• Gp H: Real Madrid 1-1 Al-Hilal (G García 34; Neves 41pen)

• Federico Valverde’s 92nd-minute penalty saved

Xabi Alonso had said in the buildup that he was going to “ignite” his players at this Club World Cup, that Real Madrid were ready to rock’n’roll. In the event this was something a little more ragged and downbeat, pub-rock, at times even a meandering shoe-gaze in Miami as a feisty and well-drilled Al-Hilal kept the new-era Madrid at arm’s length in a Group H opener that ended in a 1-1 draw, flickered but never caught fire, and saw Federico Valverde miss an 92nd-minute penalty to win it.

Madrid announced before the game that they had sold 60,000 tickets for this game at a 65,000 capacity stadium, which seems a little hard on Al-Hilal, who are owned by the Saudi government and as a result are basically paying for the whole show. As expected the Hard Rock was a sun-dappled sea of white at kick-off, Madrid the greatest portable source of eyeball-power at this made-for-TV show.

This tonally uncertain revival mixes folk horror and little-England satire as an island lad seeks help for his sick mum on the undead-infested mainland

Here they are again, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s zombies – though unlike the usual stumbling slow-movers, of course, these things can sprint like Tom Cruise on steroids. Back in 2002, screenwriter Garland and director Boyle had a monster hit with their post-apocalyptic horror thriller 28 Days Later, about a “rage” virus that leaks from a lab and, turning people into aggressive zombies, causes a complete law-and-order breakdown in 28 days; Boyle famously made smart use of then-new lightweight digital tech which let him bring off miracles of unlicensed guerrilla shooting at dawn in the deserted London streets.

That was fierce, muscular film-making, though I have never been a fan of zombies whose massed presence (then as now) requires silly, gurning, ketchup-strewn extras who can’t be clearly looked at for any length of time without laughing. (For my money it was only Edgar Wright’s zombie horror comedy Shaun of the Dead, which came out two years afterwards, which fully explored the real, intimate horror of zombie-ism: the gap between being bitten and transforming.) In 2007, a lacklustre sequel, 28 Weeks Later, brought the franchise stumbling to a halt.

Diplomats to look for ‘indications of hostility towards citizens, culture or founding principles of United States’

Foreign students will be required to unlock their social media profiles to allow US diplomats to review their online activity before receiving educational and exchange visas, the state department has announced. Those who fail to do so will be suspected of hiding that activity from US officials.

The new guidance, unveiled by the state department on Wednesday, directs US diplomats to conduct an online presence review to look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States”.

• Team are in Washington DC for Club World Cup

• President asks if women could make Juve team

Juventus players and staff were involved in an awkward encounter at the White House on Wednesday when Donald Trump attempted to get them to enter into a debate on transgender women in sport.

The Italian football giants are in the US for the Club World Cup, and are due to play Al Ain of the UAE at Washington DC’s Audi Field on Wednesday night.

• Caitlin Clark was poked in eye as fouls broke out

• Both teams critical of officiating during Fever win

The WNBA has upgraded the technical foul on Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey for shoving Caitlin Clark to the floor during Tuesday’s night game against Indiana to a Flagrant-2, a source told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Any flagrant foul comes with an automatic fine. The person also said the league has fined the Fever’s Sophie Cunningham for her role in the on-court melee that occurred after she fouled Jacy Sheldon with 46.1 seconds left. Cunningham received a Flagrant-2 during Tuesday night’s game, which Indiana won 88-71.

Hours before the decision, the president called the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, ‘stupid’ for anticipated rate hold

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold, but signaled it might make two cuts this year, as Donald Trump continues to break with precedent and demand lower rates.

Policymakers at the American central bank lifted their projections for inflation this year, as the US president stands by his controversial tariff plans, and downgraded their estimates for economic growth.

• British No 1 recovers to win 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)

• Draper battles through but admits ‘I wasn’t my best’

In the final throes of a tense, uneasy tussle with one of the bigger servers in his sport, Jack Draper was fading. The British No 1, and second seed, had started poorly: he had struggled to find his range on his groundstrokes for much of the occasion and then two match points passed him by. Deep in the third-set tie break, he trailed 2-4.

Over the past year, though, a period during which he has established himself as one of the best players in the world, Draper has continually shown his ability to find a path to victory no matter what. In the first week of his grass-court homecoming, the 23-year-old offered a forceful demonstration of his supreme competitive spirit as he recovered to defeat Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, the world No 21, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to reach the quarter-finals at Queen’s Club.

The handmade posters of immigrants have become a symbol of quiet resistance. Their creators reveal the story behind the project

“Missing son.” “Missing father.” “Missing grandmother.”

The words are written in bright red letters at the top of posters hanging on lampposts and storefronts around Los Angeles. At first glance, they appear to be from worried relatives seeking help from neighbors.

• Manchester City 2-0 Wydad AC (Foden 2, Doku 42)

• Lewis sent off after late VAR decision upheld

Pep Guardiola was pleased with the first three points and bemused at Rico Lewis’s 88th-minute straight red card for which the player will receive a one-match ban – at least.

Lewis protested yet the VAR upheld Ramon Abatti’s odd decision: City’s 20-year-old right-back swept the ball away and then – unluckily – booted Samuel Obeng’s face. Guardiola said: “

• Updates from the Group B match; kick-off 8pm BST

• Read today’s edition of Football Daily | And email Will

Germany have made 11 changes to their side. They are already through, so it’s no surprise they have decided to swap everyone out.

Looking forward to the fun of Hutchinson and Nwaneri playing together. Surely England will be a bit sharper than last time out when they could not find a way past Slovenia.

Yassine Bounou saved a late penalty and Trent Alexander-Arnold made a slow start on his Real Madrid debut

The teams have huddled together, the managers have shaken hands, everyone on the field is already sweating ….let’s do this.

