First Thing: Trump administration orders US embassies to pause student visa interviews

US to introduce social media screening for any international students. Plus, the notorious facilities used to ‘rehabilitate’ disobedient Saudi women

Good morning.

The Trump administration has ordered US embassies globally to immediately pause scheduling visa interviews for international students as it prepares to introduce sweeping social media monitoring for these applicants.

The directive, first reported by Politico and since confirmed by the Guardian, could severely hold up visa processing and hit universities financially.

The freeze is part of a further tightening of vetting policy, which has been primarily directed at students involved in pro-Palestinian solidarity protests. Since March, consular officers have been searching for proof of support for “terrorist activity or a terrorist organization”, which could be as broad as showing support for the Palestinian cause, according to a cable obtained by the Guardian.

• What does this move mean? All student visa applications, rather than just those flagged for activism, will now have their social media combed.

• What else is Trump doing with universities? The administration will order federal agencies to cut all ties with Harvard University,in a further escalation of its assault on the storied institution, which is expected to lose contracts worth an estimated $100m under the plans.

Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s secretive rehabilitation ‘prisons’ for disobedient women

Saudi Arabia is imprisoning women banished by their families or husbands for disobedience in secretive institutions, with former prisoners telling the Guardian of weekly floggings, forced religious teachings and lack of contact with the outside world.

Conditions in the so-called “rehabilitation” facilities are said to be so terrible that there have been several cases of suicide or attempted suicide, and women are unable to leave without the permission of their family or a male guardian.

• How long have they existed? The institutions, which officials describe as care homes, were set up across the country in the 1960s.

Global temperatures could break heat record in next five years

Global temperatures have an 80% likelihood of exceeding annual heat records at least once in the next five years, research has found, while breaching 2C before 2030 is now a statistical possibility, albeit a tiny one.

Scientists described the 1% chance of exceeding the 2C mark as “shocking”. Far more likely, however, is that the five-year average warming for 2025-29 will pass 1.5C above preindustrial levels, which has been given a 70% chance. Rapid global heating is raising the risk of extreme droughts, floods and forest fires.

• Has 1.5C been breached before? Yes, it was passed in 2024, the hottest year in the 175-year observational record, for the first time on an annual level.

In other news …

• A total of 380 writers and groups, including Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, have signed a letter describing Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocideandcalling for a ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid.

• California has changed its rules for one particular sports competition this weekend after Donald Trump posted online about a trans athlete participating and threatened to pull funding.

• A French former surgeon is expected to be handed a 20-year sentence on Wednesday for the sexual abuse of hundreds of child patients.

Stat of the day: Toxic pesticide levels in tampons 40 times higher than legal limit for water

Levels of toxic pesticides in tampons sold in the UK are 40 times higher than the legal limit for drinking water, according to research. Traces of the pesticide glyphosate, which has been linked to cancer, have been found at very high levels in menstrual products, which is particularly concerning as chemicals absorbed in the vagina directly enter the bloodstream.

Don’t miss this: ‘My sister was found dead. Then I discovered her search history’

After Adele Zeynep Walton’s sister, Aimee, was found dead in a hotel room, apparently having killed herself, Walton started digging. She learned that her younger sibling had spent time on a suicide forum that taught her how to procure the substance that killed her, and that she had met a man who travelled from the US to accompany her while she died. “My feeling is that Aimee was groomed into making the decision,” Walton says of the influence of the online community and the algorithms that guided her.

• In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.

Climate check: Colorado River basin has lost nearly the equivalent of an underground Lake Mead

Groundwater is rapidly disappearing from the Colorado River basin, a key agricultural area: the basin has lost 27.8m acre-feet of groundwater in the last two decades, research shows. This is almost equivalent to the full capacity of Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US. Global heating is expected to intensify water shortages.

Last Thing: Keeping up with the baby bald eagles

Welcome to one of the internet’s more pleasant corners, where you can watch a livestream of baby eagles. For a decade, the environmental non-profit group Friends of Big Bear Valley has been livestreaming an eagle nest, and the family of eagles have become something of a hit, with 638,000 people subscribing to keep up to date with their goings-on. “What gets me through the day is to watch this beautiful family thrive,” reads one comment.

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