Belgium v Iran: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽️ Kick-off: 12pm local time/8pm BST/5am (Mon) AEST
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Email Daniel

Hayes is working tonight and so is Roy Keane – a happy chance, given the Father’s Day card my buddy Tinny received this morning.

In the UK, the undoubted star has been the wonderful Emma Hayes. I remember the first time I heard her co-commentate, many years ago now on BBC radio. Her ability to identify what sets the pattern of a match, simplifying complex tactical plans without being patronising, but making clear she’s the expert and compelling us to listen, is unique.

US Open golf 2026: final round updates as Wyndham Clark starts with big lead – live

️ Updates from the final round’s play at Shinnecock Hills
️ Official leaderboard | Follow us on Instagram | Mail Scott

The defending champion JJ Spaun didn’t make the weekend. Last year’s runner-up did, though, and Robert MacIntyre has finished his week with a level-par 70. He’s +7, and wouldn’t be human if he’s still not cursing Viktor Hovland for giving Spaun a read ahead of that tournament-winning putt. Meanwhile in other European news, Justin Rose has just made three birdies in a row, on 11, 12 and 13, to rise up the standings to +1. A top-ten finish within reach for the 2013 champ.

There have been quite a few shots of both Wyndham Clark and Scottie Scheffler going through their practice routines. Clark wedging an alignment stick through the loops of his trousers for real-time hip analysis; Scheffler missing a few short putts, which doesn’t augur well. Meanwhile here’s more good news for Clark courtesy of David ‘Not That One’ Howell: “The scoring variance has continued to be lower than in prior US Opens here, and low variance is obviously what a six-shot leader wants. Secondly, finding fairways doesn’t seem to be as important today. Lots of players have been scoring over par while hitting most fairways, and several of today’s best rounds have come in spite of missing a few. Considering that Clark has historically not been the straightest off the tee, it’s reasonable to assume he might find the fescue a bit under pressure, but that might not be a death sentence today.” Speaking of belt loops, any old excuse to enjoy the greatest zinger ever told …

Serena Williams to make Wimbledon singles comeback after being handed wildcard

• Seven-time champion, now 44, continues on-court return

• She will also compete in doubles with sister Venus

American ⁠tennis great Serena Williams will make ⁠a ⁠stunning return ​to singles action at this ⁠year’s Wimbledon after being handed ⁠the final wildcard ​by ‌the All ‌England Club on ‌Sunday.

The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, who has 23 grand slam titles in all, was already assured of a return ‌to the championships for the ​first time in four years after accepting a ⁠doubles wildcard with ​sister ​Venus.

Taxi and Uber rider targeted in suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh, say witnesses

White Scottish man, 38, charged after five men were injured in spate of attacks in city on Friday night

Witnesses to the alleged knife attacks on Muslims and others in Edinburgh on Friday have described seeing a taxi and an Uber bike courier being targeted in Leith.

The attacks, suspected of being directed against Muslims and people of colour, began near a mosque in the west of Edinburgh, followed by incidents on Leith Walk in the east of the city.

Iranian negotiators suspend talks with US in protest over Trump threats

US president has threatened to bomb Iran and kidnap negotiating team unless strait of Hormuz reopened

Iranian negotiators have suspended high-stakes talks with the US in Switzerland in protest at a stream of threats issued by Trump to bomb Iran, and even to kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the strait of Hormuz is reopened.

It was not clear if the Iran walkout was permanent or a symbolic show of protest. But before leaving the face-to-face talks in Burgenstock, Iran reached a draft agreement over how the US will issue a waiver lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports, one of the key preconditions before Iran will open talks on its nuclear file.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," June 21, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, U.N Ambassador Mike Waltz, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow join Margaret Brennan.

6/21: Sunday Morning

Hosted by Lee Cowan. Featured: Birthright citizenship; the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library unveiled; Shooter Jennings releases recordings by his father, Waylon Jennings; comedian John Mulaney; childhood obesity; and the secrets of seahorses and seadragons.

Pilot reports passenger bit fellow flyer on plane approaching Philadelphia

An American Airlines passenger allegedly bit a fellow flyer and was "trying to fight everybody" on a Sunday flight, a pilot said.

Trump says several people arrested for alleged vandalism of Reflecting Pool

President Trump claims the problems with the Reflecting Pool in Washington are due to vandalism.

Lamine Yamal and Oyarzabal fire Spain to emphatic win against Saudi Arabia

Luis de la Fuente said he wanted a new jumper for his birthday but this was even better. On the day that the Spain coach turned 65, his players gave him the perfect afternoon in Atlanta, all the doubts from their opener blown away. Unable to find a way through in 97 minutes here against Cape Verde, this time they put three past Saudi Arabia before anyone had even stopped for the first drink. Life is there to be enjoyed, Lamine Yamal had said and they did.

Lamine scored ten minutes into his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in April and Mikel Oyarzabal added two more in the first quarter. By the end it was four and it could hardly have worked out more nicely, Spain’s victory secured so early that the coach could use the occasion to offer opportunities to those that needed them, Mikel Merino and Nico Williams invited to join the party too. De la Fuente said that Spain wanted to be Spain again, and here they were.

Starmer expected to announce exit plan to clear way for Burnham to become PM

Ministers say Starmer will set out his intentions on Monday morning with an autumn departure the most likely option

Keir Starmer is expected to announce a timetable for his departure on Monday morning, clearing the way for Andy Burnham to become prime minister without a formal contest by the autumn.

Cabinet ministers say Starmer will set out his intentions outside No 10 Downing Street, starting a process of the UK installing its seventh prime minister in a decade.

Rep. Jason Crow says he's worried "Americans are at risk" with Pulte as acting DNI

Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado said he's worried that "Americans are at risk" with Bill Pulte serving as the top intelligence chief.

Trump says beleaguered reflecting pool will ‘probably’ be drained for repairs

Algae blooms and peeling paint mar $14.2m renovation as president blames problems on ‘disgraceful Vandalism’

The troublesome Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington is “probably” going to be drained for repairs, Donald Trump has said, after algae blooms and peeling paint marred the controversial recent renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.

In a Truth Social post late on Saturday, Trump said that after meeting with pool contractors, they would “probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible”.

Cerúndolo fights back in marathon three-hour Queen’s final to defeat Paul

• Argentinian’s 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 triumph biggest of his career

• Gruelling match is the longest Queen’s Club final

All week at the Queen’s Club, Francisco Cerúndolo has had an unlikely guest in his players’ box: the No 10 Argentina shirt of Diego Maradona. And on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Hand of God, Cerúndolo summoned tennis from the heavens to lift the biggest trophy of his career.