Reader Jason has a word:

‘We want freedom on our own terms,’ says one Tehran resident, while another writes, ‘Someone is helping us’

Despite a substantial internet blackout, news spread quickly in Iran on Tuesday night: the US was considering joining Israel in its war on Iran.

The US president, Donald Trump, wrote on Truth Social: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now … Our patience is wearing thin.” Three minutes later, in a second post, he added: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”

When Mehnaz*, a 24-year-old student activist in east Tehran, heard the news, she did not think of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Instead, she thought of her fellow students who were detained, shot and executed by Iranian security forces during the “woman, life, liberty” protests in 2022.

The age of disarmament is over. But military action only increases the dangers instead of ending the threat

Eighty years after the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and 40 years after the US and Soviet Union pledged to reduce their arsenals, the threat of nuclear war has resurged with a vengeance. The age of disarmament is over, a prominent thinktank warned this week: “We see a clear trend of growing nuclear arsenals, sharpened nuclear rhetoric and the abandonment of arms control agreements,” said Hans M Kristensen of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The world’s nine nuclear-armed states have amassed the equivalent of 145,000 Hiroshima bombs. Israel’s illegal attack upon Iran is purportedly a last-ditch attempt to prevent it joining this club – as Israel did long ago, though does not admit it. While Tehran possesses the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon if it chose to, US intelligence believes it has not made that decision – and would still need up to three years to build and deploy one. Israel does not appear to be striking Iran because US nuclear diplomacy has failed, but because it fears it might succeed. Many of its targets are unrelated to the nuclear programme, and some even to Iran’s military. Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly invoked regime change: more honestly, regime collapse.

Killing of Canadian national was ‘significant escalation in India’s repression efforts’ but leaders shake hands at G7

Canada’s spy agency has warned that the assassination in British Columbia of a prominent Sikh activist signaled a “significant escalation in India’s repression efforts” and reflects a broader, transnational campaign by the government in New Delhi to threaten dissidents.

The report was made public a day after Mark Carney shook hands with Narendra Modi at the G7 and pledged to restore diplomatic relations in a very public attempt to turn the page on the bitter diplomatic row unleashed by the murder of the Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

As many as 70 said to be planning to show solidarity at LGBTQ+ march after Hungary’s PM tried to ban it

Dozens of MEPs are expected to attend the Pride march in Budapest this month, in defiance of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who has tried to ban the event.

In a debate in the European parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs from liberal, left and green groups pledged to be in Budapest on 28 June for the parade to show solidarity with gay Hungarians.

Together with Sonia Friedman and Ian Rickson, the Hollywood star has helped to create a new initiative aiming to provide high-quality theater for a low price

One night last month in the West Village, I had the pleasure of being nervous for Hugh Jackman. On stage at the Minetta Lane Theatre, the 56-year-old movie star and Broadway veteran appeared startlingly undefended and vulnerable. In character as a middle-aged university professor infatuated with his 19-year-old pupil, Jackman addressed the audience for a play called Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes with the lights up, as if helming a lecture full of shy students put on the spot; when one viewer sneezed during Jackman’s monologue, he paused to say bless you.

I fretted a few rows from Wolverine, more aware of my fellow audience members’ faces and cellphones than I’ve ever been at a New York show and acutely attuned to the fact that this all could go awry at any moment. Theater is always a contract between audience and performer, but years attending big Broadway shows have inured me to its fragility. At the Minetta, with just the commanding presence of Jackman and the lit audience at his feet, that contract felt thrillingly, temporarily exposed.

The oil shocks of the 1970s-90s had brutal economic impacts. As Israel attacks Iran, a moderate rise in oil prices rests on questionable assumptions

Financial markets picked up the clear message when Donald Trump cut short his stay at the G7 summit in the Canadian Rockies this week. Despite calls from fellow western leaders to de-escalate the crisis, the president’s early return to the White House was taken as a sign that the US is considering joining Israel in its military action against Iran. Trump says he wants Iran’s unconditional surrender.

This is where modern summitry came in half a century ago. In 1975, the first meeting of what eventually became the G7 was convened at Rambouillet in France in an attempt to work out a joint response to the oil shock that accompanied the Yom Kippur war between Israel and its neighbours.

Larry Elliott 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.

The actor seems to have inspired a generation of young chaps to grow wispy caterpillars on their upper lips. When it comes to facial hair, I’ve learned it’s best to go big or go home

What is it with all these wispy moustaches suddenly decorating young men’s faces? These things, which have crawled their way on to so many upper lips, aren’t fully formed moustaches. There’s no depth to them. They’re straggly, patchy, with skin showing through them. They look as though their owners aren’t fully committed to them. Or, worse, that they are trying their best, but this apology of a moustache is all they can manage. It’s the kind of moustache you grow when puberty first makes it possible to do so, the debut facial hair with which you aim to convince publicans that you’re old enough to be served alcohol.

The only thing I can say in their favour is that they are at least equal opportunity moustaches, in that even those who can’t muster much in the way of facial hair can have a fair crack at producing one of these. But otherwise, my firm view on moustaches, for the infinitesimally little it’s worth, is to go big or go home. I’m working on a documentary about Sir Edward Elgar. Now that’s what I call a moustache. Full, bushy, yet neat. A veritable symphony of bristle. It may be that spending so much time with Sir Edward lately is what led me to suddenly start seeing these miserable creepy-crawlies sullying faces everywhere.

Investigators reportedly examining whether ‘last resort’ ram air turbine functioned after takeoff

The sole survivor of the Air India crash has helped carry his brother’s flower-heaped coffin to a crematorium in the western Indian coastal town of Diu, days after they plummeted into the ground shortly after takeoff.

