⚽ Championship updates from 12.30pm BST kick-off ⚽ Read Football Daily | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Billy Hello and welcome to Spygate 2.0. The buildup to this Championship playoff semi-final has been dominated by accusations that Southampton have been peaking through the bushes at Middlesbrough’s training ground this week – Saints have now been charged with misconduct by the EFL and will face an independent disciplinary commission “at the earliest opportunity”. The club have said they will be fully cooperating with the EFL throughout the process. Shades of Marcelo Bielsa, Leeds and Frank Lampard’s Derby in 2019 for sure. We’ll get into the weeds, or brambles, of that shortly. It will certainly make for one hell of an atmosphere at the Riverside this lunchtime as Middlesbrough host Southampton in the first leg on the road to Wembley and the Premier League, with the return fixture at St Mary’s on Tuesday. Kim Hellberg’s Boro saw their push for automatic promotion fade away in the final weeks of the season while Saints have surged up the table under the 33-year-old Tonda Eckert and came close to breaking into the top two themselves. Continue reading...

The contrast between the dense, layered building and the clean lines of the cab make for a winning image William Shum describes Yau Ma Tei, the Hong Kong district in which he took this photo, as “one of the region’s older and most characterful districts. I’m always drawn to this area because it feels authentic and full of local life. Older residential buildings, street-level shops and constant traffic show a very recognisable side of the city.” Shum’s eye was drawn to the contrast between the passing vehicle in the foreground and the residential building in the background. “The building is full of repeating windows and air-conditioning units, which creates a dense and layered background, while in front the taxi appears in a very simple and clean shape,” he says. “Two things are instantly recognisable here: the city’s compact residential architecture and its iconic red taxis. This image brings those together.” Continue reading...

Second season of BBC hit has attracted one of the most high-profile casts ever assembled for a reality TV show If it were any other show, the sight of the comedian Alan Carr sobbing under the burden of his dishonesty may have been enough to put off any celebrity thinking about accepting a place in the perilous Traitors’ castle. Yet the second season of The Celebrity Traitors, being filmed at its now famous Highlands retreat, has managed to attract one of the most high-profile casts ever assembled for a reality TV show. Continue reading...

As soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport in the States, we revisit four oft-overlooked moments – and one famous kick – that shaped its past This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here. The last time the US hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, many Americans viewed soccer as a game they watched their kids play on Saturday mornings, not the world’s most beloved sport. Thirty-two years later, the sport has exploded in popularity and the USA have become a regular fixture at World Cups. But many people don’t realize the US’s World Cup history extends all the way back to the first tournament staged – when the US men had their best-ever finish, reaching the semi-finals. The tale of those connected with the US team is often bleak, but it’s also more deeply rooted and richer than is often appreciated. As US soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport, we revisit four often overlooked moments – and one widely celebrated kick – of the USA’s early World Cup history. This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here. Continue reading...

Live Premier League updates from 12.30pm BST Why not email Scott | See the latest standings Rubberneckers assemble! At the end of this game, chances are someone, somewhere is going to be fuming. Fuming and raging and throwing a tanty, because neither of these teams are in a good place, and things could get gnarly if and when it gets even worse. If Chelsea lose, it’ll be seven league defeats on the bounce, a run of misery suffered just once before in their history, and that 74 years ago, so imagine the ire if that transpires. But should they snap that run against Liverpool, an abject shower at Old Trafford last weekend losing their fifth match in eight, it’ll be the home fans telling each other, and the phone-ins, and the internet, exactly how they see it. Oh my. So whoever you support, whether or not you have any skin in the game, an afternoon of wild emotional tumult stretches out ahead of us all. Kick-off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on! Continue reading...

The company’s UK and Europe boss has become a lightning rod for the British public’s fear of a US tech takeover The hall was packed with rightwing radicals when Louis Mosley heralded a coming revolution. Just as Oliver Cromwell – that “crusader for Christ and liberty” – routed King Charles I’s royalists, “a similar revolution is brewing today”, said the UK and Europe boss of Palantir. Globalism’s “twilight” was upon us, he said in a speech dotted with admiring mentions of the podcaster Joe Rogan and “Elon’s Doge”. It was not a typical peroration for a big UK government contractor with more than £600m in deals with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and police. But Palantir, the world’s most controversial tech company, is no typical contractor. In recent years it has gained firm footholds across Britain’s public sector while appalling critics with its leadership’s rightwing rhetoric and its work for the US and Israeli militaries and Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown. Continue reading...

