The Guardian
In evidenza
Vinícius Júnior rescues lacklustre Brazil as Morocco earn deserved World Cup draw
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Haiti v Scotland: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽️ World Cup kick-off 9pm EST/2am BST/11am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Tom Back when Kenny McClean put the cherry on the cake of Scotland’s dramatic playoff win against Denmark in November, the concept of this game was a cause for wild celebration, but now, facing World Cup minnows Haiti, this game represents opportunity. A win, especially one by a convincing scoreline, will go a long way to ensuring Scotland get the group stage-shaped monkey off their back. There will be nerves among the Tartan Army in Foxborough and those watching from afar, but the preparations for Steve Clarke’s side have gone very well. Eight goals scored against in warmup games against Bolivia and Curaçao, one conceded, crucially Scott McTominay has gotten over a tummy ache to ensure his manager has a full complement to choose from. McTominay’s new advert with Adidas is also a triumph and these are the things that really matter in setting ‘the vibe’. Continue reading...
‘No soccer fans here’: World Cup fever fails to grip Texas Republicans
Houston is a host city but those gathered there for a GOP convention are far more concerned with contentious politics – and an elephant Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has just finished a 25-minute address and most of the hits have been played. The radical Democrats must be destroyed in November’s midterms; an Austin-style woke agenda should be avoided at all costs; it is essential the Lone Star State remains the most conservative in the US. He has provided ample fodder for about 5,000 delegates but, as the applause subsides, they have a more weighty subject matter to absorb. There is an elephant in the room. A real live elephant in the form of Paige, who is wearing a white cloak bearing the slogan “Unity drives victory”. It has long been an in-joke at the Texas Republican party convention that, one day, a pachydermal visitor might drop in; the animal has been a symbol of the GOP for 150 years. Now, at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Friday afternoon, the fantasy has been made flesh. Two intakes of breath, Paige is led up the vast conference hall’s central aisle, taking a break halfway up. The exit is 100 metres away but will have to wait; unfortunately for those who have rushed to marvel at her, it turns out Paige needs to urinate. Continue reading...
UK and Japan set to agree investment deal worth £18bn
Keir Starmer says commercial and government agreements will create tens of thousands of jobs and drive developments The UK and Japan are set to agree £18bn worth of investment, creating tens of thousands of jobs. Prime minister Keir Starmer will welcome his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi to Downing Street on Sunday ahead of the G7 summit next week. Continue reading...
Nearly half of UK girls saw harmful social media content in a week, research shows
New safety measures had little effect so far, study finds, with Starmer expected to announce under-16s ban Nearly half of girls and a third of all teenagers saw suicide, self-harm and eating disorder content on social media in a week, a study shows. The Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) research found that 47% of girls aged 13 to 17 encountered high-risk content during a seven-day period. Continue reading...
One Stop shop worker sacked after trying to tackle suspected shoplifter
Convenience store employee Eileen Fox, 56, said suspect ‘banged into metal stand’ but no one was injured in incident • Waitrose employee sacked after stopping shoplifter from taking Easter eggs A convenience store worker was sacked after trying to tackle a woman who she suspected was shoplifting bacon. Eileen Fox said the suspected thief was “well known” in Bootle, Merseyside, and claimed she had been stealing from the shop for years. Continue reading...
Tommy Robinson detained at Heathrow under counter-terrorism laws
Police stop comes after far-right activist rose to global prominence on social media amid racial tensions in Britain Tommy Robinson was detained by police on Saturday at Heathrow airport under counter-terrorism laws, after a week in which he rose to global prominence on social media. It was understood the far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was stopped and his phone was seized under section 3 of the Counter-Terrorism Border Security Act 2019. Continue reading...
Resident doctors in England call off strike action after new government offer
Last-minute offer to be put to members is understood to include an average 6.6% pay uplift Resident doctors in England have called off strike action after the government made a new offer which will be put to members. They were set to stage a four-day walkout from 7am on Monday – the 16th round of strike action since 2023. Continue reading...
UK government announces £132.5m after-school clubs package
Funding for extracurricular activities comes as ministers prepare to introduce social media restrictions for under-16s The government has announced a £132.5m funding package for after-school clubs as ministers prepare to introduce expected restrictions on social media use for under-16s. The programme is designed to expand access to enrichment activities in schools, with funding for clubs ranging from music groups and debating societies to engineering and sports, in what ministers describe as an effort to give children alternatives to time spent online. Continue reading...
Khoukhi late show earns Qatar dramatic World Cup draw against Switzerland
Qatar snatched their first ever World Cup point with a stoppage-time goal to draw 1-1 against Switzerland in an energetic Group B opener. Switzerland went ahead in the 17th minute when Breel Embolo coolly stroked home a penalty but paid the price for failing to score more after 26 attempts on goal in a match they dominated from the kick-off. Continue reading...