With bandages still on his face and arm, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, who was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, broke into sobs and was consoled by relatives.

Phil Foden struck early and Jérémy Doku added a second before Rico Lewis was shown a late red card

After both sets of players are introduced to the crowd one by one, we kick off a couple of minutes late.

It’s 26 degrees and overcast in Philadelphia this afternoon, with similar conditions in my spare room some 3,500 miles away. Don’t worry, I’m hydrating. While we wait, here’s the latest Football Daily:

Tooth extraction and root canal work among procedures offered by self-taught 22-year-old and two family members

• Europe live – latest updates

A fake dentist and two assistants who treated dozens of patients after learning the trade on the internet have been charged in the Czech Republic.

The three family members opened a fully equipped dental practice, without a licence or the necessary expertise, in the central Czech town of Havlíčkův Brod in 2023, police said on Wednesday.

• Chelsea winger was provisionally suspended last year

• ‘Presence and/or use of a prohibited substance’ alleged

Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk could face a lengthy ban after being charged by the Football Association with doping offences. Under FA regulations the winger could be banned for as long as four years after providing a positive A sample last year. It is believed the banned performance-enhancing substance meldonium was found in Mudryk’s system.

The Ukraine international has not played since last November and was provisionally suspended while he and Chelsea waited for the results of a B sample.

Prosecutors had expected to rest case by Friday but delay means they are unlikely to finish until Monday

A juror’s vertigo on Wednesday ended another day of the sex-trafficking trial for music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs before it began.

Prosecutors had expected to rest their case by Friday after presenting evidence for the last six weeks, but the delay means they are unlikely to finish until Monday.

While some in Moscow have tried to put positive spin on Israel’s assault, Kremlin risks losing key strategic partner

When a group of Russian and Iranian foreign policy officials arranged to meet in Moscow for a conference titled “Russian-Iranian cooperation in a changing world”, they probably did not anticipate just how timely that phrase would turn out to be.

Seated around a table on Wednesday at the President hotel near the Kremlin, officials from both sides were forced to confront a stark new reality: Iran’s regime – a key ally of Moscow – is facing its most serious threat in decades.

Production of staple crops projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C of heating

Some of our critical staple crops could suffer “substantial” production losses due to climate breakdown, a study has found, even if farmers adapt to worsening weather.

Maize, soy, rice, wheat, cassava and sorghum yields are projected to fall by as much as 120 calories per person per day for every 1C the planet heats up, according to new research in Nature, with average daily losses that could add up to the equivalent of not having breakfast.

Forensic scientist says ‘strong evidence’ links Ryland Headley, 92, with murder and rape of Louisa Dunne

A forensic scientist was able to produce a full DNA profile for the suspected murderer of a woman who died in 1967 after examining her skirt and hair that had been kept in police storage for almost 60 years, a jury has been told.

Andrew Parry told the court there was “strong scientific evidence” to link the skirt Louisa Dunne was wearing when she was found and hair police took from her body with 92-year-old Ryland Headley, who is on trial for her rape and murder.

• BBF has not endorsed Manchester for Champions League

• Lions, Eagles and Flyers also blocked from competing

The civil war engulfing British Basketball has intensified with the British Basketball Federation attempting to block four of the country’s leading clubs from competing in Europe next season.

The Guardian has learned that the BBF is refusing to endorse applications for European places made by Manchester Basketball, London Lions, Newcastle Eagles and Bristol Flyers, which has put their participation at risk.

Anger is rarely thought of as positive – but the emotion itself exists to protect us, says author of Good Anger, Sam Parker

My friends and I sometimes rank the seven deadly sins in order of personal relevance. For me, “wrath” always comes last. (I shan’t say what’s first – too revealing.)

Anger doesn’t feature in my day-to-day life. I even struggle to feel wrathful when it’s appropriate. World events make me fatalistic and depressed; when my gym instructor says to “let loose” on the ski machine, my effort remains constant. The time I visited a rage room, my main takeaway was that the Metallica song I selected as the soundtrack sounded fantastic on big speakers.

Findings show public appetite for peaceful approach to aim of forcing Iran to give up ambition of acquiring nuclear arms

• US politics live – latest updates

A majority of supporters of Donald Trump are against US military involvement in Israel’s conflict with Iran, a poll published on Wednesday found, reflecting a growing Republican backlash to the president’s threats to utilize American firepower.

A wide-ranging Economist/YouGov poll conducted over the weekend revealed that 53% of voters who backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election do not want the country to join in Israel’s strikes.

Public spat reflects fracture among Trump’s coalition over whether US should join Israel’s escalating conflict with Iran

• US politics live – latest updates

Ted Cruz, the US senator from Texas, and conservative media personality Tucker Carlson have clashed over US military involvement in the Middle East, with the latter shouting: “You don’t know anything about Iran!” in a heated interview that exposes a sharp division within Donald Trump’s coalition as the president considers joining Israel in attacking Iran.

In the confrontation, a short excerpt released ahead of an approximately two-hour interview set to air today, Carlson – an acolyte of the Maga movement which generally argues for American isolationism from foreign wars – challenged Cruz’s knowledge of Iran, which the Republican hawk has advocated attacking.

Overwhelmed by stress and social media, young people are finding new language to describe the inevitable irritation and anger that ensue ...

Name: Crashing out.

Age: Psychologically ancient, lexically new.

Donald Trump initially appeared to discourage attacks but Israeli officials claim they always had his support

Along the Ayalon highway, in the centre of Tel Aviv, two huge illuminated signs have appeared, portraying Donald Trump against a billowing stars-and-stripes backdrop and bearing the blunt appeal: “Mr President, finish the job!”

