Zelenskyy asks Trump to send missiles after Russian strikes across Ukraine

At least 18 killed, dozens injured and others trapped under collapsed buildings after attacks on five Ukrainian cities

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Donald Trump to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine after a devastating Russian attack killed at least 18 people and injured dozens more.

Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to the air force, including eight hypersonic Tsirkon missiles. The main targets were Kyiv, the central cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, and the eastern cities of Poltava and Kharkiv.

French Open 2026 quarter-finals: Mirra Andreeva swats Sorana Cirstea aside – live

Updates from Tuesday’s quarter-final matches in Paris
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A majestic, mature performance from Andreeva, locked-in from the start and ruthless to the end, a forehand winner to the corner securing the win. She’s into her second grand slam semi and will face the winner of our next match between Svitolina and Kostyuk.

Cirstea knows the jig is bust, going for everything because what else can she do. But an error hands over 15-30 and a backhand winner down the line raises two match points.

Murrell used false accounting and fake invoices to hide SNP embezzlement, court hears – UK politics live

Items bought by former chief executive included more than £23,000 from a luxury stationery brand and a £3,000 robotic lawnmower

BBC Scotland has more details of the Peter Murrell hearing this morning on its live blog. And, on its live blog, Sky News has pictures of some of the items purchased by Murrell with stolen SNP funds.

Andy Burnham will not call an early election if he becomes prime minister after the Makerfield byelection, a spokesperson for the Greater Manchester mayor has said.

Californians head to the polls as governor primary goes down to the wire – US politics live

Other races also taking place in state as well as primaries in New Jersey, South Dakota, New Mexico, Iowa and Montana

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Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

Californians go to the polls today in the first round of voting for a new governor, with a tight three-way race for two run-off spots.

Democrats in the US Senate vowed to force Republicans to vote on a $1.8bn “Maga slush fund” established as part of a resolution of Donald Trump’s long-shot lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The US president has described the secretive and loosely controlled “anti-weaponization fund” as a means of paying the victims of politicized prosecutions.

Tina Peters, the former clerk convicted of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by Donald Trump, was released from prison on Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.

On Monday afternoon, over an hour south of Newark, a few dozen protesters outside the New Jersey state legislature in Trenton condemned Democratic governor Mikie Sherrill’s decision to send in the state police to Delaney Hall, the Newark immigration detention center that has seen more than a week of chaotic and often violent clashes.

Transgender troops can remain in the US military, but the armed services can continue to block their enlistment, an appeals court ruled on Monday in a split decision with potentially significant consequences for the Trump administration’s anti-diversity agenda.

I bullied a barber into cutting my fringe. It was a terrible mistake | Zoe Williams

The face looking back at me in the mirror is familiar – because it is my father’s. The worst part? It’s all my own fault

On a day as hot as hell last week, the only thing I had left to take off without causing offence was my fringe. So I went into a barber and asked him to do me this simple favour, and he said, “Not really – barbers are for men,” and I said that was a risk I was prepared to take, and he said, “Men’s hair and women’s hair are completely different,” and I said, “That cannot be true – it doesn’t make biological sense,” and he said, “It is true,” and I said it was the least true thing I had ever heard and he said, “Fine,” and it took about a tenth as long as my regular haircut and cost about 17 times less.

I’ve had a fringe this short before, for reasons of fashion, and I remember that era well because every time I saw my late mother, she started whistling ballads from the medieval times. Her repertoire was amazing. They say you’ll miss them when they’re gone, and I do not miss this.

From barren shores to green oases: how a surfer looking for shade ended up transforming Costa Rica’s coastline

A grassroots project has turned deforested beaches into thriving ecosystems by planting 100,000 native trees

Pointing to a photograph of dry brown long grass hugging the shoreline, Gerardo Bolaños stands in front of a green oasis of seedlings and trees potted in black plastic bags. “This is what Playa Guiones looked like when we started in 2011,” says the executive director of Costas Verdes, a Costa Rican nonprofit.

As howler monkeys growl in the background, Bolaños points to the picture next to it – an image of the same patch of land but with scores of flourishing, lush green trees. Today, he says, this is how the beach looks.

‘Pure, unyielding torture pornography’: is Half Man too unpleasant to be good TV?

Richard Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer is a relentlessly punishing look at characters being crushed by the unending horror of their lives. At times, it feels like it was made by emo teens

If you look up Baby Reindeer on Netflix, you’ll find it categorised as a comedy series. This may come as news to anyone who has actually seen it, because they might have been labouring under the delusion that it was a terror-filled rolling panic attack of a show, sitting somewhere between psychological thriller and all-out horror.

But the initial labelling makes some level of sense. Richard Gadd was a comedian and Baby Reindeer was based on his Edinburgh show of the same name. Plus, what could be cuter than a baby reindeer? It would be very simple to infer some level of comedy from the description.

Southampton owner will not sack apologetic Eckert despite role in Spygate scandal

• Saints head coach issues apology in club video message

• Dragan Solak wants to ‘close the chapter and look ahead’

Tonda Eckert has apologised for orchestrating the Spygate scandal that culminated in Southampton being kicked out of the Championship playoff final. Southampton, who observed training sessions of three opponents last season, were denied the chance to win promotion after an independent disciplinary commission found the club “seriously violated” the integrity of the competition.

