The Guardian
World Cup 2026: Canada and USA enter fray; empty seats; Mexico’s winning start; Endo’s Japan retirement – live
⚽️ Canada tightens in anticipation | What is enough for US?
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail David
Five takeaways from the World Cup opener. These come courtesy of Matt Hughes who was in the Azteca (I can’t bring myself to say Mexico City Stadium).
How about this: you’re still tucking into your morning cornflakes and there’s already a World Cup daily pod to listen to. Jet-lag isn’t Jonathan Wilson’s friend but an evening in the Azteca lifted spirits, especially Raul Jimenez’s goal. Also, a glimpse behind the scenes at the first few days of Max and Barry living together in the US, insights from Barney Ronay and Jeff Rueter as well as your questions answered.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:52
The Guardian
Is Fifa allowed to make AI athletes? – video
Does qualifying for the World Cup mean you now support the Knicks?
From World Cup promos to NBA Finals ads, AI imagery is becoming more common in sports promotions. Many athletes are under contracts that permit the use of their likeness, but in an age of hyper-real AI, do new rules need to be put in place?
Our reporter Mark Mcpartland takes a look.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:49SpaceX is way ahead of competitors with Starlink, but growth is harder heading into IPO
Heading into its IPO, SpaceX's only profitable business is Starlink. But there are red flags for investors.
12th June 2026 14:49Former Tesla board member says SpaceX needs to achieve 2 of its 3 moonshots to keep its valuation
SpaceX has achieved its goal of becoming the largest IPO on record.
12th June 2026 14:48
The Guardian
‘I’m not walking away,’ says Starmer despite defence secretary’s exit
PM promises to fight any leadership challenge, saying any successor would face same problems as him
Keir Starmer has said he knows he has to “turn things around” after a series of crises culminating in the resignation of John Healey, the defence secretary, but warned that any successor would face the same difficult decisions.
In an interview with the BBC after Healey’s departure in a row over defence spending, Starmer promised again to fight any leadership challenge from Andy Burnham or others, saying: “I’m not going to walk away.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:45Oracle shares tumble 11% on increased capital raise, cash concerns
Oracle beat on earnings and revenue, but negative free cash flow and the company's plan to raise more capital is weighing on the stock.
12th June 2026 14:44FDA authorizes emergency use of drug to fight screwworms in pets
Nitenpyram is the first generic animal drug authorized to treat screwworms in dogs and cats, according to federal regulators.
12th June 2026 14:42Trump denies Iran's account of deal terms, decries new drone attack: 'Dishonorable people'
"They better get their act together, and FAST!" President Donald Trump said of Iran one day after announcing that a deal would be finalized within days.
12th June 2026 14:35
The Guardian
David Hockney, revolutionary British artist famed for his pools and portraits, dies aged 88
Bradford-born painter, who made his name with sunkissed visions of California and never stopped breaking barriers, going on to become one of contemporary art’s most important figures, has died
• ‘David Hockney caught the look of the modern world’
• David Hockney’s life in pictures
David Hockney, the iconic British painter who cast a revolutionary gaze across 20th-century art, has died aged 88.
He made his name as a pop artist during the swinging 60s and was perhaps best known for his paintings of swimming pools that helped define the Los Angeles aesthetic. Works such as A Bigger Splash and Portrait of an Artist (Pool With Two Figures) depicted hedonistic scenes of love, lust and loss taking place below the city’s sun-soaked skies.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:30
The Guardian
Tornadoes rip through central US while extreme heat and humidity creep into the north-east
One man died in Iowa after a tree fell on him as nearly 700 severe weather events were recorded over three days
An Illinois man whose home was destroyed by a tornado on Thursday was pulled from the rubble by a police officer and a photojournalist, who captured the terrifying storm and subsequent rescue in dramatic video footage.
Scott Lasker, who describes himself as a storm chaser, recorded the tornado ripping through the town of Streator and was filming the damage it inflicted when he came across the man trapped in the debris of his house.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:30
The Guardian
Middle East crisis live: Trump says Iran’s version of peace deal has ‘no relation to the truth’
Iran earlier released a list of terms it said were in a draft memorandum of understanding with the US
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) has cautioned against media speculation about a potential memorandum of understanding to end the war, particularly on claims regarding the strait of Hormuz.
IRNA reported that Iran will not surrender its control of the strategic waterway and the US will have no role in its future management.
Contrary to some bizarre claims in the media, Iran in no way makes a commitment in this text to hand over its management or to restore the strait of Hormuz to the state before the military aggression of the US and Israel. The only point mentioned is the normalisation of transit through the strait of Hormuz upon the end of the war, the establishment of maritime security by the coastal states, the end of the illegal blockade, and the removal of threats to commercial shipping by the US and Israel. At Iran’s request, the US will have no role whatsoever in the future management of the strait of Hormuz. It has been made clear that the future administration of the strait will be based on an Iranian initiative and proposal, within the framework of a matter pertaining to the countries of the region. In this framework, discussions about the future of the strait of Hormuz will not take place even in negotiations after the signing of the agreement, and Tehran will directly resolve this issue in talks with Oman.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:29SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell had IPO doubts for years, now she has a message for investors
Gwynne Shotwell, long Elon Musk's second-in-command at SpaceX, spoke exclusively with CNBC ahead of her company's highly anticipated IPO.
12th June 2026 14:19
The Guardian
Spain’s former PM faces tax fraud inquiry as police find €1.3m of jewellery
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, already under investigation for alleged influence-peddling, facing questions over items found in office safe
The former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is being investigated for possible tax fraud and smuggling after police discovered jewellery valued at more than €1.3m (£1.1m) while searching his office safe as part of a separate inquiry.
Zapatero, who led two socialist governments between 2004 and 2011, is already under investigation for alleged influence-peddling and other offences relating to the state bailout of the Spanish Plus Ultra airline during the Covid pandemic. He is alleged to have overseen “a hierarchical structure of influence-peddling”, whose purpose was “to obtain economic benefits through intermediation and the exercise of influence before public bodies in favour of third parties, mainly Plus Ultra”.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:12
The Guardian
‘I only had this father, and he’s gone’: Wafa Mustafa’s fight for truth and justice for Syria’s missing
With more than 177,000 people forcibly disappeared since 2011, short doc Maybe Tomorrow captures ‘the violence of waiting’ experienced by family
When Wafa Mustafa was a child, she remembers her father playing the music of Umm Kulthum non-stop at home in Syria, humming along to the legendary Egyptian singer’s melodic tones. One day, in an effort to encourage his daughter to appreciate music, he asked her to take a pen and paper and write the lyrics of a song she loved. Wanting to impress him, Mustafa chose an Umm Kulthum song called “Aghadan Alqak”, which translates to: “Will I meet you tomorrow?”
