The Guardian

The Guardian reports that a small number of remaining residents in Oleshky, a Ukrainian city in Kherson region under Russian occupation, are living in what locals describe as 'hell on earth', eating weeds to survive amid severe food shortages. Conditions in the occupied city, already badly damaged by the 2023 Kakhovka dam flood, continue to deteriorate with little aid reaching those left behind.

Experts warn that allies of Donald Trump could exploit the period when midterm votes are counted to disrupt or challenge results. Reporting by The Guardian describes growing fears that loyalists positioned in key swing states could use the so-called counting window to amplify false claims of fraud, echoing tactics seen after the 2020 election and raising concerns about the integrity of the certification process in November's contests.

An 87-year-old woman's eviction in Spain has drawn national attention and put the country's worsening housing crisis back in the spotlight. The case, reported by The Guardian, has reignited debate over rising rents, weak tenant protections and the human cost of the property squeeze affecting vulnerable residents across Spain.

Environmental groups accuse US datacenter developers of manipulating regulatory processes to avoid emission controls and scrutiny of their projects, according to reporting by Tom Perkins in the Guardian. The allegations add to growing concern over the environmental impact of rapidly expanding datacenter construction across the United States, as critics say firms are exploiting loopholes in key pollution rules to fast-track build-outs without adequate oversight.

New Jersey regulators have issued a record $1.1m fine against DataOne's datacenter facility in Vineland after dozens of unpermitted generators were found operating there. The action followed a visual investigation by Floodlight and The Guardian that documented the equipment. The penalty is the state's largest of its kind, and the case has drawn attention to environmental oversight of the fast-growing datacenter industry.

The Guardian reports that the Trump family and other allies close to the administration have struck financial deals tied to the AI boom while the White House works to shield the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector from regulation. Critics say the overlap between policy-making and private financial interests raises conflict-of-interest concerns, and the report has prompted discussion about ethics oversight in US technology policy.

The Trump administration has sharply reduced the federal government's collection of data on American education, curbing the testing and statistics that track how US students perform in math and reading. The Guardian reports the cuts leave educators, researchers and policymakers with far less information about school achievement and learning gaps, raising concerns that declining student outcomes will go unmeasured and unaddressed.

The Guardian reports that Amazon's Ring is positioning its neighbourhood-focused features as a replacement for local WhatsApp groups, and argues this would encourage excessive neighbourhood surveillance and suspicion. The piece warns the shift could turn community chat into a platform for nosy reporting on neighbours, dubbed a 'curtain-twitching disaster', raising concerns about privacy and the privatisation of local communication networks.

Schoolchildren in England who do not own smartphones are being charged higher bus fares than their peers, the Guardian reports. Discounted child fares are often tied to mobile ticketing apps, meaning pupils without a phone must pay more for paper tickets or cash fares. Critics say the pricing system effectively penalises children whose families have chosen not to give them a smartphone, prompting debate about fairness and digital exclusion.