JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia) – Australia successfully completed their FIBA Asia Cup ‘three-peat’ bid after surviving China in a thrilling Final of the 2025 competitions, 90-89, on Sunday night at the King Abdullah Sports City.
Xavier Cooks led the way with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Jaylin Galloway made 23 points and 5 rebounds, while William Hickey supplied 15 points as they led the fourth-quarter turnaround after being down by 15 early.
Hickey nailed the go-ahead bucket with 1:09 remaining to give themselves the lead for good, before free throws by Will Magnay and Cooks in separate trips inside the closing seconds enabled the team to stay ahead.
A missed three-pointer by Hu Mingxuan on the other as time expired were all enough for Australia to escape with the one-point win and, more importantly, extend their dominion for the third successive time.
Australia have now become just the second team in Asia Cup history to achieve a treble after, coincidentally, China, who accomplished as much back in 2003 in Harbin to cop their 13th of 16 championships.
The Boomers have also extended their unbeaten run in the tournament to 18 games.
Hu, on the other hand, led China with 26 points in a losing effort. Hu Jinqiu finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Cheng Shuaipeng and Zhao Rui added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
China settled for silver following the defeat, the team’s first medal in a decade or since winning the gold during the 2015 competitions in Changsha after beating the Philippines in the Final.
Meanwhile, Iran won the bronze after taking down New Zealand in the Third-Place Game, 79-73, earlier in the day to give the program its first Asia Cup medal since taking home silver in 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Metropolitan Police has said it is investigating allegations of drug use on Strictly Come Dancing.
In a statement, the Met said it had “received an allegation about drug related offences”.
“Police are assessing the information and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed,” it said.
The BBC said it had “clear protocols and policies in place” for dealing with any serious complaints raised with it.
The Met’s involvement comes after the the BBC launched an investigation earlier this month into alleged drug use by two stars of the show, who have not been named.
It followed a report in the Sun on Sunday, which said the alleged drug use by the stars was widely talked about on the show.
BBC News understands the corporation has hired a law firm to help it carry out the probe.
On Sunday, the Sun reported that the BBC had referred the matter to police.
A Met spokesperson later confirmed that the force had “received an allegation about drug related offences” on Tuesday 12 August.
The BBC said it would not comment on any police investigation.
But it highlighted a previous statement which read: “We have clear protocols and policies in place for dealing with any serious complaint raised with us.
“We would always encourage people to speak to us if they have concerns. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”
Strictly, which has been airing since 2004, has faced multiple controversies over the past few years relating to the behaviour of some of its professionals and celebrity guests.
It is believed, however, that this is the first time the BBC has been in contact with the police over allegations linked to the show.
After a routine C-section at an Auckland hospital, a mother developed severe pain and what seemed like postnatal fatigue. It turned out to be an infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a “superbug” spreading across New Zealand and beyond.
Her story isn’t unique. In Dunedin, another mother was diagnosed with MRSA and internal bleeding postpartum.
These are personal stories, but they are also early warning signals of a broader health security challenge.
Methicillin is an antibiotic from the penicillin family, and MRSA is resistant to it (and often to other types of antibiotics). This makes infections harder to treat.
Once considered mainly a hospital problem, methicillin-resistant infections are now common in the community.
An MRSA strain that emerged in New Zealand (named AK3) is now the dominant strain in our communities. The country’s antibiotic-dispensing habits may have helped it emerge and spread.
A New Zealand-born strain with global reach
AK3 was first detected in 2005. Today, it is the leading cause of MRSA infections in New Zealand and, as our new study shows, has also been detected in the South Pacific and Europe.
Using whole-genome sequencing, we traced the journey of AK3 from a drug-susceptible ancestor to a highly resistant clone. Along the way, AK3 acquired key resistance genes, including those conferring resistance to methicillin and fusidic acid, a topical antibiotic once prescribed at historically high rates in New Zealand.
Dispensing of topical fusidic acid has declined since 2016. But once resistance becomes common, it can be difficult to reduce or revert to a susceptible form. This is why it is so important to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics by using them carefully and only when needed (a practice known as antimicrobial stewardship), and to monitor resistance trends using genomic surveillance.
