World Cup Q&A: our US soccer team answers your questions on stadiums, Lalas, hydration breaks and more – live

As we near the end of the group stage, writers from our newly expanded US soccer team Alexander Abnos, Pablo Maurer and Jeff Rueter are now online answering your World Cup questions

Post yours below the line now

AncientFootsteps asks: Many of the pitches used appear to be quite small (perhaps because they are designed for American football which uses a narrower field). Is this really the case? And, if true, are teams taking this into account in their selection and tactics?

Jeff: Field dimensions are uniform across every venue at every World Cup, so that’s 105 meters (115 yards) long by 68 meters (74 yards) wide. The difference, as you’ve spotted, is that their stationing in an NFL stadium shows just how narrow those fields are by really cutting into the space around the pitch. Throw-ins and corner kicks look claustrophobic. Fans are perhaps unusually close to the benches. There are no expansive running tracks to serve as a dryland moat, as there were at Italia 90. I think a lot of casual American sports fans are coming to appreciate the amount of space available in this sport – just wait until they learn you can comfortably fit a regulation basketball court inside one penalty box.

Jeff: Surprise: Cape Verde! I’ll be gutted if they can’t advance after famous draws against Spain and Uruguay – though I expect them to beat Saudi Arabia.

Disappointment: I had Ecuador into the business end because of how stout their defence is, but I completely overlooked the lack of chance creation and alternative scoring threats beyond Enner Valencia.

England v New Zealand: third men’s cricket Test, day one – live

Cricket updates from Trent Bridge, play at 11am BST
Read The Spin | England reach WT20 World Cup semis

Email! “In the pre-match photo of Ben Stokes, he’s batting in a sleeveless top (and probably shorts as well) — presumably what he’s most comfortable wearing while doing a physical activity in this weather,” begins Smylers. “Has there been any discussion of relaxing player kit requirements during the heatwave? I’m in an office where we’ve been allowed to wear shorts this week; my children’s schools have told pupils to come in in PE kit rather than their normal uniforms. When the rest of us are making adjustments, it seems curious for profession cricketers to have to play wearing more clothes than they need to. Is it just tradition?”

I guess it’s mainly tradition and perhaps the need to slide. But as a lifelong member of the shorts-wearing community, I’d say that, when it’s really hot, the feeling is more one of freedom than of cooling so, once they’re focused, maybe it doesn’t make too much difference.

Ben Jennings on a new idea for ‘carbon capture’ – cartoon

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World Cup 2026: car hits crowd in Mexico, Scotland face waiting game and more – live

⚽ Latest news from day 15 | Vehicle hits crowd in Mexico
⚽ World Cup Q&A: post your questions for our US team
⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail John

Mauricio Pochettino’s US team are having a great time at home – but the last couple years haven’t been all that easy, writes Jeff Rueter.

For more permutations chat, click below:

Extreme heat grips Europe as UK hits new June record, France shuts down nuclear reactors and deaths rise across continent – live

Heatwave-related deaths climb in Spain, Italy and France as continent battles another day of extreme temperatures

Farryn Stock

Over in the UK, South East Water has announced a temporary hosepipe ban in Kent amid growing strain from the ongoing heatwave (31C today, 33C tomorrow).

“To safeguard that shared supply and prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we sadly need to ask our communities to not use their hosepipes immediately. We are deeply sorry for the disruption this causes, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect Kent’s water.”

UN-backed plan to free ships trapped in strait of Hormuz rejected by Iran

Blocking of proposal backed by Oman signals new threat to free passage through strait vital to world economy

Iran has rejected UN-backed plans for the mass evacuation of ships through the strait of Hormuz , creating a new threat to the free passage of commercial ships through the strait.

The proposal, backed by Oman, was potentially the first phase of a broader Omani proposal to consult on setting up a new management of the strait based on voluntary fees and modelled on the Malacca and Singapore strait mechanism.

Chrissie Evert announces her ovarian cancer has returned

American tennis legend Chris Evert announced that her ovarian cancer had returned in a social media post Thursday.

Supreme Court limits Roundup cancer suits against Bayer's Monsanto

Glyphosate, used in Roundup weedkiller, is the most commonly used weedkiller in agriculture, and it has long been linked to cancer claims.

Senegal’s World Cup is hanging by a thread after comedy of errors on and off pitch

Pape Thiaw’s side need to beat Iraq handsomely to progress from tough group after persisting issue of poor governance

As the most successful president in Fédération Sénégalaise de Football (FSF) history, Augustin Senghor was looking forward to overseeing the Lions of Teranga’s World Cup campaign, after doing the same for those in Russia and Qatar. But the 60-year-old lawyer, who doubles as the mayor of Gorée island – the point from where large numbers of Africans were shipped to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade – surprisingly lost his job in last August’s FSF elections.

“After losing the election I decided to stay quiet and not talk too much about football, to allow the new administration to take charge, with my cooperation and full support,” Senghor told the Guardian. His achievements and the largely professional manner in which the FSF was led during his presidency have become a talking point in Senegal as the comedy of errors in governance by the new FSF administration, led by Abdoulaye Fall, comes to light.

Iranian leader scoffs at Trump claim that Iran must buy U.S. farm products with unfrozen assets

"The only crop we're harvesting is what you planted: decades of mistrust," Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a social media post.

Israeli forces arrest Palestinian ‘doctor of the poor’

Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a 71-year-old physician well known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested in the occupied West Bank

Israeli forces on Sunday arrested a prominent 71-year-old Palestinian physician known as the “doctor of the poor” in a pre-dawn raid on his home in the occupied West Bank, prompting widespread condemnation.

Dr Mazen Al-Rantisi, a physician widely known for providing care to low-income Palestinians, was arrested before dawn at his home in the al-Tira neighbourhood of Ramallah.

GM reveals 2027 GMC Sierra pickup with new V-8 engines, redesigned styling

The new GMC Sierra trucks are crucial to GM's sales and earnings, especially highly profitable luxury Denali and off-road AT4 models.

‘Constitutional coup’ claims as Zimbabwe senate approves extending presidential term

Opposition figures fear changes will further tighten 83-year-old president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s hold on power

Zimbabwe is on the brink of amending its constitution to give the president more time in office, a change that the government says will bring stability but that opponents have labelled a “constitutional coup”.

The upper house of Zimbabwe’s parliament voted on Wednesday 75-4 in favour of the constitutional amendments, which will allow President Emmerson Mnangagwa to stay in office until 2030 by extending presidential terms from five to seven years.

