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First Thing: Meta agrees to make sweeping changes to apps for teens | Martin Belam
Safety features including usage limits and night-time blocks to be set by default. Plus changes to famous French cheeses Good morning. Meta has agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in a settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit. The agreement curtails a major trial in California and will require the social media company to pay up to $18bn. Meta agreed to establish safeguards for teenage users, including daily usage limits and blocks on night-time use nationwide in the US. California and 28 other US states sued the $1.36tn (£1tn) company over allegations that Meta deliberately designed addictive products that hooked young people, leading to mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicide. As part of the settlement, the company denies wrongdoing. What will be changing in the apps? The biggest alteration is that Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is now required to make many of its safety limitations the default setting for accounts created by teens, a pivot from its previous opt-in approach to child safety. Nick Robins-Early and Johana Bhuiyan explain more in this piece: six key takeaways from the end of the Meta trial . Will other companies be affected? Meta is putting the agreement forward as a precedent for other social media companies to follow. The company’s chief legal officer, CJ Mahoney, said: “Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. We therefore call on our industry peers … to implement this new framework.” Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap face thousands more similar US lawsuits brought by families, individuals, school districts and other attorneys general. Are campaigners satisfied with the result? Arturo Béjar, an ex-Facebook employee and whistleblower, said the outcome “is not an all-clear to say the product is safe. The limitations that are in the agreement are the equivalent of saying: ‘Well, you can smoke as many cigarettes as you can in two hours a day’. It doesn’t make the cigarettes any safer.” How did it happen? As this visual guide explains , at 8.37am on Wednesday an enormous section of a glacier in the Himalayas sheared free and crashed on to the valley floor in Nepal’s Langtang national park, about 60km north of the capital Kathmandu, near the mountainous Nepal-Tibet border. Continue reading...
Birmingham seeks injunction to stop anti-migrant group erecting flags on infrastructure
City residents had accused council of giving ‘free rein’ to campaign promoting England flags Birmingham city council is seeking an injunction to stop members of an anti-migrant group from erecting flags, including union jack and St George’s flags, on public infrastructure across the city. A nationwide campaign to give prominence to the England flag, which resulted in thousands of St George’s crosses being flown from lamp-posts, roundabouts and other public infrastructure, is believed to have started last summer in Birmingham. Continue reading...
CEOs earn 614 times more than workers at US’s 100 lowest-paying corporations
Analysis by Institute for Policy Studies found that between 2019 and 2025, CEO compensation increased 41.4% The average CEO of the US’s 100 largest, lowest-paying corporations earned 614 times more than their average worker last year, according to an analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). IPS’s latest executive excess report analyzed compensation at the 100 S&P 500 corporations with the lowest median worker pay. Between 2019 and 2025, CEO compensation increased 41.4%, unadjusted for inflation, twice as much as the median worker pay increased at these firms during the same period, at 20.7%. Continue reading...
Youth unemployment in UK falls below 1 million
Number of Neets is 30,000 higher than a year ago but figures boost efforts to reverse rise in economic inactivity The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK fell below 1 million in the latest three-month period. In a boost to the government’s efforts to reverse years of rising economic inactivity among people aged 16 to 24, the Office for National Statistics said its surveys showed there were an estimated 981,000 Neets in April to June, compared with 1,012,000 in January to March. On an annual basis, the number of Neets was 30,000 higher than a year ago, but the fall covering the most recent three-month period will give a lift to ministers concerned that, at 13%, the proportion of young people outside work, education and training remains among the highest in Europe. Continue reading...
