Trump cancels signing of bipartisan housing bill, demanding voter ID provision

President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the signing of a bill aimed at increasing housing affordability an hour before he was due at the Capitol for the ceremony.

England v West Indies: Women’s T20 World Cup – live

Women’s World Cup updates from 6.30pm at Lord’s
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England XI: Amy Jones (wk), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (capt), Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell

Nasser is interesting about the pitch – says the ODI pitches are different to the Test pitches. We will see if the pace and bounce are different.

FBI, NYPD carry out searches tied to bribery investigation of police officials

The searches stemmed from an ongoing probe into the conduct of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, a source told CBS News.

Slate Auto says $24,950 electric truck will be profitable; targets positive cash flow next year

EV startup Slate Auto CEO Peter Faricy told CNBC that every vehicle the company produces will be gross margin positive.

Bedford crash occurred after train passed red signal, investigators believe

Interim report says other train it hit had halted on line because warning system wrongly caused it to brake

The train whose driver died in the Bedford rail crash passed a danger signal without stopping – while the train it hit had halted on the line because a fault in its warning system had caused it to brake, investigators believe.

An initial report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) into the crash, which also injured more than 100 people, said it was not yet clear whether the train’s automatic warning system (AWS) had alerted the driver of the southbound Luton airport express from Corby that he had passed a red signal.

Amazon's Zoox unveils redesigned robotaxi ahead of upcoming expansion

Zoox is updating its robotaxis as the Amazon division plots expansion in additional markets and prepares to charge for rides.

Fan of TV show Dexter killed and dismembered two men in Cornish woodland, jury hears

James Desborough told team searching for missing men he enjoyed gory scenes in serial killer series, prosecution says

A fan of the television serial killer show Dexter murdered two men before dismembering and burning their bodies in Cornish woodland surrounding the cabin where he lived, a jury has heard.

James Desborough, 40, allegedly killed Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman and hid their bodies in the dense undergrowth close to his cabin near St Austell.

Bill Gates said Epstein tried to use knowledge of his affairs "to pressure me"

Bill Gates testified June 10 for nearly six hours before the House Oversight Committee, which is examining the government's handling of the Epstein case and those with ties to him.

Trump's refusal to sign housing bill casts shadow over meeting with GOP senators

President Trump's decision to abruptly cancel the signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill marks the latest misalignment between him and GOP lawmakers.

Toyota gains on General Motors in new U.S. sales forecast: 'GM may be looking over their shoulder'

Toyota has notably leaned into hybrid vehicles while GM and others bet on all-electric vehicles, which saw lower-than-expected adoption from consumers.

Trump cancels housing bill signing, reiterates demand for SAVE America Act

President Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony on Wednesday for a housing affordability bill that passed Congress by wide bipartisan margins.

Trump-linked firm is lobbying for pardons and its first client already paid $500K

Mo Strategies, started by former Trump campaign and administration officials, recently expanded its practice into the lucrative world of pardon lobbying.

IOC scraps 130 years of tradition by paying athletes $10,000 grants at Olympics

• IOC sets up £106m fund for all athletes at Games

• Milano-Cortina competitors will be first to be paid

The International Olympic Committee has broken with 130 years of tradition by deciding to pay athletes to compete at the Olympic Games. The IOC revealed on Wednesday it had set up a $140m (£106m) fund that would pay a “fit for the future” grant of $10,000 to every athlete who competes in a Summer or Winter Games, starting with the 3,000 who took part in Milano-Cortina.

The grant will then be paid to the 11,000 athletes at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and for all future Olympics.

Postal Service says its cash crisis is delayed until at least 2031, but problems loom

The U.S. Postal Service is no longer set to be out of cash in 2027, the agency's head says. But its finances remain shaky as Trump officials keep putting it in political hot water.

Chemours to pay $450M in first federal "forever chemicals" settlement

Chemical maker Chemours allegedly discharged chemicals linked to cancer and other health conditions in three states.

ODNI under Pulte fires 6 staff, sends 45 back to home agencies

Those who were fired and sent to their home agencies didn't have tasks, or their assigned tasks were outdated, a source said.

Cerebras CEO says margin forecast was 'misunderstood' as stock plummets after earnings

AI chipmaker Cerebras has a staggered lock-up expiration that includes some shares becoming available for trading this week.

Marjorie Taylor Greene joins Tucker Carlson in breaking with Republican party

Former Georgia congresswoman on social media says she’s ‘fed up’ and done backing a party ‘that betrays its voters’

Former US congresswoman and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced that she is finished backing the Republican party, aligning herself with TV rightwinger Tucker Carlson after his own high-profile rejection of the GOP just months ahead of the midterm elections.

During a recent episode of the Can’t Be Censored podcast, Carlson said when he appeared as a guest there was “no chance” he would support the Republican party any more, after years of being a prominent booster for Donald Trump.

Qatar Airways puts Nations Championship sponsorship on hold due to fallout from war

• Middle East war uncertainty leads to delay for £80m deal

• November leg of new rugby tournament could feature branding

Qatar Airways has put its £80m sponsorship of rugby union’s new Nations Championship on hold due to the fallout from the war in the Middle East.

The Guardian has learned that while the state-owned airline remains committed to the deal, contracts have not been signed, and the inaugural edition of the new competition will kick off next week without a title sponsor.

Want to continue living at home as you age? Here’s what to consider

Safety concerns, caregiving needs, and, of course, finances all come into play when considering aging-in-place at home

My mom is the model boomer. At 77 years old, she runs her interior design business, organizes a book club, plays pickleball and dominates in mahjong. She is the picture of health; good luck matching the pace on her 5 mile walks. As is the trend for her generation, mom and her 83-year-old husband have chosen to continue living right where they are at home.

Circumstances led her to make age-in-place plans well ahead of her peers. When my dad died unexpectedly 22 years ago, my mom found herself widowed at 55 and living alone in a two-story, four-bedroom home. Mom wanted to remain in her community, so she downsized into a smart townhouse with a first-floor bedroom and bath, and nearby shops.

