Publicly accessible Facebook images dating back to 2018 appear to show the symbol on Andy Arnold’s arm A newly elected Reform UK councillor in Barnsley has come under pressure to resign after photographs emerged appearing to show him with a swastika tattoo. Andy Arnold, who was elected to Barnsley council earlier this month to represent Wombwell, can be seen with what appears to be the symbol tattooed on his arm in a series of publicly accessible Facebook images dating back to 2018. Continue reading...

After winning the Grand Prix at Cannes film festival, the exiled auteur sent a direct message to the Russian president urging him to stop the war Accoladed director Andrey Zvyagintsev has sent a direct message to Vladimir Putin urging him to start listening to the Russian people and end the “senseless” war in Ukraine, continuing a war of words between Russia’s most revered living film-maker and the Kremlin that started at the Cannes film festival awards ceremony over the weekend. “Except for the limbs torn off from your fellow citizens in the name of an illusory goal, except for the massacre of young people that the country needs to build life and the future – nothing good is on the horizon if we don’t stop,” the exiled auteur said in a message sent to the Russian president’s press secretary through official channels on Tuesday. Continue reading...

There will be ‘no cherrypicking’ of policies, EU says, after Starmer says he hopes to negotiate single market for goods Europe live – latest updates The UK will get no special treatment in its future economic relationship with the EU, European ministers have said, in a further blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of negotiating a single market for goods. The EU’s ministers for Europe, who met on Tuesday, said they wanted deeper cooperation with the UK, but this had to be in line with fundamental principles, including no cherrypicking of EU policies, according to three diplomatic sources, who spoke about the private discussions. Continue reading...

Pope Leo XIV got the chance to sit in the driver's seat of the newly unveiled Ferrari Luce in Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italy on 26 May. John Elkann, the chairman of the Italian brand, accompanied by other company executives and technical staff, presented the pontiff with a Ferrari steering wheel during the meeting. Ferrari test driver Raffaele de Simone knelt beside the pope while explaining the vehicle's controls and driving modes to the religious leader Continue reading...

Authorities say no hope for survivors after tank containing a chemical solution ruptured and killed one person Crews were set to resume searching Wednesday for nine workers at a Washington state paper mill where a tank imploded, but authorities said there was no hope in finding any more survivors. One person was confirmed dead and nine people were reported injured on Tuesday after a tank at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co in Longview imploded, releasing a highly destructive chemical mixture called “white liquor”. But nine other workers remained missing. Continue reading...

Treasury select committee hears that interest rate and repayment terms are ‘extortionate’ and ‘not reasonable’ Thousands of graduates have told an official inquiry their horror stories and bad experiences relating to student loans, underlining what the chair of an MPs’ committee called “massive” levels of “frustration and upset”. Amid an ongoing row over the ballooning cost of degree course debts, more than 52,000 people responded to a call for evidence by the Commons Treasury select committee as part of its inquiry into student loans and the taxation of graduates. Continue reading...

Two decades of disappointment followed Parisian nightmare of Lehmann, Eto’o and all that, but now a first Champions League title is in sight They left London in their thousands, full of hope and devotion, heading for Paris in the springtime, yet romantic anticipation lasted all of 18 minutes, which was when Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, was sent off in the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona at the Stade De France. Twenty years on, as Arsenal fans again travel in anticipation, this time to Budapest, for the club’s second Champions League final, you could argue that Arsenal hearts have been a little broken ever since. Continue reading...

Mark Carney announces purchase of Saab’s GlobalEye early warning aircraft to patrol Arctic territory Canada has announced plans to buy a fleet of early warning planes from Sweden’s Saab rather than a competing option from Boeing, as the country seeks to reduce reliance on US defence firms. Mark Carney, the prime minister, said on Wednesday that Canada would opt for Saab’s GlobalEye, which is based on Bombardier’s Global 6500 jet. Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail plane – which has suffered from delays and cost overruns – had also been in contention. Continue reading...

Dane wins in Andalo after sweltering stage Vingegaard has four-minute lead over Gall Denmark’s Michael Valgren won the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia but his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard continued his march to a first overall victory on the Grand Tour. Valgren took the honours in Andalo after attacking from a small group with a kilometre remaining of the undulating 202km ride from Cassano d’Adda with riders suffering from the punishing heat and also sudden downpours. The 34-year-old EF Education-EasyPost rider claimed his second win of the season, with his other also coming in Italy at the Tirreno-Adriatico. This report will update Continue reading...

Joint investigation run by NY and NJ attorneys general Subpoena seeks information on Fifa’s ticket practices Investigation centers on games at MetLife Stadium The attorneys general of New York and New Jersey have launched an investigation into Fifa’s ticketing practices around the 2026 World Cup, focusing specifically on the matches due to take place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The investigation, announced Wednesday by New York’s Letitia James and New Jersey’s Jennifer Davenport, centers on fans who say they were misled about the location of the seats and on claims that Fifa’s own public messaging around tickets has contributed to the inflated prices seen throughout the tournament. Continue reading...

In 2008, only 70,000 cases of this classic French aromatised wine were sold. In 2024, that boomed to 1.3m. What accounts for its sudden enormous resurgence? I’m a sucker for a spritz. So when I saw a sign in the French House pub in London, advertising its spring special, “Lillet spritz, £6.50”, I immediately ordered one. I wasn’t exactly transported from rainy Soho to sunny Saint-Tropez in just one sip, but the honey-scented, golden-hued bubbles did put me in a summery mood. Since then, I’ve started seeing Lillet more often. In the UK, it is on the spritz menu at Greene King and Young’s pubs for a second summer. It is a staple in French-style restaurants such as Côte Brasserie and Café Rouge, and in Gallic bars such as Boulebar and Baranis, where punters can play petanque while they drink. Venues around the world have started to serve it too, from Wolf food market in Brussels to Bar Bridge in Sydney. Global sales are reported to have grown from 70,000 cases in 2008 to 1.3m in 2024. Continue reading...

