Tech executives need to “fess up” to the damage their platforms have caused, the prime minister says, while taking aim at the “arrogant” and “out of touch” social media companies.
Anthony Albanese’s comments come after Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra it didn’t think social media had harmed children.
Juan José Zúñiga Macías has been handed charges of terrorism and armed uprising, says prosecutor, as president again rejects claims of ‘self-coup’ to boost popularity
A Bolivian former army chief accused of leading a failed coup attempt has been given six months “preventive detention”, a top prosecutor said on Friday, as the president again denied the attack was a “self-coup” designed to boost his flagging popularity.
General Juan José Zúñiga Macías has been handed charges of terrorism and armed uprising, state prosecutor Cesar Siles said. Zúñiga has said he was following an order from the president, Luis Arce, following Wednesday’s fleeting insurrection in La Paz. In the moments before he was detained, the ex-army chief claimed: “The president told me the situation was fucked and that he needed something to boost his popularity.”.
Mull, known for his droll and esoteric comedy, dies after ‘valiant fight against a long illness’, says daughter
Martin Mull, whose droll, esoteric comedy and acting made him a hip sensation in the 1970s and later a beloved guest star on sitcoms including Roseanne and Arrested Development, has died, his daughter said Friday. He was 80 years old.
Mull’s daughter, TV writer and comic artist Maggie Mull, said her father died at home on Thursday after “a valiant fight against a long illness”.
Infant among six injured, with at least one dead and more trapped in building in central Ukraine; 10 Ukrainian civilians freed from Russia and Belarus jails in Vatican-mediated deal. What we know on day 857
A Russian missile strike hit a nine-storey residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring six others, officials said. The death toll would likely rise as more people remained trapped in the building, where four upper storeys collapsed as a result of the attack, said the interior minister, Ihor Klymenko. A photo posted on Telegram by the governor, Serhiy Lysak, and other images on social media showed a badly damaged building that had smoke rising from a gaping hole in its upper storeys. A seven-month-old infant was among the injured, Lysak said. Three people were in severe condition.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 10 civilians including a politician and two priests taken prisoner in Russia and Belarus had been freed in a deal mediated by the Vatican. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners throughout their two-year conflict but the release of civilian prisoners is rarer. “We managed to return 10 more of our people from Russian captivity,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram. It was not immediately clear if the release was part of an exchange deal involving Russian prisoners held in Ukraine. Some of those released had been in prison since 2017, he said, arrested in Russian-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine that at the time were run by Moscow-backed separatists.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had taken control of the settlement of Rozdolivka in eastern Ukraine, but the Ukrainian military said heavy fighting was raging in areas around the settlement. The Russian ministry said on Friday that Russia’s “southern” military grouping had taken up what it called more favourable positions after pushing Ukrainian forces out of the settlement. Rozdolivka is in the Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia’s slow advance across eastern Ukraine. It lies north of Bakhmut and Soledar, two localities brought under Russian control last year.
The Ukrainian military’s general staff said Russian forces had launched 19 attacks in a broad sector that included Rozdolivka. “Our soldiers resolutely held their defences and repelled 15 of the assaults,” the evening report on Friday said. “Four armed confrontations are continuing.” The battlefield accounts from either side could not be verified.
The Biden administration will provide Ukraine with $150m worth of weapons and ammunition, including Hawk air defence interceptors and 155mm artillery munitions, two US officials said. The weapons aid package was expected be unveiled on Monday, they said on Friday, declining to be named. The administration is responding to Ukraine’s desperate requests for air defence support as Russia has pounded Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks via aerial attacks.
Vladimir Putin said Russia should start producing short- and intermediate-range missiles that were previously banned under a now-defunct arms treaty with the US. The Russian president was referring to missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500km (300-3,400 miles) that were banned under the cold war-era intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) treaty. Washington withdrew from the deal in 2019, citing Russia’s failure to comply. The Kremlin said at the time that it would abide by a moratorium on production if the US did not deploy missiles within striking distance of Russia. In a televised address to his top security officials on Friday, Putin said the US had started using such missiles in training exercises in Denmark and “we need to react to this”.
Russia’s defence minister has ordered officials to prepare a “response” to US drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft. The Russian defence ministry noted a recent “increased intensity” of US drones over the Black Sea, saying they “conduct intelligence and targeting for precision weapons supplied to the Ukrainian military by western countries for strikes on Russian facilities”.
