Shares in easyJet jumped after reports that the Swiss-headquartered shipping company MSC was considering a takeover of Europe’s second-largest budget airline.
The shares shot up 12% after a report from Corriere Della Sera, an Italian publication, which cited three unnamed sources familiar with the matter, their biggest bump in three years.
New York attorney general strikes a defiant tone during Mamdani rally in first appearance since her indictment
China has hit back at accusations from the US that it is trying to hurt the world economy, as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appeared to re-escalate, amped up by aggressive rhetoric on both sides.
China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday that the US was “threatening to intimidate” with the prospect of new tariffs on Chinese exports, “which is not the right way to get along with China”. Its spokesperson said that China would “fight to the end” in trade talks.
China has hit back at accusations from the US that it is trying to hurt the world economy, as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies appeared to re-escalate, amped up by aggressive rhetoric on both sides.
China’s commerce ministry said on Tuesday that the US was “threatening to intimidate” with the prospect of new tariffs on Chinese exports, “which is not the right way to get along with China”. Its spokesperson said that China would “fight to the end” in trade talks.
History shows the crimes of empire were later mirrored on European soil. Dehumanisation and militarised terror both seem normalised now
It’s clear what Israel’s western-facilitated genocide has done to Gaza. But what has it done to us? Palestinians are the “canaries in a coalmine”, the Palestinian analyst Muhammad Shehada tells me. “We’re screaming of a major warning of what’s about to come your way. When you have a media-political class that’s relishing, delighting in the murder of our children, do you think they’re going to care about yours?”
There is a warning from our recent, terrifying past that we should heed. Colonialism, warned Martinican author Aimé Césaire, “works to decivilise the coloniser, to brutalise him in the true sense of the word, to degrade him, to awaken him to buried instincts, to covetousness, violence, race hatred, and moral relativism”. The horrors of western imperialism – with its dehumanisation and violence – were, he argued, ultimately redirected into Europe in the form of fascism. This was the imperial “boomerang”, as the German-American philosopher Hannah Arendt agreed.
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By blending diaspora players with homegrown talent the island nation of fewer than 600,000 people has qualified for 2026 tournament
On 5 July 1975, the Cape Verdean flag was raised for the first time at Estádio da Várzea in the capital city of Praia, marking the nation’s declaration of independence from Portugal. At that moment, there was no national football team – and no sign of what was to come.
Exactly 100 days after the 50th anniversary of independence, the same flag was waved at the very same ground, where crowds gathered to celebrate Cape Verde’s historic first World Cup qualification with the players who had earlier secured the decisive 3-0 win over Eswatini five miles away at the National Stadium. This island nation off the coast of Senegal, with a population of fewer than 600,000, has become the second-smallest country to qualify for the tournament, after Iceland in 2018.
An exiled Venezuelan human rights activist and a political consultant have been shot and wounded in an apparently targeted attack in Colombia’s capital.
Yendri Omar Velásquez Rodríguez and Luis Alejandro Peche Arteaga were shot on Monday as they left a building in north Bogotá, Colombian police said.
I had high hopes of making a difference when I joined Halifax Women but ended up feeling let down. Clubs have a responsibility to look after their players – at all levels
Football has given me some wonderful experiences. As a young Arab and Egyptian woman playing for Stoke City from 2017 to 2021 I broke barriers and that paved the way for some exciting opportunities. Fifa selected me as a 2022 World Cup ambassador and put me in a film with David Beckham; I also became an Adidas ambassador and worked as an Afcon pundit for the BBC.
But there have been less easy times as well. As an Egyptian international, representing a country that stands 95th in the Fifa rankings, there are obstacles to playing in the biggest leagues. Because of the points system for international players I left Stoke for the chance of playing second-tier football in Spain with Albacete. And since coming back to England, I’ve seen a world very distant from the new riches of the WSL.