Eckert, publicly addressing the six charges made by the English Football League for the first time in a video message released by the club, said he accepted “full responsibility”, adding: “I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved and mostly I apologise to our supporters.” In a similar address, the Southampton owner, Dragan Solak, said he wants the German head coach who is under investigation from the Football Association, to lead the club into the Premier League next season.

EU strikes migration deal for more deportations and detention centers abroad

The European Union has moved forward with an overhaul of its migration policy, aiming to ramp up deportations and build detention centers abroad. Critics compared the regulation to the immigration strategy of the Trump administration.

Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen to lead four-party coalition after months of uncertainty

Social Democrat stays on for third consecutive term as PM and will outline key policies by the end of Tuesday

Denmark’s new government is preparing to formally present its political programme after Mette Frederiksen negotiated a third consecutive term as prime minister, this time at the head of a four-party, left-leaning minority coalition.

Announced late on Monday, the agreement between Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, the Social Liberals, the Green Left and the centrist Moderates ended two months of uncertainty after March elections in which 12 parties won seats in parliament.

Liverpool open talks with Andoni Iraola over becoming head coach

• Spaniard is clear front-runner to replace Arne Slot

• Liverpool want to make hire before World Cup starts

Liverpool have opened formal talks with Andoni Iraola over succeeding Arne Slot as the club’s head coach.

Iraola is the clear frontrunner for the Anfield vacancy with his style of play fitting Liverpool’s criteria for the front-footed, aggressive approach they felt was lacking in Slot’s second season in charge. The Dutchman was sacked from his post on Saturday.

Trump calls me ‘crooked as hell’. That’s rich coming from him | Representative Ilhan Omar

Trump and Republicans are not interested in combatting fraud and corruption. They are interested in ransacking the public good for their own profit

Donald Trump called me “crooked as hell” as he spread lies about the fraud that occurred in Minnesota. Any keen observer will recognize the pattern of inciting hostility against me and the Somali community whenever his own failures and corruption catches up to him. He routinely reaches for the same tired playbook of lies, racism and deflection.

This is not a new strategy. Lyndon B Johnson once said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” This is exactly what Trump’s doing: demonizing Black and brown people so that we pay less attention to him picking our pockets in broad daylight. He uses fraud as a political cudgel while protecting his donor base and enriching himself.

Save the balti! Can Birmingham’s best dish come back from the brink?

In the 1990s, there were hundreds of authentic balti restaurants in the English city. Now, there are about 20. Will a big campaign bring back the boom times?

‘Curry might have come from India, but balti was born in Birmingham,” says Zaf Hussain. The 40-year-old’s family business, Shababs, has been on this site on the bustling Ladypool Road in south-east Birmingham since his father opened it in 1987. Settled in between the Indian sweet shops and south Asian bridal boutiques, Shababs is one of the last remaining restaurants in the city that still makes an authentic balti curry – a dish that, if Hussain and other campaigners have their way, could be officially certified as an element of Britain’s living heritage inventory, a preservation scheme established in 2025 by Unesco and the British government.

The problem, says Hussain, is that “people don’t know what the real thing is any more”. True balti, he says, is all about “the bowl in which it’s cooked and served”. The dish is cooked in a steel bowl on a high heat and served straight away, sizzling on the table for the customer. “Lots of people say they do balti, but they actually cook it in a frying pan before dumping it into a bowl,” says Hussain. “The proper thing is fast and it’s very flavoursome.” Balti has become a catch-all term for anything vaguely resembling curry flavour, from curry-flavoured snacks to mass-produced bottled sauces.

Stripping U.S. citizenship en masse is harder than Trump vowed

President Trump's vow to revoke citizenship worries immigrant advocates, legal scholars and naturalized Americans — but so far it's proving harder to do than the rhetoric suggests.

For veterans, a place where peace can take root

Iraq war veteran John Follmer leads vet volunteers who are rehabbing a neglected Japanese garden on the West LA Veterans Affairs Campus.

Morning news brief

DOJ says it will pause its 'anti-weaponization' fund after judge's ruling, Trump says he urged Israel, Hezbollah to hold fire amid rising tensions over Lebanon, Californians vote in state's primaries.

Google owner Alphabet to sell $80bn in stock to fund AI spending spree

One of largest equity fundraisings ever includes $10bn share sale to US investment group Berkshire Hathaway

• Business live – latest updates

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has said it plans to raise up to $80bn (£59bn) in equity to fund its vast artificial intelligence infrastructure investments, raising further questions over the economics of the AI boom.

The move, one of the largest equity fundraisings ever, includes a $10bn share sale to the US investment group Berkshire Hathaway, which was led until last year by the investment guru Warren Buffett.

London City poised to sign Mary Earps and Mapi León in hunt for trophies and fans

• Goalkeeper Earps leaving PSG after two seasons

• Léon has won four Champions Leagues with Barcelona

London City Lionesses are poised to sign Mary Earps and the Barcelona defender Mapi León on free transfers, the Guardian understands, after agreements were reached for them join when their contracts expire at the end of June.

The former England goalkeeper has been keen on a return to the Women’s Super League after two years with Paris Saint-Germain, and London City are understood to have identified her as a key summer target months ago.

