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Far-right Chega party becomes main opposition in Portugal’s parliament

Party takes second place in election after overseas votes counted, overturning decades of bipartisan politics

The far-right Chega party has overturned decades of bipartisan politics in Portugal by squeaking into second place in the country’s third snap election in three years, edging out the socialists to become the biggest opposition party in parliament.

The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD), led by the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, finished first in the election 10 days ago, but once again fell well short of a majority, taking 31.2% of the vote and winning 91 seats in Portugal’s 230-seat assembly. But the race for second place was a closely fought contest between the Socialist party (PS) and Chega.

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© Photograph: Rodrigo Antunes/Reuters

© Photograph: Rodrigo Antunes/Reuters

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Musk is pivoting from DC and Doge’s failures – and wants investors to know

The billionaire mogul is signaling far and wide that he’s back to business, and even criticizing Trump’s tax bill

Elon Musk really wants the public – and investors – to know that he’s leaving Washington DC behind.

In a series of interviews and social media posts this week, Musk has criticized Donald Trump’s marquee tax bill and emphasized his recommitment to leading SpaceX, Tesla and the artificial intelligence company xAI. The world’s richest person claimed that he was back to working around the clock at his companies – to the point of sleeping in conference rooms and factory offices once again.

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© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

© Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

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Raducanu accepts French Open defeat by Swiatek shows gap to leading players

  • Defending champion eases to 6-1, 6-2 second-round win

  • ‘There are certain things I just know I need to do better’

Emma Raducanu believes that her heavy defeat by Iga Swiatek in the second round of the French Open has illustrated the distance between herself and the best players in the world and her need to keep improving.

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion and the fifth seed in Paris this year, produced an imperious performance to defeat the Briton 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round. Swiatek is attempting to win her fourth successive French Open singles title, a feat that has never been achieved by a female player in the open era.

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© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

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Onosato promoted to yokozuna after record-setting ascent in sumo

  • Onosato becomes 75th yokozuna after Summer title win

  • Fastest promotion to yokozuna in modern six-basho era

  • First Japan-born grand champion since Kisenosato (2017)

Onosato has been promoted to sumo’s highest rank of yokozuna, the Japan Sumo Association announced on Wednesday, completing a meteoric rise to the summit of Japan’s national sport in the record span of 13 tournaments.

The 24-year-old, who weighs 421lb (191kg) and stands 6ft 4in (1.92m) tall, becomes the 75th yokozuna in sumo’s centuries-spanning history and the first Japan-born wrestler to hold the title since Kisenosato in 2017. His promotion comes just days after clinching the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at Tokyo’s Ryōgoku Sumo Hall with a 14-1 record, clinching his second straight championship and fourth overall.

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© Photograph: Japan Pool/JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Japan Pool/JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

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US will refuse visas to foreign officials who block Americans’ social media posts

Marco Rubio says he is acting against ‘flagrant censorship actions’ overseas against US tech firms

The United States has said it will refuse visas to foreign officials who block Americans’ social media posts, as Donald Trump’s administration wages a new battle over free expression.

Marco Rubio – the secretary of state who has controversially rescinded visas for activists who criticize Israel and ramped up screening of foreign students’ social media – said on Wednesday he was acting against “flagrant censorship actions” overseas against US tech firms.

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© Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

© Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

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Real Betis v Chelsea: Uefa Conference League final – live

How Chelsea got here. They survived a scare in the play-off round against Servette, winning the first leg 2-0 but losing the second in Switzerland 2-1. However since then, it’s not been much of a struggle. They won all six of their matches to top the league phase, against Gent, Panathinaikos, Noah, Heidenheim, Astana and Shamrock Rovers, before seeing off Copenhagen, Legia Warsaw and Djurgårdens in the knockouts. Legia did beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, but only after the Blues won 3-0 away.