Two men and one woman arrested after explosion in Castel d’Azzano, which police believe to have been intentional
An explosion at a farmhouse near Verona killed three police officers and injured at least 13 others, officials said on Tuesday.
Police were attempting to conduct an eviction when the house blew up overnight in Castel d’Azzano, in northern Italy, in what is suspected to be an intentional act of violence.
Netflix’s animation mangles and sentimentalises Dahl’s black comedy about a gross and detestable married couple – relocating the action to Texas and introducing a plucky orphan heroine
This animated Netflix adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits is only fractionally less gruelling than eating wormy spaghetti or finding a toad stuffed in the bottom of your bed. Dahl’s story about one of the most dysfunctional marriages in fiction is not exactly burdened with plot: the 95-page original is essentially a series of mean pranks, all monstrously mangled here and tortuously added to.
There has been some outrage that Netflix have Americanised the story, but that is the least of this film’s problems. In the fictional city of Triperot, Mrs Twit (voiced by Margo Martindale) is a Texan in blue denim cowboy boots, unhappily married to Mr Twit (Johnny Vegas, keeping his Lancashire accent). The couple have built a rickety amusement park called Twitlandia, with rides made out of toilets and old mattresses, all powered by the magical tears of the Muggle-Wump monkeys. When authorities close down the amusement park on the grounds of health and safety, the gruesome twosome go to war with the city.
It took an American president unbound by traditional domestic constraints to get this done and provide the parties with what they could accept
Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza demands atonement from Palestinians for the horrific acts of 7 October, not from Israel for the barbarity that followed. It calls for Gaza’s deradicalization but not an end to Israel’s messianism. It micromanages the future of Palestinian governance while saying nothing about the future of Israel’s occupation.
It is riddled with ambiguities, devoid of timetables, arbiters or consequences for inevitable eventual violations. If all goes according to plan – if the deal’s vagueness is not exploited to torpedo it; unavoidable clashes over subsequent phases do not get in the way of the first stage; Arab and Muslim states maintain pressure on the United States and the United States gets Israel to comply – life for Gazans will transition from utter hell to mere nightmare. Their condition will shift from defenceless prey to twice-dispossessed refugees in their own land. And still, it would be a momentous achievement.
Exclusive: Munib al-Masri Jr is part of a campaign asking the UK to help create a ‘just future’ in Palestine – starting with an apology for its role in the crisis
He has spent 14 years in pain, adjusting to paralysis below the waist. But Munib al-Masri Jr, 37, says he forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him.
Masri is among Palestinians who welcomed the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood last month but are pushing the government to go further. The Britain Owes Palestine campaign that Masri is part of wants the UK to formally apologise for what they say is its historical role in creating the Middle East crisis, as ceasefire talks bring an uneasy peace to the region and raise questions about its future.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made an unsuccessful attempt to catch the rodent during Belgium’s 4-2 win on Monday night before the Wales substitute Brennan Johnson ushered the rat off the Cardiff City Stadium pitch. The rat then slipped past a ball boy and disappeared behind the referee review monitor and was not seen again.
Some artists and audiences are boycotting Boiler Room and other events over its parent company’s links with Israel – creating fierce debate about the best way to protest and how to remain uncompromised
Those attending Boiler Room’s two-day festival in London’s Burgess Park in August may have noticed a troubling message spray-painted on the site’s perimeter fence: “Boiler Room is owned by Israeli arms investors.” In nearby Brockwell Park, which hosted Field Day, Cross the Tracks and Mighty Hoopla – three festivals belonging to the same group as Boiler Room – graffiti depicted a bomb with the letters “KKR” emblazoned on it.
In June 2024, the controversial private equity giant KKR acquired Superstruct Entertainment, the company that owns these four festivals and tens of others, many of which were the subjects of boycotts by artists this summer. That’s because KKR has considerable business interests in Israel, including investments in Axel Springer SE, a German media company that runs classified ads for housing developments in the illegally occupied West Bank. Ravers for Palestine, an anonymously run Instagram page that has backed dozens of boycotts, characterised KKR in a recent post as “the beating heart of western capitalism where an insatiable lust for profits and power has no moral boundaries”.
