“I think a medal of some sort will come. I pray and hope that it is the gold one.” Ally MacLeod was never to live down his hubris of 1978. A Scotland loss to Peru and draw with Iran saw to that. Unlike MacLeod, Steve Clarke has never been prone to bold or rash predictions. Excitement will be left to everyone else. Who can reasonably deny them that? In a last outing before a first World Cup appearance in 28 years, Scotland dismantled Bolivia. Suddenly, worries over a potentially tournament defining joust with Haiti next weekend evaporated. If Clarke’s men are this ruthless and efficient when the proper stuff starts, they have a serious chance of emerging from the group phase for the first time in Scotland’s international history. This friendly, in theory an exercise in box ticking, instead gave reasons for huge Scottish confidence. Scotland will remember their first ever game against Bolivia with great fondness. Continue reading...

It was a glorified training game, mainly about acclimatisation for Thomas Tuchel’s England players; unsexy stuff like the right amount of loading, re-connecting with the manager’s principles. But the win was good, too, and it was welcome after the stodge of the March internationals, which had seen the draw against Uruguay and the loss by Japan. With the temperature peaking at 33C and the humidity at about 40 per cent, Tuchel played different teams in each half and both were too good for New Zealand, who will be the lowest ranked team at the World Cup. Continue reading...

Widow of French ex-president Jacques Chirac was a steely behind-the-scenes operator known for her charity work Bernadette Chirac, the formidable widow of the former French president Jacques Chirac and a driving force behind his political rise, has died at the age of 93. As France’s first lady for 12 years, Chirac was a steely behind-the-scenes operator in support of her husband, who served twice as prime minister, 18 years as mayor of Paris and two terms as president. Continue reading...

Donald Trump pardoned Stephen Buyer of Indiana, who served nearly two years in prison after conviction As his administration promotes what it calls a crackdown on fraud in states run by Democrats, Donald Trump once again used the pardon power to excuse financial crimes committed by a Republican, granting a pardon this week to Stephen Buyer, a former Republican congressman from Indiana who served nearly two years in prison for making illegal stock trades based on inside information after he left office. Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2023 for trades made while working as a consultant and lobbyist. He was ordered to forfeit more than $350,000, representing the amount of the illegal gains, and pay a $10,000 fine. He was released in 2025. Continue reading...

Samantha Ross was suspicious about Adam’s sweet disposition. Then a surprising act of kindness brought her guard down • Find more stories from the moment I knew series It was the year 2000 and my belief in love was crushed. I’d been in a five-year relationship, only to find out my ex had cheated the entire time. In some small part, I saw it as my own fault – I’d always been attracted to proverbial bad boys. Adding to the angst of being betrayed, I’d been writing novels – mysteries set in the Australian wilderness – that kept being rejected. I was not in a sunny place. And then I met Adam. Continue reading...

The history of gynaecology fuses innovation, authority and violation – and radical surgery is not the unavoidable answer to suffering Until just a few weeks ago, Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome was reduced to ovarian cysts, much to the frustration and confusion of many patients with this systemic endocrine condition. The struggles of people with endometriosis to access patient-centred and appropriate care continue in many countries. These are examples of the despair many patients report when they try to access hormonal and reproductive healthcare, as described by the Australia Institute. Continue reading...

After living in the Argentina idol’s shadow, the 39-year-old star of 2022 is still capable of a final glorious chapter Lionel Messi in Qatar felt like the perfect story. It was the great finale. He is doomed always to be compared with Diego Maradona and, placed alongside a life of operatic ups and downs, of injury and addiction, drugs bans and organised crime, the highest highs and the lowest lows, his narrative always seemed a little flat: a kid was good at football, and then was consistently good at it for two decades, winning title after title. Yes, there were tears and frustrations, moments of doubt, but he wasn’t nearly drowning in a cesspit, shooting at journalists with an airgun or using a fake penis to evade the drugs testers. Qatar offered at least a degree of dramatic intrigue. Club success evidently wasn’t enough. Messi was driven. He had overcome his natural reserve to become the true leader of the team while winning the Copa América in Brazil the previous year. He gave team talks. When, giving a TV interview after the quarter‑final win over the Netherlands he snapped at Wout Weghorst: “Que mira, bobo?” – what are you looking at, idiot? – it was celebrated as the quiet man coming out of his shell, albeit with an oddly childish phrase. Could the Argentinian finally lift the trophy in what was assumed to be his final World Cup? In the knockout stage, it felt every game could be his last; his genius and its apparent fragility seemed a constant reminder of mortality. Continue reading...

Eighteen-year-old man arrested after car collides with cyclist Anthony Canty, who died in hospital four days later A lottery winner has died after a suspected hit-and-run in Essex, police said. Officers were called to the collision between a cyclist and a black Ford Ka in Tiptree at 6.30am on 21 May. The cyclist, a man in his 30s, was taken to hospital where he died four days later, Essex police said. Continue reading...