But after fending off the American Tommy Paul 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 in an epic that lasted a record three hours and two minutes, Cerúndolo said he had been inspired by another of his heroes: his father, Alejandro, who had flown to London to see him win.

Trump threatens to 'hit Iran very hard again' while Vance in Switzerland for talks

President Trump has threatened further attacks on Iran while Vice President Vance attended talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland on Sunday.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (June 21)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Pollock and Smith tune into Springbok summer after on-song Saints' Prem triumph | Robert Kitson

Attention switches to England’s tour squad announcement as the Northampton and Exeter players patch up and press on

Of all the celebratory snapshots of Northampton’s Prem final triumph, perhaps the best was the morning-after picture of Henry Pollock and Fin Smith in bed with the trophy accompanied by backing vocals from Frank Sinatra. “That’s life, that’s what all the people say. You’re riding high in April, shot down in May. But I know I’m going to change that tune, when I’m back on top, back on top in June …”

Talk about suitably perfect lyrics. Saints may have finished top of the regular-season table but when they were being smashed 41-17 at Leicester on 9 May they looked far from dead certs to collect a second title in three years. To have claimed it on the occasion of their captain, George Furbank, making his final Saints appearance made it all the sweeter for Pollock, Smith and all his other close compadres.

6/21: Face The Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," as the U.S. and Iran launch delicate diplomatic talks, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz joins, along with GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow.

Keely Hodgkinson exits in tears from UK Championships but injury fears played down

• British 800m record holder pulls out of 400m final

• Georgia Hunter Bell breaks 800m championship record

Keely Hodgkinson’s camp moved swiftly to play down concerns after the Olympic 800m champion withdrew from the 400m start line in tears just seconds before she was due to race at the UK Athletics Championships.

Using the weekend in Birmingham as a speed-work opportunity, Hodgkinson emerged for the women’s 400m final and began the usual pre-race strides in her lane, only to stop, grimace and slowly make her way to the side of the track. After a few seconds of thought, she crouched down and started to cry before she was led away, with the race going ahead in her absence.

More than 2m Indian students resit medical entrance exam after alleged leak

Applicants forced to retake one of the world’s toughest admission tests after claims questions sold on Telegram

More than 2 million aspiring Indian doctors have sat one of the world’s toughest entrance exams for a second time after an alleged question paper leak forced authorities to scrap the original test results.

Students arriving at test centres on Sunday were greeted by airport-style security. They were frisked, scanned, checked biometrically and made to pass through metal detectors while police and paramilitary personnel stood guard outside.

Train driver killed in Bedford crash named as family pay tribute

Family of Shaun Burton, 60, say they are ‘devastated by his loss’ and their thoughts are ‘also with those affected’

• Does Bedford train crash raise wider questions about safety?

Police have named the driver killed in the Bedford train crash on Friday, as his family paid tribute to him.

British Transport police said Shaun Burton, 60, was the East Midlands Railway driver killed in the collision on the line between Bedford and Luton that also left 100 people injured.

The Guardian view on Israel and the West Bank: allies must protect Palestinian lives and livelihoods | Editorial

Rocketing violence and an economic chokehold have been overshadowed by conflict elsewhere, but the UK and others must stop looking away

The “ceasefire” in Gaza is a “cruel and deadly illusion”, warned James Elder, the Unicef spokesman, on Friday. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since its declaration in October, says the Gaza health ministry, including 265 children – an average of one a day.

The killings and broader humanitarian crisis have been overshadowed by the war on Iran and have diverted attention from escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. Last week, former Israeli prime ministers, military chiefs and heads of security services were among the signatories of a letter accusing its government of “doing nothing to eradicate Jewish terror” there. Ehud Olmert, one of the former prime ministers, accused Israel of “an organized, systematic, state-funded campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”, with security forces assisting settler violence. Meanwhile, the army chief has reportedly described troops “killing like we haven’t killed since 1967”.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The Guardian view on nicotine: we shouldn’t buy the idea of addiction without harm | Editorial

The UN is set to review the legal status of nicotine. An outright ban would go too far, but there is no case for its easy availability

The health case for banning cigarettes is ironclad. As the then head of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, put it in 2000, “a cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer”. Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Many countries, including the UK, have taken strong measures to restrict and even ban cigarettes and other tobacco products. Over the past two decades, however, tobacco-free nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches, which use a synthetic version of the addictive ingredient, have exploded in popularity.

Regulation has been slow. The nation of Palau has now tasked the WHO expert committee on drug dependence with reviewing nicotine, which will lead to a UN vote – likely to be in 2028 – on banning it worldwide. The case relies partly on deciding whether addiction and dependence themselves – in the absence of other major health consequences – are harmful. There is certainly an argument for that, and smoking taught us that it is often better to stamp out highly addictive habits if consequences may become obvious later. But there is also reason for caution.

‘Little ingredients but well executed’: Prada design duo outline minimalist vision

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons say Milan fashion week collection demonstrates rejection of ‘useless design’

Speaking backstage before the Prada show at Milan fashion week on Sunday, the co-designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons described their latest collection as “breaking the perception of what is perceived as typical luxury in high fashion right now”.

This was a purified version of Prada. The design duo called it a “rejection of experimental shapes, techniques and decoration” distilling the collection to pieces that are “intentional and meaningful”.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Let's try a diplomatic solution. I think it's going to fail."

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he expects a diplomatic solution with Iran to fail, though he noted that he would "rather try diplomacy than take it off the table."

Pixar's 'Toy Story 5' lassos biggest opening weekend in franchise history with $160 million haul

Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5" tallied $160 million domestically during its opening weekend, the highest debut in franchise history.

How much preventive health screening should I be getting?

Screenings can find treatable conditions before they’ve caused too much damage – but ‘overscreening’ can cause harm

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when tech entrepreneur and longevity influencer Bryan Johnson posted about his girlfriend’s “vaginal microbiome report” in April. (He said it was in the “top 1% of vaginas”.) While the vaginal microbiome is genuinely interesting, most clinicians don’t routinely recommend this test to patients.

As medical technology has become more powerful – and more marketable – the line between helpful screening and unnecessary testing has blurred.

Concerns over therapy ferrets used to kill rats at UK’s largest children’s prison

Prison officers’ union calls for immediate end to practice at HMYOI Wetherby over fears for child and animal welfare

Pet ferrets kept as therapy animals at the UK’s largest children’s prison have been co-opted by managers to kill rats, resulting in a bloody incident and concerns over child and animal welfare.

The unorthodox method of vermin control was waved through last month at HMYOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire following a surge in rat numbers in prison offices and grounds.