Publicly funded dispensing of topical fusidic acid in New Zealand, 2001 to 2023. Key events include the first detection of MRSA AK3 in 2005, AK3 becoming dominant in 2009, a peak in dispensing in 2013, and a marked decline following 2016. The yellow band marks the critical period of AK3 expansion, while the grey band represents the COVID-19 border control period. Pharmaceutical Collection, Te Whatu Ora; Stats NZ; figure created by PHF Science, CC BY-SA
How a common prescription helped a superbug thrive
In New Zealand, fusidic acid was once widely prescribed in the community to treat skin infections, often without a confirmed diagnosis. This widespread use created ideal conditions for fusidic acid resistance to develop.
The emergence of AK3 demonstrates how antibiotics, when overused at a national scale, can drive the evolution of globally significant resistance. Our genomic study has improved our understanding of how AK3 evolved and became dominant in New Zealand.
Our analyses and public health data show that AK3 does not affect all groups equally. Compared with people of European ethnicity, Māori are three times more likely, and Pacific peoples nearly five times more likely, to suffer from skin infections caused by S. aureus.
Socio-economic factors amplify the risk: those in the most deprived areas are nearly four times more likely to be hospitalised with skin infections.
The burden of skin infections and overuse of fusidic acid created the conditions for AK3 to emerge, adapt and spread. For people with AK3 and other resistant superbugs, it is critical to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics. Fusidic acid still has a role in treatment, but the goal is to strike the right balance between under- and over-prescribing.
Addressing this requires improved access to timely, appropriate care and treatment in the communities most affected. This is a reminder that even the most advanced technologies cannot, on their own, overcome structural barriers. If we are serious about the threat antimicrobial resistance poses, we must confront these inequities head-on.
What next?
Recently, we detected AK3 in a sample of raw milk collected directly from a cow with mastitis during veterinary testing – well before any processing, and not from milk intended for people to drink. Resistance genes can cross human, animal and environmental boundaries and this demands a “One Health” approach, integrating surveillance with coordinated policy and action across all domains.
Surveillance is the continuous and systematic collection of data to inform public health action, typically drawing from multiple sources, including laboratory results, epidemiological information and genomic analysis.
The rise of AK3 underscores the need for a proactive, integrated antimicrobial resistance strategy across science, policy, veterinary and public health. Genomics is a key strategic priority, supporting an evidence-based approach to current and emerging diseases.
The case of AK3 brings these priorities into sharp focus and shows why coordinated action is essential to stay ahead of emerging threats.
To protect New Zealand’s health security and economy, we must support appropriate antimicrobial use. The right antibiotic should be used at the right time and in the right dose, guided by local data on microbial resistance and supported by accessible diagnostics.
We must also expand antimicrobial resistance surveillance and strengthen monitoring across human, animal and environmental health, with genomic analysis as a core component so that threats can be detected and transmission disrupted earlier.
The stories of two mothers whose MRSA infections complicated childbirth are more than case studies. They are calls to action and AK3 is our test. It challenges us to move from reactive treatment to proactive prevention.
New Zealand has the tools, talent, technology and networks to lead in antimicrobial surveillance and response. But we must act decisively. Not just to contain AK3, but to prevent the next superbug from emerging.
Let’s treat antibiotics like the critical infrastructure they are, recognising that the pipeline for new antibiotics is very narrow. We must make sure antibiotics will still work when we need them most.
We acknowledge the contributions by Max Bloomfield and the teams at Awanui Labs, Emma Voss and team at Livestock Improvement Corporation and all collaborators, including from New Zealand’s diagnostic labs, Health New Zealand, Ministry of Health, Anexa Veterinary Services, University of Auckland, and University of Otago.
Ronnie Rondell Jr., a veteran Hollywood stuntman best known for being set on fire for the cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, has died. He was 88.
Rondell Jr. passed away on Tuesday (Aug. 12) at a senior living facility in Osage Beach, Mo., his family announced, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A cause of death was not given.
Throughout his decades-long career, Rondell Jr. appeared in numerous films, including How the West Was Won (1962), Lethal Weapon (1987) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003). To music fans, however, he is most famously remembered as the man engulfed in flames on the cover of Pink Floyd’s 1975 album, Wish You Were Here.