Supergirl review – sprightly and sparkling superhero yarn without the usual baffling DC backstory

Milly Alcock’s Supergirl joins with Eve Ridley’s Ruthye to fight an evil intergalactic human trafficker

The sexual politics of perceived female maturity has always been a problem in this particular set of superhero films. Quite why Kara Zor-El gets to be a “supergirl” while Kal-El gets to be a “superman”, despite not being that much older, is not obvious. Even that notorious wokester Friedrich Nietzsche went with the non-gender term “Übermensch”. The issue is in fact pre-emptively raised here in an early scene, but the dialogue breaks off without the question being explicitly resolved. Maybe there is a copyright issue. If our heroine really did have a title exactly corresponding to “Superman”, the spirit of Shirley Conran would no doubt angrily barge on to the screen with a phalanx of lawyers and a bag of defiantly unstuffed mushrooms.

Well, after her brief walk-on in last year’s muddled and boring Superman reboot feature, Supergirl now gets a sprightlier and sparkier film of her own, with 26-year-old Australian actor Milly Alcock in the lead. Rising British comer Eve Ridley, as gutsy alien teen Ruthye Marye Knoll, joins forces with SG to avenge the death of her dad at the hands of the evil intergalactic human trafficker Krem of the Yellow Hills, an odious pirate who kidnaps women for breeding stock purposes, played with watchable relish by Matthias Schoenaerts. SG is after Krem, too, because he has taken her adorable dog Krypto, of all the appalling things (though sadly Krypto hasn’t yet got his own little cape). Meanwhile, Jason Momoa turns in a cheerfully cigar-smoking man-mountain performance as Lobo the bounty hunter, who is schooled by Ruthye in how to escape from prison – the movie’s one clear feminist moment.

Can Slate's $24,950 electric pickup truck win over EV skeptics?

Backed by Jeff Bezos, Slate's EV pickup sells for about half the cost of a typical new vehicle. But car experts say its unconventional design may be a hurdle.

Red-hot strikers, errors and smart subs: why the 2026 World Cup is a goal-fest

This tournament is shaping up to be the most prolific since 1970 – if Messi, Mbappé and co can keep up the pace

• Golden Boot: World Cup 2026 top goalscorers
• All-time World Cup goalscorers

The 2026 World Cup has begun in very entertaining fashion. On Wednesday we reached the point at which all 48 nations had played twice, with only four of the matches ending goalless.

Even then, three of the 0-0 draws delivered unexpected points for Cape Verde, Curaçao and Iran against Spain, Ecuador and Belgium respectively. There was a gripping tension and excitement to override the lack of goals each time. England also drew 0-0 with Ghana in a rather more boring match, but you can’t have everything.

Nicola Jennings on Andy Burnham’s chance to state his case – cartoon

Vegas murder solved 20 years after man strangled with phone cord

DNA testing has identified a suspect in the 2005 murder of Daniel Zeisler in Las Vegas, according to a forensic lab.

AI helps read papyrus scroll burnt to crisp during Vesuvius eruption

Previously hidden text revealed without unrolling scroll discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour

The surviving part of an ancient scroll that was burnt to a crisp when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago has been virtually unwrapped and read with help from artificial intelligence.

Researchers uncovered 20 columns of previously hidden text covering more than a metre of charred papyrus without physically unrolling the scroll. The work discusses stoic philosophy on ethics, art and human behaviour and dates to the second or late-third century BC.

Colombia’s leftwing candidate concedes election to Trump-endorsed millionaire

Leftist Iván Cepeda conceded to far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella who won by razor-thin margin

The defeated leftwing candidate in Colombia’s presidential runoff has conceded to the far-right, Trump-admiring millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella.

Since Sunday night, the preliminary count had already pointed to a De la Espriella victory by a razor-thin margin of less than 1% of the vote.

‘Let the magic begin’: Ronaldinho signs for Serie C side Ravenna at age of 46

• Brazil legend last played professionally in 2015

• ‘I cannot wait to dance with the ball,’ he said

The Brazil great Ronaldinho has signed with the Italian Serie C club Ravenna at age 46, more than a decade after retiring.

“I cannot wait to dance with the ball,” he said. “Football has always been joyful for me, and I’m excited to bring that spirit to Ravenna. Let the magic begin!”

Will Texas' new top voting official be a 'disruptor'? Locals are preparing for it

Just ahead of closely contested midterms, Texas is about to get a new top voting official. Many locals there fear the frontrunner is a state lawmaker and pastor with no election experience.

Trump says he’s ordered investigation into oil companies over alleged price gouging

Trump says he instructed justice department to investigate oil firms over high gas prices amid Middle East conflict

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had instructed the US Department of Justice to investigate oil companies for alleged price gouging, accusing them of not lowering gas prices enough amid conflict in the Middle East.

“The big oil companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’ I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this,” Trump wrote in a social media post late on Tuesday night. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”

Job-dropping: why employees are turning down high-paying promotions

Climbing the career ladder may soon be a thing of the past, as workers prioritise their mental health and lifestyle. But job-dropping has its drawbacks …

Name: Job-dropping.

Age: About a month.

UK records its hottest June day, beating highs from 1957 and 1976

Temperature of 35.8C recorded in West Sussex, beating previous record of 35.6C, while France records hottest day nationally

• Europe heatwave live – latest updates

The UK has broken its all-time temperature record for June, as the World Health Organization chief says Europe’s heatwave is “putting lives at risk”.

Temperatures bolstered by climate breakdown hit 35.8C at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, according to provisional data from the Met Office.

Bill Gates testimony on Jeffrey Epstein ties released by House oversight panel

"I should never have met with Epstein in the first place," Bill Gates told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Alice Zaslavsky’s tacos with roasted celeriac and pickled jalapeño sauce – recipe

Gnarly, shrivelly celeriac is an unconventional taco filler. But peeled and roasted in Alice Zaslavsky’s recipe, the root vegetable yields an almost carne asada-like flavour

• Check out more Alice Zaslavsky recipes

Could it be time to consider the celeriac? If you’re looking for a tasty and left-of-field taco combo for the cooler months that’s full of flavour, low on cost and easily veganised, then it just well might.