Declan Rice reveals he has played through hamstring nerve pain for six months

• Midfielder says schedule ‘obscene’ for club and country

• But adds he is ‘ready and fit’ for England game v Ghana

Declan Rice has revealed he has been managing nerve pain in a hamstring since Christmas as he reflected on the “obscene” number of matches he has played this season.

The England midfielder sparked concern when he was forced off in the 72nd minute of the 4-2 World Cup win against Croatia last Wednesday. The problem relates to the upper hamstring, with the pain radiating into his lower back. But Rice described his substitution as “smart” and said he would be fighting fit for England’s second group game against Ghana in Boston on Tuesday.

Dutch PM apologises for Moluccan soldiers’ mistreatment after Indonesian independence

Rob Jetten acknowledges grief and pain of Moluccan families as crowdfunded monument unveiled in Rotterdam

The Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten, has formally apologised for the “heartless” mistreatment of thousands of Moluccan soldiers who fought for the Dutch colonial army during Indonesia’s struggle for independence.

About 12,500 people – men who had served in the Royal Dutch East Indies and their families – came from a group of Indonesian islands to the Netherlands in 1951, many having been given no choice. They thought it would be a temporary evacuation after Indonesia had won independence.

France cancels events and restricts alcohol consumption amid brutal heatwave

Sports and nationwide music festival affected, with temperatures for some expected to reach 42C from Monday

Authorities in France have placed more than a third of the country under a red heat alert, cancelled some outdoor sports events and restricted alcohol consumption at the nationwide Fête de la Musique event amid a brutal heatwave forecast to push temperatures above 40C.

Level 1 or 2 heat alerts were issued on Sunday for about 53 million people, just over 75% of the population. A record 35 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were put on danger-to-life red alert, with another 45 under an orange warning.

Tom Gauld on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey – cartoon

Marco Bezzecchi banned from Czech MotoGP race after slapping track marshal

• Italian apologises for incident in Saturday sprint race

• Marc Márquez wins Sunday’s main event in Brno

The MotoGP championship leader, Marco Bezzecchi, was banned from Sunday’s Czech GP after slapping a track marshal in the face after a crash in Saturday’s sprint, MotoGP said.

The 27-year-old Italian Aprilia Racing rider crashed out of the sprint with two laps to go. Footage on TNT Sports showed Bezzecchi running towards a marshal, pushing him and then slapping him in the face as the steward was standing over his bike in the gravel.

Grimsby Town devastated by death of Alex Hughes, 38, son of Mark Hughes

• Hughes family heartbroken at unexpected loss

• Father of two joined Mariners as recruitment lead in 2025

Grimsby have paid tribute to Alex Hughes after his death at the age of 38. Hughes, the son of the former Manchester United and Wales striker Mark Hughes, was player recruitment lead at the League Two club.

The Hughes family said in a statement released via the League Managers Association that they were “heartbroken” at the “sudden and unexpected loss” of Alex and that he would be “deeply missed”.

A Ukrainian family built a community in Cleveland. Now, they face deportation

After the US said seeking affordable medical care for their son would not impede their re-entry, Tamila Vashchuk and her 10-year-old were issued removal orders

Tamila Vashchuk and her husband, Mykola, are minor celebrities in this corner of Ohio.

The Ukrainian couple have appeared on the cover of local magazines and been invited onto morning television shows. En route to building a successful pierogi food business, they’ve met with the governor. A recent law graduate from Cleveland State University, Mykola is hoping to do his bar exams someday. Most Sundays, they volunteer at the local church.

Colombians vote in runoff election expected to trigger shift in decades-long armed conflict

Frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups

• Ghost of far-right paramilitaries hovers over Colombia’s presidential runoff vote

Colombians are going to the polls in a presidential runoff expected to trigger a dramatic shift in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, now at its most violent point since the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the government and most of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

Polls show the frontrunner is the Trump-admiring far-right lawyer and millionaire businessman Abelardo de la Espriella, who has vowed to abandon President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” plan of negotiating the disarmament of all criminal organisations and instead return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups.

Nature: John Muir Wilderness in California

We leave you this first of Sunday of summer at the John Muir Wilderness in California's Sierra Nevadas. Videographer: Scot Miller.

Charles M. Blow praises men who step up

The political commentator talks about the need to mentor young boys whose fathers are absent or passed, and how the organization Son of a Saint helps transform the lives of fatherless boys.

Charles M. Blow: In praise of men who step up

The political commentator talks about the need to mentor young boys whose fathers are absent or passed, and about the New Orleans youth organization Son of a Saint, which provides the guidance and correction, the modeling of composure, and the sense of possibility that will help transform the lives of fatherless boys.

Fighting childhood obesity, for a healthier, longer life

In 1970, about 1 in 20 children were affected by obesity; today, it's 1 in 5, with diet and exercise both key factors in the increase. CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jonathan LaPook looks at programs aimed at helping kids get healthy the old-fashioned way, by eating right and exercising, while helping decrease the risk of problems tied to obesity later in life, such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

As Starmer eyes the exit, here’s a vital lesson for Andy Burnham: first impressions are everything | Polly Toynbee

If the Makerfield MP is to be our next PM, he needs some immediate and memorable cost of living policies to avoid his predecessor’s fate

Pause here before we rush headlong into the turbulent future. Stop and inhale last week’s rare political triumph, revel in the sunshine of cheery optimism. It was a precious but unfamiliar sensation when life on the progressive side of politics in Britain is so often a litany of hopes dashed and disappointments.

Andy Burnham’s comprehensive victory in the Makerfield byelection, surpassing expectations, was a precious moment. He demolished £5m-Nigel Farage’s party of loathsome Reformers, whose every election candidate seems more repugnant than the last. Hostile hard-right politics in Britain needs defeating time and time again, every time nativists and hate-stirrers – from Enoch Powell to the BNP – erupt in our politics.

Chaos in Mangione trial leaves observers guessing on defense strategy

Defense lawyers in trial over healthcare CEO killing may be backtracking over pursuit of psychiatric defense

Luigi Mangione’s Manhattan state court case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson spiraled into legal chaos last week, spurring speculation about defense strategy for his upcoming murder trial.

The most prominent element of this uncertainty is defense lawyers’ potential backtracking over whether to pursue a psychiatric defense.

Ukrainian attacks prompt Russian-held Crimea to halt civilian gasoline sales

Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea suspended civilian gasoline sales Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.

The gratitude of a graduate

In 2022, at the age of 14, Dylan Mwaniki, of Kansas City, Missouri, was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer, and given just eight months to live. However, he is alive today, and a graduating senior, thanks to Dr. Mary Austin, who did more than just treat his cancer. Steve Hartman reports on a healing friendship.

Trump claims vandals damaged D.C. Reflecting Pool, and says it will be drained again

The president posted on Truth Social claiming vandals slashed the pool's lining and poured chemicals into the water, saying arrests have been made. He provided no evidence for his claims.

