Wrigley’s gave me 5,000 to start me off. I’ve now used nearly 3m
I don’t know what to put it down to, but I’ve always been a collector, a completist, a statistician – and maybe a little competitive.
As a schoolboy in Canada, I was fascinated by the Guinness Book of Records and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!. I would memorise the records and amaze my friends by quoting them.
Close-run race between pro-EU and nationalist candidates pits liberal vision against a radical-right, EU-critical stance
Poland’s presidential election runoff could have far-reaching implications for its place in Europe – either cementing the country’s hard-won seat at the EU’s top table, or heralding a return to altogether trickier times.
The mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, faces off against the historian Karol Nawrocki on Sunday in a neck-and-neck race, pitting a liberal vision of Poland at the heart of European policymaking against a nationalist, radical-right, EU-critical stance.
The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner – and that gives it leverage to finally change the course of this brutal war
European consciences have started waking up to the Israeli government’s crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories – and it is about time. What has caused this long and slow awakening? Is it Israel’s killing of more than 54,000 Palestinians since Hamas’s horrific attack on 7 October 2023? Thousands of babies at risk of dying from starvation and malnutrition? Civilians burning alive? Israeli ministers’ plans to reoccupy and recolonise the Gaza Strip, expelling Palestinians? Or perhaps it’s the Israeli army firing shots at diplomats, including Europeans, in the West Bank – or the racist chanting, during a state-funded march in Jerusalem, of “death to the Arabs” and “may their villages burn”?
It’s probably a combination of all the above, as well as the recognition that principled pressure on Israel will certainly not come from Washington. Whatever the triggers for it, Europe may be nearing an inflection point on the graph, turning the dark page of its complicity with Israel’s nearly 20-month war in Gaza.
The indiscriminate, cruel and criminal killing of civilians may see us be banished from the family of nations and summoned to the ICC, with no good defense
The government of Israel is currently waging a war without purpose, without goals or clear planning, and with no chances of success. Never since its establishment has the state of Israel waged such a war. The criminal gang headed by Benjamin Netanyahu has set a precedent without equal in Israel’s history in this area, too.
The obvious result of Operation Gideon’s Chariots is, first and foremost, the confused activity of Israeli military units deployed around Gaza. This is true particularly in neighborhoods where our soldiers have already fought, were hurt and fell while killing many Hamas combatants, who deserve to die, and many more innocent civilians. These have joined the statistics of pointless victims among the Palestinian population, reaching monstrous proportions.
While students around the world dream of classrooms, students in Gaza dream of survival
Before the war, students in Gaza were surrounded by books, not bombs. They woke each morning to the voices of their mothers urging them to get ready for school, not to the sound of airstrikes and screaming. They were focused on building a future, working hard to shape a better life for themselves and their homeland.
Before the war started, my best friends and I used to go to the restaurants that were near the university, talking, laughing, eating and studying together, eating our breakfast together under a blue sky before going to the first lecture.
Nadera Mushtha is a writer and poet from Gaza who is studying English language education at the Islamic University of Gaza. Her writing has been published on Al Jazeera, Mondoweiss, the Electronic Intifada, and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir about her and her husband’s 630-mile trek around England’s south coast has become a film. Its stars, makers and Winn talk floods, fog and forgiveness
‘I have played a lot of powerful, well-dressed women in my career,” says Gillian Anderson. They flash before your eyes: Margaret Thatcher (The Crown), Eleanor Roosevelt (The First Lady), Emily Maitlis (the Prince Andrew/Newsnight drama Scoop) – as well as the formidable sex therapist in the Netflix hit Sex Education, a role that led to her being inundated with dildos from over-enthusiastic fans. “These are all women in control of themselves and their environment. Any time I have an opportunity to steer against that, particularly lately, it’s of interest to me.”
There is steering in another direction, and then there is the screeching handbrake turn represented by her role in The Salt Path, adapted from Raynor Winn’s 2018 memoir of homelessness and hope along the coastline of England’s south-west. Playing Winn, Anderson is shown making a single teabag stretch for several cuppas, withdrawing the final £1.38 from her bank account, and warming her blistered feet by a pub fire. A typical day begins with her peeing in the undergrowth. It’s a far cry from Agent Scully in The X-Files.
Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups
Four people jailed in the landmark national security trial of the “Hong Kong 47”, the pro-democracy figures accused of conspiracy to commit subversion, were freed on Friday after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month.
Among those freed was longtime political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021.
