The Trump administration faces legal and political challenges, with an **appeals court throwing out a $500m civil fraud penalty and ongoing efforts to reshape congressional maps in California and Texas, while it implements broad visa reviews and controversial immigration aid policies**.

• Trump officials urge Fed to remove governor after she refuses to quit — The Guardian -
• California lawmakers approve special election to ask voters to approve new congressional maps – follow live — The Guardian -
• California approves special election to reshape congressional map in favor of Democrats — The Guardian -

• Appeals court throws out Trump's $500m civil fraud penalty — BBC World -
• JD Vance previews candidates’ defense of Trump’s bill for midterms in Georgia — The Guardian -
• Trump set to go on ride-along with troops in DC amid federal takeover — The Guardian -
• Trump administration to review more than 55 million US visa holders for potential rules violations — The Guardian -
• LA Ice protests spurred US military to identify ‘hotels to avoid’ due to ‘harassment’ — The Guardian -
• Vance Recounts Telling Zelensky to ‘Behave’ in Trump Meeting — New York Times World -
• Trump officials cut California sex-education funds over gender identity references — The Guardian -
• Europe Gets a Written Trump Trade Deal, With a Caveat for Automakers — New York Times World -
• How Tiffany Trump’s Husband Benefited From Proximity to Power — New York Times World -
• Pentagon asks civilian employees to join ‘volunteer force’ to aid Ice deportations — The Guardian -
• Majority of college students say they will be affected by Trump’s new tax bill: ‘Honestly, I’m cooked’ — The Guardian -
• Uganda Agrees to Take Deportees From U.S. — New York Times World -
• Trump again calls for release of ex-clerk guilty of Colorado election data breach — The Guardian -
• Brazil-U.S. Talks on Mining Rare Earth Minerals Are Complicated by Trump’s Tariffs — New York Times World -
• US to hold high tariffs on European cars until Brussels moves to cut tariffs on US goods — The Guardian -
• Marriott does not deny a hotel in its portfolio was used to detain families for Ice — The Guardian -
• Zelensky Projects More Confidence in Ukraine Peace Talks After Trump Meeting — New York Times World -
• Immigration raid in New Jersey results in dozens of warehouse workers detained — The Guardian -
• ‘An existential threat’: US health workers call Robert F Kennedy Jr a risk to public health — The Guardian -
• Trump steps back from Russia and Ukraine peace talks for now, sources say — The Guardian -
• Texas approves new electoral map favouring Republicans — BBC World -
• European leaders scrambled to shield Ukraine in high-stakes Trump talks – but did they? — The Guardian -
• Tulsi Gabbard announces plans to cut intelligence staff by half — BBC World -
• ICC 'deplores' new US sanctions on judges and prosecutors — BBC World -
• US Navy sailor convicted of spying for China — BBC World -
• Obama calls California’s redistricting plan ‘a responsible approach’ — The Guardian -
• Trump administration’s anti-woke campaign targets Smithsonian museums — The Guardian -
• Texas house passes Republican-drawn gerrymandered congressional map after weeks of protest – as it happened — The Guardian -

Concerns mount over Israel's expanding Gaza City operations and West Bank settlements, even as Netanyahu indicates hostage release talks will begin, with international calls for a ceasefire and media access to Gaza increasing amidst reports of an **83% civilian death rate**.

• Israel will begin talks to free all hostages, Netanyahu says — BBC World -
• Israel Is Expanding Its Gaza City Operation, but Where Does It Stand? — New York Times World -
• UN and Red Cross warn of catastrophe if Israel launches Gaza City offensive — The Guardian -

• Israel tells medics and aid groups to prepare for Gaza City evacuation — BBC World -
• Has Israel begun its Gaza City offensive or will there be yet more ‘approvals’? — The Guardian -
• David Lammy among 21 foreign ministers to condemn plan for illegal West Bank settlement — The Guardian -
• Pro-Israel lawyers investigated over alleged legal threats to suppress support for Palestine — The Guardian -
• UK backs call for Israel to allow foreign media into Gaza — BBC World -
• Israel keeps up military pressure on Gaza City ahead of planned offensive – as it happened — The Guardian -
• Thursday Briefing: Israeli Troops Near Gaza City — New York Times World -
• Thursday Briefing: Israel’s Planned Offensive — New York Times World -
• UK among 27 countries to demand press given immediate access to Gaza — The Guardian -
• Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war — The Guardian -
• Netanyahu says Australian PM Albanese’s record ‘forever tarnished by weakness’ after Australian Jewish group urges calm — The Guardian -
• Palestinians flee Gaza City districts as Israel says first stages of offensive have begun — BBC World -
• With Moves on West Bank and Gaza City, Israel Defies Global Outcry — New York Times World -
• Gazans Fear Looming Israeli Operation — New York Times World -
• Israel Approves Settlements, a Blow to Faded Hopes for a Palestinian State — New York Times World -

The UK grapples with economic and social challenges, including accounting errors at WH Smith, rising asylum seeker numbers, a London Underground strike, and controversies over childcare safety and sex education, while GCSE results show a rebound post-pandemic.