If MPs want to take on Nigel Farage over his dodgy finances, they need to clean up their own act | Frances Ryan
It’s hard to beat back charges that MPs are ‘all the same’ when they have accepted £400k in freebies this year – £100k up on last year How has your summer been? Done anything nice? As MPs prepare to head back to parliament next week, you’ll be relieved to hear that some of the most prominent figures in British politics have been enjoying the season’s cultural highlights – and without paying a penny. MPs throughout the Commons have received £400,000 of “freebies” to concerts, sports matches and other events so far this year, according to the most recent disclosures. Over the summer alone, Wes Streeting, now the defence secretary, enjoyed the Chelsea flower show thanks to Lloyds Banking Group covering the £1,839 cost, as did the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride. Lucy Powell, who has since become deputy leader of the Labour party and education secretary, accepted £858-worth of tickets to a Harry Styles concert at Wembley from the PRS for Music industry group. Meanwhile, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, nabbed seats at Wimbledon worth £1,360 from the All England Club. Continue reading...
AI slopper in chief: Trump turns to social media amid tough questions
As the US president struggles to end his Iran war, and approval ratings hit new lows, he leans on a familiar gambit Donald Trump knows the power of an image – of himself, with everyone from Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un to Kim Kardashian . How about George Washington? As the US president struggles to end his war with Iran, and with his approval ratings hitting the lowest levels of his second term, he has in recent weeks posted a series of AI-generated images of himself alongside key historical American figures. Continue reading...
Jon Ossoff went low on Natalie Harp. The plan worked
The senator’s remarks reflect a turning point in Democrats’ attacks on the president. What should we make of them? Apparently, he likes to say her name with a French accent . “Na-tah-lee!” the president cries out, in that affected tone of faux-formality that one might use with a person they love but do not quite respect, and she comes running, her thin legs teetering on her heels. Natalie Harp , Trump’s 35-year-old “executive assistant”, was an odd recurring character in the latest blockbuster Trump administration book, Regime Change, by the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. In the book, Harp features like a silent sentinel, ever present but eerily quiet as Trump rants and raves. It’s not exactly clear what the scope of her responsibilities are; though, as Jamelle Bouie points out, the fact that she evidently helps run the president’s social media accounts, which can sway markets and influence his foreign counterparts, makes her one of the most powerful people in the federal government. Continue reading...
Black Box: The Chatbots: a new series from The Guardian Investigates – trailer
People are becoming convinced AI chatbots have helped them make scientific breakthroughs, cure diseases or invent new technologies. What does this reveal about a technology used by more than a billion people? A new series from The Guardian Investigates, coming soon Continue reading...
In a Pennsylvania congressional swing district, a Republican incumbent faces allegations over embellishing résumé
Ryan Mackenzie, running for re-election, is accused of ‘fabricating’ a career in the real estate industry The Republican congressman Ryan Mackenzie has been accused of embellishing his résumé with private sector experience in real estate sales amid an acrimonious showdown over his Pennsylvania seat. Mackenzie, who has previously been accused of lying about his age on Tinder, “was a real estate salesperson licensed in PA”, according to his LinkedIn profile, and biographies have consistently listed it has his former profession. Continue reading...
Search on for at least 33 Britons missing after flash floods in Nepal and Tibet
Rescue teams are searching for nearly 1,500 missing people, mostly tourists, after floods kill at least 165 Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Rescue teams in Nepal are searching for at least 33 British nationals who are among those missing after flash floods ravaged its border with Tibet, killing at least 165 people. Nearly 1,500 people are missing, the majority of them tourists, authorities have said, after a glacier collapse triggered devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet , roaring down valleys and razing entire villages. Continue reading...
Woman killed with niece in Middlesbrough house fire was ‘a beautiful soul’, says mother
Natalie McDonald, 34, and Valentina Foster, 7, died in fire a mile from earlier A66 crash, with police not ruling out links A woman who died in a house fire along with her seven-year-old niece has been described as “a beautiful soul”. Natalie McDonald, 34, died along with her niece Valentina Foster, seven, in the blaze in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, in the early hours of Wednesday. Continue reading...