Micron is up 13% after blockbuster earnings, but has pulled back from highs

The company's revenue more than quadrupled from $9.3 billion a year earlier to $41.46 billion, it reported on Wednesday

Unison chief endorses Ed Milband for chancellor under a Burnham government

Exclusive: head of trade union backs energy secretary to replace Rachel Reeves, but two other big unions are opposed

• UK politics live – latest updates

The boss of Britain’s biggest trade union has endorsed Ed Miliband for chancellor, as the race to take over the Treasury under a potential Andy Burnham government intensifies.

Andrea Egan, the general secretary of Unison, has backed the energy secretary, who is one of two frontrunners to replace Rachel Reeves in No 11, but who is being opposed by two other large unions – GMB and Unite.

Judge blocks Trump executive order on mail-in voting

President Trump signed an executive order in March requiring the creation of a list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and imposing stricter mail-in ballot rules.

Supreme Court lets Trump strip deportation protections from Syrians, Haitians

The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration can move forward with its efforts to strip more than 356,000 Syrian and Haitian immigrants of temporary protections.

Scenes of destruction after deadly earthquakes in Venezuela – visual guide

Rescue efforts under way after buildings reduced to rubble in capital and along northern coast

Hundreds of people are feared to have died and thousands have been injured in Venezuela’s largest earthquake in more than a century.

Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit 39 seconds apart near the town of Morón.

Venezuela declares state of emergency after deadly twin earthquakes

Second quake, at magnitude 7.5, was most powerful to strike the country since 1900, collapsing buildings in capital

• Venezuela earthquake – latest updates

Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has declared a state of emergency after the country was struck by two powerful earthquakes that collapsed dozens of buildings and killed at least 164 people, a toll that it is feared could rise significantly.

Rodríguez said 971 people were injured and more casualties were expected. The two strong earthquakes hit within a minute of each other shortly after 6pm local time on Wednesday. The first had a magnitude of 7.2 and the second 7.5, the most powerful to strike the country since 1900, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Oil price falls to pre-Iran war levels as more tankers exit strait of Hormuz

Stock markets on both sides of Atlantic up as concerns ease over prospect of another inflationary shock

• Business live – latest updates

Oil prices have fallen to pre-Iran war levels as more oil tankers exited the strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell to a low of $72.24 a barrel on Thursday, slightly lower than the day before the US and Israel launched missile attacks on Tehran on 28 February. Prices have fallen more than 20% this month.

Football Daily | No Scotland, no party? Brazil boogie all over Tartan Army’s World Cup fun

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Sorry, I’m a Lady, The Devil Sent You to Lorado and Sleepy-Time-Toy are reminders that no one remembers the bad times, the mind is selective and focuses on the positives. Baccara’s back catalogue is roughly one song long, the others are rightly forgotten, a figment of only a few people’s imaginations. Scotland needed a certain song and took it around America; well, from Boston to Miami at least. The nation arrived with hope, boasting European champions, Premier League and Serie A winners among their cohort on the pitch, hoping to get through the group while drinking cities dry. All they had to do was get past Haiti, African champions* Morocco and those boys from Brazil.

I’ve given up hope of ever being the author of the letter o’ the day with you lot but wish to join the 1,056 other California-based pedants and point out that the aforementioned cheese [Football Daily letters passim] is correctly referred to as ‘Monterey Jack’. Monterey is the city in California, Monterrey (with two Rs) is in Mexico” – Jim Broshar.

Congratulations to Scotland for finding new ways to extend the torture of their wonderful fans. In previous tournaments they would go out unbeaten, or in glorious defeat, with the goal of the tournament thrown in for good measure. Now, in keeping with this bloated GWC, they get an extra three-day wait in the Miami heat, while watching one team after another best them on goal difference” – Justin Kavanagh.

Fox Sports’ ‘The 32’ is punchier than the name here in Germany at least. As well as quarter-finals (viertelfinale), German has the semis as ‘half finals’ (halbfinale), the round-of-16 as “eighth finals” (achtelfinale), and so naturally the new stage is the ‘16th finals’ (sechszehntelfinale). Germany also considers the second-place team as ‘vice champions’ (vizemeister), probably as they’ve been second so often” – Chris Green.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Supreme Court sides with Monsanto in case over cancer risks from weedkiller

The Supreme Court ruled that Monsanto cannot be held liable under state laws for failing to warn consumers about the alleged cancer risks of its weedkiller Roundup on its label.

White nationalist groups are now recruiting young women

United Youth, a white nationalist organization that oversees groups for young men across the country, now has the first known women's group, Young Columbia.

Big Tech is all in on AI. Now all they need is customers.

Technology companies are betting trillions of dollars that consumers will open their wallets for AI services. But what if Big Tech is wrong?

The Bear review - this kitchen nightmare of a show dials it up to 11 for its last ever series

It’s won all the awards and now it’s going out in a blaze of comedy. Everything that could possibly go wrong for the restaurant does … but who cares when the fusion of tragedy and laughter is this good?

It may not be a gastronomic reference many midwestern gourmands would appreciate, but the last episode of the last season of The Bear was Marmite TV. Set in the back yard of the titular Chicago restaurant – transformed over the course of the show from a sandwich shop to a fine dining establishment by its talented and troubled head chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) – the season four finale consisted of the cast shouting over each other about their respective grudges, oscillating between rage and misty-eyed sentimentality. A naturalistic exchange of complex emotional truths? A rare opportunity to flesh out TV characters’ psyches away from the demands of an actual narrative? Maybe. Or a plotless, unpleasantly cacophonous half-hour designed to entertain no one besides those unhealthily invested in the inner lives of Carmy, his protege Syd (Ayo Edebiri) and their ragtag bunch of fictional colleagues? Yeah, I didn’t love it.

Whatever your perspective, it’s hard to deny that The Bear is one of the shows that best encapsulates what was so great and not-so-great about peak streamer-era TV. The brainchild of writer-director Christopher Storer, the series always prioritised thematic richness and indie movie melancholy over focus-grouped crowd-pleasing or hoary screenwriting convention. As a result, it walked the line between uncompromising integrity and tedious self-indulgence – something only possible during a period, now passed, when platforms considered pouring money into auteurish shows a price worth paying for cultural clout.

Supreme Court says U.S. can turn away asylum seekers at the border

By a 6-3 vote, the high court ruled that federal law allows the government to stop asylum seekers from physically setting foot in the United States, effectively keeping them from applying for asylum. 

