Germany v Curaçao: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽ Kick-off: 12pm local/1pm EDT/6pm BST/3am AEST
⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden boot | Email Daniel

Email! “Tiny Curaçao has just 158,000 citizens, apparently,” says Justin Kavanagh. “So after tonight (assuming they throw on at least four subs), one in every 10,500 Curaçao’s will have played against Germany at a World Cup finals.”

It’s amazing isn’t it? With the expansion of the competition, Curaçao saw the glimmer of an opportunity, backed themselves by appointing first Guus Hiddink then Patrick Kluivert, and Advocaat finished the job. There’ll be a decent atmosphere on the island this lunchtime, I shouldn’t wonder.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:49 am

Let him eat cake! Birthday greetings for President Trump as he turns 80 – from Greta Thunberg, Piers Morgan and more

The 47th has his 80th this weekend – a milestone that surely shouldn’t go unmarked. Artists, activists, writers and thinkers send their messages to the man of the hour (even if they’re unlikely to get a party invite)

Cory Doctorow

Dear Comrade Trump: On this, the occasion of your 80th birthday, I write to extend my sincere thanks for all the work you have done. After decades of deadlock, you have inspired the world to action! You have done more to de-dollarise the world than any American leader in history. Without you, there would be no way that Ethiopia would be revaluing its national debt in yuan. You have done more to end the global dependence on oil than any leader (except, perhaps, for Comrade Putin). Without you, there would be no way that India would be chucking out its gas hobs and replacing them with induction tops. And, of course, you have done more than any president in history to end American dominance over the internet. Without you, there would be no way the EU would be racing forward with projects such as Eurostack and European Digital Infrastructure Consortium, with whole nations ditching American tech exports like Microsoft Office 365 in favour of free, open, auditable, transparent alternatives running on servers within the EU’s borders. Comrade Trump, you are, at long last, ushering in the post-American world, and a grateful planet salutes you!

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:00 pm

Everything you need to know about sugar – from how much you should consume, to some of its 50 disguises

Fructose, glucose, sucrose. Lactose, maltose, dextrose. Treacle, molasses … honey! The sweet stuff is everywhere, in everything from colas and cakes to fruit and veg. Are some forms healthier than others? And what about artificial sweeteners?

Many people try not to eat too much sugar, yet it is added to so much food and drink, it is hard to avoid. It goes by more than 50 different names on labels, is present even in seemingly savoury products and the alternatives are confusing and controversial. So is the sweet stuff addictive – and should you cut it out completely?

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:00 am

Knicks in five and the NBA is alive: New York’s era-defining title is a win for the believers

For a half century, New York was the center of the universe but the joke of the NBA. In these glamour-filled finals, the franchise finally got its moment

The New York Knicks had been here before. As Jalen Brunson and his band of not-so-merry men stood at the top of this year’s NBA finals, they confronted not just the San Antonio Spurs, their foe on the court, but the very idea of what the Knicks themselves – as a team, as a franchise, as a symbol of New York City – could be. The team’s run to last year’s Eastern Conference finals was thrilling but had the aspect of an underdog romp, and ultimately ended in defeat. Was this the limit of what New York’s fans, Rabelaisian in their rages and saintly in their endless capacity for patience, could expect from their team? Brunson was dogged and clever but perhaps not quite elite, a Stakhanovite toiler in a league built for transcendent talents. Karl-Anthony Towns was elite but perhaps too soft, too sensitive, too “zesty” to carry a team to the NBA’s pinnacle. The questions hanging over the leading pair extended to a team forged in their image. The lineup was good; was it great?

Coach Mike Brown, in his first year with the franchise, had promise but no small amount of baggage, having landed at the Knicks after being dismissed by the Sacramento Kings following a horror start to the 2024/25 season. And then, of course, there was the weight of history: no title since 1973 and a litany of near-misses and false dawns in the intervening decades. New York had watched through the 1980s and 1990s as first Los Angeles, then Chicago (under the guidance of its own son, Phil Jackson, who won the 1973 championship as a Knick) propelled the NBA to global prominence, a narrative in which the Knicks filled the role of a dutiful punching bag. Hakeem Olajuwon’s block on John Starks to kill their hopes in 1994, the tragic heroism of Patrick Ewing, death by Tim Duncan in ’99, and all the fizzled promise of Carmelo and Stoudemire and Linsanity: the memories had faded but the scars lingered. The franchise was destined, it seemed, to remain forever on the fringes, a mournful witness to others’ joy. Could they do it? Surely they couldn’t: the curse of the Knicks had driven the fans, the team, the city itself to despair. Neurosis, not success, was hardwired into New York’s psychology. The center of the universe and the joke of the NBA: the city was Larry Fink off the court, and Larry David on it.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:56 am

Trump is desecrating the Lincoln Memorial | Ted Widmer

The monument excites reverence for the Declaration of Independence. Of course it is threatening to a president who doesn’t share its egalitarian vision

The Lincoln Memorial has always been special. Its siting is perfect, facing the Capitol, across the length of the Mall, as if speaking truth to power. The symmetry of its proportions adds to its moral grandeur. It feels balanced and open to all, like Lincoln’s vision of democracy.

That was consciously on the mind of the architect, Henry Bacon. It is not a towering monolith; instead, it invites the visitor in. There are some steps to climb, but not too many; 87 in all, chosen specifically because of the “four score and seven” in the Gettysburg Address, the number separating the year of Lincoln’s speech (1863) from 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence.

Ted Widmer is the author of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington, and a new book, to be published 23 June, The Living Declaration: A Biography of America’s Founding Text

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:51 am

‘Suggestive toothpaste tubes shooting into mouths’: David Hockney’s winking celebration of queer life

He challenged homophobia not through sexualised imagery but by reshaping ideas of beauty, intimacy and desire. The result? From posters to cushion covers, A Bigger Splash has become an essential presence in countless gay households

• ‘He changed the world just by looking at it’

• Obituary: David Hockney

Six decades after David Hockney painted A Bigger Splash, his most famous painting, reproductions have become a visual motif in gay domestic life. I’ve seen framed posters, prints and postcards of the work – which captures the moment after a person jumps off a diving board into an otherwise still cyan blue swimming pool – in countless gay households. In my flat, it appears on a cushion cover that I bought after seeing the real thing at Hockney’s 2017 Tate Britain retrospective.

It’s fitting that A Bigger Splash is now emblematic of this pioneer. As an out gay artist who depicted same-sex desire in his work long before male homosexuality was partly decriminalised in England and Wales, Hockney and his paintings challenged the homophobia within the artistic establishment and beyond. And he did so not through the use of highly sexualised imagery, like the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, or with the activist themes of painter Keith Haring, but by reshaping our ideas of beauty, intimacy and desire. That’s how he made the biggest splash.