CIA chief reportedly warns Russia against attacking Nato countries on visit to Moscow – US politics live
Kremlin dismisses US media reports after meeting as ‘scare stories’, as Pentagon policy chief prepares to meet Nato secretary general Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. A trip by the CIA director to Moscow this week was to warn Russia against any attack on Nato member states, US media reported, after Donald Trump attempted to downplay the visit. Two dozen mainly Democratic‑led states filed a fresh lawsuit to block Donald Trump ’s executive order restricting mail voting in this year’s midterm elections. Lawyers for Lisa Cook wrote to the White House on Wednesday, rejecting a new attempt to force the Federal Reserve governor to resign for allegedly listing two properties as her primary residence on mortgage applications. The letter goes on to detail the numerous other individuals who have made the same mistake on mortgage forms, starting with Trump. The chief spokesperson for the US Secret Service and two other communications staffers are under investigation for “potential misconduct” and have been suspended, according to the agency and media reports. A geography professor alleges in a lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Manhattan that he was fired from his tenured position at the US Military Academy at West Point “because he taught that humans influenced climate change”. The US army announced on Wednesday that it has awarded to $2.2bn to five contractors “to own, construct and operate nuclear microreactors on military installations” in five states. Continue reading...
Firm fined for hounding elderly people with nuisance calls claiming to stop … nuisance calls
Elderly Aids Ltd, which sells call-blocking devices, made 758,053 cold calls between May 2024 and February 2025 A company that made its money promising to protect elderly people from nuisance calls has been fined £190,000 for “hounding” them with hundreds of thousands of nuisance calls of its own. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said Elderly Aids Ltd, a company selling call-blocking devices, made 758,053 cold calls between May 2024 and February 2025 to try to sell its products. Continue reading...
Russia says it could hit UK military targets over support for Ukraine – UK politics live
Kremlin threatens British targets inside and outside Ukraine and claims UK’s ‘hostile line’ risks escalating conflict Russia has warned the UK and France that they were “playing with fire” by supplying missile technology to Ukraine, saying Moscow would retaliate by striking British military sites in Ukraine and elsewhere, according to Russian media. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said Russia would respond to Ukrainian strikes using British weapons by hitting any British military facilities in Ukraine and beyond, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported. Continue reading...
Queensland concedes law imposing mandatory jail on some offenders as young as 10 breaches human rights
State government says ‘breach bail, go to jail’ laws raise risk of overcrowding in jails, while one expert warns they may lead to ‘cruel outcomes’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Queensland government’s latest law and order crackdown – subjecting some children as young as 10 to a mandatory sentence of a year behind bars – could lead to “cruel outcomes”, according to human rights lawyers. In documents tabled with the legislation on Thursday, the government conceded its laws, dubbed “breach bail, go to jail”, would breach human rights and risk further straining the state’s overcrowded jails, youth detention centres and police watch houses. Continue reading...
UK’s small power plants face continued cyber risk after Iran-linked hack
Government measures to improve resilience are not due until 2030 and July’s hack has not altered this timeline Hundreds of Britain’s smallest power plants could remain at a higher risk to state-sponsored cyber-attacks until the 2030s despite a successful Iran-linked hack last month, it has emerged. Officials this week briefed energy bosses on the breach, which is understood to have shut an unnamed small gas power plant for four days last month, and put the industry on alert over the growing cyber threat facing energy infrastructure. Continue reading...
Can the Philly Classic ignite another golden age of US road cycling?
The race was at its peak when American riders were regularly challenging for titles. Its return could help prompt a revival After a decade-long absence, the beloved Philadelphia International Cycling Classic is set to return this weekend, with some of the world’s best bike-racing teams taking to the famous circuit around the city’s leafy Art Museum, Manayunk, and Roxborough areas on Sunday. The race is one of just a handful of events on American soil sanctioned by UCI, cycling’s international governing body, and will feature squads such as EF Education EasyPost, Lidl-Trek, Lotto-Intermarché, and Jayco AlUla in the men’s race, and powerhouses CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto and Human Powered Health in the women’s event. It is classified as a 1.1 race, meaning it’s two levels below the top-flight WorldTour, whose races include the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Philadelphia Cycling Classic will be livestreamed on Channel 6 ABC, with the women’s race kicking off at 8.30am Eastern. The men will follow at 12.30pm. Of course, you could always trek to Philly and become part of the party yourself. I highly recommend snagging a spot somewhere along The Wall. Continue reading...