By contrast, Betis have had quite the journey. After sailing through a play-off against Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, they finished 15th in the league phase, beating Celje, Petrocub Hîncești and HJK but losing to Legia Warsaw and Mladá Boleslav. After another play-off victory, this time over Gent, they’ve beaten Vitória de Guimarães, Jagiellonia Białystok and tournament whipping boys Fiorentina to get to the final.

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© Photograph: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

© Photograph: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

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Patriots say they will handle Stefon Diggs pink substance video internally

  • Video shows Diggs partying with unknown substance

  • Patriots’ Vrabel says team is ‘aware’ of viral footage

  • Diggs absent from OTAs as he rehabs torn ACL injury

Stefon Diggs is making headlines before even taking an official snap for the New England Patriots.

A video showing Diggs handling an unknown powder-like substance while partying on a yacht with three bikini-clad women in Miami over the weekend has made the rounds on social media. Diggs reportedly has been romantically linked to rapper Cardi B, who was present on the yacht.

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© Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images

© Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images

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Prosecuting man for burning Qur’an ‘reintroducing blasphemy law’, UK court told

Hamit Coskun, 50, held burning text outside Turkish consulate London, Westminster magistrates court heard

Prosecuting a man for burning the Qur’an is “tantamount to reintroducing a blasphemy law” in Great Britain, a trial has heard.

Hamit Coskun, 50, shouted “fuck Islam”, “Islam is religion of terrorism” and “Qur’an is burning” as he held aloft the burning Islamic text outside the Turkish consulate in London on 13 February, Westminster magistrates court heard.

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© Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA

© Photograph: Ben Whitley/PA

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Nvidia beats Wall Street expectations even as Trump tamps down China sales

Chip-manufacturing company, widely seen as bellwether for AI business, reports $44.1bn in revenue for quarter

Nvidia beat Wall Street expectations in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, marking another in a string of financial wins for the computer hardware giant. It reported $44.1bn in revenue in the quarter ending in April, up 69% from the previous year.

The company exceeded investors’ predictions of $43.3bn in revenue. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.81, under investor expectations of an adjusted earnings per share of 88 cents. The company also reported $39.1bn in data center revenue, up 73% from the year prior.

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© Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA

© Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA

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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87

Kenyan writer’s death announced by his daughter, who wrote: ‘He lived a full life, fought a good fight’

The Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who was censored, imprisoned and forced into exile by the dictator Daniel arap Moi, a perennial contender for the Nobel prize for literature and one of few writers working in an indigenous African language, has died aged 87.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, this Wednesday morning,” wrote his daughter Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ on Facebook. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight.”

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© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

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Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, fires 66 to clinch first career AJGA title

  • Charlie Woods wins first AJGA title by three shots

  • Tiger’s son shoots final-round 66 to claim victory

  • 16-year-old finishes 15 under at Streamsong Resort

Charlie Woods, the 16-year-old son of golfing great Tiger Woods, earned his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) win on Wednesday with a three-shot victory at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in Bowling Green, Florida.

Woods, playing in his fifth AJGA event, began the final round one shot behind overnight leader Luke Colton and mixed two bogeys with eight birdies for a six-under-par 66 on the Black Course at Streamsong Resort that brought him to 15 under on the week.

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© Photograph: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP

© Photograph: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP

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Family of four-year-old who would ‘die within days’ fighting deportation from US to Mexico

Deysi Vargas, her husband and ‘Sofia’ entered US legally in 2023 on humanitarian grounds to seek medical care

The family of a four-year-old girl who is receiving life-saving treatment in the United States are fighting against deportation, as her medical team warns she will likely die “within days” if forced to return to Mexico.

Deysi Vargas, her husband and their daughter – whom lawyers identified by the pseudonym Sofia – came to the US in 2023, receiving permission to enter the US on humanitarian grounds to seek medical care. Sofia suffers from short bowel syndrome, requiring specialized care that includes IV treatments for 14 hours a day. She has seen significant improvement since arriving in the US and obtaining care at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, her mother said.

