At Pixelate, the music is as garish as the meme-referencing costumes. Is it internet ‘brainrot’ come to life – or a much-needed offline community? ‘It’s time to get … crazy!” DJ Compulsive Leia is yelling at us from the stage. Around me, clubbers in cat ears wave LED glow sticks and squeal in anticipation. Suddenly, an all too familiar sound: Crazy Frog’s much maligned version of Axel F, albeit remixed at an even giddier pitch and speed. “Ding, ding!” Tonight, Vauxhall Arches in London is a hyperactive fever dream for Pixelate, a rave currently touring the UK and celebrating the 00s era of “internet cringe”. This edition is cat-themed, and a person in a giant bobble-headed Hello Kitty costume is dancing frantically on stage, soundtracked by high-octane versions of 00s memes, video games, cartoons and dancefloor hits. Continue reading...

Backrooms stunned industry observers by taking $81m in its first weekend, a record for studio A24 Kane Parsons has become the youngest film-maker to open a film at number one at the North American box office for his directing debut Backrooms. Parsons, 20, is seven years younger than the previous record holder, Josh Trank, who was 27 when his debut Chronicle recorded a $22m opening in 2011. Backrooms stunned industry observers by taking $81m in its first weekend in North America – which was also a record for its studio, A24. Continue reading...

Last of his 24 Premier League seasons was at Brighton ‘I could never have dreamed of the journey,’ he says The former England midfielder James Milner has announced his retirement. The 40-year-old, who has spent the last three years at Brighton, began his career at his boyhood club Leeds and has played 24 seasons in the Premier League. Milner broke the record for the most Premier League appearances while playing for Brighton against Brentford in February, and ends his career with a total of 658. Continue reading...

For years the NBA has wondered what would happen if it had a giant who could do everything. The San Antonio Spurs star has given us an answer The NBA season began with serious questions about Victor Wembanyama’s ability to last the distance in the playoffs. Could this brilliant ectomorph, a blend of rare height and even rarer skill, stand up to the rigors of a deep postseason run? Would his slim body snap under the intensity of professional basketball’s sternest tests? The results are in: Wembanyama will this week lead the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. At just 22 years of age, basketball’s next superstar has arrived: slightly ahead of schedule, but with every part of his brilliance emphatically affirmed. “Wemby” landed in America as the NBA’s No 1 overall draft pick in 2023, an alien in both stature (his official height is listed as 7ft 4in, though many claim he may be as tall as 7ft 6in), nationality (French), and foreign-language proficiency (fluent in English, despite never having lived outside his home country). Sure enough, “The Alien” quickly became his nickname. But the flood of tears with which he greeted his team’s defeat of Oklahoma City in Saturday night’s Game 7 of the Western Conference finals revealed a different side to this outlier of outliers: the human side. More than his freakish physique or the sheer absurdity of the spectacle he presents on court, towering over established giants of the game like some basketballing Burj Khalifa, it’s Wemby’s humanity that makes him such a compulsively interesting and watchable star. He is the alien who longs to be among us. Continue reading...

Endless swiping has left a generation of singles burned out. But get real: dating assistants and AI-aided chats will never recreate the friction of real romance After years of shrinking usage and tumbling stock prices, the dating app Bumble is teasing a major change to its product. But in solving one problem, it might be walking right into another. The company told Axios this month that it’s getting rid of a dating app mainstay: the swipe. The feature made it easy for people to carelessly flick through photos, said CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, leading to a user experience with too many dead-end conversations. Going forward, Bumble will focus on features that make for deeper, more meaningful connections, she said. Namely, an AI assistant named “Bee”. While it’s still unclear exactly what Bee will do, its responsibilities will include punching up users’ profiles by suggesting better options for their photos and personal blurbs. Bumble says it will also use AI to chat with people about their dating preferences and help them find others with similar “values”. Tatum Hunter is a technology journalist based in Brooklyn. She writes on Substack at Bytatumhunter Continue reading...

