⚽ Pre-match news before Brighton v Manchester City ⚽ PSG dash Arsenal dreams | Read Football Daily | Mail us Before we continue, be sure to click below to recap the action from last night. Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! It was Champions League final heartbreak for Arsenal last night as they fell to a 4-3 loss on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain. I have lost count of how many talking points came from the game, but we’ll look back at those throughout the day. Continue reading...

In 2006 police took revenge for deadly prison riots by killing more than 500 people in alleged shootouts that others call executions. A court is to rule on compensation for victims When authorities in the Brazilian state of São Paulo transferred nearly 800 suspected gang members to maximum-security prisons in May 2006, the crime group launched a wave of prison riots and attacks on law enforcement officers. Fifty-nine police and prison officers were killed. In the following nine days, police officers took their revenge, killing more than 500 people in what were described as shootouts with “criminals”, but which human rights organisations and forensic studies attribute, at least in large part, to executions, including of innocent people. Continue reading...

In a rare interview the businessman discusses football, his ownership of the Azovstal steelworks and why he is optimistic about the future It is the morning after Russia’s heaviest aerial raid on Kyiv in several months. At least 25 people have been killed and, as always, those emerging from a sleepless night are the lucky ones. Rinat Akhmetov meets the Guardian at the end of a paved driveway half an hour from the city centre. Shakhtar Donetsk’s owner rarely gives interviews and his whereabouts have been a subject of conjecture during the war. But he is here in Ukraine, speaking to mark the 90th birthday of a club whose tribulations over the past dozen years have been unmatched. It is also 30 years since Akhmetov, the richest person in Ukraine and arguably eastern Europe’s most influential businessman, became president of Shakhtar. The club has been a labour of love, the straightforward face of a career whose complexities beyond football have been widely documented. Akhmetov’s influence spreads across the country and beyond, most visibly in the form of places such as Azovstal, the iron and steelworks that became symbolic of a nation’s resilience in 2022. Continue reading...

Whether it’s Hyrox or CrossFit, some of this century’s biggest exercise trends have one thing in common: combining cardio with strength training. Here’s how to do it Tough Mudder. CrossFit. Hyrox. Some of this century’s biggest fitness trends have one thing in common: they require feats of both strength and endurance. People used to pick a side: either you used weights and resistance machines to build your muscles or you did cardio for the sake of your heart and lungs. Now everyone wants to be a “hybrid athlete”. So is this the best way to get fit – and where do you start if you’re a complete beginner? Continue reading...

After a public holiday was declared to celebrate World Cup qualification, expect a physical Paraguay side well prepared for intense conditions This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...

Curated edits mean people are treating museums as stand-alone shopping destinations rather than simply exit points First it came for bookshops. Then your favourite coffee shop. Now there is a new frontier when it comes to upping your merch game: museums. Instead of art print postcards and coffee table books, you are now more likely to find everything from slogan T-shirts to coffee mugs when you “exit through the gift shop”, as museums look to merch-maxx in order to boost revenue Continue reading...

Urgent renewal emails and huge discounts figures are used to pressure people to hand over their data You have had McAfee antivirus software installed on your laptop for years after becoming fearful that your computer would be infected. So when an email arrives to say your protection is about to expire, you are not surprised. Better still, there is a “renewal discount” of 89% if you pay on the same day. “Once the expiration date has passed, your computer becomes susceptible to many different virus threats,” the email warns. Continue reading...

Premier Group Recruitment went into administration with debts of £2.9m – including £647,000 owed to HMRC A recruitment executive – who was allowed to buy back the assets of his bust company in instalments despite it accumulating almost £3m of debt – has fallen behind on promised payments after pledging to send staff on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. The development is the latest case to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism”, accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts. Continue reading...

Alan Cumming and David Morrissey star in the gripping Manchester-set series. Plus, a wild tale of charity shenanigans involving One Direction. Here’s what to watch this evening. 9pm, Channel 4 A harrowing scene on a regular residential street in Manchester ropes you into this new drama by Russell T Davies. It then rewinds a few weeks to tell the lively story of how the main characters – Canal Street bar owner Leo (Alan Cumming) and electrician Clive (David Morrissey) – ended up in such an awful situation. With the executive producer and director of It’s a Sin working with Davies again, the team have created a powerful, nuanced and urgent look at the modern state of culture wars in LGBTQ+ communities. As one of Leo’s friends from the gay club puts it: “I used to walk into a room and go: ‘Ta-da!’ Now I tiptoe, just in case …” Hollie Richardson Continue reading...