Moscow blanketed in heavy security despite last-minute announcement of three-day ceasefire with Ukraine Vladimir Putin has declared Russia will always be victorious as he oversaw a scaled-back Victory Day parade on Red Square held under heavy security amid mounting fears of Ukrainian attacks and growing public fatigue with the war. Speaking to the crowd, the Russian leader invoked the sacrifices of the second world war to rally support for his soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Updates from the latest round of Championship games Sign up for The Spin newsletter | Mail Tanya or post BTL Raf runs her eye over England’s summer, and a first captaincy gig for Charlie Dean. Ali’s trip to Worcester to see Ben Stokes bowl. Continue reading...

An erudite account of the foundation of the state and its subsequent moral and political decline Israel’s attack on Iran is only the most recent example of its degeneration in recent decades, coming on top of its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, genocide in Gaza, invasion of Syria and relentless bombardment of Lebanon. The fact that the US joined in this illegal war confirmed to many in the region what they have long suspected: that the country is an outpost of western imperialism in the Middle East. The state of Israel, which arose from the ashes of the Holocaust 77 years ago, has received an unprecedented degree of international sympathy and support ever since. This support was partly due to western guilt and partly due to the perception of the Jewish state as an island of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism. The country’s Declaration of Independence promised to uphold “the full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex”. In the early years of statehood, Israel was seen in the west as an icon of liberal, progressive and egalitarian society. Continue reading...

Judges have been fired or taken buyouts, and those remaining say they toe the government line David Koelsch, a former immigration judge based in Maryland, was in Minneapolis visiting his mother and sister the day Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents. He drove to Nicollet Avenue, parked a few blocks away, and walked toward the scene. “I didn’t go there to protest. I didn’t bring a sign. I didn’t bring anything. I just went to stand and bear witness,” Koelsch said. Continue reading...

The actor on her Dua Lipa faux pas, restless legs syndrome, and a shock realisation at a housewarming party Born in Bristol, Tuppence Middleton, 39, trained at ArtsEd in London before appearing in films The Imitation Game and Mank. Her stage roles include The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre, and her TV work spans Sense8, War and Peace, The Forsytes and the next series of Slow Horses. Since the age of 11, she has had obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which she writes about in Scorpions, out in paperback on 21 May. She lives in London with Swedish film director Måns Mårlind and their child. What is your greatest fear? Endless vomiting. That comes from my emetophobia, which is a huge part of my OCD. Continue reading...

The board of the vocational charity has shown a ‘catastrophic failure of governance’, according to a member of the group’s council The trustees of City & Guilds London Institute have been accused of attempting to dodge accountability for a “catastrophic failure of governance” by stalling on the launch of an independent inquiry into the £166m sale of the vocational charity’s training and accreditation business last October. Members of the 148-year-old body voted overwhelmingly last month for the trustee board to trigger what would be the third investigation into how the foundation sold its operations to the private operator PeopleCert in October. Continue reading...

Rising tide of censorship is spreading, reshaping what students are permitted to read, learn and think Maia Kobabe wrote Gender Queer as a tender attempt to explain non-binary identity and the journey of sexual discovery to immediate family. “I tried to make it as sensitive and thoughtful as possible, especially given that I knew that my mother would read it,” the author says. “I was trying to build bridges, trying to connect with people, trying to be understood as my full authentic self by my family and my friends and my community.” But then came culture wars and a concerted effort by reactionary forces to turn back the clock. For three consecutive years, Gender Queer was the most challenged title by would-be book banners. Speaking from Santa Rosa, California, Kobabe, 36, recalls: “Many of the people who challenged my book in the early years, when it was conservative parents speaking up at school in board meetings, would hold it up and say this book is inappropriate or it’s pornography and then they would proudly say: ‘I’ve never read it.’” Continue reading...

