Deadly Philippines ferry fire leaves scores of people missing

Forty-three people rescued and early death toll stands at five after blaze aboard MV ‌June Aster in waters off Coron, Palawan, says coast guard

Five people were confirmed dead ⁠in early counting and more than 80 were missing after a ferry caught fire ⁠off Palawan island in the western Philippines on Wednesday night, the Philippine coast ⁠guard said.

Forty-three people were rescued from the MV ‌June Aster in waters off Coron, Palawan, the coast guard said. Footage showed flames engulfing parts of the vessel and responders placing victims ‌in body bags.

Instagram boss says users will be ‘overwhelmed’ with brand content in algorithm-free world

Adam Mosseri says platform’s algorithm ‘feels like a black box’ but company trying to give users more control after Labor announces opt-out plan

Instagram’s chief executive has said users will have a worse experience in an algorithm-free world, seeing more brand-related content, and spend less time on the app.

The comments come as the Australian government plans to give users the option to opt out of algorithms, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announcing plans on Tuesday to require social media platforms to prompt users to choose between a feed of algorithm-recommended content or a reverse chronological feed of the pages users follow. Labor also plans to introduce a range of measures designed to address online harm on the sites.

August was joint-hottest month ever recorded globally

Temperatures reached 1.65C above preindustrial levels, months before El Niño system reaches full strength

August was the joint-hottest month ever recorded around the world, with global temperatures reaching 1.65C above preindustrial levels, scientists said on Thursday, amid warnings of further heating on the way.

August 2026 tied with July 2023 for the hottest month ever recorded, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Sea surface temperatures also soared to their highest levels on record for August.

Ukraine war briefing: Arctic attack extends Kyiv’s strike reach into Russian gas heartland

‘Guess who?’ says Fire Point, Ukrainian maker of long-range weaponry; drone alert in Moldova as Zelenskyy waited to fly out. What we know on day 1,660

Coco Gauff draws on Tiafoe and ‘delusional’ self-belief in US Open escape

American rallies from brink to defeat Andreeva
Gauff survives 12 double faults in three-set escape

Coco Gauff has played far cleaner matches than on Wednesday afternoon. But few players today on the women’s tour have become better at finding answers on the fly when almost nothing is working for them.

The 22-year-old American’s serene march through the US Open women’s draw hit extreme turbulence early in her quarter-final clash with fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. She dropped the first four games before surrendering the opening set in 26 minutes, ending a streak of 20 consecutive sets won dating back nearly a month. She piled up 12 double faults and 42 unforced errors, the majority off a forehand in open revolt. She found herself one point from defeat not once but twice during a hairy second-set tiebreaker.

Baby orangutans found in forest in India spark trafficking investigation

Native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the rare apes were found thousands of kilometres away in Odisha state

Five baby orangutans have been found in a forest in India, prompting authorities to investigate if they were trafficked into the country from south-east Asia.

The orangutans, native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra and known for their shaggy red fur, were found in Balasore district of Odisha state, thousands of kilometres away from their natural habitat.

Lawmakers blast AI companies after researcher warns of human extinction by 2030

Former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon said AI will become ‘superhuman systems’ that can cause human extinction by the end of the decade

Just a day after three Anthropic researchers warned that artificial intelligence could kill off humanity within the decade, lawmakers have begun lashing out about the risks of the burgeoning technology.

Ted Cruz, a republican senator from Texas, said in an interview on ABC’s The View, that AI poses a “catastrophic risk” and that he “read that whole tweet thread that that developer put out. It was highly concerning.

Nem este Evaristo tem “cá disto” nem esta Amália encanta

Para ver quantos delírios se escondem sob a designação “inteligência artificial” basta inquirir “Amália” e “Evaristo”. Opinião de Nuno Pacheco

Descida no PISA: não foi por falta de aviso, mas de exigência

Isto não é uma crise da escola pública — é a falência de uma política pública de Educação que trocou a exigência pela condescendência. Opinião de Carla Castro

França indignada com comentários racistas de polícia próximo de Le Pen

Vídeo gravado de forma não intencional tem cerca de seis horas e regista comentários discriminatórios de polícias municipais franceses.

O perigo da repetição da História é como os discos de vinil: tem o lado A e o lado B

Caros Miguel Tiago e Manuel Loff, talvez estejam a ser vítimas de um complexo de Estocolmo virado do avesso: quem se distinguiu na ação política com proibições a eito foram os comunistas. Opinião de Paulo Vila Maior

O naufrágio da escola: por que retrocedemos duas décadas no conhecimento?

