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Global Bond Sell-Off Puts Investors on Edge

1 September 2026 at 16:37
Government borrowing costs are hitting multidecade highs around the world, reflecting anxiety about debt levels, deficits and inflation.

© Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

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

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

German police investigating reported explosives at Brandenburg power substation – Europe live

1 September 2026 at 16:42

Police responding to explosives reported in Turnow-Preilack, near the coal-fired Jänschwalde power plant

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: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

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

German police investigating reported explosives at Brandenburg power substation – Europe live

1 September 2026 at 16:13

Police responding to explosives reported in Turnow-Preilack, near the coal-fired Jänschwalde power plant

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: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

Cities sweltering and the smell of the middle ages: has the climate crisis killed Instagram’s Euro summer? | Brigid Delaney

1 September 2026 at 08:03

Who dreams of having a Euro summer now when staying in an ancient, uncooled building in the Old Town is like trying to sleep in a wood-fired pizza oven?

This week the Euro summer comes to an end – and so does a certain type of posting on Instagram.

Waiting at the bus stop in the grey winter dawn, a slanting rain soaking your trouser leg, you can warm yourself by scrolling your feed and seeing pictures of Australians enjoying a Euro summer. There it is again – azure Greek coves, plates of barbecued sardines, the yachts rented by the hour, and selfies on the balcony of some Paris Airbnb, drinking wine in the long, blue night.

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© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

© Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images

Madrid residents brace for noise and disruption from new F1 circuit

1 September 2026 at 07:00

City council emphasises economic case for Madring amid local outrage over disruption and environmental impact

Opponents of Madrid’s newly constructed Formula One circuit have accused the regional authorities of putting profit before people’s wellbeing after tests for the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the track later this month yielded noise levels that were many times the legal decibel limit.

The regional government of Madrid and the city council are hoping that the 5.4km-long (3.3 miles) Madring circuit – which has been built in the north-east of the Spanish capital at a cost of €83m (£71m) – will attract visitors, boost the local economy and put the city firmly on the motor racing map. The Madring bills itself as “a perfectly connected circuit: just 20 minutes from the city centre”.

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© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

From Bill Gates to Bernie Sanders, most agree the AI arms race is disastrous. Only Europe can make it stop | Alexander Hurst

1 September 2026 at 07:00

An EU export ban on Dutch tech giant ASML’s machines could force the pause we all need

At this point, it should be clear that AI is a choose-your-own-adventure book where every option ends in disaster. Exploding carbon emissions and ecological collapse? Turn to page 37. Other outcomes include some or all of: the bubble bursting and an ensuing financial crisis; mass unemployment via automation; the end of democracy and the rise of authoritarian surveillance states; raving cults who believe the pattern-matching algorithm is a consciousness; terrorists who create devastating bioweapons; nation states that deploy autonomous weapons systems that act on non-human timeframes; nation states or terrorists that hack all the myriad systems we depend on; or an AI that, conscious or not, pursues directives that are at odds with human wellbeing.

Imagining that people such as Elon Musk, the OpenAI boss, Sam Altman, Palantir’s Peter Thiel and the Trump administration tech adviser Marc Andreessen will lead us to a utopian future of flourishing environmentalism, social harmony and endless leisure requires hallucination and sycophancy so great that that choose-your-own-adventure scenario could only have been written by ChatGPT.

Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now

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© Photograph: Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie/AS/Reuters

© Photograph: Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie/AS/Reuters

© Photograph: Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie/AS/Reuters

Iceland’s close ties with EU mean no vote is not a Brexit-style rejection

1 September 2026 at 07:00

A yes to membership would have given Brussels a boost but Icelanders have not voted to isolate themselves

Iceland’s 52.8% to 47.2% vote against reopening EU accession talks is, undeniably, a blow for Brussels. But claiming it as a Brexit-style victory for “national sovereignty” or evidence of broad rejection of the EU misrepresents the reality of the island’s relationship with the bloc.

For the EU, Iceland was a dream candidate: small, stable, prosperous and strategically located in an increasingly contested Arctic. Eager as it is to wield more geopolitical clout and revive flagging momentum around enlargement, a vote in favour would have given Brussels a very welcome boost.

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© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

Madrid residents brace for noise and disruption from new F1 circuit

1 September 2026 at 07:00

City council emphasises economic case for Madring amid local outrage over disruption and environmental impact

Opponents of Madrid’s newly constructed Formula One circuit have accused the regional authorities of putting profit before people’s wellbeing after tests for the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the track later this month yielded noise levels that were many times the legal decibel limit.