Celeriac is firm and fibrous enough to hold its shape under heat, sweet enough to crack some caramelisation, and its centre yields to a creamy and fluffy mashed potato texture when cooked. The flavour is surprisingly meaty, which makes more sense when you consider how the parsley and liquorice notes intensify when caramelised, a bit like a bite of steak with herby sauce, or carne asada with salsa verde.

Germany’s Kai Havertz: ‘I make runs that look pointless but I’m creating space’

Forward on the misunderstanding of his role and momentum the four-time champions have put together for a winning World Cup campaign after topping their group

Kai Havertz is recalling the cocktail of feelings that swirled around his head in Budapest three-and-a-half weeks ago. Arsenal could not have lost the Champions League final in more agonising circumstances but the only available option was to straighten up and start smiling. They were due to set off on a bus around Islington for the Premier League trophy parade at 2pm the following day. Was this really the moment to bathe in a million onlookers’ adulation?

“To be honest, it was tough,” says Havertz, whose early goal against Paris Saint-Germain had looked a possible winner for nearly an hour. “After the match, I initially thought we would call the whole thing off. By the next morning, things looked different.”

South Korea’s biggest chipmaker SK Hynix plans to raise $29 billion via Nasdaq listing as soon as July 10

The company plans to issue 17.79 million new shares at a value of 45.45 trillion won ($29.65 billion).

Understanding 'masculinism,' a movement to restore the primacy of men

Masculinism is a belief that feminism emasculates men, and men should be in control while women stay at home raising children. The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis says the movement is becoming mainstream.

OpenAI unveils first chip as part of Broadcom deal in effort to 'build the full stack'

Eight months after announcing a custom chip deal, OpenAI and Broadcom are revealing their first joint project: Jalapeño.

US eases restriction on Iran's World Cup team, allowing travel 2 days before next match

The U.S. is easing its restrictions on Iran's World Cup team. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday the squad could travel into the country two days before its next match.

German swimming lake criticised for ban on non-German speakers

Policy at Heidesee lake in Halle introduced after cases in which visitors ignored rules and lifeguards’ instructions

An open air swimming lake in the eastern German city of Halle which has refused entry to bathers who don’t speak German has been told it must lift the ban or face possible legal action.

The Heidesee lake, a lake in a flooded former open-cast mine, recently introduced a check at the entrance to filter out visitors whose German was deemed not good enough to follow safety instructions.

Treasury Secretary Bessent says U.S. GDP growth can return to 3% before end of the year

Bessent sees his "3-3-3" plan as still in reach — 3% growth, a 3% deficit-to-GDP rate and a 3 million barrels per day increase in oil production.

Football Daily | The dullest game of the World Cup so far? Welcome back, England

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England, an apology. Football Daily and the wider English media may have previously depicted Thomas Tuchel’s lads as world champions in waiting after taking apart a Croatian team led by Luka Modric, 78, in a second-half Texan surge, but we were all so very wrong. Still, as the nation awoke following the goalless draw with Ghana, we had our England back. Tradition matters. Tea cups on the lawn, curled-up cucumber sandwiches, overpriced service stations, complaining about the weather, prime ministers departing office; familiarity is important to this nation’s psyche. England serving up the dullest game yet of the Geopolitics World Cup brought that self-same wash of familiarity. A corner of a foreign field that is forever England playing like a drain, a nation’s hopes sagging. England, our ruddy bloody England, welcome home, we’ve been expecting you.

One of the reasons that the Egyptian team beat New Zealand was that, for some reason, my countrymen were apparently so short of numbers they were forced to play Joe Bell in two different positions on the pitch at the same time. Physicists apparently call this phenomenon ‘quantum superposition’. I call it: ‘Why didn’t you ring me? I was at home doing nothing’” – Rod de Lisle.

Dior mashes up laid-back ‘indie sleaze’ with elegant luxury

Jonathan Anderson’s golden touch is on display in Paris with mix of metallics, brooches and ripped jeans

Fashion brands were tuned to the weather forecast in Paris in the run-up to the menswear shows this week – and aware temperatures would reach 40C on Wednesday. This weekend a decision was made – the Christian Dior show, originally scheduled for the afternoon, would be moved to 9am, to avoid the heat of the day.

The change in time certainly made the experience more palatable – as did (in possibly a fashion-week first) the cool towels handed to guests on arrival, umbrellas to block out the sun and personalised fans on seats. In the grounds of the grand Musée Nissim de Camondo, which is under renovation to reopen in 2030, those in the garden even had the benefit of the occasional breeze.

‘It’s giving me carnival vibes’: how Fête de la Musique became a must-visit event for the Black diaspora

Begun in 1982, the festival is now a magnet for Black Britons, who spill across Paris enjoying genres from amapiano to zouk. But can it resist commercialisation – and is it getting too big?

At 4.45pm in Châtelet, central Paris, a man leans out of his third-floor balcony, blasting EDM from his speakers. A makeshift cardboard sign is strapped to his decks, detailing his Instagram account in capital letters. On both sides of him, his friends hype him up from opened windows, and on the ground a crowd has started to gather. Completely spontaneous, slightly ridiculous and entirely alive, this is typical of Fête de la Musique.

Born in 1982 as a free, France-wide, government-sanctioned initiative to encourage citizens to pick up instruments and play for their neighbours, the Fête has long since outgrown its origins. Word of mouth, TikTok and the growing allure of French language music have propelled it to heights no arts ministry could have planned for, and Black Francophone culture has become the heartbeat of the weekend. Bouyon, shatta, zouk, French Afrobeats, trap, hip-hop and R&B are the sounds that have travelled farthest, enticing fresh crowds of Brits, predominantly Black, to Paris every June.

‘It’s defiance’: why some Bosniaks are reviving historic flag as they cheer on World Cup squad

Lilies making a vivid comeback alongside foreign-imposed flag, as younger generation wrestles with national identity

Before each game in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup adventure, Sarajevo has blossomed with primary colours – and two distinct flags.

One is the national flag dating to 1998: blue and yellow diagonal halves emblazoned with a slanting line of white stars. The other has golden lilies on a blue shield set against a white background, and has a far deeper history, steeped in centuries of complexity. Its striking resurgence as a national symbol, showcased during Bosnia’s first World Cup for 12 years, comes with its own powerful message.

