A record of what was published, when, and how it changed.

Labour MP under investigation by party over Covid loans to his businesses

By Matty Edwards

Southend East & Rochford’s Bayo Alaba has been suspended while inquiry looks at bounceback loans A Labour MP has been suspended after being questioned about government Covid loans taken out by his businesses. Bayo Alaba, the MP for Southend East & Rochford, has referred himself to the Labour party for investigation after the Times asked about a loan given to one of his businesses during the pandemic. Continue reading

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Virgin Trains a step closer to running services to Europe in blow to Eurostar

By Lauren Almeida

Operator granted UK track access for as many as 20 daily return trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030 Business live – latest updates Virgin Trains has been granted track access by the rail regulator to enable it to run services between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from 2030, in a key step towards breaking Eurostar’s monopoly on the cross-Channel passenger route. The Office of Rail and Road (OR

Constitution River gets immediate chance to fill Bow Echo void at York

By Greg Wood

The unbeaten three-year-old’s showdown with Ombudsman promises a race for the ages but the Ebor Handicap remains the festival’s most compelling spectacle For the moment at least, there is a Bow Echo-shaped hole in the remainder of the 2026 Flat season, after the news last week that George Boughey’s unbeaten colt has been retired to stud after suffering a training setback. The 2,000 Guineas winner exited the racing st

Niu Lai: derided animated film rivals blockbusters at Chinese box office

By Amy Hawkins

Commentary about the ‘so bad it’s good’ qualities of mother and son’s movie has driven people to see it at cinema A crude, low-tech animation about a cow and a skylark has become a sleeper hit at China’s box office, sitting alongside blockbusters such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day in cinema revenue rankings. Niu Lai, which translates to The Cow is Coming, is an 86-minute budget animation about a newbor

European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves

By Jon Henley in Paris, Angela Giuffrida in Rome and Stephen Burgen in Barcelona

Vegetable and grain growers call for urgent action, warning of ‘catastrophic’ harvests due to continent-wide drought Successive intense heatwaves and an increasingly severe, continent-wide drought have left many of Europe’s farmers in an “unprecedented” crisis, with vegetable and grain growers in particular warning of “catastrophic” harvests. French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared

Would you tell strangers how much debt you have? The people sharing how much money they owe online

By Clover Hope

In an era of transparency, people are detailing their financial struggles on the internet, breaking one of the last social taboos Discussions regarding personal finances have traditionally been taboo. But gen Z and millennials in the US are finally normalizing conversations about money, openly sharing about salaries, rent and investment strategies, but also their (sometimes substantial) debt. In recent years, financi

Did you solve it? A new goat for puzzledom’s GOAT

By Alex Bellos

The solution to today’s puzzle Earlier today I set you a new twist on the Monty Hall problem, which is (according to AI) the most discussed recreational maths puzzle in history. The standard Monty Hall problem is as follows: Continue reading...

My son is leaving home for university – and my severe denial has surprised me | Zoe Williams

By Zoe Williams

My cherished first-born will soon be off to start a big new phase of his life, shiny saucepans in tow. ‘Empty nesting’ implies this is as nature intended, but it’s knocked me for six My son sent me a picture of his university accommodation, which looked perfectly nice, but there was something off about it. It was a little bit too tidy, of course, and had the slightly dystopian atmosphere of a neutral colour palette,

Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over Again for an Hour review – fringe gem leaves you ecstatic

By Brian Logan

Summerhall, Edinburgh Connor Dariol, AKA Australian clown Conk, does exactly what he claims – and with such skill and relentless pep we are helpless to resist When I saw the title to the Australian clown Conk’s show Man Sings the Same Song Over and Over Again for an Hour, I thought I knew what the trick would be. Yes, the terms of the show’s billing would be fulfilled, but (I imagined) by twisting whatever that song

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Supporting young people so they don’t become Neets | Letters

By Guardian Staff

Readers respond to an article by Daisy Christodoulou on predicting which children are at risk of future unemployment Daisy Christodoulou suggests that teachers identifying children at risk of ending up not in education, employment or training (Neets) is like dentists helping children to learn to read (Could you predict which children will be Neets? No – and it’s unfair to ask that of teachers, 11 August). But dentist

Join a running community – you won’t regret it | Letters

By Guardian Staff

Readers respond to an article in which Ioan Marc Jones describes overcoming his hatred of running I loved Ioan Marc Jones’s article because it’s an honest reflection of the struggle of getting into running when you need exercise but don’t necessarily want it (Nipple tape, pickle juice and dinosaurs: how I learned to love running, the unorthodox way, 12 August). For me, the gamechanger was joining a running club. I’m

Councils won’t be able to block betting shops | Letters

By Guardian Staff

Roger Cornwell says under government plans, councils will lose some planning powers, and Alan Knight says reducing high-street betting fuels illegal online gambling. Plus a letter from Katrina Kerr In your report (Burnham to give councils more powers to block vape and betting shops, 10 August) Angela Rayner is quoted as saying: “We’re giving local leaders the power to say no to what doesn’t belong on their high stree

