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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London.

First Thing: US ‘betrayal’ over Starlink undermines Ukrainian defense

Martin Belam

Good morning. Ukraine’s president has said he feels “betrayed” by Donald Trump over a throttling of Starlink access. Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the US president of picking the other side after more than four years of war, risking a breakdown in US-Ukraine relations.

Ukraine’s military reported that the communications system, produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX but managed by the US government, was no longer working on terminals moving at speeds greater than 100mph. That effectively rendered most of the drones used by Ukraine to strike behind the frontlines inoperable and affected the country’s best air defence system to stop Russian jet-powered attack drones bombing Kyiv.

What is the likely impact of the loss of Starlink? The Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matviichuk said: “Without that protection, Russian drones will strike residential buildings, hospitals and schools like targets in a shooting gallery.” However, Starlink is not required for long-range Ukrainian missions that target Russian oil refineries, which Trump has been concerned because of their impact on world energy prices.

Judge blocks US sanctions on rights groups helping ICC Gaza war crimes inquiry

Palestinians walk past destroyed houses in Gaza.

The international criminal court is investigating allegations of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from placing sanctions on two US-based human rights groups for working to help the international criminal court’s (ICC) investigations into war crimes in Gaza. A lawyer for Dawn and Taag, described the decision as “a victory for the first amendment and an important step in unraveling the ICC sanctions regime”.

A spokesperson for the US state department said “we do not comment on pending litigation”, but added: “The Trump administration has been clear: the ICC poses an intolerable threat to US sovereignty.”

How is Israel blocking Trump’s plans for Gaza? Israel is refusing to allow a key project for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace to proceed. In early August, it issued its first construction contract, for a military outpost to host 150 international troops as a vanguard of an international stabilization force. Two months later, Israel has still not allowed the contract to move forward.

Trump’s new press secretary faces scrutiny over claims to be a lawyer

Zacharia, the president’s latest press secretary, was dubbed the ‘Zachbot’ by the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief. Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

Katie Zacharia’s debut as Donald Trump’s new press secretary got an excoriating review from our Washington bureau chief, who dubbed her “the Zachbot”, and columnist Arwa Mahdawi suggested that Zacharia’s love of the president, lies and conspiracies made her perfect for the job. Now Zacharia is under pressure over her claim that she is a lawyer.

When asked to name the state where she passed the bar exam, she replied “when I moved to China”. No public record shows she has ever been licensed to practise law in the US states where she resided. According to a review from the Guardian, Zacharia was not registered in 38 states, as well as DC and the Virgin Islands, where the state’s attorney list was publicly available.

Cornell president acknowledges he knew about fraternity sexual assault but did not follow up

Protest messages written in chalk at Cornell University. Photograph: Matt Burkhartt/Reuters

Michael Kotlikoff, the president of Cornell University, has acknowledged for the first time that he knew a student had reported being sexually assaulted in November 2024, but did not follow up with the Jane Doe involved in the months after learning about the alleged assault. He also revealed that he did not know she had dropped out of Cornell until she filed a lawsuit last month.

What has happened at a frat house in Chicago? A 21-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted last weekend at a fraternity house near the University of Chicago. A person of interest has been identified, according to university officials. The individual is not a student and has been banned from campus.

Eight states accuse OpenAI of coaching children to harm themselves in lawsuit

Eight US states say the ChatGPT maker is harming children en masse. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Kansas, Arizona, Montana, Iowa and four other states allege that OpenAI products carried out “willful, dangerous, reckless and unlawful conduct” by coaxing children into harming themselves.

“OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans,” Brenna Bird, the attorney general for Iowa, said in a statement. “OpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it’s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching people to commit suicide – all while pretending to be their fake friend.”

In other news …

Soldiers and rescue workers gather after a school roof collapse.

The ceiling came down on the students after the roof of a higher floor collapsed, a rescue official said. Photograph: Reuters

A school roof collapse in Pakistan has left at least 27 students dead. The death toll is likely to rise as rescuers in Peshawar work to find dozens of pupils still unaccounted for.
Pope Leo’s recovery from lung cancer surgery is “progressing as planned”. The US-born pontiff has begun walking in his hospital room and is eating normally, doctors say.
The ex-fiance of Nancy Mace and two others have been charged with sex crimes that Mace detailed in a House speech last year. The Republican representative described the assault in a nearly hour-long speech that had named the men.
The University of Maryland club tennis team has been suspended over racist imagery sent to other schools. An image of the state flag incorporating KKK hoods was sent to those participating in a regional tennis tournament.
The man shot by ICE in New York City says the agent did not identify himself. The account by Oscar Belgal differs sharply from that of DHS agents, who fired into his vehicle while there was a young boy in the back seat.

Stat of the day: LGBTQ+ people go into hiding in Senegal as hundreds are arrested

Senegal has doubled the maximum prison term for consensual same-sex relations to 10 years. Photograph: Jane Hahn/AP

More than 320 individuals have been arrested and detained on allegations of “acts against nature” since February, according to HIV Justice Network, after Senegal’s parliament doubled the maximum prison term for consensual same-sex relations to 10 years.

The Filter Recommends: These are the tinned fish varieties Lauren Gould would eat again

While tinned fish has been around for a while, its popularity is a more recent phenomenon. Photograph: Ilia Nesolenyi/Alamy

As a pescatarian, my colleague Lauren couldn’t help but wonder if she had overlooked the convenient protein source of tinned fish – and went on an odyssey of discovery. Here’s what months of taste-testing revealed.

Don’t miss this: ‘Try to eat really well, 80% of the time’ – nutrition expert says healthy eating is easier than you think

In the US, 60% of the average diet is now classified as ‘ultra-processed’. Illustration: Guardian Design / Getty Images

Also on a healthy eating tip, Elle Hunt speaks to Christopher Gardner, the author of Food Sense and director of nutrition studies at Stanford, who says we have overcomplicated the question of what to eat.

Climate check: Indonesia fights fire with dry ice as toxic haze spreads across region

Wildfires in Indonesia cause thick haze across the region.

People walk through thick haze from wildfires in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Photograph: Gendes/EPA

For months, millions of Indonesians have been subject to thick smoke and an apocalyptic tangerine haze amid the worst fire season in more than a decade. Having tried cloud seeding, water bombing and sending in army personnel to fight the fires, Indonesia’s coordinating security minister said dry ice would now be dropped on the province of South Sumatra.

Last Thing: Luna, dog missing in Yellowstone for a month, is reunited with her owners

Luna survived in a landscape home to grizzly bears, wolves and other predators. Photograph: Marie Jaskula/AP

The 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, who eluded capture for over a month, was caught on Wednesday and reunited with her grateful owners.

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