“The lyrics are literally about someone who’s gone, about the waiting for them and the love you have for them,” says Mustafa. “It feels like I knew what was coming … as if I manifested my life since I was very young.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:09SpaceX set to begin trading after raising $75 billion in record IPO
Investors will get their first chance to trade shares of Elon Musk's space company after the market opens at 9:30 a.m. ET.
12th June 2026 14:08
NPR Topics: News
It's SpaceX's first day on the stock market
The initial public offering from the rocket and AI company raised some $75 billion, making the company one of the biggest in the world — and likely making Elon Musk a trillionaire.
12th June 2026 14:01Pentagon releases 3rd batch of UFO files: "Are you seeing this?"
The Pentagon on Friday released a new group of documents and videos related to UFOs, or UAPs, with 72 more documents, images and recordings.
12th June 2026 14:01
The Guardian
From man boobs to baldness: everything you wanted to know about midlife wellness … but were too male to ask
Is my metabolism slowing with age? What’s the secret to good skin? And is there anything I can do about my crows feet? Medical, health and diet experts offer a midlife MOT
According to the dietician Rick Miller: “By the time a man hits his mid-40s, several physiological changes are already under way. Testosterone drops at around 1-2% annually from the mid-30s, insulin sensitivity decreases and the liver’s capacity to process certain nutrients changes. The diet that kept a man lean and energetic in his 30s simply stops working.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:00
The Guardian
‘It’s massive destruction’: outcry in Texas over waivers to allow border wall in Big Bend national park
Despite plunging border crossings, the Trump administration is circumventing laws to expedite building in a vast, pristine wilderness
The Trump administration has waived a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws that would allow it to build a towering border wall that cuts through Big Bend national park, a vast protected wilderness in south Texas.
Congress poured a whopping $46.5bn for border wall construction into the “Big, Beautiful” bill last year, supercharging Donald Trump’s ambition to wall off the southern border with Mexico. The longest unwalled stretches lie along a roughly 500-mile (800km) section of west Texas that Customs and Border Protection calls the “Big Bend sector”.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:00
The Guardian
Obsessed with Obsession: how a low-budget horror changed the game in Hollywood
The $750k relationship horror about a cursed wish is set to outgross a new Star Wars movie, energizing Gen Z audiences and creating a rare cultural conversation
This week, the independently produced horror movie Obsession, which cost either $750,000 or $15m depending on whether you count its actual budget or acquisition cost for its studio, officially passed the latest Star Wars movie at the box office (the film has so far made over $165m in the US alone).
It’s not a coincidence that this happened on a weekday. Obsession’s box office power lies not just in its astonishing weekend-to-weekend strength (including the virtually unheard-of trajectory of increasing grosses on its second and third weekends) but in its powerhouse weekday grosses. This past week, as it approached the one-month mark in theaters, it was averaging over $4m on its weekdays. At the same point in the run of Avengers: Endgame, that movie – the biggest summer blockbuster of modern times – was pulling in half as much.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:00
The Guardian
France accuses Israeli firm of interfering in Scottish elections and targeting SNP
Cyber agency says BlackCore targeted John Swinney, as well as interfering in New York and French elections
France’s cybersecurity agency has accused the Israeli tech company BlackCore of interfering in the Scottish elections earlier this year by targeting the first minister, John Swinney.
The disinformation detection agency Viginum said BlackCore had this year used proxy social media accounts to target Swinney, the Scottish National party, and the Scottish government on four occasions.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 14:00
The Guardian
Sam Bankman-Fried loses bid to appeal against fraud conviction in FTX case
Decision to not overturn fallen crypto mogul’s 25-year prison sentence was handed down by three-judge panel
Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday lost his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded.
The decision was handed down by a three-judge panel of the New York-based second US circuit court of appeals.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:52
The Guardian
Brad Pitt in the frame as older men embrace ‘hot professor’ glasses
‘Late life’ male celebrities are turning the need for spectacles into a style statement as they refuse to disappear into fashion invisibility
A heart-throb for more than 40 years, Brad Pitt is no doubt used to people looking at him. But this week, that gaze was distracted by an addition to his face – aviator-style glasses.
Worn to watch the tennis at Roland Garros and with a pink trenchcoat when out for dinner in Paris, these retro glassesare more typically worn by younger men. That’s changed recently – they’re now becoming central to a makeover for men entering their “late life” era, but who aren’t willing to submit to the fashion invisibility associated with ageing.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:44
The Guardian
‘Anger burns off every bit of it’: the furious guerrilla-art response to the Epstein files
This collection of ‘art meets theatre meets activism’ by more than 80 writers can feel overwhelming, writes our critic, but it devastatingly conveys the cumulative horror and anger of abuse against women
Can social media bring on the revolution? Maybe not, but it was vital for the collective action behind this theatrical event, conceived on a WhatsApp group for playwrights shortly after the release of the Epstein files. Members of the group were angry that the world was not talking nearly enough about the impact of Jeffrey Epstein’s actions on the girls and women he abused. They were also concerned that America’s war with Iran was serving as a distraction from the violence that lay festering in these files on the paedophile-financier. So when British playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz sent out a prompt, scores of writers responded.
That was four months ago. This week, more than 80 of those writers have mobilised a creative response under the lead direction of Lucy Morrison along with Hannah Hauer-King, Madeleine Kludje and Tessa Walker. It takes place across 15 spaces, cupboards as well as open plan areas, on the upper storey of an office in London, currently occupied by Theatre Deli, a company that takes over empty locations.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:39U.S. men's soccer team set to play first 2026 World Cup match
The U.S. men's national soccer team kicks off its 2026 World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on Friday.