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening in North Dakota Badlands

The 26th president is finally getting his own presidential library amid the prairie grass of North Dakota. Take a tour of what is described as an immersive experience of Roosevelt's life and legacy, as well as the nature that shaped him and his vision of America.

The new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Theodore Roosevelt is finally getting his own presidential library, amid the prairie grass of North Dakota, 107 years after his death. Lee Cowan tours what is described as an immersive experience in the life and legacy of the 26th president, as well as the nature that shaped both Roosevelt and his vision of America.

Almanac: June 21

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

Born in the U.S.A.: Protecting the right of birthright citizenship

As guaranteed in the 14th Amendment, citizenship is granted to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." But an executive order signed by President Trump seeks to deny birthright citizenship to children born of parents in the country illegally or temporarily.

Protecting the right of birthright citizenship

Birthright citizenship is spelled out in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, granting citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." But an executive order signed by President Trump in January 2025 seeks to limit the citizenship of children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily, potentially affecting a quarter of a million children per year, according to Pew Research Center. (The Supreme Court is currently weighing the legality of his order.) Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with constitutional experts about our nation's longstanding embrace of immigrants, and what denying citizenship might mean.

Queueing is being rebranded as a nice way to meet people. But that depends on what you’re waiting for | Emma Beddington

It’s a short step from laughing in the line for artisan pastries to grimly waiting to buy a loaf of sliced white. Are we just rehearsing for food shortages?

It’s hot – fancy a frozen yoghurt? Probably not, given that ice-cream exists, but a New York Times reporter recently queued for an hour to experience the city’s fro-yo craze with 74 other patient souls, long enough, she wrote, to “feel affection for my cluster of line, the kind of camaraderie you develop with fellow passengers on a delayed flight”. The yoghurt, while fine, was emphatically not worth the wait. That’s surely also true of the UK’s current slew of viral bakeries, pizza joints and, improbably, baked potato spots. Can carbs really be that good? Maybe, but I’ll never find out: reaching the head of an interminable queue only for the person in front of you to take the last treat is psychological violence I won’t put myself through, and queueing at a mayonnaise vending machine – another real NYC phenomenon – is my idea of hell.

But queues are everywhere now. Even in my hometown of York, where formerly the only people queueing were tourists waiting to enjoy the stench of rotting herring and latrine at the Jorvik Viking Centre (or to patronise our sui generis tearoom, Bettys), locals line up at brunch spots and bakeries. How and why have queues, previously an occasional annoyance, become ubiquitous?

Some US players believe they can win the World Cup. Are they deluded?

Mauricio Pochettino’s players have got off to a scorching start to the tournament. Going all the way will require the team reaching a whole new level

The United States can win the World Cup. The US players say so. So does Zlatan Ibrahimović. Because you are a smart Guardian reader, you know that, theoretically, any team who are not yet eliminated can win the World Cup. And you know that this US team have won their opening two World Cup games convincingly, securing the top spot in Group D and a place in the knockout round with a game to spare. Making the World Cup final, and winning it, is in the realm of possibility.

But can they? Within the team, there has been belief they can go all the way for some time. US head coach Mauricio Pochettino laid down the marker in his introductory press conference, and has stuck to his belief. His players have followed suit. But now, even famous pundits with outsized egos are saying the US can shock the world and capture the men’s World Cup for the first time on home soil.

El Niño is back with a vengeance – and fears of ‘Godzilla’ strength may be the least of our worries

UN’s Word Food Programme and agriculture agency issue joint appeal for funds to avert global hunger crisis before it happens

Adugna Woyessa was a little boy the first time drought tore his country apart. As harvests failed in rain-starved regions of Ethiopia in the early 1970s, and his school turned a classroom into a grain store for farmers to send aid, he had no idea that scientists were beginning to connect the force parching its fields with cyclical shifts in trade winds that had long supercharged violent weather from South America to Australia.

The now notorious El Niño – Spanish for “little boy” – was named by fishers in the Pacific in the 1800s, but it was not until the 1970s that scientists understood its global nature and began to piece together the historical impact of the natural weather pattern characterised by hot years and brutal extremes.

From riding the bus to reaching the top shelf: 18 simple exercises to prepare you for everyday life

Fitness isn’t just about getting a six-pack or competing in a triathlon. These straightforward, low-intensity moves will improve your strength and mobility and make almost everything easier

There are lots of movements that make you stronger and more physically capable – press-ups, squats and kettlebell swings build strength and muscle that help in a huge variety of situations. But can you get more specific? Well, yes: there are exercises that target the challenges of everyday life, whether that’s playing on the floor with your kids or bringing in the big shop. Here are the moves you may want to consider, presented by a dozen movement coaches, personal trainers and strength specialists.

Florida college seized by DeSantis in ‘anti-woke’ push to triple in size

New College of Florida to acquire USF Sarasota-Manatee in deal that leading Democratic lawmaker says ‘reeks of grift’

A liberal arts college seized by Florida’s hard-right governor, Ron DeSantis, and transformed into a model for conservative higher education is to triple in size after state Republicans engineered a hostile takeover of a rival university’s campus.

New College of Florida, which is controlled by DeSantis’s hand-picked board of trustees, will acquire the Sarasota-Manatee campus of the University of South Florida (USF) next month in a deal described by a leading Florida Democrat as “a grift”.

Twins marrying twins and summer solstice celebrations: photos of the weekend

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

U.S. and Iran begin peace talks amid conflicting claims over Strait of Hormuz

Iran's military said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to continued Israeli military strikes in Lebanon; the U.S. said it remains open.

Colombia runoff vote shaped by security fears and conflict warnings

Voters head to a runoff in Colombia Sunday between candidates offering sharply different approaches to armed groups, with the frontrunner calling for intensified military action over peace talks

David Hockney’s funeral held in private with just two mourners

Artist had requested only his partner and great-nephew attend, with memorial services planned in places he lived

Only two people attended David Hockney’s funeral last week – in line with the British artist’s final wishes.

The two mourners at the private ceremony were Hockney’s 61-year-old partner, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, and his 33-year-old great-nephew, Richard Hockney, a photographer who worked as the artist’s assistant and frequently modelled for him. Both are trustees of the David Hockney Foundation, established by the artist in 2008.

Ben Stokes returns as England captain after ECB concludes nightclub investigation

• Gus Atkinson said to be victim of ‘unprovoked attacks’

• McCullum admits to ‘ambiguity’ in team curfew rules

Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have returned to England’s squad for the decisive third Test against New Zealand after the England and Wales Cricket Board concluded its investigation into the pair’s breach of the team curfew celebrating victory in the first game of the series.

