US imposed sanctions on nine judges and a prosecutor after ICC issued arrest warrants for members of Israeli cabinet A former prosecutor at the international criminal court has called for an EU-wide statute blocking what she describes as “thuggish” and “bullying” US sanctions imposed on members of the court that are designed to send the court into oblivion. In February 2025, the US imposed sanctions on 11 ICC officials, including nine judges and the chief prosecutor as well three Palestinian organisations, in response to the ICC decision in 2024 to issue arrest warrants for members of the Israeli cabinet, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Continue reading...

It’s been 14 years since he passed, but I can feel his blood coursing through my veins whenever I realise the small ways I am just like him This sounds like an old-fashioned, “take my mother-in-law” type joke, but is the antithesis of funny: one in five British people would swap their dad for a better model. This is according to a new survey ahead of – you guessed it – Father’s Day in the UK, which also revealed that one in three pretend they have a better relationship with their dad than they really do. Many admitted they buy Father’s Day cards out of obligation rather than love, too. Oof. As a result of this research, online retailer Thortful has launched a campaign called “Dad’s not perfect, but …” to challenge the stereotype of the “Best Dad Ever”, with a much more honest range of cards. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says use of such weapons ‘sets a global precedent for other potential aggressors’ as blasts heard throughout the capital. What we know on day 1,551 Continue reading...

Order facilitates support for 40,000 people told to evacuate Orange county as responders try to divert explosion California’s governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday in response to the looming threat of chemical disaster in Orange county. The proclamation directs the governor’s office of emergency services and other state agencies to provide additional support to Orange county responders. The governor’s office is also making state-owned properties available to shelter the 40,000 people ordered to evacuate from the area. Continue reading...

Ukrainian keeps unbeaten record with 11th-round TKO Dutch kickboxing great threatened to cause huge upset Oleksandr Usyk, Ukraine’s unbeaten heavyweight world champion, stopped the Dutch former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven with one second remaining in the penultimate round to avoid what would have been one of the greatest boxing upsets of all time on Saturday. The WBC title fight at the Pyramids of Giza was considered a mismatch but Verhoeven, whose sole previous professional boxing fight was 12 years ago, tore up the script in mind-boggling fashion from the opening bell and had looked set to win. Continue reading...

Kash Patel says FBI is on scene with Secret Service, as Donald Trump said earlier he was in Oval Office What sounded like a sustained volley of gunshots was heard near the White House in Washington DC on Saturday evening, according to reporters for multiple outlets and audio posted on social media. Selina Wang, a White House correspondent for ABC News, shared video on social media of the sound of gunfire interrupting her as she recorded a report on US negotiations with Iran. In the clip, Wang could be seen diving to take cover as what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” rang out. Continue reading...

Film about a couple on trial for child abuse isn’t a patch on the director’s previous Palme winner, while other disappointing films seemed to grab the jury’s attention These were the prizes for a Cannes under pressure. The Hollywood A-listers and big-hitters were A-listing and big-hitting at home this year. And what about the international heavyweights from Europe and Asia that highbrow festivaliers are always saying are loads better than the Americans anyway? Well, many of those only showed up in the physical sense. For me, most of the films from the accepted laureates and auteurs were very moderate, and I have to confess being sceptical about this year’s Palme d’Or, Fjord, by Romanian film-maker Cristian Mungiu (who won the Palme nearly 20 years ago with his searing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days). Fjord is, in fact, a perfect example of an established European star director using a big Hollywood name: Sebastian Stan, playing a grumpy and religious Romanian IT engineer, his hair shaved into dull male pattern baldness for the part, and photographed largely in austere longshot. Continue reading...

Mercedes lock out front row; Russell fastest by 0.068 McLaren’s Norris third and Piastri fourth; Hamilton fifth George Russell took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix to set up a fascinating battle with his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli who was in second in Montreal, after the pair endured a feisty flashpoint having clashed with one another on track in the sprint race that preceded qualifying. Russell put in an inch-perfect lap of the circuit Gilles Villeneuve, as the very last of the cars on track to steal it at the last in what was a gripping session and ultimately beat his teammate by just six-hundredths of a second and ensure Mercedes maintain their unbeaten record of five poles from five races this season. Continue reading...

‘I don’t have a plan, just rest and do things I want to do’ Guardiola becomes ambassador for City Football Group Pep Guardiola has left open the possibility of managing England in the future, with the departing Manchester City head coach stating he has “no definite plans”. Guardiola’s final match of a supremely successful decade leading City is Sunday’s visit of Aston Villa on the last day of the season. The 55-year-old’s plan is to take a rest and not coach. Guardiola is believed to favour international football when he does return to the game. Continue reading...

