2026 News Archive

TheSpace Triplex, Edinburgh Nine college students fall out and make up as they dance to punk-pop and alt-rock in this lively show This is such a festival show: uncategorisable, buzzing, slightly chaotic and unlike anything else. As director Christie Lee Manning of Response Theatre Company tells us at the outset, I Made You a Mixtape is not a play, not a musical, not (really) a dance show, even though it is pretty much only dance all the way through, plus some hand-written captions. But it’s the kind of dance that real people do – or how you’d like to think you could dance, especially if you were nine girls at a college dorm party somewhere in North America in the 1990s, which is the setting here. The show fully embraces nostalgia from the off: camcorder, cassette tapes, the Friends board game, Sporty Spice’s wardrobe, and a pop-punk, alt-rock soundtrack (Blink-182, No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers – not the Britpop/trip-hop 1990s of the UK), with live drums and guitar to make it all the more visceral. At theSpace Triplex, Edinburgh, until 29 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews..

In some wellness circles, tadalafil is promoted as a longevity drug. There is evidence showing a link between it and a lower risk of death in men, but there are no well-controlled trials in humans.

As warming seas push native species to cooler waters farther north, once-rare visitors have become more common ‘It sounds silly but I thought it was a person in the water waving,” says Kurt Lander, skipper of the Yellowfin charter boat, based out of Brighton. But when he grabbed his binoculars, he realised the fluttering movement he had noticed in the middle of the Channel shipping lane was a pair of sunfish. The huge fish were lying on their sides and flapping their fins. “Apparently, they do it as a visual attraction to birds,” he says. “They’re trying to get the birds to eat the parasites off them.”..

Religious fundamentalism is advancing through Israel’s institutions, narrowing freedoms and deepening inequality.

The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed the case, but the plaintiffs aren't giving up.

Dr. Evelyn Griffin is pushing for more emphasis on wellness and prevention. She has also aligned with the MAHA movement in fighting government mandates and questioning the safety of some vaccines.

US president cites Seoul's reluctance to back his war on Iran, and his warm ties with North Korea's leader as reasons.

Au Vodka co-owner Charlie Morgan earned infamy in 2013 after being kicked by the Chelsea footballer.

Arday was subjected to a vicious campaign fuelled by anti-Black racism.

Trump deemed the MoU 'over' within a month of it being signed, as the two sides traded attacks despite a 'ceasefire'.

Grant cancellations at leading research institutions appear to target the study of the impacts of racism on brain health A new round of scientific grant cancellations has hit brain health and Alzheimer’s disease research at two leading research institutions, Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh. The latest cancellations are the Trump administration’s most recent effort to remove disfavored topics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) $47bn scientific portfolio – and appear to target the study of the impacts of racism...

The USS Washington is on its way to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln amid concerns about conditions aboard. And, Jared Kushner is expected to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu to move Gaza talks forward.

Supporters and opponents of the controversial plans have been making their cases on the £8.7bn project.

The Ulster Farmers' Union rejects a claim that it is trying to dictate policy after a cattle cull.

Joint military drills between South Korea and US troops went ahead as planned on Monday despite US President Donald Trump's statement that he had ordered them to be scaled back out of respect for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

US President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is seeking to gain Israeli backing for the US-backed Gaza peace plan.

The USS Abraham Lincoln crisis highlights the toll of lengthy deployments on crew morale and operational readiness.

More than 670,000 French taxpayers are being notified after their personal and tax information was stolen and allegedly offered online. Authorities warn the data could be used for scams and identity fraud, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is holding a meeting on the digital security of government institutions.

Al Jazeera examines a decade of earthquake data to see how 2026 compares and explains how and where earthquakes strike.

Andrei Klepach of VEB said Russia’s economy was falling behind China, US and ‘in some respects Ukraine’ Europe live – latest updates The chief economist at Russia’s second-largest bank has been fired after a series of critical comments about the state of the economy, including warnings that Moscow would not win a prolonged economic war with Ukraine. Andrei Klepach, who had served in the role at the state-controlled development bank VEB since 2014, was fired days after Russian media reported on a scathing speech he had delivered to fellow economists in May...

India and China are tangled in yet another border dispute, angering locals in the eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

A stampede at a Hindu temple in eastern India kills seven people and injures nineteen more.

Explosive drones target Iraqi Kurdish PM's office and security chief's residence; no casualties reported.

Seven people have been killed and more than a dozen injured after a stampede broke out at a temple in India.

