Sam Neill was a warm, wry and unselfish star who twinkled so others could shine | Peter Bradshaw

His unshowy gifts, which discreetly carried arthouse drama and blockbuster adventures alike, never sucked a movie’s oxygen in to his own performance

• ‘I’d like to think that, in life, I’m a goodie’: Sam Neill’s final interview

• His 20 best performances

• A life in pictures

• Obituary

• Neill interviewed in 2023, 2024 and 2026

Sam Neill was the leading man’s leading man who achieved something no other actor could: he was charismatic and self-effacing at the same time.

He could play handsome and good-humoured or devilishly sinister, often the husband and paterfamilias, perennially in some unspecified state of early middle age, sometimes in a period colonial setting, but the movie’s oxygen was never sucked away into his own unselfishly excellent performance.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:00 am

Did the media fall short in its reporting on Graham Platner? | Margaret Sullivan

The twisting road to the candidate’s exit left a lot to be desired. But ultimately, reporters ferreted out the truth

After the New York Times published an article in early June about the Senate candidate Graham Platner’s treatment of the women he dated, the story’s main source reacted with disappointment and anger.

It was a “gift to the Platner campaign”, charged Lyndsey Fifield, who had dated the Democratic combat veteran years ago and who spoke candidly to the Times about that experience.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:00 am

Stretch, be gentle and build flexibility: expert tips on doing the splits

Doing a split may look impressive, but experts caution it should not be done without practice and it may not be for everyone

On Love Island USA’s recent eighth season, contestant Kenzie Annis quickly distinguished herself with her ability to perform the splits, abruptly deploying the maneuver in fits of both delight and rage.

Seeing the splits on TV shows such as Love Island and RuPaul’s Drag Race can make people “want to take on that challenge and to push themselves to new heights”, said Ramoni Overton, a yoga instructor and YouTuber based in Los Angeles.

Published: July 13, 2026, 9:00 am

A journey down one of the last wild rivers in the American west: ‘The bullseye will always be on its back’

As US water wars rage, a tributary of the Colorado River faces unprecedented pressure. Visitors worry how long this aquatic ‘relict’ will last

On an early morning in mid-May, a group of near strangers shoved camping gear and clothes into waterproof bags, slathered on sunscreen, and ambled into the bright-yellow rafts that would carry them down one of the last free-flowing rivers in the American west.

Unhindered by large dams or diversions, the Yampa curves across 250 miles (400km) of alpine tundras, cottonwood forests and ancient red-rock canyons, rising from Colorado’s Rocky mountains to where it joins with the Green River in Utah, much in the way it has for millions of years.

Published: July 13, 2026, 6:00 am

Gretchen Carlson on her sexual harassment lawsuit against Roger Ailes: ‘I have absolutely no regrets’

Former Fox News anchor says she ‘immediately found purpose’ and has spent the last decade advocating for survivors’ rights

When Gretchen Carlson sued Roger Ailes in 2016, alleging that he fired her for rejecting his sexual advances, she didn’t know what the future would bring.

The former Fox News anchor had spent more than two decades building a renowned career. A Stanford graduate whose other accomplishments include award-winning violin performances and a Miss America title, Carlson spent 11 years at Fox News. Before that, she worked at CBS and in various other newsrooms across the US.

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:00 am

‘So healing’: can singing Miley Cyrus with strangers cure our spiritual malaise?

As people yearn for connection, one-day choirs are popping up around the world - and spreading ‘collective effervescence’

We met in a former synagogue, a vast room with hardwood floors where the sound could echo freely. All were strangers, many former choir nerds, united by a love for group singing. Our goal was to learn and perform, in a single day, a classic of our time: a song from the Hannah Montana movie.

The event, near downtown Los Angeles, was a one-day choir hosted by the Gaia Music Collective – a three-hour gathering where more than 100 people rehearsed a choral arrangement of the song and sang it three times, with ourselves as the only audience.

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:00 am

US launches third night of strikes on Iran as Trump announces Hormuz blockade

American president says ships will be charged for safe passage through strait in apparent policy reversal

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran hours after President Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and, in an apparently policy reversal, charge ships for safe passage.

“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz,” the US military’s Central Command said.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:43 pm

ICE agents kill man in Maine as senator says victim not target of arrest

Killing of man – identified by rights groups as 26-year-old Colombian – comes days after man killed by ICE in Texas

• US politics live – latest updates

A federal immigration officer shot and killed a man in Biddeford, Maine on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed, just days ⁠after a man ⁠was ​killed by an immigration officer during a traffic stop in Texas.

In the statement, DHS claimed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were “conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal”.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:56 pm

Lindsey Graham’s sister appointed to serve rest of Republican’s Senate term

South Carolina governor asks Darline Graham Nordone to replace senator who died on Saturday, after Trump recommendation

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Henry McMaster, South Carolina’s governor, appointed Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to replace him in the Senate following his death on Saturday, after Donald Trump recommended that she be given the role.

Her appointment was welcomed by lawmakers from both parties, who saw Nordone as an appropriate replacement for the brother who had raised her after their parents died when she was a teenager.

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:38 pm

Hegseth announces joint taskforce with DoJ to target and prosecute press leaks

US defense secretary says taskforce will ‘combat dangers’ of leaks in latest escalation of White House press crackdown

The US defense secretary, ⁠Pete Hegseth, ​announced on Monday that the Pentagon and the US Department of Justice have created a “joint taskforce ​to identify and ​prosecute” what he called the “unauthorized disclosure ​of sensitive” information to the press, marking the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to crackdown on leaks.

In a ⁠video ​posted on X, Hegseth said that “to combat the dangers that leaks pose, effectively immediately, I have ​delegated tasking authority ​to the war department’s ‌office ⁠of general counsel, empowering OGC to request and receive ​all ​information, ⁠records and support across the ​department concerning ​media ⁠leak investigations”.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:35 am

Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle International criminal court

US secretary of state claims the global tribunal is interfering with US military and law enforcement operations

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, launched a campaign to dismantle the International criminal court (ICC) on Monday, claiming that the global tribunal was interfering with US military and law enforcement operations at the risk of American sovereignty.

Rubio invoked images of US Border Patrol agents and elected leaders being “dragged before an international court” and tried by judges from around the world in a lengthy op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal Monday.

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:19 pm

US outbreak of parasite causing ‘watery diarrhea’ rises to more than 2,800 cases

Cyclosporiasis outbreak comes a year after Trump officials cut funding for state and local health departments

• What is cyclosporiasis, the parasitic illness causing ‘explosive’ diarrhea?

State health officials in Michigan and Ohio are reporting thousands of cases of cyclosporiasis – a parasitic infection that causes “watery diarrhea”, loss of appetite and weight loss.

The outbreak of more than 2,800 cases comes a year after the Trump administration cut funding to state and local health departments and reduced the remit of a program dedicated to coordinating information on foodborne illness, including of cyclospora.

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:46 pm

Killings continue on Del Monte farm in Kenya, families say, after G4S hired for security

Exclusive: Three men killed in incidents over past year allegedly involving G4S guards, who replaced in-house team after previous deaths

Bereaved families and politicians have raised alarm about continued killings on Del Monte’s pineapple farm in Kenya despite the company hiring a British security firm to replace its in-house security team after previous deaths were exposed by the Guardian.

The multinational food company appointed G4S to guard the farm, which is estimated to cover at least 40 sq km, the area of a small city, after the Guardian detailed allegations of brutal assaults and killings of people suspected of trespassing on its land. Kenyan police have been working with G4S to guard the site.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:00 am

Man tossed into the air by ‘agitated’ bull bison was grandfather visiting Yellowstone with grandson

Carl McDaniel was ‘respectful distance’ from animal when it charged and has severe injuries, including broken bones

A tourist who was tossed 8ft in the air by a bison at Wyoming’s Yellowstone national park – an encounter viewed by more than a million social media users thanks to a viral video online – has been identified as a “community-minded” grandfather from Washington state.

Carl McDaniel had severe injuries including broken bones after Friday’s campsite encounter with the bison, which was posted to YouTube by the Wyoming news outlet Cowboy State Daily. A photographer named Mike MacLeod rushed to help the victim on the ground after making the recording.

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:32 pm

Tom Cruise unveils remarkable transformation in Digger trailer: ‘I’ve never had something that could challenge me in this way’

The new Alejandro González Iñárritu film sees Cruise playing an eccentric oil baron on a mission to save the world

The first full length trailer for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s hotly anticipated comedy-drama Digger has been released, and with it audiences’ first look at Tom Cruise’s least recognisable role since he donned a fatsuit and prosthetics for 2008’s Tropic Thunder.