Minute-by-minute updates from 9pm UK time Essential guide to all 1,248 World Cup players You can email John | Sign up for Football Daily Ewan also wrote our Scotland preview. Clarke is pragmatic in approach but it will be a shock if he does not start with two strikers for game one against Haiti. Victory there and Scotland have a genuine chance of progression from the first round for the first time. There is also a lingering reason for Clarke to at least appear bold; he was castigated by supporters for negative tactics in a must-win match against Hungary at the last Euros. A more defensive style is likely and understandable against Morocco and Brazil, who simply put are better teams than Scotland. Clarke’s team can be useful in such a situation; they are excellently drilled and carry a counterattacking threat. Clarke insists he cannot alter plans on account of potential fitness setbacks. “Do you want to wrap them in cotton wool and [they] don’t train?” Clarke asked. “You need to work. Injuries are part and parcel of football. When it happens, especially when it happens in the circumstances it happened to Billy, it is really disappointing. Everybody has got to take a deep breath and move forward again. That is what we will do.” Continue reading...

Pre-World Cup friendly updates from 9pm UK time Who might England play if they reach final? You can email Scott with your thoughts Let’s be honest with ourselves and each other: this really doesn’t matter that much. Not only is it a World Cup warm-up game, contested by two teams trying out a few things and making sure nobody pulls up lame, it’s also a World Cup warm-up game between England and New Zealand … and history suggests those two nations aren’t much of a match. But first up, consider the state of play as is. England will go into the tournament as third-favourites to win, behind just Spain and France and ahead of five-time winners Brazil and reigning champions Argentina. New Zealand meanwhile made it to the finals having beaten Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia in qualifying, to the cumulative score of 29-1, and have subsequently lost eight of their last ten matches, the latest an embarrassing 4-0 defeat by Haiti. Their only win during that sequence was an admittedly good-looking 4-1 victory over Chile … who went down to ten men after 27 minutes. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy to attend meeting along with French president Macron and German chancellor Merz Keir Starmer will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz for talks in Downing Street on Sunday to discuss support for Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader will visit the UK with the French president and German chancellor after a week of heightened hostilities and Vladimir Putin’s rejection of his proposal of face-to-face talks on Moscow’s war. Continue reading...

Workers found coins and note from 1964 under a statue Writer urged them to back horse with Christmassy name A construction site manager is cashing in after placing a bet on the winner of Saturday’s Derby horse race at Epsom, after he was encouraged to do so by a note found under a statue in a 1960s time capsule. Josh Smalls, site manager on the restoration project at Crystal Palace Park in south London, said the note and four old coins were discovered by a colleague underneath the giant bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian designer of the Crystal Palace. Continue reading...

England’s heaviest defeat for decades does not signal the end for Sarina Wiegman’s European champions It was a tough night for Sarina Wiegman and her charges at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix. England’s biggest loss since a 6-2 defeat by Germany in the Euro 2009 final and their first loss in a qualifier since 2002 shattered their ambition of securing top spot in their 2027 World Cup group and automatic qualification for the finals in Brazil. The 4-0 scoreline was bruising, but the performance against Spain even more so and there was no sugar-coating by Wiegman. Her England side “didn’t play good enough”, “couldn’t get into another gear” and “hardly got into the 18 yard box”. Continue reading...

1st Test, D3: England, 140 & 226; New Zealand, 113 & 55-5 Ravindra and Mitchell fall to Robinson for second time in match Just 58 legal deliveries – plus one no ball – were bowled as rain dominated the third day here. It was an unsatisfyingly brief glimpse of action that nevertheless allowed England to upgrade their chances of victory in the first Test after their post-Ashes reset from probable to overwhelmingly likely. New Zealand scored 19 runs and lost two wickets, leaving them on 55 for five and still 199 from victory. The rate at which they scored illustrated the continuing difficulty of the batters’ task on this capricious surface and also a determination simply to survive until Sunday, with its promise of better weather and upgraded batting conditions. Continue reading...

Musician donated to USC to help create endowed chair to recognize Dr Joseph Sugerman, who treated her for years Legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks has given $3m to the University of Southern California’s medical school to recognize the physician who has helped care for her voice throughout much of her career. The major donation supports the creation of an endowed chair in otolaryngology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine in honor of Dr Joseph Sugerman, an ear, nose and throat specialist from Beverly Hills who has treated the singer – along with other performers and patients – for many years. Continue reading...

Iraq striker questioned for seven hours at O’Hare Team photographer denied entry after more 10 hours Iraq return to World Cup for first time since 1986 Iraq’s World Cup striker, Aymen Hussein, was held and questioned for nearly seven hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport after arriving with the squad early on Saturday, an Iraqi sporting official said. Hussein was finally allowed in, but the team’s photographer was barred from entering the United States, said the official who works for the Iraqi Olympic Committee, but has close contacts with the team. Continue reading...