Updates from Monday’s fourth-round matches Email Daniel | Jódar and Fonseca into last eight Salut à tous et bienvenue à Roland-Garros 2026 – neuvième jour! And devinez quoi? It’s another banger absolu! We begin with an intriguing match on Chatrier, Flavio Cobolli beginning to establish himself as a second-week staple. His all-round game, when on, is perfect for the clay on which he was raised, a mix of vicious attack and tenacious defence, and in Zach Svajda, he faces an opponent he knows he should beat, but also one in terrific form. Opening on Lenglen, meanwhile, we’ll enjoy Anastasia Potapova, perhaps starting to make good on her potential – to get here, she dismissed Coco Gauff, the defending champion – against Anna Kalinskaya, looking to go deep in a slam for the first time. This is the biggest match of both of their lives. All the more so given waiting for them in the last eight is either Diane Parry or Maja Chwalinska, second on Lenglen and also enjoying their best-ever major performance. And, as we move into the afternoon, Madison Keys – the 2025 Australian Open winner, words it never gets boring to type – takes on Diana Shnaider, with Naomi Osaka or Aryna Sabalenka awaiting the winner. After which, the men take centre stage, all of them seeking to profit from the opportunity of a lifetime given a draw now missing Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Chances are, Matteo Berrettini, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe have all spent time processing and reconciling the likelihood that they were unlikely to realise dreams of winning a biggun that, in their youth, seemed not only realistic but likely. Continue reading...

Research for Roundhouse in London shows 87% of 18- to 30-year-olds believe they have fewer artistic opportunities Rising costs, the disappearance of third spaces and reduced access to artistic opportunities are causing young people to feel “disconnected, isolated and locked out of creativity”, according to research commissioned by a youth arts charity. The Roundhouse, a multi-arts venue in north London that reopened in 2006 with a focus on running youth programmes, has released the findings to coincide with the publication of its 20-year impact report on Monday. Continue reading...

Seasonal wardens and netted fences are helping protect the rare ground-nesting birds that arrive each spring on the UK’s shores On Ross Sands in Northumberland, a little tern has caught sight of a group of people and is sprinting across the beach. “It wants us to follow it,” says Andrew Craggs, senior manager at Lindisfarne national nature reserve. “It’s a diversionary thing – it’s got a scrape and it wants to take us away because it thinks we’re predators.” Craggs is no predator, and he’s not after the scrape – a small pit the ground-nesting bird has dug into the sand to lay its eggs. He is a guardian of these little birds, as well as more than 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) of sand dunes, saltmarsh and mudflats that make up this tranquil nature reserve perched on the tip of England’s north-east coast. Continue reading...

Oregon man with extensive criminal record fired at three officers while speeding away from a traffic stop in 2025 A man with the unusual name Loony Toon and a lengthy rap sheet has been given 20 years in prison after admitting that he shot at police officers in Oregon, according to authorities. The 43-year-old whose name calls to mind the classic television cartoon franchise Looney Tunes – as well as a colloquial term some invoke when describing an eccentric or irrational person – fired a gun at three officers while speeding away from a 20 June 2025 traffic stop in the community of Milwaukie, local prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday. Continue reading...

The latest in our series of writers highlighting their most rewatched comfort films is a personal tribute to the inspirational British drama For me, feeling good isn’t about escape, it’s about confrontation. Staring the thing you truly care about in the eye and giving in to it. It’s about empowerment, courage, optimism. I’m a sucker for coming-of-age films, the idea of striving to be the person you want to be despite the circumstances around you, and no film hits home for me like Billy Elliot. The low-budget drama danced its way through cinema projectors and on to the screen in September 2000, a few weeks after my fourth birthday. The film, set in County Durham in 1984, focuses on Billy (played by Jamie Bell), the younger brother of Tony, who is part of the miners’ strike, alongside his father, Jackie, who is a widower. Billy is 11 and a reluctant boxer who finds himself drawn toward Sandra (Julie Walters) and her ballet classes, which are taking place in the boxing gym as their studio is being used to feed the striking miners. He knows these dreams are not for young men like him, and is petrified of how his older brother and father will respond to his newfound passion, but the chain-smoking Sandra sees a natural aptitude (and above all determination) in Billy and helps him to audition for the Royal Ballet School in London. Continue reading...

Airline’s shares hit highest level in three months as investment group Castlelake says it is considering offer Business live – latest updates EasyJet has called a potential £3bn bid by a US investment group “highly opportunistic”, as shares in the budget airline shot up to their highest level in three months on the takeover interest. The US private credit firm Castlelake said on Friday it was considering a takeover offer for the airline. On Monday, it said it had already bought a 2.14% stake in the business and its offer would value easyJet at least at 403p a share, or about £3bn overall. Continue reading...

Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker say UK has stopped them travelling to speak at SXSW London Two prominent US political commentators who were due to speak at events in the UK this week have said they have been banned from entering the country. Cenk Uygur, the host of the Young Turks online political talkshow, and Hasan Piker, who runs his own hours-long stream each day, said they had been stopped from appearing at SXSW London, while the former claimed also to have been prevented from speaking at an event run by University of Oxford students. Continue reading...

Conflicts over land and resources have deepened owing to climate breakdown, deforestation and population growth Beneath the shade of the wide-spreading branches of a neem tree, five young gang members wearing camouflage and beanies and cradling AK47 rifles took refuge from the harsh midday sun. They passed around cold bottles of water and a popular energy drink called Fearless. To their left, a dreadlocked teenager with his own rifle rested on one of three motorcycles parked on the sparse grass. To their right, another teenager sat with his back to the others, rolling a spliff. Abu ‘Abu Radde’ Bello, the leader of a gang in Katsina state Continue reading...

Bonnie has two days to get from south London to her grandparents’ house in Cornwall before lockdown in this super low budget British comedy No offence to any Clives reading, but the intentionally naff title of this film does not inspire confidence – and turns out to be indicative of the cheerful ridiculousness of this super low budget British comedy. It is about a trio of twentysomethings on a road trip to Cornwall at the start of one of the Covid lockdowns; from the outtakes and behind the scenes clips that run over the end credits, everyone involved clearly had a blast making it. But that enjoyment doesn’t spill on to the screen – and the whimsical songs accompanied by a ukulele wear thin in less than half a minute. Eleanor May Blackburn is Bonnie, who has two days to get to her grandparents’ house in Cornwall from south London before lockdown. Just as she is about to hit the road, Bonnie meets homeless busker Clive (Michael Kodi Farrow) and offers to buy him a kebab. But when her credit card is declined at the till, she rushes out without paying, leaving Clive to perform a stickup with his ukulele case to the bemusement of the kebab shop owner. Continue reading...

It’s not enough to wish for growth; economic success requires a sense of purpose, according to this academic When Keir Starmer won a landslide Labour majority promising to pursue five governing “missions”, the high-profile leftwing economist Mariana Mazzucato was credited as an inspiration. Two years on, her bracing new book helps shed light on why Labour in power has struggled to project the sense of direction that “mission-led government”, as Mazzucato calls it, requires. Synthesising and extending her earlier work, here she proposes “a new economics of collective action around the common good”. From this perspective, the economy is not a concatenation of rapacious independent forces, to be contained and offset by public policy, but a project – or rather a series of projects – with direction and purpose. Finance should be turned to the benefit of these collective goals instead of chasing short-term returns, she argues, and the creativity of corporations channelled to the public good. Continue reading...

To better highlight the whole field among Europe’s elite, we chose an XI that couldn’t feature more than one player from any one team This year we are picking a team of the season with a difference: I am allowed only one player per team. Of course, as finalists Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal have players with claims to all of these positions, so apologies to Willian Pacho and Declan Rice, among others. But what this format does allow for is an overall view of the Champions League season that was. *** Continue reading...

Sources predict ‘toe-curling’ revelations as more than 1,000 pages of documents relating to his appointment as US ambassador to be published Mandelson files show no mitigation of security concerns Good morning. Many people despair at the quality of governance in Britain at the moment, but in one respect we are living through a golden age; if you are interested in contemporary history, and learning about what actually happens at the heart of government, then you can now – sometimes – access the sort of information never available before. Today the government is publishing a mass of information – apparently running to three volumes, and more than 1,000 pages – containing the private messages Peter Mandelson exchanged with government ministers and officials when he was ambassador to the US, and before his appointment. Last month a minister compared this to the evidence released as part of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. But the Chilcot inquiry took place in the era before WhatsApp, and it was publishing secret memos – intended for circulation within Whitehall. WhatsApp messages are a lot more personal; reading them is like being able to eavesdrop on a private conversation. Mandelson is a man with spiky, controversial views, who loves gossip and plotting, and whose private views don’t always accord with what he has said in public. It should be fascinating. I think the level of transparency is going to be unprecedented. The volume of information that’s going to be put out is unprecedented. It’s right we do that. We have been very clear that the appointment of Mandelson was wrong. Continue reading...

French president says it is ‘unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions’, adding operation took place with support of UK The French navy has boarded an oil tanker that was subject to international sanctions and sailing from Russia, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said. Macron wrote on X: “This operation took place in the Atlantic Ocean, on the high seas, with the support of several partners, including the United Kingdom, in strict compliance with the law of the sea,. Continue reading...