The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has voted to approve a $2.2bn payout for Ukraine under an existing loan programme, and lowered its growth outlook following “devastating” Russian attacks against the country’s energy infrastructure. The much-needed funds would be used for “budget support” and bring the total amount disbursed under the 48-month loan agreement to about $7.6b, the IMF said on Friday.
Pyramid stage The British singer’s Friday night set underlines her claim to be one of the world’s great current pop stars, with a cast-iron hit always around the corner
According to the most intriguing bit of her between-song chat, Dua Lipa’s headlining Glastonbury slot came about as a result of an act of childhood manifesting. The singer claims she wrote out her desire to top the bill on the Pyramid stage in detail, up to and including what night said event should take place on: a Friday, so she “could spend the rest of the weekend partying”. And now here we are: watching a slightly peculiar video of Dua Lipa signing her name and writing the words “GLASTO 24” on a pane of glass, then licking it.
Whether you buy the stuff about manifesting or not, Dua Lipa has clearly spent a lot of time carefully studying and absorbing how a successful Glastonbury headline set works, and putting what she’s gleaned to good use. The announcement of her appearance led to a degree of consternation, particularly after her most recent album, Radical Optimism, failed to replicate the kind of world-beating success afforded its predecessor, the lockdown smash Future Nostalgia. But she already has a stockpile of inescapable hits, from New Rules to her Elton John collaboration Cold Heart, which is half the battle won. And furthermore she throws everything she has at her set in order to lend it a sense of event, rather than it being simply another pop show transposed to a field in Somerset, another stop-off on a world tour that happens to be on a farm.
A cannabis product could be to blame for more than six people being hospitalised with symptoms including seizure-like twitching, vomiting and hallucinations after consuming gummies marketed as containing mushrooms, according to experts.
The Cordyceps and Lion’s Mane flavours of Uncle Frog’s Mushroom Gummies were recalled this week by Food Standards Australia New Zealand after reports of hospitalisations in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.
The Climate Guardians appeared in Westernport Bay in southern Victoria in February 2021, standing in solidarity with the locals protesting plans by energy company AGL to build a new gas hub in nearby Ramsar-listed wetlands.
They appeared again in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris that same year defying the state of emergency ban placed on protesters around the Cop21 and then in the heart of Melbourne throughout Extinction Rebellion’s recent autumn activism.
Winger is strong believer in mental preparation and will not let bike accident affect him if picked against Slovakia
There is, frankly, only one place to start with Anthony Gordon and it is not only because he is handed a pair of stabilisers as a present when he walks in to address the media – a reference to his much talked-about and laughed-about bike crash on Wednesday during England’s recovery day.
It is hard to ignore the cuts and grazes, especially the deep red one in the middle of his chin. There are some on the Newcastle winger’s nose and arms, while they are also all over his hands. When somebody goes to shake with him, he pulls away defensively, which does not suggest he is battle-ready for Sunday’s last-16 tie against Slovakia. It turns out to be wrong. He says he is completely fine. So what happened?
After a fine debut season with Chelsea the winger is unfazed by his late miss on his tournament debut against Slovenia
By the time our 20 minutes with Cole Palmer are up, the England winger has managed to rave about Riyad Mahrez’s first touch, reveal that Austria have been one of his favourite teams at Euro 2024, claim Londoners are way moodier than northerners, talk about getting on for 20 minutes against Slovenia, praise Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Chelsea, elaborate on his relationship with Enzo Maresca and, most importantly of all, correct erroneous reports that he has an obsession with baked beans.
The answers are short, sweet and often pretty illuminating. Palmer does not skip a beat before revealing that his first position was left-back. It was a throwaway comment, but he suddenly looks horrified. He glances at the press officer sitting to his left and wonders if he has put his foot in it. Is Gareth Southgate about to stumble upon the answer to England’s problem position? “I am talking under-10s!” Palmer says. “Under-10s! I have never played left-back since. I was tiny and I just got put left-back. When I was 12 I moved further and further up.”
Maatsen spent second half of last season at Dortmund
Aston Villa have announced the signing of left-back Ian Maatsen from Premier League rivals Chelsea for a reported £37.5m. The Netherlands international was part of the Borussia Dortmund team beaten by Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League final during a season-long loan move from Stamford Bridge.