The striking image was shot on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, Calif., and features a half-burning Rondell Jr. shaking hands with fellow stuntman Danny Rogers, both dressed in business suits.
“I’d been doing a lot of fire work in those days, and I had the special suits and all this stuff for fully enveloped fire,” Rondell Jr. recalled in the documentary Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here (via Rolling Stone). “It was pretty easy to do, not too life-threatening, and paid well.”
The iconic photo, created by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of the English art design group Hipgnosis, took around 15 attempts to shoot due to wind and other factors — and even resulted in Rondell Jr. having part of his eyebrow and mustache burned off.
“We repeated the process 14 times, took the shot, and then on the 15th a gust of wind blew up and wrapped the fire around his face and burnt him,” Powell told The Guardian in 2020. “He threw himself to the ground and his whole team piled on blankets to put him out.”
He added, “I knew I had got a special picture. It took a long time to persuade Ronnie to stand exactly as I wanted but in the end he was very brave and it was a perfect composition.”
Rondell Jr.’s extensive list of film credits includes Kings of the Sun (1963), Shenandoah (1965), Grand Prix (1966), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Blazing Saddles (1974), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), They Live (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Thelma & Louise (1991), Last Action Hero (1993), Speed (1994) and The Crow (1994).
He also worked as a stunt coordinator on several Aaron Spelling-produced television series, including The Rookies, S.W.A.T., Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island, Dynasty, Vegas, Hart to Hart and T.J. Hooker, according to THR.
Rondell Jr. retired in 2000 but returned to perform in a chase scene for The Matrix Reloaded (2003), where his son R.A. Rondell was the supervising stunt coordinator.
2023 WTA Finals Champion set to make her fifth consecutive appearance at the prestigious season-ending event
Swiatek has reached three finals this season, including winning her first Wimbledon title
Play begins at the 2025 WTA Finals on November 1 with $15.5 million total prize money on offer
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The WTA announced Sunday that Iga Swiatek has qualified for the 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, becoming the second player to secure her place following her run to the final at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open.
Swiatek, the 2023 WTA Finals champion who captured the title without dropping a set, is set to make her fifth consecutive appearance at the season-ending tournament. She joins PIF WTA World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who secured her place in Riyadh in July.
In addition to reaching the final in Cincinnati, Swiatek has contested two other championship matches this season, highlighted by her historic Wimbledon triumph, where she became the first Polish player in the Open Era — man or woman — to lift the singles trophy at the All England Club. The Wimbledon crown marked the 23rd title of her career, placing her second among active players behind Petra Kvitova’s 31.
The 24-year-old was a runner-up at the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt and has advanced to five additional semifinals this season, all at WTA 1000 or Grand Slam level. She also played a key role in leading Team Poland to the final of the United Cup at the start of the year and has accumulated more than 6,000 points on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard.
“It’s always a great feeling to qualify for the WTA Finals and an honor to compete as one of the Top 8 best players in the world,” Swiatek said. “I’m super motivated to come back and give my best this year.”
The 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF takes place from November 1-8, 2025 and features the top 8 singles players and doubles teams on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard (with the 8th spot going to the singles player and doubles team that have won a Grand Slam if ranked No.8 to No.20). Players and teams compete in a round-robin format with the singles champion lifting the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earning the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.
Click here to see the full PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard in singles and doubles.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip. (AP)
Starvation is the slow, silent unmaking of the body. Deprived of basic sustenance, the body first burns through sugar stores in the liver. Then it melts muscle and fat, breaking down tissue to keep the brain and other vital organs alive.
As these reserves are depleted, the heart loses its strength, the immune system surrenders and the mind begins to fade. The skin tightens over the bones and breathing grows faint. Organs begin to fail in succession, vision fails and the body, now empty, slips away. It is a prolonged, agonizing way to die.
We have all seen the images of emaciated Palestinian babies and children withering away from starvation in their mothers’ arms. Yet now that Israel is intensifying its war — embarking on a new campaign to “conquer” Gaza City — thousands more Palestinian civilians may be killed, either by bombs or by starvation.