The film will be released worldwide in early October and stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, “the most powerful man in the world” on a mission to save the world from an ecological disaster.

Published: July 13, 2026, 9:42 am

US judge nullifies Trump deal to resolve IRS lawsuit in scathing ruling

Kathleen Williams sanctions president’s lawyers and says $10bn suit against IRS was brought for ‘improper purpose’

A federal judge on Monday nullified an agreement the government reached with Donald Trump and his sons over the leak of his tax returns. The judge lambasted the government and president’s lawyers for using the judicial process to try to concoct a beneficial arrangement for the president.

The ruling from US district judge Kathleen Williams in the southern district of Florida blocks a widely criticized arrangement the government and the president’s attorneys reached earlier this year to resolve a $10bn lawsuit by Trump and his sons over the leak of the president’s tax returns. The government never responded to the lawsuit and then announced it was settling the suit by creating a $1.8bn slush fund to compensate victims of “government weaponization” and giving the president, his family, and related entities immunity from tax audits.

Published: July 13, 2026, 11:18 am

US state attorneys general file lawsuit in effort to block Paramount merger

Bipartisan group argue in lawsuit that $110bn merger would hurt competition and lead to thousands of job losses

A dozen US state attorneys general are seeking to block the $110bn merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, arguing in a lawsuit filed on Monday that it would hurt competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

The coalition behind the lawsuit is led by the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, who has been a staunch critic of the merger since it was agreed to in February after a bidding war between David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance and Netflix.

Published: July 13, 2026, 11:36 am

US justice department investigating UAW president over corruption allegations

Shawn Fain calls allegations ‘bogus’ and says attorney holds a ‘grudge’ against him over union’s ‘anti-war stance’ on Gaza

The US Department of Justice is investigating allegations against the United Auto Workers (UAW) president, Shawn Fain, that he put pressure on another high-ranking union official to provide benefits to his fiancee and sister and then retaliated against the official who refused to approve it.

On Sunday, Fain, who is running for his second term as union president, said the accusations are false and a part of election interference against him.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:18 am

Mitch McConnell reveals fall led to hospitalization after weeks of silence

Senator says in statement he has undergone battery of tests after weeks of mounting speculation about his health

The US senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about the Kentucky Republican’s condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.

McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he had undergone a battery of tests as doctors try to determine what led to his fall. He explained the long silence about his condition by saying that “folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older”.

Published: July 12, 2026, 3:11 pm

‘As if a hurricane had passed’: Puerto Ricans at breaking point after weeks without water

Shortages triggered by pipeline rupture drive up costs and deepen frustrations, as pressure grows on water utility

Jonathan Collazo owns two restaurants in a bustling section of San Juan, which has been plagued by water outages, severely disrupting the daily lives of residents and businesses alike.

The water scarcity is part of an escalating frustration felt by thousands of customers of Puerto Rico’s water utility over the past several months, prompting the governor to activate the national guard to distribute drinking water across the US territory. The shortages extend beyond San Juan, with sectors in municipalities including Loíza, Guaynabo, Bayamón and others experiencing interrupted service.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:00 am

The New York nurses replaced by AI: ‘It should concern every patient who cares about quality of care’

The union for 12 nurses laid off by Montefiore hospital say company broke contract they recently won through a strike

Marilyn Shuler has worked as a utilization review nurse for 39 years at Montefiore hospital in the Bronx in New York City, helping to read patient charts and communicate with insurance companies over coverage.

After nearly four decades in her job, Shuler is one of 12 nurses who were laid off Sunday after being replaced with AI-powered software, according to the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents nurses at the hospital.

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:00 am

Hello from the outside: heat domes impeding radio and other signals in US midwest

Higher temperatures can cause radio, TV and microwave signals to travel hundreds of miles farther, upsetting communications

It was 3am in north-east Indiana’s Huntington county when the outdoor emergency alarm went off on 1 July.

The only issue? There wasn’t a storm, tornado or any other emergency weather event forecast or present anywhere for hundreds of miles.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:00 am

I walked 90 miles of the Camino de Santiago with this hiking backpack – it never let me down

After two weeks in Spain with only the Osprey Mira on my back, it became the perfect organizational appendage

• I travel 200,000 miles a year. This is the best travel backpack I can’t leave home without

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

By the second hour of climbing out of Vigo, I was questioning every life decision that had led me to Spain’s north-west coast. My calves were screaming as the trail tilted relentlessly uphill without shade from the sun. But I was thanking myself for the light 32-liter daypack floating on my back instead of the full trekking pack I almost lugged along. As someone of average fitness, I’m fairly certain an extra 10lbs would have broken me before lunchtime.

For the next week, as I hiked 90 miles (145km) on the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago, my backpack became so comfortable I could almost forget about it. Walking between 9 and 16 miles a day for six to eight hours sounds like the kind of thing that might leave your shoulders aching and your hips rubbed raw. But the Osprey Mira 32’s adjustable torso length let me dial in the fit, while the suspended mesh back panel kept air flowing even during long stretches through humid forests. I finished the trek with zero hot spots or friction points, something I didn’t expect after wearing the same backpack for seven days straight. And it served me well for the following week exploring Santiago de Compostela and Madrid.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:15 am

Christopher Nolan fans are embarking on epic journeys to see The Odyssey the way he wants them to

Cinephiles are crossing oceans to see the film at its highest possible resolution – and only 41 cinemas in the world are equipped to do it

In Homer’s Odyssey, the hero Odysseus embarks on an epic journey spanning oceans, monsters and gods to return home to his family. In a remarkable parallel, Christopher Nolan’s fans are embarking on epic journeys of their own to see his adaptation of The Odyssey in one of the few surviving Imax 1570 cinemas around the world, the Oscar-winning film-maker’s preferred format.

Nolan has long been a champion of Imax 1570 film, the highest-resolution film format in existence, named for the width of the film stock (70mm) and the 15 perforations on each frame. The Odyssey is the first feature film ever shot entirely on 1570 cameras, which are notoriously heavy, loud and require frequent reloading; the film stock had to be changed every three minutes during the Odyssey shoot, with Nolan working with Imax to develop a soundproofing “blimp” to house the 180kg camera to make it quiet enough for him to record dialogue on 1570 for the first time.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:14 pm

Sam Neill’s final interview: ‘I’d like to think that, in life, I’m a goodie’

The actor, who has died aged 78, recently answered Guardian readers’ questions about missing out on James Bond, the true terrors of Jurassic Park and why he called his prize cow Helena Bonham Carter

• Peter Bradshaw on Sam Neill

• A life in pictures

• ‘A true gentleman’: actors, directors and leaders pay tribute to Sam Neill

• Obituary

• Neill interviewed in 2023, 2024 and 2026

Did you consult a canine expert about how best to regress into a dog in Dean Spanley? WomanofWolfville
There was no consultation. I’ve studied dogs – wittingly or unwittingly – over the years, so the portrayal came from that.

I’ve had dogs all my life. I understand them better than I do people. I had a Staffy for 15 years. They are the most expressive of dogs – every flicker of guilt or pleasure is written all over their faces. If I had to leave, my dog wouldn’t take it well. I’d pack in secret – if she saw a suitcase, she’d plunge into despair. When I returned, she’d walk right past me and shun me as punishment. I’d think: “Are you ever going to forgive me?”

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:08 am

Ladies First has been panned. It’s still an essential watch | Anna Smith

The Netflix gender-flip comedy film, in which Sacha Baron Cohen wakes to a world run by female chauvinists, is a valuable testimony to the enduring destructive force of gender bias

‘This Movie Is: Absurd.” That’s the descriptive label given to Thea Sharrock’s comedy film Ladies First on Netflix. Damien (Sacha Baron Cohen) is a male chauvinist who knocks his head and wakes up in a world run by women who are like him: ruthless in the boardroom and the bedroom, using and losing the opposite sex when it suits them. In this alternative reality, he sees what it’s like to be on the receiving end of sexism. It co-stars a terrific Rosamund Pike as his employee in one world, and his boss in another, and Fiona Shaw first as a secretary, then as a predatory boss.

Ladies First may seem absurd, but by flipping the script, it points out double standards and gendered language in a simple way. Men are talked over in meetings and expected to conform to unrealistic beauty goals; Victoria’s Secret becomes Victor’s Secret. The movie has had largely negative reviews, and as a film critic, I had my issues with it: for every scene that had me laughing, another had me cringing, and the largely binary, heteronormative world it depicts is not everyone’s reality.