Maatsen, who is currently with his country at Euro 2024 in Germany, becomes Unai Emery’s second summer signing following the arrival of forward Lewis Dobbin from Everton. Villa are preparing for Champions League football next season after finishing fourth in the top flight.
England lost to the tournament’s best team in the semi-final and India’s display makes them favourites to win the trophy
A washout in Guyana on Thursday, for the semi-final between England and India, would have been disastrous for this T20 World Cup. It really isn’t ideal that one semi-final, played between South Africa and Afghanistan, had a reserve day and the other didn’t. The ruling that the side that topped their Super Eight group advanced to the final in case of an abandonment is also unconvincing. It must also seem strange to people that India knew before the tournament where their semi-final would be held if they got that far. I’m just glad the match got played.
The conditions on offer were probably the most difficult this England side could have faced. The pitch didn’t suit their natural style of cricket and was more like one you would find in India as opposed to England. Given that India got a score that was 15, possibly 20, runs above par, England were right to go hard in the powerplay. But it is a high-risk policy, and it was unfortunate their shots didn’t come off. Axar Patel was the star man for India, but Kuldeep Yadav bowled beautifully. He has improved so much, particularly in the past two years, with his variations of pace, and Jasprit Bumrah’s wonderful cutter to get rid of Phil Salt set the tone.
First minister says voters being disfranchised because some ballots yet to arrive with school holidays due to begin
John Swinney, the Scottish first minister, has raised concerns that voters are being disfranchised because of delays in receiving postal votes.
Voters in some parts of the UK, particularly Scotland, have not received their postal ballots ahead of the election on 4 July. Postal vote requests are particularly high in Scotland because schools are on holiday next week.
Serbian performance artist tells Pyramid stage crowd to confront cyclical violence in thousands-strong ‘collaboration’
It’s been home to some of the UK’s loudest singalongs, most propulsive rap lyrics and most cacophonous guitar solos. But the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury experienced something almost unprecedented in its history on Friday: total silence.
The Serbian artist Marina Abramović, invited by festival organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, led the audience in what she called a “collaboration” called Seven Minutes of Collective Silence, to “see how we can feel positive energy in the entire universe” and act as a bulwark against the horrors of war and violence.
Karima Manji, whose daughters accessed over C$150,000 in benefits for Inuit residents, pleaded guilty in February
A Canadian woman who fraudulently claimed her daughters were Inuit has been sentenced to three years in jail, in what is believed to be the first ever custodial sentence for a “Pretendian”.
Karima Manji, whose daughters accessed more than C$150,000 in benefits intended for Inuit, was sentenced on Thursday, after pleading guilty to fraud in February.
Both pro-independence and pro-France voters are unhappy with the status quo after deadly riots
The unusually long queues to register a proxy vote in New Caledonia suggests turnout will be significantly higher than normal for this weekend’s French election, weeks after months of turmoil that at one point saw deadly riots and the closure of the territory’s international airport.
Among residents of the French Pacific territory, which lies 16,500km from Paris, politics has been a popular topic this week.
Bodies of Lauren Evans, 22, and Daniel Duffield, 24, were discovered at a house in Hednesford, Cannock, on Tuesday
Police say they are not looking for anyone else after a paramedic was found dead along with a woman at a house in Staffordshire.
A murder investigation was launched after the bodies of Lauren Evans, 22, from Bridgend, south Wales, and Daniel Duffield,24, from Cannock, were discovered at a property in Hednesford, Cannock, on Tuesday.
Advisers despair over disastrous display although Biden gives vigorous showing at North Carolina rally on Friday
Panicking Democrats were speculating about whether Joe Biden should be replaced as their party’s nominee for US president following a disastrous debate performance that turned whispers about his age and fitness into a roar.
Biden’s shaky, raspy-voiced showing against Donald Trump at the first presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday was widely panned as a disaster that, instead of assuaging fears about his mental acuity, amplified them on the biggest political stage.
Exclusive: Ofwat to investigate circumstances around payment of dividend to intermediate parent company
The board of Thames Water agreed to pay a £150m dividend hours before its shareholders U-turned on plans to pump emergency funding into the struggling water supplier, the Guardian can reveal.
The water industry regulator was examining the decision by the debt-laden company’s board to sign off the payout at a meeting on 27 March, sources said.