Published: June 14, 2026, 12:00 am

Trump calls for restraint after Israel launches fresh airstrikes on Beirut

US president says ‘all sides should stand down’ as mediators seek to conclude preliminary US-Iran peace deal negotiations

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Donald Trump was forced to call for restraint on Sunday after Israel launched fresh airstrikes on Beirut as mediators sought to conclude negotiations on a preliminary peace deal between Iran and the US that would bring the three-month war in the Middle East to a definitive end.

Trump played down new Israeli strikes but said “all sides should stand down”.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:22 am

UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company

Some fighters will receive bonuses in ‘stablecoins’ issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on Friday that it will pay bonuses to fighters in a form of cryptocurrency issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial at the heavily publicized White House mixed martial arts event on Sunday.

The development connects the Trump family’s financial interests to the high-profile UFC competition being promoted on government property. The competition on the south White House lawn is scheduled for 14 June, Donald Trump’s birthday.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:24 am

Dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals found in US breast milk samples

Study of mothers in Seattle underscores ‘widespread, systemic problem’ of chemical contamination, experts say

Breast milk samples from mothers in Seattle contain alarming levels of dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid, and triclosan, new peer-reviewed research has found.

The chemicals present a serious risk to infants because they likely interfere with hormones that are critical to newborns’ proper development, and have been found to be harmful at very low levels of exposure. About 92% of 50 samples were contaminated with at least one of the anti-microbials or plasticizers for which researchers checked.

Published: June 14, 2026, 5:00 am

Minnesota woman rescued after being trapped in mud pit for several days

Two friends found Kathryn Woessner, 68, in wooded area almost entirely submerged in mud puddle

A woman has been rescued from a mud pit in Minnesota after becoming trapped for several days.

On 6 June, two friends, Adam Sandbeck and Mike Gravalin, were riding their all-terrain vehicles through a wooded area near Backus and Hackensack in northern Minnesota when they discovered Kathryn Woessner, 68, almost entirely submerged in a mud puddle.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:56 am

British armed forces intercept Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in Channel

Keir Starmer says operation involving National Crime Agency has delivered ‘yet another blow’ to Russia and Putin

Keir Starmer said he directed British troops to seize a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel in the early hours of Sunday, the first time the UK has led a naval capture since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The prime minister released a video on TikTok early on Sunday showing heavily armed Royal Marine commandos boarding the oil-laden Smyrtos tanker, which had been sailing south of the Isle of Wight en route from Russia to India.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:56 am

‘It’s euphoria’: New York City celebrates Knicks’ NBA title win after 53-year wait

Celebrations filled the streets, subways and bars as police reported some riots, damaged properties and violence

Marvita Davis, 70, was a teenager in Harlem the last time the New York Knicks won a championship, in 1973.

“I was like, Oh, I like this game. I can get into this game,” recalled Davis, who went on to play basketball at Northeastern University.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:48 am

DNA from 2,000-year-old grape seeds points to origins of modern winemaking

Researchers also discover that the ancient vines of Chianti, famed for its red wines, produced white fruit

DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old grape seeds found in ancient wells in Tuscany has enabled scientists to map the most extensive genetic history of grapevines recovered from a single site.

The findings revealed that vineyards of the Roman era formed part of the empire’s sophisticated agricultural network that might have influenced the development of modern winemaking.

Published: June 14, 2026, 5:12 am

Jamaican beach access campaigners go to court to fight privatisation of coast

Activists are challenging colonial-era law and demanding ‘free, legal, unfettered, forever rights’ to use beaches

• Jamaica’s beach access crisis: ‘We shouldn’t be forced to fight for what is already ours’

Campaigners in Jamaica are heading to court next week to try to prevent the government from cutting off access to more of their beaches.

They argue that ceding their shorelines to big hotel chains enriches private investors and benefits tourists and outsiders while depriving Jamaicans who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, leisure and health.

Published: June 14, 2026, 4:00 am

As Donald Trump turns 80, he faces a foe he can never defeat: Father Time. That’s a problem for us all

Alarm over the judgment and behaviour of the world’s most powerful man, and the consequent risks to the world, can only get worse

The main Nuremberg trial ended, Winston Churchill warned of an iron curtain descending across Europe, It’s a Wonderful Life received its premiere and, at Jamaica hospital in the borough of Queens, New York, Donald John Trump was born.

It was 1946, also the birth year of George W Bush and Bill Clinton, but on Sunday the current US president celebrates his 80th birthday in a style uniquely his own. Trump will stage a night of cage fighting on the once-pristine White House south lawn as part of events marking the 250th anniversary of US independence.

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:00 pm

Welcome to California: land of plunder and hypocrisy | Mark Arax

From gold to water, California’s wealth was built on extraction. The AI boom is reviving an old question: who pays the price?

I was a fourth-grader in the public schools of California when I first learned about the Gold Rush. I remember our teacher, Mrs Dyer, passing down the story in the manner of lore.

On the morning of 24 January 1848, James Marshall, a New Jersey boy come west, stumbled upon four shiny nuggets alongside the American River. He tried to keep his discovery a secret, but the shout of “eureka” from the dirt streets of San Francisco rang out across the shore. It unleashed a force that could not be contained.

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:00 am

A year after ICE raids terrorized Los Angeles, a rattled city counts its scars: ‘The arrests never really stopped’

Thousand of arrests last summer led to mass protests and some deaths – across the city, communities bear the scars

Most people in Brian Gavidia’s life haven’t seemed to notice that a year has passed since armed federal immigration agents descended on their city.

In East Los Angeles, in the neighborhood where he was born and has lived his whole life, the scene this week appeared more or less normal. A family in formalwear settled into the big round table at the torta ahogada restaurant for a post-graduation celebration. The vendors selling fruit or flowers or perfumes were once again lining the streets.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:13 am

From ‘human cockfighting’ to the White House lawn: the stratospheric rise of the UFC’s Dana White

Strange things are afoot at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, giving rise to an obvious question: how did we get here?

Rising from the South Lawn of the White House is a 92ft-tall skeletal structure known as “the Claw”. Beneath it sits an octagonal cage surrounded by sponsor logos, temporary grandstands and thousands of seats for a mixed martial arts card on Sunday night to celebrate Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the Ultimate Fighting Championship brand.

The event has prompted comparisons to Idiocracy, Mike Judge’s satire of a future US where politics, entertainment and corporate branding become indistinguishable. Others have gone further, dismissing it as a “kleptocratic spectacle”.

