35 m. ago Why is the New Zealand government cutting Māori words from some school books?

Changes to readers for young children have sparked criticism from academics, authors and teachers, who have called it ‘an assault’ on Māori identityA shake-up of New Zealand’s curriculum has resulted in Māori words being scrapped from a selection of books used to teach five-year-olds and a decision not to reprint a well-loved book for young readers because it contained too many Māori words.The changes have sparked widespread criticism from academics, teachers and authors, who have called it “an assault” on Māori identity and the latest in the coalition government’s efforts to prioritise English over the Indigenous language – criticisms the education minister has strongly rejected. Continue reading...

Politics

95 m. ago What time is Jack Draper playing today? How to watch US Open mixed doubles

Draper and partner Jessica Pegula beat people’s favourites in first round of revamped tournament at Flushing Meadows

Events

1 hour ago OpenAI eyes world’s largest valuation for private company in stock sale talks

Maker of ChatGPT reported to be considering $6bn share sale that would boost valuation to $500bn – above SpaceXThe maker of ChatGPT is on the cusp of becoming the world’s most valuable private company. OpenAI is in talks to sell $6bn in shares, which would boost its valuation to $500bn, according to multiple reports. The artificial intelligence startup’s stock would be sold to investors by current and former employees.OpenAI has seen exponential growth over the past year. Investors, including Microsoft and SoftBank, have poured at least $40bn into the startup, giving it a valuation of $300bn as of March. Last October, it was valued at $157bn. Continue reading...

Economics

1 hour ago Why Britons spend more than two days a year talking about weather

Met Office figures show UK set for record hot summer, with temperatures 1.5C above average

Politics

2 h. ago Young vape users three times as likely to start smoking, study finds

Review warns e-cigarettes could act as gateway to smoking and are also linked to higher asthma and other health risksYoung people who vape are three times as likely to start smoking, develop asthma and have poor mental health as those who do not, according to a study that lays bare the health impacts of e-cigarettes.Vaping among young people is consistently linked to later smoking, according to the largest umbrella review of all the evidence on youth vaping, which warns that e-cigarettes could act as a gateway. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago US Open mixed doubles: Draper/Pegula beat Alcaraz/Raducanu, Djokovic/Danilovic in action – as it happened

Iga Swiatek/Casper Ruud, Jessica Pegula/Jack Draper, Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori and Danielle Collins/Christian Harrison reached the last fourThe last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be best of three sets, but first to four games not six. If a game goes to deuce, the winners of the next point take it – there’s no advantage. If a match is level at a set apiece, a 10-point match tiebreak will settle it.Breaking: Danielle Collins and Christian Harris replace Sinner/Siniakova. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Brendan Rodgers reminds Celtic stars who is paying their wages amid transfer exit murmurs

Rodgers has issued a warning to any players who might want to move on in the final weeks of the summer window

Politics

3 h. ago Alexander Isak statement: Newcastle star responds moments after Liverpool message

Alexander Isak sensationally claimed that his relationship with Newcastle cannot continue as he spoke for the first time this summer as his Liverpool transfer saga continues

Politics

3 h. ago Zainab Johnson: Toxically Optimistic review – US comic targets gun culture

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghThe slick standup’s fringe debut is full of searching questions about the right to keep and bear arms‘I’ve got a gun.” Nice to be pitched, with that opening line, straight into a show declaring itself different from the others. Zainab Johnson’s maiden fringe set – although she’s already a big noise in the US – gives an account of how she came to own a firearm. It’s not an explicitly political show – if a show about gun ownership by a black, Muslim, American female is allowed to be anything but. But Toxically Optimistic does invite engagement with some searching questions about guns, their use, and the safety they supposedly ensure – even if, so poised is Johnson’s delivery, you barely notice it doing so.Hers is that particularly American style of standup that can feel too polished for UK tastes: smiling, slick and a little bit frictionless. If a British comedian tells a dating story, you can bet they’ll be the butt of the joke; when Johnson does, it’s t...