Club’s former head coach proud to have won title He praises ‘spirit of compassion and unity’ Arne Slot has said the connection he shares with Liverpool and their fans “goes beyond football” after leaving the club. The Dutchman was sacked as head coach on Saturday, 12 months on from winning the club’s second title in 30 years, after a pitiful defence ended with a fifth-placed finish. In an open letter to fans in the Liverpool Echo, he said winning the Premier League title was “beyond special”. He wrote: “The connection we share goes beyond football, beyond European nights under the Anfield lights or the sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone being sung from The Kop. Continue reading...

Powerful winds and rain expected in parts of Japan and Australia, while temperatures in Spain could hit 40C A powerful tropical storm is forecast to track near Okinawa, Japan, on Monday before moving towards the south-east of the country. Typhoon Jangmi (also known as Typhoon No 6) has formed within the monsoonal gyre over the Philippine Sea. A monsoonal gyre is a large, slow-rotating weather system that spawns typhoons through smaller vortices formed within it. This flow can intensify storms. Such typhoons are typically characterised by a broad areas of low pressure and extensive wind fields, often without a distinct eye. Continue reading...

Nationwide finds typical price was £278,024 in May, as Savills says Iran war has ‘fundamentally changed’ outlook Business live – latest updates House prices fell in the UK for the first time this year in May, as rising interest rates triggered by the war in Iran hurt homebuyer demand. The price of the average UK home dropped 0.6% in May compared with the month before, according to the lender Nationwide. Continue reading...

Thirst for renewal is strong and new players could help bridge the gap to PSG but there are no guarantees The greatest lie ever told about penalty shootouts is that they are a lottery. This is a recognisable and trainable footballing skill, a test not just of ball-striking and placement but research, psychology, mettle under pressure. Eberechi Eze puts the ball wide, Gabriel Magalhães sends it in the direction of the Danube: this is failure on the most brutal and unforgiving terms. But it is failure nonetheless. The second greatest lie ever told about penalties is that fortune plays no part. Any encounter decided by 10 kicks of a football will evidently be at the disproportionate mercy of random factors: the divot, the bad contact, the goalkeeper’s guesswork (and to all the preparation that goes into the process, it remains partly guesswork). That this sport – already a sport of low scores, narrow differentials and infinite variables – chooses to decide its biggest prizes on these smallest of morsels is one of its cruellest traits. Continue reading...

Giro d’Italia triumph completes grand slam of Grand Tours although the Dane may still require a dip in from from his great rival to prevail in July Jonas Vingegaard’s achievement in completing a grand slam of Grand Tours lifts him into a select club of champions that have recorded victories in the tours of Italy, France and Spain. The 29-year-old Dane joins Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil of France, Spain’s Alberto Contador, Italians Felice Gimondi and Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome, of Great Britain, as winners of all three Grand Tours. It’s an accomplishment that has, to date, proven beyond his great rival, Tadej Pogacar, who, despite his multiple successes in other races, has yet to add the Vuelta a España to his wins in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. “It is a special day for me,” Vingegaard said, showing rare emotion as he paid tribute to the support of his family. “It’s way more than I could ever dream of when I was a kid.” Continue reading...

She had a passion for butterflies and would seek out rare ones, yet this was used against her by violent, money-grabbing husband. Now this pioneering naturalist’s story has been translated to today’s manosphere ‘There’s nothing wrong with having a hobby, or even what you might call in this case a hyperfocus,” psychiatrist Dr Godrick tells Eleanor Glanville in a claustrophobic therapy room. Outside the Phoenix theatre in Hampshire, a summer heatwave is delivering perfect conditions for butterflies. Inside, a rather darker story is being rehearsed in air-conditioned gloom. Butterfly, a new play, shines a light on one woman’s passion for butterflies and how it is turned against her when she became trapped in an abusive relationship. Continue reading...

There is no evidence that ovulation affects muscle-building, but you may feel stronger at certain times It’s an idea that’s been enthusiastically embraced on social media: women should sync their training to their menstrual cycle. That means lifting heavier weights around ovulation, then switching to gentler movement such as yoga in the second half of the cycle – because as their hormones fluctuate so does their strength. But there’s not much proof that this is useful, says Dr Marianna Apicella, a researcher at the University of Leicester specialising in female physiology. “High-quality evidence supporting that is seriously lacking,” she says. “There’s not really much concrete evidence for it.” Continue reading...