Published: June 14, 2026, 3:00 am

Democrats’ predicament with Graham Platner is one of the party’s own making

Platner’s long road ahead shows how Democrats may have fumbled the bag in Maine

The Democratic establishment’s early bet on Janet Mills, as its best hope to pick up a coveted Senate seat in Maine, now looks like a clear miscalculation – one that has left the party boxed into a far riskier general election fight than it ever anticipated. By rallying behind the septuagenarian governor, and sidelining Graham Platner for months, party leaders helped create the very predicament they face.

Platner’s primary victory on Tuesday now means the closely-watched race will be a test of fortitude for Democrats in the long road to November. One where either outcome has wide-ranging implications for the party.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:53 am

Living in fear of a knock at the door: the Cubans being deported under Trump

The US president has deported far more Cuban nationals during his second term than the entirety of his first

There was a time not so long ago when US immigration officials would have rolled out the red carpet for Cuban immigrants like May Díaz.

The 36-year-old native of the city of Camaguey joined thousands of other Cubans in spontaneous nationwide demonstrations against the Communist regime on 11 July 2021. Like many other protesters, Díaz was beaten up by truncheon-wielding police officers who were deployed to crush the protests, and three months later she fled the island and landed in the Mexican resort city of Cancún.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:00 am

A Georgia datacenter threatens local rivers. Locals are joining a national push to stop it

Coweta county could become third in state history to stage referendum, letting residents challenge a policy or decision

A post-church downpour didn’t deter hundreds of people from showing up at Morgan’s Market on a recent Sunday afternoon to sign a petition aimed at giving people in rural Coweta county, Georgia, the chance to vote on a datacenter known as Project Sail and prohibit other datacenters and cryptocurrency mining operations from moving forward.

It was one of about a dozen petition-signing events held in the area in a push that launched several weeks ago. As of Friday, organizers said they had collected about 6,500 signatures; the goal is about 14,000. Located less than an hour south-west of Atlanta, Coweta county has about 160,000 residents. Two-thirds of the county voted for Trump.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:00 am

Blaze at 1m-sq-ft California warehouse rages into third day: ‘We’re struggling’

Fire at medical supplier Medline in Tracy, city of more than 100,000 residents, is affecting the air quality

California firefighters continued to battle a blaze on Saturday that had engulfed a roughly 1m sq ft warehouse, causing officials to warn residents over unhealthy air quality.

The fire has been raging at the medical supplier Medline Industries’ warehouse in Tracy, a city of more than 100,000 residents located about 55 miles (90km) east of San Francisco. Officials expect to be battling the fire for a few more days.

Published: June 13, 2026, 4:00 pm

A day in the life of a dancer who went viral for pretending to be a parakeet

Smac McCreanor, a content creator who recreates viral internet trends through dance, gets woken up by bunnies every day

Have you seen the video of Smac McCreanor pretending to be a parakeet? Dressed in green, she gracefully slides and sidesteps, occasionally lifting her arms – or wings? – mimicking the movements of a bird who went viral for his dance moves.

McCreanor, 33, translates the internet’s obsessions through her body, whether a green bird, emoji or objects being destroyed by a hydraulic press. A multi-genre dancer with 1 million Instagram followers, she has performed on So You Think You Can Dance and choreographed for the online video game Fortnite.

Jaya Saxena is a co-founder of Ravenous, a worker-owned food and culture site. She lives in Queens, New York.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:00 am

Lovers, housewives, deserts and dogs: David Hockney’s greatest works – in pictures

From his taut, sun-kissed portraits of LA to his vast psychedelic Yorkshire landscapes to his 70m iPad Normandy epic – here’s our pick of the artist’s best works

Published: June 14, 2026, 5:00 am

‘Have I been influenced, or is this actually me?’ How personal taste fell out of fashion

Our favourite music, clothes and books used to be markers of individuality – but the algorithm has made us all sheep. Meet the style rebels fighting back

What are you into? What floats your boat? What music, films, clothes, art, books – anything, really – do you actually like? Do you find these questions more difficult to answer than you would have done 10 years ago? How about 20? You do? You’re not alone.

It has become impossible to ignore: personal taste has been seriously debased – if not completely destroyed – by technological advancement. We know the internet has radically altered the way we form our opinions and beliefs. Now we’re waking up to another sobering truth: it has wrecked our capacity to form our own preferences.

Published: June 14, 2026, 4:00 am

Kindness of strangers: As I waited under the relentless sun, a woman brought me a freshly made feast

She came directly up to me and offered the tray, accompanied by a torrent of incomprehensible Greek

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

The straps of my backpack dug hard into my shoulders as I trudged like a zombie through the sweltering heat. I was hitchhiking across the Greek island of Crete in summertime and had been dropped off in a small village miles from anywhere, hoping to pick up my next ride. It was 1978 and probably didn’t help that I looked every inch the hippie – jewellery, bushy beard and dusty clothes.

Cars passed only infrequently, maybe one every half hour. When they did, they hurtled past like unstoppable express trains, without a sideways glance my way. I took a seat on a low stone wall and hoped for the best. But after several hours under the relentless sun, I was beginning to think I’d never get out of the place. A few houses dotted the main road but the village seemed to be asleep.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:00 am

‘A point of resistance’: the Normandy village that said ‘non’ to Pete Hegseth

US defence secretary cancelled appearance at D-day event in Langrune-sur-Mer after protest by residents

When news came that the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, would be travelling to Normandy to mark D-day, some in the seaside village of Langrune-sur-Mer – where the afternoon ceremony was slated to be held – felt they had to speak up.

“We found it unbelievable that they could send someone who held views and values contrary to democracy, human rights, peace and Europe,” said resident Chantal Richard. To her, the incongruence felt deeply personal. “We grew up going to D-day ceremonies, some of us had grandparents or parents whose lives were affected by this war.”

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:00 pm

Ebola one month on: will the latest outbreak in DRC become the most deadly yet?

With more than 670 confirmed cases and over 135 deaths, the disease has yet to be contained amid funding shortfalls, fear and disinformation

When an orphanage in Bunia took in a newborn baby after his mother died from Ebola, the nuns who ran it hoped they were giving the infant a chance for life. The baby survived for only another two weeks. Now four of the nuns who cared for him have fallen sick with the deadly virus.

It is a snapshot of the tragedies at the centre of an outbreak in which the number of victims is roughly doubling every week, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:00 am

England’s loss is USA’s gain as Pochettino finds a spearhead in Folarin Balogun

Against Paraguay, the Monaco striker provided the ruthless finishing the USMNT have often missed in recent years

• World Cup newsletter | Daily podcast | Download the app

Even after they conceded an early goal on Friday, Paraguay kept affording the United States ample room up the channel. As the ball reached Malik Tillman and Weston McKennie in midfield, their disoriented opponents never quite seemed to know how to station themselves to stem the tide. The US’s off-ball movement further complicated those efforts, dizzying Paraguay’s defense before it could establish an ideal structure.