• Baby food firms given 18 months to improve quality of products in England — The Guardian -
• Man charged with murder after ice-cream seller stabbed in Wembley — The Guardian -
• As Covid effect ebbs, GCSE results reveal broken legacy of Gove’s resit policy — The Guardian -

• WH Smith shares plunge 42% after retailer’s £30m accounting error — The Guardian -
• C of E offers ‘unreserved’ apology as ex-priest found guilty of indecent assault — The Guardian -
• Diane Abbott: I advised Jeremy Corbyn not to start new party — The Guardian -
• Hurricane Erin’s tail may bring wet and windy end to UK summer — The Guardian -
• Refugee charities install safe rooms and relocate amid rise in far-right threats — The Guardian -
• London Underground workers to strike in September over pay and workload — The Guardian -
• Woman with ADHD who slept in sauna on team-building trip wins UK case — The Guardian -
• Government takes over Liberty Steel plants in South Yorkshire after collapse — The Guardian -
• GCSE results: pupils in England bounce back from pandemic as top grades rise — The Guardian -
• Action to tackle number of asylum seekers coming to UK is important step to ‘restoring order’, says Cooper – as it happened — The Guardian -
• GCSE results: joy at Maesteg school, but Wales still lagging behind England — The Guardian -
• Experienced skydiver deliberately fell to her death, coroner finds — The Guardian -
• Customers feeling raw after Tesco adds 25p to price of a meal deal — The Guardian -
• Fisher who met King Charles is jailed for role in £18m cocaine-smuggling plot — The Guardian -
• Teenager who planned mosque attack in Scotland detained for 10 years — The Guardian -
• UK health firms ‘misleading’ parents with claims over milk teeth ‘treatments’ — The Guardian -
• Number of asylum seekers housed in hotels up 8% in a year, Home Office data shows — The Guardian -
• US woman jailed for 30 years for attempted murder of Birmingham man — The Guardian -
• Why radical tax reform may be only way for Reeves to balance the books — The Guardian -
• UK borrowed less than expected in July in lift for Rachel Reeves — The Guardian -
• Stella Creasy and Richard Tice call for scrutiny over which EU laws UK ditches — The Guardian -
• Angela Rayner hit with legal challenge over datacentre on green belt land — The Guardian -

Global security remains tense with Russia launching new strikes on Ukraine and ordering pre-installed state apps, while an arrest is made in the Nord Stream pipeline blast investigation, and New Zealand upgrades its defense fleet.

• Russia orders state-backed Max messenger app to be pre-installed on new phones — The Guardian -
• Ukraine Works to Identify 6,000 Bodies Sent From Russia in Makeshift Rail Platform Lab — New York Times World -
• If a Putin-Zelensky summit takes place, where could it be? — BBC World -

• Nato leaders must ‘not be naive’ about any potential Ukraine deployment, says head of German soldiers’ union – as it happened — The Guardian -
• Soccer Match in Argentina Ends Early After Violence in Stands — New York Times World -
• Bolsonaro given 48 hours to explain alleged plans to flee to Argentina — The Guardian -
• Suspect Is Arrested in Sabotage of Pipelines Between Russia and Germany — New York Times World -
• Italian police arrest Ukrainian man over Nord Stream pipelines blast — The Guardian -
• DR Congo rebels killed 140 civilians despite peace process, rights group says — BBC World -
• Russia launches biggest wave of strikes on Ukraine for weeks — BBC World -
• Ukrainian held in Italy over Nord Stream gas pipelines blast mystery — BBC World -
• Pope Leo XIV to travel to Lebanon in likely first international trip — BBC World -
• China's Xi touts unity and development in surprise Tibet visit — BBC World -
• New Zealand to spend $3bn upgrading helicopters and ‘embarrassing’ defence planes — The Guardian -
• What Russia Is Doing to Grab Ukrainian Land While It Still Can — New York Times World -
• Why Georgia, Once on Democracy’s Vanguard, Is Drifting Toward Russia — New York Times World -

Australia addresses childcare worker safety with proposed databases and mobile phone bans, debates gender ideology and other social issues in Queensland politics, and considers tax reform proposals for economic growth.

• Australia news live: debris balls wash up along NSW beaches again; Paterson condemns Burke over ‘inflammatory’ criticism of Israel — The Guardian -
• Database to track childcare workers and mobile phone bans on the table as Australian ministers set to meet — The Guardian -
• ‘Gender ideology’, quotas and anti-discrimination laws on the agenda for Queensland LNP state conference — The Guardian -

• Appeal judges ‘struggle to understand’ case by Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyer over distinctions in rape — The Guardian -
• Queensland court bans pro-Palestine bridge rally; Chalmers reveals list of 10 priorities from the economic roundtable – as it happened — The Guardian -

Major legal developments include a Texas mother's arrest in India for her son's murder, investigations into the death of French streamer Jean Pormanove after months of abuse, the Menendez brothers' parole hearings, and a US reporter's detention by ICE.