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© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

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Eight Mexican soldiers killed by improvised explosive device

The use of IEDs in a war between criminal groups in the Michoacán-Jalisco border region has increased drastically

Eight Mexican soldiers have died after triggering an improvised explosive device (IED) in the state of Michoacán, underlining the rising use of mines by organised crime factions.

The soldiers were on patrol in an armoured vehicle in the municipality of Los Reyes, near the border with the state of Jalisco, when the mine detonated on Wednesday. Six soldiers were killed instantly, while two more later died from their wounds, according to El Universal.

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© Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

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Trump laments size of ‘much too big’ airplane gifted by Qatar

The Boeing 747-8, a present from the Gulf state, is more than 18ft longer than the current Air Force One

Donald Trump’s big, beautiful new plane from the government of Qatar has arrived – but the US president has a problem with it.

Not the smack of impropriety that comes with a US president accepting a luxury 747 jumbo jet from the Gulf state, intended as a replacement Air Force One – Trump has already brushed off any criticism on that front.

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© Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

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Kneecap axed from Glasgow festival TRNSMT over ‘police safety concerns’

A member of the band was charged with a terrorism offence last week and will appear in court a month before the festival takes place

The rap trio Kneecap have announced their performance at the Glasgow festival TRNSMT in July will not go ahead “due to concerns expressed by the police about safety at the event”.

The Northern Irish group posted on X: “To the thousands of people who bought tickets, flights and hotels to see us play, we are sorry … it is out of our hands.

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© Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

© Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

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The Guardian view on a new Syria: nurturing fragile hope amid the rubble | Editorial

Sanctions relief thanks to Donald Trump’s unexpected embrace of the new president gives a shattered country the chance to rebuild

The startled joy that greeted Bashar al-Assad’s fall less than six months ago was always shadowed by the fear of what might follow. Hundreds of thousands of the six million Syrians who fled abroad during 14 years of war have returned. Yet the mood has inevitably grown more sober, and last week Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, warned that the fractured country could be weeks away from “potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions”.

Mr Rubio was defending Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to lift sanctions after meeting the country’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former al-Qaida fighter who until months ago had a $10m US bounty on his head, but who is also, in Mr Trump’s considered view, a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy”. Whatever the trigger, the suspension of some sanctions by the US, and the lifting of some EU and UK measures, was essential to allow a country devastated by civil war to recover. It may also reduce opportunities somewhat for Russia and Iran to reassert their influence.

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.

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© Photograph: Omar Sanadiki/AP

© Photograph: Omar Sanadiki/AP

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The Guardian view on Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws: Europe must stand up for its values | Editorial

New legislation allowing the annual Budapest Pride celebration to be banned contravenes basic rights. Brussels needs to draw a line in the sand

According to article 2 of the treaty of the European Union, the EU is founded on respect for human dignity in societies where “pluralism, non-discrimination [and] tolerance prevail”. Try telling that to the organisers of next month’s Budapest Pride march.

Following new laws introduced by Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz government, Hungary has become the first EU country to legislate to enable the banning of a Pride event. An amendment to the country’s constitution now allows public LGBTQ+ events to be designated a threat to children, expanding the scope of earlier laws targeted at schools. As a result, organisers and participants in Budapest’s Pride celebration on 28 June risk being fined and harassed if they turn up to the parade.

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.

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© Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters

© Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters

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Influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate face rape and human trafficking charges in UK

Prosecutors confirm 21 charges, with brothers due to be extradited to the UK after conclusion of Romanian proceedings

UK prosecutors have confirmed they have authorised 21 charges against influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.

Andrew Tate, 38, faces 10 charges including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain; charges connected to three alleged victims.

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© Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA

© Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA

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Swiatek dismantles Raducanu to maintain quest for fourth French Open title in a row

  • Defending champion sweeps aside Raducanu 6-1, 6-2

  • Swiatek extends record to 5-0 against British opponent

Just a couple of weeks after stressing the importance of playing against the best players in the world more frequently in order to improve her own game, Emma Raducanu walked out on to Court Philippe‑Chatrier on Wednesday afternoon facing the toughest challenge in her sport.