12th June 2026 13:21
The Guardian
‘A long lunch is what we’re good at’: London bistro above a pub wins UK restaurant of the year
Bouchon Racine is old school, for lovers of traditional French cooking and boozy afternoons – it even aims to stop taking bookings online
If you are someone who consults social media to find the best spots for a weeknight dinner reservation, you’d be forgiven for thinking that having a viral social media account or influencer chef at the stove is the only way to run a successful restaurant these days.
However, the operators of the newly crowned top UK restaurant are not just unbothered about competing in the algorithm olympics, they’re actively seeking out ways to be more analogue – even considering only take bookings by phone.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:19Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire with SpaceX's IPO
The SpaceX CEO's fortune on paper now rivals the annual economic output of many countries, according to World Bank data.
12th June 2026 13:16
The Guardian
Masters of the Universe is a box office flop. Can they really be serious about a sequel?
WARNING: Minor spoiler ahead!
By the power of Grayskull, Amazon MGM has the power to revive a franchise that hasn’t been big since Choppers were the coolest bikes in town
Reports suggest Travis Knight’s Masters of the Universe made just $54m (£40m) globally on debut at the weekend, a figure that, while not exactly fatal, would usually be considered a disappointment for a mainstream movie with a budget of more than $200m. Worse still, this heavily caffeinated, meta take on the 1980s TV show arrived carrying the weight of a major studio relaunch and decades of pent-up nostalgia. On paper at least, its bow looks less like the birth of a cinematic universe than the sort of expensive stumble from which some franchises never recover.
So why then does everyone involved in this thing seem so cheerful? “Travis Knight and the entire cast and film-making team have delivered something truly special,” Amazon MGM’s Kevin Wilson gushed to Variety. “This opening is exactly the kind of critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy – building awareness and engagement that will carry well beyond the theatrical window.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:05
The Guardian
‘Where can we find hope?’: your questions about the US supreme court’s voting rights decision answered
Guardian reporters Fabiola Cineas and Adria Walker held a Reddit Q&A about Louisiana v Callais – here’s a rundown
In April, the supreme court’s decision in Louisiana v Callais struck a massive blow to the Voting Rights Act, eliminating a key provision that gave minority voters representation in Congress.
Within days of the decision, Republican-led states in the south moved to redraw congressional maps to erase majority-Black districts. Some of those maps have already gone into effect ahead of the midterms.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:00
The Guardian
An ideological tug-of-war: the pressures facing Iran’s World Cup squad in US
Flag bans, travel headaches and a religious regime video among bumps in road, as team prepares to be first to play in country with which it is at war
Iran will present a major challenge to Fifa’s “football unites the world” slogan on Monday by becoming the first country in World Cup history to compete on the soil of a host nation with which it is at war.
The national team’s opening match against New Zealand in Los Angeles will kick off amid continuing hostilities between Iran and the US that have intensified in recent days, as a fragile ceasefire has failed to hold and attempts at reaching a negotiated settlement have sputtered.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 13:00
NPR Topics: News
Canada is ready to become a soccer nation as it hosts World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina
The World Cup is drawing attention to soccer's growing popularity in Canada. Soccer has surpassed hockey and all other sports in youth participation, according to a recent report by Jumpstart, a Canadian charity. Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Thursday he has "felt a real momentum behind this team and behind this moment."
12th June 2026 12:47SpaceX IPO won’t ‘break’ the bull market. But investors are worried about what comes next
As far as Wall Street is concerned, the stock market has what it takes to absorb the new supply.
12th June 2026 12:43Man trapped under rubble of house after tornado tears through: "I can't get out"
Another round of destructive weather slammed parts of the Midwest. There were more than a dozen tornado reports across Illinois and Indiana on Thursday. Rob Marciano has the latest.
12th June 2026 12:31
The Guardian
Wimbledon to escape protests after players accept 20% prize money increase
Representatives say increase is ‘a signal of intent’
Tennis stars had boycotted media at French Open
Wimbledon will avoid the threat of player protests after representatives of the world’s top players welcomed the significant prize‑money increase offered by the All England Club.
“Leading players from the ATP and WTA Tours welcome Wimbledon’s 2026 prize money announcement as a genuine and significant step forward – the 20% increase is the largest single-year uplift in the tournament’s history and a meaningful signal of intent,” the player group said in a statement.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 12:20
The Guardian
Protesting steelworkers and a robo-soldier: photos of the day – Friday
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 12:10
The Guardian
What World Cup? It’s the ultimate summer TV guide
Don’t want to spend months watching corporate greed besmirch football? Fear not. From the spectacular return of Larry David to Will Ferrell’s wild golf comedy and Anya Taylor-Joy as a badass con artist, it’s going to be a summer of fantastic TV. Here are the shows you can’t miss
House of the Dragon finds itself slightly up against it this year, as the faster and funnier A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has snatched its crown as the premium Game of Thrones spin-off. But let’s not discount it, because what House of the Dragon has in spades is scale and spectacle plus newly announced co-star James Norton. If that doesn’t excite you, nothing will. Sky Atlantic/Now/HBO Max, 22 June
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 12:00
The Guardian
The UN has shamed Israel over sexual violence in conflict. Now there must be accountability | Janine di Giovanni
Russia is also included on the UN’s blacklist – and it faces enormous pressure from sanctions. The same consequences must apply to Israel
• Janine di Giovanni is executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes reporting unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine
Yousef, a Palestinian journalist, and I stood on a beach in Gaza during the first intifada – the uprising that began in 1987, defined by popular resistance and young men throwing stones. He was in his early 20s at the time, but he had already spent time in Ansar III, the dreaded Israeli prison in the Negev desert. He had recently been released.
This was before post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was widely understood, but I knew my friend was deeply traumatised. Staring at the sea, his hands shook as we spoke. Even though he was free, he doubted he would ever feel safe again. Prison had meant beatings, torture, sleep deprivation. “The soldiers kept asking me if I wanted to be a woman,” he said. “That is the worst thing – to threaten to destroy your manhood.”
Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine. She is the author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria
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.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 12:00
The Guardian
Cocktail of the week: The Red Lion & Sun’s kimchi bloody mary – recipe | The good mixer
Bloody mary, but not as you know it …
This sour-spicy twist on the classic brunch drink is very easy to recreate at home.
Heath Ball, owner, The Red Lion & Sun, London N6
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 12:00She confided in ChatGPT the night of her suicide. Now, her mother is suing OpenAI.
A mother has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the chatbot's design led to her daughter's suicide.