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:35 am

Open earbuds let you tune in without tuning out the world. Here are the five best pairs

Don’t float through the world in an AirPod bubble – enjoy music or podcasts and carry on using these tested favorites

• I tested 42 pairs of wireless earbuds to find the best in US

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

In a feat of engineering that borders on magic, the best wireless earbuds can silence the noisy world around you at the tap of a finger. So, why would you buy open earbuds, which are specifically designed to let in environmental sounds?

Frankly, I didn’t understand the appeal of them either until I started testing them, and now I use open earbuds even more than my noise-cancelling earbuds. For situations from hiking to running errands, these are the headphones you should be wearing. Here’s what you’re missing out on, and a few of the best pairs to try.

Best overall open-ear earbuds:
Soundcore Aeroclip Open-Ear Earbuds

Best premium open-ear earbuds:
Bose Ultra Open Earbuds

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:15 pm

How ‘unbothered’ Victoria Beckham became one of the World Cup’s biggest memes

England’s quarter-final match against Norway has spawned a new hero online – and it’s not Jude Bellingham …

Name: Victoria Beckham.

Appearance: Supremely unbothered.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:14 am

‘A gasp-inducing thrill ride’: why The Polygamist should be your next TV obsession

With its lovable playboy and jaw-dropping twists, the South African drama has become Netflix’s latest breakout smash

Are you bored with your summertime entertainment already? Did you devour that buzzy novel at the beach? Finish your third Suits rewatch on the plane? Has your algorithm run out of ideas and started feeding you the same reels and memes you liked weeks ago? Have I got a recommendation for you.

The Polygamist is a rollicking, gasp-inducing thrill ride that delivers more hairpin turns, sudden drops and disbelieving exclamations than a day at the amusement park. You can’t beat the bang for buck: the cost of admission is already covered by your Netflix subscription, which gets you 22 half-hour episodes – a staggeringly generous haul that harks back to TV days of yore.

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:00 am

The western US is running out of water. What happens next? – Stateside with Kai and Carter

Thanks to pollution, overpopulation and the climate crisis, Earth is facing a terrifying new crisis: an irreversible 'water bankruptcy'. Now, fights over water have ramped up across the world, including in the US west. Host Carter Sherman speaks with Guardian extreme weather correspondent Gabrielle Canon about the battle over the future of the Colorado River Basin, whose water sustains some 40 million people across seven states – but is now drying up. Gabrielle recently rafted down the basin's last 'wild' river, the Yampa. Damming or diverting the Yampa could bring the west some much-needed hydration. It may also devastate the vast natural ecosystem that relies on the river's free-flowing waters. Also: Carter and Kai Wright react to the death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham

• Gabrielle Canon’s story on the Yampa River

• Guardian stories on Lindsey Graham:

  • Analysis on Graham as dealmaker

  • The scramble to replace Graham

  • Lindsey Graham in his own words

Published: July 13, 2026, 1:45 pm

Spain, France, Argentina and England beware: Demons haunt the World Cup semi-finals

The World Cup spotlight causes single games to live longer in the memory than any other. The remaining teams at this tournament face defining moments

World Cup games mean more. England have only ever played 80 games in the finals, which is to say, not much more than two Premier League seasons in the 76 years since they first entered. Those games draw huge audiences: more than 17 million in the UK watched Saturday’s win over Norway, even though it was after midnight by the time it finished. In most countries, World Cup matches are more discussed, more analysed, than any other in sport, perhaps any other cultural phenomenon. They are rare moments that bring vast numbers of people together, hoping, agonising, celebrating, commiserating. They become part of the culture.

Moments from games become touchstones. Allusions can be made to games from six decades ago in the reasonable expectation of being understood. That has a strange, distorting effect. Far too much is read into individual games, in a way it just wouldn’t be in a league game. Senne Lammens’s error that cost Belgium the quarter-final against Spain was watched by far more people than watch the average Manchester United game. There is not another match in three or four days that would mean Lammens’s mistake would be readily forgotten. It will always be part of his story, even if it subsequently becomes about redemption with a brilliant display in some future World Cup.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:45 am

‘Knocking you out was a huge joy’: reliving the dramas of England v Argentina in 1998 and 2002

How Diego Simeone, Michael Owen and Glenn Hoddle remember the two classic World Cup matches between historical rivals

In all the acrimony, the wars, the deep history going back to the British invasions of 1806 and 1807, the Hand of God and the boot of Beckham, there is also an acknowledgment from those closest to the struggle that England and Argentina make perfect footballing sparring partners.

Described as the only trans-continental derby, a rivalry hewn in politics and history as well as football folklore, most Argentinian footballers’ eyes light up when talk turns to England.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:00 am

World Cup 2026 power rankings: who leads the pack as semi-finals loom?

We assess the teams who played in the last eight as the business end of the tournament approaches

Didier Deschamps has seen it all before and certainly does not fear even the lowest of blocks. It is clear everyone is afraid of Les Bleus, which is understandable, and they are using it to their advantage. It is admirable how teams keep France quiet for lengthy periods but the game is too long to completely silence Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Against Morocco an hour of patience was required but these forwards are used to it and Mbappé produced the magic that has powered this run, following it up with an assist. In a tournament defined by individuals, France have the best of a talented bunch.

Published: July 12, 2026, 9:00 am

France unleashed: reinvention could earn Deschamps all-time great status | Nick Ames

Head coach has found a way to get the best out of his glittering attack and has a second World Cup in sight

It was a night when, as Didier Deschamps put it, the light went out by half-time. A remodelled France side had been comfortably beaten by Italy in their Nations League opener and a Parisian crowd made their feelings perfectly clear upon the conclusion. Three days later Les Bleus’ roadshow moved to Lyon for a meeting with Belgium, where the head coach’s name was booed before kick-off. Deschamps attributed that to provincial enmities but there was the clear sense of a once glorious tenure outlasting its welcome.

Almost two years on, Deschamps stands on the verge of genuine greatness. How can the assessment be any other way when, should the next six days go to plan, he would be only the second manager to win the World Cup twice? The power is firmly back on for France and will surge to new levels if they underline his renaissance against Spain.

Published: July 13, 2026, 1:47 pm

Diego Forlán succeeds Marcelo Bielsa as Uruguay manager on temporary basis

• Bielsa departed after acrimonious World Cup exit

• Former United striker takes charge until March 2027

The former Manchester United striker Diego Forlán is poised to take over on a temporary basis as the new Uruguay manager after Marcelo Bielsa left the role following a sorry World Cup campaign.

La Celeste were knocked out at the tournament’s group stage after two draws from their three games, before Bielsa took the blame for the disappointing results and performances amid reported tensions in the dressing room.

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:03 pm

Former Spanish PM accused of racism in remarks about French football team

Political leaders in both countries rebuke Mariano Rajoy after he writes team ‘does not have any French players’

The former Spanish conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy is facing growing accusations of racism after writing in a World Cup newspaper column that the French national team “does not have any French players”.

Rajoy, who was in office from 2011 to 2018, pondered Spain’s looming semi-final showdown with France in an article for the online newspaper El Debate on Friday.

Published: July 12, 2026, 10:39 am

Cablegate: should Jude Bellingham’s first goal against Norway have been disallowed?

Midfielder got England back on level terms in fine fashion but pictures suggest illegal interference in the buildup

Norway’s goalkeeper, Ørjan Nyland, launches a goal-kick down the pitch two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half. The ball falls just inside England’s half, near the touchline, where Elliot Anderson is able to gather possession and drive forward.

Published: July 12, 2026, 4:57 am

How Tadej Pogacar became the new ‘patron’ of the Tour de France peloton | Jeremy Whittle

Slovenian’s dominance has drawn admiration and criticism, with some fearing the race is losing its competitive edge

Riding the Tour de France in 40C heat is hard enough without having to race against Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates XRG every day. As the peloton takes a breather, lounges in the shade and rehydrates on the Tour’s first rest day, most team managers are pondering what genuine opportunities they may still have, in the face of Pogacar’s domination, to try to achieve success.

After he and his team were criticised for chasing down breakaways, even if they posed little or no threat to the overall standings, L’Équipe asked: “Is Pogacar killing cycling?”

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:13 am

Conor McGregor plans to fight again in UFC despite return lasting just 69 seconds

• Saturday’s bout in Las Vegas finished in first round

• Irishman says he will undergo surgery on leg

Conor McGregor says he plans to fight again in UFC despite the fact that his return to competition lasted just 69 seconds before he suffered a leg injury, which he says will require ⁠surgery.

“Surgery. Prehab. Return ⁠to ​martial arts practice. Go again,” McGregor wrote on Instagram on Monday. “Final fight of the contract. ⁠Praise God!”