“I just tried to run in behind,” McKennie said after the US had completed their 4-1 victory. “I think I realized early on that they were struggling to follow my deep runs. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. I keep trying to do it until they figure something out. I was able to find more space than usual, and it was fun. I really enjoyed to get on the ball as much as I did.”

Published: June 14, 2026, 3:00 am

Fifa will not sanction Fox for breaking advertising rules during World Cup opener

• US broadcaster overran ads during hydration break

• Broadcasts must return 30 seconds before play resumes

Fox will not face any sanction from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.

The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:43 am

Scotland march on towards history but improvement is needed against Morocco

Precious win gives Steve Clarke’s team a platform but nervy display against Haiti could prove a missed opportunity

It felt so typically Scottish that even rare success on the World Cup stage delivered such paradoxes of emotion and analysis. In Ireland, sporting glory is routinely cherished without contradiction. Scots have far more of a tendency to apply “ah, but” as an addendum. So it proved from Boston to Brora, where dissection of the 1-0 win over Haiti was far from straightforward. Rightly so.

Record books will show John McGinn’s scruffy goal earned the Scots just a fifth win at a World Cup finals. The claiming of a point against Morocco on Friday will, barring an extraordinary set of results elsewhere, seal Scotland a knockout berth for the first time. They haven’t even featured at this level since 1998. Any team within touching distance of heady times, rewarding a fantastic supporter base in the process, can hardly be castigated.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:36 am

Young Socceroos offer something new and tantalising: the hope of an adventure like in 2006

Irankunda and co have not yet earned golden generation status but they can revive Australia’s World Cup aspirations

There always was a familiar feeling to this youthful squad of Socceroos. That sense of deja vu. That you had seen something like this before. But it took Nestory Irankunda running to the corner flag to remember what it was.

By reviving Tim Cahill’s famous goal celebration, the new face of Australian football instantly connected this fearless crop of young footballers finding their way on the world stage to the greats wearing yellow that have gone before.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:00 am

Mohamed Salah has eyes of a nation on him as Egypt look to end 92-year wait

The Liverpool icon has little left to prove but will be key for his country as they look to end a near-century wait for a victory in a World Cup match

Last week Orange, one of Egypt’s leading mobile network operators, released a series of humorous adverts starring Egypt’s Ahmed Fatouh, Rami Rabia and Hossam Abdelmaguid, where the trio’s optimism is met with scepticism as partners and family members struggle to take them seriously. Their crime? Daring to suggest Egypt might finally progress beyond the group stage of a World Cup.

If there is one thing Egyptians do particularly well, it is self-deprecation. Perhaps that comes from history. Despite winning the Africa Cup of Nations seven times, Egypt are still waiting for their first World Cup victory. The Pharaohs will kick off their fourth appearance at the tournament against Belgium on Monday knowing they failed to win any of their seven matches so far. That is the contradiction at the heart of Egyptian football. No African nation has won more continental titles, yet Egypt remain one of the continent’s World Cup underachievers. While other African nations aim to replicate Morocco’s 2022 semi-final success, many Egyptians would happily settle for something far more modest: a single group stage victory.

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:17 am

Brazil find that everything good flows through Vini of New Jersey

The Real Madrid star was his country’s best player in their World Cup opener on Saturday. They’ll need more of the same if they are to make a deep run

Vinícius Júnior is not wearing the famous Brazil No 10 at this World Cup. For now, the hallowed shirt of Pelé, Zico, Rivellino, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and all the rest belongs to Neymar.

Or at least it belongs to a man faintly resembling Neymar. Now 34, he showed just enough at Santos to make Carlo Ancelotti’s squad after two lucrative but mostly wasted years in Saudi Arabia. Ancelotti could have chosen João Pedro or Richarlison or Savinho or Gabriel Jesus or Igor Jesus or, hell, even Antony, but he took Neymar. Who is injured again – a calf problem this time – and whose fitness will loom over the Brazilian campaign, just as it has at some point during every one of his four World Cups.

Published: June 14, 2026, 12:00 am

England get rapturous welcome as they settle in to sprawling Kansas City home

England’s squad arrived at Swope Soccer Village, their World Cup base, to find locals (and the local police) out in force

Before Thomas Tuchel and his England players departed for the United States, there was talk about their World Cup training ground in Kansas City being too open. It was motivated, in part, by the Southampton spygate scandal. Would England’s rivals be able to steal a glance at them? Tuchel even said the Football Association would seek to erect protective fences.

The nine-pitch facility at Swope Soccer Village is certainly sprawling but here’s the thing. Nobody is getting on site without going past the armed police officers at the entrance. There was a throwaway line from a steward on Saturday as England trained on the complex’s best pitch after flying in from Florida after their pre-tournament camp. “You guys see spying,” he said. “We see personal security.” The latter rather overrides the former. It was safe to say they have it covered.

Published: June 13, 2026, 9:04 pm

Lewis Hamilton earns maiden F1 Ferrari win in Barcelona but Antonelli fails to finish

• Hamilton leads British top three with Russell and Norris

• Championship leader Antonelli out just after taking second

Lewis Hamilton triumphed for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with a magnificent drive to seal an emotional maiden win for the Scuderia. The veteran British driver and seven-times world champion ended a run of 40 grands prix without victory and denied his compatriot, second-placed George Russell of Mercedes, who was outmaneuvered by Ferrari’s three-stop strategy and his teammate Kimi Antonelli.

But there was intense drama behind Hamilton late on as Antonelli, the drivers’ championship leader, and his teammate Russell battled for second – with the Italian forced to retire straight after overtaking Russell with five laps left. Lando Norris of McLaren, as a result, rounded out an all-British podium, the first since 1968. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, having fought his way up the field from 10th on the grid after a qualifying crash, was forced to retire at the last due to a technical issue. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fourth, Oscar Piastri fifth for McLaren, Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull and Pierre Gasly seventh for Alpine.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:09 am

Ben Shelton bests fellow American Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart for first title on grass

• Shelton fights back to win third title of season

• Grass specialist Fritz was defending champion

American top seed Ben Shelton beat countryman and defending champion Taylor Fritz 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to win the Stuttgart Open ATP title on Sunday.