The history of brilliantly terrible World Cup video games

As football fans revel in the real world tournament, its digital counterparts continue to stumble in capturing the ​hyped up ​atmosphere

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I come with a warning to all football fans: if you’ve been enjoying the World Cup enough to think, “I’d like to re-enact this on a football video game”, do not go to Netflix and play Fifa World Cup: Launch Edition, the officially licensed game of the tournament, which streams via your smart TV or computer. Developed by the virtually unknown Delphi Interactive, it’s a juddering, dated calamity, with sluggish controls (via your phone, once you’ve downloaded the app) and commentary courtesy of Clive Tyldesley that delivers all the excitement of a robotic train station announcement.

Until this, it was largely agreed that the worst World Cup football game in history was World Cup Carnival, the first official Fifa tie-in, which was released on various home computers in 1986. Publisher US Gold thought it had a deal with the Manchester studio Ocean Software to repurpose its acclaimed title Match Day, but the agreement fell through. With three months to go before Mexico 86, US Gold was forced to effectively rebadge a dire 1984 sim, World Cup Football, by the fading developer Artic. To add some value to the package, the game was released in a fancy big box complete with a fixtures chart, a World Cup facts poster and some flag stickers. Nobody was fooled – the World Cup Carnival was a critical and commercial disaster.

Democrats see midterm hope in reliably red Iowa as Trump approval ratings sag

The path back to a House majority could run through states such as Iowa, where Democrats in recent elections have struggled to win over rural voters.

Smash and grab: Wimbledon’s big hitters fear the overhead like no other shot

It is the stroke that looks easy but can be a nightmare for some of the world’s top players – even Novak Djokovic has the Djokosmash

Elite players are often at their most comfortable when speaking about the fine technical details of their game, but last month at the French Open, a straightforward question about the overhead smash initially drew little more than a regretful shake of the head from Novak Djokovic. “You’re talking to the wrong person,” he said, laughing.

One of the pillars of Djokovic’s legendary career is his complete game. In a sport where most players have a weak point, the 24-time grand slam champion has mastered nearly every stroke.

Louis Vuitton brings the beach to Paris in near 40C heat

Pharrell Williams’s menswear collection had a surf theme, while Saint Laurent models wore skinny suits

In temperatures close to 40C, most of Paris would have loved to go to the beach this week. Guests at the Louis Vuitton show got the look at least – the ground was covered with sand and there was a huge artificial wave as a backdrop.

The menswear collection, designed by Pharrell Williams, had a surf theme. There were branded wetsuits, Ugg-style boots and the chunky knits surfers wear at the end of a day. There were some jumpers and slouchy suiting, but the active lifestyle idea took centre stage with board shorts, caps, skate-style sneakers and a gilet. Some models carried surfboards branded with the Louis Vuitton logo and the final look was a model in a monogram wetsuit carrying a bike on his shoulder.

I was wary of driverless cars and their tech overlords – but they could give me a different future | Gabriel Stewart

For those of us who can’t drive due to disabilities, the drawbacks of these vehicles are vastly outweighed by the possibilities they offer

The robotaxis are coming! The robotaxis are coming! Well, actually, they’re already here. Until now they’ve been the stuff of science fiction, but this summer London’s streets have seen Silicon Valley-based company Waymo testing out self-driving cars. It hasn’t been the smoothest of introductions – from cars getting stuck in a cul-de-sac and repeatedly waking up the residents of Shoreditch to one driving into a crime scene, after a double stabbing in Harlesden.

The automated vehicles (AVs) have so far had trained drivers waiting behind the wheel to take control if needed, but will soon be shedding their human minders. Waymo and British rival Wayve are hoping to launch driverless minicabs in the capital this year, subject to approval from the British government and Transport for London, among others. A subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, Waymo currently operates ride-hailing services in 10 US cities, but London, with its narrow streets and densely populated centre, will serve as one of its biggest challenges yet.

Gabriel Stewart is a freelance writer and an intern on the Guardian’s positive action scheme

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.

Andy Burnham plans to move parts of No 10 operation to Manchester

Makerfield MP considering northern base for PM’s office among measures to devolve power away from London

Andy Burnham is planning to move parts of the No 10 operation to Manchester as part of measures to devolve power away from London.

The Makerfield MP will say next week he wants to transfer parts of the prime minister’s office to the north should he become prime minister later this year.

Ex-Oklahoma inmate who was nearly executed 3 times gets new trial

A new murder trial is scheduled for Richard Glossip, a former Oklahoma death row inmate who was released on bond last month after being on the brink of execution three times.

Making earwax melt and teeth rattle: the project returning music to our bodies

Listeners in the 17th and 18th centuries experienced music in a startlingly vivid – and physical – way. A fascinating academic project is wondering if we should let ourselves be much more moved, and get moving. Plus: a prime minister’s musical legacy?

Professor Bettina Varwig wants to get us moving – and feeling, and listening, but primarily moving. The University of Cambridge academic says classical audiences today are “asked to leave our breathing, pulsing, feeling bodies at the door”. In concert halls we are told not to move or make a sound, subdue all the things that make us human. Whatever you do, don’t give in to the things your body is viscerally telling you when you experience a piece like Bach’s St John Passion, the way the music churns emotions and agitates your sinful heart. You have to listen passively, you can’t sigh or cry or clap in the wrong place, even if that’s what your whole being is telling you that you need to do to communicate the corporeal and spiritual pain the music is putting you through.

Varwig dreams of a different world. Her research focuses on how 17th and 18th-century listeners responded to music. “When you read about how music affected listeners in Bach’s time, their testimonies are striking in their bodily intensity,” she says. “Music contracted their innards and made their hearts leap. It could taste like vinegar in your throat. It could melt your earwax. It could draw your soul out of your body.”

Three New York Democrats backed by Mamdani win House seat primaries; 2 incumbents lose

Two candidates backed by the Democratic Socialist of America won their primaries, a year after the DSA-backed Zohran Mamdani won New York mayor's race.