Published: July 13, 2026, 9:42 am

Former Kansas basketball star Lagerald Vick charged with attempted murder

• Vick arrested in connection with Memphis shooting

• 29-year-old started on Jayhawks’ 2018 Final Four team

Lagerald Vick, a former University of Kansas basketball player and a starter on their 2018 Final Four team, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in ⁠Tennessee.

Vick, 29, was a guard for the Jayhawks from 2015 to 2019.

Published: July 13, 2026, 9:53 am

Wimbledon awards 2026: best player, epic matches, biggest drama and more

Novak Djokovic’s five-set quarter-final thriller, Linda Noskova’s courage and Jannik Sinner’s class were among the highlights at SW19

It takes a certain amount of toughness and inner belief to keep moving forward after an excruciating setback. In the last match Jannik Sinner played before Wimbledon, he was on the receiving end of a shocking collapse in his French Open second-round loss to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo. He responded by gradually building in every round, turning in a flawless 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic . Then he elevated his level against a peaking Alexander Zverev to defeat the new No 2 in four sets. Sinner’s run to a fifth grand slam title showcased his dramatic serve improvements, defensive skills, drop shots and lobs alongside the clean, vicious ball-striking that defines his play.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:30 am

Alonso ‘optimistic’ he can thrive at Chelsea and avoid coaching carousel

Only time will tell if the former Leverkusen manager will become yet another victim of the constant churn at Stamford Bridge

If Xabi Alonso arrived at Chelsea under any illusions about the expectations awaiting him, they were staring out from picture frames hung around Stamford Bridge’s Drake Suite. During his unveiling as Chelsea’s new manager, on either side of the room hung large, gleeful photos of José Mourinho and Antonio Conte holding Premier League trophies.

Chelsea’s last two managers, Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, were not afforded the Drake Suite treatment previously reserved for Mauricio Pochettino and Frank Lampard before them. But the blue carpet was rolled out once again for one of the most decorated midfielders of his generation, an integral part of Spain’s victories in two European Championships and one World Cup and a coach who has made a strong start to converting that talent to the touchline.

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:30 pm

Manchester United in advanced talks to sign Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa

• Midfielder thought to have £35m release clause

• Deal for Atalanta’s Éderson falls through

Manchester United are closing in on the signing of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa after their move for the Atalanta midfielder Éderson fell through.

Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, is in advanced talks with Villa regarding a financial package for Tielemans. The 29-year-old, who was part of Belgium’s World Cup squad, is thought to have a £35m release clause in his contract, which has two years remaining.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:56 am

Shootout delivers final spot at the Open for ex-Morrisons driver Joe Dean

Yorkshireman, who admitted feeling the stress with six holes to go, won by one shot with his fiancee as his caddie

A greenside bunker shot that landed like a butterfly with sore feet. A knee-knocker of a 4ft putt, thumped into the back of the hole. Joe Dean did not win the Open Championship on Monday – and inevitably will not on Sunday, either – but the drama produced by the former delivery driver from Sheffield fully justified R&A innovation.

It has long seemed unsatisfactory that focus shifts towards those beginning their Open buildup as a tournament concludes elsewhere. Scottie Scheffler missed the cut at the Scottish Open on Friday yet the world No 1 drew eyeballs at here on Sunday as he plotted a Claret Jug defence.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:52 am

I interviewed Sam Neill in 2024. He was even more charming than I’d expected | Zoe Williams

The actor, who has died aged 78, was refreshingly candid about Hollywood, filmmaking, his cancer treatment – and why he preferred life on his New Zealand farm to the movie business

• Sam Neill’s 20 best performances

• A life in pictures

• ‘A true gentleman’: actors, directors and leaders pay tribute to Sam Neill

• Obituary

• Neill interviewed in 2023, 2024 and 2026

I interviewed Sam Neill in 2024, remotely: he was in Vancouver filming a Netflix series, Untamed, but we were there to talk about a quirky Australian court-room drama, The Twelve. He was immediately, disarmingly frank. Its second season, he said, was “considerably stronger” than the first, which was absolutely true, the first being a little schlocky, and the second showing more trust in its audience and our tolerance for nuance.

But actors, generally speaking, will never say anything remotely critical of any project, it’s just not worth the hassle. This can make even the most reflective among them sound anodyne, and the feeling of being in a conversation with a real, three-dimensional human was unfamiliar and warm.

Published: July 13, 2026, 1:00 pm

Trump’s Nato remarks rang hollow – but he recognizes something real | Christopher S Chivvis

US political leaders must be more clear-eyed about our global alliances, without embracing his scorched-earth approach

Donald Trump memorably took out a full-page advertisement in multiple newspapers in 1987 charging that America was carrying too much weight for its allies. In his first term he repeated this charge, threatening to withdraw from Nato and berating US allies around the world in the process. Last week’s gathering of Nato’s heads of government in Turkey suggests his approach is running out of steam as the world adjusts and the president bumps up against the limits of American unilateral power in Iran.

Trump’s domestic political opponents should breathe a sigh of relief but not rush headlong into an uncritical embrace of US alliances. For all his counterproductive bluster, Trump recognized something real. If his opponents in the Democratic and Republican parties are not more clear-eyed about what alliances cost Americans – as Biden failed to be with Israel – they will fuel the fires that brought Trump to power in the first place.

Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:00 am

Graham Platner was an unforced error – the left has lessons to learn | Osita Nwanevu

Many imagined his buff, gruff and tattooed traits would help him connect with working-class men. But this logic was flawed

The left would do well to revisit New York’s Democratic primaries two weeks ago – it was a sunnier news cycle, yes, but those races were also an object lesson in progressive realpolitik.

Zohran Mamdani, busy as he already was, devoted a remarkable amount of time, resources and political capital to selecting and backing the eventual victors in three different races – in one case reversing a promise to support an incumbent, Adriano Espaillat, in favor of activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, and in another case supporting Claire Valdez, a relatively unknown assemblywoman, even as the Working Families party, major unions and other progressives backed the Brooklyn borough president, Antonio Reynoso.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:00 am

In Israel’s prisons, torture and death have become a norm that it barely tries to hide | Nesrine Malik

The suffering of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya is no isolated case. The abuse of Palestinian detainees is happening in plain sight, yet nothing changes

“This is the end. I don’t see myself surviving. They brought me here to kill me.” These were the words of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya to his lawyer earlier this month. Abu Safiya was the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. Eighteen months ago he was seized by Israeli forces and has since been held without charge or trial. He reports being struck with hammers and batons, daily beatings and loss of consciousness. The latest images of him show a much gaunter man than the one who had been the voice of besieged healthcare workers in Gaza, doing their jobs in impossible circumstances.

In June, Abu Safiya was transferred to Rakefet prison, an underground facility first built to hold senior organised crime figures, then closed on the grounds that it was inhumane. It was reopened in late 2023 by the far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Abu Safiya and the other Palestinian prisoners there never see daylight, a violation of the Geneva conventions. Across the Palestinian territories and Israel, about 3,500 prisoners like him are held under “administrative detention” that can be renewed every six months, indefinitely. Nearly 200 of them are children. Once a Palestinian is detained under these rules, they are essentially abducted by the state.

Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: July 12, 2026, 10:00 pm

Can a ‘power phrase’ turn a spineless worm like me into a go-getter? I doubt it – but it’s worth a shot | Emma Beddington

The psychotherapist Amy Morin says uttering a ‘short, positive sentence’ can offer the cognitive reset we need. The idea makes me cringe – but then I can barely cope with returning defective trousers

Are you dreading a high-stakes meeting, a challenging professional task or an awkward conversation? I’m not, because I’m a craven coward who has dodged that kind of unpleasantness for years. If only I had a “power phrase” to activate, maybe things would have been different.

That is the psychotherapist Amy Morin’s advice for dealing with sticky situations. The author of The Mental Strength Playbook, Morin explained in Business Insider that a “short, positive sentence you say to yourself in the moment” is an effective two-minute cognitive reset. She used hers, she says, while answering challenging questions to land her book deal: “I activated my power phrase and told myself, I’m a strong, straightforward communicator.”

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:00 am

Firefighting planes scrambled from south of France to tackle huge wildfire near Paris

Officials say blaze in Fontainebleau forest is of ‘exceptional scale’, with 900 homes evacuated and road and rail links hit

French firefighters are tackling a blaze of unprecedented scale sweeping through Fontainebleau forest south-east of Paris, while in southern Spain the prime minister visited the scene of a deadly wildfire and warned: “The climate emergency kills.”