Trump can begin deportations of Syrian, Haitian TPS holders, Supreme Court says

Writing for the court majority, Justice Samuel Alito that under the TPS law, the president has unreviewable authority to end the program, without intervention from the courts.

The Viking chant that became Norway's World Cup rallying cry

Norway's long-awaited World Cup return is being powered by a viral Viking "rowing" chant that's sweeping the world, from Boston train stations to Times Square — and the heart of Norway's parliament.

Fed's preferred inflation gauge hits 3-year high

Inflation continued to rise in May, with the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index rising at an annual rate of 4.1%.

Supreme court lets Trump turn back asylum seekers at US-Mexico border

Decision allows Trump administration to block migrants from entering US soil and the right to claim asylum

• US politics live – latest updates

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

The supreme court has given the Trump administration a green light to turn back asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border, in a decision that fundamentally reshapes the US asylum system.

The Trump administration has sought for years to block migrants from setting foot on US soil, where federal law guarantees them the right to claim asylum and protection from persecution. The ruling will allow that practice to resume, concluding a battle that has spanned three administrations.

Emma Raducanu faces race to be fit for Wimbledon after missing practice

• 23-year-old spotted in protective boot on Wednesday

• Raducanu’s last match was HSBC Championships final

Emma Raducanu faces a race to be at full fitness for Wimbledon after her preparations for the tournament were disrupted by injury.

On Wednesday evening Raducanu was seen by Clay magazine leaving the All England Club wearing a protective boot on her right foot after not practising that day. She had been scheduled to train at midday on Thursday but did not practise for a second straight day.

Supreme Court bars 'vampire rules' on gun ownership

In a 6-3 ideologically divided decision, the high court said that requiring permission in advance is an undue burden on the right to possess and carry a firearm.

Exclusive discounts from CBS Mornings Deals

On this edition of CBS Mornings Deals, we show you items that will help improve your everyday lifestyle. Visit cbsdeals.com to take advantage of these exclusive deals today. CBS earns commissions on purchases made through cbsdeals.com.

Perpetrators of LGBTQ+ conversion practices could face prison under new bill

Draft bill to ban abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity in England and Wales hailed as ‘historic’

Perpetrators of “conversion therapy” against LGBTQ+ people could face up to five years in prison under proposals hailed as a “historic and long overdue” milestone by campaigners.

The government has published its draft conversion practices bill, which would ban abusive practices that aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity in England and Wales.

Supreme Court strikes down Hawaii law restricting guns on some private property

The Supreme Court struck down a Hawaii restriction that prohibits concealed-carry permit holders from bringing their firearms onto private property that is open to the public, like gas stations, restaurants or shops.

A massive tornado devastated this small city 50 years ago. It's become a symbol of resilience

Xenia is a small city in Ohio that was devastated by a powerful tornado more than 50 years ago. But the community rebounded and rebuilt. Mark Strassmann shows how it has become a symbol of perseverance.

U.S. Supreme Court backs Monsanto in its fight against liability from popular weed killer

The central issue in the Roundup case, filed by Missouri resident John Durnell, was who decides what should appear on a pesticide or insecticide label—and whether a federal law overrides state claims.

Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders open, but don’t expect a physical copy

The blockbuster launch is expected to dwarf the box office takings of the year’s biggest movies with one industry analyst predicting it could make $1bn within an hour

It is, quite simply, the most anticipated piece of entertainment since the Star Wars prequels and now, at last, you can reserve a copy. At midnight last night, Rockstar opened preorders on Grand Theft Auto VI, the latest title in the epic open-world gangster adventure series, five months before its 19 November release date on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.

Prices have also been confirmed, with the standard edition costing $80 in the US, £70 in the UK, and €80 in Europe. An Ultimate Edition (£90/€100/$100) will include exclusive in-game cars, clothes and weapons – the developer has confirmed that there will also be in-game stores that are only open to Ultimate owners. Anyone who pre-orders the game will get a Vintage Vice City pack filled with 80s apparel and other nostalgic items, which look to be straight out of Don Johnson’s Miami Vice wardrobe.

Belittled, ignored or gaslit – now we know the true cost of not listening to pregnant women | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

The Ockenden report tells a terrible story of neglect. It’s a story that I – and far too many women I know – recognise

The findings of Donna Ockenden’s report on maternity services at Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust (NUH) are horrifying. Such is the scale of suffering on the part of mothers, babies and their loved ones that it is almost beyond contemplation. Harrowing details – a room filled with the smell of infection after a woman who was told to labour at home for six days was finally granted surgery; a student doctor being allowed to perform an emergency hysterectomy on a woman, and accidentally removing her bladder; a baby’s remains being disposed of as clinical waste – haunt you long after you finish reading. And then there are all those babies, who should now be exuberant, lovely children, who died because of poor care and neglect.

The victims and survivors, who campaigned long and hard for this review, don’t have the luxury of absorbing this information at their own pace, as I had to on Wednesday. They have lived with the brutal reality of it for many long years as they have fought for justice and accountability. These “mad grieving parents” – Sarah Hawkins’ description of how they were made to feel after the death of their daughter Harriet – did not give up in their quest for answers, and though they have been vindicated, I imagine there is a bitter aftertaste. Shamefully, nearly half of the senior members of staff at NUH refused to speak to Ockenden’s review.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist

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.

See the full U.S. men's soccer schedule for the 2026 World Cup

The U.S. men's national soccer team kicked off its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium on Friday.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule and how to watch

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

‘Delivery jobs are not for the weak!’ How British singer Kwn went from Amazon driver to global R&B star

After being dropped by her label, the vocalist became a courier to make ends meet. Now she’s back – with millions of fans of her pheromone-rich songwriting

Kwn has never been one to turn her nose up at a job. She has worked night shifts at Sainsbury’s and chopped vegetables with her dad, the head chef at the Ivy in London. But her first day as an Amazon delivery driver in 2024 was soul-crushing. Only two years before, the singer, who goes by K Wilson outside music, had signed a deal and released her debut EP, Episode Wn. Now, she had been dropped from her label and was broke. Sitting in her van at the end of the shift, Wilson burst into tears.

