• Oklahoma City host Indiana in NBA finals opener

• NBA finals 2025 predictions: can Indiana shock OKC?

• Send David an email at david.lengel@theguardian.com

Pacers 0-7 Thunder, 10:00, 1st quarter

An SGA layup, a Chet Holgren dribble and dunk, follwed by a three from Jalen Williams give OKC an early lead in their first game since 29 May.

All it took was a split second – and a swing of Aziz Behich’s right boot – for the sins of the previous 90 minutes in Perth to be washed away

At half-time of Australia’s 1-0 win over Japan, a smash-and-grab to end all smash-and-grabs that all but punches their tickets to the 2026 World Cup, the Socceroos staff had a clear message for their players. They’d been handily outplayed to that point, lucky to get out of their own half let alone fashion something resembling a threat on their opponent’s goal, as a second-string Samurai Blue outfit dominated almost every meaningful statistic except the only one that mattered.

There was a feeling of disappointment over a perceived lack of toughness from the home side, a view that they were second best in every challenge, losing their duels and missing out on every second ball. But there was no sense of panic. “The coaches were just like, ‘stay calm’, keep moving it, keep moving it,” said Connor Metcalfe. “And if we have to score in the 90th minute, then we have to score in the 90th minute.”

Across the US, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are now uncertain about their academic future and some are considering moving away

Chinese students in the United States are questioning their future in the country after the state department announced last week that it would “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students and enhance scrutiny of future applications from China and Hong Kong.

Chinese students hoping to study at Harvard, the US’s oldest and wealthiest university, are under particular pressure after the Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it was banning the school from enrolling new foreign students. The presidential proclamation cited Harvard’s links with China as a particular cause for concern.

Biological disadvantages may be shaped in first decade of a child’s life depending on family affluence

Children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to experience biological disadvantages such as ageing faster than their more affluent counterparts, according to a study.

Academics at Imperial College London looked at data from 1,160 children aged between six and 11 from across Europe, for the study published in the Lancet. The children were scored using an international scale of family affluence, which is based on a number of factors including whether a child had their own room and the number of vehicles per household.

The bromance might be over but Trump has kissed and made up with his enemies before. Enjoy it while it lasts

If you paid attention during physics class you will remember the third law of ego-dynamics. Namely: when two egos of equal mass occupy the same orbit, the system will eventually become unstable, resulting in an explosive separation and some very nasty tweets.

To see this theory in action please have a gander at the dramatic collapse of the Donald Trump and Elon Musk bromance. The news has been a nonstop horror show for what feels like forever. Watching two of the very worst people in the world direct their nastiness at each other is extremely cathartic.

Palestinian graduate describes weeping as he crouched on detention center floor listening to wife give birth

Mahmoud Khalil, the detained Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist, has said in a new court filing that the “most immediate and visceral harms” he has experienced during his nearly three-month detention have been missing the birth of his son and being separated from his wife.

“Instead of holding my wife’s hand in the delivery room, I was crouched on a detention center floor, whispering through a crackling phone line as she labored alone,” Khalil said. “I listened to her pain, trying to comfort her while 70 other men slept around me. When I heard my son’s first cries, I buried my face in my arms so no one would see me weep.

Desert Flower’s trainer and jockey are each on the brink of a career landmark but Minnie Hauk could scupper those hopes

For both Charlie Appleby and William Buick, membership of one of Flat racing’s most exclusive clubs will be an added incentive when Desert Flower, the 1,000 Guineas winner and favourite, canters to post before the Oaks at Epsom on Friday afternoon.

Since the end of the second world war, only eight jockeys and 11 trainers have managed to get their names on the roll of honour for all five English Classics, and both lists are a roll call of racing legends. Vincent O’Brien, Sir Henry Cecil and Aidan O’Brien are among the trainers to have completed the full set, while an even shorter list of riders includes Lester Piggott, Steve Cauthen and Pat Eddery, and, since the turn of the century, only Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore.