UK government has failed Palestinian people, says senior Labour MP

Emily Thornberry criticises Israel’s ‘staggering’ sense of impunity and rebukes Donald Trump for abandoning Gaza

The UK government has let the Palestinian people down and failed to make it economically impossible for Israel to continue to act with impunity in the West Bank and Gaza, the Labour chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Emily Thornberry, has said.

She accused her own government of lacking ambition and wringing its hands on the Palestinian crisis, and she also chastised Donald Trump for declaring a ceasefire in Gaza and then walking away, leaving Gazans to live in rubble.

My Only Boy by Rosa Rankin-Gee review – a darkly funny near-future dystopia

A surprising romance is set against a backdrop of climate crisis, political instability and corporate corruption in this bleak but witty novel

Rosa Rankin-Gee follows her 2021 near-future climate-crisis dystopia, Dreamland, with a similar but more politically focused work. As I read My Only Boy, I kept having to remind myself that the nation it describes is not (yet) real, because, for a reader living abroad, the novel’s England seems unnervingly close to what might come next. Any political dystopia risks being overtaken by reality, but in this case the gap between truth and fiction feels claustrophobic.

At the beginning of the novel, Elle is at a party held to mourn that day’s election of a far-right populist government. She’s the communications director for the almost too brilliantly named Gigr, a company connecting people seeking immediate shift work with businesses offering it. Elle is freshly upset by witnessing and immediately containing the reputational damage of a worker’s jump from a balcony. She knows how to do this, because “we’d had a death every four weeks, then every three weeks, then every two”: exhausted, starving people taking underpaid shifts from Gigr after finishing public sector jobs that no longer pay enough for survival. Almost everyone, in this slightly more desperate, divided and unfair nation, ends up doing some work for Gigr sooner or later, to buy faster access to emergency healthcare or food for crisis-stricken family, and Gigr has algorithms to ensure that each person is paid the least their particular circumstances oblige them to accept.

Musket balls and a burnt hull: evidence of real pirates of the Caribbean found in Bahamas

Exclusive: First shipwrecks found in Nassau harbour on New Providence, once the hideout of Blackbeard and Calico Jack

The first shipwrecks linked to the real pirates of the Caribbean in the Bahamas have been discovered by an international team co-directed by a British marine archaeologist.

Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham were among pirates who, between the 1690s and 1720s, turned Nassau on the island of New Providence into a hideout where they plotted their next heists on the high seas and divided up their plunder.

Acting review – Cheek by Jowl masterclass in how to strut and fret upon the Shakesperian stage

Sophie Fiennes’s thoughtful documentary follows director Declan Donnellan as he helps actors find their way through Macbeth’s lines

Documentary film-maker Sophie Fiennes returns with another palate-cleansingly meditative, unhurried and intelligent movie about artistic process; in this case, the process of acting – or to be more specific, rehearsing and workshopping ideas. Actors are shown developing approaches to Macbeth under the cool eye of Cheek by Jowl director Declan Donnellan.

This is the part of “acting” that the movie observes in detail; it doesn’t cover the other business of auditions, table reads, tech runs, dress runs and performing night after night. With its clear, daylit approach, it is comparable to Fiennes’s 2010 study of German artist Anselm Kiefer, Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow – but is very unlike Fiennes’s atypically hyperactive and flashier films about the movies, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema and The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, whose style is more driven by their unruly presenter, Slavoj Žižek.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters block roads and trains across Israel over military draft

Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox demonstrated across Israel on Monday, blocking roads and trains and setting cars on fire to protest mandatory enlistment in Israel's military.

Mozambique says five citizens killed in ‘xenophobic attacks’ in South Africa

About 800 Mozambicans said to be caught up in violence in Mossel Bay as anti-immigration protests sweep country

Five Mozambique nationals were killed in “xenophobic attacks” in South Africa at the weekend, the Mozambican government said – the first deaths officially linked to protests against illegal immigration sweeping the country.

About 800 Mozambican nationals were caught up in violence that broke out in the southern coastal city of Mossel Bay on Friday, a government statement said.

British politics is fractured and chaotic – but at last it’s brimming with ideas for the future | Polly Toynbee

Finally, Labour is talking policy, thanks to the leadership contest and Tony Blair’s intervention – and the centre-right is making a much-needed fightback too

“Wouldn’t it be great if Tony Blair kept his mouth shut about the Labour party?” Readers may have cheered that Guardian letter-writer’s response to yet another infuriating assault by Blair from the outer-stratosphere of nowhere. Isn’t Labour in enough trouble with a life-or-death byelection against the forces of darkness without incoming fire from its former leader?

Actually, no. His intentions may not have been benign, but Blair does Labour and national politics a favour, prising open the political omertà preventing serious discussion within parties. There can’t be a new prime minister installed without an honest reckoning of the precarious state of the nation.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult review – wildly juicy TV about the guru possessed by an alien

This tale of the Studio 54 stunner-turned-extraterrestrial who lured models to his Manhattan apartment for sex, money – or to give them mint face masks – is fascinating … yet fails to explain quite why so many believed his baloney

Documentaries about cults all have the same task, at which they nearly all fail: explaining exactly how so many people fell under the spell of a man (it’s always a man) who was, to outside observers, so obviously a damaged charlatan. None of it makes sense; it wouldn’t count as a cult if it did.

Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult does a messy job of telling the story of Frederick von Mierers, who spent the 1980s luring models into his spiritual enlightenment society, Eternal Values. Von Mierers’ life was all lies, chaos and mystery and it would be hard to set it out coherently, however diligently you tried. But this is like trying to keep up with an erratic bar-room raconteur who keeps glossing over the important bits so they can skip on to the next bit of gossip. Admittedly, each new piece of info is wildly juicy.

Prepare for imminent return of El Niño, UN warns

UN agency predicts phenomenon that supercharges weather extremes has 80% chance of forming before September

The world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the supercharged weather extremes it brings, the UN has warned.

The powerful natural weather pattern, which raises global temperatures and worsens some rainfall, has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

Germany World Cup 2026 team guide

Julian Nagelsmann will rely on a Bayern-based core, but individual class is in worryingly short supply

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.

What to know about US military strikes on alleged drug boats

The U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats have killed over 200 people. The attacks began in September and aim to stem drug flow, but critics question their legality and effectiveness.

Russian attack on Ukraine kills at least 14 and traps others in damaged buildings

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 14 civilians. Some people were trapped under the rubble of apartment buildings.

Köln 75 review – how a legendary jazz-improv show was cajoled into being by a German teenager

Watchable biopic charts how an 18-year-old German booked the sickly American pianist Keith Jarrett for what became a landmark concert

Here is a niche drama about one of the most important chapters in the history of experimental jazz. It is however watchable, well acted and avoids the music-movie cliches – though I could have done without the fourth-wall-breaking lectures about the nature of jazz improvisation. They were perhaps inspired by similar setpieces in Adam McKay’s financial crisis movie The Big Short, and are heavy-handed and condescending in just the same way.

John Magaro plays Keith Jarrett, the great jazz pianist and former Miles Davis collaborator who in the mid-70s found himself on a gruelling European solo tour, improvising every night for the ecstatic jazz faithful who were more plentiful in Europe than the US, while struggling with depression and back pain. Mala Emde plays the amazingly precocious 18-year-old Vera Brandes, a kid from Cologne who had become a jazz promoter after being inspired by an encounter with Ronnie Scott, and rebelling against her grumpily conservative dentist father, played here by Ulrich Tukur.

Somerset detectorist strikes gold with ‘spectacular’ Roman ring find

Kevin Minto’s discovery near Ilminster, showing goddess Victoria, has been acquired with coin hoard for £78,000

When Kevin Minto, a lorry driver, former soldier and keen metal detectorist, came upon something glinting in a Somerset field, he thought at first it was a coin – potentially quite interesting, probably not amazing.

But the object turned out to be extraordinary: a gold Roman ring, unusually large and exquisitely crafted, set with a finely engraved gemstone depicting the goddess Victoria driving a two-horse chariot.

‘I wasn’t expecting that!’: Joel Meyerowitz and the art of surprise – in pictures

It could be the puff of steam from a manhole or a horse wandering into view – whatever the ‘moment’, the iconic US photographer has always had a camera in hand to capture it

Amazon's four-day Prime Day event starts June 23, as shoppers battle inflation

Amazon's four-day shopping fest comes after U.S. consumer sentiment dropped in May to a record low.

British Paralympian could be first astronaut with physical disability to live in orbit

John McFall prepares for mission to Haven-1 space station after UK Space Agency signs deal with US startup Vast

A British Paralympian and surgeon could become the first person with a physical disability to live in orbit after the government signed a deal with a US company that is building a small commercial space station.

John McFall, a member of the European Space Agency (Esa) astronaut reserve, was cleared for activities in orbit last year and could take part in a mission to the Haven-1 space station soon after its proposed launch in 2027.

I will never forget the teacher who negotiated to be gang-raped instead of her daughter. These war crimes against women must be addressed | Hala Alkarib

Since April 2023, Sudan’s women and girls have been subjected to systematic rape and sexual torture. Specialised support and justice for them is key to the country’s recovery and future

In a village in South Darfur, I met a young girl about my daughter’s age – six or seven years old – who touched my hand and said: “I was taken by the Janjaweed.” This was more than 20 years ago, during the first Darfur crisis, and at the time, that was the term women and girls used as we struggled to articulate the scale of violence against civilians, especially sexual violence.

I saw my daughter in that little girl, and I saw myself in her mother. It was my first encounter with conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Sudan.

Thomasina Miers’ Thai-style recipes for grilled pork skewers with mango, cucumber and mint salad

Pork is an underrated barbecue meat, and this taste of Thailand pairs perfectly with a fiery mango salad

I tend to start grilling food the second I catch a glimpse of the sun. After all, even if the temperature drops or the clouds threaten, I can always resort to my griddle pan indoors. Pork is an underrated meat for the barbecue, and a slow-cooked shoulder or loin is a wonderful thing. When I’m short on time, however, I often go for mince: it’s reasonably priced and has enough fat for a deliciously juicy skewer. Here, I’ve infused it with Thai seasonings that take me back to the heady experience of eating grilled street food in Bangkok. A feisty mango salad and some rice on the side are all you need for a feast.

