It started out as promo for an insurance company and ended up powering an entire industry. As the Opry strikes out for London, can it stay relevant for another century?

It’s the only American radio show that’s been on the air for 100 years, an institution that launched the country music industry as we know it and a stage production that made country fans flock to Nashville in the first place – and keeps them coming for a singular experience today. “I somehow understood the weight of what I was stepping into,” says Marty Stuart of the Grand Ole Opry, specifically the first night he played in 1972 as a mandolin-playing prodigy sitting in with bluegrass star Lester Flatt’s band.

Stuart went on to become a country star, and Opry member, himself, and has now embraced the role of elder on the show: on 26 September, he along with Luke Combs, Darius Rucker, Ashley McBryde and Carly Pearce will take part in the Opry’s first-ever overseas broadcast at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of a year-long 100th birthday celebration. “A hundred years of anything, especially in show business, it’s just unheard of,” he marvels.

The 1.2tn yuan project breaks ground in Tibet, premier says despite fears of downstream India and Bangladesh

Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.

The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.

Another 164 injured when training jet had technical problem after takeoff, with pilot said to be among the dead

At least 19 people were killed and 164 injured after a Bangladesh air force training jet crashed into a college and school campus in the capital, Dhaka, on Monday after experiencing a technical problem shortly after takeoff.

The F-7 BGI jet took off at 1.06 pm (08.06 BST) from the Bangladesh air force base in Kurmitola, Dhaka, as part of a routine training mission, but encountered a mechanical failure, said the military spokesperson Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury.

The US vice-president has chosen to holiday among the Chipping Norton set, which includes Boris Johnson and Jeremy Clarkson, in a country he says has gone to the dogs. It feels like he is trolling the UK …

You have to let politicians go on holiday, I guess. You have to accept the existence of world leaders with whose views you disagree, especially now that it’s almost all of them. So why does it feel like a particular provocation for JD Vance to be planning a trip to the Cotswolds? His itinerary isn’t yet known, but its bare bones are that, sometime in August, the Vances will visit London, Oxfordshire and Scotland.

For a recap on what, exactly, is wrong with the US vice-president, there is nothing more evocative than February’s press conference with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Of course, many of Vance’s more extreme views – calling Democratic politicians a “bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives”, claiming that staying in an abusive relationship was preferable to getting divorced, and saying that abortion should be banned – were already well known, from a combination of his voting record and his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. But Republicans say a lot of things, particularly while seeking election. You may have been able to infer Vance’s drive to dominate and control others, but it wasn’t until that exchange with the Ukrainian president that you could witness it.

Judge upholds decision to allow club to build 39 new courts, after campaigners called for it to be overturned

A proposed expansion of the Wimbledon tennis site will go ahead after the high court ruled in favour of an original decision to allow a further 39 courts, including an 8,000-seat show court, on the grounds of the old Wimbledon Park golf club.

A judicial review, which started as this year’s 138th championship was under way, came after campaign group Save Wimbledon Park took legal action against the Greater London Authority (GLA) over its decision last year to allow the All England Lawn Tennis Club to almost triple its size.

• President Sebastian Coe says: ‘It’s not good’

• Four-meeting series was cut to three last month

Sebastian Coe says World Athletics is closely monitoring outstanding athlete payments from Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track series, admitting: “There is no point in pretending this is a satisfactory situation.”

Johnson unexpectedly cancelled the final Los Angeles leg of his new four-meeting series last month following low spectator numbers at the opening three editions in Kingston, Miami and Philadelphia.

Keith McAllister had approached machine after his wife called to him for help, and was sucked into the device by its potent magnetic force

A man who wore a large weight-training chain around his neck and approached his wife while a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine scanned her knee at a clinic in New York died after the device forcefully pulled him, according to police and media reports.

Keith McAllister, 61, was killed at the Nassau Open MRI clinic in Westbury, Long Island, after he accompanied his wife, Adrienne Jones-McAllister, there on 16 July.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Thousands, including Alexei Navalny’s widow, signed letter objecting to performance by Valery Gergiev, a close ally of Russian president

A concert in Italy by a top Russian conductor with close ties to Vladimir Putin has been cancelled after a widespread outcry.

Valery Gergiev, who has repeatedly expressed support for the Russian president, had been scheduled to lead a local orchestra at a music festival on 27 July at Reggia di Caserta, a former Bourbon palace close to Naples. But the management of the Unesco world heritage site said in a brief statement on Monday that his performance had been cancelled.