Clever, emotional – and well worth the hype I couldn’t get a table at Skof for ages: it was too full, too booked up and far too busy. It seemed there’d be no lightly set miso custard with hen of the woods mushrooms and dashi for me. Jersey royals cooked in chicken fat with pickled walnuts? I’d only be able to admire those from afar. It was like catnip: in the spirit of Groucho Marx, I want to be inside any restaurant that doesn’t want me as a customer. Skof opened in Manchester in May 2024 and by February last year already had a Michelin star, so it’s no wonder that, with only 36 seats, spaces evaporate rapidly. This capacious one-time drapery warehouse could easily accommodate two or even three times that number of covers, but Tom Barnes, formerly of L’Enclume in the Lake District, is not that sort of chef. His restaurant’s name comes from his dad, Barney, telling him rather unceremoniously as a child to “scoff” his dinner. What would Barney have made of his boy’s ornate, complex pre-dinner snacks of chalk stream trout and golden beetroot tartlet, or broad bean, pike roe and shiso on a Spenwood cheese biscuit? Both are hugely scoffable, incidentally. Barney, now deceased, is remembered at the end of every meal via his favourite tiramisu, of which more later. Skof, like L’Enclume, is one of those intensely relaxed yet still ferociously fancy restaurants. Dress code is come as you are. Deodorant is a boon. As we ate, Aussie post-punk band Mental As Anything bled into Arctic Monkeys by way of Sam Fender, but then, bang, the first two courses proper arrived, each of them intricate and intentional: a soft, juicy Orkney scallop with barbecued kohlrabi and preserved tomato water, followed by that lightly set custard with truffle and mushroom dashi. Think of this custard as a quiche filling on steroids, and one that’s well worth garrotting people for in a buffet queue. Continue reading...

Magazine’s editor Michael Gove will welcome performer who described Conservative party leader as ‘iconic’ The American rapper Azealia Banks said she had been invited to the Spectator magazine summer party in London. The performer, known for her social media feuds with numerous celebrities including Nicki Minaj, Zayn Malik and Lana Del Rey, wrote on X on Saturday: “Ill be in London July 3 for @spectator.” Her message received a response from Michael Gove, the Spectator editor and former Conservative cabinet minister, who replied: “Looking forward!” The annual Spectator summer party is traditionally held in the garden behind the magazine’s offices in Westminster featuring prominent figures across UK politics, media and culture. In May, Banks and fellow rapper Minaj publicly supported the Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch. Banks wrote on X at the time: “Sorry i made fun of you guys in Britain, i rolled over and realized its actually no longer a laughing matter and I shouldnt be making jokes. I hope you all vote conservative and Listen to Kemi Badenoch.” In a later post, the 32-year-old said of Badenoch: “She is a star.” In April, Banks shared a clip of the Conservative leader speaking in the House of Commons on X, with the message: “Kemi Badenoch is f**king iconic. World leaders will respect her Professionalism alot more than goofball Nigel [Farage].” The artist is known for her forthright political views and on Saturday posted a link to an article entitled “Congress advances unprecedented U.S.-Israel military integration plan” and wrote on X: WE WON!!!!! PULL OUT OF NATO NOW!” The New York rapper won wide acclaim for her debut single 212 which appeared on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Continue reading...

Would you want this to become sexual? If the answer is yes, then think about what might be holding you back I don’t know whether I am in love with my friend or not. We hang out a lot, because we work together in the same university. My feelings developed over many months and it took us a long time to fit with each other as we do now. I don’t find him perfect; I sometimes don’t like his behaviour, especially when we are with other people. However, I want to be with him a lot: I imagine going on holiday with him and doing things together. We do have physical contact sometimes – just things like touching arms. I appreciate that and have deep affection for him. So I wonder if this could be love or if I am mistaking great friendship with love just because he is a guy. I do not know whether he is a friend, almost like a brother, or more than that. Continue reading...