Los Condores are in the finals again and subplots abound going into next month’s Dubai qualification tournament
While many fans in the UK ponder the early-season fortunes of their clubs, or perhaps debate selection for the imminent autumn internationals, the qualifying battle for the 2027 Rugby World Cup rages on.
Chile sealed their second consecutive appearance at the tournament with a sensational playoff win against Samoa last month, leaving a single spot to be won for Australia in two years’ time. On Saturday Paraguay stunned Brazil 39-19 in the first leg of their playoff. The second leg takes place this Saturday in Jacareí, near São Paulo, as Brazil’s men attempt to emulate the women and qualify for the first time.
Glide bombs knock out power supply and hit hospital in Kharkiv; Zelenskyy lining up Trump meeting with Tomahawks hot topic. What we know on day 1,329
An oil terminal at Feodosia in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula was burning on Monday after an attack by Ukrainian drones. A Ukrainian security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the drones, launched by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service and military special forces, hit at least five reservoirs. The source said drones also hit at least two Russian electrical substations on the peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine in 2014.
Large heat signatures around the Feodosia terminal were visible on Nasa’s satellite fire monitoring service, Firms, and Crimea’s Moscow-installed governor confirmed the fire. The Feodosia terminal also came under attack last week. Ukraine has launched more than 30 strikes on Russian energy sites since the beginning of August, aiming to hamper funding of the Kremlin’s war machine and also triggering a spike in petrol prices inside Russia. Crimea is among areas that have been hit by fuel shortages and rationing as Russia has lost refining capacity in Ukrainian attacks.
Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with guided bombs on Monday, knocking out power to 30,000 customers, local officials said. The mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the three bombs damaged a hospital and hit power transmission lines. Four people were injured, mostly by flying glass.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced he will travel to the US this week for talks on the potential US provision of long-range weapons, after Donald Trump said he might supply Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles. Zelenskyy said a meeting with Trump might take place on Friday and he would also meet with defence and energy companies and members of Congress.
Zelenskyy spoke at a meeting with the EU foreign minister, Kaja Kallas. He said he also would seek further US assistance to protect Ukraine’s electricity and gas networks amid Russian bombardment. Zelenskyy will join a Ukrainian delegation already in the US led by Yulia Svyrydenko, the prime minister.
Kallas said on Monday that the EU had started funding a special tribunal to prosecute the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and other senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. “We are also calling on other member states, countries, participants to fund it so that the work can really start full-scale because without accountability there is no just and lasting peace.”
Russia’s defence ministry on Monday said its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine: one in the Donetsk region and the other near Kupiansk in the north-east, a largely destroyed city under attack for months. The first corps of Ukraine’s national guard said it had repelled a new attempt by Russian forces to make advances near the town of Dobropillia, which is in the Donetsk region near the logistics hub of Pokrovsk. These versions of events on the battlefield were not independently confirmed.
Russia poses a direct threat and the “icy peace” with the EU could erupt into “direct military confrontation”, Germany’s foreign intelligence chief has warned. Martin Jaeger, head of the BND spy service, told lawmakers that Russia was determined to expand its “sphere of influence further westward into Europe”. Jaeger said Germany was Russia’s “number one target in Europe” given that it was the largest EU economy and played a “leading role in supporting Ukraine”.
The warnings come after incidents in the EU including the incursion of Russian drones into Poland, the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets, and suspected Russian involvement in drone flights that shut down airports. “We must not sit back and assume that a possible Russian attack would come in 2029 at the earliest,” Jaeger said, referring to an earlier intelligence assessment. “We are already under fire today … The means Moscow uses are well known: attempted manipulation of elections and public opinion, propaganda, provocations, disinformation, espionage, sabotage, airspace violations by drones and fighter jets, contract killings, persecution of opposition figures living abroad.”