“This is no longer a looming hunger crisis,” Ramesh Rajasingham, a senior UN humanitarian official, told the UN Security Council on Aug. 10. “This is starvation, pure and simple.” Alex de Waal, an expert on famine, estimates that thousands of Gazan children are now too weak to eat, even if they had access to food. “They have got to that stage of severe acute malnutrition where their bodies just can’t digest food.”
There is a growing consensus that Israel is committing the most serious of crimes in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Palestinian and international human rights groups raised the alarm about this risk within months of the start of the war and it has since been echoed by states on every continent, as well as by many in Israel. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for example, has decried what he describes as war crimes in Gaza and leading Israeli human rights groups say Israel’s actions in the territory amount to genocide.
On Oct. 9, 2023, two days after Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages — itself a serious war crime — then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced: “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly.” The population of Gaza was dehumanized and no distinction was made between civilians and combatants — a violation of a cardinal rule of international humanitarian law. The siege shut off all supplies into Gaza for 70 days, imposing collective punishment.
This first siege was eased only slightly when Israel allowed supplies to trickle into Gaza in early 2024. By that April, Samantha Power, then the head of the US Agency for International Development, was already warning of famine in parts of Gaza. The following month, Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, announced “a full-blown famine” in northern Gaza.
Over the past 21 months, several governments and aid agencies have pleaded with Israel to let them deliver aid.
Binaifer Nowrojee
International law prohibits the use of starvation as a weapon of war. As the occupying power in Gaza, Israel must ensure that the civilian population receives adequate food, water, medical supplies and other essentials. If those supplies cannot be located within Gaza itself, they must be sourced externally — including from Israel.
Over the past 21 months, several governments and aid agencies have pleaded with Israel to let them deliver aid. Granting such permission is also a legal obligation: Israel has a duty to facilitate others’ relief schemes “by all means at its disposal.” But Israel has continuously thwarted these efforts. At this very moment, it is blocking humanitarian organizations from delivering aid.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice, through legally binding decisions, ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance.” Two months later, it reaffirmed that order and required that the measures be taken “in full cooperation with the United Nations.”
The UN-led humanitarian system was the only one capable of preventing widespread famine in Gaza. During the ceasefire between January and March of this year, the UN and other humanitarian organizations were operating as many as 400 relief distribution sites. But after Israel broke the ceasefire in March, these were shut down and another siege was unlawfully imposed.
Israel justified the new siege by saying that it was cutting off aid to exert greater pressure on Hamas — thus acknowledging its use of starvation as a weapon. When aid resumed in May, the UN was replaced by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private food distribution arrangement organized by Israel. But since then, nearly 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to obtain food at the foundation’s four distribution sites.
Although signs of the coming horrors were clear within months of the war’s onset, many governments averted their eyes.
Binaifer Nowrojee
Worse, the scheme was never going to work. According to a report from the Famine Review Committee last month, “our analysis of the food packages supplied by the GHF shows that their distribution plan would lead to mass starvation, even if it was able to function without the appalling levels of violence.”
Under international law, the war crime of starvation begins at the point of deprivation. When it becomes a more expansive policy undertaken with the intent “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group,” it becomes genocide. Multiple senior Israeli officials have openly expressed such intent — including Gallant in October 2023, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in August 2024 remarked that “it might be justified and moral” to “cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger,” and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Minister for National Security, who posted on social media that “food and aid depots should be bombed.”
Palestinians are being intentionally starved to death. Although signs of the coming horrors were clear within months of the war’s onset, many governments averted their eyes. They rationalized the restrictions on aid by arguing that it was going to Hamas — a claim that Israel now says it has no evidence for — and transferred more tonnage in weapons to Israel than they delivered in aid to Gaza. Now, they are failing in their duty to prevent and stop a genocide.
History will forever record this moment of global shame. It will archive the images of skeletal children alongside those from past episodes where the world did nothing. One can only hope that the world will act now to salvage at least a measure of our humanity, before even more children die.
• Binaifer Nowrojee is President of the Open Society Foundations.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News’ point of view
Following the conclusion of the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where Germany became the new world champions, with a 41:40 win in the final over Spain, on penalties, the All-Star team of the competition has been announced.