Faizan Zaki nearly threw away his opportunity to go from runner-up to champion at the Scripps National Spelling Bee with a shocking moment of overconfidence. Given a second chance, he seized the title of best speller in the English language.
The 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, who lost in a lightning-round tiebreaker last year, outlasted eight other accomplished spellers to win the title on Thursday night, including two that he let back into the competition after his own careless flub.
Jenny Stevens and Gina Tonic discuss the rise of #SkinnyTok and the popularity of weight-loss drugs
“There’s lots of chat at the moment about #SkinnyTok,” Jenny Stevens, the Guardian’s deputy features editor, tells Helen Pidd. “The TikTok influencers, TikTok users, who are documenting their extreme weight-loss journeys.
“I’ve looked through that hashtag and I think, wow, some of these people are really, really unwell. And I think that there is a profit-seeking algorithm that is pushing that content into the feeds of young users.”
Some experts are sceptical about the touted benefits to workers from the UK government’s proposed shake-up
Amid all the jargon of the latest announcement on pensions, one number will have leapt out: the claim that the average worker will gain £6,000 in their retirement fund as a result.
The figure comes from the government’s final report of its Pensions Investment Review published on Thursday. It lays out plans to shake up defined contribution pensions, the funds that invest workers’ regular payments in stocks, shares and other assets to grow the money. These provide workers with an income on retirement based on the value of their stake; the size of this income will depend on how much they have paid in and how well the investments have performed.
I heard from a woman who wore off-the-shoulder tops for an entire year because her crush said he ‘liked shoulders’
It was mid-winter when I found myself shivering on a slippery rock, staring out to sea. The waves in front of me were growling and my gut responded in kind. Instead of listening to it, I wrestled into a wetsuit and pulled the goggles I’d had since year 5 over my head. I signalled my friend to start recording. Then, I walked in.
By walked, I mean slipped. Violently. The ocean licked me off the rocks and sucked me under with glee. After a few seconds of panicked tumbling, I surfaced with a mouthful of salt water. My friend laughed. I laughed, then coughed, then laughed again.
The wise among us would never forgo our safe-sun protocol, but there’s no denying that many of us feel happier and healthier with a tan. The irresistible lure of sunkissed skin has long been a summer staple – and from tanning waters to wipes, instant tans to gradual tanning moisturisers, there are now more ways than ever to get a faux glow.
There’s also been a growing demand for multitasking beauty products, so the newest fake tan formulas often add skincare benefits alongside the bronze. Self-tans infused with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and vitamin C hydrate, nourish and protect much like your usual body cream or facial serum.
It’s time! The nine finalists have taken the stage. Esha Marupudi is first and she nails isopag, an equiglacial line on a map or chart that connects the points where ice is present for approximately the same number of days in winter. Next up is Oliver Halkett and he confidently spells corbicula. Sarvadnya Kadam has no problems with dolabrate. Now it’s Sarv Dharavane, the 11-year-old who is the youngest of the nine finalists. His word is ethology, defined as the scientific and objective study of animal behavior especially under natural conditions. After a few questions for head pronouncer Dr Jacques Bailly, he coolly drills it. Four up, four down: a roaring start heading into the first commercial break.
The majority of entrants in the National Spelling Bee are from the US, hailing from all 50 states. But some have traveled farther for the competition. Alleena Villaluz traveled some 7,800 miles from Saipan, a US commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands roughly 133 miles (by air) from Guam. This was her second consecutive Bee. Other spellers came from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The $100,000 award is Australia’s richest art prize for artists under 40, with finalists exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia until 31 August. Here’s a selection
A recent winner of four Masters Games gold medals, Sawang Janpram began competing at 97 – motivated by his daughter, now 73
For the 105-year-old Thai athlete Sawang Janpram, the day normally starts at 5.30am. He has a breakfast of two boiled eggs, some protein, vegetables and fruit, and by 6am or 7am he’s out at the beach or local stadium near his home in Rayong province, training with his 73-year-old daughter Siripan.
He will walk between 1km and 2km before doing a quick 100m run, once or twice. Then, he practises one of his other sports: javelin, discus or shot put.
Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has raised the alarm over how patients in the agency’s clinical trials are facing setbacks in treatment
A 43-year-old woman and mother of two with advanced cancer says she is experiencing life-or-death delays in treatment because of the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Natalie Phelps, who has stage 4 colorectal cancer, has spoken publicly, raising the alarm about a setback in care for herself and others who are part of clinical trials run by the agency. Her story has made it into congressional hearings and spurred a spat between a Democratic senator and the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Behind the scenes, she and others are advocating to get her treatment started sooner.
Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, who has pleaded not guilty, declared not mentally fit to face charges of vandalism and felony stalking of the Friends actor
A judge declared on Thursday that a man is mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of stalking Jennifer Aniston and crashing his car through her front gate.
The move in a Los Angeles County mental health court came after a second psychiatrist examined the defendant, Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, and reached the same conclusion as the first: that his mental health would not allow him to answer to felony charges of vandalism and stalking of the Friends star.
20,000 cargo containers of ammo, shells, missiles and gear sent, says watchdog replacing UN panel scuppered by Moscow. What we know on 1,192
North Korea has supplied to Russia as many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition, as well as at least 100 ballistic missiles along with self-propelled artillery guns and long-range multiple rocket launchers, according to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group comprising 11 UN members. The shipments have enabled Russia to increase attacks against civilian targets, and there have been 20,000 containers of the gear transferred by Russian cargo ships, in violation of UN sanctions. The monitoring group comprises the US, South Korea, Japan, and eight other UN member states. It was set up after Russia and China cooperated to scrap an official security council panel that did the job.
The multilateral group has said in its first ever report that Russia is helping North Korea improve its missiles’ guidance systems by sending back data from the battlefield. Moscow also provided air defence equipment, anti-aircraft missiles and electronic warfare systems to North Korea. “At least for the foreseeable future, North Korea and Russia intend to continue and further deepen their military cooperation in contravention of relevant UN security council resolutions.” After months of silence, North Korea and Russia confirmed in April that North Korean troops have been fighting on the Russian side in the Ukraine war.
Russia’s SVR intelligence service has complained about Serbian ammunition ending up in Ukrainian hands via other countries when Moscow expects Belgrade’s “fraternal Slavic” obedience. The SVR alleges the trail leads to Ukraine through the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria. Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, told RTS television that he had discussed the exports with Vladimir Putin and the two countries would form a “working group” about it. But Vucic added that Serbia was criticised by both the east and west “because it leads autonomous and independent policies … Our factories must live and work. About 24,000 people work directly in the defence industry, and they depend on this industry.” Vucic has previously said that once the ammunition is sold to another country, he does not care where it goes next.
At the United Nations, the US told the security council on Thursday that its proposal for a 30-day comprehensive ceasefire was “Russia’s best possible outcome” and Vladimir Putin should take it. “We want to work with Russia, including on this peace initiative and an economic package. There is no military solution to this conflict,” acting US ambassador John Kelley told the council.
Russia is supposed to put forward a memorandum of its terms for peace but is refusing to do hand it over – demanding a further meeting with Ukraine, which says it has already sent its conditions. Kelley condemned Russia’s recent attacks on Ukraine as not demonstrating “a desire for peace”. “We will judge Russia’s seriousness towards ending the war, not only by the contents of that term sheet, but more importantly, by Russia’s actions … Additional sanctions on Russia are still on the table.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia was engaging in “yet another deception” by failing to hand over its peace settlement proposal ahead of their potential next meeting in Turkey on 2 June. “Even the so-called memorandum they promised and seemingly prepared for more than a week has still not been seen by anyone … despite promises to the contrary, first and foremost to the United States of America, to President Trump. Yet another Russian deception.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said that without being able to review Russia’s memorandum, Kyiv would conclude “it is likely filled with unrealistic ultimatums, and they are afraid of revealing that they are stalling the peace process”.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – president of Turkey which would again host the talks – called on Russia and Ukraine not to “shut the door” on dialogue. “The road to a resolution goes through more dialogue, more diplomacy. We are using all our diplomatic power and potential for peace,” he said, according to his office.
Artificial intelligence tool determines best candidates to take abiraterone, which can halve risk of death from disease
Doctors have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can predict which men with prostate cancer will benefit from a drug that halves the risk of dying.
Abiraterone has been described as a “gamechanger” treatment for the disease, which is the most common form of cancer in men in more than 100 countries. It has already helped hundreds of thousands with advanced prostate cancer to live longer.
Party leader says he wants UK to be a ‘crypto powerhouse’ during speech at Las Vegas conference
Reform UK will accept donations through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Nigel Farage has announced.
During an appearance at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where he was introduced as a “UK presidential candidate”, Farage said: “As of now, provided you are an eligible UK donor … we are the first political party in Britain that can accept donations in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.”