Israel’s attack on Iran may have been carried out with Trump’s approval, as government officials in Israel claim, but it appears to have been unleashed only in the expectation – rather than any certainty – that the US will ultimately be drawn into the war.

The anti-Mamdani mobilization is depressingly predictable, with a party that is allergic to fresh blood and new thinking

Who’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani? The answer, it would seem, is the entire establishment. The 33-year-old democratic socialist and New York City mayoral candidate has surged in the polls in recent weeks, netting endorsements not just from progressive voices like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders but also his fellow candidates for the mayoralty, with Brad Lander and Michael Blake taking advantage of the ranked-choice voting system in the primary and cross-endorsing Mamdani’s campaign.

With the primary just around the corner, polls have Mamdani closing the gap on Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor of New York. This has spooked the establishment, which is now doing everything it can to stop Mamdani’s rise.

Here we are, on the brink of another Middle East conflict with Iran – one that was entirely preventable

As the United States inches closer to direct military confrontation with Iran, it is critical to recognize how avoidable this escalation has been. “We knew everything [about Israel’s plans to strike Iran], and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” said Donald Trump on Friday. “I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out.”

As two of the last analysts from an American thinktank to visit Iran, just three weeks ago, we can report that Iran’s own foreign ministry and members of the nuclear negotiating team were eager to work out a deal with Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, and showed no indication they were interested in slow-walking talks.

Experts find link between compulsive use of social media, phones and video games and mental health problems

Teenagers who show signs of being addicted to social media, mobile phones or video games are at greater risk of suicidal behaviour and emotional problems, according to research.

A study, which tracked more than 4,000 adolescents for four years, found that nearly one in three reported increasingly addictive use of social media or mobile phones. Those whose use followed an increasingly addictive trajectory had roughly double the risk of suicidal behaviour at the end of the study.

Since federal agents descended on the city, faith leaders have rallied congregants, protested and devoted resources to serve immigrants

Kevin Kang, a pastor at a United Methodist church about 15 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, was furious last Thursday when he heard that the taco stand next door was raided by immigration agents.

Not only did US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) target his favorite vendors, he said, they had also used the church parking lot to prepare for a raid on a host of popular Mexican food trucks on Foothill Boulevard, a major street in the city of Tujunga.

In the new Evita at the London Palladium, Rachel Zegler sings from the theatre’s actual balcony – meaning the big-paying audience doesn’t experience what passersby get for free. Could this gimmick catch on?

In the theatrical tactic “breaking the fourth wall”, characters acknowledge the presence of the audience. As when, in the current National Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, the performers, walking forward, stop in shock at seeing a big room full of strangers.

The director Jamie Lloyd, though, is pioneering a technique that might be called breaking the theatre wall. In his revival of Evita, previewing at the London Palladium, Rachel Zegler’s Eva Perón sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – supposedly delivered from the Casa Rosada presidential balcony in Buenos Aires – from the balcony outside the Palladium, while the audience inside has to settle for a video feed.

Ruling is devastating loss for trans rights supporters in case that could set precedent for dozens of other lawsuits

• US politics live – latest updates

A Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors can stand, the US supreme court has ruled, a devastating loss for trans rights supporters in a case that could set a precedent for dozens of other lawsuits involving the rights of transgender children.

The case, United States v Skrmetti, was filed last year by three families of trans children and a provider of gender-affirming care. In oral arguments, the plaintiffs – as well as the US government, then helmed by Joe Biden – argued that Tennessee’s law constituted sex-based discrimination and thus violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Under Tennessee’s law, someone assigned female at birth could not be prescribed testosterone, but someone assigned male at birth could receive those drugs.

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Stratford East, London
This show, based on a gone-viral Tinder date in which a woman tried to dispose of her poo unconventionally, tackles the perils of modern love with wit, humour and cracking songs

As bad dating stories go, this one from 2017 is a classic. During a Tinder date, a woman found herself in a pretty awkward situation: her poo wouldn’t flush, and in an attempt to discreetly dispose of it, she ended up wedged between two windows. The story was turned into a viral meme, and even made the headlines. Now, a musical by two of the creators of the hit podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno (Jamie Morton and James Cooper) has been spawned from the incident, too.

The central premise remains, but with a few creative tweaks. Lucy and Peter have been raised on Disney movies but are chronically unlucky in love. Misguided help arrives in the form of Lucy’s cutting anti-guardian-angel, Miseraie, and Peter’s insufferable finance bro flatmate, David. After matching on a dating app, they meet at a Mexican restaurant and do their best to keep up appearances. But, would you believe it – it turns out they might just be each other’s perfect match after all.

Royal Albert Hall, London
After a cancelled arena tour, expectations are high for J Hus’s return – but for all his swagger and melody, he ends up falling short due to sound issues and a lack of vision

J Hus’s one-night-only show at the Royal Albert Hall, celebrating the five-year anniversary of his album Big Conspiracy, begins with the British rapper’s sister and collaborator iceè tgm reciting a poem in front of a black curtain. “It all starts with a question,” she posits. “What is the big conspiracy?” By the end, the show leaves even more unanswered questions.

When the curtain falls, it reveals a small symphony orchestra placed behind live band the Compozers. Hus opens with force: Helicopter, Triumph, Fight for Your Right, Fortune Teller, Reckless, and No Denying come in quick succession. He spits with braggadocious swagger, jumping from a protruding platform into the throes of the adoring crowd standing in the stalls. Even looking up towards the gallery, the venue’s grandeur feels entirely fitting for commemorating such a heavy-hitting UK No 1 album, which has become embedded in British rap, Afrobeats, dancehall, and general culture over the past five years.

Men allegedly stole $100m worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches from an armored truck

Seven men in southern California have been charged in connection with what federal authorities are calling the “largest jewelry heist in US history” after allegedly stealing approximately $100m worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches from an armored truck.

