Here is where the story ends. Congratulations, Arsenal, champions of England after 22 years. Farewell then, Pep Guardiola, 10 years of dominance ending in anticlimax. Two domestic cups counts as a disappointment in Pep terms. There will be no treble celebration at Manchester’s Co-op Arena leaving party on Monday. Eli Junior Kroupi wrote his name in north London legend for ever, as the title race reached its conclusion on the south coast. Erling Haaland’s late equaliser was nowhere near enough. Andoni Iraola has been able to keep his future movements secret and he received a post-match send-off from a club grateful for three seasons of progressive, exiting football, capped off by reaching European football for the first time. A point was enough to claim that. His team’s determination to complete the job was too much for opponents who cracked under the pressure of their situation, perhaps distracted by overnight news of the huge change coming their way. Continue reading...

⚽ Manchester City’s draw hands Gunners the title at last ⚽ Chelsea v Tottenham – live | Table | Follow us on Bluesky Here’s more on how Arsenal sealed Premier League glory tonight. On 26 April 2004, Arsenal secured the English title – their 13th in total –with a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane, with four games still to play and an unbeaten league season to complete. Few of the delirious fans in attendance that day would have believed another 22 years would pass before their team would win it again, and take their tally to 14. Continue reading...

US vice-president appeared to align with attendees of Tommy Robinson’s ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in London US vice-president, JD Vance, has urged anti-immigration activists in the UK to “keep on going” after tens of thousands gathered for a rally in London. Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a march on Saturday where the far-right activist Tommy Robinson told supporters to prepare for the “battle of Britain”. Continue reading...

Arsenal win title for the first time since 2004 Success follows three runners-up finishes Live: reaction as Gunners crowned champions Arsenal are Premier League champions for the first time since Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles in 2004 after Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth. It caps a remarkable achievement for Mikel Arteta in his first job in management, the Spaniard having transformed Arsenal into contenders since taking over from Unai Emery in December 2019. His team finished as runners-up in the past three campaigns and led the way for most of this season before City whittled down Arsenal’s nine-point lead after beating them at the Etihad in April. More details soon … Continue reading...

Family seeks answers after incident at uncovered maintenance hole near Cartier building late at night Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The family of a New York woman is struggling for answers after the 56-year-old fell to her death upon stepping out of her car and slipping down an open maintenance hole on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. The woman in question died on Monday night and was identified by family members as Donike Gocaj, from Briarcliff Manor, a commuter belt area north of New York City. Continue reading...

Outcome of contest for seat just outside Wigan could change the course of British politics for years to come Andy Burnham will face Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon in next month’s crucial Makerfield byelection in a clash that could change the course of British politics for years to come. Reform are billing Kenyon, a plumber and army reservist who contested the seat just outside Wigan in the 2024 general election, as a local champion taking on a professional politician who is using the seat for his own advantage. Continue reading...

Granta publisher says ‘perhaps we never will know’ true authorship of work that won Commonwealth prize A few syntactical tics – and the verdict of an AI detection platform – have sparked a furore over the possibility that a short story given a prestigious literary award was written by AI. The foundation that awarded the prize and Granta, the magazine that published the winning story, said they had considered the allegations but had not reached a conclusion as to whether they were true. Continue reading...

Cannes film festival: Spaniard’s latest life-v-art auto-metafiction feels slightly muddled as he directs a director directing a director With its rich, warm, summery colours, nothing could surely be less bitter or less Christmassy than this film. It’s the latest from Cannes competition regular Pedro Almodóvar, partly set during Christmas; the female lead actually complains about the yuletide traffic at one stage. But there’s no tinsel or sleigh bells or shopping for presents. Like Die Hard, it eludes classification. It is another – which is to say, yet another – double-layered creation by Almodóvar, a kind of movie auto-metafiction of the sort that he has virtually invented, a life-v-art dialectical process that he is evidently unable to do without. Like the recent Pain and Glory, Bitter Christmas is a candidly personal movie, circling around ideas like grief, loss, the vampirism of art and the betrayal involved in basing fictional characters on real people. Perhaps by emphasising this last point, Almodóvar is pre-empting or cauterising a crisis in his own life, showing us a gay male artist’s perspective on the question of whether women are not being given enough credit as the wellspring for inspiration or indeed as artists themselves. The result is a complex, slightly muddled, almost surreally modernist noir-melodrama or open-ended telenovela of the sort he habitually offers. Almodóvar always alchemises the real-unreal duality into something watchable, although perhaps he is going over old ground. Bitter Christmas, incidentally, features what for arthouse movies is becoming mandatory, the haughty anti-Netflix gag, even though the film does feel like streaming TV in some ways. Continue reading...

As campaigners take to the streets for what could be the most significant byelection for decades, the Reform leader’s absence remains a mystery It has been six days since Nigel Farage cancelled a scheduled appearance at a Reform UK rally in Sunderland, a key election target in Labour’s heartlands. The reasons given – chaos in government and what appeared to be an impending Labour leadership race – seemed logical. After all, as a quotation sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte goes: never interfere with an enemy while he is in the process of destroying himself. Continue reading...