Draper into third round with 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory
British No 1 wins five games in a row to claim fourth set
As 15,000 people cheered on his potential demise late into Thursday night, for a sustained period Jack Draper looked completely frazzled. He found himself playing a few too many drop shots, bailing out of points instead of slamming the door shut. His first serve had vacated the premises.
These things often happen in Gaël Monfils’ lair, Court Philippe-Chatrier, where his magnetic personality draws his home crowd into a frenzy and his singular style plays tricks with an opponent’s mind. Despite being pushed to his limits and standing on the verge of an uncertain fifth set, Draper gave another demonstration of his mental durability by finding his way through to the third round of the French Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.
Though the billionaire vowed modernization and efficiency, what’s left is a trail of uncertainty and reduced functionality
Elon Musk formally exited his role in the Trump administration on Wednesday night, ending a contentious and generally unpopular run as a senior adviser to the president and de facto head of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge). Though he promised efficiency and modernization, Musk leaves behind a trail of uncertainty and reduced functionality.
The timing of Musk’s departure lines up with the end of his 130-day term limit as a “special government employee” but also plays a part in an effort by the billionaire to signal a wider shift away from Washington as he faces backlash from the public and shareholders. Musk has recently made a show of refocusing his efforts on his tech companies in interviews, saying that he has spent too much time focused on politics and plans to reduce his political spending in the future.
Pyramids and monuments suggest Los Abuelos was a significant ceremonial site, archaeologists say
Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a Mayan city nearly 3,000 years old in northern Guatemala, with pyramids and monuments that point to its significance as an important ceremonial site.
The Mayan civilization arose around 2000BC, reaching its height between 400 and 900AD in what is present-day southern Mexico and Guatemala, as well as parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.
There have been seminal moments in time on darts’ journey: the highs and the lows. But there have always been breakthrough moments that have opened the door for a bigger future and as Luke Humphries lifted the Premier League Darts trophy aloft inside a sold-out O2, it was not unreasonable to assume where this game heads next.
In the 1980s, it was Eric Bristow’s pomp and circumstance while dominating in the slightly more low-key venues of Stoke’s Jollees Cabaret Club and the Lakeside. Then it was Phil Taylor who dominated the PDC’s formative years and, yes, while he had the odd rival along the way, it is a fair argument that the 16-time world champion single-handedly broke down barriers for the sport.
Exclusive: Trade unions and human rights organisations fear environment and human rights being pushed aside
The UK is on the brink of signing a £1.6bn trade agreement with Gulf states, amid warnings from rights groups that the deal makes no concrete provisions on human rights, modern slavery or the environment.
The deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council – which includes the countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – is within touching distance, making it a fourth trading agreement by Keir Starmer after pacts were struck with the US, India and the EU.
The Altruists, from Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions, to star Anthony Boyle as disgraced founder and Julia Garner as Caroline Ellison
Netflix is getting into the cryptocurrency business, with a limited series produced by the Obamas on the rise and fall of crypto exchange FTX and its disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The Altruists, from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, will focus on the eccentric entrepreneur and his business – and sometimes personal – partner Caroline Ellison.
Caroline Darian tells Hay festival that pornography websites are ‘part of the system’ of misogyny and violence
There is “no way” that Gisèle Pelicot would have been raped more than 200 times without the existence of pornography websites, her daughter has said.
Speaking at the Hay festival in Powys on Thursday, Caroline Darian said there were “so many social problems like online porn” that can lead to instances of abuse.
The target was delivered by Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem, and triples figures from earlier this year
The Trump administration has set aggressive new goals in its anti-immigration agenda, demanding that federal agents arrest 3,000 people a day – or more than a million in a year.
The new target, tripling arrest figures from earlier this year, was delivered to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) leaders by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, and Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, in a strained meeting last week.
The previous time England stuck 400 on the board in a one-day international at Edgbaston it was something of an epiphany and four years later they were world champions. Whether Harry Brook’s captaincy can deliver silverware like Eoin Morgan’s transformative reign remains to be seen but this 238-run mauling of West Indies made for a handy start.
Not only did Brook’s men amass 400 for eight after being put in by Shai Hope but, for the first time in the format’s history, they did so without a centurion on the day. Instead it was a collective assault of the bowlers and the poor boundary riders, with four half-centuries and – in another first – every member of the top seven making at least 30.
Whatever the result of Champions League final, PSG’s owners have positioned club as game’s next superpower
Put a bisht on it. That’s a wrap. At first glance it might be tempting to see the 2025 Champions League final as one of the more obviously high-European occasions in recent football history.