“Be nice to your delivery drivers,” says the 26-year-old, shaking her head in dismay. “It’s not for the weak. By the time I got home, I was shattered. I don’t want to make music. What the fuck am I even gonna write about? Delivering packages?” Wilson lasted five months. Then, after failed attempts to whip up industry interest in her music, she hatched a plan with her manager to sell her next single, Worst Behaviour, directly to fans for £1.99. Five hundred sales would generate about a grand – enough to keep them afloat temporarily. Within a week, they had exceeded their target tenfold. Within a few months, Wilson was in record label boardrooms, listening to music executives pitch her path to stardom.

Jesus Christ Kinski by Benjamin Myers review – inside the mind of an actor in meltdown

Narrator Rory Kinnear fully inhabits Klaus Kinski’s fury in this depiction of the irascible actor’s ill-fated performance in Berlin

In 1971, the German actor Klaus Kinski performed a theatrical monologue called Jesus Christ Saviour at the Deutschlandhalle arena in Berlin, but things didn’t quite go to plan. A controversial figure in his lifetime, Kinski was irascible, egomaniacal and prone to violent temper tantrums.

The film director Werner Herzog famously worked with Kinski on movies including Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo and later filmed a documentary about the actor’s unhinged antics called My Best Fiend. The antipathy went both ways: in his memoir, Kinski fantasised about Herzog dying of the plague or being eaten alive by ants.

Orchestral Works of Mel Bonis album review – full justice is done to her finely crafted and sensuous music

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Rumon Gamba/Elizabeth Watts
(Chandos)
The French composer – a contemporary of Debussy’s – wrote slender but perfectly-formed pieces of beguiling beauty

The welcome rediscovery of Mel Bonis continues, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Rumon Gamba do full justice to her finely crafted, perfumed orchestral music on this new studio recording. Bonis was a classmate of Debussy, and the best of her works here compare to his in terms of instrumental intrigue, albeit on a smaller scale.

Bonis’s most ambitious works for orchestra were the Trois Femmes de Légende, written around 1909. In these beguiling, brief tone poems, Ophelia emerges as a kind of tragic water nymph, Salome as a princess from a far-off, exotic east. Even more mystery surrounds Cleopatra, who is portrayed in music that is sensuous yet uneasy, with quiet writing for the bass instruments underpinning her languid melody.

Darden Restaurants earnings beat estimates but Olive Garden growth weakens

Same-store sales growth at Darden's fine-dining restaurants and Olive Garden fell short of expectations.

Woman who plunged 120 feet on Washington mountain rescued by helicopter

A woman was rescued by a Coast Guard aircrew on Saturday, after falling 120 feet down a mountain in Washington state.

A federal judge in Boston has blocked parts of Trump's order to limit voting by mail

A federal judge in Boston has blocked parts of President Trump's executive order to limit voting by mail. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.

Core inflation rate hit 3.4% in May, highest since October 2023, Fed’s preferred gauge shows

The personal consumption expenditures price index was expected to show a 4.1% annual increase.

The difference between Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel is not that simple | Cath Bishop

The assumption that the England coach gave his team a rocket against Croatia at half-time is wrong. In fact he did the opposite

We’ve completed the Southgate leadership lessons and now we find ourselves at the beginning of the Tuchelosophy course. We can already see some of the key modules we’ll be studying over the next few weeks. But it’s important we’re ready to learn with open minds and ditch some of the old tropes.

The dominant simplistic narrative that accompanied the shift from Gareth Southgate to Thomas Tuchel was that the former wasn’t ruthless enough and therefore the latter will be more ruthless. There are already assumptions and interpretations of Tuchel’s actions and words being made through that lens which need challenging.

Russia used Israeli firm’s tool to crack phone months after ties severed, report finds

Case of Andrei Pivovarov raises questions about how much control Cellebrite has over its own software

Russian authorities used tools from the Israeli company Cellebrite to break into the phone of a political prisoner, months after the company said it cancelled its contracts with Russia, an investigation by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab research unit has found.

The case raises questions about how much control Cellebrite has over its own software, which allows users to easily break into phones and examine their contents. The tools are sold worldwide and widely used by police forces in the UK and the US.

Golfers find two boa constrictors in one week on UK course

Pair of sick snakes discovered at club in County Durham presumed to have been dumped there by owner

For most golfers, the biggest hindrance they are likely to come across during a round is a strong gust of wind or getting their ball caught in a bunker. For golfers in County Durham, however, the obstacles players encountered were 2 metres long and covered in scales.

Two boa constrictors have been found on Blackwell Grange golf club in Darlington one week apart, with the first being found on 13 June during a children’s golf lesson when a 12-year-old girl’s shot landed directly on the snake.

Jackass: Best and Last review – kings of gross-out comedy’s final, funny farewell

So-called final outing for Johnny Knoxville and his daring, stunt-hungry pals might be close to a greatest hits reel, but there are enough laughs to warrant the nostalgia

The boy-men of Jackass, a three-season MTV comedy-stunt show turned periodic and beloved film series, have shown a willingness to engage in all manner of rectal probing in the name of shock laughs. (Perhaps most famously, Ryan Dunn, who died in 2011, inserted a toy car into himself before going in for an X-ray.) So it’s poignant to see the ageing crew take this to a natural next step in Jackass: Best and Last, where raspy-voiced fixture Steve-O submits to a prostate exam – performed by a wisecracking robot, of course. Later, the gang ingests the drug used to flush out digestive systems before a colonoscopy, and then attempts to play Twister with a grim, scatological timebomb looming. Cameraman Lance Bangs, as always, attempts to contain his retching.

It would be a stretch to describe this fifth and allegedly final Jackass film as reflective about the ageing process, at least any more than its predecessors. Even its sense of finality has been hinted at before: way back in 2010’s Jackass 3-D, Weezer’s nostalgic song Memories blasted over end-credits footage of the guys throughout the years, and 2022’s Jackass Forever had a similarly valedictory tone. In Best and Last, someone goes so far as to tease ringleader Johnny Knoxville about whether the audience can believe him about this being the last movie, given that he’s said that sort of thing before.

Three in five young gun violence survivors do not receive mental healthcare – this California bill can fix that

The Thrive Act will create a pilot program that offers mental health resources for shooting survivors and witnesses under 25

When Marvin Pérez and his family moved from their home country of Guatemala to Oakland, California, he thought it would lead to a better life for them all. But two years ago, when he was 23, Pérez was walking home from a store just four blocks from his family’s house. Someone drove past him and shot at Pérez multiple times, hitting him in his left leg.