American made headlines in highlighting that the winning feeling is temporary and shallow – but others feel the same way

The world’s top athletes can seem a confused bunch. Scottie Scheffler described in a press conference before the Open how he keeps asking himself why he wants to win golf tournaments and can’t find any answers. The world’s No 3 male tennis player Alexander Zverev confessed to feelings of emptiness and a lack of joy in his tennis regardless of whether he wins or loses matches. Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova took a long break from tennis to save her mental health, was written off by many and unsure what to expect on return, yet ended up in the Wimbledon final.

What’s going on? As the world’s top athletes naturally push the boundaries of what’s possible physically, so they also have to push the limits mentally, and these questions and experiences are a vital part of that process. We’re seeing more and more athletes explore the space beyond winning and losing, a concept many in sport have yet to understand actually exists. But as most athletes find out, some sooner than others, to get caught up with winning and losing is to lose the point, both on the court and in life.

Paid ads hosted on Facebook, Instagram and Threads seem to violate Meta’s stated policies yet remain active

Meta is hosting ads on Facebook, Instagram and Threads from pro-Israel entities that are raising money for military equipment including drones and tactical gear for Israeli Defense Force battalions, seemingly a violation of the company’s stated advertising policies, new research shows.

“We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia,” one ad on Facebook read, first published on 11 June and still active on 17 July.

A robustly enjoyable story involving a son seeking revenge on a sheriff who framed his father for murder, a fake priest, local thugs and a stash of stolen gold

From the moment he flashes a shit-eating grin at a man on the gallows, Samuel L Jackson makes a fine western antagonist here, if not quite rising to the heights of his blanket-blackmail sex act in The Hateful Eight. The fellow about to swing is Isaac Broadway (Tim Daly), who manages to communicate to his onlooking son Henry (Brandon Lessard) that he should seek revenge on one Sheriff Butler, who framed him for murder. But when Henry corners a different lawman, Gabriel Dove (Pierce Brosnan), in a church in the Montana town of Trinity, he learns that someone got to the previous sheriff first.

It turns out that papa Broadway, a maligned patriarch who built most of Trinity, was embroiled in a stolen Confederate gold racket – ripping off his gallows tormentor, the ex-slave St Christopher (Jackson), in the process. Add to that a Blackfoot seeking revenge (The New World’s Q’orianka Kilcher), a fake priest (David Arquette), a smattering of local thugs, and before you can say “sins of the father” (luckily, someone does), we have a bubbling potboiler on the go.

A light dinner for two that’s so flavour-packed you’ll want to scale it up for summer guests

If you love miso aubergines, but wish you could scale them up into a filling dinner, this is a dish for you. Perfect for a celebratory summer dinner for two and easy to scale up to cater for more guests – just use a really big tray for the vegetables and a second one for as many trout fillets as you need. And if you’d like to veganise the dish, just use big triangles of firm tofu instead of the trout, and cook everything together for half an hour.

The Guardian aims to publish recipes for sustainable fish. Check ratings in your region: UK; Australia; US.

Democrats are livid over the governor’s plan to redraw districts at a time when Texas officials are supposed to be focused on recovery from the floods

A plan for Texas to redraw its congressional districts and gain five additional Republican seats barrels through flimsy legal arguments and political norms like a rough-stock rodeo bronco through a broken chute.

But the fiddly process of drawing the maps to Republicans’ advantage for 2026 may require more finesse than cowboy politics can produce.

Britain’s main stock market operator becomes latest to look at extending its hours, currently 8am-4.30pm

• Business live – latest updates

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is reportedly considering launching 24-hour trading, amid pressure to make the UK market more competitive and attractive to investors.

LSEG, which operates Britain’s main stock market, is looking into the practicalities of increasing its trading hours, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Progressives are seeking ideologically aligned matches as ‘hot commie summer’ heats up, but the apps aren’t helping

Zohran Mamdani gave Hinge an unofficial boost last month when the New York mayoral candidate revealed that he met his wife, Rama Duwaji, through swiping. “There is still hope on those dating apps,” he said on the Bulwark podcast a week before his stunning victory in the Democratic primary. The tidbit spread over social media, cementing the 33-year-old democratic socialist’s status as a millennial everyman. A subsequent Cosmopolitan headline read: “Zohran Mamdani could make history (as the first NYC mayor to meet his wife on Hinge).”