Another day, another final. Another night to enjoy, and the promise that there may be many more to come. The European champions made their way to Munich where they will defend their Nations League title thanks to a 5-4 victory over France which left something more than just the result in Stuttgart.

It may not be so absurd to imagine that this Spain could match that one, although there are lessons to be learnt at the back. Just as it may not be so absurd to suggest that the 17-year-old in their team is not going to be the best, he already is. If this was an audition for the Ballon d’Or against Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé, as many said, the award is Lamine Yamal’s.

Infant had ‘contracted the virus before birth from their mother’, while the country has recorded 2,755 measles cases

A Canadian infant who was born prematurely and had measles has died, officials said on Thursday without confirming a cause of death, raising heightened concern about the virus’s resurgence.

Canada has recorded 2,755 measles cases – including 2,429 confirmed and 326 probable – according to federal health data updated on 2 June.

Resilience would have made history as the first non-US commercial lander to make a successful touchdown

An attempt to land a commercially built spacecraft on the surface of the moon looked to have ended in failure on Thursday, two years after its predecessor, launched by the same Japanese company, crashed following an uncontrolled descent.

Resilience, an un-crewed vehicle from the Tokyo company ispace, would have made history as the first non-US commercial lander to make a successful touchdown, scheduled for 3.17pm ET Thursday (4.17am JST Friday) at Mare Frigoris (the Sea of Cold) in the far north of the moon.

US secretary of state cites ‘illegitimate actions’ of court that issued arrest warrants against Israeli officials

The United States is placing sanctions on four judges from the international criminal court (ICC) for what it has called its “illegitimate actions” targeting the United States and Israel.

The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced the sanctions in a statement on Thursday. They target Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.

• 41-year-old has been without team since leaving Jets

• Steelers in sore need of starting quarterback

The NFL’s most nagging storyline appears to be at an end with multiple sources reporting that Aaron Rodgers is ready to sign a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

ESPN and the NFL Network reported the news on Thursday afternoon, appearing to end a months-long saga.

Gang ‘of about 100 armed men’ operate in eastern Rafah with tacit approval of IDF in apparent attempt to counter Hamas

Israel’s government has been accused of arming a Palestinian criminal gang whose members have allegedly looted humanitarian aid, in an apparent attempt to counter Hamas in Gaza.

Satellite images and videos verified by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz showed on Thursday that a new Palestinian militia has expanded its presence in southern Gaza, and is operating inside an area under the direct control of the Israel Defense Forces.

Cricketing superstar has no regrets over career in shorter format with lack of Test opportunities in the West Indies

Andre Russell has a favourite six. One that he thinks of when his head hits the pillow at night. Out of all the cloud-busting strikes that have flown from his blade in the last 15 years, all the boundary-clearing smites across the globe, delivered with dead-eyed assassin temperament under his trademark bleached mohawk. One shot stands out. One six to rule them all.

“The one off Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede in the 2016 World Cup,” he says. “That one was just massive. Perfect swing. Right out of the middle.” There’s a moment of silence before Russell blows out his cheeks at the memory. “That one was crazy.” You can look it up and decide for yourself, watch the umpire Richard Kettleborough’s chuckle of astonishment as the ball soars into the top tier of Mumbai’s famous stadium and he signals the obvious. Yeah, that’s a six all right.

• Nations League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off

• Read today’s edition of the Football Daily newsletter

“Looking forward to tonight’s entertainment, which I will be able to enjoy on terrestrial telly because I live in France,” says Jeremy Boyce. “However I will have to put up with the comedy-act double commentators who always seem more interested in cracking in-jokes between themselves than actually commenting on the action. That’s France for you.

“Both teams seem to be taking it seriously as regards selection and we’re all going to enjoy seeing the flying yoof on both sides. May the better yoof win.”

Music mogul warned to desist from looking and nodding at jury during sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial

The judge in the federal sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs threatened to remove the music mogul from court for looking and nodding at the jury during testimony on Thursday.