His physical recovery was difficult. The bullet couldn’t be removed and remains lodged inside the leg. Pérez spent about three months doing physical therapy and resting at home, which meant he couldn’t play soccer, his favorite pastime. The mental toll he endured, however, was far tougher. During the day, all he could think about was the shooting, and when he slept, he had nightmares about what happened to him. It was made even harder by the fact that he felt as if he didn’t have anyone he could share these feelings with.

Half-time report! It’s the 11 best TV moments of the World Cup so far

From Merlin the duck to Thierry Henry’s panic and the goalie who broke the internet, here are the tournament’s most glorious TV moments

The schedule-dominating football tournament has reached its midway mark, which means it’s time for isotonic drinks, orange segments and in-depth TV analysis.

From weepy cult heroes to watery bloopers, from panto villain to potty-mouthed pundits, here’s our highlights of the World Cup coverage so far …

What is in the Caribbean’s new slavery reparations manifesto?

Caricom Reparations Commission’s Hilary Beckles explains how it will help address the ‘residual legacy of slavery’

• Barbados prime minister announces manifesto for slavery reparations

One of the key outcomes of the recent reparations conference in Ghana was the launch of the Caribbean’s manifesto outlining the “moral, ethical and legal case for reparations” for the enslavement of African people.

The Caribbean Community Reparations Commission (CRC), which created the document, says it is a strengthening of an existing Caribbean Community (Caricom) 10-point plan for reparations from the UK and other former colonial powers, and a response to feedback from the public, organisations and political leaders.

Chevron says no quick fix for gas prices as Trump takes on Big Oil: ‘It’s going to take time’

Her comments come shortly after President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into Big Oil, accusing them of "gouging" consumers.

GameStop’s CEO just sacrificed a $35 billion pay package. Here’s how it could impact his effort to buy eBay

Ryan Cohen has shared few details on how he'll move forward with his $56 billion offer for eBay since the company rejected the proposal in May.

6-alarm fire destroys old industrial building in Allentown, Pennsylvania

A massive fire in Allentown, Pennsylvania, forced nearby residents to evacuate their homes Wednesday night.

Reform UK plan to target EU nationals based in Britain ‘absolutely outrageous’

Exclusive: Rights group says Nigel Farage’s party is reneging on promises made during the Brexit referendum campaign

• UK politics live – latest updates

EU nationals based permanently in the UK have expressed alarm over a Reform UK plan to target their rights to accommodation and employment, saying the policy is a betrayal of promises made in the Brexit referendum 10 years ago.

Under updated migration policies, Nigel Farage’s party would evict all overseas nationals from social housing and make it notably more expensive for companies to employ them, with both policies also affecting EU nationals who have settled status.

To protect the Iran peace talks, will Trump finally restrain Netanyahu? | Mohamad Bazzi

As long as Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon, any deal between the US and Iran will be at risk

On 18 June, JD Vance stood in the White House press briefing room and tore into Israeli critics of the Iran deal that his boss, Donald Trump, had signed the previous day. The vice-president argued that Trump was the only world leader who was still sympathetic to Israel after nearly three years of wars and destruction across the Middle East. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government,” Vance said, “I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left ‌in the entire world.”

Vance also pointed out that, during the recent US-Israeli war on Iran, two-thirds of the defensive weapons used to protect Israel from Iranian retaliation “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”. Vance publicly scolded Israel’s leaders in a way they have rarely been criticized by a high-level US politician. And while Vance did not directly target his criticism at the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the subtext was clear: the Trump administration is willing to call out the Israeli leader for sabotaging ceasefire agreements so that he could prolong regional wars and maintain power.

Mohamad Bazzi is a Guardian US columnist. He is also director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies and a journalism professor at New York University

Puppy eyes, sad hair and a big boom box: John Cusack films – ranked!

As the former teen heartthrob turns 60, we look at his most intense, ironic, lovable roles – from a sympathetic scientist to a peevish puppeteer

It’s the Great Depression à la Disney when a tomboy, Natty, rides the rails in search of her lumberjack father. This marked the first time I saw Cusack, impressive as a wise young hobo, though not the first time I saw Natty’s wolf-dog companion: it’s Jed, sled-dog from The Thing!

Hot or not: Barney Ronay's World Cup review so far – video

“It’s been really sparky and perky and a reminder that international football is something people actually do for passion,” says our chief sports writer Barney Ronay.

From Gianni Infantino’s heavy reliance on a private jet to attend multiple World Cup matches daily, to ‘the wretched and mendacious’ mid-half advert breaks – as well as the entertaining managers and lessons in history: Barney reveals his best and worst bits from travelling around the US.

Despite Fifa’s ‘horribly compromised’ World Cup, Barney looks at how the contest still has a way of inspiring joy and unity, whether that’s through American hospitality, multicultural teams, or simply just entertaining football.

• ⚽ Latest news from day 15 | Knockout permutations

• ⚽ Player guide | Bracketology

UK to halve tariff-free steel imports to counter glut of cheap Chinese metal

Duty on imports outside new quota will double in move echoing similar changes in EU limits

• Business live – latest updates

The UK government will halve the amount of tariff-free steel imports allowed in an attempt to counter a global oversupply of cheap Chinese metal and bolster its beleaguered local industry.

New “safeguards” will be introduced on 1 July and will coincide with similar new limits being introduced by the EU for the same purposes. The UK said it and the EU had agreed an approach that reflected each other’s “highly interconnected supply chains” after months of negotiations over retaining tariff-free access between the markets.

Mallorcan sunrise and a flustered king: photos of the day – Thursday

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

‘Summer on a plate’: 12 delicious ways to enjoy stone fruit

Peaches and apricots are ripe here, ripe now. They’re perfect for everything from sandwiches and salads to puddings

• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast

The apricot orchards at Godshill Orchards on the Isle of Wight consist of 4,000 trees made up of six cultivars: sunnycot, tomcot, flavourcot, ladycot, perlecot and digat. Apricots like moderately cold winters, mild and relatively dry springs, and hot, dry summers. So, despite capricious weather, it looks as if it’s going to be an extremely productive year in the UK, and for peaches, too. The soft stone fruit season begins earlier in Italy (the name “apricot” probably comes from the Latin praecox, meaning precocious), and it has been a good year here, too, so much so that there is talk of a glut. But I am jumping ahead.

