Wants

Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and developJared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. “This might be one of the hardest truths our generation has to face,” he writes in his book, The Digital Delusion. Continue reading...

The mission of the Flock app is quietly subversive: to encourage users to ditch their screens and explore the wonderful world of birdingOn a brilliantly bright afternoon in his gallery and studio in Bolinas, a small town on the northern California coast, Keith Hansen was putting the finishing touches on a watercolor of an almost improbably flamboyant painted bunting.With an ultra-fine sable brush, he made a few intricate additions to the cobalt blue plumage on the bunting’s head, and, satisfied with his work, slipped the watercolor into a stout binder that every few days welcomes a new addition. Continue reading...

Barrister alleges ‘account of penis wiggling is an attempt to humiliate’ broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touchingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlan Jones’s defence barrister has told a Sydney court one of the broadcaster’s alleged victims invented details of alleged indecent assaults at a Fitzroy Falls farm to “humiliate” and “smear” the former media titan.Complainant J told the court during evidence-in-chief earlier this week that during one alleged incident in the property’s bedroom, Jones’s penis was not fully erect and “not very big”. Continue reading...

• Gulf monarchies are shifting their strategy toward Iran from direct confrontation to "strategic containment," aiming to limit Tehran's regional influence without triggering a total state collapse. • This shift follows over 40 years of zero-sum rivalry characterized by Iran's nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile development, and support for non-state armed actors. • The strategy matters because the Gulf states now view the potential collapse of the Iranian state as a greater security risk than the current status quo of managed tension.

National Foreign Trade Council ‘disappointed’ at move to expand News Bargaining Incentive but Australian experts say government is not going far enoughFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA major US trade body has rubbished the Albanese government’s plan to make more big tech platforms pay for Australian journalism, issuing a veiled warning about how Donald Trump may respond to the “deteriorating trend”.The National Foreign Trade Council said it was “disappointed” at the Australian government’s move to expand its News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) to take in Microsoft’s LinkedIn, amid trade tensions between Washington and Canberra including newly increased tariffs on Australian goods. Continue reading...

• Donald Trump intends to ask the Supreme Court to revive a lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton and others of conspiring to sabotage his 2016 campaign via claims of Russian ties. • The move follows a November 2025 ruling by a three-judge panel that labeled the lawsuit "frivolous" and upheld a $1 million penalty imposed on Trump and his lawyer in 2023. • Trump's legal team stated on July 29 that the former president remains committed to holding those who used "fake news" and "deception" accountable for attacks on the MAGA movement.

Removal of Soviet-era statues sped up when Russia seized Crimea in 2014, and since Putin’s 2022 invasion has moved at pace as Ukrainians question their identitySince 2013 the plinth at the bottom of Taras Shevchenko Boulevard in Kyiv has been eerily empty. The scruffy monument is daubed in white paint and graffiti. Someone has stuck a Ukrainian trident where Lenin once stood, gazing down during the years of Soviet communism. A crowd toppled the sculpture during Ukraine’s Maidan revolution, which ousted the pro-Russian government, and smashed it with sledgehammers.In June, Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed putting a new figure on the plinth: Ivan Mazepa, a Cossack military and political leader, who broke with Moscow and fought for Ukraine’s independence. “I am certain that where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firm,” Zelenskyy said. He spoke next to a bust of Mazepa in the Pechersk Lavra, an ancient Kyiv monastery hit by Russian missiles. Continue reading...