Trump administration proposes 25% tariff on Brazilian goods over unfair trade practices

U.S Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that the investigation under Section 301 was launched at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iowa shootings: gunman suspected of killing six relatives then himself

Police say four found dead in Muscatine home and two elsewhere in apparent ‘domestic-related dispute’ and suspect took own life while speaking to officers

Authorities in Iowa are investigating the fatal shootings of six people who they believe were killed by a relative who took his own life when confronted by police.

Police were called Monday to a home in Muscatine, about 50 miles (80km) south-east of Cedar Rapids, where they found four people fatally shot, Muscatine police chief Anthony Kies said during a news conference.

Country diary: Why are orchids so mysterious and coveted? It all starts underground | Mark Cocker

Hogshaw, Derbyshire: We’re up to 27 spotted orchids in our garden, and every one is a miracle

When we moved to this house, we didn’t need the encouragement of No Mow May – the ecological campaign advocating restraint in the garden. Our old lawnmower was designed to tackle your average handkerchief and leaving nine-tenths of the new place uncut was a matter of necessity as much as self-control.

The highlight of last year’s non-labouring efforts addressed directly the whole meaning of no-mow gardening. Who knows what lies hidden in a uniform shorn expanse, unless it is allowed to express itself? A slender pink flower among the green swathe turned out to be a spotted orchid, the commonest, most widespread of our 54 UK species. With this as a search image, I eventually climbed to 16 spikes last year. That alone felt like a triumph.

A tale of two Francks? World’s oldest leader creates deputy role – raising prospect of dynastic succession

Son and stepson of Cameroon’s Paul Biya are seen as main contenders to be vice-president

Since taking power in Cameroon 44 years ago, Paul Biya has done without a vice-president. In 1972, a decade before he first won the presidency, the role had been scrapped as the central African country transitioned from a federal to unitary state.

Now, at the age of 93, people close to the world’s oldest head of state appear to have had a change of heart, and – according to their critics – they have one thing on their mind: the creation of a dynastic system that would transfer power to his son or his stepson.

Not Suitable for Work review – Mindy Kaling tries to make the new Friends … and utterly fails

It takes a brave person to write about a gang of 20-somethings navigating life and love in neighbouring Manhattan apartments. Sadly this is not an instant classic – it’s a slice of schmaltzy pudding flopping on to a plate

More than three decades after Friends launched, it is still a brave writer who puts out a show about a gaggle of twentysomethings learning to navigate life and love in a brace of unfeasibly palatial apartments in Manhattan. Brave or, perhaps, foolish.

The new sitcom from Mindy Kaling (who began her writing and acting career on the US version of The Office and most recently created high school comedy Never Have I Ever and university sitcom The Sex Lives of College Girls) gives us five rather than six friends split between two apartments across a hallway. Two of them are people of colour rather than maintaining the Kauffman-Cranes’ now infamously melanin-free approach to city life, but the keen eye can still trace the ancestry. The ear may have more trouble. Kaling’s scripts try hard but rarely shine, let alone dazzle as the Friends’ dialogue almost unfailingly did.

Weapons are one thing, but if war breaks out, Europe’s best resource is its people | Elisabeth Braw

In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, citizens are signing up to do their bit as non-combatants. Other Nato allies should take heed

Wars, these days, target digital infrastructure as well as military installations. The very fact that large chunks of daily life can be knocked out without a single shot being fired is the reason Russia seems interested in doing exactly that. It is, for example, already dangerously interfering with aviation and shipping around the Baltic Sea.

Imagine the impact of larger, more successful cyber-attacks on our modern lives. Ordinary citizens would have to survive without texting, banking apps, public transportation and most modern office work. The government, though, would need to keep operating. In an offline world, the logistics of running a country would require many people. Some of these people, Sweden suggests, could ride motorcycles.

Vanilla Ice says he'd perform for anybody, including Putin and Iran

"It's not anything to do with politics. I don't know why they're turning it into politics," Vanilla Ice said of the Freedom 250 concerts planned in Washington, D.C.

Blue Origin launchpad damaged in rocket explosion may not be restored until 2028, NASA's Isaacman says

NASA has tapped Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin for several contracts in the agency's Artemis return-to-the-moon program.

Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni return to court a month after reaching settlement

Lively’s legal team are suing her It Ends with Us co-star for legal fees and damages, reigniting a years-long court battle

Attorneys for US actor Blake Likely were back in front of a New York judge on Monday to demand legal fees and damages from It Ends with Us co-star Justin Baldoni, after a settlement was reached last month in their years-long legal battle.

The 38-year-old actor’s legal team argued that the defamation lawsuit brought against her by Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, was a retaliatory move prohibited by California law.

Trump reportedly mulling retreat from $1.8bn ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

Democrats decry president’s ‘most brazen act of self-dealing yet’ and vow to challenge fund in Congress

Donald Trump is reconsidering whether to keep pressing for a $1.8bn fund to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking said on Monday, as the justice department paused the program to comply with a court order.

Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund has faced legal setbacks since it was announced two weeks ago. The idea has also faced a mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a lack of oversight and the possibility of payouts to participants in the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

South Carolina store owner acquitted of murder in 2023 killing of Black teen

Chikei Rick Chow, 61, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. He maintained he acted to defend his son.