The task of playing Iga Swiatek at the French Open, her fortress, was unsurprisingly too much for Raducanu and in the second successive grand slam tournament she was dismantled by her imperious opponent, the fifth seed, who eased into the third round at Roland Garros with a 6-1, 6-2 win.

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© Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA

© Photograph: Christophe Petit-Tesson/EPA

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Flap on Delta flight as pigeons prevent aircraft from taking wing

Minneapolis-to-Madison flight was fowled by two feathered stowaways that were eventually captured and deplaned

Mayhem erupted just before takeoff on a plane heading from Minneapolis to Madison, Wisconsin, after passengers realized their aircraft wasn’t the only thing trying to take flight.

A flap ensued as two pigeons were found inside the cabin of the Delta Air Lines domestic flight on Saturday, causing brief scenes of chaos as passengers and crew tried to capture the birds flying around the cabin before the jet could take wing.

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© Photograph: Tom Caw/TMX

© Photograph: Tom Caw/TMX

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Member of UK Jewish body resigns over failure to call out Israel on Gaza

Daniel Grossman, one of 36 Board of Deputies members facing inquiry, says there is ‘huge shift’ among British Jews

An elected representative on the UK’s largest Jewish body has resigned, saying it had “failed to act morally and failed to represent the increasing diversity of opinion within the British Jewish community” amid growing horror at Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza.

Daniel Grossman, one of 36 elected members of the Board of Deputies facing disciplinary proceedings over their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, told a meeting called by the board last weekend that he had “no confidence in the leadership”.

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© Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

© Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

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Kings of Leon cancel UK and European shows after singer’s ‘freak accident’

Caleb Followill says shattered heel needed ‘significant emergency surgery’, which would stop him performing

The Kings of Leon frontman, Caleb Followill, has announced that the band have cancelled their UK and European shows this summer after he injured his foot in a “freak accident”.

The singer, who is part of the US rock group with his brothers Nathan and Jared Followill and cousin Matthew Followill, was scheduled to perform at Blackweir Fields, Cardiff and Lancashire’s Lytham festival over the next two months.

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© Photograph: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

© Photograph: Amy Harris/Invision/AP

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Karate Kid: Legends review – charming throwback sequel

Fans of the franchise will get a kick out of Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan teaming up for a breezy new chapter

There’s a lot riding on Li Fong, warrior protagonist of the Karate Kid: Legends. The Beijing émigré (played by Disney mainstay Ben Wang) is barely settled into his new Manhattan surrounds when he finds himself schooling Victor, a West Side pizzaiolo (Joshua Jackson), in the ways of kung fu to help him win a boxing purse and clear his debt with an unfriendly neighborhood loan shark (Tim Rozon). But when Victor is cheated out of a certain win by an illegal knockout blow, Fong is reminded of the tragic death of his kung-fu idol older brother, and his frozen reaction in the moment puts him at odds with Victor’s daughter Mia, an emerging love interest (Sadie Stanley), and his own mother (Ming-Na Wen), who explicitly forbade him from fighting.

Besides acing the SAT and fitting into a new high school, Fong is further charged with reinvigorating a cultural institution attempting its first feature film reboot in 15 years. Inferior franchises have buckled under lesser pressure. All of it had the makings of a disaster recipe for director Jonathan Entwistle. But Rob Lieber’s script embroiders those plot points on to a classic underdog story that feels even more resonant at a time when young people appear to be more lonely and powerless than ever. Sure, longtime Karate Kid watchers will see many of Legends’ punches coming, but there’s vastly more enjoyment to be taken from watching the film with young viewers who are either coming into the Karate Kid world fresh or from Netflix’s Cobra Kai TV series spinoff. (Kids ruled my screening of the film in Atlanta, where many of the exterior and street scenes in Legends were shot.)

