All the latest news and reaction from Switzerland
Saturday also saw Wales make history by taking to the field for the first time at a major tournament. Goals from Vivianne Miedema, Victoria Pelova and Esmee Brugts made it a tough afternoon for the Euro debutants but their manager, Rhian Wilkinson, remained proud of her team:
We’ve got two more games and we’ve got to show up. We’ve got to cut out the defensive lapses and create more but my players have put in a massive shift, they’ve run their socks off
I love playing in football matches where we need to win – they’re the games you want to be involved in
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock
Majority of leading names selected by Andy Farrell for Canberra game
First-choice pairing of Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson-Park reunited
Andy Farrell has picked his strongest British & Irish Lions combination so far for his squad’s penultimate fixture before they take on Australia in Brisbane next week. The majority of the Lions’ leading names have been selected to start against the ACT Brumbies in what is clearly being seen as a dress rehearsal ahead of the first Test.
The first-choice pairing of Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson-Park are reunited at half back inside an all-Irish centre pairing of Bundee Aki and Gary Ringrose, with Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn at full-back and the Anglo-Irish combination of Tommy Freeman and James Lowe on the wings.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Steve Christo/Sportsfile/Getty Images
© Photograph: Steve Christo/Sportsfile/Getty Images
Anyone can ask any question of the players, leading to absurd inquiries, but it can sometimes serve a useful purpose
To spend even a little time at Wimbledon is to drown in the sheer scale of things. This is a place of mind-boggling numbers: the 40 miles of racket string, the 55,000 balls, the 300,000 glasses of Pimm’s, the 2.5m strawberries. But Wimbledon’s true staple good is none of these. The most abundant product every Wimbledon fortnight is the word. And even on a rain-affected, slow news day, the words must keep coming.
As with everything else, Wimbledon procures its words with a suitable reverence. Post-match interviews, in contrast to the more informal on-court setup at Melbourne and New York, are conducted at a respectful distance in front of a microphone stand, as if Jannik Sinner were actually a high-school student about to spell a very difficult word. But of course the majority of Wimbledon’s bluff and bluster takes place in a small windowless upstairs chamber that most tennis fans have never even seen.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Getty Images
© Photograph: Getty Images
From her groundbreaking debut Thirteen to forthcoming teen drama Street Smart – ‘a homeless Breakfast Club’ – the film-maker explains how she’s made her way in a job still largely made for men
Film-makers have long used their movies as Trojan horses to express their political beliefs and values and Catherine Hardwicke is no different. In her 2003 debut feature, Thirteen, and her 2008 teen vampire hit Twilight, the writer-director bolstered the stories with environmentally and socially conscious messaging to inspire people to “save the planet”. And with her latest film, Street Smart, which she describes as “a kind of homeless The Breakfast Club”, she is still “sneaking in” her “good values”.
Street Smart, now in post-production, is a low-budget ensemble drama, executive-produced by Gerard Butler and partnered with charities Covenant House and Safe Place for Youth, that centres on a group of unhoused teens bonding through music, trauma and humour while fending for themselves on the margins of LA society. It stars Yara Shahidi (Grown-ish), Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) and Michael Cimino (Never Have I Ever), as well as a group of unknown actors whom Hardwicke describes as having “big hearts and compassion for others; otherwise, they would be trying to work on a superhero film”.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Tom Nicholson/Shutterstock for Mediterrane Film Festival
© Photograph: Tom Nicholson/Shutterstock for Mediterrane Film Festival
Eight were held for weeks at a US military base in Djibouti while their legal challenge played out in court
Eight men deported from the US in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have reached the Trump administration’s intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the state department advises against travel to due to “crime, kidnapping and armed conflict”.
The men from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan arrived in South Sudan on Friday after a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to relocate them in a case that had gone to the supreme court, which had permitted their removal from the US. Administration officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the US.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
It’s not what you expect
Before we get to today’s puzzles, I’d like to introduce the most interesting number in the universe.
108
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Jagadeesh Nv/EPA
© Photograph: Jagadeesh Nv/EPA
This brilliant short-story collection confronts the knotty truths of Northern Ireland’s bloody past
The literature of the Troubles is a rich one, from Seamus Heaney’s North (1975), Jennifer Johnston’s Shadows on Our Skin (1977) and Bernard MacLaverty’s Cal (1983), to Eoin McNamee’s Resurrection Man (1994), Anna Burns’s Booker-winning Milkman (2018), and Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses (2022). The latest addition to the corpus, a slim debut story collection by nonbinary Northern Irish writer Liadan Ní Chuinn, shares the brilliance and burning energy of those other books, but there is a fundamental distinction. Ní Chuinn was born in the year of the Good Friday agreement, the 1998 power-sharing deal that delivered peace and brought an end to the Troubles; why, then, should their writing be so obsessed with them?
“I believe, these things, they’re the making of us,” a character says at one point. He’s talking about a dead friend, but his words might apply to Northern Ireland’s past 50 or so years. Throughout the book the violence of that period is shown to persist, the past proving powerfully, inconveniently alive. Tensions flare between those who attempt to ignore that fact and others who insist on it.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Horst Friedrichs/Alamy
© Photograph: Horst Friedrichs/Alamy
People from across the UK discuss why the government is struggling to win the approval of a deeply divided public
For Aiden Robertson, a 35-year-old consultant from Burnley, Labour’s first year back in government can only be summed up as “incredibly disappointing”.