German war hero Annika at her farm for struggling veterans: Jan Kraus’s best photograph

‘She was in Germany’s biggest battle since the second world war, but the army took years to recognise her PTSD. Annika now runs a farm with pigs and geese where struggling veterans come to stay’

Annika Schröder’s story is an amazing one. She was in the military here in Germany for almost 20 years. She joined when she was young, adventurous and needed to earn money – they let her do fun things like jump out of an aeroplane and drive a tank. But then she got deployed to Afghanistan, and within a month her unit got sent on a rescue mission, which is now infamous as the Good Friday Battle – the biggest German military battle since the second world war. She recovered two dead soldiers and one who was heavily wounded, but went on to develop severe post-traumatic stress disorder. It took the Bundeswehr (German army) over a decade to fully recognise that. Meanwhile she was discharged because they said she wasn’t fit to do her job any more. In 2025 there was a television documentary made about her life.

She now gets a full army pension that she can live off and has started what’s called a veteran farm outside Leipzig, where she keeps pigs and geese and two dogs. This image was taken in her kitchen there. Living self-sufficiently helps with her PTSD and while the dog in the picture isn’t an official support dog, it helps her feel calm.

Trump claims Iran has assured U.S. there won't be tolls on the Strait of Hormuz

There will be no tolls, insurance costs, or charges of any kind for ships looking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said.

Tartan Army in the US and heatwave in Europe: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

American boy attacked by shark in Bahamas while swimming with brother

The boy was on a tour of the Bahamas' Exuma Cays with his family when the attack occurred, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

The Warriors come out to Broadway with Lin-Manuel Miranda musical

Miranda and Eisa Davis’s concept album based on the 1979 film is to be realised for the stage, co-directed by Jenny Koons and Hamilton’s Andy Blankenbuehler

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’s concept album based on The Warriors, the cult novel and film about warring New York gangs, is to become a Broadway musical next year.

The album, Warriors, was released to critical acclaim in 2024 and followed the eponymous Coney Island clan’s odyssey back to the Bronx after being falsely accused of killing the leader of the city’s biggest gang. The original story was written by Sol Yurick, whose 1965 book was inspired by Xenophon’s ancient epic Anabasis, and it became a Walter Hill action film in 1979.

‘The family rift is as strong as ever’: how Brexit rocked our relationships

Remain voters recall how they dealt with division over 2016 referendum – and how they feel about their loved ones now

Ten years on from the EU referendum, we asked people how their voting experience had affected their relationships with friends and family.

Some spoke of painful family divisions that emerged between leave and remain voters, while others shared how, despite their political differences, they were able to move on with magnanimity.

Wounded soldiers, families accuse Army of downplaying war injuries

Soldiers say the Army disregarded warnings about thin defenses and ignored requests for medical supplies. Now they question whether the Army is being transparent about their injuries.

Wounded soldiers, families accuse Pentagon of downplaying injuries from Iranian strike

Survivors and their families are accusing the Pentagon of downplaying the injuries service members suffered during the deadly Iranian drone strike in Kuwait on March 1. In an exclusive interview with CBS News' Jonah Kaplan, a wounded soldier said he "absolutely" believes the Army and the Pentagon have tried to downplay the incident.

From military brats to birthright citizens: how USMNT’s magnificent mess became its strength

For years the United States sought a single soccer identity. Instead, its best team emerged from a patchwork of backgrounds, cultures and development paths

In 1993, the United States Soccer Federation handed a contract to Rinus Michels. But the Dutch godfather of Total Football, operationalized through his on-field avatar Johan Cruyff, was not hired to coach the national team, or to coach anybody, really.

By this time, Michels, who managed the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League in 1979 and 1980, had already turned down the chance to manage the US men’s national team twice. Once, in 1983, when it would be entered, disastrously, into the NASL as Team America. And once more in 1991, when Bora Milutinović was appointed instead.

New York primaries show Zohran Mamdani has lost none of his political magic

The New York Knicks might have won in five, but the city’s mayor did it in three: a trio of candidates backed by Mamdani appear set to land seats in US Congress

• US politics live – latest updates

A man or a movement? That was the question being asked when Zohran Mamdani gambled his political capital on Tuesday’s elections in New York.

The answer from voters was emphatic: they prefer Mamdani and his brand of democratic socialism to the Democratic party establishment and its lukewarm version of capitalism. America’s biggest city has swung even further to the left.

Bahraini award to UK envoy shows ‘our diplomats are up for grabs’, says peer

Rights activists call UK ambassador ‘morally compromised’ for accepting honour from Bahraini king in apparent breach of Foreign Office rules

The British ambassador to Bahrain has been accused of breaching government rules over accepting an award by the Gulf state’s king, a move critics suggest signals diplomats and civil servants are “up for grabs”.

This week, the ambassador, Alastair Long, received the Order of Bahrain from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, in recognition of his diplomatic tenure, which human rights activists and politicians say is in “direct breach” of the Foreign Office’s rules on accepting foreign awards.

Hail, flooding and large wildfires just some of dangerous weather hitting across the U.S.

Hail almost the size of grapefruits pounded the Texas Panhandle as torrential rain slammed parts of the state and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, at least five wildfires continue to burn in Utah. Rob Marciano reports.

Game of stones: how paintings of marble reveal a world of magical medieval mysticism

From trippy swirls to blood-soaked slabs, a new book mines gothic and renaissance art for the supernatural significance of the precious rock

When we think of marble, we think of it as a desirable commodity: of luxurious interior decoration, from deluxe kitchens to the most corporate of foyers – and of a roaring global market. Yet in the centuries prior to the enlightenment brought about by science and the birth of geology, marble captured the popular imagination as a mysterious, living structure with spiritual properties.

It is a way of thinking that’s alien from today’s knowledge, informed by the comfortable conclusions of empirical science: we know marble is a metamorphic rock created millions of years ago under extreme pressure and heat, deep below the Earth’s crust. In his new book, Divine Presence, creative director, author and one-time Wolfgang Tillmans muse Karl Kolbitz invites us to consider a pre-science mentality, when civilisations believed in the reality of miracles, dragons, astrology and the governance of an unknown but omnipresent divinity as a means of making sense of the world.

