The Guardian
In evidenza
Pro-Palestine activists sentenced as terrorists over damage at Israeli arms factory in UK
Latest US release of UFO files reveals strange lights but few hard facts
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The week around the world in 20 pictures
Disorder in Belfast, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the Ebola outbreak, and the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Continue reading...
Canada v Bosnia and Herzegovina: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽️ Kick-off at 3pm EDT/8pm BST/13 June 5am AEST ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Taha It is a brilliant atmosphere at Toronto Stadium, with Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina supporters drinking in the occasion. Canada fans marched to the ground en masse, some high-fiving the Bosnian supporters who got stuck amid the traffic, flares and chants the order of the day. It was a sticky morning in the city, with no discernible evidence of a historic match taking place, but that has all changed with a couple of hours until kick-off. There was an a cappella version of O Canada, of course. There is pedigree among the media corps, too, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Owen Hargreaves, who was born in Calgary, both in the building. There were suggestions in Bosnian media that they may have more fans in attendance, but Jesse Marsch was in no doubt on the eve of the game. “That stadium is going to be red, not blue,” he said, matter-of-factly. All you need to know about the two sides: Continue reading...
UK to ban under-16s from ‘high risk’ social media apps
Keir Starmer to set out plans on Monday but there are fears a decision to ban some platforms but not others will lead to legal challenges Teenagers under the age of 16 are to be banned from accessing “high-risk” social media apps while safer platforms will be subjected to restrictions, under a sweeping government crackdown to be announced next week. Under-18s will also be banned from using romantic or sexual AI chatbots following a consultation on keeping children safe online. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on the Makerfield byelection: Andy Burnham is looking to beat Reform’s politics of anger | Editorial
A win for Labour would show how the party can speak to working-class insecurity without scapegoating minorities The resignations from the heart of government this week will only deepen the anti-Westminster mood ahead of the Makerfield byelection. The departure of the defence secretary, John Healey, and his deputy illustrates that Sir Keir Starmer’s problem is not just his unpopularity. It is that his claim to competence is being challenged from the inside. When ministers resign saying that the government is too timid and its politics largely performative, they are not just criticising decisions. They are arguing for a different leader. Step forward Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and Labour candidate in the most consequential byelection for decades. Mr Burnham has not disguised his leadership ambitions if he wins the seat and enters parliament. His sales pitch is that he is Labour-but-not-this-Labour. He sells himself as a party insider who is outside Westminster; an experienced politician, but not one involved in the present governing mess. He styles himself as plausibly loyal but interestingly dissident. Continue reading...
The Guardian view on literature in wartime: words do not stop when the bombing begins | Editorial
Writers do not only document the horror of conflict; they speak to a future that must exist beyond it Last week, thousands of readers gathered for a literary festival in Kyiv, risking air raids to hear from writers. Four brutal years of war have not destroyed the appetite for writing, but fuelled it. Russia’s extensive and systematic attempts to destroy Ukrainian culture, and therefore identity, have rightly received widespread attention. Over 700 libraries were damaged or destroyed outright within the first three years of the full-scale invasion. But that campaign has also spurred efforts to move away from Russian literature and the Russian-language titles that previously dominated the market. Ukrainian literature and publishing has flourished far beyond the powerful documentary accounts of war often awarded attention outside the country, with growing room for experimentation. Newer writing also attempts to bridge the gap between those on the frontline and those more safely at home. Continue reading...
England v Sri Lanka: Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup opener – live
Updates from Edgbaston; play starts at 6.30pm BST Hosts get ready to rock | Mail James | Read the Spin Hello and welcome. The *Real* World Cup starts today! With 33 matches across seven venues the next few weeks promises to be a feast of T20 cricket on English soil. It’s sixteen years since the tournament was hosted on these shores, that inaugural tournament was won by an England side captained by Charlotte Edwards, the Head Coach of the current outfit. Continue reading...
Ugly scenes in Belfast expose a broken politics | Letters
Readers respond to nights of rioting in the city fuelled by anti-migrant rhetoric I agree with John Harris’s analysis (Cars burn in Belfast, bricks fly in Southampton – and the ubiquitous cry of ‘civil war’ goes up again, 10 June). He misses one obvious point, though. Since the election of the first Thatcher government in 1979, there has been a continuous attack on the rights and living standards of working-class people, such that we are now seeing a decline in healthy life expectancy for the poorest in the UK. We might think of this as a civil war which only one side is waging. Because the language of class has been erased from our politics, the “white working class” only hear themselves being spoken about when Nigel Farage or Stephen Yaxley-Lennon tell them how the system has failed them. Continue reading...
Ten years after the vote, we have some new slogans for the Brexit bus | Letters
Readers respond to an article by Jonathan Freedland about our entire political and cultural landscape being shaped by the referendum Jonathan Freedland is right to highlight the disastrous role played by David Cameron and George Osborne in using the prospect of an in/out referendum to garner votes in the 2015 election, with a view to dropping it if the expected coalition with the Lib Dems emerged (Britain is a swamp of lies and disinformation – and we got here on the Brexit bus, 5 June). But even their win with a majority did not necessitate the calamity the country suffered. They could have kept their referendum commitment, but demanded that those proposing leave come up with a model for it to be put to the electorate as the “out” option. Continue reading...