The year had been marked, he felt, by “dreadful communication, a lack of clear purpose, zero vision”, while Labour had been “pandering to Reform voters who will never back them”.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Chris Eades/AP
© Photograph: Chris Eades/AP
Experts raise alarm over ‘commodification’ of vulnerable children as independent fostering agencies make millions in profit
Experts have raised alarm over the “commodification” of vulnerable foster children as analysis reveals almost a quarter of all foster places in England are now provided by private equity-backed companies making millions of pounds in profits.
Analysis for the Guardian by thinktank Common Wealth found independent fostering agencies (IFAs) are making millions via public funding from councils to provide placements for foster children, while foster carers struggle to pay bills.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: supermut/Alamy
© Photograph: supermut/Alamy
Hundreds of thousands of hospital appointments could be cancelled if BMA members vote for series of stoppages
Hospitals are bracing for a fresh round of strikes by resident doctors seeking a 29% pay rise, amid warnings that stoppages could lead to hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations being cancelled.
NHS leaders fear that a ballot of resident doctors, formerly junior doctors in England, which closes on Monday will produce a majority backing renewed industrial action.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images
© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images
‘So-called sidechicks’ are celebrated in the presenter’s new show with a TikTok historian. Plus, a shocking investigation into gangs profiting from inheritance scams
Jameela Jamil and Dr Kate Lister host this podcast dedicated to the untold tales behind “history’s so-called sidechicks”, with interludes from TikTok’s History Gossip, AKA Katie Kennedy. If you prefer a more strait-laced approach then this isn’t the show for you: it’s a tongue-in-cheek riot, kicking off with Louis XIV’s paramour Madame de Montespan, and her fall from grace via a poisoning scandal. Hannah J Davies
Audible, all episodes out now
© Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
© Photograph: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images
North Korea has opened a massive resort area on its east coast. The tourism pet project of the leader, Kim Jong-un, is reportedly due to welcome Russian guests later this month. Labelled ‘North Korea’s Waikiki’ by South Korean media, Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area can accommodate nearly 20,000 people, according to Pyongyang, which has described it as ‘a world-class cultural resort’
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images
Smallest and most affordable Framework still has brilliant modular ports, is upgradable and designed to last
The modular and repairable PC maker Framework’s latest machine moves into the notoriously difficult to fix 2-in-1 category with a fun 12in laptop with a touchscreen and a 360-degree hinge.
The new machine still supports the company’s innovative expansion cards for swapping the different ports in the side, which are cross-compatible with the Framework 13 and 16 among others. And you can still open it up to replace the memory, storage and internal components with a few simple screws.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
© Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian
On retiring at 56, Michelle Jackson needed a big new challenge. So she picked up her first proper camera and was soon spending 20 hours a week in the field, and winning awards
A few weeks ago, Michelle Jackson was in the Peak District, hiding beneath a camouflage net with her camera, waiting for badgers to emerge at sunset. For more than two hours she watched the skylarks and curlews, her hopes intensifying during the 45-minute window in which the light was perfect.
At last the heather moved. A badger’s head appeared. “Their eyesight is poor, but they can smell you,” Jackson says. At 66, she has won national and international awards as a wildlife photographer. Although the desire to get the shot “drives” her, for a while she simply watched. “You want to embrace what’s there. It’s so special to see wildlife up close.”
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
© Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
The 80-year-old, two-time Oscar winner said he had been ‘working pretty hard for almost 60 years’ – and is ‘quite happy’ watching his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones work
Two-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas has revealed he may be finished with acting, saying he has “no real intentions” to return to the industry.
Speaking at the Karlovy Vary international film festival in the Czech Republic for the 50th anniversary of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – which Douglas co-produced – the 80-year-old actor and producer told a press conference that unless “something special came up” for him, he would not act again.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Michal Čížek/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Michal Čížek/AFP/Getty Images
All England Club’s official TikTok account hit 200m views by Wednesday as it aims to connect with young people
Whether it is a clip of Novak Djokovic hitting a winning backhand volley before taking a tumble or an American influencer presenting fashion tips, Wimbledon’s social media posts are vying for the same thing: a new generation of tennis fans.
“Demographic wise, I think it’s no secret that Wimbledon is an event that’s trying to attract younger audiences. I want to find a way to engage people who might not be on tennis pages,” said Will Giles, the managing editor of digital content for the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
© Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
They are suffering disproportionately and without help, say researchers, and unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount up
Young people living in the most deprived stretches of England’s coastline are three times more likely to be living with an undiagnosed mental health condition than their peers inland, according to new research.
This “coastal mental health gap” means that young people in these towns, which include areas of Tendring on the east coast and Blackpool and Liverpool to the west, are suffering disproportionately, often alone and with no help, said the researchers who conducted the study.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Polly Braden/The Guardian
© Photograph: Polly Braden/The Guardian
Patterson claimed poisoning that killed three in-laws and made a fourth gravely ill was accidental, as her trial gripped the nation for weeks
© AAP
Comment: Piastri’s 10-second penalty cost him victory at the British Grand Prix but the call was fair
© Getty Images
The much-publicised case raises a number of legal issues
© AP
© ALETC
© PA Archive
Stock markets updates and business news from Monday
© Getty Images
Five arrests made after protestors block US-based company Cisco’s pride float
© REUTERS
Connexion