France confirms first Ebola case in doctor who had worked in DRC

French health ministry says patient’s contacts are being traced and that risk to European public is very low

The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in France, the country’s health ministry has said, in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission to an area affected by the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The patient was transferred to a specialist facility and was in a stable condition, the ministry said in a statement. “All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.”

The weirdest things a leak revealed about Peter Thiel’s secret club | Tayo Bero

The Dialog society grades its attendees on a hidden scale, tackles issues from sex to world wars, and offers matchmaking

What would happen if roughly 200 members of the global elite gathered every year for a top secret retreat? What would they do? What would they talk about? Who would be on the guest list?

Well, data leaked by the Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew (who also brought us the justice department’s no-fly list back in 2023) is shedding new light on Dialog, the private social club co-created by the former PayPal boss Peter Thiel and the angel investor Auren Hoffman.

Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist

How to turn under- or over-ripe strawberries into a brilliant no-churn ice-cream – recipe | Waste not

Two problems, one delicious and simple solution …

Over- and under-ripe strawberries have opposite problems but the same solution: roast them. This intensifies their flavour, and also allows you to add sugar to sweeten flavourless, under-ripe fruit, while at the same time cooking away any blemishes or unpleasant soft patches.

Star Fox Review: Can't quite teach an old Fox new tricks

The Switch 2 Star Fox remake comes with high-effort visuals and a fun battle mode, but its campaign feels stuck in the past.

Greetings from sweltering Switzerland

On the waterfront in Lucerne, Switzerland, soccer fans watched jumbo TVs showing a World Cup match played an ocean away. But the air felt more like the tropics.

Meta pauses employee tracker for AI training amid privacy concerns

About 1,600 workers signed petition against tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and computer screen content

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash.

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens in order to collect data for training its AI models.

Pass the sick bag! Why I published a book on the art of the airline essential

One evoked a hellish trip from Delhi after passengers had drunk unsanitary water. Another conjoured up an era when planes were thick with cigarette smoke. And one man collected them all …

If, a few years ago, someone told me that I would spend most of my 2026 scanning hundreds of airline sick bags, I would have wondered what had gone wrong with my life. Especially if you also told me I’d become a keen enthusiast for the beauty of their designs. But, as it turns out, making my new book Sicko has been one of the most joyful projects I’ve ever done.

It all began in 2023, when I met Trevor Cunningham. Back then I was making a film about his support group called Ask Trev – a free advice and guidance service staffed entirely by people called Trevor (there’s an astonishing 140 of them contributing to what he calls “a Trevorlution”).

Tech companies would have to pay AI data center energy costs under bill moving in Congress

A House subcommittee may advance legislation Wednesday to make tech companies pay the energy costs for operating data centers to power AI.

IAEA chief says inspectors will visit nuclear sites under Iran-U.S. interim deal

The head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency has signaled that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a day after the U.S. and Iran offered contradictory remarks about the issue.

Congress passes major housing bill. And, Mamdani-backed candidates sweep NYC primaries

Congress has passed the largest housing affordability bill in decades. And all three candidates endorsed by New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani have won their primaries. 

‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison

Advocates sound alarm after zines were used as evidence to convict protesters of terrorism charges tied to 2025 protest at Texas ICE facility

It’s the day after Mother’s Day, the first one Elizabeth Soto has spent apart from her three children. Sitting in jail in Wichita Falls, Texas, her face is washed out by the overhead fluorescent lighting, and her dingy jumpsuit blends into the cinder block walls surrounding her.

Speaking through a glass separator, she tells me she celebrated the holiday with her children over the jail’s video-call system while they had dinner at their grandmother’s. “I’ve been a full-time mother all of their lives,” she said. “I’ve never been away from them.”

‘No one believed it’: how a YouTube video accidentally proved Libya’s sand cat really does exist

Wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir had no idea what he had found until scientists started to get in touch

When wildlife photographer Mohammed Almuntasir uploaded 18 seconds of footage to YouTube, he thought little more about the small, pale cat seen digging a hollow in the sand in the remote dunes of south-west Libya.

The video, however, posted in 2017, turned out to be the first material evidence that the sand cat (Felis margarita), the world’s only felid adapted to true desert conditions, existed in the country.

Why off-duty cops in second jobs ‘kill and die more’ in recession-hit Argentina

Growing number of cases involve police working as rideshare drivers while carrying government-issued guns

When the gap between his salary and his family’s basic expenses began widening dramatically, Diego – like many other Argentinians – started working as a rideshare driver on top of his day job. He usually does a few hours at the end of his 12-hour shift; and more on his days off.

It would be just another story from recession-ridden Argentina, but for the fact that Diego is a federal police officer.

‘Battle hardened’ Ukraine has role to play in defending Europe, says ex-Nato chief

Country is ‘militarily the strongest in Europe’, says Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who wants coalition ready in case US pulls troops

The US’s attitude to the defence of Europe has changed permanently and a European coalition of the willing, including Ukraine, should be established to defend the continent, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former Nato secretary general, has said.

A coalition of the willing comprising 45 states is already in theory poised to act as a reassurance and training force inside Ukraine in the event of a peace settlement with Russia.

France suffers major power outage as Europe sizzles in record-breaking heat

A heat-related power outage left around 68,000 homes without electricity in western France as record-breaking heat sweeps Europe.

Israeli former leaders and security chiefs threaten legal action over ‘Jewish terrorism’

Leaked letter to PM and military demands action to stop violence against Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Dozens of Israelis from the country’s security, political and cultural elite have threatened legal action against their government over support for Jewish terrorism and an “ideology of ethnic cleansing” in the occupied West Bank, according to a leaked letter.

Two former prime ministers, former heads of all the Israeli security services, former judges, a Nobel laureate and the country’s most revered living novelist were among the signatories to a “final warning” over violence against Palestinians.

Political consultant on whether Trump is losing GOP support after war powers vote

NPR's A Martínez asks Republican political consultant Doug Heye about whether Trump is losing support among congressional Republicans after the Senate voted to limit his war powers on Iran.

Philippines blocks GoreBox gaming app after school shooting kills three

Investigators says one of two teenagers who allegedly opened fire on students at high school was regular player

Philippine authorities have temporarily blocked the online gaming app GoreBox days after a rare school shooting in the south-east Asian country killed three students and injured 20 others.