12th June 2026 12:00
The Guardian
Republic of Ireland to face Israel at neutral venue after Gaza war protests
Had been calls for Nations League tie to be boycotted
FAI agrees to move contest away from Aviva Stadium
The Republic of Ireland are to play their upcoming Nations League game against Israel at a neutral venue behind closed doors following protests by players and fans over the death toll of Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza.
Ireland had been set to host Israel at the Aviva Stadium on 4 October, while a 27 September fixture designated as an Israel home match is also expected to be staged at a neutral venue. But Irish footballers, fans and celebrities launched a campaign calling for a boycott of the game.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:59Iran-linked group claims hack of FBI drones, threatens World Cup, monitor says
An Iran-linked hacker group claims to have breached FBI drones and has threatened to target the World Cup, a monitoring group says. The monitor disputes some of the other group's claims.
12th June 2026 11:38
The Guardian
Gasly reinstated to Monaco podium after F1 officials admit timekeeping blunder
Frenchman was demoted to seventh for pitlane speeding
F1 said it had made a mistake with its measurements
Pierre Gasly was reinstated to the Monaco Grand Prix podium on Friday after Formula One stewards rescinded penalties for pitlane speeding after recognising a timekeeping error following an appeal by his Alpine team.
The Frenchman had finished third on the track but dropped to seventh when the two five-second penalties were applied after last Sunday’s race finish. Formula One, responsible for the timekeeping, has now admitted making a mistake with its measurements.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:37Severe storms, tornadoes slam Midwest, killing at least 1
Severe storms that swept through the Midwest late Thursday knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, damaged buildings and canceled flights.
12th June 2026 11:35SpaceX raising $75 billion in record-setting IPO as Nasdaq debut awaits
SpaceX is selling 555.6 shares at $135 a piece, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO on record.
12th June 2026 11:34
The Guardian
Add to playlist: the sweet plunderphonics of Quiet Light and the week’s best new tracks
Riya Mahesh is the ‘insanely Texas girl’ and medical student whose music splits the difference between dazed ambient production and big-tent pop melody
From Boston, via Texas
Recommended if you like Grace Ives, Porter Robinson, Grimes
Up next Touring EU/UK in November
Riya Mahesh has perfected her own sweet, whimsical brand of plunderphonics; her seventh project as Quiet Light in six years, this year’s Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2, sounds a little as if it’s been chopped together from samples of Mahesh’s own memory. On Berlin, she sings to a wayward love interest over a moony breakbeat and IDM glitches, as a spoken-word part – what sounds to me like a recording of a lecture – floats in the background. Star100 starts all whispers and garbled laughter, before ceding space to Mahesh’s multitracked harmonies. Sometimes, Mahesh will suddenly deliver a wildly catchy chorus, something she clearly has an aptitude for – check Dealerz, her collab with Danish band A Good Year.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:30
The Guardian
‘This is what I was born for’: the drought-ridden Colombian town that took on Coca-Cola Femsa – and won
While La Calera faced severe water rationing, local springs were being drained by the drinks giant’s franchise. So the residents fought back
When a severe drought struck La Calera near Bogotá, many of its residents lost their water for drinking, cooking and farming and faced up to 15 days of strict water rationing each month. Yet the area is home to Chingaza reservoir, which supplies about 70% of the drinking water for Colombia’s capital.
As the drought stretched from April 2024 to April last year, people began to look more closely at how their water was being managed.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:30
The Guardian
How the I ❤️ T-shirt became trendy again, thanks to gen Z and anti-Trump sentiment
The design, which was conceived in the 70s, became a pop culture staple in the 90s and 00s. Now, thanks to gen Z and anti-Trump sentiment, it’s being embraced once more
The biggest faux pas a tourist can make? Dressing like one. Selfie sticks and oversized backpacks fall within this category, but there is one item that has seemingly transcended cringe and entered the realm of cool.
The “I heart” T-shirt is an instantly recognisable item. While it’s found in every souvenir shop in every major city across the world, there is no place the T-shirt is more associated with than New York. But what would ordinarily be found for sale at a stall on Canal Street for no more than $20 has recently caught the interest of a kitsch-loving, meme generation – and now it is making its way down the catwalk.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:14
The Guardian
France followed to World Cup by home politics after Mbappé’s swipe at far right
Platini among former players to accuse captain of creating distraction as Deschamps defends captain’s right to speak
“If there’s one wish I have, it’s for you to ask my players about the opponents, about football,” Didier Deschamps told journalists after announcing France’s World Cup squad. “I understand that you might feel obliged to ask other questions, but they’re not there to answer them.”
Deschamps has found himself batting away questions about off-pitch matters beyond his scope before his final tournament as head coach. He has sought to protect his players from media scrutiny while insisting they are anything but sheltered from the wider political issues surrounding this tournament.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:00
The Guardian
The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh; Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh; Atomic Coffin by Benedict Anning; The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden; Bad Things Happen Here by Mark Morris
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh (Solstice, £20)
The four daughters of a doomsday prepper were trained what to do in an emergency: grab their bags and head for the well-stocked bunker he had built in the garden of their London home. But when a world-shattering event occurs, the family are dispersed, individually forced to weigh their best options for survival as they shelter in place or struggle through devastated, chaotic streets. The story could suit a disaster movie (the author also writes screenplays), but it’s the complex characterisations and conflicted relationships that make for a powerfully compelling read. The characters are shown from different perspectives, and are flawed, human and real. Perfectly paced, this is a suspenseful depiction of survival amid civilisational collapse.
The Guardian
Nobody should underestimate what Thomas Tuchel can do with England | Emma Hayes
Leaving Cole Palmer at home surprised me, but I know Thomas from Chelsea – he’s the type of coach to die on his sword
In Thomas Tuchel, England have an elite coach. Don’t underestimate him. In my 12 years working at Chelsea, he and Mauricio Pochettino were my two favourite managers.
Thomas is a great communicator, he’s demanding and he articulates himself really well. I admire the way he transfers information to the press and to players in a clear, concise way that is methodical, inspirational and detailed, all at the same time.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:00
The Guardian
‘Autistic kids are being experimented on’: inside America’s booming market for unproven stem cell infusions
Feeling abandoned and overwhelmed, families are turning to controversial new therapies backed by the US health secretary
Landyn Holdren is an eight-year-old autistic child who has high support needs and is nonspeaking. His mother, Christy Holdren, says he can be self-harming, slapping his chest, face or head when distressed.