The regional government of Madrid and the city council are hoping that the 5.4km-long (3.3 miles) Madring circuit – which has been built in the north-east of the Spanish capital at a cost of €83m (£71m) – will attract visitors, boost the local economy and put the city firmly on the motor racing map. The Madring bills itself as “a perfectly connected circuit: just 20 minutes from the city centre”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aaron Heredia/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Iceland’s close ties with EU mean no vote is not a Brexit-style rejection

A yes to membership would have given Brussels a boost but Icelanders have not voted to isolate themselves

Iceland’s 52.8% to 47.2% vote against reopening EU accession talks is, undeniably, a blow for Brussels. But claiming it as a Brexit-style victory for “national sovereignty” or evidence of broad rejection of the EU misrepresents the reality of the island’s relationship with the bloc.

For the EU, Iceland was a dream candidate: small, stable, prosperous and strategically located in an increasingly contested Arctic. Eager as it is to wield more geopolitical clout and revive flagging momentum around enlargement, a vote in favour would have given Brussels a very welcome boost.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

© Photograph: Marco Di Marco/AP

Ukraine war briefing: Pressure stays on Russian economy until war is over, says Bessent

US treasury secretary speaks with Russian counterpart who is controversially attending G20 talks; India’s Modi says war must end. What we know on day 1,651

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© Photograph: Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters

© Photograph: Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters

© Photograph: Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters

Turkish deep-sea search vessel joins efforts to retrieve 20 still missing after Cyprus ferry disaster

TCG Isin expected to play vital role in locating Filo Jet’s voyage data recorder 514 metres below surface

A deep-sea search and rescue vessel is on its way to Cyprus as Turkey joins efforts to retrieve the 20 people still missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the island’s northern coast.

The TCG Isin will join the vast operation to find survivors after the high-speed ferry sank on Sunday barely four nautical miles outside the port town of Kyrenia.

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© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Turkish deep-sea search vessel joins efforts to retrieve 20 still missing after Cyprus ferry disaster

31 August 2026 at 21:37

TCG Isin expected to play vital role in locating Filo Jet’s voyage data recorder 514 metres below surface

A deep-sea search and rescue vessel is on its way to Cyprus as Turkey joins efforts to retrieve the 20 people still missing after a passenger ferry capsized off the island’s northern coast.

The TCG Isin will join the vast operation to find survivors after the high-speed ferry sank on Sunday barely four nautical miles outside the port town of Kyrenia.

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© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank quits over unpaid wages

Frank Furedi announces resignation from MCC Brussels after organisation’s staff ‘not paid in July or August’

The head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite Brussels thinktank has quit, citing unpaid wages since the change of government in Hungary.

The sociology professor Frank Furedi said he was resigning as the executive director of MCC Brussels with “immediate effect” on Monday over “persistent failure to provide the contractually agreed funds”.

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© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank quits over unpaid wages

31 August 2026 at 20:01

Frank Furedi announces resignation from MCC Brussels after organisation’s staff ‘not paid in July or August’

The head of Viktor Orbán’s favourite Brussels thinktank has quit, citing unpaid wages since the change of government in Hungary.

The sociology professor Frank Furedi said he was resigning as the executive director of MCC Brussels with “immediate effect” on Monday over “persistent failure to provide the contractually agreed funds”.

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© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Tibor Illyes/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Germany poised to identify suspect in Leipzig drone attack on Ukrainian plane

31 August 2026 at 17:14

Berlin expected to outline response to incident this month widely speculated to have been coordinated by Russia

The German government is imminently expected to announce who it believes was behind a suspected drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane earlier this month and to outline its response to the incident in coordination with its European and Nato partners.

The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told the public broadcaster ARD in an interview on Sunday evening: “We are in the process of concluding the investigations; we have reached a broad agreement within the federal government on how we will respond, and we will make this clear in the coming days. It won’t take much longer.”

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© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

Germany poised to identify suspect in Leipzig drone attack on Ukrainian plane

Berlin expected to outline response to incident this month widely speculated to have been coordinated by Russia

The German government is imminently expected to announce who it believes was behind a suspected drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane earlier this month and to outline its response to the incident in coordination with its European and Nato partners.

The chancellor, Friedrich Merz, told the public broadcaster ARD in an interview on Sunday evening: “We are in the process of concluding the investigations; we have reached a broad agreement within the federal government on how we will respond, and we will make this clear in the coming days. It won’t take much longer.”

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© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

© Photograph: Sebastian Willnow/DPA/AP

British family pleads with French authorities to release body of relative who died in Channel

31 August 2026 at 16:36

Jasmeet Wadhwa, who fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan, lost his life while trying to reach UK in April

A British family is pleading with French authorities to release the body of a relative that officials have held for five months after he died in the Channel in April.

Jasmeet Wadhwa, 32, died while attempting to reach the UK on a dinghy on 1 April with his mother, Harbans Kaur Wadhwa, after they fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan in January.

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© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout

© Photograph: Handout

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