Splore no more: New Zealand’s shrinking festival scene hurts local artists as big acts roll in
Closure of independent festivals mean emerging artists will lose important launch pad, music insiders say On New Year’s Eve 1998, a few hundred people gathered for a dance party on a clifftop above the black sands of Karioitahi beach, south of Auckland. It was wild and lo-fi. Inspired by outdoor raves in Goa, India, and New Year’s Eve parties in the hills of the South Island, there were stilt walkers and fire performers and all kinds of dance music. It was called Splore, a Scottish word meaning merrymaking and frolicking. Fat Freddy’s Drop played their first ever festival show at Splore, and have gone on to become a festival favourite in Europe. Other acts followed that path. For nearly three decades, Splore was an unofficial launchpad – where a band or DJ used to playing to a hundred people could suddenly be on a main stage in front of thousands. People came back year after year, they brought their children. Their children brought their own friends. Continue reading...
Lydia Lunch: ‘There won’t be a funeral. You’ll never find my body’
The Teenage Jesus and the Jerks frontwoman shares her hatred of sandwiches and pop culture, plus her wish to evaporate and return to ‘the ether’ What’s the most chaotic thing that’s ever happened to you on stage? I’m still waiting for that. Maybe it’s the most chaotic thing I’ve ever put forth from the stage. Once a quite drunken man called out a rather rude remark for me to suck his you-can-imagine-what, so I invited him up to the stage and cracked him in the neck with a blackjack [club]. He fell to his knees and I told him to suck it himself. I’m always prepared! Continue reading...
Brazil v Morocco: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽️ World Cup kick-off 6pm EST, 11pm BST, 8am Sun AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Jeff While it was always a reach to project this tournament would feel like 104 Super Bowls, some matchups inevitably fit the blockbuster billing. Brazil and Morocco’s opener in Group C is this tournament’s first glamour fixture, pitting the five-time champions against the dark horse darlings of 2022, who arrive in great form. Few know exactly what to expect from Carlo Ancelotti’s first World Cup on the touchline. A gilded figure on the club side, Ancelotti picked a squad teeming with stout center-backs and dynamic dribblers, but with some uncertainty in midfield, at full-back, and up top. Endrick finally taking a long-awaited leap would do wonders to assuage those latter concerns, and will most likely be necessary if Brazil are to snap their 24-year drought. Continue reading...
Mansions on wheels: Australia’s growing obsession with luxury RVs
From underfloor heating to big screen TVs, there seems to be nothing in the average house that isn’t available in one of these uber-vans Our maiden campervan trip, 2021, and my wife and I return from Kata Tjuta to Yulara’s “Ayers Rock” campground to find new neighbours. Towering beside our humble rental is a fully optioned monster ute with a spanking new off-road caravan. And a playpen. We’re enjoying a sunset dinner outside when a woman lurches down the steps next door cradling a chihuahua. Scowling at us, she drops the dog in the playpen and hauls herself back inside. The dog snarls and yaps until we hastily finish eating and retreat into our tiny van. Continue reading...
‘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 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. Continue reading...
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. Continue reading...
Rosamund Pike keeps cool after phone alarm interrupts performance
Disruption during performance of Inter Alia comes weeks after Pike berated audience member for texting during play Rosamund Pike kept her cool after a phone alarm in the front row interrupted a performance of Inter Alia on Saturday afternoon. The actor berated an audience member earlier this month for texting on their phone during the performance at Wyndham’s theatre in London. Continue reading...
Being the best in Asia is no longer enough for Japan seeking World Cup breakthrough | Jonathan Wilson
Despite missing key players, Hajime Moriyasu’s side have built strength in depth to challenge the traditional order In 2002 there was a sense that Japan had slightly missed an opportunity. South Korea may have enjoyed the benefit of some favourable refereeing, but they also impressed. They were quick, technically good and tactically extremely flexible and they progressed to the semi-final of their home World Cup. Japan did not do much wrong, topping their group before going down 1-0 to Turkey in the last 16, but the contrast with their co-hosts was inevitably underwhelming. Continue reading...
Two arrested after girl critically injured in loading vehicle incident in Essex
Man, 18, and boy, 17, detained on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in Southend-on-Sea Two people have been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after an incident involving a loading vehicle which has left a teenage girl in a critical condition in hospital. Police attended the Chalkwell Park area of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, at about 12.30am on Saturday after receiving a report of an incident involving a “small articulated loading vehicle”. Continue reading...
World Custard Pie Championships 2026 – in pictures
The championships, which take place in Maidstone, Kent, were dreamed up as a way of raising funds for Coxheath village hall about 50 years ago Continue reading...
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. Continue reading...
Far-right and anti-racist protesters clash in UK cities after Belfast riots
Police make several arrests as rival demonstrators take to streets of Brighton, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow Far-right marches took place across the UK on Saturday after violent unrest in Belfast and Southampton in recent days. Several people were arrested on Saturday afternoon as far-right groups clashed with anti-racist and anti-fascist demonstrators in Brighton, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow. Continue reading...
Preliminary peace deal could be signed within days, says US, Iran and mediators
Pakistani PM claims Islamabad preparing for electronic signing, while Trump and Tehran trade conflicting claims Iran, the US and mediators suggested on Saturday that a preliminary peace deal could be signed within days to end the three-month war in the Middle East, though they gave differing timelines and versions of its text. Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, said on Saturday that Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing within 24 hours to be followed by technical-level talks next week. Continue reading...