Readers’ top 100 novels cause a stir | Letters
Letter writers challenge what appears and what doesn’t Alex Clark writes that The Lord of the Rings “is, strictly speaking, a trilogy” (Move over Middlemarch! Readers’ top 100 novels, 6 June). Strictly speaking, it isn’t a trilogy but a single work of fiction originally published in three volumes for practical reasons. None of the three volumes can stand alone. Compare, for example, the late David Lodge’s Changing Places, Small World, and Nice Work – a proper (and still sharply entertaining) “campus” trilogy. Prof Chris Walsh Hawarden, Flintshire • Critics should read Bleak House in full before condemning it as miserable: the demise of Mr Krook by spontaneous human combustion must be one of the most darkly hilarious scenes in 19th-century literature, concluding with an appropriate warning from Dickens for contemporary corrupt administrations. Noel Kavanagh Cambridge Continue reading...
From Celtic culture to Norman wisdom, the English should delight in their hybridity | Letters
The origins of the English nation long preceded the Anglo-Saxons, says Rev Dr Richard Cleaves. Plus a letter from George Nicholson Rev Dr John Caperon, writing about the Bayeux tapestry’s visit to Britain, appears to think that “the real origins of the English nation” lie in the “pre-1066 Anglo-Saxon culture” (Letters, 9 June). This is utterly outrageous. A little respect is due to the Danelaw and the Vikings, to the Celts of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, to the continental, Middle Eastern and north African Roman occupiers, and to the iron-age Celts. Continue reading...
Mary Hooper obituary
My mum, the author Mary Hooper, who has died aged 81, left school aged 15 with no qualifications. Her last school report said: “Far too noisy and talkative.” When she was a young mother in the 1970s she read a short story and thought “I could do better than that,” wrote one up and sent it to Jackie magazine. To her surprise, it sold for £14. She went on to write hundreds of stories and more than 100 books for children and young adults, before YA was an official genre. Among them were Newes from the Dead (2008), which won teenage book of the year at the North East Book awards and Bank Street best children’s book of the year in 2009; Fallen Grace (2010), which was nominated for the Carnegie medal in 2011; and Poppy (2014), which won the Young Quills Historical Association award that year, nominated by young readers. Continue reading...
Texas shooting leaves one person dead and nine others in hospital
Possible suspect in Midland attack was in a standoff with officers on Friday afternoon, police say Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A shooting on Friday in Midland, Texas, has left one person dead and nine others in the hospital, according to the city’s authorities. The possible suspect was in a standoff with officers on Friday afternoon, police said. Continue reading...
Chaotic talks on a US-Iran deal continue on the Trump rollercoaster
Amid rhetoric, market uncertainty and tit-for-tit exchanges, the two sides are still trying to find a way out of the impasse Great news! Donald Trump has said the US and Iran are on the verge of a peace agreement. Oil prices are down, and the stock market is up. This comes only hours after Trump warned Iran was about to be struck “VERY HARD”, a threat which had sent oil prices up and stocks down. It has been another ride on the Trump rollercoaster, keeping traders on edge, most of the world poorer, and people of the Middle East constantly whiplashing between fear and hope. But whether the ride veers up or down, the management always makes money. Continue reading...
Who is Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary replacing John Healey?
Ex-paratrooper, once touted as a leadership contender, described by MPs as ‘honourable’ and ‘generally a good bloke’ MPs who know Dan Jarvis are not surprised he accepted the cursed job of defence secretary – even knowing he might only last a few weeks in the job. The former paratrooper, once touted as a leadership contender, has long seemed destined for that role after having worked his way diligently through ministerial ranks, a South Yorkshire mayoralty and the shadow cabinet. Continue reading...
Trump asking Congress for symbolic expunging of his two impeachments
President is first in US history to be impeached twice, over abuse of power and inciting an insurrection Donald Trump is pressing Congress to erase one of the darkest chapters of his political career, urging Republicans to pass a resolution that would symbolically nullify the two impeachments he suffered during his first term in office. The effort, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a White House official, would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a key grievance from his first term. But experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment. Continue reading...
Martin Rowson on the resignation of John Healey – cartoon
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‘More pressure than the president’: Ancelotti sets out to end Brazil’s World Cup drought
Last triumph was in 2002 but Italian head coach, without Neymar against Morocco, brings ‘joy and enthusiasm’ It is Marcio Santos who best sums up the predicament Brazil’s players found themselves in before the 1994 World Cup. “We hadn’t won in 24 years. That’s way too long for the Brazilian people,” remembers the former defender in the new Netflix documentary USA 94: Brazil’s Return to Glory. Having suffered the ignominy of a first-ever defeat in qualifying that prompted the manager, Carlos Alberto Parreira, to offer to step down the fabled Romário and Bebeto strike partnership inspired the Seleção to win a fourth World Cup the last time the tournament was held on American soil. Some 32 years on, Brazil supporters will be hoping history is about to repeat itself for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as they prepare for the most awkward of opening matches against Morocco, who became the first African country to reach the last four, in 2022. The World Cup’s most successful nation has only made it past the quarter-final stage once since Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo sealed a fifth title in 2002 – and everyone remembers what has happened since then. Neymar is the only surviving squad member from the 7-1 semi-final thrashing against Germany in 2014 – aka the Mineiraço – albeit he was forced to watch the nightmare unfold from the sidelines after being injured in the previous round against Colombia. Continue reading...
Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups urge G7 to take action on Gaza
Paris meeting draws up proposals and calls for urgent diplomacy towards two-state solution at summit next week Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups meeting in Paris on Friday have urged G7 leaders to act at their summit in the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains next week to save the narrowing chances of a two-state solution. The groups called for specific action on enforcing a ceasefire, disarming Hamas and starting reconstruction in Gaza, and said the various peace processes including the Board of Peace initiative should be integrated into one programme. Continue reading...
‘The absence becomes the point’: the steady march of shoes that are barely there
Dear Frances offers the latest take on ballet flats, offering ‘a unique, glove-like fit wearability’ – which is fine if you have nice feet When is a shoe not a shoe? On sale this month is a pair that seems to pose the question – the no shoe-shoe is the work of the cult brand Dear Frances, and it’s the latest in a steady march of shoes that are barely there; a take on naked dressing but for the foot. With a high-vamp, the Balla shoe, which the brand calls a “sock shoe”, covers almost the entire foot, but also leaves it – encased but on display – in a kind of flimsy foot-cage. According to Jane Frances, the creative director and founder of the brand, it “offers a unique, glove-like fit wearability” and “takes inspiration from the delicate strength of a woman”. Continue reading...
‘We can’t give up on Afghans’: Lyse Doucet on the remarkable ‘people’s history’ that won her the Women’s prize
The BBC’s chief international correspondent was awarded the prestigious nonfiction prize for The Finest Hotel in Kabul – which she hopes will bring more attention to the Taliban’s draconian treatment of women Women’s prize: Virginia Evans wins for fiction and Lyse Doucet takes award for nonfiction Lyse Doucet first checked into Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel on Christmas Day 1988, as Soviet troops were withdrawing from Afghanistan at the end of a decade-long occupation. She expected to stay briefly. Instead, she remained for almost a year, and the hotel became her first Afghan home. More than three decades later, it became the subject of her first book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul, which has now won the Women’s prize for nonfiction. But while the prize recognises a remarkable work of reportage and history, the BBC’s chief international correspondent is more interested in what it might do for the country that inspired it. Continue reading...
World Cup refcam offers new perspective to hint at future of football broadcasting
Usage in opening matches focused on replays of goals from a unique angle offering the viewer greater depth to watch from home Not all of Fifa’s innovations at this men’s World Cup have been an instant hit with fans. But amid the clutter of the opening day one success did seem to emerge – the new and improved refcam view. As part of their matchday equipment a small, high-definition “stabilised” camera is attached to the referee’s headset. Before the tournament, the Italian veteran referee Pierluigi Collina, chair of Fifa’s referees committee, said: “We think that it is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience … from an angle of vision which was never offered before.” Continue reading...
Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love review – who’s she singing about? Who cares when the songs are this good
(Geffen) Gossips have rushed to the lyrics for details about her personal life, but the rest of us can just get on with luxuriating in Rodrigo’s funny, Cure-infused craft With a certain crushing inevitability, the arrival of Olivia Rodrigo’s third album has been accompanied by a lot of frenzied decoding of its lyrics for references to Louis Partridge, the British actor whose relationship with the singer ended late last year. One magazine ran a 1,200 word essay, complete with annotations, panning its songs for nuggets of gossip: the fourth piece they’ve published on the subject in recent months. A British broadsheet plumped for a news story about the fact that Rodrigo had apparently changed the lyrics of a track called Purple, formerly a “very sweet and saccharine” love song, to reflect the end of their relationship. Over in New Delhi, The Hindustan Times was pondering rumours that the couple had actually got back together: “Interest in Partridge has grown after Rodrigo released her new album since fans believe the track Stupid Song has references to the singer’s relationship with him.” Well, of course it has: for better or for worse, that kind of speculation seems to have become a major part of modern pop, and Oliva Rodrigo in particular has long been a beneficiary of the clickbait publicity it brings. Her breakthrough single Drivers Licence gained traction thanks to the rumour that its lyrics were about her former boyfriend Joshua Bassett’s dalliance with Sabrina Carpenter; Vampire, the lead single from 2023’s Guts invited yet more speculation about whether its subject was another ex or Taylor Swift. Indeed, she actively seems to encourage it: “I never talk about my personal life in interviews or in any public forum, so I guess the music is where people go to deduce things,” she recently told an interviewer, a line that seems to have a distinct hint of “go ahead, fill your boots” about it. Continue reading...