“Stokes and Atkinson were found to have breached specific contractual obligations that require England players to at all times maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in the best interests of England cricket,” the ECB said in a statement, in which it revealed that Atkinson had twice been attacked by the same individual.

How to make courgette fritti – recipe | Felicity Cloake's masterclass

If you’re craving a carby heap of fried spuds, these aren’t for you, but if you’re after crisp, juicy veg, they make the perfect snack alongside a punchy dip

These are not chips. If you’re hankering after a fluffy, carby heap of fried potato, I’ll be honest, these courgette numbers probably won’t cut the mustard. If, however, you like the idea of hot, crisp, juicy veg, then you’re in luck. As well as a vegetable side, these make a fantastic snack with drinks, particularly when paired with a hot sauce or punchy dip.

Prep 15 min
Salt 30 min+
Cook 15 min
Serves 8 as a side

‘A hunting ground for foreign regimes’: why violent attacks on dissidents are on the rise in Britain

Iran and China among those accused of targeting critics living in the UK, as arson attack on prime minister Keir Starmer’s properties linked to Russia

As Pouria Zeraati was crossing the street between his Wimbledon home and his car in south London in March 2024, he was confronted by two men. One held him firmly as the other stabbed him three times in the leg before they both fled.

It was later said to be a targeted attack on behalf of the Iranian regime in Tehran. A punishment for Zeraati’s work as a journalist covering Iran. He survived, but the ambush is one of dozens of violent incidents in recent years linked to foreign states.

Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Iran have all been blamed for targeting critics and dissidents living in the UK in the past decade, and linked to incidents involving physical assaults, attempted kidnap, stabbings and an acid attack.

'Regime change but in a velvet glove': How Kevin Warsh has set out to remake the Fed

The first big announced changes point toward a quiet revolution, with task forces set up to rethink virtually everything done at the Fed.

Four months after the horrific Iran school bombing, fears grow that Trump and Hegseth will bury the truth

A secretive investigation into the attack that killed at least 175 has concluded, reports suggest. Will its findings ever see the light of day?

The attack on a girl’s elementary school in the Iranian town of Minab was one of the US military’s deadliest civilian bombings in decades. But nearly four months on, the Pentagon has produced no answers about why the military fired a Tomahawk cruise missile into a school on the first day of the war, killing at least 175 people, mostly children.

Some critics doubt that the Pentagon ever will, or will bury the results under classifications to keep the worst mistakes secret from the public.

I called her Joybell, my soulmate since I was eight. Then her partner killed her and blew up their home

Together my best friend Annabel Rook and I worked to support victims of gender-based violence – until she became one herself. Now I feel like a part of myself has been erased. Why aren’t more people outraged?

It is the summer of 2005, and we are staying on the sun-kissed shores of Busua, a coastal community in Ghana. The sand here is made of crushed pink shells. Annabel and I pick up handfuls and scrub our stained feet in the shallows. We’ve been wearing flip-flops for months, trailing through the rich red dust at the refugee settlement where we work. The Atlantic is rough and alive. Its tumbling motion and the wind are making me feel euphoric. Annabel is smiling to herself, too, and jumping in and out of waves.

“Mori,” she shouts, “it’s like being beaten up by an old friend!”

M John Harrison: ‘If we met a real alien we’d have no clue what they thought’

At 80, SF author M John Harrison is producing some of his best work. He talks about finding his voice, alien intelligence and the advice from Iain Banks that still spurs him on

Three years ago, in a greasy spoon on the fringes of the City of London, M John Harrison – Mike to his friends – told me about the novel he was working on. Rather than describing its plot or characters, he spoke purely about the challenge the book presented to him as a writer. With this one, he said, he wanted to push things as far as they could go.

Now that book, The End of Everything – his 13th novel – is about to be published. It describes a disintegrating Britain in which the iGhetti – monstrously sized, extremely powerful and strange lifeforms that look like powdery, slow-motion explosions – rule the country and possibly the world. Or do they? In its unwillingness to divulge any more than its characters know, which isn’t much, the novel is more alien evasion than invasion.

From pwned to kiting – an A to Z of the gaming terms you need to know

As phrases like easter eggs and looksmaxxing enter everyday language, what other words from the world of video games might soon be mainstream?

Twenty years ago, video games were seen as a niche hobby dominated by hardcore enthusiasts, tucked away in obscure online forums and gaming meet-ups. Back then, the idea that governments would use footage from Call of Duty and gaming terms such as “killstreaks” as war propaganda would have been absurd. Then the 2010s happened: nerd culture popularised, previously online-only spaces began to meld with the real world, and gaming went mainstream.

Now, gaming references have entered common parlance – at the end of 2024, video game terms including “cheat code” and “cutscene” were even added to the Oxford English Dictionary – and they increasingly crop up in politics, too. Earlier this year, the official White House X account posted footage of military strikes on Iran interspersed with footage from the video game Grand Theft Auto. Six days later, another video was posted, this time interspersing military footage with clips from Nintendo’s 2006 game Wii Sports. Video game references aren’t reserved for the political right, either: in February 2026, Democrat representative of New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quipped, “Why does this guy always talk like a World of Warcraft npc [non-player character]?” in response to a post on X by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff.

A new survey on dads found that 9 out of 10 had a surprising reaction to fatherhood

Men are traditionally thought of as providers for their children. But a report that interviewed thousands of fathers found them embracing another role.

This is how we do it: ‘Sex was something to get through with my husband. With Jess, I feel desire’

Meg was married to a man but had fantasised having sex with women for years. When she met Jess, her knees buckled

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

I’d spent so many years visualising having sex with a woman

Cambodia cracked down on scams costing Americans billions. It created a new crisis

Cambodia's crackdown on scam centers has created a secondary crisis: thousands of stranded foreign workers are now roaming the streets of Phnom Penh.

‘My mum says I’m not working class any more!’: Olivia Cooke on power, privilege, and dividing audiences in House of Dragon

The actor has a knack for playing characters that test viewers’ loyalties. As the Game of Thrones prequel returns, she talks problem fans, ‘boy mums’ and why the arts should be for everyone

House of the Dragon is a massive television series. Over two seasons, the prequel to Game of Thrones has seduced viewers with its plotting, backstabbing, candlelit meetings about war, and massive sheep-munching dragons. Olivia Cooke’s dad, however, did not get the memo.

We’re in London, on a stormy summer afternoon, and Cooke is sipping a bottle of neon juice (“Tell me if my teeth go purple”). Her dad texted her yesterday. She gets her phone and pulls up a photo of a television screen, with the first season of House of the Dragon loaded up and ready to go. “He said: ‘Raining outside, so starting a binge-watch.’” She laughs. “I was like, great, Dad, worked on it for six years, hope you like, kiss kiss.” What was his review? “Yes, I like it. Quite violent.” He was planning to watch another episode after he’d picked up Cooke’s nephew from school.