Greaves edges out world champion 6-5 in semi-final
She will now face Gian van Veen in November finale
Beau Greaves won a thrilling last-leg decider to shock Luke Littler 6-5 in the semi-finals of the PDC world youth championship in Wigan.
Greaves, a three-time WDF women’s world champion who has secured a PDC Tour card for the 2026-27 season, had gone 2-1 up in the semi-final. Littler responded with the next three legs, the PDC world champion competing the day after defeating rival Luke Humphries 6-1 in the World Grand Prix final in Leicester.
PM will be hoping to win over enough Socialists to stave off losing a no-confidence vote that would deepen France’s political crisis
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it welcomed US president Donald Trump’s desire to focus on the search for a peace deal to end the fighting in Ukraine after achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and hoped he would be able to push Kyiv towards a settlement.
We are already well acquainted with Mr Witkoff; he is effective, has proven his effectiveness now in the Middle East, and we hope that his talents will continue to contribute to the work already under way in Ukraine.
The Russian side remains open and ready for peaceful dialogue, and we hope that the influence of the United States and the diplomatic skills of President Trump’s envoys will help encourage the Ukrainian side to be more active and more willing to engage in the peace process.
In the 1870s, a civil engineer devised early handheld cameras able to capture scenes with more detail than ever. He used the technology to document people on New York streets, from musicians to beggars to paperboys. The work of the innovator, often referred to as the ‘father of instantaneous photography’, has been compiled into a book by Erik Hesselberg called Candid New York: The Pioneering Photography of George Bradford Brainerd, out on 21 October
It’s actually a euphorbia, and some careful pruning will solve your problem – and result in a more attractive plant
What’s the problem?
I’ve had this cactus for many years, but it keeps getting taller and soon it will hit the ceiling. How can I stop the plant growing without doing it harm?
Diagnosis
The plant in question isn’t a true cactus at all, but a succulent called Euphorbia trigona, also known as the African milk tree. Like many columnar euphorbias, it can shoot up rapidly indoors if it’s happy, often outgrowing its space. Luckily, the plant responds well to pruning if done carefully.
Gang bosses support soup kitchens and offer jobs and loans in drive to expand control of poor neighbourhoods
In a small colourful room tucked away in the south of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, four women are making bread and pizza bases, the bright spring sun shining strong outside the windows, which are covered in black metal mesh.
As they flew above Yu Suzuki’s innovative, psychedelic 3D landscapes combating space dragons and alien rock monsters, the moving arcade cabinet would fling players around and physically involve them in the action
During our family’s holidays in the 1980s, most of which were spent at classic English seaside resorts, I spent all my time and pocket money trawling the arcades. From Shanklin to Blackpool, I played them all, attracted by those vast bulb-lit frontages, the enticing names (Fantasy Land! Treasure Island!), and of course by the bleeping, flashing video machines within. And while I spent many hours on the staple classics – Pac-Man, Galaxian, Kung Fu Master – there was one particular game I always looked out for. A weird, thrilling design classic. A total experience, operating somewhere between a traditional arcade game, a flight sim and a rollercoaster. At the time, it seemed impossibly futuristic. Now, it is 40 years old.
Released by Sega in 1985, Space Harrier is a 3D space shooter in which you control a jetpack super soldier named Harrier, who flies into the screen blasting surreal alien enemies above a psychedelic landscape. When designer Yu Suzuki was first tasked with overseeing its development, the game had been conceived as an authentic military flight shooter, but the graphical limitations of the day made that impossible – there was too much complex animation. So Suzuki, inspired by the flying sequences in the fantasy movie The NeverEnding Story, envisaged something different and more surreal, with a flying character rather than a fighter plane and aliens resembling stone giants and dragons. It was colourful and crazy, like a Roger Dean painting brought to life by the Memphis Group.
Connexion