Twenty thousand Parisians and Milanese will trace out a thousand mile right-angle this weekend, north from Lombardy, east across Alsace and the Rhineland, there to spend a long weekend wandering the white stone streets of Munich, with its reassuringly terrifying gothic cathedral, its pounded-meat cuisine de terroir, its altstadt boutiques selling wristwatches priced at roughly the same the cost as the average human arm, and finally on to the lighted dome of the Allianz Arena, dumped down in the green fringes to the north like a giant alien doughnut.
The Liverpool forward Luis Díaz is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, with Al-Nassr considering a move for the Colombia international.
Díaz has two years remaining on his contract and is yet to enter talks on an extension. There has been no approach to Liverpool by Al-Nassr so far but Saudi interest in the 28-year-old is longstanding and, with Cristiano Ronaldo a possible departure before the Club World Cup, the club are likely to be in the market for another big name.
The Federal Reserve issued a rare, strongly worded statement on Thursday after chair Jerome Powell spoke with Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday morning, holding firm on the central bank’s independence amid pressure from Trump to lower interest rates.
The three-paragraph statement emphasized the Fed’s independent, non-partisan role in setting monetary policy based on economic data.
Minuscule fossils from 73m years ago are oldest evidence yet for birds nesting in polar regions
The Arctic might evoke images of polar bears and seals, but 73m years ago it was a dinosaur stomping ground. Now fossil hunters say these beasts shared their turf with a host of different birds.
Researchers believe their discovery of more than 50 bird fossils from the Prince Creek formation in Alaska is the oldest evidence of birds nesting in polar regions, pushing back the date by more than 25m years.
Lewis Hamilton has dismissed speculation about what has been interpreted as a fractious relationship with Riccardo Adami, his race engineer at Ferrari, describing it as “BS” and insisting the pair enjoy a healthy working relationship.
The issue has previously been raised several times this season as Hamilton develops his dynamic with Adami and came to the fore once more because of some testy exchanges at the last round in Monaco, including when Hamilton asked his engineer at the end of the race: “Are you upset with me or something?” To which he appeared to receive no reply.
The worst of all outcomes would be for US legislators to agree to strengthen the president’s executive powers
If one thing is more challenging to the rule of law than a genuine emergency, it is the invention of a phoney one. Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has upended global trade and international relations, wiping billions off the stock market in the process, by imposing tariffs that he claims are a necessary response to an emergency. Yet that emergency does not really exist, except in the manner that Mr Trump himself has created it.
The president claimed, on 2 April, that a lack of reciprocity in US overseas trade arrangements was “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States”. He claimed that this justified him in declaring an emergency and governing by executive decree under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Congress, which normally has the responsibility to decide US trade policy, was thus wholly ignored. Statutory consultative arrangements, traditionally an essential preliminary, went out of the window too. Mr Trump was effectively exercising an executive power grab.
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LGBTQ+ communities face more discrimination under Trump 2.0 but cultural institutions continue to support
While many sectors of society are pulling back on LGBTQ+ celebration, support and representation – including retailers like Target, tech giants like Meta and Google, and non-profits such as the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (Rainn) – art venues large and small are showing up for Pride month this June. Here’s a roundup of many of the things happening all over the country to celebrate and encourage the LGBTQ+ community this year.
In the documentary White with Fear, an insidious long-running campaign to villainize people of color in the US is laid bare
In the year 1968, a group of housewives in Dearborn, Michigan, then a nearly all-white suburb of Detroit, gathered for a workshop on how to shoot a gun. The women at the pistol range, mostly late-middle age and grandmotherly, were reacting to rhetoric from Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign, which fixated on a so-called crime wave. They were scared, defensive, willing to pick up a gun as a guard against what Nixon called “cities enveloped in smoke and flame”.
The neighboring city of Detroit was 40% Black, and the “crime” supposedly overtaking US cities meant, in this context, Black people, and white suburbia’s racist fear of them. Nixon knew this, though he didn’t say it outright – “You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the Blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to,” he once said, as quoted in the opening minutes of White with Fear, a new documentary on decades of Republican political strategy to stoke and manipulate white racial resentment.
Paul Doyle, 53, from Liverpool was arrested after incident in which at least 79 people were injured
A man has been charged with multiple offences after a car ploughed into a crowd at the end of Liverpool football club’s Premier League victory parade.
Paul Doyle, 53, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, was charged with dangerous driving, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent to cause GBH, and attempting to cause GBH with intent after the incident on Water Street in the city centre.
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