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Echoes of cold war as US accused of meddling in another Brazilian election

Claims that Trump and Rubio are trying to influence result have parallels with CIA intervention 64 years ago

The year was 1962 and the Kennedy administration was desperate to swing Brazil’s congressional elections against its leftwing president, João Goulart, as a way of countering the supposed communist threat sweeping a region the US considered its back yard.

Historians say that in the lead-up to the vote, the CIA and the Department of State secretly channelled millions of dollars to opposition candidates and a group tasked with spreading rightwing propaganda and stirring up unrest.

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© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

Conservatives split from Silicon Valley allies as datacenter backlash grows

1 September 2026 at 15:19

Tech companies have underestimated the opposition to energy-hungry datacenters – and experts predict the pushback will intensify

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, listening to Dolly Parton in the wake of her death. I was lucky enough to see her in concert a decade ago in California, in the same arena where Google now hosts its annual I/O conference. It’s been a long time, and all my iPhone 4 photos are so blurry you can barely tell it’s a musical performance, but my memory is clear enough to compensate. She told many stories about her childhood, which led into a trio of fabulous songs: My Tennessee Mountain Home, Applejack, and Dr Robert F Thomas. They’re still my favorites.

Siri, where does Apple go next? – podcast

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‘Superhuman’ AI tool spots heart disease in less than 2 seconds

Doctors’ AI scribes get names of drugs and diagnoses wrong, NHS watchdog warns

AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggests

‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament

AI slopper in chief: Trump turns to social media amid tough questions

The datacenter backlash is bringing the entire political spectrum together – against big tech billionaires

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© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

© Illustration: Ben Hickey/The Guardian

Echoes of cold war as US accused of meddling in another Brazilian election

1 September 2026 at 15:00

Claims that Trump and Rubio are trying to influence result have parallels with CIA intervention 64 years ago

The year was 1962 and the Kennedy administration was desperate to swing Brazil’s congressional elections against its leftwing president, João Goulart, as a way of countering the supposed communist threat sweeping a region the US considered its back yard.

Historians say that in the lead-up to the vote, the CIA and the Department of State secretly channelled millions of dollars to opposition candidates and a group tasked with spreading rightwing propaganda and stirring up unrest.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

© Photograph: Bruna Prado/AP

‘They take the water, the springs dry up’: fear as Guatemalan goldmine plan is revived

After lying dormant for years, the Era Dorada project in Asunción Mita resumed this year and villagers say history is being repeated, despite promises of change

In the community of La Lima in Guatemala, Elda Dinora Ramírez, 58, looks towards a small well at the back of her home. Dusty wooden planks lie across the opening, concealing the faint gleam of water far below. “The well is drying up again,” she says.

Ramírez’s home lies less than a mile from Era Dorada – a goldmining project acquired by the Canadian multinational Aura Minerals in January 2025. After years of inactivity, the project was reactivated this year when the Guatemalan government granted Aura a construction licence.

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© Photograph: Euan Wallace

© Photograph: Euan Wallace

© Photograph: Euan Wallace

Russia kills at least 12 on sixth night of drone attacks on Kyiv

1 September 2026 at 12:59

Zelenskyy says Moscow is capitalising on shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors to lower morale in capital

At least 12 people have been killed in and around Kyiv overnight as Ukraine’s capital endured a sixth consecutive night of Russian drone and missile attacks aimed at shattering infrastructure and lowering the morale of the city.

Eight of the dead were reported killed in Kyiv, including seven at a railway depot on the city’s left bank, and four more in the surrounding region, after hours of air alerts culminating in a wave of strikes at about 2.30am.

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© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

Nepal-Tibet flood deaths pass 1,000 as police ask relatives for DNA to identify victims

Relatives of missing tourists asked for blood samples and photos, as efforts continue to rescue trapped hydropower workers

Nepali rescuers have built temporary bridges to reach remote areas and dug through the ruins of hydropower projects in the Himalayas to rescue hundreds of trapped workers, as the death toll passed 1,000 nearly ⁠a week after devastating ​floods left a trail of destruction across the country’s towns and valleys.

About 600 people remain stuck in several devastated hydropower stations that have become the focus of rescue efforts. The prime ⁠minister, Balendra Shah, said more than 11,000 people had been rescued across the affected region, and power and communication lines had been restored in some areas.

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© Photograph: Angad Dhakal/Reuters

© Photograph: Angad Dhakal/Reuters

© Photograph: Angad Dhakal/Reuters

Can 80-year-old Democrat Ed Markey clinch another US Senate term?