Superfood or sweet treat? 17 delicious ways with popcorn – from snack bars and choux buns to salads and soups

High in fibre and polyphenols, popcorn has been touted as the perfect snack for the health-conscious. It’s also the ideal vehicle for salt, sugar, butter, bacon fat …

Popcorn became indelibly associated with cinema-going during the Great Depression (it was cheap and hugely profitable), but it also has an established reputation as a superfood – recently given a boost by longevity expert Dan Buettner, who described popcorn as the best snack to eat if you want to live to 100. “It’s very high in fibre, it’s very high in complex carbohydrates, and it even has more polyphenols than a lot of vegetables,” he said.

Popping corn has been consumed by humans for at least 4,000 years, but its widespread popularity as a snack probably dates to a single event: the Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the World’s Fair, held in Chicago.

‘They didn’t know or care, or wouldn’t say’: how we investigated the casualties of a covert US war

When a large number of children were killed during a US drone strike in Somalia last year, two reporters collaborated to piece together what happened

There are many reasons why some military conflicts go unreported or underreported. Local restrictions on press freedom. Prohibitively high risks to journalists’ safety. A lack of resources. The tendency for geopolitical conflicts to attract more attention than civil conflicts. And the sheer number of armed conflicts around the world right now. All these factors can also impede reporting on the humanitarian toll, civilian casualties and attempts to hold armed forces accountable.

Earlier this week, the Guardian published an investigation into the deaths of at least 12 civilians, including eight children, who were killed in a US airstrike in Somalia last year amid Washington’s covert military campaign against the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. The articles, which are part of our Rights and Freedom series, are an example of the Guardian’s efforts to highlight conflicts that might otherwise receive little public attention.

Want to improve your agility? Try these exercises that combine speed and strength

These simple movements combine speed and strength to train your body's ability to rapidly generate force. They can also help prevent injury and boost agility.

‘Beyoncé’s Crazy in Love makes you move your body’: Gloria Gaynor’s honest playlist

The disco-pop great salutes the sexiness of Marvin Gaye and the spirituality of Amazing Grace. But which of her own hits does she sing at karaoke?

The first song I fell in love with
I grew up in Newark, New Jersey, with five brothers and one sister, so there was always music in the house. I remember my mom singing Willow Weep for Me when I was five or six. There was something about the sadness in it that really moved me.

The first single I bought
I heard Why Do Fools Fall in Love by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers on the radio and bought it from a local record store. I was singing in the hallway of our building when a neighbour leaned over and asked: “Gloria, was that you singing?” She thought it was the radio. That was the moment I decided I was going to be a singer.

Sweat, tears and camaraderie as 20,000 runners take on world’s largest ultramarathon

For one day every June, South Africa’s searing racial inequality seems to melt away at Comrades race

In the early morning dark, thousands of runners waited, jostling with anticipation. South Africa’s national anthem rang out. Then the haunting swell of Shosholoza, first sung by Zimbabwean migrant workers in South Africa’s goldmines. Finally, that unmistakable, spine-tingling piano: Chariots of Fire.

Runners gather before the start of the marathon

I challenge the Rothko naysayers to stand in front of his monumental art and not feel awe – Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

An exhibition in Florence that pairs his giant canvases with Renaissance religious art brought me to the edge of tears. It is the perfect refuge from the infinite scroll

As an unbaptised agnostic raised with no religion, the closest I ever really come to a spiritual experience is when I’m standing in front of an artwork. Last week I went to Florence to do exactly that, drawn there not by Michelangelo’s David or Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, but by the works of Mark Rothko, that titan of US abstract expressionism whose work seems, on the surface at least, distinctly secular and un-Florentine. Yet seeing Renaissance art there had a profound impact on Rothko and his painting, as the exhibition Rothko in Florence makes strikingly explicit. Taking place at Palazzo Strozzi and two other satellite sites, it has been curated by his son, Christopher, and the author and independent curator Elena Geuna.

Is it embarrassing to admit that when confronted with the first large canvas I was drawn to I felt tearful? It was an emotion born of appreciation and astonishment but also – and this startled me – a feeling of gratitude. I felt profoundly lucky to be there, in front of this painting, not long after a time in my life where for various reasons I had been not been feeling all that fortunate at all. To have the chance to take in the paint on the monumental canvas, and absorb the ways the colours – purples, reds, oranges, yellows, blues – blend and in places seem to glow felt hugely significant to me personally. And then, as I continued to look – and as ever with Rothko – I stopped thinking about myself at all.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

Canada’s policies force asylum seekers into US to face deportation, critics say

Advocates say the Safe Third Country Agreement forces immigrants to head to an unsafe country: the United States

It was the threat of gang violence in Honduras that pushed Carlos and Antonia to flee their home. In 2021, with their toddler, Alejandro, and a handful of belongings, the married couple ventured north hoping to reach safety in the US.

The journey, through Guatemala and Mexico, was filled with danger and uncertainty.

An Armenian tycoon has a private zoo. Now he wants the world’s biggest Jesus statue

Gagik Tsarukyan hopes project will resonate with global movement that blends religious faith, nationalism and cultural conservatism

Behind the walls of a sprawling estate on the outskirts of Yerevan, six tigers prowl behind a fence, three lions pace their enclosures, and alligators bask in the afternoon heat.

Further into the compound, more animals appear. Beneath a gilded, hand-painted ceiling, a dining hall houses a taxidermy menagerie: white tigers reared on their hind legs, a stuffed eagle perched atop a table, bear and wolf pelts spread across the floor. All of these, the owner proudly said, had been shot by him.

Ukraine war briefing: Drones strike Russia’s Tyumen oil refinery 2,000km away, says Zelenskyy

Reports from Siberia confirm attack, while Ukrainian president says new weapon has 3,000km range; occupied Crimea under attack. What we know on day 1,579

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that Ukrainian drones attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen region ⁠in western Siberia, ⁠more ​than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine. He said Ukrainian company Fire Point had developed new long-range drones capable of ⁠travelling more than 3,000km and they had been “successfully deployed”. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy thanked the Ukrainian ⁠military for special operations that “have reached Tyumen Region in Russia, including ​an oil refining facility. More ‌than 2,000km from ‌our state border. This is effective work.”