The fire in Fontainebleau, a one-time royal hunting preserve about 40 miles (60km) from the French capital that today is dotted with villages, began late on Sunday afternoon. The blaze, which is unusual in its proximity to Paris, raced across about 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of forest.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:57 am

One of strictest US abortion bans could be overturned in November’s election

Idaho to have ballot measure for reproductive freedom law that would reverse ban on abortions at all pregnancy stages

One of the strictest abortion bans in the country will be on the ballot this November after Idaho’s secretary of state certified a ballot measure on Monday that would reverse the state’s abortion ban that prohibits the procedure at all stages of pregnancy.

The ballot initiative was headed by a volunteer-run group called Idahoans United for Women & Families, which ran a petition drive to get the measure in front of voters this fall. They gathered more than 100,000 signatures, surpassing the required 70,725 to get on the ballot.

Published: July 13, 2026, 4:03 pm

Andy Burnham secures Labour leadership with landslide support of MPs

Additional 27 nominations mean it is impossible for any other candidate to launch leadership challenge

Andy Burnham is to become Britain’s next prime minister after winning the backing of 349 Labour MPs, including all eligible members of Keir Starmer’s current cabinet, making it impossible for any rival to secure enough nominations to challenge him.

The new MP for Makerfield received an extra 27 nominations on Monday, taking his total from 322 last week to 349. With only 54 MPs yet to back him, including Starmer and Shabana Mahmood, who cannot nominate because of her role as national executive committee (NEC) chair, no other candidate can now reach the 81 nominations needed to enter the contest.

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:00 pm

Two teens arrested after five members of family killed in Illinois shooting

Suspects, aged 15 and 16, taken into custody but not formally charged in ‘targeted mass shooting’ in East St Louis

Two teenagers were arrested on Sunday in connection with a “targeted mass shooting” that killed five members of the same family and wounded two others in East St Louis, Illinois, according to state police.

The 15- and 16-year-old suspects were taken into custody at Holten state park, a recreation area east of the city, the Illinois state police director, Brendan Kelly, said at a Sunday news conference – but they had not immediately been formally charged with a crime.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:19 am

Airline pilot skywrites ‘I’m bored’ over England-Wales border

Pilot took off from Liverpool and spent 20 minutes tracing out phrase that was captured on flight-tracking website

A mischievous airline pilot spelled out his tedium by skywriting “I’m bored” over an estuary on the border between England and Wales.

The message was captured on the airline tracking website Flightradar24.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:59 am

China’s graduate glut: millions enter a job market with little use for them

Record numbers find there is little demand for their skills, as entry-level tech roles are hit by AI and automation

This time of year is graduation season in China: traditionally a bittersweet period of solemn goodbyes and family celebrations as university students transition from campus life into adulthood. Now it also increasingly represents trepidation about the future.

Each year, millions more graduates are thrust into China’s already saturated jobs market. The situation for this year’s cohort, flooding into an increasingly crowded pool of applicants fighting for an insufficient number of positions, is arguably the bleakest yet.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:27 am

Space jam: astronomers detect ‘raspberry sugar’ on dust cloud in Milky Way

Detection of erythrulose shows compounds that are key to life can form in expanse between stars

A natural sugar found in raspberries and used in fake tan lotions has been detected in an enormous cloud of dust and gas that lurks near the heart of the Milky Way.

The discovery does not suggest that the galaxy revolves around a distant civilisation of pale, safety-conscious frugivores, but shows that compounds important for life can form in the frigid expanse between the stars.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:00 am

Keystone pipeline operator agrees to pay $26.9m penalty over Kansas oil spill

Proposed legal settlement over 2022 oil spill would resolve allegations that South Bow violated clean water laws

A proposed legal settlement with the US government would require the Keystone pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9m civil penalty over a large oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40m more to prevent future accidents.

The agreement would resolve allegations from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated US and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington county, Kansas, about 150 miles (241km) north-west of Kansas City.

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:16 am

Trump officials accused of stacking top chemical safety board with industry ‘mouthpieces’

Public health advocates warn of conflicts of interests and say panel likely to provide justification for key rollbacks

The Trump administration has stacked a top chemical safety board with industry-aligned scientists who have a range of financial conflicts of interest and stand to profit from deregulation, public health advocates say.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisory committee on chemicals (SACC) is slated to review research for dozens of toxic chemicals during the new members’ terms. At least 13 proposed Trump appointees are probably conflicted on the chemicals that will be reviewed, comments filed with the EPA by a coalition of public health advocacy groups alleges.

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:00 am

First came the dead fish, then invasive plants. A year later and Lake Suchitlán’s pollution remains a mystery

Fishers on El Salvador’s largest lake are still looking for answers after the die-off, with no explanation provided by the government

From the village of Copapayo, Noel Avalos recalls the morning they ran to the shore of Lake Suchitlán, El Salvador’s main hydroelectric reservoir, also known as Cerrón Grande, and its largest body of freshwater, to find thousands of dead fish had washed up overnight.

By August 2025, nearly 70% of the lake’s 135 sq km (33,000 acres) surface was carpeted with an invasive species, water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). In the following months, plastic waste accumulated along the shoreline, dead fish became more frequent and residents who rely on fishing the lake for income reported that their livelihoods were deteriorating.

Published: July 13, 2026, 6:00 am

May and June heatwaves killed about 2,700 people in England and Wales, data suggests

Extreme heat led to 440 deaths a day during June peak, say scientists, with climate crisis ramping up temperatures

The heatwave that affected England and Wales in June killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak, scientists have estimated. Across the whole of the June heatwave, plus the one in May, about 2,700 people lost their lives prematurely.

The data starkly illustrates the danger of extreme heat, which is being supercharged by the climate crisis. More than 40% of the people affected would not have died without the 1.4C of human-caused global heating to date, according to the analysis. For comparison, about four people die each day as a result of road traffic collisions and about 35 a day because of alcohol and drug use, according to government statistics.

Published: July 12, 2026, 10:00 pm

Pilot fighting Colorado wildfire dies as aircraft crashes into reservoir

Body of pilot involved in tackling Gold Mountain fire recovered by divers from Silver Jack reservoir

A pilot who was helping to fight a wildfire in Colorado has died after the aviator’s aircraft crashed into a reservoir, local authorities said.

The Gunnison county sheriff’s office said in a statement that it was notified of the deadly crash at about 5.17pm local time on Sunday. Gunnison’s regional communications center received a call reporting that the aircraft involved in the crash went down in the Silver Jack reservoir located in the county’s south-western portion.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:00 am

North Carolina woman, 82, survives nine days trapped in her bathtub after fall

Joan Rivet drank water she managed to splash up to her face by turning faucet on with her foot

An 82-year-old North Carolina woman says she survived falling in her bathtub and being trapped there for nine days by turning the faucet on with her foot and drinking water that she managed to splash up to her face – all while drifting in and out of consciousness.

Joan Rivet recently shared her remarkable survival story with North Carolina’s the Mountaineer newspaper, providing an extreme example of the kinds of emergencies that can face the millions of older Americans who fall by accident annually, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:00 am

US congressman says ‘IDF is lying’ about his detention by settlers and soldiers

Israeli ambassador to US accuses Ro Khanna of political stunt to distract from support for Graham Platner

Ro Khanna accused the Israeli government and military of “lying” on Sunday about the US congressman’s detention by armed settlers and Israeli soldiers during a recent visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Khanna – a California Democrat – had posted video evidence on social media of Israeli settlers and soldiers blocking the path of his convoy on Wednesday in the South Hebron hills, near the village of Zanuta, where Israelis have driven Palestinians from their homes in what Amnesty International calls a government-backed “ethnic cleansing campaign”.

Published: July 12, 2026, 1:25 pm

Bull bison tosses Yellowstone tourist 8ft in air, with run-in caught on video

Man reportedly seriously injured by the bison, described as ‘agitated’ and ‘charging anything’ by photographer

An enraged, 2,000lb (900kg) bull bison hooked a tourist and tossed him 8ft into the air at a campsite in Wyoming’s Yellowstone national park on Friday – an encounter captured by a professional photographer who said the animal was “agitated, pissed off and charging anything and everything”.

The tourist was reported to be seriously injured by the male bison while walking with his grandson through the Bridge Bay campground, south of Fishing Bridge.

Published: July 12, 2026, 10:33 am

JP Morgan boss pressed by US senator about contact with Jeffrey Epstein

Elizabeth Warren asks Jamie Dimon if he was advised to ‘mildly threaten’ UK chancellor over tax on bankers’ bonuses

A leading Democratic senator has written to the boss of JP Morgan to request clarification on the bank’s contact with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the senate banking committee, wrote to Jamie Dimon last week to ask if he took advice from Epstein while lobbying against a UK tax on banker bonuses, in a letter published by the committee on Monday.