The decent way for countries to engage with the Taliban | Brief letters

By Guardian Staff

Afghan diplomacy | Weather words | Delightful weeds | Thomas Paine’s remains | Reform UK benefits cuts You report concerns over increased diplomatic contact with Afghanistan and the Taliban (15 August). If nations wish to establish contact with the country and improve human rights, especially for women, may I suggest that they only use women to negotiate and to staff diplomatic bases. They might also insist on only d

Premier League to allow audio of conversations between players and referees

By Exclusive by Matt Hughes

Audio to be used during live broadcasts for first time Move is part of an expansion of the RefCam system The Premier League will permit audio of on-field conversations between players and referees during live broadcasts for the first time this season. The use of audio by the Premier League’s domestic TV rights holders, Sky Sports and TNT Sports, is part of an expansion of the RefCam system, which became a permanent f

China’s economy showing signs that slowdown may be extending

By Richard Partington Senior economics correspondent

Industrial output and retail sales slump in July after one of the country’s weakest quarterly growth rates ever China’s economy is showing signs of extending a slowdown with a slump in industrial output and retail sales in July, adding to pressure on Beijing to intervene with measures to support activity. After the world’s second largest economy posted one of its lowest quarterly growth readings on record in the thre

‘She never forgot where she came from’: Bonnie Tyler mourners turn out for Swansea service

By Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent

Many in the crowd watching on screen outside minster have stories of meeting or knowing singer, who died in July Bonnie Tyler’s songs have echoed through her home town of Swansea in recent days in memory of the late singer, but on Monday the church bells stopped and wellwishers lining the streets fell silent as her coffin arrived for a service celebrating her life. As the white coffin, covered in bouquets of white ro

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Lara Ricote: Inkling review – this fizzy standup’s smart new set is her best yet

By Brian Logan

Monkey Barrel Comedy, Edinburgh A show about maturing and learning to listen to life’s signals doesn’t stint on tomfoolery and has some great gags What a rich and enjoyable show this is from Lara Ricote, a leap forwards from her already-excellent first two shows. It finds the Mexican-American comic in as endearing fettle as ever, her urge to communicate bubbling over in a show about divining the messages life puts yo

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What is Ebola and why is the outbreak in DRC causing so much concern?

By Denis Campbell and Rachel Savage

Strain of virus with no vaccine has potential to overrun response impeded by conflict and misinformation Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are losing their battle to contain the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak. DRC’s health ministry declared an outbreak in Ituri province on 15 May, though sequencing shows it had begun in February. It has since spread to five other provinces and is on track

Nicola Jennings on the UK water industry and the drought – cartoon

By Nicola Jennings

Continue reading...

A job that changed me: After years of being a marriage celebrant, I became uneasy with the institution

By Jasper Peach

My favourite part was sitting with couples, talking about their lives and why they wanted to marry. But I’m equally happy to have left it behind Read more in this series here I was in my mid-20s in the mid-2000s when I became a professional yapper. I’d had to bow out of a career in Auslan (Australian sign language) interpreting due to injury, but could still talk under wet concrete. Studying to become a civil marriag

British Muslim student with valid visa refused entry to US after 23-hour detention

By Chris Osuh Community affairs correspondent

Laith Alani, who had booked week-long trip to visit theme parks and family, believes US border force profiled him on arrival in Orlando A British student who was detained and deported after flying to the US claims he was profiled for being Muslim. Laith Alani said he felt as if he had been kidnapped when he was interrogated for nine hours and detained in a holding cell for another 14 hours by US Customs and Border Pr

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Top album releases linked to rise in fatal crashes as ‘distracted’ drivers access music

By Nicola Davis Science correspondent

Harvard study finds traffic fatalities increase by 15% on release dates compared with similar days either side The release of a new album by Taylor Swift might be a cause for celebration among her fans, but such events have also been linked to a more sombre phenomenon: an increase in fatal car crashes. The team behind a new study say it sheds light on the impact of distracted driving. “You can’t randomise people into

Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City opener was startlingly bad

By Jonathan Wilson

The Community Shield isn’t always a sign of things to come, but City’s form in their defeat to Arsenal is concerning in the wake of Pep Guardiola’s departure Sign up for our free newsletter here There are caveats. It was only the Community Shield – and no side has gone on to win the league after lifting the Community Shield since 2018. It was against the league champions, whose pre-season has involved far less strenu

The Sinking City 2 review – Ukrainian cosmic horror, come hell or high water

By Nic Rueben

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, PC; Frogwares Frogwares’ Lovecraftian action-horror is full of grim tenacity and pulp paperback charm, despite a few frayed edges I’m standing in the prosthetics lab of a campy horror hospital, hunting for a preacher’s flayed face to wear so I can trick the world’s grisliest smart doorbell. Pinned to a board in the corner of the room are a dozen X-rays: shattered bones and metal splint

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We would like to hear from UK agriculture workers about how the heatwaves have affected their work

By Guardian community team

We would also like to speak to florists, groundskeepers, and professional gardeners about how they are planning for the future The heatwaves and drought conditions across parts of Britain this summer have brought a series of challenges for food producers and those working on the land. According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, hot and dry weather has resulted in the earliest UK cereals harvest i