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© Photograph: Jonathan Wenk/Sony Pictures

© Photograph: Jonathan Wenk/Sony Pictures

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Namibia pushes for German reparations on first genocide remembrance day

Event commemorates estimated 75,000 Herero and Nama people killed under German colonial rule

Namibia has observed its first genocide remembrance day, honouring the estimated 75,000 victims who were massacred by soldiers or forced into concentration camps during German colonial rule.

Between 1904 and 1908, an estimated 65,000 Herero people and 10,000 Nama people were killed when the groups rejected colonial rule. It amounted to 80% and 50% of their respective populations at the time.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

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RFK Jr offers to save Canadian ostriches with suspected bird flu and move them to US

Trump officials offer to move 300 birds to Mehmet Oz’s Florida ranch after Canada’s kill order over avian flu fears

Senior officials in the Trump administration have intervened in attempt to save more than 300 ostriches on a farm in British Columbia which the Canadian government had ordered to be killed over fears the flock is infected with avian flu.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, and Mehmet Oz, a physician and former TV host appointed by Trump as the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, have offered to move the birds to Oz’s ranch in Florida – despite the kill order imposed by Canadian health authorities.

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© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

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Sporting tell interested clubs Gyökeres is not leaving for less than €80m

  • Arsenal may make move for prolific Sweden forward

  • Gyökeres has scored 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting

Sporting have told interested clubs – including Arsenal – that Viktor Gyökeres will cost a fee of €80m (£67m), the Guardian understands.

The Portuguese champions are prepared to cash in on Gyökeres, who has scored prolifically for them since his £20.5m move from Coventry in the summer of 2023. But although Sporting will not seek the full value of his €100m release clause, they have resolved to hold out for at least €80m.

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© Photograph: Alexandre de Sousa/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Alexandre de Sousa/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

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Manchester United ‘choke’ in defeat by Asean All-Stars on end-of-season tour

  • Asean All-Stars 1-0 Manchester United

  • Amorim: ‘We should win these kind of games’

Manchester United’s post-season tour followed their late-season form as Ruben Amorim’s team lost 1-0 to a scratch team of Asean All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur.

United’s latest defeat, part of a lucrative end-of-season tour in the wake of their 15th-placed finish in the Premier League, came after the players had been paraded through the streets of the Malaysian capital.

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© Photograph: Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters

© Photograph: Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters

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Chelsea and Real Betis fans clash in Wroclaw before Conference League final

  • Police use water cannon to quell trouble

  • 28 arrests in Polish city; Tusk issues ‘ruthless’ warning

Riot police in the Polish city of Wroclaw deployed a water cannon on Chelsea and Real Betis supporters after trouble broke out before the Uefa Conference League final.

The two sets of supporters were involved in clashes on Tuesday night, leading to some Spaniards being detained, and on Wednesday afternoon. The atmosphere in the city centre was tense in the hours before the game, with police and officers in military clothing deployed to restore order after clashes in bars near the market square. There were 28 arrests made.

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© Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images

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Swiss village almost entirely destroyed after collapse of glacier buries it in mud

One person missing and Blatten devastated after huge cloud of ice and rubble inundates evacuated town

A huge section of a glacier in the Swiss Alps has broken off, causing a deluge of ice, mud and rock to bury most of a village evacuated earlier this month due to the risk of a rockslide.

Drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village of Blatten, the river running through it and the wooded sides of the surrounding valley.

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© Photograph: Alain Amherd

© Photograph: Alain Amherd

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Doctors fear ‘devastating consequences’ for pregnant people after RFK Jr order on Covid-19 boosters

The US health secretary decided to remove booster shots from the recommended immunization schedule

Advocates for pregnant people said they are alarmed by Robert F Kennedy Jr’s unprecedented and unilateral decision to remove Covid-19 booster shots from the recommended immunization schedule.

A vaccine’s inclusion on the schedule is important for patient access, because many private health insurance plans determine which vaccines to cover based on the schedule.