Later this month, she will spend $15,000 on an unapproved stem cell treatment she hopes might help him.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 11:00The Tech Download: Mistral's Arthur Mensch on agentic AI, chips and enterprise adoption
CNBC's Arjun Kharpal sat down with the chief of one of Europe's leading AI companies.
12th June 2026 11:00
The Guardian
Kane Williamson retires from New Zealand duty and ends involvement in England Test series
‘I’ve given it my all in every match,’ says Black Caps legend
He captained World Test Championship winners in 2021
The former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will play no further part in the Test series against England after retiring from all international cricket with immediate effect.
Williamson brings an end to a 16-year career marked by numerous accolades and by captaining his side to the title in the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:45
NPR Topics: News
Trump cancels further Iran strikes. And, U.S. men's soccer takes on Paraguay
Trump canceled new Iran strikes and signaled that a peace deal could come soon, but Iran says it hasn't been finalized. And, the U.S. men's soccer team plays its first 2026 World Cup match today.
12th June 2026 10:42
The Guardian
China arrests US academic at conference for ‘espionage activities’
Arrest of Min Zin, who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, comes just month after Trump visit to Beijing
China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying.
Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:27
The Guardian
Tears and tributes as crowds gather to mourn death of Thailand’s Princess Bha
Beloved royal, said to have embodied ‘everything good in Thailand’, died in hospital after nearly four years in coma
At King Chulalongkorn Memorial hospital in Bangkok, mourners dressed in black sat side by side, their eyes pink from crying for the woman whose portraits they cradled in their laps.
Some images were framed in gold, others in plastic sleeves, charting the life of Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha from a rosy-cheeked baby to a young royal in red military dress replete with shining badges and ceremonial sword. Later photos showed her posing with one of the dogs she was out training in 2022 when she became gravely ill with heart problems.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:14
The Guardian
Julio Le Parc obituary
Radical Argentinian artist who demanded the viewer participate in his kinetic art
“Art today is nothing but a tremendous bluff,” Julio Le Parc complained in his 1963 manifesto, presenting a series of home truths to the French cultural establishment. “The public is a million miles away from artistic events.” The Argentinian artist, who has died aged 97, had relocated to Paris and was caught up in the social revolts of the decade. His solution was a radical series of works that experimented with light, movement and colour, and required the active participation of the viewer.
The earliest of these included large-scale mobiles, each dramatically spotlit, the wire-hung metal and plastic fragments moving as the viewer walks around the sculptures, light bouncing between the shiny elements. For Le Parc these works were not about spectacle, but shaking the viewer from apolitical lethargy, a disease he thought permeated the museums and galleries of the day. It was, he wrote, a “wish to lead viewers out of their apathetic dependency that makes them passively accept not just what is forced on them as art, but an entire way of life”.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:02
The Guardian
Welcome to ‘the Claw’: the White House fighting cage captures Trump era rot | Sidney Blumenthal
The 154ft-tall structure for the UFC Freedom 250 gives Trump a chance to to put the government out to the highest bidder
“If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty – the people whose ancestors that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast – nothing can be done?” asked Judge Patricia Millet of the District of Columbia court of appeals on 5 June to the principal deputy assistant attorney general, Yaakov Roth. “I think that’s right, yes,” he replied.
In the case brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation against Donald Trump’s “sudden, unilateral, and unlawful decision” to demolish the East Wing of the White House and to construct a 90,000 sq ft ballroom, “without seeking approval from Congress; without requesting review and approval from the federal commissions charged with oversight of development in the nation’s capital; without conducting the required environmental studies; and without allowing the public any opportunity for input”, Trump’s Department of Justice has countered that he can simply do whatever he wishes, whenever he wishes, however he wishes.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:00
The Guardian
Trump keeps insulting female journalists. It’s time for the press to stop tolerating it | Margaret Sullivan
‘Piggy’, ‘corrupt’, ‘stupid’: the president keeps lashing out. Here’s how journalists can stand up to him
For many years now, Donald Trump has been saying awful things to – or about – the female media figures who have the nerve to ask him questions and challenge his falsehoods.
“Quiet, Piggy,” he ordered a Bloomberg reporter, Catherine Lucey, last year in a press gaggle when she pushed him about the release of the Epstein files.
Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 10:00For Warsh as Fed chair, silence may be the point
Kevin Warsh will hold his first Fed meeting, giving markets the first public look at how he'll communicate as chair of the Federal Reserve.
12th June 2026 10:00
The Guardian
‘David Hockney caught the look of the modern world’: a tribute to the artist whose work was a feast of visual pleasure
He was subversive and bold, yet also playful and accepting – putting the fun into pop art and finding freedom and fulfilment amid the blue skies and pools of California. David Hockney, who has died aged 88, lived and painted the truth
• David Hockney – a life in pictures
• David Hockney, revolutionary British artist, dies aged 88
David Hockney changed the world just by looking at it. His art was a feast of unabashed visual pleasure, one long orgy of the gaze, the delighted lifelong epiphany of someone who cherished flowers in a vase and freeways in the sun and thought endlessly about new ways of making pictures of such passing treasures. It didn’t seem to occur to him that the way he saw was revolutionary – all he cared about was truth. But no one had ever captured the look and feel of the contemporary world with such acceptance before. He has the same simple perfection as the Beatles – just as they caught the sound of the modern world, he caught its look.
The most revealing fact about Hockney is that he loved LA. Where some might see a moronic inferno, he saw freedom and possibility under an unjudging blue sky. Low-lying houses with patio doors glinting vacantly, tall thin palm trees with tiny heads, the white spume of a diver’s splash – Hockney’s California is a vision of paradise. He is the Matisse of pop art, A Bigger Splash the 1960s answer to Matisse’s 1904 manifesto for hedonism, Luxe, Calme et Volupté.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:59
The Guardian
Funding cuts and repressive laws raise risk of new HIV epidemic, says UNAids
UN agency head warns of ‘major threat’ as global testing and treatment falls
A funding crisis and increasing repression of human rights are making the resurgence of an HIV epidemic more likely, the international agency tackling Aids has warned.