The US attorney’s office for California’s central district revealed the charges in a news release on Tuesday.

Annabel Rook, 46, who helped refugees and women fleeing domestic violence, described as ‘profound force for good’

A woman found fatally stabbed in her home after a gas explosion has been described as a “profound force for good” who dedicated her life to supporting women.

Annabel Rook, 46, was found with stab wounds at a house in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, north London, just before 5am on Tuesday.

Splitgate 2’s Ian Proulx thought his Musk gag was funny – but what it revealed was the major blind spots still in the business

One thing most game developers can agree on in the modern industry is that it’s hard to drum up any awareness for your latest project without a mammoth marketing budget. Last year, almost 20,000 new titles were released on the PC gaming platform Steam alone, the majority disappearing into the content blackhole that is the internet. So when a smaller studio is offered the chance to get on the stage at the Summer Games Fest, an event streamed live to a global audience of around 50 million people, it’s a big deal. Not something that you want to spectacularly misjudge.

Enter Ian Proulx, cofounder of 1047 Games. His short slot at the event earlier this month had him walking on stage with a baseball bat to promote the online shooter Splitgate 2 by announcing that he was “tired of playing the same Call of Duty every year”, while wearing a cap bearing the slogan “Make FPS great again”. It did not go well. Gamers and fellow developers criticised his decision to diss another studio’s game as well as his politically charged use of a Maga/Trump meme, especially with anti-ICE protesters being beaten and arrested just across town. Proulx defended his actions, denying that his use of the cap slogan was political, but four days later he made an apology via X explaining: “We needed something to grab attention, and the honest truth is, we tried to think of something and this is what we came up with.”

A new study investigates possible ties to pesticides, nitrates and other farm-related risks

Six months ago, Alex Hammer was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 37. Dianne Chambers endured surgery, chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation to fight aggressive breast cancer, and Janan Haugen spends most days helping care for her 16-year-old grandson, who is still being treated for brain cancer he developed at the age of seven.

The three were among a group of about two dozen people who came together last week in a small town in central Iowa to share their experiences of cancer. They are part of a new research project investigating potential environmental causes for what the American Cancer Society’s advocacy arm calls a cancer “crisis”.

Federal and provincial governments are ‘flooding the zone’ with damaging corporate giveaways under the guise of resistance

Steve Bannon calls it “flooding the zone”. Donald Trump demonstrated it in his first weeks back in office, when he introduced over 100 executive orders. Regardless of their legal viability, the sheer volume of policy changes is the point. It is a political strategy to overwhelm institutions, courts and social groups, preventing effective opposition.

In Canada, we are witnessing our own version of “flooding the zone” from our new prime minister, Mark Carney, in coordination with provincial and territorial premiers. Carney is the former governor of the Bank of England. Before that, he was the governor of the Bank of Canada. He recently won the federal election by defeating a rightwing opponent Canadians feared would steer them too far towards Trump policies. Yet Carney’s “negotiations” with Trump have so far involved gentle reminders that Canada would never become the 51st state, as threatened by the US president, and capitulations to Trump’s demand to strengthen our border security and increase defense spending. In reality, Canada is moving much closer to the authoritarian rule of Trump.

Shiri Pasternak is an associate professor in criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University. Dayna Nadine Scott is a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change at York University. Both authors are members of the Infrastructure Beyond Extractivism research team, a collaboration between critical scholars and Indigenous land defenders across North America

PM managed to successfully balance foreign and domestic political considerations during his three days in Canada

• UK politics live – latest updates

There was one defining image from Keir Starmer’s intense diplomatic shift at the G7 summit in Canada: him bending at Donald Trump’s waist level to collect spilled pages of a UK-US trade deal. Defining, perhaps. But definitely partial.

Arguably more significant was a slightly more prosaic snap slipped out on the Downing Street Flickr feed a day before, showing Starmer engrossed in a chat with four other world leaders, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Carney, Giorgia Meloni and Friedrich Merz.

Department for Work and Pensions publishes text of bill cutting benefits and claims three-month transitional period is ‘one of most generous ever’

Angela Rayner, the deputy PM, will be taking PMQs shortly. And she will be up against Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary.

When Kemi Badenoch became Tory leader, she did not appoint a deputy (or even a “de factor deputy”, a post that has existed in Tory politics in recent years) and she said she would decide who would stand in for her at PMQs on a case by case basis. Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, got the gig the first time Starmer was away.

Chris Philp follows Alex Burghart in rotating for Kemi Badenoch at PMQs. One Westminster wag asks “When is it going to be Robert Jenrick’s turn?”

We have this profound challenge of the number of people joining the armed forces being outweighed by the outflow the people leaving. So ultimately its about retention.

And the number one issue reason cited in last month’s attitude survey for the armed forces for leaving was family life. We know the quality of housing is unfortunately poor. It’s due to the basically to the structural nature of those homes.

To wrap up this topic, the state of housing for the armed forces is in a poor state because your government did not do enough for it?

[The housing] which is not in a good enough state because of your government?

What did I do about it? I did something that hasn’t been done for 30 years – yes, it completed under Labour – and now we would recommend to the government, when they bring forth their housing defence white paper, that we set up a housing association.

Monitoring group says high death rate in two months indicates change in US policy that could affect Iran

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The US bombing campaign of Yemen under Donald Trump led to the deaths of almost as many civilians in two months as in the previous 23 years of US attacks on Islamists and militants in the country.

An analysis of Operation Rough Rider by the monitoring group Airwars has concluded that 224 civilians were killed between March and the end of the campaign in May, compared with 258 between 2002 and 2024.