Six nations are represented in the All-Star team, with all the teams placed on the podium being represented. Sweden, the fourth-placed side, the fifth-placed side, Egypt, and Slovenia, which finished 13th, have also sent one player each to the All-Star team.
The champions, Germany, had goalkeeper Finn Knaack and line player Tim Schröder in the squad, while the runners-up, Spain, had left wing Sergio Sanchez Vidan and the MVP Marcos Fis Ballester.
The back line was completed by Denmark’s Emil Darling Sorensen on the right back and Sweden centre back Nikola Roganovic, as well as the top scorer of the competition, Slovenia’s Aljuš Anžič.
Egypt, the hosts, had right wing Abdelrahman Aly in the All-Star team for the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.
The MVP of the competition was Spain’s right back, Marcos Fis Ballester. The 18-year-old future star scored 61 goals for Spain at Egypt 2025, becoming an influential figure in the competition, with his 13-goal performance against Egypt in the quarter-finals opening Spain’s path towards a medal.
2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship – All-Star team
Goalkeeper: Finn Knaack (Germany) Right wing: Abdelrahman Aly (Egypt) Right back: Emil Darling Sorensen (Denmark) Centre back: Nikola Roganovic (Sweden) Left back: Aljuš Anžič (Slovenia) Left wing: Sergio Sanchez Vidan (Spain) Line player: Tim Schröder (Germany)
Scalpers quickly cleared out the official merchandise store at the Pokémon World Championships 2025, leaving many fans unable to purchase exclusive items.
Despite The Pokémon Company introducing stricter controls such as purchase limits and a lottery system, reports from attendees indicate that scalpers still managed to acquire large quantities of the most in-demand products.
Exclusive items, including trading card game merchandise and other collectables, began appearing on resale sites such as eBay at heavily inflated prices within hours of the store opening.
Videos shared online captured chaotic scenes inside the venue, with one attendee overheard saying, “It’s a bloodbath in here, holy sh*t,” as people rushed to grab items from the shelves.
In response, organisers moved to address the issue on the second day of the event by introducing a staggered entry system.
This measure reportedly helped manage the flow of attendees, with later footage showing stocked shelves, though it remains unclear whether the most sought-after TCG products were still available.
The annual Championships, held this year in Anaheim from August 15–17, feature competitions across multiple Pokémon titles, including the Trading Card Game, Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Go, and the latest mainline RPGs, Scarlet and Violet.
Competitors are battling for a share of a $2 million prize pool, with winners crowned across each category.
Beyond competitive play, the Championships are also known for offering exclusive merchandise and rewards.
Entrants receive special edition cards that cannot be obtained elsewhere, adding further appeal for collectors and fans of the franchise.
The ongoing issue of scalpers targeting Pokémon merchandise has been a recurring concern for fans, with many calling for stronger preventative measures to ensure fair access in future events.
Veteran stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr, who was set on fire for the front cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, has died, his family has said.
Rondell Jr, who performed in a host of Hollywood films, including How the West Was Won, Ice Station Zebra, Twister and The Matrix Reloaded, was 88.
He died at a care home in Osage Beach, Missouri, earlier this week, his family said in a statement posted on the Hedges-Scott-Millard funeral homes website.
Rondell Jr was pictured as a businessman on fire on the cover of the British rock band’s multi-million-selling 1975 album.
His moustache was singed off during the shoot on the Warner Bros studio lot in Burbank, California, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rondell Jr also racked up numerous TV credits and was known for taking on daring stunts involving diving, gymnastics and hang-gliding skills.
One of his best-known stunts was leaping from a pole that was on fire as it toppled over in the 1963 adventure film Kings of the Sun.
Two years later, he could be seen in midair flying upside down above a cannon in the 1965 western Shenandoah.
Among his other movie credits are the James Bond adventure, Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles (1974), Lethal Weapon (1987), Thelma & Louise (1991), Speed (1994) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
He later came out of retirement to take part in a spectacular car chase in The Matrix Reloaded (2003), on which his son R A Rondell was the supervising stunt coordinator.
Rondell came from a family steeped in the movies, with his father, Ronald R Rondell, an extra who graduated to working as an assistant director on films like Around the World in 80 Days and various TV shows.