Winnie Byanyima, head of UNAids, said: “It’s the biggest disruption since the global HIV response was put together and it poses a major threat to the progress we have had.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:30
The Guardian
Behind the scenes at OpenAI HQ: the Stephen Collins cartoon
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:30
NPR Topics: News
Which billionaire said they learned a 'significant lesson' this week? The quiz knows
This week, Knicks fans had a big win after a big loss; fans of inflation were delighted and World Cup fans went broke. How will quiz fans fare?
12th June 2026 09:02
NPR Topics: News
She waited decades for Scotland to make the World Cup. At 93, she'll cheer in person
Moira Brown, perhaps the oldest of Scotland's Tartan Army of soccer fans, will be in Boston when Scotland's team plays against Haiti on June 13. "I'm the luckiest person in this world," she says.
12th June 2026 09:02
NPR Topics: News
How small-business loans got caught in Trump's immigration crackdown
For decades, immigrants who are legal permanent residents in the U.S. could get loans through the Small Business Administration, a core pillar of small-business lending. Not anymore.
12th June 2026 09:01
The Guardian
Ruth Ozeki: ‘All my books are an attempt to recreate Charlotte’s Web’
The US author, film-maker and Zen Buddhist priest on smart young girls, the difference between irony and cynicism, and working her way through 13 volumes of Chekhov
My earliest reading memory
I was reading – or pretending to read – before my brain could encode memories, so probably around three or four? I “read” Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, but that was mostly pictures.
My favourite book growing up
Charlotte’s Web by EB White. For years, I remembered it as a story about a little girl named Fern who saved her pet pig, Wilbur, but it’s not. It’s a story about a writer named Charlotte, who happens to be a spider, who spins words into her web that save Wilbur from slaughter. It’s about the power of language to save lives. Looking back at the books I’ve written, I can see now that all of them are an attempt to recreate Charlotte’s Web. It’s the perfect book.
The Guardian
A new test claims to tell how well you’re ageing – and even when you’ll die. But I’d rather not know | Helen Pilcher
I think I’ll leave new methods to measure biological age to the Kardashians. Too much knowledge about your mortality can be bad for your health
In the season 5 finale of The Kardashians, the family took a commercially available blood test to discover how fast their bodies were ageing. It came as little surprise, given their privileged lifestyles, that the reality TV stars were said to be ageing more slowly than most mortals of the same age. Khloé, then 39, found she had a biological age of 28. Cue whoops of joy and much smugness.
The Kardashians join a growing list of celebrities who have taken similar tests and then crowed about their “biological ages”. Now, there’s a new test on the block.
Helen Pilcher is a science writer and the author of This Book May Cause Side Effects
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:00
The Guardian
SpaceX to list on US stock market at historic $1.77tn valuation
Initial public offering for Elon Musk’s aerospace and AI company is likely to make him the world’s first trillionaire
SpaceX made the biggest stock market debut in history on Friday after nearly two and a half decades as a private company. With a valuation of $1.77tn, the company’s initial public offering is likely to make the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire.
Executives rang the bell to open trading as Elton John’s Rocket Man played on the floor of the Nasdaq exchange.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:00
The Guardian
‘I only want justice’: bereaved families seek closure one year on from Air India crash
Relatives of those killed on flight AI171 are still struggling to obtain answers about what happened
When Sagar Patel’s mother boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June last year, she called her son as she always did before takeoff. The flight was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and was destined for Gatwick.
“We always had a little traditional thing,” said Patel, a business manager from London. “Once she got on the flight, she would sit down and call me. She’d tell me: ‘Yep, I’m on the flight. See you later.’”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 09:00
NPR Topics: News
Referees at the World Cup have new rules to whistle during games
FIFA has introduced several changes to the laws of soccer for the World Cup. These include efforts to eliminate time-wasting and to ensure potentially game-changing officiating mistakes are corrected.
12th June 2026 09:00
NPR Topics: News
Trump's DOJ can't get names and medical files of trans youth in California, for now
Trump's Department of Justice is seeking patient files that include the names of young people who have been treated in transgender clinics, as well as hospital staff who have provided care.
12th June 2026 09:00
The Guardian
Ariana Grande rebukes White House for using her music in ‘barbaric, inhumane’ ICE video
Grande is the latest in a series of pop musicians including Sabrina Carpenter and SZA who have been angered by Trump administration videos
Ariana Grande has rebuked Donald Trump’s White House over use of her music in a video documenting the detaining of immigrants.
Earlier this week, the White House posted a montage of ICE agents handcuffing and detaining people, with the caption “Bye-bye President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history”. It was soundtracked by Grande’s 2024 song Bye.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 08:41
The Guardian
Joy for Jiménez and Mexico as co-hosts make ideal start | World Cup Daily
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay, Jeff Rueter and Jonathan Wilson as the World Cup kicks off in Mexico
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 08:09
The Guardian
Pussy Riot: CYKA review – debut album from iconic Russian agitators is let down by blunt-force EDM
(Pussy Riot)
On a disappointing record helmed by co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, corny guitars and generically moody synths undermine the activist group’s political acuity
Great music rarely makes for great activism, and the reverse is true on Pussy Riot’s official debut album. A scattergun mix of icy electronics, pumping EDM and whispered rap, CYKA (“bitch” in Russian) follows a decade of musical protest performances from the activist collective. Made by co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova (she and Maria Alyokhina were imprisoned in separate penal colonies between 2012 and 2013), CYKA’s powerful point of view is diluted by weak delivery.
Lead single Candy Dopamine, with metal band Avenged Sevenfold, disguises its critique of big pharma with cutesy lyrics, corny electric guitar and inconsequential key changes. Generically moody synths and cliched siren sounds run through much of the record, as does blunt-force EDM: Nothing to Lose is both a cluttered trance track, and about being hated by Russia’s “liberal intelligentsia” for supporting Ukraine.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 08:00
The Guardian
From Goop to ‘Gwynocide’: why is Gwyneth Paltrow starring in a luxury Israeli real estate ad? | Arwa Mahdawi
Paltrow went viral this week for her commercial for 51 Park – a building just miles from where Palestinians are being killed and displaced
Gwyneth Paltrow has built a wellness empire by encouraging people to put questionable things in their mouths and up their orifices. Over the years the Goop founder has promoted parasite-busting goat milk cleanses, urged women to stick $66 jade eggs into their vaginas, and waxed lyrical about the powerful benefits of rectal ozone therapy.