Playground no more: Thais sick of badly behaved tourists hail stricter visas

Government cites crime and drunken antics of foreigners as it shortens their stays – with ordinary Thais welcoming the crackdown

It’s late afternoon at Bangkok’s Khaosan road, the city’s backpacker strip. Bar staff are calling after passersby, enticing them inside with drinks promotions. The smell of cannabis, widely sold in the city, wafts into the street, where vendors sell anything from fake tattoos, flip-flops and icy fruit shakes.

This street, and its famously noisy nightlife, has attracted visitors from around the world for decades. But increasingly, some in Thailand are growing tired of the country’s party-loving visitors.

6/1: The Takeout with Major Garrett

Trump says Iran talks are continuing, Iran says otherwise; Graham Platner's wife addresses sexting scandal.

Platner's wife told campaign about sexually explicit texts he sent other women

The wife of Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner told his campaign in 2025 about sexual messages he had sent to other women.

Sexting scandal latest controversy for Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner

The likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, Graham Platner, is under fire after he sent sexually explicit text messages to at least half a dozen women after he got married in 2023. Caitlin Huey-Burns reports.

DOJ says it will stop work on $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund"

The Justice Department said it will stop work on the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund following a district judge's decision temporarily blocking the program.

North Carolina officer fired over video of violent arrest turns himself in

Former Shelby County police officer Karson Hyder has been charged with one count of assault inflicting serious injury after video appeared to show him repeatedly punching a woman.

Wholesalers and restaurant owners say they can't keep eating rising prices

Wholesalers and restaurant-owners explain to Jason Allen how they're trying to absorb rising costs, rather than pass them on to customers.

Fired North Carolina cop arrested after video shows him beating woman

A North Carolina police officer, seen in doorbell video repeatedly punching a woman, has been fired for the conduct and charged with assault. Jericka Duncan reports.

What led to the DOJ stopping work on Trump's "anti-weaponization" fund

President Trump, in a rare retreat, is putting his controversial $1.7+ billion "anti-weaponization" fund on ice. Ed O'Keefe reports.

Marilyn Monroe lookalikes flock to Palm Springs for star’s 100th birthday – in pictures

Fans of the Hollywood icon set a new world record as 1,034 people descended on the California desert town to celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday. It was the largest ever gathering of people dressed as Marilyn Monroe

Trump administration plans to drop DOJ's $1.8B 'lawfare' fund, reports say

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he was launching an effort to kill "slush fund" by forcing Republicans to vote on it.

Ecuador World Cup 2026 team guide

Sebastián Beccacece has established a miserly defence and Moisés Caicedo’s ability in midfield could help team take the next step

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.

Mexico City police teargas teachers’ protest 10 days before World Cup

Teachers associated with CNTE union were marching toward Zócalo for salary raises and reversal of pension laws

Riot police fired teargas at teachers who were marching toward Mexico City’s historic Zócalo plaza, just days before the square is expected to host the 2026 World Cup “Fan Fest”. The incident is the second time police have clashed with teachers in the past week, and more conflict is likely as Mexico City prepares to hold the opening game of the Fifa World Cup on 11 June.

“This event will have to be suspended,” Filiberto Frausto, a union leader, told AFP, which witnessed police firing teargas on 1 June. “A cause like ours should be far above – it’s far more important than a little bit of distraction and fun.”

Hackers trick Meta AI support bot to infiltrate Obama White House Instagram account

Breach of high-profile accounts raises concerns about reliance on AI for security measures such as passwords

Hackers used Meta’s AI-powered support chatbot to infiltrate high-profile Instagram accounts, the company has confirmed, saying it resolved the problem after researchers exposed it.

The targets ranged from Barack Obama’s White House account to the beauty retailer Sephora and the US Space Force chief master sergeant, John Bentivegna, according to reporting from 404 Media. Everyday users complained of similar hijackings on Reddit and X over the weekend.

6/1: CBS Evening News

DOJ stopping work on President Trump's "anti-weaponization" fund; fired North Carolina cop arrested after video shows him beating woman.

Alphabet plans to raise $80 billion from stock sales to fund AI buildout

Alphabet said it plans to sell $80 billion in stock, including through a $10 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway.

Bus driver in Virginia crash that killed 5 facing more charges

Jing Sheng Dong, a 48-year-old tour bus driver from Staten Island, New York, faces three additional felony counts in connection with the deaths.

Divided appeals court rules transgender military ban is unconstitutional

A divided federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration's policy banning transgender individuals from serving in the military is likely unconstitutional.

Multiple people killed, officer wounded in Oregon shooting

Police were called to the scene of "a domestic disturbance and shooting" in the city of Sandy, outside of Portland, Oregon, on Sunday.

Iran halts talks with U.S. over Israeli actions in Lebanon, Gaza

Trumps says Israel and Hezbollah will stop fighting after Iran stops talks with U.S. over Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, Gaza

United flight makes U-turn over "four-letter word" Bluetooth device

According to air traffic control audio, security came to inspect the aircraft after someone named their Bluetooth device a "certain four-letter word."

McDonald's unveils new global growth strategy to win over diners as competition rises

McDonald's new growth plan comes as inflation and high gas prices mean restaurants are competing for a smaller pool of customers.

Eagles send AJ Brown to Patriots, ending months of trade speculation

• Move reunites wideout with coach Mike Vrabel

• Brown had grown frustrated in Philadelphia

• Eagles receive two draft picks in exchange

The Philadelphia Eagles traded wide receiver AJ Brown to the New England Patriots on Monday.

