US

Local Services Ads have occupied their own corner of Google's advertising empire since the product launched as a stripped-back, pay-per-lead offering for tradespeople and household-service businesses. That separation ends.

Lake Mead's surface sat at 1,040.96 feet above sea level on 2 August 2026, its lowest elevation since the reservoir began filling in the 1930s. The white bathtub ring etched into the canyon walls above the waterline tells the rest of the story: decades of drawdown made visible in bleached rock.

Demis Hassabis is not retiring, being pushed sideways into an honorary role, or leaving Alphabet. He is exiting the operational command structure of Google DeepMind entirely and moving into a newly created position: Chair of Google DeepMind and Chief Scientist of Alphabet.

Hunter Biden put his father's condition into words on BBC Newsnight this week that no White House statement would ever use. "The cancer has spread. It's metastasized into his bones and further.

Charlie Hatcher, the former Tennessee agriculture commissioner backed by Governor Bill Lee, has beaten incumbent Andy Ogles by 6.6 points in the Republican primary for a redrawn 5th District where 82 per cent of voters were new to the seat.

Weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his January 2025 order, Trump has signed new directives telling four US agencies to withhold passports, Social Security numbers and citizenship documents from babies born to parents who are unlawfully or only temporarily present.

The US housing market handed buyers a blunt reminder in June 2026: the median existing-home price hit an all-time high of $440,600, marking the 36th consecutive month of year-on-year price growth. Prices rose 1.8% on June 2025 and set a new record.

The US State and Justice Departments have placed a combined bounty pool of more than $100 million on eight leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known by its Spanish initials CJNG.