Vulnerable children deliberately self-harming to stay in care, research finds
Report shines light on ‘catastrophic situation’ where young people make themselves more ill to avoid losing support Some of the most vulnerable children and young people in care are deliberately self-harming to avoid being abandoned when they get better or turn 18 and face a “cliff edge” of no further support, according to research. Abi Booth, a psychotherapist who works with children and young people, said some were in a “catastrophic situation” in which they were hurting themselves to keep their place in therapeutic facilities. In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org , and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
Tim Curry, the prolific performer who transformed for the screen – video
Tim Curry was a versatile performer of stage and screen who made his name as the flamboyant Dr Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. Curry’s best-known roles often required a considerable physical transformation, to the extent that he was unrecognisable in some of them. As Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror’s eccentric scientist, he was daubed in garish makeup and dressed in stockings and suspenders Ridley Scott's fantasy Legend, he sported giant horns and scarlet skin as the Lord of Darkness and, in 1990, Curry was transformed with full-face clown makeup to play Pennywise in the TV miniseries It, based on Stephen King 's novel Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It, dies aged 80 Continue reading...
UK urged to help free British-Egyptian ‘arrested in Cairo over sister’s activism’
Lawyers claim Eman el-Shazly, from Birmingham, was detained in effort to silence her sister, a critic of Sisi regime The UK Foreign Office has been asked to intervene to secure the release of a British-Egyptian woman who it is claimed has been arrested in Cairo because of her sister’s political activism. Eman el-Shazly, a 45-year-old based in Birmingham, was arrested on 16 August while visiting Egypt. Her lawyers say she has been detained in an attempt to silence her sister Mona, a relentless and harsh critic of the Egyptian government on her UK-based YouTube channel. Continue reading...
Ukraine’s drone attacks have left Russia desperately scrambling for oil imports
The once world-leading producer of crude oil has plunged into an energy crisis as Kyiv targets its refineries A sanctioned shadow fleet tanker carries oil from Nato member Turkey to a Russian Baltic port. A deal is signed for Russian oil to be processed in Kazakhstan. Fuel cargoes arrive from India via Egypt. The Kremlin pressures allies to sell it badly needed fuel. The data points may be diverse, but they point to a single inescapable conclusion. Continue reading...
‘If you harm my project, I’ll harm you’: former NSW official tells Icac about fugitive developer’s call
Former building commissioner David Chandler told inquiry of clashes with ‘loud and overbearing’ developer Jean Nassif Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A fugitive Sydney developer allegedly warned the then-New South Wales building commissioner that he would “harm” him if he got in the way of his projects which were being inspected for defects, the corruption watchdog has heard. Giving evidence to the Independent Commission against Corruption on Thursday, David Chandler described an interaction he had with Toplace developments’ Jean Nassif. Continue reading...
City firms race to prepare for FCA crackdown on bullying and harassment
Rules will require hedge funds, insurers and pension firms to report all non-financial wrongdoing The City’s largest hedge funds, insurers and pension funds are racing to prepare for sweeping rules that will stop nearly 40,000 companies from hiding bullying and harassment cases from the financial watchdog. From the start of next month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will expand a crackdown on bad behaviour in the banking industry to a wider group of City investment firms and brokers. Continue reading...
‘Sad moments ahead’: Kew Gardens to fell rare trees in race to save Victorian greenhouse
Horticulturalists begin moving and propagating plants before the rusty and warped Palm House begins renovation – but some are too tall to save It will be a gut-wrenching moment for the horticulturalists at Kew Gardens when some of the magnificent trees in the Palm House have to be felled. “There are some sad moments ahead,” said Palm House manager, Will Spoelstra, who knows all the plants inside the cathedral-like greenhouse. Continue reading...