Of all the soft stone fruit, apricots are maybe the easiest to read: pale flesh with a greenish tint is a clear sign they are not ready; a deep, glowing orange one that they are – and the stronger the colour, the sweeter the fruit is the general rule. It is true, though, that the shade is no guarantee of sweetness or texture, and there is always a chance that the flesh will be woolly and bland (I have solutions), but the hope is for fragrant and luscious fruit.

Air con and building efficiency stocks rally as Europe bakes in extreme heat

The latest heat wave has underscored the need for efficient technologies and adequate power supply to keep Europe cool.

2 earthquakes in Venezuela kill at least 164. And, Trump cancels housing bill signing

Two major earthquakes in Venezuela have killed at least 164 people and left hundreds injured. And, President Trump canceled the signing of a massive bipartisan housing bill yesterday.

‘People shouldn’t expect there will be water in their taps every day’: why is St Lucia running out of water?

Despite millions of dollars of investment, crumbling infrastructure and erratic rainfall are pushing the Caribbean island to the brink

When St Lucia’s rainy season began in May, Madeleine Solomon, 55, breathed a sigh of relief. For months, she had been feeling the squeeze of an intermittent water supply that disrupted normal hygiene and food preparation, forcing families like hers to rely on water tanks, rainwater harvesting and bottled water bought from private companies.

“I’m thanking God every day because our situation was really bad,” she says.

Crisis looms for Pope Leo as splinter sect seeks to ordain far-right bishops

Conflict threatens to worsen mounting tensions between the Vatican and rightwing Catholics in the US and globally

A far-right Catholic sect’s plan to ordain its own bishops on the first day of July has placed it on a collision course with the Vatican – posing a possible crisis for Pope Leo a little over a year into his papacy, and straining the Roman Catholic church’s already fraught relationship with rightwing and traditionalist Catholics in the US and elsewhere.

Founded in Switzerland in 1970 to oppose liberalizing reforms in the Catholic church, the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) has gained significant followings in the US, France, Argentina and other countries. The order, which has a large base of operations in Kansas, claims that more than half a million people worldwide attend its masses, though these numbers are difficult to verify. It counts nearly 1,500 priests, seminarians and other vocational members among its members.

250 essential American songs to mark nation's birthday

What are the essential American songs? Ahead of the nation's 250th birthday, we asked that question to Sunday Morning's familiar faces, from performers to artists and writers to community leaders.

Rome airports threaten to suspend new EU passport system to avoid summer ‘disaster’

Airports CEO says letting non-EU passengers skip entry-exit system would be only way to avoid peak season travel chaos

Rome’s airports will have to suspend the EU’s new digital border system for non-EU citizens to avoid a “disaster” during the peak tourism summer months, according to the head of the airports company.

Marco Troncone said that allowing passengers to skip the biometric entry-exit system (EES) was the only way of avoiding travel chaos over the summer amid warnings from other European airport officials.

Austrian Grand Prix declared F1 heat hazard race amid European heatwave

• Teams must fit a driver cooling system for race

• First time heat hazard has been declared this season

Formula One’s governing body has declared a heat ⁠hazard for the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg’s Red ⁠Bull Ring ⁠this ​weekend, the first time this season that the designation has ⁠been used.

The race director, Rui Marques, said the official weather service ⁠forecasts temperatures higher than 31C during the race. Declaring a heat ‌hazard requires teams to fit a ‌driver cooling system, such as a liquid-cooled vest, though drivers are not obliged to use them and can take a ballast penalty instead.

Datacentres are growing target of global climate-related legal cases, report finds

LSE analysis highlights litigation linked to energy sources, water consumption and air pollution

The proliferation of datacentres and AI is increasingly at the forefront of environmental litigation around the world, from the US and UK to Chile to Ireland, a report has found.

In an analysis of about 3,600 climate-related lawsuits filed since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics (LSE) found a growing number of cases challenging the energy sources, water consumption and air pollution of datacentres, all of which have related climate implications.

The Trump administration is calling frozen embryos children | Moira Donegan

A document on an embryo adoption program may be marginal – but it marks an escalation in the pursuit of fetal personhood

The Trump administration quietly declared frozen embryos to be children last week. In a call for grant applications related to a nearly 20-year-old program meant to raise awareness about frozen embryo adoption, the Department of Health and Human Services referred to frozen embryos using the terms “child” and “children”, calling for screening standards for frozen embryo purchasers to be raised to those applied to parents seeking to adopt actual children. The document refers to frozen embryos as “children who already exist and are in need of a family”.

The language is strange and conspicuous in context, even if that context itself may seem marginal: what the Trump administration has done here is change its phrasing in the guidelines for a longstanding and somewhat obscure grant program.

The great tinification: how Britain fell in love with canned cocktails

Forty years since Marks & Spencer started selling cans of gin and tonic, every supermarket and corner shop is full of ready-mixed mojitos, margaritas and negronis. Why are these so acceptable, given the moral panic over alcopops?

It was a sultry evening in early June, and I was heading to a party on the other side of London. The journey by tube takes an hour, so my boyfriend and I brought along some warm cans of margarita to pass the time. As the sweet reek of lime had begun to drift across the carriage, I spotted two women sipping cosmopolitans – Carrie Bradshaw’s drink of choice and for years the only cocktail I could have named – out of similar tins. Before long, we were all feeling lightly smashed.

Drinking on Transport for London services was banned in 2008 (the year of the great recession, just when we needed it most), but these days it seems the rule survives more as a suggestion. And conveniently, our cans were small enough to disappear into our pockets if necessary. As the writer and founder of @londondeadpubs Jimmy McIntosh puts it: “It might seem a bit uncouth to crack out a four pack of lager when travelling somewhere on public transport. But a canned cocktail feels more discreet and civilised somehow.”

World Cup: can big sports events bring us together? Recent history says yes | Margaret Sullivan

Although fleeting, sporting events have the enduring power to crumble divisions and highlight the beauty of kinship

“The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat,” went the tagline for the long-running TV show The Wide World of Sports.

We’re all familiar with those rollercoaster emotions whether we follow professional football or dabble in sandlot softball.

JD Vance is the face of the beleaguered Iran deal – is he its fall guy?

Vice-president, leading a foundering peace deal to end the kind of war he’s opposed in the past, is left holding the bag

JD Vance has taken the greatest gamble of his vice-presidency by making himself the face of the Iran ceasefire deal – a shaky agreement that already seems to be unraveling at the seams.

But after months spent in limbo due to the war, it may be the best chance for him to find his feet again.