Mamdani’s campaign deserves credit for offering a clear, inspiring, progressive message. But ranked-choice voting is also helping make him competitive

With a week left until New York’s Democratic mayoral primary, one might have thought that the former governor Andrew Cuomo would be measuring the drapes at Gracie Mansion. Real estate developers, corporations like Doordash, a smattering of billionaires and even Billy Joel have shoveled cash into his campaign, with his Super Pac spending more money than any other outside force in the city’s political history. This is on top of his entering the race with major name recognition advantage, amounting to a 20- or 30-point lead as recently as May.

But according to a new poll, Zohran Mamdani – the insurgent state assemblyman and democratic socialist whom the Nation recently co-endorsed along with fellow mayoral candidate and New York City comptroller Brad Lander – has pulled ahead of Cuomo for the first time.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of the Nation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a contributor to the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times

• Two Smiths and Alex Mitchell in XV for Dublin match

• Tadhg Furlong also has chance to prove his fitness

Maro Itoje will captain the British & Irish Lions for the first time against Argentina in Dublin on Friday after the head coach, Andy Farrell, included him and eight other Englishmen in the starting XV for the warm-up match for the upcoming tour of Australia.

England’s other starters include Marcus Smith at full‑back along with Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith at half‑backs. Ireland’s Tadhg ­Furlong will be given the chance to prove his fitness after struggling with a calf injury that ruled him out of Leinster’s United Rugby ^­Championship final win against the Bulls last weekend. Furlong is included on a bench that also features the hooker Ronan ­Kelleher, the only player to be involved against Argentina six days after taking part in the end-of-season finale.

Withdrawal from event follows string of appearances as Catherine seeks right balance after cancer treatment

The Princess of Wales has pulled out of attending Royal Ascot as she continues to seek the right balance of public engagements after her treatment for cancer.

Catherine was said to be disappointed not to attend the race meeting on Wednesday with her husband and King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Heidi Alexander vows to ‘sort out’ HS2 project which is delayed beyond 2033; UK inflation dips to 3.4%

• HS2 delayed beyond 2033 as minister attacks ‘appalling mess’

• UK inflation eases to 3.4% amid falling fuel and air fare prices

Inflation pressures remain sticky in the UK, according to Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Looking ahead, we continue to expect CPI inflation to average 3.4% for the rest of the year as strong wage growth, minimum wage hikes and tax increases pass through to retail prices. We think headline inflation will struggle to dip below 3% before April 2026. By that point, inflation will have been above target almost continuously for five years, risking further deanchoring of inflation expectations and persistent wage pressure.

Granted, US president Trump’s trade war could lead to some diversion of Chinese exports previously bound to the US, which could cut UK inflation. But war in the Middle-East has boosted oil and natural gas prices, adding 10bp to our forecast inflation peak and risks probably lie to the upside. We think the MPC will have to proceed cautiously.

Food and drink inflation shot up in May 2025, reaching 4.4% compared to 3.4% in April. These figures are being driven by rising energy and ingredients costs. Food manufacturing is an energy intensive sector, and wholesale gas prices are 7.8% higher compared to last May, as UK businesses face significantly higher industrial energy costs compared to other nations.

Meanwhile, the price of ingredients has also surged. For example, in the last two years, the price of cocoa has tripled, while wholesale butter prices are also 55% higher than last year. Recent and upcoming regulations are also bringing additional costs to manufacturers.

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

After Hurricane Helene’s flood waters slammed into Lake Lure’s century-old dam last September, the resort town was spurred on to seek federal funding for an ambitious rebuilding plan. While the initial response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency seemed encouraging when Joe Biden was president, Donald Trump’s plans to shrink or even abolish Fema – and push some of the costs of disaster response on to states – have injected uncertainty into the North Carolina town’s recovery

This season’s three hot looks: the barn jacket, the leather blouson and the haute anorak

The summer jacket is one of the trickiest bits of your wardrobe to get right, because nobody really wants to wear one. I mean, isn’t summer supposed to be lovely and warm? Isn’t that sort of the whole point of a summer wardrobe? Sandals and shorts exist to celebrate carefree, balmy days. Sunshine is the raison d’etre of a sundress. The very existence of a jacket is a summer buzzkill. But you need one. Sorry, but you do. Seasons are unpredictable, heatwaves break, darkness brings a chill. So you definitely have to put some thought into a summer jacket unless you want your fabulous summer outfits to end up hidden beneath some random hoodie you grabbed off the banister.

Your summer jacket needs to do two things. It needs to keep you warm and dry when the weather turns chilly or wet. And somehow, at the same time, it needs to keep your summer vibe bouncing along, rather than kill the mood. Like I said: tricky.

Visitors could be more sensitive, while the authorities should seek sustainable solutions for residents and tourists. But just staying at home is no answer

After coordinated protests across Europe last weekend, it’s easy for the ethically conscious tourist to feel uncertain. Across southern Europe – and particularly in Spain, Italy and Portugal – there are headlines blaming visitors for everything from overcrowding to housing shortages. In gentrifying neighbourhoods, slogans such as “Tourists go home” have appeared on walls and windows, with some angry residents grabbing headlines by squirting water pistols at tourists.

Does that mean a golden age of tourism is over? No. Does the complicated relationship between those who want to visit the world’s most interesting places and those who live in them need a reset? Probably.

‘I may do it, I may not do it,’ US president says as Tehran reportedly prepares to strike US bases in response

Donald Trump said he had not decided whether or not to take his country into Israel’s new war, as Iran’s supreme leader said the US would face “irreparable damage” if it deployed its military to attack.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel had made a “huge mistake” by launching the war, in his first comments since Friday. “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” he said in a statement read out by a presenter on state TV.

Truro coroner concludes Ben Corser unlawfully killed as he sat in car outside supermarket in Colima in 2022

A British traveller and keen skateboarder shot dead alongside two friends in Mexico was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, his inquest has heard.