Roots of idea for ‘ending neoliberalism’ have been growing over many months – with many different influences Manchesterism is “the end of neoliberalism”. That was the claim made by Andy Burnham in his campaign launch video this week – a film which made an audacious offer not just to his byelection constituents in Makerfield, but how he intended to change national politics and the economy. But the 2026 doctrine of Manchesterism is very different to its 19th-century namesake, when it was a byword for free trade. Continue reading...

Renewed threat comes after US president said he was ‘an hour away’ from ordering a strike before pulling back Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has again threatened Iran, saying the US may launch new attacks if Tehran continues to refuse the significant concessions he wants before a deal can be struck to end the Middle East war. The US president said he had called off a fresh wave of strikes, which would have broken the ceasefire in place since early last month. “I was an hour away from making the decision to go today,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Some employees will be moved to new teams focused on AI agents and cloud infrastructure As Meta races to recenter itself around artificial intelligence, the tech giant is mandating more than 7,000 workers must move to new teams, and it’s radically changing some employees’ jobs. The Guardian has also learned that some of these reassigned employees will shift to two new teams: one building AI cloud infrastructure and another that’s building an internal AI agent codenamed Hatch. Late last week, Meta employees received a notice that engineers had been “selected” for reassignment and would begin reporting to the cloud infrastructure and Hatch teams by the end of this week. Meta made a similar move last month when it reshuffled at least 1,000 engineers onto a new data labelling team called Applied AI, or AAI – at first giving them the option to volunteer, but later telling workers, “transfers aren’t optional.” Continue reading...

Club admit breaches involving three opponents Boro reinstated to take on Hull in playoff final Southampton have been expelled from the Championship playoff final and docked four points for spying on Middlesbrough and two other opponents. An independent disciplinary ­commission handed down the punishment after the English Football League charged Southampton with a breach of its regulations. The EFL said Southampton had “admitted to multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training” and that the admitted breaches “concern fixtures against Oxford United in December 2025, Ipswich Town in April 2026 and Middlesbrough in May 2026”. Continue reading...

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Auto-enrolment has made retirement more secure for many. But some groups, including women, need more support Recommendations from the government-backed Pensions Commission are not due until next year. But its interim warning that at least 15 million Britons are not saving enough for retirement already signals the scale of the challenge. The trend towards increasing longevity means that the issue of retirement incomes is unavoidable. At some point during the next decade, a threshold is expected to be reached whereby there are three pensioners for every 10 working-age adults. The decision to reconvene this expert group was a good one. The automatic enrolment system it proposed has been a success, with around 90% of eligible employees signing up since 2012, along with their employers. But millions of low-paid workers, as well as the vast majority of self-employed people, face an uncertain future unless they too are helped to plan and save. One suggestion, made by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) as part of its own pensions review, was that HM Revenue and Customs could oversee a system whereby self-employed taxpayers would be enabled to make pension contributions at the same time as paying their tax bill. Continue reading...

⚽️ 8.15pm BST kick-off; Spurs win sends West Ham down ⚽️ Chelsea among suitors for Jarrod Bowen | Mail Simon A huge game, this, for at least three clubs, and probably biggest of all for the one that isn’t playing. If Tottenham win tonight, West Ham will be relegated. If Tottenham draw tonight, West Ham will also be relegated – but not until Sunday (because it wouldn’t be mathematically certain this evening, there still being a chance that Spurs will lose their last game by six goals while West Ham win theirs by seven and stay up on goals scored). If Tottenham lose the whole business will roll through to the weekend, and if they lose by lots things really get interesting down towards the bottom of the table. Chelsea though are significantly incentivised. Having missed the chance of securing a place in Europe by winning the FA Cup, they go into the game in 10th place, currently outside the qualifying places. But if they win tonight they’d move into eighth place, above Brentford on goal difference, and be back on track for at least a place in the Conference League. They could then make sure of a place in the Europa League by winning at Sunderland on the final day, so long as Brighton don’t simultaneously beat Manchester United, or if Bournemouth – who host Manchester City in tonight’s earlier kick-off – don’t get any more points, while assuming Brentford fail to beat Liverpool so convincingly they go back above them on goal difference. This is, to be sure, all a bit complicated but the simple version is this: Chelsea really need to win this game, and so do Spurs. De Zerbi has spoken to his squad about the Stamford Bridge hoodoo but mainly to tell them it is not something to worry about. He has been all about the power of positive thought since he came to the club five matches ago and he leaned into it when he addressed those who would revel in Spurs’s demise. “I am Italian and in Italy it’s the same,” De Zerbi said. “For the biggest teams, it’s the same. We have to accept the pressure. We have to enjoy this pressure. We have to find new motivation from this pressure. It’s a good thing for us. If everyone wants Tottenham relegated, it’s a big motivation for me and I hope for my players as well.” Continue reading...