Investigators said that one of the two teenagers accused of opening fire on students at San Jose National high school in Tacloban city had regularly played the game, which allows players to use various weapons and depicts graphic violence.

Millions of stars light up largest and most detailed shot of Milky Way’s centre

The glittering image, taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope, heralds a new age of planetary discovery

The dazzling sight of more than 60m stars at the heart of Earth’s galaxy has been captured by a space telescope designed to reveal the mysterious dark forces that shape the universe.

Astronomers used the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope to capture the largest, most detailed image ever taken of the visible light pouring from the centre of the Milky Way. The telescope’s camera is rare in being sensitive enough to separate individual stars in the crowded region known as the galactic bulge.

Louisiana man becomes first in region functionally cured of sickle cell disease

Daniel Cressy, 23, says path leading to completion of curative gene therapy is his ‘greatest blessing’

A young south-eastern Louisiana man recently became the first person in his region to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease, clearing the way for him to continue pursuing his dream of a career as a commercial pilot, according to his medical team.

Daniel Cressy’s successful completion of curative gene therapy at Manning Family Children’s hospital in New Orleans on Monday generated a measure of optimism within his state, which produces more cases of sickle cell disease per capita than any other in the US, according to the medical center.

What are Trump’s connections to the Tate brothers exactly? | Rebecca Solnit

According to Heidi Blake in the New Yorker, the Tate and Trump circles have overlapped at Mar-a-Lago. What does that mean?

Donald Trump has told many stories and denied many others about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. But those questions center on Epstein’s actions and crimes, which Trump says he denounces and wasn’t a part of. The White House has moved heaven, earth, the truth and much else to protect Trump from what the Epstein files might tell us about him. But there is a larger question about what Trump makes of Epstein’s values. Does he reject them, or does he endorse and embrace them? Looking to his administration’s ties to Andrew Tate may be instructive.

According to Heidi Blake’s thorough investigation of Tate in the New Yorker earlier this month, the Trump administration intervened last year to buffer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan from the consequences of their criminal charges in Romania. The Tate and Trump circles, she also reports, have overlapped at Mar-a-Lago.

Western Australian police to review response to Virginia Giuffre domestic violence dispute

Police will investigate how they interacted with Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent victims, after her family requested the review

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Police in Western Australia have agreed to review how they interacted with Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent victims of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, in the lead-up to her death a year ago by suicide.

Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts, told ABC radio on Wednesday morning that they had written to both the state coroner and the police requesting an investigation into how police handled a domestic violence dispute she was involved in before she took her life on her WA farm last April at age 41.

Ukraine is raising the cost of war for Russia — and testing Putin's resolve

A string of political victories and deep-strike successes has bolstered confidence in Ukraine amid its long-running war with Russia.

‘You can’t make billions without hurting people’: Cory Doctorow on Elon Musk, the AI bubble and bosses’ cruel fantasies

The writer who coined the word ‘enshittification’ tells us why AI will never deliver what it promises – and why it still appeals so much to those in power

A “centaur”, in automation theory, is a person assisted by a machine, and a “reverse centaur”, hero of Cory Doctorow’s new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, is a “human who is conscripted into acting as an assistant to a machine”. Every warehouse worker who ever had to urinate in a water bottle because they couldn’t otherwise meet the fulfilment targets set by an algorithm is a reverse centaur. Reaching into the future, everyone who has to sit in a self-driving truck to make sure it doesn’t crash, presumably on minimum rather than truck-driver wages, is a reverse centaur; as is every lawyer no longer on lawyer’s money checking Gemini’s command of precedent, every indie band scraping a living doing covers of AI-generated hits, and so on. That, anyway, is the promise: AI is coming for your job, and it is coming for your kids’ jobs, and there is no point fighting it because the future’s already here.

Wiping out the world of work, and with it our ability to sustain ourselves and live autonomous lives, is only the beginning, if you listen to AI’s architects. Elon Musk has called it the single greatest threat to human civilisation, Sam Altman has said it will “most likely lead to the end of the world” and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, memorably forecast that AI would come to see us the way we see animals: cute to have around but ultimately a resource to be exploited. “AI people claim they’re about to create God, by teaching words to a word-guessing programme,” Doctorow says. “It’s grandiose.”

5 years after the Surfside condo collapse, the toll of the tragedy remains

Surfside, Florida, is marking five years since a beachfront condominium collapsed, killing 98 people. It was one of the largest structural failures in U.S. history.

Kin by Tayari Jones review – a haunting tale of motherlessness

Two friends, united by their missing mothers, come of age in segregation-era America, in a cautionary tale about the limits of love

Annie and Vernice (or Niecy, as Annie calls her) are “cradle friends”, brought up in their home town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana, in 1950s America. The protagonists are defined by their motherlessness and their diverging drives to escape their individual tragedies and pre-written destinies. In this haunting novel of motherhood and sisterhood, Tayari Jones writes into unknowability – how far we can know another person, or indeed oneself.

The pair, who speak in alternating chapters, are “not the same, but still the same”. Each is tended to by mother figures – grandmothers, aunts – and gives meaning to each other’s lonely, questioning existence: “When you don’t have your mother, you don’t really know who you are.” Annie’s mother has abandoned her but is apparently alive in Memphis, and she makes it her obsession to reconcile with her; Niecy’s, on the other hand, is lost for ever, murdered by Niecy’s father. Where the former is holding out hope, the latter has none; and herein lies the fork in their futures. While Niecy chooses the sensible, stable life path – college, a traditional marriage – Annie spirals from tragedy to tragedy, consumed by thoughts of her missing mother. Call it destiny, or a kind of grieving.

Dear You review – enjoyable Chinese romdram crosses generations as it tracks down a missing husband

Director Lan Hongchun’s family saga feels like a good old-fashioned novel as it goes in search of a man who has disappeared in Thailand

With a story that ranges from the 1940s to the present and, although mostly set in Bangkok, revolving largely around Teochew-speaking Chinese from Guangdong, this generations-spanning drama feels like a good old-fashioned novel. A romantic beach read, perhaps, the kind in which coincidences and random accidents cause misunderstandings that last for decades until the truth is finally revealed. It’s sentimental in places, sure, but there’s also a fair bit of salty, bawdy humour to cut the sweetness, lashings of period colour, and impressively naturalistic performances from a mostly non-professional cast. All that has helped to make this an unexpectedly large box-office hit in the People’s Republic last month; and for non-Chinese or Thai rom-dram aficionados anywhere, it’s well worth looking out for.