Ben Marshall Corser, 36, from St Just in Cornwall, was killed while sitting in the back of a car outside a supermarket in Colima, in western Mexico.

Cheering crowds greet Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh outside London court after lawyers challenge validity of case

Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is facing a terrorism charge, has been released on unconditional bail after his lawyers challenged the validity of the case.

Ó hAnnaidh, 27, from Belfast, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, and chanting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in north London on 21 November last year.

• Maroons win 26-24 after Blues rallied from 26-6 down at half-time

• Result at Optus Stadium in Perth sends series to decider in Sydney

They had been all but written off, rudderless and adrift with a rattled coach at the helm, but a spirited Queensland kept the State of Origin shield alive after a wet, wild and often bizarre Game 2 victory over New South Wales in Perth.

The memorable 26-24 triumph wasn’t certain until the final moments after a titanic Blues comeback – highlighted by a Brian To’o hat-trick – brought them back to within two points with eight minutes to go.

Sam Altman describes offer from Mark Zuckerberg’s company as ‘crazy’, as scramble for talent intensifies

The boss of OpenAI has claimed that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has tried to poach his top artificial intelligence experts with “crazy” signing bonuses of $100m (£74m), as the scramble for talent in the booming sector intensifies.

Sam Altman spoke about the offers in a podcast on Tuesday. They have not been confirmed by Meta. OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, said it had nothing to add beyond its chief executive’s comments.

Brand known for no-nonsense style and camel coats channels the glamour and poverty of the city in Italian cinema

Max Mara is known for its deep-pile camel coats and conservative northern Italian style. But in tune with the times, this season’s show at the baroque Palace of Caserta outside Naples opened with a pair of very short shorts.

Tight and high-waisted, the vibe was Vogue but the inspiration was the 1949 Italian realist film Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice) and a 19-year-old Italian actor, Silvana Mangano, in a paddy field wearing damp shorts and stockings, which ended up on global billboards.

The NHL’s southern expansion was mocked in the 1990s. But it led to better hockey, more money and a long drought for the sport’s spiritual home

“There are a lot of things I do not understand about this proposed expansion,” New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey wrote in December 1992, as the NHL wrapped up its annual Board of Governors meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. During that week’s meeting, the league received expansion proposals for two teams. One was for a team in Anaheim, California, backed by Disney. The other was for a team in Miami, Florida, put forward by waste management-and-VHS-video magnate, Wayne Huizenga. “What makes it think the Sun Belt is ready for all these hockey teams?” Vecsey wondered.

At the time, the answer was money. With more time, the answer seems to be: because championship hockey teams can be built anywhere, including in the South. On Tuesday night in Florida, the Panthers won their second-straight Stanley Cup against the Edmonton Oilers, this time in six games – one fewer than they needed last season. If anything, you could now argue that there’s no better place to build a championship NHL team than the southern US. Since 1990, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to a team based in the South nine times – but five of those have come in the last six years. And three of those have also been against Canadian teams.

UK Health Security Agency says person had contact with stray animal while on holiday in north Africa

A person has died in Yorkshire from rabies after contact with a stray dog while on holiday in Morocco, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.

The individual, who is yet to be named, was diagnosed in Yorkshire and Humber after returning from the north African country.

The hotly anticipated music drama stars The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White as the rocker with Jeremy Strong and Stephen Graham also starring

The trailer for Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere has offered the first real look at Jeremy Allen White in the lead role.

The award-winning star of The Bear plays the musician as he puts together his sixth album Nebraska in the early 1980s. The film, from the Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper, is based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 book.

Stubbornly unripe stone fruit are common in UK supermarkets, but it turns out they’re just the thing to turn into a classic, Japanese-style ferment

Umeboshi is a puckeringly sour and umami-rich Japanese condiment made with ume, an Asian plum that’s closely related to the apricot. It’s usually made with ripe but firm fruit, which aren’t all that dissimilar to the under-ripe and slightly flavourless apricots and plums found in most UK supermarkets and which make a great British stand-in for ume.

Equally at ease with making sex-playlist jams and socially conscious songs, the revered group are fretting about fascism – but are determined to find common ground for Americans

If you looked to the skies in the UK on 12 May, you’d have seen the flower moon, the name given to that month’s full moon. Also known in agricultural circles as the hare moon or the corn planting moon, it’s closely associated with new life and new beginnings.

“Happy flower moon day!” beams Durand Jones, leader of soul outfit Durand Jones and the Indications, whose forthcoming album Flowers – led by the single Flower Moon – also deals with the theme of fresh starts. We’re serendipitously speaking on 12 May, along with his bandmates Aaron Frazer and Blake Rhein.

Regulators say online retailer not doing enough to prevent sale of counterfeit clothes and unsafe children’s toys

The European Commission has accused the online retailer AliExpress of a “systemic failure” to prevent the sale of illegal and dangerous goods on its platform, as Brussels steps up its case against the Chinese company.

Issuing formal findings of an investigation launched in March last year, EU regulators said on Wednesday that AliExpress was failing to do enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit clothes and dangerous children’s toys, among other items.

How Kelcy Warren, one of Trump’s biggest industry backers, and his pipeline firm are likely to flourish in his second term

Kelcy Warren was among the top donors for Donald Trump’s 2024 White House bid, personally pouring at least $5m into the campaign and co-hosting a fundraiser for the then presidential hopeful in Houston.

Trump’s win appears to already be benefiting Warren and Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline and energy firm of which he is co-founder, executive chair and primary shareholder.