Investigation that lasted decades ends with no convictions for 1982-85 rampage that took lives of 28 people
It is a murder mystery that gripped Belgium for decades and now, with the closure of the file on Friday, it may remain a cold case forever.
A gang went on a murderous rampage between 1982 and 1985, killing 28 people including children in a series of supermarket robberies, becoming known as the “Crazy Killers of Brabant”.
Francesco Calzona’s close-knit team have built a formidable rhythm with input from their former star Marek Hamsik
While England scramble around for cohesion, their next opponents have established a throbbing rhythm. Milan Skriniar prepared to offer his perspective on Sunday’s meeting but had to wait while the Slovakia kitman, Marek Kosan, took the floor. The camp had made a deal: if they progressed from the group stage he would have to publicly demonstrate his beatboxing skills. Kosan had no hiding place so played the captain in, accepting both enthusiastic applause and the unexpected consequences of success.
Slovakia hope a similarly pulsating display will break new ground on Sunday. They have never reached a quarter-final but feel rested and well prepared in historic Mainz, away from the crowds but only half an hour from the Frankfurt stadium where two of their previous games took place. The Gutenberg press and gegenpress were both born here: the latter comes to mind when Slovakia arrive to train at Bruchwegstadion, the atmospheric old ground where Jürgen Klopp made his name at Mainz.
Horner tries to cool row with Verstappen’s father Jos
Max Verstappen opened the Austrian Grand Prix weekend in confident form once more, claiming pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. The Red Bull driver was commanding in Spielberg, beating the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into second and third. Mercedes’ George Russell was fourth and Lewis Hamilton was sixth.
In the truncated sprint qualifying, just one lap in Q3 for each driver was to be decisive, with Verstappen having been quickest in the opening two sessions. Hamilton and Russell led the field out as the clock ticked down, with Russell setting the pace but he was edged out by Norris, before Verstappen once more closed it out with no little control in a time of 1min 04.686sec almost a tenth up on Russell, to claim the Dutchman’s eighth sprint pole.
Hollywood A-listers can often be glimpsed at Glastonbury taking advantage of the relative anonymity away from the glare of paparazzi. And this year some of cinema’s biggest stars are not just enjoying downtime on Worthy Farm, they are taking part in one of the biggest draws.
The screening programme from Pilton Palais, tucked away near the acoustic stage, is arguably better than many film festivals. On Friday Florence Pugh is introducing Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune: Part 2 alongside a Q&A, and in the evening Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott are taking part in a talk after a screening of All of Us Strangers alongside its director, Andrew Haigh.
Essex police say they are ‘urgently assessing’ racist and homophobic remarks made by party’s volunteers
Rishi Sunak has said he was hurt and angry to hear a Reform UK canvasser using a racial slur against him, saying Nigel Farage “has some questions to answer”.
The prime minister responded after a Channel 4 undercover investigation found a Reform campaigner had called him a “fucking [P-word]”. Sunak repeated the slur and said he had done so because it was important to call it out for what it was.
While many Italians were relieved to squeeze past Croatia, the manager still feels he has more to prove at Euro 2024
To watch Luciano Spalletti speak at the end of Italy’s draw against Croatia felt like being pitched into an alternate timeline. Outside, on the pitch at Leipzig Stadium, there had been joy and relief for the Azzurri after Mattia Zaccagni’s 98th-minute equaliser secured progress to Euro 2024’s knockout phase. Inside, at the press conference, there was the sort of prickly postmortem you might expect after early elimination.
In a series of monologues, Spalletti railed against perceived critics. When one journalist, Dario Ricci, asked whether the decision to change formation to a 3-5-2 had been influenced by a “pact” with players, the manager accused him of sharing leaked information from the changing room.
Exclusive: Former Labour leader calls on party to ratchet up scrutiny of Reform in final week of campaign
Neil Kinnock has warned his party not to ignore the nationalist threat posed by Nigel Farage, as concern grows in Labour ranks that Reform UK could pose a long-term threat for them as well as for the Conservatives.
The former Labour leader told the Guardian he wanted Labour to turn its guns on Farage’s party in the final week of the election campaign, saying the populist right could gain a stronghold in the UK as it has across much of Europe.
Some call for rethink by Democrats and say continent must step up preparations for another Trump term
European politicians, already drowning in multiple crises of their own, were left shell-shocked and aghast at Joe Biden’s meandering performance in Thursday’s presidential debate, aware that a second Trump term had drawn that much nearer – with all that this implies for the rise of populism in the continent, the future of Nato, and for Ukraine and the Middle East.