Grass court specialist Fritz had never previously lost a final on the surface. Shelton broke the second seed once in the opening set and once in the third to claim victory in 1 hour 48 minutes.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:14 am

Emma Raducanu fights back from shocking start but loses Queen’s final to Donna Vekic

• Vekic defeats British No 1 6-0, 7-6 (6) to take title

• Raducanu let two set points and 5-2 lead slip in second set

Emma Raducanu walked through the storied clubhouse at Queen’s Club and down to the stadium court with a smile plastered across her face. She had arrived at this moment, another noteworthy final in front of a home crowd on a historic court, playing some of the best tennis of her career. Things were going well.

That smile was wiped off her face by a ruthless performance from one of the few true grass court enthusiasts in Donna Vekic of Croatia, a lucky loser, who was inspired by the occasion to produce her best tennis of as she clinched the biggest title of her career, edging past Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) at the Queen’s Club.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:59 am

Former San Francisco 49ers star Aldon Smith dies at 36: ‘His smile lit up every room’

• Defensive lineman was No 7 pick in 2011 draft

• Off-field incidents, suspensions affected his career

Former NFL defensive end Aldon Smith died Saturday at the age of 36, the San Francisco 49ers said. The team did not disclose the cause of death.

Smith played six seasons in the NFL for the 49ers, the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.

Published: June 13, 2026, 6:18 pm

Former NBA MVP James Harden arrested on weapon charge in Houston

• 11-time All-Star released on $100 bond

• Police spotted handgun in player’s Mercedes

Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden was released from a Houston jail after he was arrested early on Saturday morning on a misdemeanor gun violation.

Harden was driving through downtown Houston with four others when he was stopped by police just before 4am. When Harden drove up behind another vehicle, an officer spotted a handgun in the cup holder of his Mercedes, according to court records.

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:37 am

One reason US democracy is in trouble? Its supporters are moving elsewhere | Justin Gest

The recent exodus of people – voluntary and not – from the US threatens to worsen America’s authoritarian slippage

The recent frenzy of attempts to redraw electoral districts is ultimately about voice and silence in US democracy. When districts are cut to maximize one ideological perspective, the representation of large concentrations of Americans with opposing views can be diluted or erased. In many of the new Republican-drawn state maps, it will be as if such citizens have departed entirely.

Since Donald Trump enacted a series of policies that undermine institutional checks and balances, new population data suggests that, at the same time, many such citizens have departed quite literally.

Justin Gest is a professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He has authored seven books on the politics of immigration, democracy, and demographic change, including his forthcoming work, Democratic Drain: Global Migration and the Struggle for Democracy

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:00 am

Elon Musk and co may relish march of the robots but there must be AI boundaries in the workplace | Heather Stewart

As technology advances quickly, firms should not lose sight of what qualities humans bring to jobs

A robot magician called D4YRL was rejected as a member of the Magic Circle last week, for being insufficiently human.

While D4YRL’s tricks were exemplary, the august organisation decided “he” did not engage the audience’s emotions as a flesh-and-blood performer would.

Published: June 14, 2026, 4:03 am

Amoc collapse could change Europe’s climate 10x faster than expected. We aren’t ready

The system of ocean current that moves heat in the Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in regulating climate. Today’s monitoring of it may be discontinued

Imagine we detect a large asteroid heading straight for Earth. We are able to intervene and prevent disaster, but instead we cut the funding needed to track it. A few million dollars, it was argued, was too expensive to have a chance to save society.

While this scenario isn’t real, the metaphor is alarmingly accurate. In Europe, we spend €1bn to monitor space for asteroids, even if the actual risk of a civilisation-ending asteroid strike is close to zero.

Published: June 14, 2026, 3:00 am

Me, worry? For US small businesses, Trump’s tariffs are now a non-issue

A year ago it was the hot topic, but business owners have seen there’s a limit to the president’s royal decrees

In two weeks, I’m speaking to a group of companies in the packaging industry about issues affecting their businesses this year. I’m going to discuss the economy, navigating higher costs, leveraging new tax legislation, AI and what companies are doing to find and retain workers in a volatile job market.

You know what I won’t be talking about? Tariffs.

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:00 am

Door-to-door canvassing can be intimidating – but it’s also a source of hope | Saul Austerlitz

Questions about the efficacy of door-knocking feel valid. But I see it as a weapon against autocracy – and a spiritual workout

In the fall of 2024, I spotted a middle-aged couple standing on their front lawn in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. I waved and gingerly approached. The woman, whose name appeared in my canvassing app, told me she had never voted in an election before, had never seen politics as relevant to her life. And her husband, she said, was a lifelong Republican. But after the return of Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee, it felt like it was time to take a stand. They were both going to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot in November.

On the other side of the street, directly facing their house, were two of the biggest Trump 2024 flags I had ever seen, along with a life-size cutout of Trump on a third lawn.

Published: June 14, 2026, 4:00 am

After losing both my parents, I realised what I needed: the total isolation of a Hebridean island | Graham Snowdon

Complete solitude may not be for everyone, but walking the windswept Harris hills by myself gave me the space to contemplate a difficult year

Sitting in a remote cabin earlier this year on the Hebridean isle of Harris, watching the fishing boats come and go in the little harbour, I felt the fog of the previous months finally beginning to clear. I kept thinking back to a cold November night, returning from Leeds to south London, when I finally admitted to myself that something needed to change.

I was exhausted from the long, frequent and often unrewarding round trips to visit my mum. At her care home in Leeds that autumn day, I had tried the usual tricks to summon a reaction from her – news of the grandkids, or re-reading poems and songs she’d written in her days as a primary school headteacher. But for the most part, she remained still and silent.

Graham Snowdon is the editor of Guardian Weekly

Published: June 14, 2026, 2:00 am

Russia is losing the war in Ukraine, and Putin is desperate. But that’s when he’s at his most dangerous | Simon Tisdall

Don’t expect the Russian president to pursue peace. Instead, he could continue to expand the war beyond Ukraine’s borders – with dire risks for us all

Just about everyone reckons Vladimir Putin is in deep trouble in Ukraine. Everyone – meaning Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his European backers and western military analysts and commentators – seems to believe Russia’s dictator is heading for humiliation. They could all be wrong, of course. But what if they’re right? How might a desperate, cornered Putin, fearful for his policy and person, react to the prospect of defeat? On past form, he will escalate, not capitulate. His options range from trolling YouTube to waging nuclear war.