Remarks by US president potentially mark conclusion of bombing campaign led by US and Israel Donald Trump announced on Saturday that a peace deal with Iran had largely been reached, after calls with Gulf allies and Israel, potentially paving the way for an end to the war launched by the US and Israel in February. Trump wrote on his social media platform that “final aspects and details” of a “Memorandum of Understanding” are still being discussed, and “will be announced shortly” but said the strait of Hormuz will be opened as part of the deal. Continue reading...

English-language debut by Romanian director who triumphed in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days takes top prize Nineteen years after his searing abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days won the top prize at the Cannes film festival, Cristian Mungiu’s English-language debut, Fjord, has repeated the trick. The film, which stars Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan as Romanian religious parents who relocate to Norway, where they find themselves accused of child abuse, makes Mungiu, 58, the 10th director to have received two Palmes, following Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shōhei Imamura, the Dardenne brothers, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach and Ruben Östlund. Continue reading...

Federation chief says team will train in Tijuana Iran had planned for Arizona base before war Move is said to resolve potential visa issues The president of the Iranian football federation said Saturday the team’s World Cup training base has been moved to Mexico from the United States after getting approval from Fifa. Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran Football Federation, announced the decision Saturday in a statement issued by the federation’s media relations official. FIFA has not confirmed the move. Continue reading...

If I’d been taught this way of thinking as a child, I can’t begin to imagine how much easier things could have been In 1981 the CD was born and so was I. Both arrivals were surprising and have drifted in and out of fashion ever since. As a baby, my majestic “chonk lord” status was cause for celebration and an indication of prosperity. But from a young age I noticed that my presence seemed to offend other people. When I was seven, I remember asking to have a go at skipping, after having turned the rope for everyone else. One child enlightened me on why I couldn’t: I was too fat to skip. Children learn hierarchy from adults and then their peers. Who belongs, who doesn’t and why. My classmates learned from adults to see me as something to mock and despise. Even my own well-meaning father once sat me down and told me that nobody would love, trust or employ me due to my body shape. This didn’t shock me; I’d already picked up what everyone was putting down. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

When Monika Ruggerino broke a restaurant lamp – a favourite item of the charismatic chef Antonio – she had no idea it would change the course of her life Find more stories from the moment I knew series Early in 2015 I was helping my friend organise her 30th birthday. She’d decided on the function space above a favourite little restaurant, Verde in Darlinghurst, Sydney. A few weeks ahead of the celebration we went in for a tasting. It was the first time I’d seen the head chef and owner, Antonio. He was older than us and so handsome that once he’d sat us down and gone off to get something, my friend and I realised we were both blushing. His Calabrian charisma was undeniable and his smile took my breath away. Continue reading...

Temperatures in Kent reached 30.5C, marking the first time since 2012 that the UK has exceeded 30C in May The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures reaching 30.5C in Kent as forecasters warned more extreme heat could follow over the bank holiday weekend. The temperature in Frittenden also marked the first time since 2012 the UK has reached 30C in May, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...

Gisèle Pelicot was drugged and sexually assaulted by her husband and several other men over almost a decade Gisèle Pelicot has described the moment she fell in love and was able to trust again after her rape ordeal orchestrated by her former husband in France. Pelicot, 73, waived her right to anonymity during the trial of Dominique Pelicot, who was jailed for 20 years in 2024 for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious, over almost a decade. Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales on Saturday, she said she never thought she could trust a man again before meeting her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian. The campaigner said: “It’s something that I didn’t think could happen, especially at my age, first of all, I didn’t really want to fall in love, but life decided otherwise. “We met, our trajectories crossed at one moment and I met this young man of 73… You see, you can fall in love at any age, it happened to me, it can happen to you, I’m convinced of it. “I didn’t think that I’d be able to trust a man, but it’s what happened to me, so you see that everything can be allowed in life, you must never despair.” Pelicot appeared at the festival to discuss her memoir A Hymn to Life and was interviewed on stage by Lady Kennedy. She said that “society has got to wake up” on the issue of violence against women, and that it’s an “appalling evil that touches all borders”. Continue reading...

Five times the bridesmaid, finally the bride, the Barcelona forward Ewa Pajor shrugged off the pain of all her Champions League final losses, scoring twice, as they punished a profligate Lyonnes to earn a fourth European title. Pajor stole the show, before Salma Paralluelo’s sublime double at the death doubled their tally. The Polish forward moved two goals clear of Alessia Russo’s nine to secure this season’s golden boot, but it was the trophy with sweeping ribbon-like handles that was all Pajor coveted. Continue reading...

