United States

Hurricane Ida makes landfall in Louisiana as most intense hurricane in years

Ida gathered more strength overnight and made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11.55am (local time), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

It is the toughest test yet for the hundreds of miles of new levees built around New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall 16 years ago to the day, inundating historically Black neighborhoods and killing more than 1800 people.

NRL set to play 2019 match in US

Multiple media reports say the game is set to be played in the US, with planning already underway to make it a reality.

It is likely that the two sides who play in the US would be given extended breaks on either side of the long trip in order to deal with the minimum 12-hour flight players would face in both directions.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg told Fairfax Media that planning was well advanced.

United States win first Fed Cup title since 2000

With the match level at 1-1 heading into the second day, Vandeweghe put the US in the driving seat thanks to a straight-sets win against Aryna Sabalenka in her singles rubber.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich then forced the match to a deciding rubber by coming from behind to get the better of the out-of-form Sloane Stephens, who has not won since claiming the US Open title, 4-6 6-2 8-6.

But it was the Americans who eventually won through, as Vandeweghe teamed with the fresh legs of Rogers to triumph over Sabalenka and Sasnovich in the doubles, winning 6-3 7-6 (7-3).

Jennifer Lawrence can't save the sadistic spectacle that is Mother!

Mother! suggests a sympathetic, if essentialist view of women and their role: giving birth, nurturing life. And in this case, supporting a celebrity author husband with writer's block. But Ball and Chain! might have been more appropriate.

The film is a devastating portrayal of male selfishness in which an artist behaves appallingly to his wife who spends much of the movie trying to get his attention. He acts out of neglect more than anything else, but this triggers consequences that are catastrophic for her.

The biggest e-sports event in the world

It's the biggest event of its kind in the world with a prize pool of nearly $24m (£18.4m) and is hosted by Valve.

Sixteen teams, with players from all over the world, are competing in the season climax for online battle arena game Dota 2.

For many of them the prestige of lifting the trophy at this ultra-competitive event is far more important than the cash.

Alex "machine" Richardson is Dota 2's answer to Gary Lineker and has been hosting the live stream of the group stages, which are taking place in Seattle.

UK singer: I was deported for impersonating Trump

Peter Bywaters, of Peter & The Test Tube Babies, claims he was detained when he flew in for a festival.

He said he was interrogated for six hours by border control staff and shown photos of himself dressed up as Donald Trump on tour in Germany last year.

However, US Customs and Border Protection officials say he was deported for having the wrong visa.

US and Qatar sign anti-terrorism agreement

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar last month, accusing it of financing extremist groups and allying with the Gulf Arab states' arch-foe Iran, allegations Doha denies.

Mr Tillerson said the agreement signed with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, had been under discussion for weeks.

True Blood star dies aged 39

Ellis's manager, Emily Gerson Saines, confirmed the actor's death via an emailed statement on Saturday (local time).

The Hollywood Reporter, which was first to report Ellis's death, quoted her as saying the actor died from complications of heart failure, adding more information would come to light in coming days.

United States suspends all Brazilian meat imports

Several countries banned Brazilian meat in March, when prosecutors said health inspectors there had been taking bribes to approve sub-standard meat.

The US didn't impose a ban then; instead, it introduced checks on all of Brazil's meat shipments.

It says now a significant proportion of Brazilian meat failed safety tests.

Pepe the Frog cartoonist kills off character that became hate symbol

A Pepe cartoon released on Saturday in comic book stores shows Matt Furie's creation in an open casket.

In a Time magazine essay last year, Furie described Pepe as "chill frog-dude" who debuted in a 2006 comic book called Boy's Club and became a popular online subject for user-generated mutations.

But internet trolls hijacked the character and began flooding social media with hateful Pepe memes more than a year before the 2016 presidential election.