Club World Cup likely to expand for 2029 with more Premier League clubs involved

• Fifa agrees joint venture with lobby group EFC

• Next edition poised to expand from 32 to 48 clubs

Fifa has agreed to create a joint venture with the lobby group European Football Clubs to operate the Club World Cup, which is likely to mean more Premier League clubs enter the lucrative competition.

Chelsea earned about £84m from winning the inaugural 32-team tournament last year, leading other big European clubs to lobby Fifa for it to be expanded to increase their chances of qualification.

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis: ‘It means everything to be a Philadelphia fighter. We always find a way to win’

Ahead of Saturday’s title unification fight in Brooklyn, the unbeaten American talks about family legacy, putting on for North Philly and life as one of boxing’s most feared fighters

For years, boxing’s chattering class has treated Jaron “Boots” Ennis less like a champion than a prophecy. The next great one. The future pound-for-pound king. The fighter who one day would justify the steady hype that has followed him since he emerged as a teenager from Bozy’s Dungeon in North Philadelphia as one of the country’s top amateurs.

Even now, undefeated in 36 professional fights with 31 knockouts and world championships at two different weights, Ennis approaches Saturday night’s title unification bout with Xander Zayas at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in an unusual position: celebrated as one of the world’s most gifted fighters while still being discussed as though his breakthrough lies ahead.

Marginalized for her ‘immense ambition’, the genius of director Elaine May is finally being recognized

As a new retrospective opens, collaborators of the Mikey and Nicky film-maker explain how she blazed a trail for female directors in Hollywood

In 1975, after more than two years of sifting through footage, Elaine May was still in the weeds editing her deeply personal gangster film, Mikey and Nicky, and Paramount Pictures and its CEO, Barry Diller, were losing patience. In a desperate move to retain control, the director sold the film out from under Paramount to Alyce Films, a phoney production company reportedly set up by May, the film’s star, Peter Falk, and a number of other co-conspirators. But the sale was halted, and May was ordered by a judge to deliver the film to Paramount, which she did, except for two essential reels which mysteriously went missing until the studio agreed to let her supervise the editing of the final cut.

Set in the flophouse hotel rooms and diners of Philadelphia, Mikey and Nicky is one long, panic-inducing hangout between two gangsters, one (Nicky, played by John Cassavetes) is on the run for robbing his boss, while the other (Mikey, played by Falk) is torn between hiding his best friend or handing him over. Nicky wants to evade the contract killer he knows is on his trail, but he also wants to drink beer, go to the movies and play hot hands with Mikey on the bus. Mikey wants to care for Nicky; you get the sense he’s been doing it for a long time. He wants to feed him antacids and milk to treat his ulcers, but he’s also got a family and has outgrown their dynamic. They go back a long way and their relationship, though full of love that is apparent in every look and gesture between the two, is also fraught with a history of small betrayals, the kinds of slights and indignities that only stay with you when you really know and love someone. Right at the heart of this unglamorous gangster film is one of the most beautiful and bleak portrayals of male friendship ever put on screen.

4 surprising things to know about abortion in America since Dobbs

A confusing patchwork of state laws began to take shape hours after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. Here's where things stand now on the abortion issue.

Long before the World Cup, Ukrainian immigrants built a soccer powerhouse in Philly

World Cup games are underway in Philadelphia. Long before Americans caught the world's soccer craze, Ukrainian migrants made Philly a soccer town. Today, the sport helps sustain their culture.

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).

Britain has become addicted to pressing the ‘new PM’ button – and I don’t see how Burnham avoids it | Jonathan Liew

He’s almost certain to become the UK’s seventh leader in a decade. And with the rightwing press and the algorithm against him, he’s basically a meat sacrifice

Current state of British democracy: the guy who puts out the resignation lectern in front of No 10 is now so familiar that he has become a meme. On the internet, they call him Hot Podium Guy. William Hague’s old line about the Tory party being “an autocracy moderated by regicide” is now basically true of the country as a whole.

And so out Keir Starmer strides to give a speech that, in the grand tradition of Starmer oratory, occupies the curious liminal space between the instantly forgettable and the barely existent. What might comprise a Davina-style supercut of Starmer’s best bits? The time he described us as an “island of strangers”, or blurted out that Israel had the right to starve Gaza of food and water? When your most memorable quotes were so poorly judged, perhaps it might be best for everyone if you put the microphone down for a while.
Not everyone is a natural public speaker, which on one level, of course, is fine. What Starmer craved above all was a task, a clear set of instructions and a solution. To him the British state was essentially an item of flatpack furniture: insert legislation A into complex social problem B, screw voter demographic C as tightly as possible, and if in doubt, call the handy 24-hour helpline to speak to Morgan.

Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist

You be the judge: my partner doesn’t like me telling him he has food in his beard. Should I stop?

Annabel is embarrassed when she spots crumbs in Teddy’s facial hair, but he finds her nudges shaming. Who is being prickly? You decide

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

I don’t want to get his food on my face when I kiss him, and I don’t want him looking silly in public

Despite Trump trade rhetoric, Asian investors keep betting on U.S.: Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor

Cantor said that investment flows still have "so much" allocation to the U.S., because investors recognise that the country was still one with a "rule of law."

Dooneen by Keith Ridgway review – uncanny visions of dark times in Dublin

Ireland is trembling with nascent social unrest in this labyrinthine tale of one man’s homecoming

Irish author Keith Ridgway’s latest novel deals, both mischievously and menacingly, in ambivalence. The book’s epigraph is taken from a misty-eyed ballad pining for the “lofty” magnificence of the Cliffs of Dooneen. But these lines are appended with a footnote cautioning that “debate continues concerning the cliffs named in the song – whether they are in County Clare or County Kerry, or whether they exist at all …”

Place and knowledge continue to be wilfully unstable categories once the narrative begins. Bartholomew Port, known as Mew, says goodbye to his partner Mootie as he sets off on a trip from south London to his birthplace, Dublin. In the first of the novel’s Alice in Wonderland-style sleights of hand, Mew is transported to the Irish capital not by air or sea, but by slipping through bushes in Camberwell’s Burgess Park.

‘Above all, there is love’: single mothers caring for disabled children – in pictures

Carol Allen-Storey’s intimate images capture the struggles mums face looking after kids with disabilities – but also the huge hearts of both parents and children

Bello! Why gen Alpha subconsciously speaks the language of the Minions

From global loanwords and garbled Italian, the slang of the children of millennials doesn’t just share elements with Minionese – it may have absorbed it

I was four years old when Despicable Me was released in cinemas and the banana-coloured, overall-clad Minions took the world by storm. By the time I was seven, my siblings and I were using The Official Minion Manual to teach ourselves Minionese.