Back to school in France also means “rentrée littéraire”, the annual period when thousands of new books hit shelves across the country. For FRANCE 24, French bookseller Isabelle Claret Lemarchand, who runs a bookshop in London, discusses the style and trends of this year’s new releases, compares the French and British trends, and reflects on the challenges facing the publishing industry.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was on Monday booed by dozens of residents of the town of Le Porge in southwestern France, a region ravaged by wildfires, in a show of anger at the government's handling of the worst such crisis to hit the country in decades.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has refused to pull back the country’s military until Hamas fully disarms. But the Trump administration is under pressure to show progress.

Temperatures could drop by more than 15C compared with last Thursday as cold front moves arrives from Monday Relief from the unrelenting heat is finally arriving this week across western Europe, with more unsettled conditions bringing the chance of rain. Temperatures are expected to fall back towards the seasonal norm, with some parts of the UK even falling about 3C below normal by Thursday. After such a scorching summer, and with a temperature drop of more than 15C compared with last Thursday’s heat, it may feel surprisingly chilly. There are signs that some substantial rain could be on the cards for the south of the UK this week as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic on Monday night into Tuesday. As of Monday, parts of southern England had endured 62 consecutive days of no rainfall – this is observed at a Met Office weather station in Wisley, Surrey. Even the last recorded rainfall here on 16 June amounted to just 0.4mm...

Firm wants to run up to 20 daily journeys to Europe but it must get additional approval for overseas tracks.

Britain's new premier has promised to ease the suffering of millions of families unable to afford basic items.

A ⁠Ukrainian ​missile ​strike killed six people ​and ‌wounded ⁠another ‌four, including a ⁠child, in ​Russia's border ‌Belgorod region, the ‌acting ​governor said on Monday. The assault came as Russia targeted port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail district in the southern region of ​Odesa ‌overnight.

Four states are suing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the platforms were designed to hook kids and that Meta hid the mental health risks.

Unexpected absences can cost employers tens of thousands of dollars a month. An app that helps workers with last-minute transportation, food and childcare is making a difference.

For 10 years, a Catholic-run home offered young women an affordable place to live in the nation's capital as they studied and launched careers. Now, that community is saying goodbye.

Operator wins track access approval for up to 20 daily return trains through tunnel to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam in 2030 Virgin Trains has been granted track access by the rail regulator to run new services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam in 2030, in a step forward for its plans to break’s Eurostar’s passenger monopoly on the cross-Channel route. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it had granted approval for Sir Richard Branson’s company to run up to 20 new daily return services through the Channel tunnel...

Brian Eno and Olly Alexander also among signatories saying exploitation of Rosebank and Jackdaw fields defies reality More than 200 musicians including Massive Attack and Brian Eno have written to Andy Burnham, urging him to reject plans for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. The letter, signed by artists such as Olly Alexander and Paris Paloma, called on the prime minister to reject the Rosebank oilfield, warning the project will fail to lower energy bills or provide energy security as most of the oil is likely to be exported...

Modi's BJP once controlled media narratives in India, but this might be changing with the 'Cockroach' movement.

President Trump wants to curtail military exercises with South Korea, saying they were hostile to North Korea. But under Mr. Kim, the North has become increasingly belligerent toward the South.

The New York Times is examining how public health is changing in the state, from the whooping cough outbreak to vaccine policies, and we want to hear from you.

This fictional memoir by Octavius’s right-hand man shows us bloodshed, betrayal and hectic jockeying for power If you’re one of those people who thinks about the Roman empire several times a week, Robert Harris has you covered. He follows his trilogy of novels about the life of Cicero and his one-off about the unpleasantness in Pompeii with a narrative that takes us from civil war through the assassination of Julius Caesar, with all the bickering and bloodshed that follows, on to the decisive battle of Actium and Octavius’s apotheosis as Caesar Augustus. We meet Cicero, Fulvia, Lepidus, two Caesars and a burly Antony (“Imagine, if you will, a statue of Hercules with a club in one hand, a wineskin in the other”). Here’s the clever bit: he narrates it all from the point of view of Octavius’s right-hand man, Agrippa, a much less well-remembered figure. Harris tells us he “left behind no speeches, few letters and only a couple of sentences of direct quotation”. Yet Agrippa was “effective co-ruler of the Roman world for many years” and “the greatest general of the period”. Octavius couldn’t have risen without him, but he seems to have done his best to write him out of the story afterwards, according him only two passing mentions in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti...

Here’s how speedy access to satellite imagery is bolstering Ukraine.