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© Composite: AFP via Getty Images, Reuters

© Composite: AFP via Getty Images, Reuters

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Every time I meet someone new, I worry they’ll find my scarred face hideous

You don’t have to fix a single thing about your face to find love, writes advice columnist Jessica DeFino

Hi Ugly,

I just turned 25. My long-term partner and I broke up recently, and I’ve been going on dates. My problem is I hate my skin. I have large pores, acne scarring, chicken pox scarring. Every time I meet someone new, I feel scared that they will find me hideous and think I catfished them. I’ve also been zooming in on pictures of my skin and looking at it in different lighting, which is worsening my insecurity.

My father had plastic surgery. Now he wants me and my mother to get work done

How should I be styling my pubic hair?

How do I deal with imperfection?

I want to ignore beauty culture. But I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t look a certain way

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© Illustration: Lola Beltran/The Guardian

© Illustration: Lola Beltran/The Guardian

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Four women and three girls die as migrant boat capsizes off Canary Islands

Rescue service said movement of estimated 150 people onboard caused boat to tip as it approached port

Four women and three girls have died after a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized as it approached a port on one of Spain’s Canary Islands.

Spain’s maritime rescue service said the boat, believed to be carrying about 150 people, was spotted 6 miles off La Restinga harbour on the island of El Hierro on Wednesday.

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© Photograph: FORTA/Reuters

© Photograph: FORTA/Reuters

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Del Toro breaks from Bardet and Carapaz to win stage 17 and extend Giro d’Italia lead

  • ‘Today I realised that I will never give up’

  • Perfectly timed sprint follows two difficult climbs

Isaac del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG maintained his excellent form at the Giro d’Italia to win stage 17 with a perfectly timed sprint on Wednesday, the Mexican’s first stage victory helping him to extend his lead in the overall standings.

The 155km route from San Michele all’Adige to Bormio was less punishing than Tuesday’s stage 16, but featured two difficult climbs at Passo del Tonale and Passo del Mortirolo, with 3,800 metres of elevation.

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© Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPA

© Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPA

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Think you know a lot about Dickens? Then who’s this Herbert character? | Zoe Williams

This minor figure from Great Expectations has sown panic at the GCSEs. Be honest: have you even heard of him?

It’s unwise to drill too deeply into the exact questions that come up in a GCSE paper. You can’t get a proper sense of proportion when: you most likely don’t know the answer the examiners are looking for, or anything about the subject; your kid can’t remember what they wrote anyway; and someone on TikTok has the mark scheme. But do they really? Or is it more TikTok nonsense? You’ll either get sucked into the catastrophe-vortex, or you fall into the trap of minimising, looking over your metaphorical half-moon glasses and going, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, darling,” like an Edwardian dad.

All parents and teachers know this, which is what made last week so very unusual. The English paper set by one of the main examining boards has a character question that encourages pupils to engage deeply with someone in the key text. It might not be the main character, but usually it will be one you’ve heard of.

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© Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

© Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

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Iran threatens to end nuclear talks with Europe after Mandelson comments

Iranian foreign minister says there can be no further talks if UK and European position is zero uranium enrichment

Iran’s foreign minister has threatened to end all talks with European officials over its nuclear programme after Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to Washington, appeared to side with US calls to eliminate Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities.

It was not clear if Lord Mandelson’s remarks during a question and answer session at the Atlantic Council in Washington revealed an unannounced change in UK policy or if, in seeking to side with Donald Trump, he had spoken in a way to allow misinterpretation.