Both teams announced the deal. The Eagles said they will receive a first-round pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2027 in exchange for the three-time Pro Bowl selection.

Woman from Iran describes fear for loved ones: "Sense of terror"

An Iranian woman who now lives in the U.S. spoke with CBS News as the war with Iran entered its fourth month.

Mandelson received sensitive Foreign Office briefings before vetting finished

Documents also reveal internal Labour criticism of Keir Starmer in embarrassing detail

Peter Mandelson was receiving sensitive security briefings about the Foreign Office’s work, and was in discussions with the head of MI6, before he had completed the developed vetting process, newly released documents reveal.

Declassified emails show the ambassador designate and Richard Moore, the former chief of MI6 – a role known as “C” – had agreed to meet in early January 2025 before Mandelson went to Washington.

Schumer says Democrats will force Senate votes to block Trump's DOJ 'lawfare' fund

Opposition to the $1.8 billion Justice Department fund, which critics call a "slush fund," helped grind Senate floor action to a halt last month.

About 1 in 4 professionals is stuck in a mid-career stall, study finds

Workers who go at least five years without a promotion or meaningful raise can miss out on thousands of dollars in earnings, researchers found.

Trump tells CNBC: 'I don't care' if Iran negotiations are over

President Trump spoke with CNBC's Eamon Javers about the latest with the Iran war in an interview Monday.

Florida sues OpenAI over alleged harms caused by ChatGPT

Florida has become the first state to sue OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.

Transgender troops can remain in US military, but enlistment can be blocked, court rules

Split decision deals blow to Trump administration’s anti-diversity agenda, calling the ban ‘arbitrary, and based on animus’

Transgender troops can remain in the US military, but the armed services can continue to block their enlistment, an appeals court ruled on Monday in a split decision with potentially significant consequences for the Trump administration’s anti-diversity agenda.

The divided, majority opinion by a three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for Washington DC is expected to be challenged by the government. And the case is ultimately likely to reach the US supreme court.

Lab worker who vanished last year found dead in New Mexico national forest

Melissa Casias was employed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory when she went missing last year, her niece said.

What to know about the major student loan changes coming July 1

The changes will affect how much students and their parents can borrow, as well as their repayment options.

Trump says Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to ‘stop all shooting’

Declaration comes after Iran had pulled out of peace talks in protest at Israeli offensive in Lebanon

Donald Trump has said Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to mutual de-escalation and to scale back fighting, seemingly averting an Israeli strike on Beirut and the potential collapse of ceasefire talks with Iran.

The US president said in a social media post that he spoke to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and representatives of Hezbollah and both agreed that “all shooting will stop”.

Anthony Joshua puts ‘emotions to side’ after crash as he prepares for boxing return

• Addresses media for first time since losing friends in car accident

• Former world champion to return to ring in tune-up for Tyson Fury bout

Anthony Joshua has stressed that rather than coming to terms with his own grief after the car accident in which two of his closest friends died last December, his primary focus has been on helping their parents. As he prepares to resume his career next month, Joshua said: “I’m just there for their parents. Number one is being a good soldier for them. Gotta look after the boys’ parents.”

Asked if he had felt compelled to bury his pain since he was injured in the accident in Nigeria which took the lives of Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele, Joshua said: “Everyone’s different. Me, I have to put my emotions to the side because I focus on the parents. My emotions can come at a later stage. I really look at the parents and I understand it must be most difficult for them. So I don’t make it about me, I make it about them. I make it about the mums and the dads of the two boys.”

SpaceX sets aside up to 5% of shares in IPO for certain employees and friends

In an updated IPO prospectus, SpaceX said that up to 5% of stock being offered by the company in the offering will be available in a direct share program.

Anthropic files for IPO, setting up public-market test of AI boom

The filing sets up Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI chatbot, to sell its shares to the public.

Mandelson files reveal a man for whom betrayal is a way of life | John Crace

The Prince of Darkness appears in his element bad-mouthing colleagues and allies behind their back

Peter Mandelson *** Red Dispatch Box *** Please contact *** and ask her to talk to *** about ***. It is ridiculous that *** cannot do *** in time for the ***. In the meantime, please also get *** to vote for me as Oxford Chancellor. It’s the least I deserve. My bank account details are ***. Feel free to send to ***. Probably best to discreetly delete all correspondence on these matters. This message will self-destruct in *** seconds.

Thousands of documents released. Many of them rendered almost meaningless with redactions. Almost poetic the level of chaos that has always followed Mandy wherever he goes. The man who believed he was entitled to get away with almost anything.

The Guardian view on the Mandelson files: the missing vetting document matters most | Editorial

A data dump exposes Labour’s courtier politics. But it still does not explain why the peer was cleared to be US ambassador

The Epstein files fatally damaged Peter Mandelson. Gone was his reputation as Westminster’s great survivor: the politician who could weather any scandal and return to the centre of power. Allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the financial crash led to a criminal investigation. The peer was sacked as Britain’s US ambassador. He denies any wrongdoing.

Yet the “humble address” files also damage the government. The hundreds of emails, notes and social media conversations, released on Monday, mostly show an unsurprising version of Lord Mandelson – wheedling, criticising and positioning himself as the man who knows the court. Parliament asked to see why he was allowed into one of the most sensitive jobs in the British state. The government has shown us what he said once he got there. That is not the same thing.