Unverified videos posted online showed smoke and flame rising over what was said to be the burning Tyumen refinery, also known as the Antipinsky refinery. The Tyumen governor, Alexander Moor, claimed emergency services were working at the site of “fallen [drone] debris” – a phrasing often used by Russian officials to play down successful Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine’s forces struck an oil terminal at Kerch in occupied Crimea over Saturday night, according to Ukrainian media and online accounts monitoring the war. Nasa satellite monitoring showed a fire at the Kerch seaport where the terminal is located. In what appeared to be a broader wave of strikes against Russian-held targets in Crimea, an electrical substation at Bilohorsk was reportedly on fire, and there were other attacks at Yevpatoria and the main city of Sevastopol.

Russian attacks killed three people in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said on Sunday. A woman aged 70 was killed in Nikopol and nine were wounded in other districts of Dnipropetrovsk, said Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration. Vitali Dyakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration, said a Russian strike on Saturday evening killed two people and wounded 13, including six children.

Russian ⁠forces struck the ⁠south-eastern Ukrainian ⁠city of ​Zaporizhzhia with glide ⁠bombs on Saturday, killing five ⁠people ​and ‌injuring 10, said Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor. Fedorov said there ‌had been nine strikes ​in the city. He ⁠said residents could ​be ​trapped ​in the ​rubble ‌of ​damaged buildings.

Near the Russian border, a bomb attack killed ​one person on the ​outskirts of the city of ​Sumy, local officials said. In the southern Kherson region, the regional ​governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said ‌one person had ​died in ​a drone attack on a village north of the region’s main city, also called Kherson.

Russian bombs struck an apartment building on Saturday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing at least one person and wounding nine including a six-year-old child, authorities said.

How location sharing helped police catch a serial rapist-turned-killer

The mother of murdered model Christy Giles pleads for others to share their locations. She says the technology helped police catch David Pearce, who murdered Giles and her friend, architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales.

Chic and cheerful: 15 hotels for affordable European glamour

From a waterfront palace in Greece to a nonna’s house in Italy, these stylish boutique hotels offer character and comfort at a budget-friendly price

Brands using AI-generated influencers to promote products on social media

Investigation finds AI content that purports to show genuine customers, prompting calls for greater transparency

Brands promoting their products online are quietly deploying AI-generated influencers on social media, an investigation has found, prompting calls for greater transparency.

The findings suggest companies are increasingly turning to AI-generated content that purports to show genuine customer experiences while giving no obvious indication that the people featured are not real.

I always take my Dad’s advice – and do the opposite | Jillian Pretzel

My dad gives smart advice, but it always leads me down paths that didn’t feel like ‘me’. When, and how, can we stop listening to our dads?

When I was a kid, my dad told me to pick a sport, practice a lot and stick with it. That way, in high school, I’d join the team and have built-in friends. “Later, you can aim for a college scholarship,” he said with a wide, confident smile.

I knew this was good advice. It was bold, financially minded and forward-thinking. The only problem? I was terrible at sports.

Trump may survive the humiliation of the Iran deal. Netanyahu will not | Simon Tisdall

What has the Israeli PM’s whirlwind of violence achieved? His closest ally now turning against him – and an emboldened Iran

Benjamin Netanyahu, the biggest loser in last week’s preliminary deal to halt the US-Israel-Iran war, will be remembered – and reviled – as the man who put the Middle East to the sword. Whether the “problem” was Hamas in Gaza, illegal West Bank land seizures, supposed Israeli-Arab fifth columnists, peace campaigners’ aid flotillas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, hostile militias in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, or Tehran’s hardline Islamic regime, the Israeli leader’s “solution” was always the same: extreme, often lawless violence that invariably made matters worse.

The unprovoked, illegal war against Iran was the ultimate expression of the Netanyahu doctrine – the disproportionate application of brute force. Predictably, it too, has failed. Donald Trump is desperately arguing that the ceasefire memorandum he signed in Versailles (of all places!) is not the lame capitulation it so self-evidently is. But while the US president may survive this humiliation – despite global scepticism and mockery – the likely consequences of the debacle for Netanyahu, his brother-in-harms, are career-ending serious. In many respects, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is already yesterday’s man.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

To the tablet and beyond: does Toy Story 5 go hard enough on technology?

The animated sequel sets up a tug-of-war between physical and digital play for children but is still eager not to be an anti-tech screed

For more than 30 years, Pixar’s signature Toy Story series has been entertaining children while giving voice to their parents’ anxieties. This is especially pronounced in the film’s sequels, as the living toys who dedicate their lives to the happiness of their owner/child experience all different sorts of potential and parent-paralleled obsolescence, from physical wear-and-tear and a child reaching young adulthood to the toy equivalent of empty-nesting (still hanging around the playroom but no longer anyone’s favourite). It’s only natural – maybe even a little belated – that Toy Story 5 would address the encroachment of technology, which continues to make its way to children earlier and earlier. So many years after the tech breakthroughs that allowed Toy Story to become the first computer-animated feature, and Pixar to become a household name in family entertainment, has the formerly Steve Jobs-owned company turned against the kind of innovation that built its success?

Chasing life goals is a recipe for disaster – so try these tiny experiments instead

Whether its our careers, health or relationships, we often set the bar too high and end up feeling disappointed when it doesn’t work out. Try this new way of thinking … and you may just see some real results

Every January, millions of us sit down and write our goals for the year. By March, most of them have been abandoned. So we set new ones in spring, and when September rolls around, we do it again. New season, fresh start, same cycle – and plenty of beating ourselves up along the way. I lived this cycle for years. When I was working at Google as a digital health executive, I was a champion goal-setter with quarterly OKRs (objectives and key results) and a running list of personal goals I would review every week. On paper, it worked. I was successful by most external measures. But I had this persistent feeling that I was running just to stay in the same place, like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass.

After retraining as a neuroscientist and studying how the brain learns, I started to understand why. Goals work brilliantly under very specific conditions. You want to buy a car that fits three kids and costs under £25,000? Set a goal, do the research, buy the car. The destination is known and the path is clear.

Timeline: Investigating the Long Island serial killings

What began as a search for one missing woman — Shannan Gilbert — led to multiple bodies and the capture of Rex Heuermann.

Bolivian president declares state of emergency and deploys military to quell anti-government protests

Bulldozers sent in to clear roadblocks that have stifled the country as farmers and Indigenous groups protest against conservative president

Bolivia’s president declared a state of emergency on Saturday and deployed soldiers and bulldozers to raze anti-government roadblocks that have paralysed the country.

For more than six weeks, unions, Indigenous groups and coca farmers have marched through cities and blocked roads across the country with rubble, logs and debris in protest against the conservative government.

The 2026 World Cup team of the tournament so far (without the superstars)

We pick an XI of players who have impressed during the initial rounds of games in Canada, the US and Mexico

A star was born, at 40, when a player whose highest-profile employers were Portugal’s Gil Vicente denied Spain’s all-stars in that historic 0-0 draw. His Christian name being Josimar may well have pointed to his being a nascent World Cup cult hero. So huge was his impact that the US authorities, on the orders of the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, waived the visa fee and $15,000 (£11,300) bond for his mother, now able to fly in for her boy’s continuing adventures. Seven saves from Spain have made him a global social media sensation, too.

