The ornithological artist drawing 1,000 birds by hand – all for an app that wants you off your phone

• President Donald Trump criticized "leakers" following reports that the United States has depleted its stockpiles of precision missiles during the ongoing conflict with Iran. • During an Oval Office briefing, Trump expressed confidence in U.S. superiority, stating he does not believe Iran "can go much longer" in the confrontation.

Bill must still be approved by House but would keep government running at current funding levelsThe US Senate on Friday passed a government funding bill that will prevent a shutdown through the midterm elections, though it still must be approved by the House of Representatives.The continuing resolution (CR) passed by a 90-6 vote will keep the government running at its current funding levels until 11 December, more than a month past the midterms in which Democrats are hoping to regain control of Congress and block Donald Trump’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his presidency. Continue reading...

New York mayor’s policy set to generate revenue and address housing crisis despite outcry in some quarters New York City’s introduction of a pied-à-terre tax has provided fodder for Zohran Mamdani’s critics, who accuse the democratic socialist mayor of attacking the rich – even as others welcome it as a much-needed effort to tax the wealthy in a city known for its yawning inequality and cost-of-living crisis.The tax, aimed at closing the city’s budget gap, covers people who own but do not live full-time in a house worth more than $5m or a condominium or cooperative unit worth at least $1m. Continue reading...

Observers express concern that the division has lost its independence and commercial reality has taken overWhen Sir Demis Hassabis said AI had brought the world to a “pivotal moment in human history” last month, he knew another big change was imminent.This shift was closer to home. The Nobel prize-winning head of Google DeepMind, Google’s AI unit, announced this week he was relinquishing his day-to-day duties as chief executive and becoming chair. He is also taking on the role of chief scientist at DeepMind’s parent, Alphabet. Continue reading...

Asked whether he targeted reporter who investigated party finances, Brexit campaigner says: ‘When you live by the sword, you die by the sword’The prominent Reform UK member and Brexit campaigner Arron Banks is said to have set private investigators on a Sunday Times journalist after he broke a series of stories about Nigel Farage.Banks is alleged to have paid for the services of investigators to examine Gabriel Pogrund, editor of the paper’s Insight investigations team. Continue reading...

Ryder Williams, 16, presented with distinctive red jacket by star of TV rescuer reboot, Stephen AmellAs life imitates art and vice versa, the star of the Baywatch reboot recently presented one of the distinctive red jackets seen on the beach rescuer drama to the teenage lifeguard who went viral for saving a boy off the California coast on camera.Stephen Amell, who was cast as the main protagonist for the first season of the new Baywatch scheduled to premiere in early 2027, presented the garment worn by lifeguards on the fictional show and its prequel franchise to 16-year-old Ryder Williams in a video posted on social media by the production on Friday just after midnight eastern time. Continue reading...

Britain’s spooks take quiet satisfaction from survey ranking Secret Intelligence Service Europe’s top espionage agency MI6 has the swagger of James Bond; its French equivalent, DGSE, the complexities of the television drama Le Bureau. The film and TV shows may be fictional, but a survey run by a French magazine that placed the British spy agency above the French as No 1 across all of Europe this week is not.L’Express, a news weekly, conducted a Eurovision-style poll of 60 current and former spies from across the continent, plus the CIA and Israel’s Mossad. Each was asked to rank their top five foreign intelligence agencies, in secret, naturally enough. MI6 was first with 251 points ahead of DGSE on 169, with other agencies trailing behind. Continue reading...

Unexploded ordnance and a military motorcycle also recovered owing to record heat and drought conditionsRecord-low water levels in the Danube have exposed remnants of Europe’s Nazi past, with dozens of second world war warships emerging from the riverbed during an intense drought.In the middle of the river on the Serbian and Romanian border, a broken-up hull was visible on a sandbank that is normally underwater. Other vessels were partly submerged, some still believed to be laden with weapons. Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer confirmed by 50 votes to 49 early on Saturday morning, with senators deferring action on president’s voting bill until after recessTodd Blanche faced heavy criticism for the department’s sloppy rollout of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which redacted information that should not have been redacted and left unredacted the names of victims that should have been kept private.During his confirmation hearing, Blanche refused to personally meet with Epstein victims, then agreed to do so. The survivors said they received few answers from Blanche during the meeting.Mr Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr Blanche.It is between Mr Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr Blanche. Continue reading...

European Aquatics Championships taking place in cityThreat to water quality tested two years after GamesParis is staging its first high-diving competition in the Seine, with athletes launching themselves from a 20-metre platform in front of the Eiffel Tower – a spectacular new test of the city’s effort to reclaim its river for sport. The event on the Pont de Bir-Hakeim has also exposed the fragility of that ambition.Organisers suspended training on Thursday when traces of hydrocarbons were detected upstream. By Friday, the French Swimming Federation said the affected area had been treated, allowing athletes to return to the water and the event to proceed as planned. High diving concludes on Saturday with the final two rounds and medal events, while the broader European Aquatics Championships run through to 16 August. Continue reading...

The US president’s profound ignorance of his enemy has led to an impotent cycle of empty threats, analysts sayBeing the subject of mockery may be the most intense of all Donald Trump’s known aversions.Yet more than five months after embarking on a war of choice against Iran, the US president risks attracting ridicule as he struggles to secure a military victory – while repeatedly threatening devastating bombardment against the Tehran regime, only to back down on the pretext of renewed negotiations. Continue reading...