The voices of despair came from across the mainstream political spectrum, interspersed with the odd call for Europe to prepare even more intensively for a Trump second coming.
Claimants include family of 11-year-old girl who spent three weeks on dialysis after eating chicken salad sandwich
Tesco and Asda are being sued by customers, including the family of an 11-year-old girl, who were left seriously ill after eating own-brand sandwiches linked to an outbreak of E coli.
The supermarkets face legal action after a child and adult were left in hospital. One person has been confirmed to have died and more than 120 others including a six-year-old have been hospitalised in the UK due to the bacteria.
Everyone is annoyed after three games of football. No one is having a good time. And it is objectively hilarious
When was the moment you thought it was going to be one of those England games? 13min 29sec for me, Clive. John Stones overhits a relatively straightforward crossfield pass to Kieran Trippier. The makeshift left‑back (he’s right-footed in case you hadn’t been made aware) performs the classic “right idea” applause over his head as the ball sails out for a throw-in to Slovenia.
Thirteen and a half minutes is a little impatient. But this quickly became one of those games where you start wondering if you floss enough, or if your pension is invested ethically. This was 13 and a half minutes on top of the 90 against Denmark and at least 45 against Serbia. Game after game of footballing atrophy. Elite players degenerating in front of your eyes.
The side-splitting Something Rotten! fondly mocks Shakespeare and musicals at the annual arts jamboree celebrated for both. It is a witty accompaniment to fresh takes on Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and Cymbeline
Something is rotten in the province of Ontario. It is the second number of the tentpole musical at Canada’s Stratford festival, the Shakespeare jamboree that has celebrated the British Bard of Avon for more than 70 years. This is a town where a street, a school and a pet hospital are called Romeo. But what’s that I hear? “God, I hate Shakespeare!” fumes the fellow on the revolutionary thrust stage of Stratford’s Festival theatre, asking how “a mediocre actor from a measly little town” managed to become “the brightest jewel in England’s royal crown”. The sacrilege rages on as the showboating Bard himself strides on to hog the spotlight for the song Will Power, and the “sultan of sonnets” brandishes a huge quill like a mic and shamelessly flirts with fans.
Bawdy, barmy and almost incessantly hilarious, Something Rotten! is the standout show of the 2024 Stratford season, fusing the festival’s two major traditions of Shakespeare and musical theatre. This Renaissance tale of budding playwright brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom (Mark Uhre and Henry Firmston), toiling in the shadow of the all-conquering Shakespeare (Jeff Lillico), picked up 10 Tony award nominations on its premiere in 2015 including best score (for brothers Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick) and best book (co-written by longtime Guardian columnist John O’Farrell). Despite such success, it has inexplicably taken almost a decade for it to receive a UK premiere – but now a concert version will be staged for two nights at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane in August.
Public servant who spearheaded the regeneration of post-industrial Manchester as the city council’s chief executive
In the staid world of local government, where town halls were traditionally seen by ministers as supplicants of Whitehall, Sir Howard Bernstein stood out as a rare public servant determined to break the mould of civic passivity.
As chief executive of Manchester city council for 19 years, Bernstein, who has died aged 71 after a short illness, was instrumental in transforming his native city from what he once called the doldrums of the post-industrial 1980s into Britain’s second biggest commercial and business centre, pulling in billions of pounds in investment.
South Korean 13-piece boyband take to Pyramid stage for ‘Glasteen’ in front of fanbase often overlooked by western festivals
When they bought their Glastonbury tickets last year, Leah Townsend and Taz Delarosa never expected their favourite K-pop band to end up in the lineup. “I cried so much when we found out,” said Delarosa, 26. “I think this is going to be massive for them.”
“I was over the moon,” added Townsend, 26. “It was completely unexpected – we didn’t think it was going to happen.”
At the Mediterrane film festival in Malta, the film-maker spoke out against UK citizens ‘seeing justification in not voting’ in the general election
Mike Leigh has criticised UK voters considering abstention at this year’s general election, saying the subjects of his 2018 historical drama Peterloo would be appalled by such disengagement.
Speaking at the Mediterrane film festival in Malta, Leigh said the protesters who gathered in St Peter’s Field in Manchester to demand the reform of parliamentary representation in 1819 would be “not only horrified but mystified” about “people procrastinating about whether to vote and seeing justification in not voting, which is what’s happening right now”.
