The Breakdown

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‘Every moment matters’: Hull KR bidding to end 40 years of hurt in Challenge Cup final

20 hours ago | theguardian.com | Aaron Bower

For a while around the 1980s, it must have felt like the good times were never going to end for Hull KR: Challenge Cup winners in 1980; winners of the old Premiership in 1981 and 1984; champions of England in 1979 and then again in 1984 and 1985. Legends like Roger Millward, Gavin Miller and George Fairbairn – men who are still revered on one side of Hull to this day – at the heartbeat of one of the finest sides in British rugby league’s history. But then, nothing. Darkness.
Food additive titanium dioxide likely has more toxic effects than thought, study finds

21 hours ago | theguardian.com | Tom Perkins

The controversial food additive titanium dioxide likely has more toxic effects than previously thought, new peer-reviewed research shows, adding to growing evidence that unregulated nanoparticles used throughout the food system present an underestimated danger to consumers.
University of Michigan using undercover investigators to surveil student Gaza protesters

22 hours ago | theguardian.com | Tom Perkins

The University of Michigan is using private, undercover investigators to surveil pro-Palestinian campus groups, including trailing them on and off campus, furtively recording them and eavesdropping on their conversations, the Guardian has learned. The surveillance appears to largely be an intimidation tactic, five students who have been followed, recorded or eavesdropped on said.
Football transfer rumours: Arsenal target Rogers? Gyökeres and Cherki to Manchester?

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Yara El-Shaboury

Six days into the first transfer window of the summer and the Mill is churning faster than a well-oiled machine. Leading the charge are Arsenal, whose Premier League sights has led them to add Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Feyenoord’s Igor Paixão to their shopping list of potential attacking targets. Getting Rogers would demand a significant fee – likely north of £50m – with the former Middlesbrough man pulling up trees for Unai Emery’s this season, scoring 14 goals and 15 assists in 54 games.
Witch: Sogolo review - Zamrock originators in joyously punchy form

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Ammar Kalia

In the early 1970s, a newly independent Zambia was forging a sound of its own. Young bands such as the Peace and Ngozi Family mixed distorted guitars with bluesy riffs, falsetto vocals and Fela Kuti-influenced Afrobeat rhythms to produce a genre they labelled Zamrock. At the forefront of this scene was singer Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda’s Witch (We Intend to Cause Havoc).
Elon Musk escalates war of words with Trump after president threatens to terminate government contracts - live

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Tom Ambrose |Lucy Campbell |Marina Dunbar |Kate Lamb |Maya Yang |Fran Lawther | +6 more

Summary of the day so farFran LawtherDonald Trump and Elon Musk escalated their disagreement about the US budget bill into a big public argument on social media. Here’s a roundup of key moments so far: Donald Trump kicked things off during an Oval Office meeting with German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Asked about Elon Musk’s criticism of his “Big, Beautiful Bill”, the US president told reporters: “Elon and I had a great relationship.
23andMe back on the auction block after former CEO makes 11th-hour bid

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Johana Bhuiyan

DNA testing company 23andMe is back up for sale, throwing a purchase agreement reached last month into chaos, court filings show. The board of directors of 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy in March, had agreed to sell the company and its assets to pharmaceutical firm Regeneron for $256m after conducting an auction in April.
Why the reaction to Trump’s travel ban is different this time

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Robert Tait

Many of Donald Trump’s critics may have become so inured to the treadmill of iniquities that his second presidency has brought, that a long-expected travel ban announced against citizens of a dozen countries failed to register the same intense shock and outrage as his similar move made during his first presidency. Of course, there was condemnation.
The departure of Reform UK chair Zia Yusuf is the latest in a long line of Farage fallings-out

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Ben Quinn

Delivered without warning in a 54-word tweet, Zia Yusuf’s announcement that he was standing down as Reform UK’s chair has seemingly come out of the blue. For close watchers of Nigel Farage’s party in recent times however, the departure of the man largely credited with “professionalising” its operation ahead of last year’s general election performance and last month’s local election breakthrough is less of a shock.
Wise goes to the US. Will its founder’s supercharged voting rights follow?

1 day ago | theguardian.com | Nils Pratley

Back in 2021, the arrival on the London stock market of Wise, a rapidly-expanding money transfer company, generated a feel-good factor at a useful moment. It came a month after over-hyped Deliveroo flopped on debut. And, since Wise was a pure fintech business, as opposed to a pizza delivery outfit with an app, there was reason to think the UK might be getting its act together in the sector that politicians swoon over. Shoreditch’s finest, and its Estonian founders, would show the way in UK fintech.