Published: July 13, 2026, 7:26 am

VW chief confirms plan to cut 50,000 jobs as board rejects plant closures

Oliver Blume tells staff restructuring proposal includes ‘controversial decisions’ but he has broad support

The chief executive of Volkswagen has confirmed plans to cut 50,000 more jobs despite the carmaker’s supervisory board rejecting his plan to shut four factories in Germany.

Oliver Blume told staff on Monday that proposals for a sprawling restructuring was “the most comprehensive realignment in the company’s history” and revolved around “12 initiatives, approximately 150 pages and 45 individual resolutions” for change.

Published: July 13, 2026, 6:42 am

EU chief pledges social media ban to protect children from ‘predatory algorithms’

Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment comes after panel of experts calls for restriction for under-13s

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has pledged an EU-wide social media ban for children after an expert group called for restrictions for those under 13.

“It is clear we need age-appropriate restrictions to platforms,” von der Leyen told reporters after the publication of a report on child safety online.

Published: July 13, 2026, 5:52 am

Ann Widdecombe death: counter-terrorism police take over investigation

Shock development based on ‘new information and evidence’ renews debate over security of politicians

British counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the death of the former MP and Reform spokesperson Ann Widdecombe in a shock development that has renewed the debate over the security of politicians.

Widdecombe’s body was found with serious injuries by the ambulance service at her home in Haytor Vale, Devon, at 11.40am on Thursday. A 28-year-old man from Rotherham is being held in custody on suspicion of her murder.

Published: July 13, 2026, 10:25 am

Gracie Abrams: Daughter from Hell review – bloodless anthems hit like a faceful of icing sugar

(Interscope)
Despite their goth-coded attempts at emotional turbulence, the saccharine songs of Abrams’ third album feel adolescent in their melodrama

Gracie Abrams’ third album is a full-blown crime scene. Across 16 songs, the US songwriter catalogues slip knots, blades, bullets, knives, more knives, ghosts, cages, drugs, car crashes, blood, burial, flaming tyres, choking, burning houses, sinking ships, drowning, more blood, bloody knees and even more knives. It’s called Daughter from Hell to acknowledge how much the 26-year-old frayed her parents’ nerves as a reckless teen, part of a wider theme about working out when to blame others for her pain, and when to accept responsibility. Clearly, there’s a lot of poetic licence involved in dramatising these mature revelations, but the dissonance between Abrams’ goth-coded emotional turbulence and the music’s insistent, quivering prettiness is the real uncrackable case on this bloodless record.

In one way, Abrams has had an outsized influence on pop. Her early bedroom songs inspired Olivia Rodrigo to write Drivers License, which kickstarted the former Disney star’s dazzlingly quick and continuing act of self-redefinition. Mostly, though, Abrams is the sum of her influences: you needn’t listen hard to clock Lorde’s vocal harmonies, Phoebe Bridgers’ intimacy or the tightly packed storytelling of Taylor Swift, who had Abrams support on the Eras tour. In Swift she also shares a producer in the National’s Aaron Dessner, a collaborator in Bon Iver (his jump-scare falsetto appears on two songs here, and he plays all over the record), and certainly a sound in Folklore’s pearlescent acoustics, injected with a whisper of stomp-clap vigour. That mix of melodrama and songs sung like secrets means Abrams’ audience skews young: her music carries the sensation of being the only person in the world grappling with huge emotions, as life often feels in adolescence. For anyone older, her music can feel a little starter pack.

Published: July 13, 2026, 6:00 am

Eat, sleep, rave ... make peace! DJ Yousuke Yukimatsu’s mission to change the world with topless raves

He beat brain cancer. Now your favourite DJ’s favourite DJ is on a UK tour, armed with experimental techno, Beastie Boys and Taylor Swift

Ten years ago this month, Japanese DJ Yousuke Yukimatsu had an epileptic seizure. When he didn’t show up for a festival booking, organisers got in touch with his friends in Osaka, who found him collapsed at home. He was taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed a brain tumour. “If no one had contacted me, I might have died,” he posted on a crowdfunding platform several months later.

In the black-and-white photograph accompanying the crowdfunder to support his work, Yukimatsu leans his head towards the camera, his buzz cut growing out around a thick ragged scar that curves from his left ear to the top of his hairline: he’d been through two craniotomies, plus extensive chemo and radiation therapy. The illness also left him with a realisation that he needed to make DJing his full-time job; to dedicate himself to his craft and make the world a better place. “If we can keep living [for] tomorrow, if I can encourage people … that’s what I’m always trying to do,” he says now. “The world is getting much worse than the time when techno was born [in the mid 1980s]. Weapons are being developed; it’s getting easier to commit a massacre. In Japan, if a musician speaks about politics, they can be hugely criticised. But I think it’s really important to speak up.”

Published: July 12, 2026, 9:00 pm

Bad Reputation review – powerful look at sex workers’ fight for dignity on the Uruguayan streets

Everyday life takes precedence over sensationalism in a galvanising portrait of union founder Karina Núñez and her community

A sex worker and activist living in Uruguay, Karina Núñez is a force of nature. The charismatic subject of Marta García and Sol Infante’s galvanising documentary, she is introduced by way of a somewhat provocative image: a closeup of her chest, tucked behind a lacy brassiere. The shot, however, is far from objectifying: Núñez is fully in control, and her breasts are simply a tool of her trade. This opening scene expands to take in a road intersection at night, where she is hoping to find her next customer among the stream of cars that passes by.

Núñez might be standing by herself at a crossroads, in a framing that suggests the precariousness of her occupation, yet she is far from alone. As the founder and leader of Otras, a union for Uruguayan sex workers, she has rallied a dedicated community around the fight for social acceptance, better labour conditions and legal protection. Swerving sensationalism, García and Infante’s film does not focus on individual customers, foregrounding instead the everyday struggles faced by the sex workers themselves. In moving scenes, Núñez speaks of the dismissive treatment she receives at a health clinic, as well as her difficulty in transitioning to another line of work. In the eyes of the law and society, she and her fellow workers are merely as faceless statistics or cautionary tales, rather than human beings with rights and dignity.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:00 am

‘You want to reach out and touch everything’: why Labyrinth is my feelgood movie

The latest in our ongoing series of writers paying tribute to their favourite rewatches is a journey back to the 1986 cult fantasy

The 1980s were the golden age for the annoying little brother. Before the dawn of those mischief-dulling devices – the smartphone and tablet – a pesky sibling with a flair for invention could really make life hell for an aloof older sister. For me, mimicry and tickle torture were just the basics. My finest hour? Removing the slats in my sister’s top bunk-bed, so she hopped on to the mattress to come crashing down like Wile E Coyote.

In December 1986, our one sliver of common ground was that we both wanted to see Labyrinth. Me, because I was a hardcore Muppets fan, and Jim Henson’s fantasy flick was generating serious playground buzz (pre-internet, we had no inkling it had tanked at the US box office over the summer, breaking Henson’s heart). And her, because it was about a teenage girl who summons goblins to kidnap her baby brother (I suspect she went along just to learn the incantations).

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:00 am

A beautiful portrait of the musical instrument in danger of extinction: best podcasts of the week

Food writer and music enthusiast Ruby Tandoh details a tender picture of the existential threat to the lute. Plus, a joyous celebration of the great outdoors with Caitlin Moran and Adam Frost

This indie “audio magazine” brings together documentaries of all stripes, the common thread being a sense of experimentation. The third issue features food writer Ruby Tandoh detailing a quietly beautiful portrait of the lute, an instrument on the brink of extinction, while Jess Shane revisits a groundbreaking experiment that gave children the tools to turn their reality into poignant poetry. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

Published: July 12, 2026, 11:00 pm

‘Unchained Melody makes me want to live out my Swayze fantasies’: Gary Jarman’s honest playlist

The Cribs man had a youthful Bee Gees obsession and loves one particular 80s power ballad. But which song does he say is too rude for his funeral?

The first song I fell in love with
Only You by the Flying Pickets – at least according to my mother, who says [my twin brother and bandmate] Ryan and I would sing along to it on the Christmas Top of the Pops. We now use it as our walk-on song and it makes my mum quite emotional.

The first single I bought
Somewhere in My Heart by Aztec Camera, from Boots in Wakefield in 1988, after hearing it at the disco on a holiday at Pontins in Morecambe.