• Texas Mother Wanted for Son’s Murder Arrested in India — New York Times World -
• French Authorities Investigate Death of Streamer Jean Pormanove After Months of Abuse — New York Times World -
• French streamer's death 'not due to trauma', autopsy finds — BBC World -

• Ghanaian music star Shatta Wale detained over Lamborghini purchase — BBC World -
• Ice’s detention of Atlanta reporter seeks to ‘silence him’, ACLU petition says — The Guardian -
• Menendez brothers face parole hearings as they seek release after three decades — The Guardian -
• Former New York mayor adviser gave reporter cash in chip bag at campaign event — The Guardian -
• 'Bear attack victim' was actually killed by son, Japan police say — BBC World -
• Woman assisting police after infant found dead in Perth storm water drain — The Guardian -
• Watch: Moments from the Menendez brothers trial in 1993 — BBC World -

Environmental challenges include a California plague case, drought causing early harvests, and shrinking mountain ash forests due to rising temperatures, alongside concerns about Hurricane Erin's remnants affecting the UK and misinformation on public health.

• California resident tests positive for the plague after camping, officials say — The Guardian -
• Drought bringing autumn harvest two weeks early, Waitrose says — The Guardian -
• Victoria’s mountain ash forests could lose a quarter of giant trees as temperatures rise — The Guardian -

• Hurricane Erin moves away from North Carolina after battering outer banks — The Guardian -
• A Miles-Long Cave in Kentucky Was a Smelly Disaster. Now It’s Spectacular. — New York Times World -
• Dusky Gopher Frogs Are Making a Comeback in Mississippi — New York Times World -
• NSW weather: heavy rain and flooding as Sydney records wettest day of the year — The Guardian -
• Californians brace for worst multiday heatwave of the year — The Guardian -

Cultural stories include AI-generated articles being removed by major publications, Lil Nas X's arrest, an Egyptian novelist's passing, the unearthing of a Shakespeare family will, and the 116th birthday of the world's oldest person.

• Lil Nas X arrested and hospitalized after altercation with police — The Guardian -
• The 95-year-old POW who wants to return to North Korea to die — BBC World -
• Wired and Business Insider remove articles by AI-generated ‘freelancer’ — The Guardian -

• Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown adopts ‘sweet baby girl’ — The Guardian -
• Brent Hinds, former lead guitarist of Mastodon, dies in motorcycle crash — The Guardian -
• Sonallah Ibrahim, Egyptian Novelist of Irony and Dissent, Dies at 88 — New York Times World -
• Remnants of 2,000-year-old sunken city lifted out of the sea off Alexandria — The Guardian -
• German contest to live in depopulated Soviet-era city proves global hit — The Guardian -
• McDonald's Japan postpones toy promo after Pokémon complaints — BBC World -
• Will at centre of legal battle over Shakespeare’s home unearthed after 150 years — The Guardian -
• Why Shop? In Maine, the Library of Things Has It All (Almost). — New York Times World -
• Three more species of giraffe than previously thought - can you spot the difference? — BBC World -
• Passengers sue Delta and United over window seats that have no windows — The Guardian -
• Rescued baby gorilla recovers from smuggling ordeal — BBC World -
• Joao Silva’s Journey Back to Afghanistan — New York Times World -
• Ethel Caterham, world’s oldest person, marks 116th birthday — The Guardian -
• John Cruickshank, Last World War II Victoria Cross Recipient, Dies at 105 — New York Times World -
• Not just Braveheart: black Scots become TikTok hit among African Americans — The Guardian -
• Women in Indian Sports Sweat for Their Share of a Booming Market — New York Times World -
• There’s an app for that: finding a sunny cafe in Paris, the city of light — The Guardian -
• ACTU claims of agreement with tech firms over training AI dismissed by creative peak bodies — The Guardian -
• 'Nicest judge in the world' Frank Caprio dies aged 88 — BBC World -
• Ireland’s Last Leprechaun Whisperer Pitches TV Show — New York Times World -
• Watch: Frank Caprio's heartwarming moments as judge — BBC World -
• Fast-food giant Jollibee blames fraudsters for raffle row in Philippines — BBC World -
• Frank Caprio, US judge who found fame online for his compassion, dies aged 88 — The Guardian -
• Italians Pay Final Respects to Pippo Baudo, Their ‘King of Television’ — New York Times World -

Economic headlines cover Australia's proposed tax reforms to generate a windfall, a study revealing a surging CEO-to-worker pay gap in the US, Sony's PlayStation 5 price increase, and India's biofuel initiative.

• Giving Australians $2,700 tax back while widening GST could help generate $152bn windfall, economist says — The Guardian -
• CEO-to-worker pay gap surges to 632 to 1 at US’s lowest-paying large firms, study shows — The Guardian -
• Sony raises PlayStation 5 prices in US as tariff fears persist — BBC World -

• India's biofuel drive is saving billions but also sparking worries — BBC World -