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© Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AP

© Photograph: Planet Labs PBC/AP

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Bring Her Back review – Talk to Me directors return with a film you’ll watch from between your fingers

Sally Hawkins is intensely disturbing as the foster parent from hell, with Jonah Wren Phillips playing a creepy kid for the ages in the Philippou brothers’ new horror film

Australian horror film-makers have spectacularly overdelivered in the last few years, conjuring various nerve-shredding bangers including Late Night with the Devil, You Won’t Be Alone, You’ll Never Find Me, Sissy, Leigh Whannell’s underrated Wolf Man reboot and Talk to Me. The latter – which revolves around thrill-seeking teenagers who converse with spirits instead of taking recreational drugs (kids these days!) – marked the fiendishly good debut of Adelaide-born directors Danny and Michael Philippou.

They’re back – or baaa-ack! – with another serving of macabre bravado pulled from the black cauldron. Bring Her Back is lighter on thrills and spills for the midnight movie and heavy with thick, abject horror and despair, featuring an intensely disturbing performance from Sally Hawkins as a foster mother from hell. She plays Laura, a former social worker who welcomes into her house two teens around whom the story orbits: Piper (Sora Wong), who is vision impaired, and her older brother, Andy (Billy Barratt).

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© Photograph: Ingvar Kenne

© Photograph: Ingvar Kenne

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Overwhelmed by company? Five introvert-friendly ways to hang out

It can be challenging to leave the house when you’re all out of eye contact, but a low social battery doesn’t have to mean a life short on socialising

When I arrive at a gathering I tend to announce my departure in the same breath as my greeting. “Hi! I brought some wine, where do you want it? Just letting you know I can only stay an hour because I start work really early on Sunday mornings.” Then I might throw in a little yawn and stretch.

Restaurants aren’t much different: my leg’s likely to be jiggling before the order has been jotted down. The last mouthful of dessert sounds a last-drinks bell in my head. It’s not that I don’t love my friends. I’ve just got a window of tolerance for face-to-face activities, and then the agitation kicks in.

I’ve been so fascinated by social reluctance that I wrote a book exploring it, The Introvert’s Guide to Leaving the House. In my 30s, I’d embarked on a five-year mission to become more outgoing, figuring out which situations I could be comfortable in, and setting myself exercises in social etiquette, empathy and positive reframing. These techniques became second nature by the time I hit my 40s, so I decided to share what I’d learned.

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© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty images

© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty images

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Heathrow boss sorry for sleeping through outage with phone on silent

Thomas Woldbye missed emergency notifications and phone calls after nearby fire led to airport being shut down

Heathrow’s chief executive has expressed his “deep regret” at being uncontactable and sleeping through the power outage that upended the travel plans of 200,000 passengers earlier this year.

Thomas Woldbye slept through two emergency notification calls and “several” phone calls from Heathrow’s chief operating officer, Javier Echave, in the early hours of the morning after a fire at a nearby substation knocked out power supplies to the airport.

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© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

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I did a road journey in England avoiding motorways – and discovered a whole new country | Adrian Chiles

Aston Clinton, Weedon, Maids Moreton – motorways bypass so many fascinating places. Maybe it is this that makes us an island of strangers

I learned a lot driving to Hinckley in Leicestershire. I had some work there. That’s showbiz, folks. I didn’t do the journey as I’d normally do it – eyeballs out, gripping the steering wheel, fixating on the satnav ETA, on some motorway or other. If I’d done it that way, it would have taken less than two hours. For a change, I decided to take my time. And this change was as good as a rest. You’re unlikely to find London to Hinckley in any coffee table book about the World’s Best Road Trips, but this little odyssey lifted my spirits no end.

It helped that I was on my motorbike. Wherever I’m going, I find motorcycling the shortest route to serenity. I think it’s partly an ADHD thing, with the relief that total absorption affords me. On a motorbike you have to be absorbed – hyper-focused, in fact – because your life is on the line. And while there’s road noise in your ears, there’s none of the other brain-wrecking cacophony of modern life. No phone, no internet, no news, no radio, no nothing. In its own way, it’s as peaceful as lying in a meadow by a babbling brook miles from anywhere.

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© Photograph: Richard Johnson/Getty Images/iStockphoto

© Photograph: Richard Johnson/Getty Images/iStockphoto

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