Representatives for Hinge would not comment, but plenty of eligible New Yorkers did, claiming they would redownload the app due to Mamdani’s success, in spite of their dating fatigue. “Now I’m clocking in like it’s a full-time job,” one user posted on TikTok. “If he can find love on that app maybe I can,” another wrote in a caption.

Government sources say pressure from Washington, including JD Vance, could lead to Home Office climbdown, according to reports

• UK politics live – latest updates

• Business live – latest updates

Pressure from Washington could lead the UK government to climb down on its demand that Apple provide British law enforcement agencies with backdoor access to encrypted customer data, it has been reported.

In January, the UK Home Office formally asked Apple to provide law enforcement agencies access to heavily encrypted data held on behalf of its customers. But the US company resisted and withdrew its advanced data protection service from the UK market. It argues privacy is one of its “core values”.

• Eintracht Frankfurt to get guaranteed £69m for striker

• He will join squad in Hong Kong subject to medical

Liverpool are to take their summer spending to almost £300m after agreeing to pay £69m plus £10m in add-ons for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike.

Ekitike emerged as the Premier League champions’ favoured No 9 after they received no encouragement regarding their interest in Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.

• Scotland coach tasked with reviving Welsh fortunes

• ‘Becoming head coach of my country is a massive honour’

Wales have appointed Steve Tandy as their new head coach. The 45-year-old Welshman will become the permanent successor to Warren Gatland on 1 September following almost six years as Scotland’s defence coach.

Tandy is tasked with reviving his country’s fortunes after their record 18-match losing run finally ended on 12 July with a 31-22 victory over Japan in Kobe. His first match in charge will be on Sunday 9 November against Argentina in Cardiff, which will be followed by meetings with Japan, New Zealand and the world champions, South Africa, on the following three weekends.

Deaths reported as Israeli tanks move in on area IDF believes Hamas are holding some hostages

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that defence minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the Israeli military “has just struck terror targets of the Huthi terror regime at the port of Hodeida and is forcefully enforcing the prevention of any attempt to restore the previously attacked terror infrastructure.”

In a separate statement, the army said that “among the military infrastructure struck were engineering vehicles... fuel containers, naval vessels used for military activities and force against the State of Israel and vessels in the maritime zone adjacent to the port, and additional terror infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime.”

As I have made clear - Yemen’s fate is the same as Tehran’s. The Houthis will pay a heavy price for launching missiles toward the State of Israel.

Louise Lancaster reflects on the unique challenges faced by neurodivergent inmates, raising concerns for those left behind

Louise Lancaster, 59, was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful protest for planning disruption on the M25 in November 2022. This year, she wrote a diary for the Guardian, detailing her first six months behind bars. Here, written before her release on 8 April and after her sentence was reduced on appeal, she reflects on her final months of incarceration.

No-frills carrier’s ‘gate bag bonus’ of €1.50 a passenger capped at €80 a month for staff members but ceiling could rise

• From liquids to border queues: how changes at UK airports will affect your trip

Ryanair is considering increasing a bonus paid to staff for identifying passengers’ oversized luggage, its chief executive has said.

The Irish budget airline pays staff about €1.50 (£1.30) for intercepting customers who are bringing oversized bags on to an aircraft.

There is no way around the fact that in 2024, those Americans didn’t hear anything worth voting for. Will it be different next time around?

Since Bernie Sanders’s first presidential campaign, the electoral theory of the American left has rested upon the idea that a sizable bloc of Americans – alienated from the traditional politics of left and right – have withdrawn from politics entirely. They stand closer to the Democrats on many issues, but, seeing little by way of material benefit from the party’s soaring rhetoric of “defending democracy”, they have opted out of the political process. And, as the theory goes, a bold, populist candidate – someone like Sanders himself – could bring this silent constituency back into the fold.

If that logic once explained how Sanders might have won, it might now explain why Kamala Harris lost. And, as new troves of post-election data surface, the debate over whether Democrats might have avoided last year’s defeat by mobilizing non-voters has become one of the party’s hottest factional disputes.

About 3,000 workers have left the agency through firings and buyouts in a move Democrats and staff call ‘unlawful’

Workers at the US state department say firings, resignation buyouts, a proposed budget cut of 48%, and reorganization under the Trump administration has left staff with low morale and will likely have long-term impacts.

Foreign programs and services aimed towards LGBTQ+ communities, maternal and reproductive health, and minority groups have been removed or cut in place of far-right ideological policies being pursued by a 26-year-old senior adviser and Trump appointee at the agency.