Minionese is, of course, the made-up language spoken by Kevin, Stuart, Bob and company, which consists of a combination of melodic gibberish and variations on genuine vocabulary from a diverse array of world languages. When the Minions shout “kanpai” (“cheers” in Japanese) or “para tú!” (a variation on the Spanish “para ti”), it might remind you of how gen Alpha slang, which primarily consists of nonsensical words such as “cap” and “mogging”, also draws on world languages. Consider the Bulgarian scat origins of “skibidi”, for example.

Thursday news quiz: rare chicks, AI tricks and ‘begging Trump for pics’

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Thursday quiz fans inundated our mailbox with at least two messages pointing out that John Oliver had opened his HBO show discussing the problem of feral hogs, of which there are significantly more than between 30 and 50 in the US. If he starts opening shows talking about Sparks, Kate Bush, Syldavia and Alan Shearer’s fixations on distances, we truly will know where he gets his material from, and the Thursday quiz lawyers are ready. In the meantime, here are 15 questions on topical news, general knowledge and pop culture to see you on towards the weekend. Let us know how you got on in the comments. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 253

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for orecchiette with courgettes, parmesan cream and almonds | A kitchen in Rome

Mark the return of courgette season by using the vegetable as the centrepiece for a cheesy and peppery pasta sauce

Having made too much parmesan cream for mortadella sandwiches the other week, the rest was carried over from one column to the next, and a recipe for pasta with courgettes and almonds was improved significantly by two large tablespoons of the soft cheese and parmesan beaten into a soft-savoury cream with the texture (but not taste) of toothpaste!

This recipe is also one that welcomes courgettes back to the northern hemisphere – not that they ever went away, now that everything is available all the time. The season proper, though, is something to celebrate as more and more courgettes appear in the gardens of those fortunate enough to grow them (flowers blazing), on market stalls and shop shelves, and in veg boxes. So much so that, at a certain point, it will all get too much and gardeners will start talking about gluts, cooks will threaten chutney and food magazines provide 101 ideas. But I am jumping ahead.

‘Degrading’: why did a US fighter pilot avoid British trial after strangling a woman in England?

Jacob Wulfson’s fellow airmen decided his fate after a court martial at RAF Lakenheath – a distressing week for Sarah Steele, the academic he assaulted

• Explainer: how the US bypasses British courts to try its military over crimes in the UK

When Sarah Steele woke up on the morning of 2 December 2023, she found herself in a pool of cold water in a bathtub. She was naked and in the apartment of an American fighter pilot she had met in person for the first time the night before. She was confused. Her head hurt, and so did her neck.

This was the account Steele, a British academic, provided to prosecutors. They later accused the pilot, Capt Jacob Wulfson, of drugging and strangling Steele in his apartment in the east of England, and penetrating her vagina with his penis without her consent.

Anthropic's latest hiring spree reveals where it's building AI data centers next

The AI lab is hiring for AI data center roles in Australia and Japan as it rushes to expand compute capacity overseas.

Trump has testy meeting with GOP senators, telling Cassidy to sit down

President Trump met with Republican senators soon after canceling plans to sign bipartisan housing affordability legislation at the Capitol.

One in six babies in England live in overheated homes – analysis

More than 70,000 babies living in hot homes as climate crisis drives record temperatures

One in every six babies in England are living in overheated homes, causing sleep disruption and serious health risks, according to new analysis.

The National Housing Federation (NHF) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) found that more than 70,000 babies are living in overly hot homes as the climate crisis drives record temperatures across the country.

Edge of Armageddon: why does one of the world’s top thinkers believe we’re nearing nuclear apocalypse?

In a chilling new book, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli says we’re back on the brink – and this time, leaders chronically lack the nous of Kennedy and Khrushchev. So why is he against rearming?

Should European members of Nato be rearming in the face of the Russian threat? And if not, I ask Carlo Rovelli, why not? The Italian theoretical physicist seems a good person to answer these questions since his timely new book, 85 Seconds to Midnight, is subtitled A Physicist’s Argument against Rearmament.

Rovelli, 70, brown eyed, genial, with enviably luxuriant grey locks, removes his glasses before answering. “The idea of the Russian military being a threat to Europe is ridiculous. Russia can’t even get to Kyiv! A few years ago, Russia had 4% of the world’s military spending and Nato had 40%.”

Stubborn, arrogant, a genius: France’s De Gaulle epic shows up the tepidity of our politics | Alexander Hurst

The man who led Free France during Nazi occupation was single-minded to the point of obstinacy. But he believed in his own power to make history

How much of our political agency have we sacrificed on the altar of imagined constraints? That question has been troubling me since last week, when I stepped out of the glitteringly art deco Grand Rex cinema in Paris. I had just been to see part one of La Bataille de Gaulle, a two-part epic based on British historian Julian Jackson’s extraordinary biography of Charles de Gaulle. Both Jackson and the film, which focuses on the second world war, present the towering French general as a combination of stubbornness, arrogance and genius.

As a mid-ranking two-star general, De Gaulle had little inherent claim to be the face of France in exile. For four years after fleeing to London in June 1940, he imposed himself next to Churchill, and then Roosevelt. He bullied his way in to top-table discussions thanks to an ego the size of a nation state: a nation state he himself would embody fully. “I recreated France from nothing, from being a man alone in a foreign city,” De Gaulle wrote of his time in London. Immodest, yes, but also right.

Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir Generation Desperation is out now

Whitney Houston estate denies Oprah’s ‘inaccurate and unfair’ claim singer fell off stage due to drug use

Late singer ‘absolutely not high’ when she fell on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009, says estate after Winfrey claimed she had relapsed

Whitney Houston’s estate has refuted what they call “inaccurate and unfair” claims by Oprah Winfrey that the singer was drug affected when she fell off the stage during an appearance on her talkshow.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Cannes Lions conference in France, Winfrey claimed Houston was “back on drugs” during her two-part appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009, during which she spoke about being clean after years of substance abuse and two spells in rehab.

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.

Military requiring flu vaccines for recruits as Air Force base deals with outbreak

All military branches began requiring recruits to get flu vaccines earlier this month, an exception to Pete Hegseth's decision to lift the military's vaccine mandate, a Pentagon official said.