Gunfights, grisly deaths and fentanyl: Euphoria’s finale was a lurid epic of biblical proportions

Sam Levinson’s HBO show went to garish new extremes to show the hollowness of the American Dream

This article contains spoilers

Ahead of the series finale, I didn’t think there was much more that Euphoria could do to shock me. Since season three of the HBO drama picked up its story five years after the group of teens graduated high school, Sam Levinson’s brainchild has made jaw-dropping scenes its raison d’etre. From Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) cosplaying as a dog and making mega bucks on OnlyFans, to Nate (Jacob Elordi) getting his fingers and toes chopped off before being buried alive, and Jules (Hunter Schafer) being mummified in plastic by her sugar daddy, the last eight episodes have demanded our attention in a media landscape where that very thing is valued above all else.

But as I watched the final episode, it once again delivered something unexpected. The 88-minute finale felt like a standalone feature film, with no shortage of biblical references. It even ended with the final words: “May God bless us all.” The sudden pivot into a nostalgic, star-spangled morality is indicative of a confused show that, right up until the last moment, hasn’t been sure what it’s trying to tell us. As a lesson in ethics, it falls flat. Yet looking more deeply, there is something more complicated going on.

UAW union strike threatens General Motors truck production

Nearly 1,000 workers at a Michigan supplier plant that notably makes parts for GM pickup trucks went on strike Monday after not reaching a new contract deal.

Anthropic to offer EU access to its advanced Mythos model

Anthropic is sharing access to its most advanced AI model, Mythos, with the EU after the bloc sought permission over cybersecurity concerns.

McCullum and Key are lucky to have kept their jobs. Now they have to nail England’s rebuild | Mark Ramprakash

Series against New Zealand will be a litmus test to see if the leadership team’s failed approach has really changed

There’s a quote from Legacy, James Kerr’s book about the All Blacks, that I have always liked: “Our values decide our character, our character decides our value.” As England’s Test side sets about its great post-Ashes reset, I think it is applicable.

Culture is a work in progress and always will be, and the positive that has emerged from their winter in Australia – when, on and off the field, their culture was found wanting – is that they now have an opportunity and an appetite to reset it.

Early portrait denied by Lucian Freud shown for first time after authentication

Artist said Man in a Black Scarf was not his but evidence has emerged to show he painted it when a student in Suffolk

An early portrait by Lucian Freud, which the artist denied was his for years, is to be exhibited for the first time after experts proved it was painted by him.

Man in a Black Scarf was created in 1939 by the British artist when he was still a student at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The sitter is thought to be John Jameson, a friend of Freud’s and scion of the whiskey family.

Berkshire's bet on Taylor Morrison suggests the housing market may have bottomed

Analysts say the deal between Berkshire Hathaway and Taylor Morrison signals that the housing market may have bottomed.

Key hearing for Charlie Kirk murder suspect will be public, judge rules

A Utah judge denied a request from the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk to restrict access to parts of his July preliminary hearing.

Ben Jennings on Israel’s strikes on Lebanon – cartoon

• Discover and buy more of Ben’s cartoons here

• Order your own print of this cartoon from the Guardian Print Shop

Smart drug that strips cancer cells of ‘invisibility cloak’ can shrink tumours by 30%, trial shows

Experimental tablet produces encouraging results in patients with world’s most common forms of disease

• ‘I was getting ready to say goodbye’: patient’s hope after smart drug success

A smart drug that stops cancer cells “hiding” from treatment can shrink tumours by at least 30% in six of the world’s most common forms of the disease, early trial results show.

While immunotherapy treatments have improved survival rates for many patients, their effectiveness can stall or fail when tumour cells hide and then spread.

Fraudsters bought Kobe Bryant sneakers and Ferraris with taxpayer funds

For law enforcement investigating fraud cases, the hard part can be following the money to figure out where the tax dollars have gone.

Arsenal v PSG got 16.2m illegal stream views in UK after not being free-to-air

• Analysts trace illegal views to 3.7m IP addresses in UK

• Champions League final watched legally by more than 7m

Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat by Paris Saint-Germain attracted more than 16.2 million views on illegal streams in the UK after not being made free to air.

Analysis conducted for the Guardian by the technology analyst Gaming Compliance International (GCI) shows there were 16.2m illegal stream views of longer than 90 seconds, traced to 3.7m unique IP addresses. The final was watched legally on TNT Sports and HBO Max by more than 7 million people.

My rookie era: In my 40s I attempted my first multi-day hike – and became a walking cliche

Adult beginners are charming when the stakes are low. Learning the piano at 50 is cute – but nobody ever needed to be airlifted out of a piano recital

I was 43, unfit and burnt out at the end of 2025, when my phone pinged from an old friend:

I know this is unlikely but I’m thinking of doing this four-day hike and there are two places available. You stay in huts so there is less gear to carry. Would you like to come?

Curaçao World Cup 2026 team guide

Smallest nation to reach a World Cup will be guided by the oldest coach in Dick Advocaat

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.

Trump hits out at ‘chirping’ critics as U.S. and Iran launch fresh wave of strikes

Trump's Truth Social post comes as air strikes between the U.S. and Iran resumed over the weekend.