Now, however, it seems that Paltrow’s brand is pivoting from colon cleansing to ethnic cleansing. The actor and businessperson went viral this week for promoting a luxury real estate development in Israel. Paltrow, who has been nicknamed “Gwynocide”, stars in a new commercial and marketing materials for 51 Park, two 51-story towers in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. (The ad was filmed in New York.) The towers boast a swimming pool, a pilates pool, a wine room and gym, among other luxuries. It’s unclear how much they cost, but similar apartments in the area have gone for millions.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 08:00
The Guardian
Goblin shark with face ‘not even a mother would love’ seen alive in natural habitat for first time
Elusive creatures have previously only been seen on fishing lines and experts know ‘virtually nothing about them’
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Rare and eccentric-looking goblin sharks have been seen alive in their deep ocean habitat for the first time ever.
Prof Alan Jamieson, director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, said goblin sharks were a bit like the colossal squid – creatures with an almost mythological quality. They were almost never seen alive, he said, and previously only when they were accidentally hooked on a fishing line.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 07:35
The Guardian
Brown Wimpenny: Long Live Brown Wimpenny review | Jude Rogers' folk album of the month
(Broadside Hacks)
Named after a 19th-century relative, this sprawling group foreground folk’s rough edges, but are best in the emotional, less showy moments
Brown Wimpenny arrive with a name suggesting the softness of a twee indie band, before you discover it belonged to a fourth great-uncle of banjo player Seth Lockwood, who emigrated from a West Yorkshire farm to the 19th-century US. Then you hear the exploratory, hour-long debut album of this sprawling young collective, formed in Sunday sessions in Lockwood’s Manchester living room. A band happy to show their music’s muddy roots, these expansive eight tracks nonetheless pulse with ambition.
The album begins with a high-reaching medley, building from an atmospheric fiddle-led instrumental over a low cello drone. Dusty live production makes a feature of the music’s cracks and creaks, but when Lockwood’s athletic banjo takes the lead, it carries the rest of the group with arresting dynamism.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 07:30
The Guardian
Proud review – the gorgeous tale of a hard-partying model who ends up a dad
This Polish drama is beautifully shot, darkly funny and full of social commentary about the difficulty of being a gay father in Poland. Even the toddler seems like an accomplished actor
Filip Raczyński (Ignacy Liss) is really enjoying his late 20s. We meet him on a modelling assignment, this vocation having been handed to him by his sparkling eyes and soft jawline, good looks he accentuates with a biker jacket and bleached hair. He has vodka and Diet Coke for breakfast and a bump of powder in an Uber on the way to his next job. At night we follow him through the backrooms of a club, until he finds one where the naked men are almost as beautiful as he is. He loses himself in them and worries about nothing.
It’s less fun to be in Filip’s immediate social orbit. His agent’s nervy assistant, Olek (Kamil Studnicki), has to cover for Filip’s perpetual lateness and, on the night after the club odyssey, is obliged to look after his badly behaved dog, because Filip has only just rescued it from a drug dealer who resorted to dognapping to force him to pay moneys owed. Filip’s decision to bring four of the guys from the club home with him, meanwhile, goes down poorly with his sister Anka (Sylwia Boroń), the single mum of a one-year-old girl, Tosia. Filip is crashing at their flat, and he’s not keeping to his promise to help with the bins and laundry.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 07:01
The Guardian
Chess: Carlsen heads for Hong Kong while Russia unveils the next Botvinnik
The world No 1’s setback in Oslo and reduced participation coincides with the emergence of a new star
Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, had his worst tournament result since 2015 last week when the 35-year-old ended up fourth of six in the $178,000 (£133,000) Norway Chess event at Oslo, losing four games out of 10.
There were reasons for his disappointing showing. Previous editions of the event were in distant Stavanger, far from the hometown pressures of Oslo, while Carlsen is the father of a baby son and he arrived at several games seemingly unprepared.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 07:00
The Guardian
Sports quiz of the week: World Cup, Knicks, T20, Giro and Serena Williams
Have you followed the big stories in football, cricket, cycling, tennis, motor sport, basketball, rugby and athletics?
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 07:00
The Guardian
Nigerian man unable to claim Italian lottery win gains residency permit
Former street seller celebrates newfound rights after debacle in claiming €500,000 scratchcard prize while undocumented
A Nigerian man who won €500,000 in an Italian lottery – but was barred from collecting his windfall because he was undocumented – said the hardship of his more than decade-long immigration journey had been eased after he was finally granted a residency permit.
“I’ve been praying for this moment ever since I arrived in Italy,” said Imagbe Ehizomwengie, 36. “It’s a huge relief. You might think it’s incredible, but receiving the permit means more to me than winning the money. I want to work and contribute to society.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 06:59
The Guardian
20 ways Taylor Swift remade pop culture in her image
Eras. Easter eggs. Masters. Monoculture. It has been 20 years since Swift released her debut single, setting in motion a career so extraordinary, it permanently redefined the concept of pop stardom. Not only did her fight to own her music educate a generation of fans in how the music industry works, she also bent that industry to her will, outwitting the competition and defying norms to reset its terms. This is how she did it
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 06:00
The Guardian
The underwater wonders I saw on my once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galápagos
In this week’s newsletter: Joining a research team on the Darwin and Wolf Islands off the Ecuadorian coast revealed how critically endangered species are reacting to their rapidly changing ocean environment
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Darwin and Wolf Islands in the Galápagos archipelago are the kinds of places scuba divers and marine biologists dream of visiting, myself included. I even wrote a children’s book imagining a team of scientists exploring the underwater wonders of the Galápagos islands on a beautiful sailing ship.
That’s why I’m still pinching myself that earlier this year I got to take part in a real expedition to Darwin and Wolf.
‘Super-rich’s assets cause outsized amount of climate harm’
‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival
‘This may be our last chance’: rising sea levels threaten Kiribati’s World Cup dream | The Hotspot
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Diane Keaton’s nail clippers for $960: what’s behind the new boom in celebrity estate auctions?
With beloved stars’ personal items increasingly up for grabs after they die, a new generation of fans are bidding on everything from bowler hats to dog bowls
From Diane Keaton’s bowler hats and polka dot scarfs, to Gene Hackman’s used paint brushes, to Terence Stamp’s love letters from Jean Shrimpton and even Matthew Perry’s black leather wallet (his credit cards and AAA membership card still inside), fans are being offered – at a price – increasingly personal items from the estates of dead celebrities.