As the story opens in the 21st century in the Chinese city of Shantou, octogenarian Shurou (Iap Sok-jiu) is celebrating her 87th birthday, surrounded by adoring friends, family and neighbours who revere the matriarch, not least for managing to raise three kids on her own in the 1940s and 50s. Her shifty grandson Xiaowei (Hiau-ui), however, is less of a solid citizen and, having got into debt, he decides to travel to Bangkok to find out if Shurou’s husband Zheng Musheng, not seen for decades, could help out since he’s reputed to have made a fortune out there, endowed schools all over Thailand, and had a second family after abandoning Shurou.

World Cup 2026: third-place table, who has qualified and who needs what?

With the group stage hurtling towards its end we look at who needs what to make the knockout phase

Teams level on points are separated, in order, by head-to-head points; head-to-head goal difference; head-to-head goals scored; overall goal difference; overall goals scored; disciplinary points; Fifa ranking.

The American Experiment review – Tom Hanks’ history of the US is absolutely packed with big names

Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Mike Pence … the heavyweight politicians stack up in this sincere biopic of the United States. It’s so pointedly wholesome it’s like drinking a kale smoothie on a wellness retreat

The Netflix homepage describes The American Experiment to potential viewers unwilling to read more than four words as “Sincere. Informative. Documentary series”. Well, my goodness, is it ever that, that and that! The five, hour-plus episodes about the creation of the United States of America to mark its 250th anniversary are as sincere and informative as you could wish. Possibly, at times, too much so.

Ken Burns fans can probably sit this one out. This is not a time for flair and idiosyncrasy. This is a time for self-consciously milestone TV executive produced by Tom Hanks that is so carefully bipartisan, so cognisant of the stains on the country’s history, so balanced in every conceivable way, that it feels like the televisual equivalent of consuming a kale smoothie on a wellness retreat.

24-hour parks and alcohol bans: what cities could learn from Paris’s ‘heatwave mode’ | Helen Massy-Beresford

Following a devastating heatwave in 2003 that killed 15,000, France has adopted four alert levels to help people cope with extreme temperatures

• Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris

Over the weekend, as evening fell on the hilly (and, crucially, shady) Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, one of Paris’s most popular green spaces, the joyfully chaotic Fête de la musique – a summer solstice celebration of music in all its forms – got under way, with competing DJs starting their sets in nearby cafes.

It was stiflingly hot and picnickers were cooling down with water, juice or alcohol-free beer – or at least, they should have been. The Paris authorities banned the consumption of alcohol in public spaces (apart from cafe terraces) during the festival, just one of the measures they can put in place to keep citizens safe once the city reaches vigilance rouge canicule – red heatwave alert.

Helen Massy-Beresford is a British journalist and editor who lives in Paris

The Family Man by James Lasdun review – the killings that shocked America

Alex Murdaugh’s conviction for the murder of his wife and son was recently overturned. Where does the truth lie?

In March 2023, 54-year-old Alex Murdaugh received two life sentences for murdering his wife and younger son at the family’s hunting lodge in Colleton County, South Carolina. Since the early 20th century, three generations of his family had been elected as state prosecutors in the “Lowcountry”, a sprawling stretch of lush, rancid swampland on the southern eastern seaboard, marked by severe economic and social inequality. The Murdaughs were the people who could send you to jail or the electric chair, all the while maintaining a veneer of good ol’ southern gentility.

In parallel with these public duties, the family ran a large law firm, specialising in personal injury. In a land of chronic alcoholism and rusty farm equipment, the Murdaughs conducted a brisk business in multimillion-dollar settlements for those who had lost a limb, a parent or their cognitive faculties thanks to someone else’s carelessness. But instead of passing on these life-changing wins to vulnerable clients, Alex Murdaugh used them to fund a lavish lifestyle, featuring big cars, prostitutes, opioid pills and a military-grade private arsenal. For good measure, he also embezzled many millions from his legal partners.

A moment that changed me: A telegram arrived – and I had to choose between my head and my heart

Should I follow the man of my dreams to work in a club in Tehran? Or take up a place at an elite university? Thankfully, my dad gave me advice I’ve lived by ever since

My parents did not expect me to land a place at university. I was not considered academic enough. And anyway, I was a girl. Instead, I was being primed for marriage. My mother didn’t see anything wrong with this. Born in Britain between the two world wars, when the scarcity of men had made them precious commodities, she had left school at 14, part of a generation often brought up to believe that matrimony was the only guarantee of a secure social and financial future. While romance and indeed love were a bonus, the unwritten clause in a marital contract stipulated that a wife must play her supportive part at home while the husband went out to work. Without the necessary qualifications for the role, the entire agreement risked failure.

In 1972, I was at college studying for my A-levels, but in the holidays my mother enlisted me on various “finishing” courses. Her intention was that I acquire the domestic skills to enhance my spousal eligibility, including how to cook, carve a roast and drive a Jeep to the shops, in case I landed a nice gentry farmer. Only now, almost 40 years after her death, do I realise how much she regretted the lack of educational and career opportunities open to her. Only now do I sympathise with her subconscious envy when they were offered to her daughter.

Sami Tamimi’s recipes for chermoula fish with olive salsa, and spicy, Palestinian-style potatoes

The classic Moroccan marinade works brilliantly with oily fish, and is made for lazy summer dining, especially if served with chilli potatoes alongside

On warmer days, I want to cook simpler yet bolder food. Meals become fresher, less heavy and more instinctive, using fewer ingredients but stronger flavours. Everything feels relaxed and generous, which is why I’m drawn to chermoula fish and batata harra, full of garlic, herbs, chilli, citrus, cumin and smoke. In other words, food that’s made for outdoors, slow afternoons and warm summer-night gatherings with loved ones.