Age on the agenda in Massachusetts but octogenarian leftwinger leads younger rival Seth Moulton in primary poll

Democrats have spent the summer ousting long-serving incumbents in primaries across the country. On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide whether that generational revolt extends to the 80-year-old Ed Markey, whose younger Democratic rival has argued that the incumbent is simply too old to serve another term.

But the Senate primary in this heavily Democratic state flips a central dynamic of previous contests, where youthful progressive insurgents have targeted – and in several cases, toppled – older incumbents they derided as avatars of an outmoded cautious establishment.

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© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Russia kills at least 12 on sixth night of drone attacks on Kyiv

1 September 2026 at 12:59

Zelenskyy says Moscow is capitalising on shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors to lower morale in capital

At least 12 people have been killed in and around Kyiv overnight as Ukraine’s capital endured a sixth consecutive night of Russian drone and missile attacks aimed at shattering infrastructure and lowering the morale of the city.

Eight of the dead were reported killed in Kyiv, including seven at a railway depot on the city’s left bank, and four more in the surrounding region, after hours of air alerts culminating in a wave of strikes at about 2.30am.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/AFP/Getty Images

Shein shares slide on fast-fashion retailer’s stock market debut

1 September 2026 at 10:11

Hong Kong flotation at $26bn by firm once valued at $100bn follows failure to list in US and UK

Shares in the fast-fashion brand Shein slumped by as much as 10% as the China-founded company made its long-anticipated trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The Singapore-headquartered company, once valued at almost $100bn (£74bn), went public on Tuesday pricing shares at HK$48.56, valuing the business at just over $26bn.

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© Photograph: May James/EPA

© Photograph: May James/EPA

© Photograph: May James/EPA

Thai resort prepares to host USS Abraham Lincoln sailors after more than 270 days at sea

Security stepped up in Pattaya before arrival of thousands of sailors and marines whose deployment was extended due to US war in Iran

Authorities in the Thai resort city of Pattaya have stepped up security as they prepare to welcome thousands of sailors and marines from the USS Abraham Lincoln who have spent more than 270 consecutive days at sea.

“About 600 officials will provide security and other necessary assistance,” the provincial governor, Narit Niramaiwong, told AFP.

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© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

Thai resort prepares to host USS Abraham Lincoln sailors after more than 270 days at sea

Security stepped up in Pattaya before arrival of thousands of sailors and marines whose deployment was extended due to US war in Iran

Authorities in the Thai resort city of Pattaya have stepped up security as they prepare to welcome thousands of sailors and marines from the USS Abraham Lincoln who have spent more than 270 consecutive days at sea.

“About 600 officials will provide security and other necessary assistance,” the provincial governor, Narit Niramaiwong, told AFP.

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© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

© Photograph: Алексей Облов/Getty Images

Nepal’s glacial collapse foreshadowed a future of climate disaster | Michael Mann

1 September 2026 at 12:00

The deluge capped a summer of extreme climate events, from deadly heatwaves to wildfires. We must take action now

For millennia, the high peaks of the Himalayas were held together by an invisible, frozen cement – permafrost and glacial ice that bound ancient rock into seemingly unshakable fortresses. But as the planet continues to warm, this alpine glue is liquefying.

The glacial collapse and deluge in Nepal and Tibet was not a freak weather event; it was the structural failure of a mountain itself, nature’s latest commentary on the deadly consequences of human-caused planetary warming. And it was the exclamation point on a summer of extremes, illustrating with a sole unnatural disaster the apocalyptic future that lies in store if we fail to take dramatic climate action.

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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images

New Norwegian King to be sworn in as ceremony takes place in Oslo parliament – Europe live

1 September 2026 at 14:20

King Haakon VIII takes oath of loyalty after the death of his father King Harald V last week

Over in Brussels, the European Commission is just starting its first midday briefing of the autumn.

It opens with an announcement that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will receive Nato’s Mark Rutte tomorrow. This comes amid growing scrutiny of Russia’s activities on the eastern flank.

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© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Canada’s ruling Liberals sweep special elections in boost to Mark Carney

Three projected victories are a message to US that Carney has support of the Canadian people, says one lawmaker

Canada’s ruling Liberal party has swept three special elections, a result that showed voters backing the prime minister, Mark Carney, after his face-off with Donald Trump.

The Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches-East York in Toronto and North Vancouver-Capilano in British Columbia.

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© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

Could this humble sea sponge clean up the world’s ports?