Events

3 h. ago Rangers collapse early against Club Brugge to leave Martin facing fans’ wrath

Russell Martin’s eighth match of a Rangers reign already riddled with doubts proved close to a living nightmare. Championship promotion races and playoffs, the ill winds of struggling in the Premier League have nothing on the fever-dream pressures of failing to turn around one of Glasgow’s giants.Martin may be a believer in his own processes but in an environment where snap decisions are often sustained, he does not have long to set them in place. The chances of Rangers playing Champions League football rather than the Europa League are an outside chance after a first-half performance of rank ineptitude, the tone and probably the two-legged tie set by a horrible opening 20 minutes in which three soft goals were conceded. So early in his stewardship, Martin is still in the experimental phase and until a revival in the second half the experiment looked likely to be abandoned some time soon. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Federal prosecutors launch inquiry into Washington DC police over allegedly fudged crime statistics

Move comes after Donald Trump posted on social media about US capital’s ‘fake crime numbers’Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Washington DC police systematically manipulated crime statistics to make the city appear safer than it actually is.The probe, anonymous sources tell the Washington Post, NBC News and Fox News, being conducted by the US attorney’s office for the District of Columbia under Jeanine Pirro, is the latest escalation between the Trump administration and DC officials over federal control of local policing. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago US Open mixed doubles: Draper/Pegula beat Alcaraz/Raducanu, Djokovic/Danilovic in action – live

Updates from the opening day action at Flushing MeadowsGet in touch! You can mail Daniel hereThe last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be best of three sets, but first to four games not six. If a game goes to deuce, the winners of the next point take it – there’s no advantage. If a match is level at a set apiece, a 10-point match tiebreak will settle it.Breaking: Danielle Collins and Christian Harris replace Sinner/Siniakova. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal get Rodrygo update; Eze agreed; Liverpool Isak twist; Man Utd, Chelsea latest

Clubs continue to work on big deals in this record-breaking summer transfer window

Sport

4 h. ago Trump administration revokes security clearances of 37 current and former government officials

The Trump administration has ordered the revocation of the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials, including some who worked on the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss it by name

Politics

4 h. ago Prolific Salah and Caldentey rewarded with PFA player of the year awards

Liverpool forward wins honour for the third timeCaldentey award follows stellar season for ArsenalLiverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey have won the 2025 awards for the Professional Footballers’ Association players’ player of the year.Salah becomes the first player to collect the prestigious men’s award three times. It would have been a shock had the Egypt forward not triumphed on Tuesday night at the ceremony in Manchester, given he scored 29 Premier League goals and created a further 18 as Liverpool won the title last season, the 33-year-old enjoying one of his very best campaigns of an already gilded career. Continue reading...

Sport

4 h. ago Community rallies around LA teen detained by Ice while walking dog

Days after his 18th birthday, Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz arrested in Van Nuys in what family call kidnappingA southern California community is calling for the release of a high school student whom US immigration agents arrested earlier this month while he was walking his dog.Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz was supposed to be starting his senior year of high school at Reseda charter high school this month. But just days after his 18th birthday, masked Ice agents detained him as he walking his dog in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Van Nuys in what his family described as a kidnapping. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Alexander Isak finally breaks silence on Liverpool transfer saga: "Promises have been broken"

Newcastle striker Alexander Isak has finally given his side of the story after months of speculation linking him with British record transfer to Liverpool this summer

Sport

4 h. ago Tommy Fleetwood arrives at East Lake as relatable contender on verge of greatness

After a season of close calls the world No 10 has a chance to turn his drought into a career defining momentThe widespread euphoria that surrounded Rory McIlroy’s Masters triumph served as the finest example of a moment when golf observers want a player to win. This, after all, is supposed to be a non-tribal environment aside from the weekend every two years when Europe face USA and people on either side of the ropes take leave of their senses.Golf’s next pursuit of the holy grail belongs to Tommy Fleetwood. Defeat from positions of strength at the Travelers and St Jude championships threw up an unwanted statistic. In 163 PGA Tour starts, Fleetwood is yet to emerge victorious. As striking as that raw number – Fleetwood’s talent is such that one assumes he should have claimed a batch of trophies in the US – is the fact people are willing him to end his drought. Fleetwood is relatable, likable, popular. He also has no objection to the discussion presently whirling around him. Continue...

Politics

5 h. ago Peruvian woman accused of trying to smuggle cocaine into Bali using sex toy

Officers say they found 1.4kg of drug inside toy in woman’s underwear and also accused her of hiding ecstasy pillsA Peruvian woman has been arrested in Bali after allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine into the Indonesian resort island using a sex toy and hiding drugs in her underwear, police said.The 42-year-old, identified only by her initials NS, arrived at Bali’s international airport from Qatar on 12 August when authorities became suspicious. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Review of North Lanarkshire community safety highlights increases in some crimes

The annual report from the council advises elected members of the progress made under the Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025, which sees North Lanarkshire Council work in partnership with emergency services and other organisations.

Events