The growing trend for auctions of deceased famous people’s personal items – which has boomed ever since the hugely popular Marilyn Monroe estate sale in 1999 – has even attracted its own portmanteau: “deleb” as in dead celebrity.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 06:00
The Guardian
Helen Goh’s recipe for lemon pistachio snacking cake | The sweet spot
Its nutty, zesty flavour combination makes this single-layer cake an absolute winner for everyday eating
A good snacking cake earns its place not through grandeur, but reliability. It sits patiently on the counter, improves with a day’s rest and can be sliced into at odd hours: with coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon or something stronger during a tense World Cup match. This lemon and pistachio version is especially companionable: tender, bright and just sharp enough to keep things lively.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 05:00
The Guardian
Pro-Palestine activists believe ‘sea change’ coming in Labour’s approach to Middle East
Green surge in local elections and recent polling of Labour members may cause government to toughen stance on Israel
Pro-Palestine activists believe there could be a “sea change” in the Labour party’s approach to the crisis in the Middle East which could result in the government taking a tougher stance on Israel.
Campaigners have pointed to the threat posed to Labour by the Green surge in the local elections, the likely departure of Keir Starmer from No 10, and new polling which shows an appetite among Labour members for a ban on all arms shipments to Israel.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 05:00
The Guardian
Video of visually impaired Palestinian boy crying over broken glasses draws global attention
Ayoub Junaid, seven, given new pair but needs surgery as Gaza’s children remain unable to access treatment
A video of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza who suffers from a severe visual impairment crying over his shattered glasses has drawn widespread attention across social and international media.
The footage of Ayoub Junaid has shone a light on the plight of the many visually impaired children in Gaza who, because of Israel’s blockade and the devastation caused by the war, have been unable to access eye examinations, corrective lenses or specialist ophthalmic surgery.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 04:00
The Guardian
The Joy of Six: forgotten World Cup goals
From Ogris’s Florentine charge to Quagliarella’s Ellis Park chip, half a dozen World Cup classics that deserve to be better remembered
The first six or seven World Cups certainly are not without their charms, but they are noticeably light on the kind of viscerally spectacular goals that we take for granted in the modern game. Hardly surprising when you contemplate what teams of the era had to endure: quagmire-like pitches, boots comprising 50% leather and 50% landfill, and balls so heavy that they basically constituted gym equipment.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 04:00
The Guardian
Here in Georgia our festivals are full, but our poets are in prison – and now we feel abandoned by Europe | Archil Kikodze
Anti-government protests continue, but our young people are leaving. Increasingly destitute cultural gatherings have become my places of solace
‘They want us to stop seeing each other, to lose contact, to feel alone,” the Icelandic writer Sjón told me. By “they”, he meant the dark forces rising across the world: populists, fascists, fundamentalists.
That was in September 2025, at the Tbilisi international festival of literature, attended by more people than ever before. The halls were full, and I think everyone present felt grateful to the foreign guests for coming – in defiance of “them.”
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 04:00
The Guardian
‘The birds will fly away’: can Albania’s flamingo revolution keep its wetlands free from Trumps and tourists?
A luxury resort backed by the US president’s family may be built on a wildlife-rich nature reserve in one of Europe’s poorest nations
If the real estate dreams of a billionaire political family come true, an island in one of Europe’s poorest countries will become a luxury hotel complex, sweeping up stretches of the wildlife-rich nature reserve that sits across the water.
No public consultation has taken place, but there are signs the idea is on the way to becoming reality. Albania has been rocked by nearly two weeks of fierce protests after fences and heavy machinery came to a sensitive wetland and preparatory work began on the tourism vision of Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 04:00The 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.
12th June 2026 03:57
The Guardian
Former South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to 30 years in prison for sending drones over Pyongyang
South Korea’s former president was given a life sentence in February for leading an insurrection with his 2024 martial law declaration
South Korea’s former-president Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for sending drones into North Korea, a move prosecutors argued was aimed at creating a pretext for his failed martial law declaration in 2024.
The Seoul central district court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset, the news agency said. Special prosecutors said back in April that Yoon’s effort to “fabricate wartime conditions” with the drones had undermined state security.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 03:21Supreme Court declines to let Alabama move forward with nitrogen gas execution
The Supreme Court declined a request from Alabama to move forward with a scheduled execution using nitrogen hypoxia, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissenting.
12th June 2026 03:04White House to appeal judge's order to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center
The board move marks a shift from a June 4 memo to staff saying email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts" or "Kennedy Center."
12th June 2026 02:57
The Guardian
Phil Mickelson reportedly ousted from golf club after alleged ‘inappropriate contact’ with woman
Report cites alleged contact with employee
Club says independent probe led to action
Mickelson spokesperson: matter resolved
Phil Mickelson has reportedly had his membership cancelled at a San Diego golf club following alleged “inappropriate contact” with a female employee.
Golf Digest first reported that Mickelson has had his membership terminated at The Farms following an alleged incident before he played there in the spring. The report, citing multiple sources, said the employee accused the 55-year-old of “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” towards her before a game of golf. Mickelson is said to have been challenged on the incident mid-round and duly left the property.
Continue reading... 12th June 2026 01:50Midwest battered by dangerous storms, 1 killed in Des Moines
Severe weather broke out in the Midwest on Thursday, day three of a multi-day threat. More than 120 million people are in the path of potentially dangerous storms. In Des Moines, a man was killed after a tree broke apart and fell on him as storms passed through. Rob Marciano reports and has the forecast.
12th June 2026 00:32SpaceX's first employee remains on mission: "Space is super important"
Tom Mueller, Elon Musk's first hire at SpaceX, expects the company's IPO to help power a new era in space exploration.
12th June 2026 00:25Proposed data center near Nashville Zoo sparks heavy pushback
Residents packed a public hearing in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, looking to stop a nearly 70,000-square-foot data center from being built near the Nashville Zoo.
12th June 2026 00:21Pirro's losses in Fed investigation should stay on the books, judge rules
In a scathing ruling, Judge James Boasberg denied U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro's request to vacate his earlier orders.
12th June 2026 00:19