Several frontbenchers told the Guardian they agreed the prime minister’s time in office should not go beyond the end of the year 2026 elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions A number of Labour MPs have come out demanding Keir Starmer resigns. A few of them aired their views on social media and on the media round this morning, here’s what they had to say: Connor Naismith, MP for Crewe and Nantwich, hinted in a post on X that Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could take the reigns. Andy is the most popular Labour politician in the country. The suggestion that he wouldn’t be able to win in some of the seats Labour is currently struggling to win is just wrong. Ironically, this is precisely why we need him back on the front line of national politics. I think there are three scenarios: one is that Keir carries on until the next election and we lose, and we lose badly. Secondly, that in the end, Keir decides to stick it out, and there is a move to get rid of him, an internal battle, and then the public don’t like parties that fight amongst themselves, so that could lead to an election defeat. “I hope, as he has said, that he will always put the country first and we have to recognise the dangers that we are in now. “But on this trajectory it doesn’t look good, not just for locals – I lost some really dear colleagues who worked so hard for their constituency – but it means the prospect of us not just losing an election, but who we would lose to and that makes me really fearful.” Continue reading...

As ceasefire begins, Zelenskyy says ‘Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home’ Russia’s annual military parade celebrating the allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war has begun in Red Square. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the event – typically a bombastic show of military strength – will take place without a display of tanks and ballistic missiles over fears of a long-range attack by Ukrainian drones. In recent days, there have been many appeals and signals regarding the setup for tomorrow in Moscow in connection with our Ukrainian long-range sanctions. The principle of symmetry in our actions is well known and has been clearly communicated to the Russian side. An additional argument for Ukraine in determining our position has always been the resolution of one of the key humanitarian issues of this war – namely, the release of prisoners of war. Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be brought home. Continue reading...

From Naomi Ishiguro to Jess Atwood Gibson, more children of high profile writers are becoming authors themselves. Parents and their literary offspring discuss the pressures of measuring up Martin Amis liked to observe that the unusual position he and Kingsley Amis held – father-and-son novelists – was a historical anomaly, a “literary curiosity”. But it was not unique: Alexandre Dumas père and fils, Fanny and Anthony Trollope, and Arthur and Evelyn Waugh had all come before them. And if Amis’s assertion wasn’t true then, it’s even less true now. In recent years, increasing numbers of children of novelists have become writers themselves, and this year sees a particularly rich batch. Kazuo Ishiguro’s daughter, Naomi, publishes the first in her new fantasy series this month. Margaret Atwood’s daughter Jess Gibson published her fiction debut this spring, and earlier this year Patrick Charnley, son of the poet and novelist Helen Dunmore, published his first novel to wide acclaim. Continue reading...

In record 40C heat on 19 July 2022, 18 homes were lost in village of Wennington – a signal for firefighters to adapt, but UK response remains fragmented When neighbours urged Lynn Sabberton and her partner, Terry, to flee from their home in Wennington one day in 2022, the couple weren’t sure they should bother. A fire was burning in their village, on the eastern edge of London, but Terry thought it was too far away to be a problem. Struggling with a lung disease made worse by the record 40C heat that day, 19 July, he was wearing only his underwear and refused to budge from his armchair. Lynn remembers two police officers kicking open their front door and shouting that it was time to go. Lynn pleaded to be allowed to get Terry some clothes and was bundled upstairs to find them. Could she grab some papers? No. Her purse? No. Her cat, Jack? Also no. Continue reading...

⚽ News, discussion and buildup before day’s action ⚽ Premier League things link | Email us here Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! There may only be three weeks left of the Premier League season but this has the potential to be one of, if not the most decisive. The one to watch this weekend is West Ham v Arsenal - a match that will have huge repercussions at both ends of the table. But that one is tomorrow, so we’ll talk about that a bit later. Before that, we have a clash between Liverpool and Chelsea to look forward to. Both teams go into the match off the back of a loss. Chelsea suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to a second-string Nottingham Forest side, while Liverpool fell to a 3-2 loss against Manchester United. Both teams are also still looking to qualify for European football, albeit different competitions. Elsewhere, Brighton host Wolves, Fulham take on Bournemouth and Sunderland face Manchester United. Those fixtures should get you warmed up for the final game of the day as Brentford travel to face title-chasing Manchester City. As always, we’ll also be looking at the Championship and EFL play-offs, the thrilling Scottish Premiership title race and everything else that’s happening across Europe’s top leagues. Join us! Continue reading...