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The US president’s backing of Maga extremists turns off the very voters Republicans need to win over in the midterms Donald Trump gave it a minute. At 9.01pm it was confirmed that the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton – a hardliner backed by the US president – had triumphed over the incumbent John Cornyn in the state’s Republican primary runoff for the US Senate. By 9.02pm, Trump had started celebrating on social media. Continue reading...

Nature groups say cygnets and their parents need to be left alone by people trying to stay cool in heatwave Nature groups have pleaded with swimmers to give wildlife a wide berth after dozens of people swam in a nature pond on Hampstead Heath among nests of baby birds. Swans and their 12-day-old cygnets were disturbed by hordes of splashing revellers in the north London park on Monday as London reached record 35C temperatures. In one video, a swan was seen poking an unhatched egg with its beak after it fell into the water during the chaos. Continue reading...

An epic first game was won by the veteran Blues fullback but the contest was turned by Kalyn Ponga’s sending off with his team 20-6 up In drizzling rain, fatigued bodies, all flailing and falling – except one. Evergreen James Tedesco rose to bump then clutch then plant the ball, securing New South Wales a famous State of Origin victory. This was a man said to be too old for rugby league’s grand contest. Who lost his job last year, an axe appearing to sever the connection between the Blues and one of their modern heroes. A man who until this moment had watched the evening unfold from the periphery. Continue reading...

I’ve loved the sport for years, and it’s a lonely pursuit. Whenever I talk to a fellow Brit about it, they look at me as if I’ve thrown them a curveball … When you’re happy about something, it’s good to share it. And when you’re unhappy about something, it’s also good to share it. But if that something is the performance of your baseball team, and you live in the UK, you’ll have your work cut out finding anyone remotely interested in your feelings on the matter. It’s a strange, lonely place to be. If my football team let me down, there are plenty of people to talk to about this. Same if they’ve managed to win. But if I’ve been up half the night watching the Tampa Bay Rays lose 6-1 to the Orioles in Baltimore, in the morning there is nowhere to take my dismay. And it’s somehow worse if they’ve won. Does a tree falling in a forest make a sound if there’s no one there to hear it? No idea. But I do know that if the Rays have come from behind to win a game in the 13th innings, and there’s no one with whom to share the happy news, it soon feels as if it might not have happened at all. Continue reading...

For some it’s ‘the music of May’. For others, it’s an antisocial irritation. But wherever you stand, be careful – or you could fall foul of the law Name: Lawnmower hum. Age: Getting steadily louder since 1830. Continue reading...

Hugo Broos has transformed Bafana Bafana, creating a side strong on teamwork and held together by Teboho Mokoena 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...

Parsnip at a clip! The root veg is affordable now, and paired with pears, the retro combo works wonders in Alice Zaslavsky’s midweek soup Check out more Alice Zaslavsky recipes Some vegetables are a Tuesday night no-brainer, while others feel like more of a Sunday schlep. Poor parsnip falls into the latter category, relegated to slow braises and weekend roasts. Weather-resistant root veg like parsnips, swedes and celeriac are affordable at this time of year, but their fibrousness doesn’t yield as easily or quickly as tender, fair-weather veg. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham and Torsten Bell say the former Labour PM’s essay does not address today’s challenges UK politics live – latest updates Tony Blair’s criticism of the Labour party fails to engage with inequality and the “extremes of austerity”, senior party figures have said. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, who is widely expected to launch a leadership challenge if he wins next month’s Makerfield byelection, said the essay merited a “considered response” and he would set one out on Thursday. Continue reading...

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns of ‘catastrophic collision of disease and conflict’, with suspected cases at 900 The head of the World Health Organization has called for an immediate ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to help tackle the Ebola outbreak there. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on social media that the region was in the midst of a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict with the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response”. Continue reading...

The late night host slammed the president’s Iran bombings, ‘perfect’ health reports and reacted to RFK Jr’s snake attack On Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel addressed Donald Trump Jr’s wedding, the New York Knicks making it to the NBA finals and raised an eyebrow to claims that Donald Trump’s physical went “perfectly”. Continue reading...

Unless the mainstream gets its act together, next year’s election looks likely to hand the keys of the Élysée to the far right • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here “The real risk,” France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, reportedly said last month, “is that this tangle of ambitions reflects such a lack of engagement with reality on the part of all these candidates that voters find the whole thing grotesque.” He has a point. By this time next year, France will have a new president and Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from serving more than two consecutive terms, will have left after a decade in the Élysée Palace. Continue reading...

At least seven people have died in recent days as people have tried to cool off in Britain’s waterways Water safety experts have warned about the dangers of outdoor swimming after a spike in drownings as people try to escape soaring temperatures by cooling off in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water. In recent days, emergency services have reported at least seven deaths because of water-related incidents, with six involving young people, as Britain’s heatwave sends crowds of people to the seaside and other swimming spots. Continue reading...

BMA blames new health secretary for decision to stage 16th strike in long-running jobs and pay dispute UK politics live – latest updates Resident doctors in England will next month stage the 16th strike in their long-running jobs and pay dispute and blamed the new health secretary for their decision. They will strike for four days from 7am on Monday 15 June until 6.59am on Friday 19 June. Continue reading...