Os resultados do PISA não são uma fatalidade estatística nem uma surpresa. São a consequência lógica de décadas de cedências. São o espelho de escolhas concretas, feitas ao longo de anos. Opinião de João Nuno Tavares

A tragédia que não se pode varrer para debaixo do tapete

Num domínio essencial para se projectar um futuro optimista, como é o da educação, o país está a falhar clamorosamente. Os números do relatório do PISA de 2025 são uma tragédia para Portugal. Opinião de Manuel Carvalho

As lições e os riscos do PISA 2025

Depois de duas décadas em que a OCDE contribuiu para uma cultura internacional de indicadores e responsabilização, parece reconhecer que não há melhoria sustentável sem professores e sem confiança. Opinião de António Teodoro

UK chancellor urged to remove £100k childcare ‘cliff edge’ prompting parents to cut work hours

Critics say threshold pushes higher-paid staff to cut back on work and often mothers to stop working to avoid losing entitlement

John Healey has been urged to fix the £100,000 childcare “cliff edge”, that means some higher-paid employees cut back on work to avoid losing their entitlement.

Since the latest expansion of taxpayer-funded childcare in 2024, families with young children in which both parents earn less than £100,000 a year can be entitled to 30 hours a week of care - or none at all, if one of them cross that threshold.

Serge Rangoni: “Lisboa tem excelente reputação. Todos os artistas querem cá vir”

Pragmático, o novo director do Centro Cultural de Belém para as artes performativas tem duas metas muito concretas: diversificar os públicos e aproximar Lisboa do centro da Europa.

Tommy Robinson: Where’s the Money Gone? review – endless shocking allegations

From his claim of being ‘de-banked’ to a disturbing detail about a rape survivor’s story being used to fundraise, this film puts big questions to the co-founder of the English Defence League. But it is frustratingly hard to get answers

You can’t say it would be a huge surprise if a leading figure of the British far right turned out to be a fraudster: that whole strand of politics is, after all, a con job preying on angry citizens who are daft enough to believe that immigrants, and not the rapaciously greedy super-rich, are somehow the cause of the nation’s problems. If people will fall for that, fleecing them out of their money is not a big leap.

Tommy Robinson, co-founder of the English Defence League and now an influencer, independent documentary-maker and international flag-shaggers’ guru, was convicted of mortgage fraud in 2014, but what about 2026? Is he a scam artist juicing idiots for cash? Robinson, real name Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, is undeniably a talented harvester of donations from his fans, whether it’s in person at his rallies or via the internet: in a video posted online, he admits to “continually ask[ing] you, the people, to support us”, and in another he boasts of having once convinced his admirers to hand over £350,000 in the space of two weeks. If you try to avoid seeing or hearing about Robinson, the amount of money he generates may shock you.

Tommy Robinson: Where’s the Money Gone? is on Channel 4 now.

Rybakina sinks Zheng to grab No 1 spot and set up US Open semi-final with Gauff

Rybakina into semis after 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory
Coco Gauff battles back to beat Mirra Andreeva

Elena Rybakina will become the No 1 woman in the world for the first time after orchestrating a supreme recovery to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

By becoming just the 30th player in the history of the WTA to reach the No 1 ranking, Rybakina ends Aryna Sabalenka’s extended spell at the top. The Belarusian has held the position for 99 successive weeks, the sixth-longest consecutive reign in history, and 107 weeks in total.

Cole Palmer powers Chelsea to comeback win over Leeds in nine-goal epic

Where’s the fun in doing it the easy way? Chelsea remain chaotic at the back but can drag their opponents into horrible places. It helps, mind you, to have some assistance from the referee. Jarred Gillett and Cole Palmer? They made for a killer combination as Chelsea swerved embarrassment and treated Stamford Bridge to one of life’s rarities: a classic in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Gillett, a referee who always seems to be guessing when he makes key calls, was the villain as far as Leeds were concerned. They had just gone 2-0 up when Gillett altered the flow of the tie by pointing to the spot after Pep Chavarría made the most of slight contact from Daniel James. The subsequent conversion from Palmer was inevitable and from there so was the comeback from Chelsea, who rattled through four goals in 12 minutes before eventually reaching the last 16 by winning 6-3.

Alexis Mac Allister makes his point as Liverpool fight back to defeat Atlético

It was the time and place for Alexis Mac Allister to do his talking on the pitch and the disgruntled Liverpool midfielder delivered on cue. “Very sad” over Liverpool’s refusal to offer him a new contract, while Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch were getting theirs, Mac Allister made Anfield very happy with a match-winning display against Atlético Madrid.

The Argentina international, one of five World Cup finalists involved in an absorbing, delicately-poised contest, vented his frustrations in the best possible and most professional way – from behind an immaculate 20-yard strike into Jan Oblak’s goal rather than a microphone. Mac Allister believes he is playing for a new deal this season and promised to give “100% to my last day” at the pre-match press conference. He was true to his word to extend Atlético’s winless sequence against English opposition in the Champions League league phase to 11 matches.

Reading view