Published: July 12, 2026, 1:00 am

The Brexit Effect, 2016-2026 edited by Anthony Seldon review – life without EU

Essays by the great and the good address the legacy of Brexit, but ignore the nationalist elephant in the room

This massive collection of essays by 43 different authors, including seven lords, four baronesses, one dame and three knights of the realm, may be the nearest we will ever get to a semi-official reflection on the causes and consequences of Brexit. Its editor, Sir Anthony Seldon, is honorary historian at 10 Downing Street and has written definitive works on successive 21st-century British administrations.

Yet the phrase “English nationalism” appears precisely once in its 600 pages – in a glancing reference to the line taken by the Daily Mail during the referendum campaign of 2016. Strikingly, while there is a fine essay by Aileen McHarg called On Scotland, there is none called On England. There is no attempt to provide even a broad overview of the tensions, contradictions and anxieties within the part of the UK where Brexit was won: non-metropolitan England. For much of the political and intellectual establishment, it seems, Englishness is still the condition that dare not speak its name.

Published: July 13, 2026, 1:00 am

The Anniversary by Andrea Bajani review – meet the terrible parents

Therapy brings childhood trauma to light in this ambitious tale of family rupture – a smash hit in Italy that fails to live up to its hype

A son leaves home for university and goes on to pay fortnightly visits to his parents for 20 years, dreading every encounter because of the oppressive control exerted by his father and the self-effacing passivity of his mother. Then one day, he changes his phone number and cuts off all contact. Andrea Bajani’s The Anniversary is written from the perspective of this son, 10 years after the rupture. The intervening decade has been, he says, the happiest period of his life.

The Anniversary has won Italy’s top literary prize and sold in the hundreds of thousands. It’s been lauded for shattering taboos, revealing families to be breakable structures and sons capable of defying their parents – even in Italy, where a Godfather-like idea of the absolute nature of family loyalty still pervades political and civic life. I came to it expecting some of the lurid revelation found in Knausgård or Houellebecq. What I found was something much simpler and quieter, exposing truths I thought we already knew: fathers can be oppressive and patriarchal; mothers can be occluded and powerless; children can be damaged, and therapists can help. Therapy aside, this was all material I recognised from neorealist Italian fiction of a much earlier era. Natalia Ginzburg, for example, showed vividly how totalitarianism seeped into the family through its patriarchal fathers, with mothers becoming hollow and timid in their wake.

Published: July 12, 2026, 11:00 pm

‘I just knew it would sound incredible!’: why the Globe is giving Shakespeare some flamenco fire

Love’s Labour’s Lost offers a heady mix of passion and death – which makes the Spanish art form a perfect match, says director Indiana Lown-Collins. Our writer joins the theatre’s flamenco bootcamp

On a heatwave day in London, Shakespeare’s Globe has turned into a fiesta. Hard-heeled boots strike the wooden boards with rat-a-tat rhythm, skirts swish, a guitar strums, voices rise along with the temperature. Perched in front of the stage is director Indiana Lown-Collins, who is zhooshing up one of Shakespeare’s wordiest plays with a hot flourish of flamenco.

Lown-Collins is half-Spanish and grew up in Spain where flamenco was her way into the arts. Working as resident associate director at the Globe a few years ago, she fell in love with the building and its acoustics and couldn’t stop thinking how well flamenco would work on its oak stage, ringing around the circular space. “I just knew it would sound incredible,” she says.

Published: July 13, 2026, 8:26 am

Ana Mendieta review – were she still alive she’d be at the forefront of art in this century

Tate Modern, London
This exhibition makes nothing of the Cuban-American artist’s controversial death – instead it focuses on the astounding way she left an imprint of herself on the earth using blood, feathers and gunpowder

A huge colour photo of a ruined ancient site greets you outside Ana Mendieta’s engrossing exhibition and it immediately tells you this is going to be different. It’s the kind of thing that seems to belong more to a British Museum show about a lost pre-Columbian civilisation than in the concrete citadel of Tate Modern’s Blavatnik wing. Yet in her imagination, that’s where Mendieta belonged, too. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1948, she was sent to the US when she was 12 to flee the revolution. She felt like an outsider among white Americans. Home, for her, was the past, and she would excavate the very origins of art and mythology.

Mendieta made art from blood, feathers, flowers and sand and in such fresh ways you’d think these primeval substances were new inventions. She literally played with fire, drawing a human figure with gunpowder on the ground or on the trunk of a tree, then setting it alight. The flames leave behind a scorched shadow of a person, like the victims of a nuclear bomb or the dead of Pompeii entombed in ash. Confronted by a row of these burnt ghosts emerging from real tree trunks you almost expect them to speak to you like the shades of the dead.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:27 am

Inside Thailand’s animal rescue network saving strays – photo essay

Thailand’s urban and rural environments are home to a vast population of stray animals whose safety depends on delicate networks of care. Photographer Jackson Morrow spent three years with the Soi Dog Foundation documenting the systems that shape their survival.

• Some readers may find these images distressing

It’s after midnight and Dr Bow is already awake when her phone starts to ring. She sleeps lightly when she is on call, and she knows who is calling before she picks up the phone.

Two dogs, recently rescued from an illegal dog meat trade sale, breathe through holes cut into canvas sacks as a trader kneels before the local police chief following an enforcement operation in Bulacan, Philippines.

Published: July 12, 2026, 11:00 pm

Christopher Nolan says people ‘disdain’ AI and the idea it will replace humans is ‘nonsense’

Odyssey director addresses industry fears over artificial intelligence and says rightwing criticism of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy is ‘irrelevant’

The Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan believes the kind of movies he makes – big-budget action films shot mostly on location – would survive the spread of artificial intelligence, a technology he says many people “disdain”.

The Oppenheimer and The Dark Knight director is promoting his latest blockbuster, an adaptation of the Greek epic The Odyssey, which will be released in cinemas this week.

Published: July 12, 2026, 5:56 pm

‘No matter how bad, it is always fixable’: how Bea Elton cleans up the houses – and lives – of desperate people

She has built an unlikely career in mould, maggots and excrement, cleaning for those who most need it. It can take months building trust with a stranger, before she and her boyfriend go in and transform everything

‘There might be a dead bird in the box room. We think it has been there for a couple of years,” says Bea Elton, raising her voice to be heard through her respirator. It is particularly robust, as she has a dust and cat hair allergy. “Not ideal,” in her line of work, the 28-year-old concedes.

Knowing it would be difficult to talk on the job, we spoke before we arrived, struggling into hazmat suits, shoe covers, gloves and masks in the overgrown garden outside the front door. “I refer to myself as a cleaner. I would never refer to myself as a cleanfluencer,” says Elton. The slick videos on her platform, CleanWithBea, which record her transforming homes fallen into extreme dirt, decay and dilapidation, tell a different story. She has more than six million followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, who have crowned her a celebrity of this genre, her audience keen to watch the imperfect made perfect in a world that feels increasingly out of control. Yet no matter how many of her polished videos you watch, nothing can prepare you for entering one of the homes she cleans in person.

Published: July 12, 2026, 9:00 pm

A new start after 60: I left marketing to be a barber – and I almost cried when my dad gave me his blessing

Phil Yates had never cut anyone’s hair before he decided to retrain at the age of 60. Yet inside the dissatisfied executive a ‘rocking barber’ was waiting to emerge

Phil Yates was nervous about telling his dad he wanted to be a barber. “Get a trade! Don’t leave a job unless you’ve got another job lined up!” were his mantras. Therefore, he says: “I was expecting the worst.” But when Yates plucked up the courage to tell him: “I’m kicking marketing down the road. I want to do this,” his dad replied: “That’s fantastic. Life’s so short.”

Yates was 60. Did parental approval really matter? “It almost made me cry,” he says. His father, a fishmonger turned factory worker, had lived on the streets as a child. “It was huge for him to drop the whole thing about being safe and secure and say: ‘Go and do what you really want.’”

Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?

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Published: July 12, 2026, 10:55 pm

A day in the life of US alligator museum owners: ‘If it’s green, it sells’

Liz and Robert McDade built a free New Orleans attraction around fossils, taxidermy and a love of alligators

Liz and Robert McDade own New Orleans’ Great American Alligator Museum, a free museum where visitors can see alligator fossils, paintings – and a couple of live residents. Here’s how they run a unique tourist attraction, and keep their energy up in a party town.

Published: July 12, 2026, 9:00 am

The pet I’ll never forget: Daisy the border collie, who swapped farm life for yoga and modelling

The breed is supposed to be hard-working and hyperactive. This one would rather put her paws up or strike a pose for some adoring human

We didn’t plan on getting a dog, but someone told us about a working sheepdog in Ireland who wasn’t up to the job and therefore needed a new owner. In 2023, we travelled from Nottingham to meet her and I fell in love. It was clear that she was not cut out for working and wanted to be a lady of leisure. She was really affectionate and I could tell that she loved being around people.