The dire state of roads has provoked pothole vigilantes and become a political flashpoint from Manchester to Manhattan. How did we get here? Sitting in St Albans crown court, waiting for his case to be called, Derek Bennett’s anger momentarily gave way to a sense of disbelief. “I mean, there’s rape and murder cases going on,” he says. “I couldn’t believe I was there, with this stupid subject.” Initially, neither could the judge, whom Bennett says remarked that such issues were surely a matter for the magistrates. But Bennett, a 68-year-old construction consultant who has spent decades navigating building rules and regulations, had read the law carefully. Section 56 of the UK’s Highways Act 1980 clearly states the “highway authority or other person” responsible for a road in Britain is liable to maintain it, and should it fall into “disrepair”, a member of the public may apply for a crown court order to fix it. The other crimes would just have to wait. Bennett was here about potholes. Continue reading...

Local leaders are optimistic investment and regeneration plans will help make ‘ocean city’ an appealing place to live Plymouth may only have been rebranded as “Britain’s ocean city” in recent years, but its role as a centre of UK defence can be traced back to the 16th century thanks to its strategic location on Devon’s south coast. Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on his circumnavigation of the globe and it was here the Pilgrims finally departed England for America on board the Mayflower. In more recent decades, a dependence on the defence sector no longer seemed an asset, as spending cuts and the loss of dockyard jobs forced the city with a proud maritime history to square up to a new foe: economic uncertainty. Continue reading...

Twin threats from east and west have clearly made the bloc more appealing – but its rule-bound institutions need urgent attention Giant butter mountains, wine lakes and an apocryphal EU ban on bendy bananas formed the mythological backdrop to Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum debacle. Yet while many Vote Leave claims were exaggerated, inaccurate or blatantly untrue, the EU’s capacity for laying itself open to ridicule is undiminished 10 years on. Take the strange case of the whingeing EU commissioners, annoyed that their officially provided electric vehicles cannot manage the time-consuming 280-mile journey between Brussels and Strasbourg without stopping to recharge. This important issue, first reported by Politico, raises vital questions. Do these highly paid bureaucrats really need chauffeur-driven “company cars”? Surely they could catch a train, or fly, or cycle. EV use is mandatory for road trips. The vehicles are supplied in line with the EU’s Green Deal emissions-cutting policy, which commissioners might be expected to support, not carp about. So why is the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, allowed a petrol engine? The biggest question of all is why make these tedious Brussels-Strasbourg journeys in the first place? Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

As the writer, actor and hog owner Lena Dunham explained this week, pigs become entitled if you offer them unconditional generosity. Many humans are the same – but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with it There are some events so momentous that you always remember where you were when you heard about them. They’re usually historic, frequently shocking, often profound. Well, adjust your records accordingly, because we need to add one to the list: where were you when you first learned about spoilt pig syndrome? For many of us, it will have been this week, when Lena Dunham was a guest on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang. They were discussing how some people – “not just women, but a lot of women” – always overdeliver and as a result become exhausted and resentful. Dunham then started talking about her pet pigs, acknowledging that it sounded like a detour from the subject, but assuring listeners that it wasn’t. Continue reading...

There is hope that a change to building regulations could resurrect music clubs, which have been hit by rising rents, social shifts and noise disputes A move by the German government to reclassify nightclubs to distinguish them from amusement and adult entertainment facilities could give a much-needed boost to the country’s struggling nightlife, industry advocates say. Under a fundamental change to building regulations approved by Friedrich Merz’s cabinet last week, nightclubs will be formally recognised as providing cultural and artistic value, making it more difficult for developers to evict venue operators in favour of new construction. Continue reading...

San Antonio Spurs 111–103 Oklahoma City Thunder Spurs seal series to advance to NBA finals against Knicks For large parts of this season, many wondered if the Oklahoma City Thunder had any weaknesses. One thing the reigning champions didn’t have was Victor Wembanyama, who led the San Antonio Spurs to a Game 7 victory in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs’ 111-103 victory on Saturday night means they will face the New York Knicks in the NBA finals, with Game 1 set for Wednesday in San Antonio. Continue reading...