Royal Ascot draw bias left too many with raw deal in otherwise stellar week

It is difficult for the meeting to sell itself as the pinnacle of Flat racing if so many of its races favour runners on one side of the track

Big numbers were something of a theme at Royal Ascot this year. Aidan O’Brien became the first trainer to saddle 100 winners at the meeting when Scandinavia took the Gold Cup on Thursday. Attendances were up throughout the week leading up to Saturday’s annual sell-out, by an average of 3.5% and the high-numbered stalls carried all before them on the straight course, with one winner after another powering up to the line against the near-side rail.

There are always talking points after a meeting like Royal Ascot, where the occasion and competition are so intense that everything feels exaggerated. This time around, there was a team tactics debate on Tuesday, as Christophe Soumillon picked up an eight-day ban for riding Puerto Rico “in a manner to assist” Gstaad in the St James’s Palace Stakes, though the decision is subject to an appeal to be heard this week. There was a furore, too, after Juan Hernandez was allowed to weigh in again after an easy win on Bacio in the last race on Friday, having being light first time round.

Survivors speak up to help convict man of murder, sexual assault

David Pearce was convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales after a night of partying in Los Angeles. He was also found guilty of raping seven other women who came forward to testify at his trial.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule and how to watch

With 104 World Cup games being played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, it's like "a Super Bowl every single day for five weeks," U.S. team captain Tim Ream told CBS News.

6/20: CBS Weekend News

Vice President JD Vance heads to Switzerland for peace talks with Iran; President Trump defends his beautification push in Washington, D.C.

Historic D.C. castle reopens after extensive renovation

The historic Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C., which closed for a multi-year renovation, has temporarily reopened to the public for America's 250th anniversary. Natalie Brand has more.

Goolagong review – a lovely tribute to an Aboriginal tennis legend

She won seven grand slams, was ranked world No 1 and riled up Billie Jean King. But did this worthy yet syrupy drama really need to show her as a child hitting a ball against a wall with a plank of wood quite so many times?

Goolagong opens to the soulful strains of Ann Peebles proclaiming: “It’s your thing – do what you wanna do!” It feels a little on the nose as a way to soundtrack an inspirational sporting drama, as Australia’s Evonne Goolagong (played by Lila McGuire) steels herself for her first ever Wimbledon match. (For the uninitiated: not only was Goolagong the first Aboriginal player to compete in tennis’s most prestigious tournament, but she would go on to win the ladies’ singles title twice, in 1971 and 1980, plus a doubles win in 1974. She won seven grand slams in total and was – for a time – ranked world No 1.) This three-part drama from Australia’s ABC is sometimes saccharine, and the opening sequence of a teenage Evonne wandering starry-eyed through the corridors of the All England Club – portraits of former winners on the walls – feels heavy-handed. More difficult themes do come to the fore in time, but Goolagong is largely an unapologetic, flashback-heavy tribute to a sporting legend. It’s beautifully drawn, but do we really need to watch the primary school-aged Evonne (a cherubic Eloise Hart) hit a ball against a wall with a plank of wood this many times?!

Sadly, being a woman in sport – or maybe just a woman in the world – Goolagong would go on to apparently suffer financial abuse and sexual harassment at the hands of her coach, Vic Edwards. The contrast between those fluffier scenes and the unwanted advances of Marton Csokas’s slippery Edwards feels like a screeching handbrake turn. Not least because we see Edwards move Goolagong from her happy but impoverished Wiradjuri family in rural Barellan, New South Wales – with a population in the hundreds – into his family home in Sydney at 14, grooming her for sporting fame but also maybe just grooming her full stop. But – as uncomfortable as that segue is – it is her reality. “When it stops being fun, come home,” Evonne’s mother tells her, with more than a little foreshadowing on the part of the writers. Later, after family tragedy and chicanery on Edwards’s part, Evonne will echo those words, declaring that tennis is “not fun any more”, ruined by the selfishness of her mentor.

Goolagong aired on BBC Four and is on iPlayer now.

Jon Snow: A Last Big Story review – the finest swan song you could hope for

This documentary about the journalist’s Alzheimer’s soon takes a turn, as he hears of an unreported mining disaster and goes on the hunt for truth. It’s a dignified tale of a courageous, compassionate man

Jon Snow: A Last Big Story is a valediction that forbids mourning. The hour-long documentary follows the 78-year-old investigative journalist and former Channel 4 news anchor in the wake of his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease. During the course of one of his visits with his wife, Dr Precious Lunga, to family in Zambia, he gets wind of a story about a nearby environmental catastrophe involving a Chinese mining company that has gone virtually unreported. And so the documentary opens outwards and we see the man in his element as well as in the grip of what 850,000 Alzheimer’s sufferers in the UK alone, to say nothing of their carers, families and other loved ones, know to be an unforgiving, relentlessly worsening condition.

Early on, Snow asks with interest and no disquiet what the people with cameras around him are doing. “We’re making a film about your career,” his interviewer, Laura, explains. “And who you are now.” “Lumme!” says Snow, the son of a bishop. “How nice!” As they travel in a car together a little later, he leans forward and says politely: “I’ve forgotten your name already … ?” “Laura,” she tells him. “Lovely,” he says, sitting back. “I’m Jon.”

DOJ memo stokes fear among disability advocates of a return to institutionalization

The Justice Department's opinion challenges civil rights protections that have long treated the institutionalization of disabled Americans as a last resort.

Heather Mitchell: ‘I got the biggest reaction for playing Donald Trump – but I really enjoyed playing Bill Clinton’

The stage and screen actor on her annoyingly nice co-star Hugo Weaving, her talent for toast art, and the time a tarot reader said she’d ruin her husband’s life

You’re in a new TV show called The Killings at Parrish Station, playing a detective who is plagued by an unsolved mystery. What do you think is life’s greatest mystery?

I don’t want to say anything too obvious, like death, but it is such a mystery. It’s hard not to sound like a cliche, [but] the greatest mystery is: how does it all end?

A spate of shark bites has Australian ocean lovers on edge. People want to know why they’re rising

Warming ocean temperatures mean sharks are spending more time in high-population areas, yet shark net data shows no significant changes in numbers

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Rob Harcourt is heading back from a “beautiful surf” at Bondi on a warm and sunny winter’s morning in Sydney.

But for him and many of his surfing mates, the compelling pull of the city’s world famous surf breaks has been neutered by tragedy, fear and uncertainty.