Border collies are known for being hyperactive, wanting to chase a ball, wanting to do things all the time, but Daisy is the opposite. She is happy to cuddle up next to you. She brings a smile to people’s faces whenever we’re out. As soon as anyone meets her, she gets giddy and excited, rolling on her back and wanting tummy tickles.

Published: July 13, 2026, 3:00 am

This is how we do it: ‘In our open relationship, I prefer “don’t ask, don’t tell”. But he wants the details’

Rick and Rachel are non-monogamous – but they both know this arrangement may not work forever

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

I’ve tried knowing and not knowing, and I find both difficult. In an ideal world, we’d go looking for sex together

Published: July 12, 2026, 3:00 am

Is it true that … we should eat 30 plants a week?

A growing supplements market may be trying to capitalise on this claim, but the truth is we still don’t know what a truly healthy gut microbiome really looks like

The idea comes from a 2018 study involving more than 10,000 people in the US, UK and Australia. Participants submitted stool samples and reported what they typically ate. Researchers analysed the microbes in those samples and found that people who consumed more than 30 different plant foods a week tended to have a more diverse gut microbiome than those who ate fewer than 10.

But that doesn’t mean 30 is a magic number. Whether you eat 25 plants a week or 30 is probably less important than some would have you believe.

Published: July 13, 2026, 12:00 am

Snip happy: five men on their choice to get a vasectomy

Vasectomy numbers are rising in Australia. So what’s at play when men make the big decision – and how do they feel afterwards?

Dr Nikolas Katelaris has “stopped counting” how many vasectomies he has performed. After the tally hit 2,000, it became hard to keep track. In the past few years, the Sydney procedural GP has noticed a definite uptick in demand for the procedure.

Amid a national and international debate about declining fertility rates which often centres on women’s choices and experiences, Medicare data shows that the number of vasectomies performed in Australia has jumped from 22,230 in 2015 to 36,317 in 2025. And of the 699,473 total vasectomies recorded between January 2000 and December 2025, 210,105 – or nearly a third – took place in the last five years.

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Published: July 12, 2026, 8:00 am

‘I felt dizzy’: bodybuilder recalls how drug abuse caught up with him

Jamie Mantzouridis used steroids, growth hormones and insulin until the side effects became impossible to ignore

• Fitness influencers linked to wellness brand helping run illegal steroid market on Telegram

Jamie Mantzouridis vividly remembers the first time he took steroids. He got someone else to inject him and his mind was racing. “What if he hit an artery? What if there was an air bubble?” Mantzouridis, however, says he was young and fearless.

He was small growing up, skinny and self-conscious. By the time he started training seriously in his early 20s, he noticed other guys at the gym who were much larger, and they explained they were taking steroids. “They looked really good,” he says, “and they said that was what they were doing.”

Published: July 12, 2026, 2:00 am

Back to the future as young England fans embrace fashion of the noughties

For many watching their team beat Norway at a south London nightclub the look was as important as the game

The Carpet Shop nightclub in Peckham, south London, is ordinarily packed with rowdy crowds at the weekend. But Saturday night’s liveliness was not congregated around the DJ on the dancefloor, the crowd was at the sold-out venue for England’s victorious quarter-final game at the 2026 World Cup, and the young spectators were there for the fashion as much as they were for the football.

Luke Grandon and Mattia Guarnera, both 27, are “massive” football fans, and their love for the game is expressed in their outfits. “I have a massive collection of vintage football shirts,” said Guarnera, wearing a white polo shirt with “LOVE” printed on the back from a limited-edition World Cup-themed collaboration between Lyle & Scott and the British artist Reuben Dangoor.

Published: July 12, 2026, 8:47 am

My holiday from hell: I expected a glamorous week on a catamaran – but spent the whole time hoping not to die

The warm, gentle conditions I was hoping for turned out to be ferociously windy. The anchor couldn’t hold our boat in place. And then my mum got trapped in the cabin …

It started so well. A catamaran full of loved ones floating into the azure, taking pics, feeling glam, anticipating the sun sinking over the yardarm. I’d been reunited with my sister and family, who live in Australia, for the first time in three years, after Covid. Her husband, a fearless Australian giant, had got into sailing and offered to take me and my then 77-year-old mum, along with their three teens, out in the south of France for my sister’s 50th birthday. I knew sailing could get rough – my dad capsized us at the mouth of the River Dart when I was little – but it’s not every day you get such a generous invitation. How could I resist?

It was October. I was manifesting warm, gentle conditions, but instead the wind blew ferociously and stubbornly the wrong way. Before we knew it, we were charging up mountainous waves, then crashing into the void beyond. Our captain calmly steered while I sat below, feeling as if I was in a disaster movie, at which point I realised I hadn’t even located the lifejackets.

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:00 am

My holiday from hell: blizzards, black ice, a broken-down bus – would I ever make it to New York?

Flights were cancelled and we were told we’d be staying in Iceland for the night. But the hotel had no idea we were coming and people started screaming when I fell down, hard, on the ice

A couple of days before I was due to take a trip to New York with my mum in February, the city was hit with the worst blizzard it had seen in years. Unsurprisingly, our flight was cancelled. Our travel agent managed to reschedule the holiday for later in the week – our journey out would now connect in Reykjavík, Iceland. The holiday was rescued … or so we thought.

The flight to Iceland went without a hitch until the final moments, when the pilot informed us that a mini-blizzard was passing over Keflavík international airport and we would have to redirect to a domestic airport 15 minutes away. We still had hope that we could make our connection, but after several hours on the tarmac that hope died.

Published: July 12, 2026, 9:00 pm

Ready for your stunning second act? The 11 secrets of starting again – from successful late bloomers

From a seventysomething standup comedian to the founder of a highly successful spice business, seven people reveal why it’s never too late to embark on the life of your dreams

Many of us feel stuck in a job we dislike and midlife is a common time to reassess what you are going to do with the rest of your years, especially when finances require us to work into older age. How can you make a change, follow your dreams and finally do what you always wanted? Late bloomers share the secrets to having a stunning second act.

Published: July 12, 2026, 2:00 am

My search for the perfect ruin bar in Budapest

These cool, cheap bars in old abandoned buildings became popular in the 2000s – and then tourists moved in. I went hunting for the bohemian spirit of the originals

‘Many ruin bars seem to be just tourist traps now,” says artist István, standing outside Instant-Fogas complex, which calls itself Europe’s biggest ruin pub, but looks more like a mammoth nightclub with several dancefloors.

“These bars were a hot topic 20 years ago, but many have become really commercial now,’ says István. “Ruin bars being expensive actually ruins their purpose. I’m a student, I like beers that are under 1,000 forints [about £2.50], and the big commercial ruin bars are typically much more expensive.”

Published: July 12, 2026, 11:00 pm

The Taliban’s war on education: ‘Nobody talks about what is happening to the boys’

Five years after the ultra-conservative Islamists retook Afghanistan, students describe male pupils being beaten for minor rule breaches and inexperienced teachers struggling to deliver lessons

Before he leaves for Kabul University each morning, Hashmat* checks his face for the beard he has been ordered to grow. Male students are required to grow their facial hair and wear traditional Afghan clothes and those who fall short are punished. Hashmat says he recently saw a classmate beaten for wearing trousers.

“They look at you before they listen to you. If your appearance is wrong, you are already in trouble before the class begins,” he says.

Published: July 13, 2026, 2:00 am

‘Huge wave’ of carbon storage projects causes alarm in small-town USA as oil firms eye billions in subsidies

Dozens of projects are in development across US despite concerns over environmental and health risks

The plan to bury carbon under remote Indiana farmland is supposed to be a slam dunk for the climate, according to its supporters – all generously funded by US tax dollars.

But as far as Melissa Harrison and some other residents of Clymers, Indiana, are concerned, it just might be the end of their town. “This is our place,” she says. Generations of her family are buried in the cemetery, and she is raising her five grandchildren in one of several dozen white-clapboard homes among cornfields and industrial plants serving the farming industry.

Published: July 12, 2026, 5:00 am

Share your tributes and memories of Sam Neill

We would like to hear your tributes and memories of celebrated actor Sam Neill – whether you met him, or appreciated his work

The death of actor Sam Neill was announced today. He was 78.

Known to many for his role as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, he also starred in The Piano and Peaky Blinders.

Published: July 13, 2026, 1:51 am

A moorland blaze and Jude Bellingham station: photos of the day – Monday

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

Published: July 13, 2026, 6:27 am