Prem Rugby: Exeter 32-12 Saracens Mark McCall’s 15-year Sarries tenure comes to an end Not since 2021 have Exeter finished in the Prem top four, hence the heartfelt Devon roar at the final whistle. To beat their old rivals Saracens to a playoff place made this result all the sweeter for the hosts, if not for their downcast, deflated visitors. It will be the Chiefs who progress to the semi-final stage where they will meet Bath at the Rec. In doing so, they also officially drew the curtains on Mark McCall’s 15-year tenure in charge of Sarries. This is absolutely not how the Ulsterman or his players wanted it to end but, in the first half at least, this was exactly McCall’s type of game: hard, unforgiving and intense. Give or take the salary cap saga, he will leave behind a serious body of work and big shoes to fill. Continue reading...

The director, screenwriter and stars of the 1976 classic film spoke about its making and parallels to the internet age at New York’s Tribeca film festival It’s a half-century-old film so darkly prophetic and viscerally relevant that even its makers are still unpacking it. “It’s a sense of being isolated, it’s about being lonely and not being able to communicate or connect,” said Taxi Driver’s director, Martin Scorsese, last night. “For me, that’s universal. It’s always going to speak to young people.” Continue reading...

Technology secretary Liz Kendall says she is ‘very concerned’ about role of social media but will not be ‘bullied off’ X The government is considering fresh action to halt the spread of misinformation during public crises, Liz Kendall has said, insisting she will not be “bullied off” Elon Musk’s X. The technology secretary was speaking after rioting broke out in Southampton over the police response to the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak, a case about which Musk has repeatedly posted. Continue reading...

Pontiff to make marginalised a focus of first papal visit since 2011 including meeting with migrants in Canary Islands Pope Leo has urged political leaders to seek unity, rather than divide their populations for political gain, and said they must fight for peace, in the opening speech of his tour in Spain. The pope has made the marginalised a focus of his visit – his first tour of an EU country, apart from Italy – including meeting homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands. The pope, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over his immigration policies and war with Iran, said his visit was aimed at setting an example of respecting “every human being”. Continue reading...

Mercedes driver goes just 0.043 quicker than Red Bull rival Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton third quickest for second-row start Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli snatched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with an exceptional lap around the streets of Monte Carlo. In a gripping qualifying, the 19-year-old Italian was flawless in edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were in third and fourth and Isack Hadjar in fifth for Red Bull. Antonelli’s title rival and teammate George Russell could manage only sixth, leaving him with a tough task on Sunday. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were in seventh and eighth for McLaren. Continue reading...

Winner never looked in danger after turning into straight Favourite Benvenuto Cellini non-runner after stalls incident Christmas Day won the Derby at Epsom for trainer Aidan O’Brien, revelling in the rain-soaked soft ground to give his handler a 12th win in Britain’s premier Classic. The 7-1 shot was up with the pace from the start and the result never looked in danger soon after entering the straight, staying on strongly to the line and repelling a ate challenge from Maltese Cross. Continue reading...

Russian, 19, beats qualifier 6-3, 6-2 for first slam title Poland’s Chwalinska fails to emulate Raducanu’s feats Twenty minutes into the first grand slam final of her young career, it looked like Mirra Andreeva’s head was already in danger of exiting Court Philippe-Chatrier. Between the weight of such a potentially career-defining occasion, the excruciating windy conditions and a resourceful opponent seemingly built to cause her maximum anguish, Andreeva looked crippled by tension. Her reaction to the surrounding pressure underlined the work Andreeva has put into addressing her emotional vulnerabilities. She maintained her composure at all costs, coolly problem-solving and then eventually flourishing after a tense start as she ended the qualifier Maja Chwalinska’s historic run with a 6-3, 6-2 victory to capture her first grand slam at Roland Garros. Continue reading...

Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise have the attacking power to shred opponents but will Didier Deschamps let them off the leash? 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...

Sullivan hoped football would legitimise him but claims about historical conduct have led to his resignation from West Ham • Sullivan steps down at West Ham to fight claims about private life When David Sullivan was growing up in a council house in Cardiff, he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Short and squat, he would never be a player, but later in life the fortune he built through the pornography industry and the property world gave him a route into the sport. The only problem, Sullivan discovered, was finding a club willing to roll out the welcome carpet for him and his business partners, David and Ralph Gold. They were fans of West Ham United and bought a stake in the east London club in 1991, only to find entry to the boardroom closed. “We had no contact with the board,” the late David Gold wrote in his autobiography. “They simply did not want David Sullivan and the Golds at their football club.” Continue reading...