1 September 2026 at 11:00

The chicken liver sponge has sailed through a test of its ability to filter pollutants in a harbour in Spain’s Costa Brava

In the polluted waters of Marina Palamós on Spain’s Costa Brava, Manuel Maldonado, a sponge biologist, noticed something unusual last month: red starfish had started settling in the area.

Nearly two years earlier, the Spanish National Research Council scientist and his colleagues had begun transplanting sea sponges into the port to study whether they could survive in its polluted waters.

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© Photograph: Carlota Escarré

© Photograph: Carlota Escarré

© Photograph: Carlota Escarré

The Extractor review – Indonesian hostage-rescue thriller has surprising thread of gentleness at its core

1 September 2026 at 11:00

Iko Uwais directs and acts in the story of a band of elite soldiers who must rescue a group of researchers taken captive in the jungle

Can an elite team of soldiers rescue a band of innocent hostages from a bunch of mean old terrorists? Yes, probably, since there are few (if any) action movies in which the hostages are wiped out and the terrorists win. Not to be confused with the Extraction action franchise starring Chris Hemsworth as a mercenary named Tyler, nor with action thriller Escape Plan: The Extractors, starring Dave Bautista as a prison security expert named Trent, this is an Indonesian action thriller in which actor/director Iko Uwais plays a soldier named Timur. The film was actually called Timur originally, but there’s no denying that The Extractor is a more commercial title (unless you are particularly interested in the medieval Mongol khanates) and will attract more viewers to this tale of hostages, heroes and long-ago childhood friends.

In some ways, though, the rebrand is a shame, because the new title suggests the film is more generic than it is. While the basic plot, in which a bunch of researchers are taken hostage in the jungle by an armed group of wrong ’uns, is hardly unique, there are sequences in the film that stand out from the direct-to-video action content mill. In Indonesia, timur means “east”, where the sun rises, and it carries the connotation of hopefulness. That softer feeling in the original title is a key part of the film’s identity, which includes sentimental flashbacks to the childhoods of various characters whose lives have taken tragically different paths. (Can you imagine a world in which a terrorist and a soldier knew each other as children? The Extractor can.)

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© Photograph: Signature Entertainment

© Photograph: Signature Entertainment

© Photograph: Signature Entertainment

New Norwegian King to be sworn in as ceremony takes place in Oslo parliament – Europe live

1 September 2026 at 14:20

King Haakon VIII takes oath of loyalty after the death of his father King Harald V last week

Over in Brussels, the European Commission is just starting its first midday briefing of the autumn.

It opens with an announcement that Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will receive Nato’s Mark Rutte tomorrow. This comes amid growing scrutiny of Russia’s activities on the eastern flank.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Canada’s ruling Liberals sweep special elections in boost to Mark Carney

1 September 2026 at 10:42

Three projected victories are a message to US that Carney has support of the Canadian people, says one lawmaker

Canada’s ruling Liberal party has swept three special elections, a result that showed voters backing the prime minister, Mark Carney, after his face-off with Donald Trump.

The Canadian Press, Canada’s national news agency, projected Liberal victories in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Quebec, Beaches-East York in Toronto and North Vancouver-Capilano in British Columbia.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

© Photograph: Chris Tanouye/Reuters

US army secretary Dan Driscoll resigns over reported friction with Pete Hegseth

1 September 2026 at 02:09

Resignation comes after months of turmoil at Pentagon, from leaked investigation to ousting of senior officials

The army secretary, Dan Driscoll, has handed his resignation to Donald Trump, the White House said on Monday, becoming the latest high-profile figure to depart the defense department.

The army official, who is second in line to the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had reportedly been eyeing an exit from the Pentagon amid apparent friction with the secretary.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

‘The mountains are changing’: What the floods tell us about the future of India’s Himalayas

1 September 2026 at 09:30

As families await news of missing loved ones, the disaster is a stark reminder of how the climate crisis is creating a fast-growing threat. Plus, the town considered India’s ‘Jurassic Park’

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It has been hard not to despair while watching the ruinous floods swallow parts of Nepal, and harder, still knowing that the agony compounds each passing day for dozens of Indian families whose members remain unaccounted for.

Social media is awash with desperate pleas, photos and details of the young and old, men and women, from Mumbai to Kolkata, posted by families searching for traces of life. The disaster unfolded when a melting glacier slammed into the valley below, unleashing a deadly cascade of rock and ice down the Bhote Kashi River, which flows from Tibet into Nepal.

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© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

© Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

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