For Ukraine, the latest news is mostly good. Using sophisticated Ukrainian-made drones and missiles, it has forced the invaders on to the back foot. Russia’s tally of dead and wounded is said to be running to 30,000 each month. Its advance has stalled – and in some places has been reversed. Ukrainian airstrikes deep into Russian territory are bringing the war home to a misled, disillusioned public. St Petersburg burns. Fuel shortages cause panic buying. Prices and taxes are rising. Putin’s 2022 “special military operation”, which was supposed to bring swift victory, has now lasted longer than the first world war.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

Published: June 14, 2026, 12:00 am

The Guardian view on culture in China: artist Gao Zhen is paying again for the country’s painful history | Editorial

The 70-year-old has been prosecuted for his artworks under a law that did not exist when they were created. He should be freed

Sixty years ago, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution – a decade of fanaticism that consumed China. Perhaps 2 million people, from top leaders to impoverished farmers, were killed or driven to suicide for political “crimes” or their family background. Tens of millions more, including the father of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, were hounded.

The party, and most of those who lived through the movement, prefer to forget it. But the years of chaos, violence, zealotry and stagnation, which ended only with Mao’s death, have left deep scars. Among the many victims was a factory worker whose young sons grew up to become celebrated artists. Their work addressed the devastation wrought by the era, including through satirical images of Mao.

Published: June 14, 2026, 9:25 am

Starmer to announce ‘Australia plus’ ban on social media for under-16s

Sources say hardline measures will also prevent young users from being able to talk to strangers on gaming apps

• Why is the UK launching an ‘Australia plus’ social media ban and how will it work?

Keir Starmer will ban under-16s from major social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram and X in sweeping restrictions described as “Australia plus”, the Guardian understands.

Teenagers will be banned from all the main social platforms, and online products that are not covered by the ban – such as gaming apps – will face new restrictions such as having the option to chat to strangers removed. There will also be restrictions for older teenagers up to the age of 18 that prevent “scrolling” late at night – after 8.30pm.

Published: June 14, 2026, 8:05 am

Antidepressants and antipsychotics could serve as alternatives to opioids, study finds

Medications that target depression, anxiety and poor sleep could help treat pain without opioids’ addictive properties

A range of other medications could serve as alternatives to powerful opioids for pain relief in emergency departments, according to a new study.

The review paper examined non-opioid medications available in the emergency department at San Francisco general hospital and examined existing medical literature to figure out which ones might provide pain relief.

Published: June 14, 2026, 5:00 am

Ukraine and Moldova to enter first phase of EU membership negotiations

Election of new Hungarian government in April has paved way for EU member states to agree to open talks

Ukraine and Moldova will take a decisive step towards joining the EU on Monday, as they embark on the first phase of membership negotiations.

The start of substantive negotiations, launched by senior EU officials and ministers from both countries in Luxembourg on Monday, will be a highly symbolic moment for the two countries that were both part of the former Soviet Union. It comes after Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian towns and cities, while sustaining huge losses for little territorial gain.

Published: June 14, 2026, 2:33 am

How Brexit has made Britain poorer – in charts

Forecasters were wrong about an immediate recession but right that we would be worse off outside the EU

As the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote approaches, the verdict on Britain’s economic performance is clear: voting to leave has resulted in severe costs for households and businesses.

The immediate recession predicted in the Treasury forecasts ordered by George Osborne – dubbed “project fear” by the Leave campaign – did not happen. The impact from the Covid pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Iran, and Donald Trump’s trade battles also cloud the picture.

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:00 pm

X accused of giving racists ‘impunity’ after refusing to bar N- and P-word posts

Site takes no action over hate posts against UK politicians including Kemi Badenoch, Shabana Mahmood and Zia Yusuf

X has refused to take down dozens of social media posts reported as “hate, abuse or harassment” in which prominent UK politicians, including Kemi Badenoch, have been racially abused.

In May, researchers from the social inclusion thinktank British Future reported 30 posts from this year in which the Conservative party leader was called the N-word. In each case the researchers used the platform’s “hate, abuse or harassment” reporting option. X refused to act in the majority of cases, despite repeated requests.

Published: June 14, 2026, 12:00 am

‘Flamin’ cockatoos’ have lost much of their habitat to bushfires. Can the species survive?

Two fires in 12 years wiped out all but a handful of the mature native pines in Victoria’s Wyperfeld national park, a key breeding ground for endangered pink cockatoos

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

At the entrance to Wyperfeld national park, in north-west Victoria, more than a dozen pink cockatoos are sprinkled across a hedge row of pine trees like Christmas decorations. These are Aleppo pines, not the native conifers that the birds rely on for nesting habitat and as a primary source of food.

Still, the feathered ornaments appear quite content, nestled in among the spruce and ripping into pine cones with their dexterous claws and beaks, making gentle cracking sounds that punctuate the soft roar of Mallee winds.

Published: June 13, 2026, 1:00 pm

Freedivers, leftover cables and bits of clay: Cuba gets inventive to save its pristine reefs amid US blockade

With limited resources and sanctions tightening, conservationists are forced to find new ways to protect the coral reefs of Ciénaga de Zapata national park

At 8am, scuba divers gather to collect plastic and drinks cans from the sea at Cuba’s Ciénaga de Zapata national park. Amid a power crisis that has virtually paralysed the country’s economy, they use an electric trailer to move to a designated spot. In only a few hours, they have collected five sacks of cans and waste.

Lack of environmental awareness, invasive species and the climate crisis have long threatened the island’s pristine marine ecosystem but as US sanctions and economic scarcity take their toll on the country, scientists and community conservationists are working with even scarcer resources to protect a vital ecosystem for the Caribbean and the world.

Published: June 13, 2026, 4:00 am

Tent collapses during Virginia church celebration, killing 1 and injuring 22

Heavy rain, lightning and strong winds tore through Moneta, about 124 miles south-west of Richmond

A large tent collapsed during a Virginia church’s 20th anniversary celebration on Friday evening, killing one person and injuring nearly two dozen others, officials said.

Heavy rain, lightning and strong winds tore through Moneta, a small community about 124 miles (200km) south-west of Richmond, as the EastLake community church was holding an outdoor service, Shelley Basinger, a spokesperson for Bedford county, said in a statement. The group was in the process of leaving the event tent when it collapsed, according to Abbey Johnston, acting chief of Bedford county fire and rescue.

Published: June 13, 2026, 3:41 pm

Gee, whiz: elephant relieves itself on floor of Texas Republican convention

Four-ton Paige, brought in as surprise for attenders, made gushing debut after governor finished keynote speech

An African elephant weighing roughly 4 tons that was brought to the Texas Republican party’s annual convention to excite attenders ended up drawing widespread attention for the wrong reasons after she urinated on the convention floor and became the focus of animal welfare concerns.

Inside the George R Brown convention center in Houston on Friday, attenders had been told to prepare for a “larger-than-life surprise” after governor Greg Abbott finished his keynote speech. Organizers also displayed a message asking people to keep the aisles clear.