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One of his sons, R A Rondell, is a stunt performer and coordinator, while another son, Reid Rondell, 22, died in 1985 in a helicopter crash in California while performing a stunt on the TV series Airwolf.
Born in Hollywood in 1937, Rondell excelled in gymnastics and diving at school before entering the US Navy, where he specialised in scuba diving and mine force demolition.
He began as an extra before graduating to TV stunt work, eventually setting up Stunts Unlimited, which represented top motorcycle racers, car drivers, horsemen, pilots, aerial specialists and fight choreographers.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Mary Rondell, his son, R A Rondell, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Google announced its new design language in May. Material 3 Expressive redesigns have been slowly rolling out to Google apps since then, and here’s our list of what’s available and still to come on Android phones.
Updated 8/17: Refer to the table for what’s New and Updated
Rolling out
[New] Google Drive
This redesign starts with a search app bar, while the list/grid content view is placed in one large container. A connected button group is used to switch between the list/grid options.
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[Updated] Gmail
Your list of emails and the message are placed in a container, while there’s a prominent pill-shaped animation when using the swipe gestures.
Gmail is adopting the search app bar that moves the hamburger button and profile switcher outside of the field, which is now thicker.
[Updated] Google Wallet
“Wallet” has been replaced by the app logo in the top-left corner, while the list of passes below the carousel makes use of thicker cards. The Recent activity page has been updated with containers.
The NFC tap-to-pay animation is getting M3 Expressive. The background is now translucent with your card jumping up and down as part of a more animated success animation. Google is also introducing a new overlay for Pixel users with the double-tap power button gesture.
Digital Wellbeing
Just the main page for this “app” (within Settings) has been updated with M3 Expressive. Besides containers, the donut graph is thicker. This is rolling out with beta version 1.30.x.
Google Photos
A new backup indicator at the top of the app replaces “Google Photos.” On launch, you briefly get a logo that animates into “Backup complete.” You can drag down (pull-to-refresh) to see cycling Material 3 Expressive shapes on a background layer that also notes how much you have stored in the cloud. When something is backing up, there’s a wavy progress indicator.
More
Google One
The app switches to a shorter bottom bar, while the cards (and Settings) are placed in more prominent containers. Meanwhile, Google One has removed its infographics for a denser app.
More
Phone by Google
Compared to other apps, Phone by Google is using Material 3 Expressive as an opportunity for a complete overhaul. The bottom bar goes from four tabs to three with Favorites and Recents becoming “Home.” There’s a new “Keypad” tab that replaces the FAB, while “Voicemail” is unchanged. Contacts can now be found in a navigation drawer. All calls and lists (including Settings) make use of containers.
The Incoming and In-Call screens feature updated buttons with larger touch targets. You can pick between Horizontal swipe or Single tap.
More
Google Keep
Google Keep makes use of the new M3 Expressive search app bar component that moves the hamburger button and profile switcher outside of the search bar, which is now thicker. The other main update is on the notes page with all buttons (Archive, ‘plus menu, overflow, etc.) placed in containers.
More
Google Messages
The list of conversations and message thread itself is now placed in rounded containers. Google has also redesigned the ‘plus’ menu with all the options placed in pills. Other parts of the app getting Material 3 Expressive include New chat, Search, and Settings.
Launched
[New] Google Contacts
This straightforward redesign places everything in containers, while the bottom bar is now shorter. There are also color tweaks to the app’s background.
More
[New] Google Calendar
Time slots (hours and days) are placed in their own rounded container throughout the app’s various views (Day, Week, Month). This replaces the faint lines used previously, while there’s now a solid background layer in the primary Dynamic Color.
More
[New] Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
The updates in these three apps specifically apply to the editor interface with the new Material 3 Expressive progress indicator when waiting for documents to load. Pill-shaped buttons are used throughout, while the Format sheet is thoroughly modernized, including with the split button component.
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Google Meet
Google Meet is the first app to have widely rolled out a Material 3 Expressive redesign. On the homepage, each call is placed in a large/tall card as part of M3E’s heavy use of containers.
The pre-call screen sees more M3 Expressive with very large voice and video call buttons that seem out of proportion. The name, picture, and email address of who you’re calling is placed in a pill and centered at the top. Various buttons go from circles to rounded squares.
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