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza tells us more.

🇪🇸 🌍 🔎 In Ceuta, the fate of migrants who crossed into the Spanish enclave at the end of July remains murky, but the trauma of the precarious journey remains. Most of the migrants who remain are forced to sleep in dangerous conditions, many among them unaccompanied minors. Meanwhile, the families of those who attempted the crossing have little to no news of what happened to their loved ones. FRANCE 24’s Hamza Hahboub, back from the enclave, brings you up-to-speed on the situation.

Heavy borrowing, increased spending and tax cuts by Democratic and Republican administrations have long raised concern.

Pakistan says the comments contradict Washington’s position, but experts see them as a diplomatic misstep.

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday slammed the latest US sanctions targeting senior ICC staff, including its president, as a “flagrant attack” on the global tribunal's independence and vowed to continue seeking justice for atrocities around the world. The State Department announced Tuesday that it had hit ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is from Senegal, with sanctions that freeze any assets they have in US jurisdictions or come into contact with the U.S. financial system.

After a summer that has seen England and Wales experience the driest July since records began, rain is finally on the horizon. But with reservoirs at ‘exceptionally low’ levels, will there be enough rain to replenish stocks? Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Anna Murgatroyd, a lecturer in hydrology at Newcastle University, about how much rain we need to see us through next summer, why we’re now at increased risk of floods, and what we can all be doing to take better care of our water supplies..

UEFA, AFC and CONCACAF understood to be considering no-confidence vote against FIFA's President Gianni Infantino.

Club relegated from the Premier League last season appeals to fans to stop 'anti-Palestine message'.

After five years of isolation, Myanmar's post-coup leadership is trying to boost its legitmacy.

Funerals take place weeks after the bodies of 112 Palestinians were buried in another mass funeral.

US President Donald Trump has announced a new campaign to isolate Iran and punish its trading partners.

Sunday’s match against Rennes moved at short notice Parc des Princes surface poses risk to ‘safety of players’ Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 opener against Rennes has been relocated at short notice, because of damage to their pitch following extreme heat this summer. Sunday’s match will now take place at Rennes’ Roazhon Park ground, the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionel) competitions committee announced late on Wednesday...

Fashion site also broke rules on labelling by using terms ‘leather’ or ‘suede’ for synthetic products The British online fashion seller Boohoo has been fined €2.3m (£2m) by France’s consumer watchdog ⁠for deceptive ⁠practices ​such as offering fake discounts. The Manchester-based firm, whose parent company renamed itself Debenhams Group last year, was found to have exaggerated the discounts it was offering, giving shoppers a false impression ⁠of the savings they were making, ​according to the directorate-general for competition, ‌consumer affairs and ‌fraud control...

Investigators believe they have identified an arsonist who attacked a Jewish community centre in Munich in 1970, killing seven people.

More than 300 companies are displaying humanoid robots, industrial machines, service robots and other forms of embodied artificial intelligence at the Beijing's 2026 World Robot Conference. The five-day event kicked off on August 19, coinciding with Unitree's stock-market debut. The company, China's best-known humanoid robot maker, saw shares increase nearly six-fold on opening day. The conference comes as robotics emerges as a new front in the US-China rivalry.

South Korea has held a nationwide drill simulating an air raid to coincide with joint military exercises with the US.

Fans say Infantino has ‘lost the right to lead’ Statement also calls for Fifa to be reformed Fans’ groups worldwide have launched a petition calling for the resignation of Gianni Infantino as Fifa president and for wholesale reform of the organisation. Infantino is under mounting pressure after being forced to abandon plans to seek private investment to run Fifa tournaments, including the men’s and women’s World Cups...

US national deficit has doubled over the past decade with spending growing under Trump and Biden US gross national debt tops $40tn for first time Sign up for the US Breaking News email As the third leg of NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew alongside play-by-play man Al Michaels and the tart-tongued analyst Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya was a paragon of deference and neutrality for 11 years as an NFL sideline reporter, dutifully relating boilerplate tactics, talking points and injury updates when she wasn’t nodding along to softball interviews or fumbling through hammy production gimmicks for viewers who might have been too offline to get the bit. She was almost pathologically committed to not doing anything to draw attention to herself or her gender in an era when sideline reporting was a fast track to national celebrity. Even her football takes hewed to the middle. (“New Orleans doesn’t want to lose to Atlanta twice in a season …”) Anyone who says they saw the 61-year-old emerging as a rightwing firebrand was watching a different game...

Lebanon handed over former General Adel Issa, as Syria steps up its pursuit of wanted members of the former regime.

French firm says the acquisition of Huel will help it grow in the nutritional sector.

Netanyahu’s government is using anti-Muslim fear to rally a Western right increasingly receptive to its message.

Six months into Prime Minister Tariq Rahman’s term, Bangladesh faces an energy crisis and rising prices.

Updates from Headingley; play starts 11am BST Day one report | Sign up for the Spin | Mail Jim In fact, that’s quite a decent, if soggy, rabbit hole to head down for an OBO discussion. The Butterfly Effect of rain delays. Which games and whose careers might have looked significantly different if the wet stuff hadn’t fallen at a particular time or other? I’ll wrack my brains, right now I’m just thinking of Tim Henman v Goran Ivanišević in the 2001 Wimbledon Semi Final:..

The U.S. debt has surpassed $40 trillion. And, a new census report on noncitizen voting that President Trump is touting has ties to a think tank aligned with him, raising concerns among experts.

The overall performance in 2025 was heavily influenced by developments in the beef sector which saw prices rise to record levels.

Paris Saint-Germain moves its opening league game to Rennes after heatwave causes damage to pitch at Parc des Princes.