Tens of millions of women and men worldwide are isolated and enjoy fewer protections than other labourers. Landmark legislation is a sign of hope Domestic workers are used to hard graft for minimal reward. But in Indonesia, more than two decades of activism has finally paid off. Last month, the country’s parliament passed legislation classifying them as workers, ensuring that they are entitled to health insurance, days off and pensions. It also outlaws hiring under-18s for such jobs. For more than four million people, this is a significant step forward. The challenges go far beyond Indonesia. There are around 75 million people in the sector worldwide, experiencing “lower wages, fewer benefits and fewer legal or social protections than other workers”, says the International Domestic Workers Federation. Three-quarters of them are women. Because they work in people’s homes they are isolated, and many get little or no time off. That makes them particularly vulnerable to abuse by employers and particularly hard to organise. Accommodation is often grim and food inadequate. Continue reading...

The bank’s interim chief executive says ‘this issue should never have happened’, but warns it may take time to process claims National Savings and Investments bank will start to contact thousands of families affected by a missing savings scandal next week, as it confirmed how much they are owed. In March, the chief executive of the state-backed bank was forced out after it emerged there had been long-running problems with the tracing of accounts belonging to customers who had died. Continue reading...

Force say two women have come forward alleging they were victims of attacks detailed in Epstein files Surrey police have launched a criminal investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse after two women came forward to say they were the victims of attacks in Britain detailed in the Epstein files. The force said the claims were historic, dating to the 1980s and 1990s, with one in Surrey and allegations concerning Berkshire understood to relate to the Windsor estate. Continue reading...

John McGinn will lead out team in final against Freiburg seven years after helping them win promotion with club chasing a first major European trophy since 1982 As Aston Villa arrived at Besiktas Park on the banks of the Bosphorus, for one last training session before the real thing, it was impossible not to consider the journey to the Europa League final. John McGinn, who will lead Villa out as captain in Istanbul, was in the side promoted from the Championship via the playoff final seven years ago. Tyrone Mings also started that day at Wembley and across the course of the following 12 months Villa built a spine that on Wednesday will be central to their hopes of winning their first major European trophy since 1982. It is why McGinn’s mind goes back to a 3-0 league defeat at Wigan and a midweek trip to Rotherham in the season they clinched promotion, averting a likely financial disaster. Tammy Abraham, then on loan from Chelsea, also began the playoff final victory over Derby. “If we lose that match, are Aston Villa here at the minute?” McGinn says. “Probably not. For us, tomorrow night, it will be nice to see the supporters who were there at Rotherham away, Wigan away, nights like that on a Tuesday evening when it’s very easy to stay at home. They deserve it just as much as the players do and hopefully we can give them something to remember.” Continue reading...

‘I’ll make decisions when time comes,’ says head coach Chessum expected to lead side in at least one July Test England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, has confirmed he may rest some senior players including his captain, Maro Itoje, for all or part of his squad’s summer Nations Championship games. A final decision will not be taken until next month but, barring an injury crisis, it seems probable England will be under fresh leadership on the field for at least one of their July Tests. Rather than a traditional tour to a single country, the new tournament will require Borthwick and his squad to play internationals on three different continents on successive weekends, starting against South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July and finishing in Santiago del Estero in Argentina on 18 July. Continue reading...

Off-duty officers allegedly assaulted a sex worker in a taxi in Ciutat Vella, according to police in Catalonia Three off-duty Toronto police officers have been charged with sexual assault while vacationing in Barcelona, in an incident likely to pile pressure on a force already under intense public scrutiny. According to police in Barcelona, the alleged assault occurred on the evening of 13 May, when the trio of police officers were travelling in a taxi with a sex worker in the Ciutat Vella neighbourhood of Barcelona. Continue reading...

Retail sources rebuff government proposal as ‘unjustified’ and likely to push costs up across board UK supermarkets have been asked by the government to consider freezing the prices of some essential foodstuffs to protect the public from inflation fuelled by the Middle East conflict. Retailers rejected the plan, criticising its potential cost amid rising taxes, fuel and energy costs and arguing it could push up prices for shoppers overall. Continue reading...

⚽️ 7.30pm BST kick-off; City must win or Arsenal win title ⚽️ Guardiola tells players he is off | Today’s Football Daily Pep Guardiola has informed Manchester City’s players that he will leave the club after Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa. The manager felt obliged to update his squad after news of his departure broke on Monday night, taking him by surprise while he was preparing for Tuesday’s match at Bournemouth. Continue reading...

Petr Vlachovsky was first convicted in May 2025 Five-year domestic coaching ban was seen as too lenient Uefa has handed a lifetime ban from all football-related activity to Petr Vlachovsky, the Czech coach who used a hidden camera to secretly film his female players in their changing rooms. Vlachovsky was convicted in May 2025, having been found to have filmed 14 players at FC Slovacko over a four-year period. He was convicted without a public hearing and handed a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban, which prompted calls from the Czech players’ union for his punishment to be broadened. Continue reading...