Five residents of Lake Worth Beach – just 10 miles from Trump’s Maga fortress – share their stories of survival as an immigration crackdown takes its toll

Lake Worth Beach, a small coastal city of about 45,000, sits in the shadows of Donald Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-A-Lago. A 10 minute drive from “Maga”
HQ, it is sometimes optimistically referred to as “mini San Fran”, with a largely progressive, white middle class occupying its beachfront bungalows and a local economy built on tourism, retail and construction.

It is also home to many undocumented and temporary visa migrants, who work at fruit farms and restaurants, landscape gardens and support the area’s affluent households. Though data on undocumented people is notoriously hard to collect, the 2024 census estimates that nearly half of the city’s residents are Hispanic and include Guatemalans (many of whom are Indigenous Maya), Mexicans and Venezuelans.

Israel is the main source of terror and instability in the Middle East. But the west continually turns away from this reality

As the G7 issues a statement declaring that Israel has a “right to defend itself”, you have a right to ask if you are losing your mind. Israel launched an unprovoked onslaught on Iran. Its excuse – that Tehran may acquire a nuclear weapon – renders its attack illegal under the UN charter, which forbids wars justified by the claim of a future threat.

“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” declares the G7 statement. Even though Donald Trump’s intelligence chief testified three months ago that the US intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”. Even though it’s Israel that actually possesses nuclear weapons, while refusing to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and refusing International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. Even though, as progress was being made in nuclear talks between Iran and the US, Israel targeted Iran’s chief negotiator and proceeded to exterminate scientists, including their families, alongside countless other civilians, including children, an athlete, a teacher, a pilates instructor. Even though Israel’s leader is subject to an arrest warrant, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And even though Israel has erased Gaza in a genocidal frenzy, and subjected the illegally occupied and colonised West Bank to an escalating pogrom, attacked southern Lebanon and Beirut, and invaded and occupied Syria. No country in the Middle East is as great a source of regional instability and terror as Israel: it’s not even close.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

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Exclusive: poll shows 62% of women and 47% of men across political spectrum say economy and inflation getting worse

Women across the political spectrum are more concerned about the state of the US economy and inflation under Donald Trump than men are, according to a new exclusive poll for the Guardian.

More Democrats than Republicans are now concerned about the economy following the president’s return to power. But pessimism was higher for women even among Republicans and independents, according to a new Harris poll.

More women said they were very worried about food prices (52% of women compared to 39% of men)

More women said they were spending more time trying to find deals or go to more affordable stores (36% versus 26%)

More women said their financial security was getting worse because of their difficulty in affording essential goods and services (55% versus 46%)

• United announce members’ prices of up to £97 for a seat

• Everton to take United’s Nick Cox as technical director

The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (Must) has described the club raising ticket prices to “eye-watering” levels as a “kick in the teeth” after it was announced it will cost up to £97 to attend Premier League matches at Old Trafford.

United have a new four-category system, increasing the cost of tickets for the most in-demand matches. Fixtures against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham will be placed in category A, where prices range from £59 to £97.

In the second episode of Along the Green Line, reporter Matthew Cassel heads north to the occupied West Bank, visiting Tulkarm, a Palestinian city under siege by Israeli forces. Tens of thousands of residents have been forced from their homes, but just over the border in Israel, residents here are experiencing a very different reality.

In this three-part series we're traveling along the 1949 Armistice line or ‘Green Line,’ - once seen as the best hope for a resolution - and meeting Palestinians and Israelis living just kilometres apart.

IDF ‘looking into’ incident in central Gaza, as over a hundred die in recent days near or along routes to distribution sites

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Eleven Palestinians were killed early on Wednesday morning after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd waiting for food trucks in central Gaza, civil defence officials in the devastated territory have said.

More than a hundred Palestinians have died in recent days after being targeted by the Israeli military in Gaza as they gathered near food distribution centres or on routes along which trucks were expected to travel.

How can anyone call Rubens’ sumptuous masterpiece Samson and Delilah a ‘fake’ and ‘a shoddy artefact’? The Flemish master is simply doing a superb job of copying his own favourite outlaw artist

Samson, a huge muscular hunk of a man, slumbers in the lap of his seducer Delilah, in a bedchamber sumptuously lit by candle. As Delilah looks down on the unconscious form of the great biblical hero, her accomplice is cutting the very tangled locks that hold his superhuman strength. Meanwhile, at the door, soldiers are waiting by torchlight. At the heart of it all is Samson’s rippled naked back, nestled on the woman’s pink silk skirts.

Is this a painting by the Flemish baroque master Peter Paul Rubens? Hell, yes. The wonder is that anyone would ever think otherwise. And yet some do. Michael Daley and his campaigning group ArtWatch UK, and the art historian Euphrosyne Doxiadis (among others), are getting traction with their claims that the National Gallery owns a “fake” or “modern copy” and is covering up that reality.

• Cuesta due to become Italian club’s head coach at 29

• Arsenal preparing to make move for Sesko or Gyökeres

Mikel Arteta is poised to lose one of his key lieutenants at Arsenal, with his 29-year-old assistant Carlos Cuesta expected to join Parma to take a first head coach’s role.

The Spaniard, regarded as one of the world’s best young coaches, flew to Italy on Wednesday to finalise his appointment. Cuesta is in line to replace Cristian Chivu, who left for Inter to take over from Simone Inzaghi, and would become the second-youngest head coach in Serie A history.

• Updates from the second match of the series at Optus Stadium

• Any thoughts? Get in touch with Jonathan on email

The first time the teams played at Optus Stadium the Blues won 38-6 in 2019. The last time, the Blues won 44-12 to level the 2022 series. Home from home.

What does Cameron Munster make of captaining Queensland? “It’s everything. As a kid you always wanted to play for Queensland and I never thought I’d have the opportunity to captain this beautiful team and this beautiful state. So to be able to do that tonight, I’m very proud. I can’t wait to lead them out.” Beautiful.