Published: June 13, 2026, 10:16 am

Kidnapped US journalist faces Taliban captor in court as 42-year sentence caps long saga

Haji Najibullah imprisoned for role in capture of David Rohde, New York Times journalist held for months in 2008

Haji Najibullah appeared unbothered as he walked into Manhattan federal court earlier this week to learn whether he would face life behind bars for his role in brutal violence during his time as a Taliban commander – including the 2008 kidnapping of US journalist David Rohde.

Najibullah, who walked into the courtroom in shackles at about 9.50am Monday, sporting khaki jail garb and a black skullcap, could even be seen grinning at various points before proceedings started.

Published: June 13, 2026, 7:00 am

Trial of 12mph bike lane speed limit grinds gears of Dutch cyclists

Increase in road deaths amid rise of e-bikes prompts Houten to test willingness of freedom-loving cyclists to slow down

As road deaths increase and cycle lanes overflow with e-bikes, the Netherlands is considering a cycling speed limit of 12mph (20km/h).

The government has started a two-week trial in Houten, near Utrecht, to gauge whether freedom-loving Dutch cyclists are willing to slow down – and whether they have any idea how fast they are going in the first place.

Published: June 13, 2026, 11:00 pm

Deadly Philippines earthquake found to have raised seabed by up to 2 metres

‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metres

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6ft), exposing coral and harming marine life, the country’s environment department has said.

At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude quake off southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency.

Published: June 14, 2026, 4:07 am

‘There was a lot of blood in the water’: paddleboarder rescues woman after ‘shocking’ Coogee shark attack

Charlie Verco managed to grab hold of the woman and bring her back to shore after the Sydney shark attack on Saturday

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Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has only seen one shark bigger than the one he saw on Saturday at Sydney’s Coogee beach.

The North Bondi athlete was training for July’s world championships in Hawaii on Saturday morning when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark”.

Published: June 13, 2026, 4:10 pm

Australian girl killed in Pakistan after reportedly being shot by police

Nine-year-old visiting relatives in Punjab province when police opened fire on car, local media report

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A nine-year-old Australian girl has been killed and two of her family members injured after reportedly being shot by police in Pakistan.

The family were visiting a relative in Chakwal, in Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car on Wednesday night local time, Pakistani English-language news outlet Dawn reported.

Published: June 13, 2026, 8:39 pm

‘I have a naughty schoolboy attitude’: Anish Kapoor reveals his latest epic creations

As he opens a career-spanning show in London, the Turner prize-winning artist gives us a private view of his giant studio and talks censorship, controversy and why disobedience is central to making great art

In Anish Kapoor’s 3,100 sq metre studio complex in south London, photographers, assistants and gallery representatives gather in an upstairs meeting room. The artist has a staff of 23 in London – 11 studio assistants, nine people in the offices, three stone masons at a yard in Battersea – and some have been with him for decades. When he’s in town, everyone wants a piece (“It’s like The West Wing,” says one gallery rep).

Anish Kapoor and his hazmat-suited assistant with some of the 31 parts of Ha Makom

Published: June 14, 2026, 2:00 am

‘Hyper-stylised, ultra-cool visions’: 10 ways David Hockney changed art

He pushed landscape painting into the stratosphere, demolished one-point perspective, invented the Los Angeles look, embraced iPads, created dazzling stage sets for theatre and opera …

David Hockney didn’t just appear out of nowhere like some fully formed artistic wunderkind. His work was a synthesis of so much that came before and was happening around him. He took the ideas of minimalism and abstraction, fused them with the traditions of portraiture, and filtered it all through the innovations in pop and conceptualism that were going on in the 1960s. He was heavily indebted to a lot of other artists, but he synthesised all those influences into something so simple, immediate, digestible and approachable that it became something new.

Published: June 13, 2026, 5:00 am

‘A movie for everyone, not just Drag Race fans’: stars of drag comedy Stop! That! Train! on making the summer’s funniest film

Director Adam Shankman and drag queen actors explain putting a brilliantly madcap twist on Airplane! style parody

Drag queens are never more striking than when they’re set against an everyday background. “Kristen Stewart is a buoy … ” the Laotian American beauty Jujubee muttered spacily to herself in the hallway of Bleecker Street Media’s New York office, reading out the tag-line of a framed poster for the 2024 sci-fi/romance Love Me. The former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant and star of the new disaster-comedy Stop! That! Train! was lingering outside an office cubicle in a structured blazer and fishnets as an attentive PR took her order for lunch. By that point she’d been in full wardrobe and make-up all day fielding press, including a mid-morning stop with her castmates at NBC’s Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.

I’d heard Jujubee and her co-star Ginger Minj before I saw them, laughing like glamorous hyenas from another room. When they made an entrance, they did so in coordinated cheetah print looks, greeting me with the kind of mega-watt smiles that told me I was now their audience. I was impressed by how “on” they were, but could imagine it was taxing to keep up. How had the whirlwind of press been for them? “It’s been a lot of work but it doesn’t feel like it,” Ginger admitted. “The tour has absolutely mimicked the making of the movie.” “We have to schedule our sleep,” Jujubee added as she slowly began to peel off some cumbersome press-on nails. “But I’m so high on life and all of us have been able to stay in the moment, and live in this stormaganza of press.” They immediately started cackling again.

Published: June 13, 2026, 2:00 am

What to read this summer by Mark Haddon, Samantha Harvey, Zadie Smith and more

Leading authors including Sarah Waters, William Dalrymple, Bernardine Evaristo and Anne Enright reveal their perfect holiday reading

• Read our selection of 70 brilliant books for the summer

Zadie Smith
Margaret Busby’s Part of the Story: Writings from Half a Century is the record of one woman’s lifelong passion for the literature and life of Africa and its diaspora, wherever she finds it. A beautiful collection. The funniest and smartest novel I’ve read in a while is Black Bag by Luke Kennard.

Mark Haddon
Can I recommend some metaphorical summer travel? Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King, won the International Booker prize so you’re legally obliged to read it. But there are three other books on the shortlist I would strongly urge you to get your hands on. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin, brilliantly fictionalises the story of the film director WG Pabst who fled Germany before the outbreak of the second world war, felt ignored in Hollywood and made the foolish decision to return home. On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan, is a short, sharp cleaver-blow of political horror set in a Brazilian prison camp. And She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel, is the story of Bekija/Matija who escapes an arranged marriage in Albania’s Accursed Mountains by becoming a “sworn virgin” under the ancient laws of the Kanun and living her life as a man.