Scheffler's 21st career PGA Tour title earns the American $3.6m for his resounding victory at TPC Southwind.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Nina Krushcheva, professor of international affairs at the New School, about the current geopolitical climate in Russia.

Some 53 people were killed and thousands displaced by the earthquake, which struck early on Saturday.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment of hard-line loyalists to top jobs suggests he is prepared to keep the country on a war footing and to quash domestic dissent.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka escapes with a nail-biting win while Felix Auger-Aliassime downs ex-champ Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The authorities allege they were involved in an insurrection plot but the leading opposition candidate says there was an attempt on his life.

Overnight Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine kill two people and injure 19.

Outrage as Colombian president hands out footballs in earthquake-hit city where residents say they await urgent aid.

Brexit didn’t create all the problems young people now face, but renewing close ties with Europe will give us so many opportunities I was 14 when the UK voted to leave the EU. Too young to vote, but not too young to understand that a decision was being made that would affect the rest of my life. In many ways, Brexit was my political awakening. It taught me that politics matters, because decisions made by people in power can change your future before you’ve even been given a say. Ceira Sergeant is a student and the founder of National Rejoin March Youth..

Wildfire thought to be largest in Belgium’s history creeps closer to German border prompting evacuations Belgium’s King Philippe will visit the area affected by what is believed to be the largest wildfire in the country’s history this morning, after a weekend of intense firefighting in the Hautes Fagnes nature reserve. The fire has been raging since Friday afternoon, burning more than 3,000 hectares of land, provisional figures show...

GDP rises 0.3 percent in the second quarter as consumption and capital spending sag.

British house prices expected to fall this year, despite ‘Burnham bounce’, Rightmove reports Asking prices for newly listed homes in UK’s richest borough fall by £100k in one month Elsewhere this morning, the boss of JP Morgan has renewed his pressure on the UK government not to raise taxes on banks. Jamie Dimon told chancellor John Healey that creating a more hostile tax environment for banks could cost jobs, the Financial Times reports. The Wall Street executive told Healey in a call on Thursday that higher taxes often drive jobs elsewhere, citing a material decline in finance roles in New York that he attributed in part to the city’s tax burden, according to people briefed on the conversation. “The new Prime Minster has brought a general boost to optimism and has ruled out property tax changes in October’s Budget, meaning buyers have fewer reasons to wait around and see what happens.”..

Lyra, the lyre, represents the harp played by the Greek poet Orpheus We turn our attention this week to one of the sky’s smallest constellations. High overhead from the UK after darkness falls, Lyra, the lyre, is easy to find thanks to the brilliant white star of Vega. The chart shows the view facing south and looking up towards the zenith from London at 22:30 BST on 17 August...

RC Lens won the Champions’ Trophy against Paris Saint-Germain (1-0). With Zinédine Zidane watching on, the Lens side held out for an hour despite being a man down.

The fatal incident reportedly took place amid a rush of devotees at a temple in India's Bihar state.

A 14-year-old child was among four others injured, the acting governor of Russia's Belgorod region says.

Iran’s Parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has declared both a military and political victory.

It’s vital that Yvette Cooper’s taskforce acts on the Amos and Ockenden reports – and puts the needs of women and families at the heart of maternity services It is hard to find the words to describe the agony for those who have experienced preventable baby loss, injury or maternal death. Understandably, families who have been through this have campaigned relentlessly for local and national investigations. Every family deserves to know what caused their loss or trauma, but current and past reviews have failed to deliver on resolution and accountability. The vital debate about how to ensure safe maternity care has intensified since the publication of two reports, led by Valerie Amos and Donna Ockenden, and the appointment of Yvette Cooper as secretary of state for health and social care, offering a golden opportunity for system-wide change. “I want to make it a personal crusade to put the cradle back at the heart of the NHS,” Cooper told the Guardian last week, adding that she was committed to introducing a new national maternity commissioner. Julia Sanders is professor of clinical midwifery at Cardiff University and was an expert adviser to the national maternity and neonatal investigation led by Valerie Amos..

Extreme weather has raised the significance of Cop17 talks starting this week on tackling drought and land degradation As swathes of the northern hemisphere bake in what could be the hottest year on record, with wildfires blazing across North America and Europe and heatwaves afflicting millions across Asia, the UN’s bi-annual talks on desertification have assumed much greater importance – and have started attracting more money. Work will begin this week on allocating more than $12bn (£8.9bn) to vulnerable countries to help them deal with drought and land degradation, when scores of countries gather in Mongolia for Cop17...