We used to have the back and forth of actual conversation. Now we have phones filled with our friends’ rambling soliloquies The message I most dread receiving on WhatsApp isn’t “Call me” or “I can’t believe what you did last night”. It’s “I’m just going to vn you, it’ll be easier”. I roll my eyes as I fish my grubby headphones out of my bag to listen to yet another voice note. Voice notes were fun when WhatsApp introduced them in 2013, but what was once a novelty has become too many people’s go-to method of communication. We are now faced with what feels to me like a voice note epidemic. Side effects may include the cheapening of conversation and a startling increase in narcissism. Annabel Martin is a lifestyle and culture writer Continue reading...

Wealthy players asking for more money may feel wrong but the big four tournaments are not sharing the revenue fairly At some point in the quiet buildup to her opening match at the Italian Open, Aryna Sabalenka decided to attack one of the most contentious subjects in her sport with the same force as her forehand. In her press conference, the subject of the top players’ attempts to attain a greater revenue share from the grand slam tournaments prompted the world No 1 to make a drastic prediction: “I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah,” she said. “I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.” It marked an escalation in a pay dispute that, until this point, had played out in a series of polite letters and public statements. Over a year ago, in March 2025, the players sent their first letter to the grand slam tournaments. Their requests focused on the grand slams offering a greater percentage of their revenues to the players, contributions to player welfare initiatives, such as pension funds, and closer consultation through a grand slam player council. To the frustration of the player group, the grand slams have still not issued substantial responses to the first two requests. Continue reading...

Footballer has 664 million followers but his boring presence is a reminder of how reel-life destroys what it touches Buy the backpack airlines hate. Fawn strangely at a child athlete. This TV presenter drank olive oil for a month and absolutely nothing happened. The streets (no actual streets involved) won’t forget (robots can’t forget) Paul Pogba (or equivalent coding). Nineties dance hits. Ruben Amorim loyalists. Argue with fake fans over a fake photo of fake empty seats. Buy a backpack that hates you because you once thought about buying a backpack, and like a Hungarian grandmother it will never, ever forget and you will be punished. Continue reading...

Home T20 World Cup and a historic Lord’s Test loom for Charlotte Edwards but with selection questions mounting Historic occasions are like buses: you spend ages twiddling your thumbs and then two come along at once. England have waited nine years for another home World Cup, wallowing all the while in memories of their win in 2017, and almost a century for a maiden women’s Test at Lord’s. Now both are being thrust upon them over the space of a single month, from 12 June to 13 July, in a true summer bonanza for women’s cricket. First, though, a T20 World Cup dress rehearsal: three one-day internationals against New Zealand, followed by three Twenty20s against the same opposition, and another three against India. The 50-over series, which begins on Sunday in Durham, feels a little as if it has been plonked thoughtlessly into the calendar. The wicketkeeper Kira Chathli and all-rounder Jodi Grewcock could make their England debuts – after all, the head coach, Charlotte Edwards, promised us she would “look to the future” after England’s drubbing in last year’s 50-over World Cup semi-final. But right now, no one in the England management has much bandwidth to plan for anything other than the possibility of reaching a home final at Lord’s on 5 July. Continue reading...

Charlotte Proudman’s comments follow trial of Christopher Trybus, who was acquitted of all charges against wife Tarryn Baird A barrister has suggested that a “dead woman was put on trial” in the case of Christopher Trybus, who was cleared of manslaughter by a jury. Charlotte Proudman’s comments came after Trybus was found not guilty by a jury of eight women and four men, who deliberated for more than 40 hours. He was acquitted of all charges: manslaughter, coercive and controlling behaviour and two counts of rape. Continue reading...

Facing public apathy and frustration, Labour and Reform UK tie for second place behind the SNP while Greens claim a ‘seismic’ fourth place Long before the final votes were counted in Scotland, veteran Labour politicians said this was a defeat made in Downing Street. When Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar strode into the Glasgow count arena on Friday afternoon flanked by sombre-faced activists, the scene was in mirror image to the same venue in 2024, when his resurgent party won 36 seats from the SNP, playing a significant part in Keir Starmer’s landslide. Continue reading...

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days Continue reading...