Nawaf Salam says Israel collectively punishing southern Lebanon and forcing people ‘into exile’ but defends security talks with Tel Aviv Lebanon’s prime minister accused Israel on Saturday of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” in his country’s south, urging a halt to the fighting as Israel carried out fresh airstrikes and issued evacuation warnings for more than a dozen locations. A day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon, his counterpart Nawaf Salam warned the country was facing a “dangerous” escalation, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”. Continue reading...

Meteor was travelling at 75,000 miles per hour (more than 120,000 km/h) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart A meteor crashing toward Earth exploded over the north-eastern United States on Saturday, Nasa said, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tons of TNT. The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire just after 2pm (1806 GMT), the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement. Continue reading...

Russian atomic energy agency claim that drone strike damaged Europe’s largest nuclear plant just a ‘propaganda ploy’, Ukraine military says. What we know on day 1,558 Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom said on Saturday a Ukrainian drone had struck the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, but had not caused damage to key equipment. Rosatom’s head Alexei Likhachev called the incident “deliberate” and said it left a hole in the wall of a turbine hall. “This afternoon, a Ukrainian kamikaze combat drone struck the turbine hall building of Power Unit No. 6, resulting in a subsequent detonation,” Likhachev said in a statement. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was captured by Russia in March 2022 and remains close to the frontline in the south-eastern Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia region. Kyiv military have denied Russian claims as “yet another propaganda ploy”, saying its troops did not strike power unit No. 6 at the plant. “Ukrainian servicemen act strictly within the international humanitarian law and are fully aware of the consequences of any actions targeting nuclear facilities,” the military said in a statement. “At the relevant section of the frontline, there was no active fighting during the incident, and no weapons were used.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday said it has been informed by the Zaporizhzhia plant that a drone had struck a turbine building at the site. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expressed serious concern about the reported incident. “Attacking nuclear sites is like playing with fire,” he said. The IAEA’s team has requested access to examine the affected turbine building first-hand, the agency said in an X post. Ukrainian drone strikes caused fires at more Russian oil facilities overnight into Saturday, Russian officials said, in what appeared to be the latest attack on Moscow’s oil industry. Authorities in Russia’s Rostov region said falling drone debris sparked a fire that damaged an oil depot and tanker in the port of Taganrog, while officials in the neighbouring Krasnodar region reported a fire breaking out at an oil depot in Armavir for the same reason. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X noted the Krasnodar attack and said: “We are rightfully bringing the war back to where it came from.” Ukrainian professional tennis player Oleksandra Oliynykova, an outspoken critic of Russia’s war against Ukraine, on Saturday criticised Russian tennis players at the French Open about their stance on the war, after her third-round exit at the French Open. Oliynykova lost in straight sets to Russia’s Diana Shnaider. The Ukrainian said players from Russia were allowed to participate in international tournaments even though they openly took part in events sponsored by Russian companies linked to the war effort or even after what she said was promoting the positions of Russia in relation to the war on social media. Continue reading...

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves pummelled Europe and Asia, and oil markets around the world leapt and sputtered, the two big chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were being demolished. Meanwhile, the Australian energy minister was holding a media conference to hail a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country. Quietly, and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar power, with panels on one in three homes. It also remains, however, a major contributor to the climate crisis through its vast fossil fuel exports.. But it is batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed. Continue reading...

Optimism is not high for Mauricio Pochettino’s co-hosts, who are under pressure to justify fans’ considerable outlay on tickets This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. Continue reading...

Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only second-hand Aukus submarines from US Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels. The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables. Continue reading...

Veterans such as Messi and Modric are much in evidence at the finals, but an obsession with celebrity may undermine Portugal It turns out that 2022 wasn’t Lionel Messi’s last dance after all. He will turn 39 during the World Cup, but despite concerns over the “muscular overload” that led to him limping out of Inter Miami’s 6-4 win over Philadelphia Union on Sunday, he remains the figure on whom Argentinian hopes rely. Messi won’t be the only veteran in Canada, the US and Mexico: Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 41, will also be there – inevitably, given how his career and Messi’s seem inextricably bound. So will Luka Modric and Edin Dzeko, plus the goalkeepers Manuel Neuer, Craig Gordon, Guillermo Ochoa and Vozinha, all of whom are 40. And there is one 39-year-old other than Messi: the Japan defender Yuto Nagatomo. Continue reading...