The shadow of spygate hung over the playoff final and Middlesbrough’s defeat averts the possibility of legal action A freezing night in Berlin. Silence. Mist. Breath steams above a gaggle of grey-faced men, collars upturned. An unbearable tension in the air. Binoculars trained across the River Havel from Wannsee to Potsdam. An officer reaches into the pocket of his greatcoat to take a bite of schnapps. Another smokes nervously. And then, at last, a light on the east side of the Glienicke Bridge. The exchange is on. There is almost a sense of relief as the action begins. This is the moment in the spy film after the espionage is over, the mole exposed, and the agonising denouement can begin. On a roasting May afternoon, Wembley did not, admittedly, look much like Berlin in November, but there was a similar sense of tension, of the working out of murky games, of a victory that could not help but be compromised. The demands of integrity meant that Southampton had to be punished but their espionage has tainted the Championship playoffs as a whole. In the world of shadows there are few moral absolutes – although a consensus seems rapidly to have emerged on Tonda Eckert. Continue reading...

Order aimed at preventing spread of Ebola to US affects travelers who have visited three countries in last 21 days US authorities have temporarily banned green-card holders from entering the country if they have traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days. The order issued Friday is part of an expanding attempt to prevent Ebola from entering US borders. A previously announced travel restriction blocked only people without US passports who had visited those countries from entering but exempted US citizens and lawful permanent residents. Continue reading...

Leinster could not contain a team backed by tens of thousands of Frenchmen chanting with exuberance They are in danger of running away with rugby, these French. The Springboks may have something to say about that, but South Africa do not have the Top 14. And they definitely do not have Union Bordeaux-Bègles. Leinster tried to contain them. Leinster, packed with experienced internationals, dripping with silverware, were desperate to avoid yet another agonising defeat in this final. Leinster were rudely introduced to the concept of absolutely crushing defeat. They were destroyed, made to look one-paced by a team of exuberant artistes who play rugby as if they simply love it, as if playing brilliant rugby were the most obvious and natural course of action. Like breathing. Continue reading...

Mercedes pair clashed with both drivers out in front Toto Wolff tells Italian to ‘stop the radio moaning’ George Russell won the sprint race at the Canadian Grand Prix but only after his championship battle with Kimi Antonelli reached an angry flashpoint. The Mercedes pair clashed for the lead on track and the teenage Italian was left demanding the British driver should be penalised. Such was the febrile atmosphere that their team principal Toto Wolff intervened, telling Antonelli to “stop the radio moaning”. Continue reading...

2nd T20i: NZ, 170-5, bt England, 156-6, by 14 runs White Ferns recover from 11 for four to level series New Zealand staged a miraculous comeback to win the second T20 at Canterbury having begun the game by collapsing to 11 for four. Their recovery came by virtue of a 159-run partnership from 98 balls between Sophie Devine and Maddy Green – a record against England in T20 internationals. The partnership rollicked along so quickly that the scorebox operators struggled to keep up, with the numbers repeatedly getting stuck due to the 28C heat. Continue reading...

What a lot of unnecessary fuss that all was. For all the rigmarole over interns spying at golf courses and which team should be allowed to play at Wembley, it was Hull who were destined to become a Premier League club all along. Head coach Sergej Jakirovic had described his side as “collateral damage” in the spygate saga that had provided the most extraordinary precursor to this Championship playoff final, forcing him to prepare for the £200m match by analysing the wrong team for more than a week. Best laid plans and all that. After nine years, Hull are back in the top flight. Continue reading...

Now for the really interesting part. Celtic’s completion of a domestic double was every bit as straightforward as Dunfermline feared it could be. Whether that achievement is sufficient for Martin O’Neill to be handed an extended stay as the Celtic manager should soon become clear. O’Neill has support, internally and externally, for his cause. Even at 74, he clearly fancies the job. Dragging Celtic towards trophy success on back-to-back weekends shows he retains capability. The key, unknown and unanswered question is whether O’Neill’s recent body of work will prove sufficient for the Celtic hierarchy to back him in the longer term as opposed to a younger coach such as Robbie Keane. Continue reading...

Champions Cup final: Leinster 19-41 Bordeaux French side run in five first-half tries in comfortable win Another vintage year for Bordeaux, another bitter final loss for Leinster. On a hot, unforgiving afternoon in Bilbao there was never the slightest doubt who would be hoisting the trophy into a cloudless Basque sky, such was the clear superiority of the defending champions. Only Leinster themselves have ever racked up more points in a Champions Cup final and the scoreboard did not lie. In some ways Leinster should be absolved from any particular shame. There is now no club side in the world with a sharper attacking edge than Bordeaux nor a deadlier individual finisher than Louis Bielle-Biarrey. The French wing added another brace of tries to his tally, which now stands at 34 in 30 games this season. Factor in the artistic direction of Maxime Lucu and Matthieu Jalibert and their back-to-back titles are not remotely a coincidence. Continue reading...