Team thrashed by India in T20 World Cup semi-final
Coach believes he and captain Buttler should keep roles
Matthew Mott insists his leadership partnership with Jos Buttler has been “galvanised” and, given the chance to continue after England’s T20 World Cup mauling by India, believes the team will bounce back “bigger, badder and better”.
Having secured the trophy in Australia back in 2022, both Mott, the head coach, and Buttler, the captain, find themselves under pressure, with a lamentable 50-over World Cup defence in India last winter now followed by a spasmodic T20 campaign that saw only associate teams and West Indies beaten before a gory semi-final exit.
The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London Premiering Roderick Williams’ song cycle about Black Tudors alongside songs from the period itself,the rising-star soprano was elegant, while the uber-lutenist poured her solos like liquid
Deep inside the Tower of London, the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula was built for the people who lived and worked in the fortress during Henry VIII’s reign. Thomas More is buried there; so is Anne Boleyn. It’s a coolly atmospheric place. For the opening concert of this year’s Spitalfield’s music festival, it was more than a venue: the Tower’s many “ghosts” inspired the programme performed by rising-star soprano Nardus Williams and uber-lutenist Elizabeth Kenny.
There were three short pieces attributed to Henry VIII and songs with texts by Robert Devereux, who became one of the Tower’s many prisoners. Courtly grace crossed such political divides: seated next to Kenny, Williams’s vocal lines were elegantly shaped but unshowy, her ornamentation featherweight, her diction crystalline. Kenny’s brief solo turns poured like liquid, musical lines barely troubled by the percussive quality of plucking.
Britain to make legal arguments over jurisdiction in case of alleged war crimes by the Israeli PM
An intervention by the UK government at the international criminal court is expected to delay a decision over whether an arrest warrant can be issued against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Judges at the ICC ruled on Thursday they would allow the UK to make legal arguments in the case as they consider whether to approve requests made by the ICC’s chief prosecutor for warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Foden back training after returning home for child’s birth
Gallagher set to drop out for last-16 tie against Slovakia
Gareth Southgate is giving strong consideration to sticking with his first-choice attack after Phil Foden returned to training on Friday and took part in England’s preparations for their last-16 tie against Slovakia.
Southgate, who has come under heavy criticism for his tactics at Euro 2024, is not expected to do anything drastic against Slovakia on Sunday and is veering towards making only one change, with Kobbie Mainoo set to replace Conor Gallagher in midfield.
Nigel Farage’s party is poaching angry Conservative voters, but damage control measures may limit the impact
The Labour lead in the opinion polls has been 20 percentage points throughout the campaign. But the polls haven’t been entirely static.
Over the past five weeks there has been one key change in polling that has the potential to turn a historic defeat for the Conservatives into an obliteration when the election is called.
Lacklustre Euro 2024 performances may prompt faddish quick fixes but the real key to success may lie in replacing fear with the fun players felt as 10-year-olds
Sporting success isn’t down to pickle juice, according to a leading sports psychologist. The secret isn’t to be found in the inflatable unicorns England’s players famously mounted to recuperate in the pool. Or the £3,400 electric bikes they pedalled to boost their post-match recovery. It’s not even about the manager.
“Instead, what I’m going to say will horrify you,” said Michael Caulfield, who has worked in professional sport for more than 25 years. “Football is – or should be – only about joy.”
Take your mind away from the consequences of your action and focus on the action. Anxiety, fear, stress are projections of the future: concentrate on the present.
Learn how to change your perceived reality. Premier League footballers learn to shut out fans if they feel oppressed by them. This could help people who don’t like public speaking, for example, who can see their audience as more intimidating than they may actually be.
Find a ritual to recover from disappointment that creates positivity.
Learn from those you admire. Stay close to them and be forgiving of their mistakes and failures.
Don’t have top tips, said Caulfield, because by tomorrow someone else will have come up with five other tips and “you’ll be completely confused”. “A good grandparent is better than any tip,” he said. “Turn to grey hair because the chances are they’ve been through a bit. They’re not right or wrong but they’ll ask the right questions and help you sort things out.”