Published: June 13, 2026, 1:00 am

70 brilliant books for the summer

From dynamite debuts to must-read memoirs and magical children’s fiction, here’s our selection of this year’s hottest holiday reads

• Leading authors Mark Haddon, Samantha Harvey, Zadie Smith select their favourites

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Published: June 13, 2026, 1:00 am

This is how we do it: ‘We act out our fantasies with costumes, music and props’

Edward thinks of sex as playtime and has a vivid imagination, which Jane is happy to go along with despite being quite ‘vanilla’ herself

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

When I dreamed about Jane in a latex catsuit, we had one made

Published: June 14, 2026, 3:00 am

From Sussex to Scotland, my road trip through four centuries of British holidays

A 1,600-mile journey to the wild peaks of Scotland, via Llandudno’s Victorian promenade and the bright lights of Blackpool proved an eye-opener in more ways than one

One of my favourite recent photographs is of me (unusually), perched on the bonnet of our car, about to set off on a solo, two-week road trip from our Sussex home to the wilds of Scotland, taking in Eryri (Snowdonia), Lancashire, the Lake District and Yorkshire. I had no idea that the research trip I was about to embark on – for my book, which traces the story of British holidays over 400 years – was going to reveal my homeland as somewhere I barely knew.

As a southerner, it was the northern half of Britain that I needed to discover. I’d stitched together my route with visits to museums, archives and classic seaside resorts that had once blazed so brightly. I’d visited Cumbria before, but the Conwy coast, the Lancashire countryside, Blackpool, Morecambe, Scarborough? All these were unknowns.

Published: June 13, 2026, 11:00 pm

The moment I knew: When he saw my unkempt hovel, he was so nonjudgmental

Brendan Maclean had never spoken with drag queen Karen from Finance in person, nor laid eyes on the man behind the makeup. Then came a chance encounter in Melbourne

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

I’d had a big, sparkly pop career in my 20s but by 2024 I was beyond my twink era, and getting by hopping from one weird gig to the next. Covid had really done a number on the music industry and, while my friend Paul Mac had kept me making music, I found myself drifting through a strange, boozy few years in Sydney. I’d been single since 2020 and my best friend was my cat.

Throughout that hazy time, I was as terminally online as ever. At 38 I was posting like a 20-year-old. One day, for no particular reason, I posted a track from the Dissociatives’ self-titled album from the mid-noughties. Paul, who I call my gay uncle, and Daniel Johns of Silverchair fame, had made just one LP together, and the obscure track, Thinking in Reverse, was one of my favourites.

Published: June 13, 2026, 1:00 pm

Readers reply: Experts say we should use passkeys, but can a smartphone pin really be safer than a password?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

• This week’s question: Is ‘ripen at home’ fruit the supermarkets’ idea of a joke?

I’ve been struggling to get my head around the idea that a passkey, which can be a pin on your phone, or facial recognition, can be safer than using a complicated password and two-factor authentication.

I get that having something unique to your device, not stored on a company’s server, is unphishable and less hackable by cybercrims, but what if your phone is nicked and someone guesses the password? And what if you lose your phone?

Published: June 14, 2026, 6:00 am

Toby Stephens: ‘I lost my dad to cirrhosis. The only difference between us was that, tragically, he couldn’t stop drinking’

The actor on missing his late mother, Maggie Smith, being mistaken for Damian Lewis, and looking ‘like a fridge’

Born in London, Toby Stephens, 57, is the son of actors Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens. He trained at Lamda and, in 1992, made his film debut in Orlando. In 2002 he played the Bond villain in Die Another Day. His television work includes One Day, The Split and Black Sails. On stage he has performed for the RSC and the National Theatre, and he is currently starring in Equus at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, until 4 July, and then Theatre Royal Bath, from 14-25 July. He is married to the actor Anna‑Louise Plowman, with whom he has three children, and lives in London.

What is your greatest fear?
To be completely alone.

Published: June 13, 2026, 2:00 am

‘It reminds me of the love I felt for my faithful companion’: Tony Hertz’s best phone picture

Shadows glimpsed on a wall at sunset inspired this evocative portrait of the photographer and his dog, Lolly

Lolly – a chow-chow-cocker spaniel mix – was Tony Hertz’s dog for 15 years. “She had long black hair with a little white on her mouth, ears, eyebrows and feet, and a partially marbled tongue. She was quite cute,” Hertz says.

Hertz and Lolly were living in Pismo Beach, California, when he took this shot. At the time he was working on a photography series and book based around shadows, and he had taken her along on one of his regular sunset walks. Over a career spanning three decades, Hertz has photographed queens, popes and a president, but this was an attempt at something more personal. The photo was taken on a grassy area next to a Walmart. As Hertz sat down on a bench for a breather, he noticed in their shadows that Lolly was looking directly at him. “I positioned my phone so it couldn’t be seen in the shadow, composed the shot and then looked toward Lolly so that our profiles would be turned to each other,” he says. Hertz often wears his brimmed hats when seeking out new elements for his series, “to make them consistent with a little noir look”.

Published: June 13, 2026, 3:00 am

New York is buzzing and Mamdani is on a roll – and trying to boost fellow leftists

New York City mayor’s stumping is irking some Democrats, but others see a cautious strategy from a rising political star

The New York Knicks are on an epic playoff run. The World Cup is here. And amid sizzling summer weather and a sports-induced, joyful buzz that has seized New York City in recent days, mayor Zohran Mamdani has been more ubiquitous than ever – donning an Arsenal kurta, Knicks gear and an affordable, NYC-inspired World Cup soccer jersey he himself launched as he zipped across the five boroughs from one event to the next.

Early voting in New York also kicks off this weekend, in the first primary election since the November victory that cemented Mamdani as a political prodigy and hope of the left. Six months into his first term as New York City mayor and after early wins on issues like childcare and taxing the rich, he has been boosting fellow leftists in an effort to capitalize on his popularity to promote politicians – from Washington to Albany – aligned with the socialist, pro-Palestinian values that got him elected.

Published: June 13, 2026, 7:00 am

Trump as Don Corleone: ‘Every time he does somebody a favour … he expects a quid pro quo’

Barbara McQuade’s book is a piercing exposé of how Trump is eroding democracy by turning the US into a mafia state

“I believe in America.”

So says Amerigo Bonasera, a humble funeral director, in the opening scene of the 1972 film The Godfather. As Barbara McQuade recounts at the start of her new book, Bonasera has come to the shadowy office of Vito Corleone to ask him to avenge a brutal attack on his daughter. Ultimately, Corleone agrees, whispering: “Someday, and that day may never come, I’ll call upon you to do a service for me.”

Published: June 13, 2026, 3:00 am

A flamenco ballet and black swan cygnets: photos of the weekend

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Published: June 14, 2026, 7:08 am