The 37-year-old’s love of tennis and desire to compete has never dimmed – and fighting to the bitter end is a legacy for which he should be revered
On the eve of the Queen’s Club championship nearly two weeks ago, Andy Murray was announced as part of the Great Britain Olympic team for the fifth time in his career. The Olympics have become, in a way, Murray’s one stronghold at the top of professional tennis. He remains the only player in the Open era to win two singles gold medals, which is more than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer combined.
During his press conference that day, Murray was asked about his success in the Olympics and what his medals have meant to his career. He discussed London 2012 at the All England Club, a narrative-shifting triumph that proved an essential step towards his three grand slam wins, and also his epic repeat at Rio 2016. But Murray spent almost as much time discussing his heartbreaks, from his excruciating cramps in his first round singles loss at Beijing 2008 to his misery in 2021, where he and Joe Salisbury came so close to a men’s doubles medal in Tokyo.
University sought order after students slept in building for more than a month in response to report about LSE’s Gaza-linked investments
The London School of Economics has been granted a court order indefinitely barring encampments in one of its buildings after students slept in its atrium for more than a month in support of Palestine.
Several students set up the camp in the atrium of the ground floor of the Marshall Building in central London on 14 May, vowing to remain there until LSE met its demands.
Mark Cavendish’s final tilt at claiming a record-breaking 35th stage win at the Tour de France begins in earnest on Monday when he targets victory in the longest day of this year’s race, the 230km haul from Piacenza to Turin.
“I’m more ready now than I was last year,” Cavendish, who currently shares the record of 34 stage wins with the great Eddy Merckx, said on Friday afternoon. “I’m so happy I carried on, actually.”
Incident reignites concerns over crackdown on media before crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this year
Western journalists were refused entry to an energy industry conference in Azerbaijan earlier this month, reigniting concerns over the state’s crackdown on the media ahead of crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this year.
At least three journalists from the UK and France have told the Guardian that they felt “unsafe” after they were denied entry to the Baku Energy Week forum, despite registering with the event organisers weeks in advance.
In today’s newsletter: What a spate of offensive comments from volunteers and candidates reveal about the Reform UK agenda – and how they might affect its support
Good afternoon. You’re safe here: after this sentence, there will be absolutely no mention of what happened in American politics last night. We now go live to Britain, where everything is totally fine, and Nigel Farage is desperately trying to distance himself from some of the most flagrantly racist political campaigners you will find this side of a National Front rally.
More on what to make of Reform’s problem with its own people, and a truly horrifying general election diet, after the headlines.
Economy | The UK economy grew at a faster rate than previously thought in the first quarter of 2024, handing the next prime minister an improved economic backdrop. The data confirmed that the UK was the fastest-growing economy in the G7 during the first quarter after a short recession in 2023.
Labour | Stamp duty will rise for first-time buyers next year if Labour wins the election, the party has confirmed, as it plans to allow a temporary tax break enacted by the Conservatives to expire. A party spokesperson said on Friday it would allow the threshold for stamp duty to fall back to £300,000, after it was raised to £425,000 in 2022.
Conservatives | Rishi Sunak’s most senior adviser has been interviewed as a witness as part of the Gambling Commission’s investigation into widespread betting by Westminster figures on the date and outcome of the general election. Sources told the BBC that Liam Booth-Smith was not a suspect and had not placed a bet himself.
Cowboy hats, vintage dresses and Kansas City jerseys… here’s how the Swifties at the London leg of the Eras tour ensured their looks will never go out of style.
There is sparkle, spandex, a shot belt filled with gin – and a man dressed as a fly. As the UK’s biggest music event gets underway, we seek out the best, most surprising fashion of the festival
The president had one job: to prove he was strong enough to take on his predecessor. Now Democrats must act, for America’s sake – and the world’s
What was the worst moment? Perhaps when one especially rambling sentence of Joe Biden’s ended in a mumbled, confused declaration that “We finally beat Medicare”, as if he were the enemy of the very public service Democrats cherish and defend. Maybe it was when the president was not talking, but the camera showed him staring vacantly into space, his mouth slack and open? Or was it when he was talking, and out came a thin, reedy whisper of a voice, one that could not command the viewer’s attention, even when the words themselves made good sense?
For anyone who cares about the future of the United States and therefore, thanks to that country’s unmatched power, the future of the world, it was agonising to watch. You found yourself glancing ever more frequently at the clock, desperate for it to end, if only on humanitarian grounds: it seemed cruel to put a man of visible frailty through such an ordeal.
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