The court also heard from a woman, under the pseudonym “Jane” and who previously dated Combs, as she began testifying about their relationship and the drug-fueled sexual marathons that she said Combs orchestrated.

US president says he accepted invitation in first phone conversation between leaders since January

Donald Trump said he had accepted an invitation to meet Xi Jinping in China after a phone conversation on trade was held between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the “very good” call lasted about 90 minutes and the conversation was “almost entirely focused on trade”.

Tom Hiddleston plays a man who might be the centre of the universe in a film of often effective parts that never really come together

As prestigious as it might sound to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes or the Golden Lion at Venice, the surest indicator of Oscar recognition has become victory at the far less fancy, far more mainstream Toronto film festival. There isn’t a jury-based award, instead there’s one decided by an audience vote and, far more often than not, their picks have lined up with those of the Academy.

Since 2008, only one People’s Choice award winner hasn’t then gone on to either take home or be nominated for the best picture Oscar, and while the picks haven’t always been the greatest (hello, Jojo Rabbit, Belfast and Three Billboards), they’ve indicated a broad, crowd-rousing appeal. Last year, despite predictions that Anora or Conclave might triumph, out of nowhere the far less buzzy, and, at that point, distribution-less Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck triumphed, a win that preceded a deal with awards-securing outfit Neon and, now, a confidently positioned early summer release.

• World No 1 wins 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 as champion crumbles

• Gauff ends Boisson’s fairytale run with 6-1, 6-2 rout

After successfully devoting the past few years of her life to becoming a more well-rounded player and mentally durable individual, Aryna Sabalenka arrived on court for her second French Open semi-final certain that she was finally ready for more. No challenge, not even the task of ending an era of total dominance at Roland Garros, felt beyond her.

In the face of her greatest rival on the court Iga Swiatek has made her own, Sabalenka converted her phenomenal form and fortitude into one of the most significant victories of her career, as she held her nerve in three delicious, tension-filled sets to topple the four-time French Open champion 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 and reach the final at Roland Garros for the first time.

The strikes on Russian airbases are further evidence of Kyiv’s innovation. Imagination and skill can bolster external backing – but can’t replace it

Since Donald Trump scolded Volodymyr Zelenskyy with the words “You don’t have the cards right now,” Ukraine has been keener than ever to demonstrate that it has a few up its sleeve. On Sunday it showed its hand with an extraordinary, audacious drone attack on multiple bases deep inside Russia, which it says damaged 41 aircraft.

Operation Spiderweb, which saw the smuggled drones released from their hiding places in wooden sheds and remotely piloted to their targets, was swiftly followed by another attack on Crimea’s Kerch bridge using underwater explosives. Kyiv – often coy in such cases – was unusually swift to claim both incidents, but has not taken responsibility for two railway bridge attacks which Russia says led to the deaths of seven passengers at the weekend.

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.

Kemi Badenoch’s European human rights withdrawal plan would weaken Britain, delight authoritarians and achieve none of the goals the Tories imagine

Kemi Badenoch’s announcement of a Conservative party inquiry into a British withdrawal from the European convention on human rights (ECHR) should fool no one. The working party under the shadow attorney general, David Wolfson, announced on Thursday, will not look dispassionately at whether the UK should withdraw. It will merely try to say why and how. The policy of withdrawal itself is almost, to coin a phrase, oven-ready.

This back-to-front policymaking process exemplifies the party’s rudderless drift under Mrs Badenoch. Tory policy is not now in the hands of the leader or the shadow cabinet. It is in the hands of Reform UK and the opinion polls. Mrs Badenoch is a follower of events. Hers is the approach of someone still trapped in a party bubble which is consumed by the belief that withdrawal is the key to regaining the Conservatives’ squandered popularity.

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.

Study finds medicines such as Ozempic associated with greater risk of developing age-related macular degeneration

Weight loss drugs could at least double the risk of diabetic patients developing age-related macular degeneration, a large-scale study has found.

Originally developed for diabetes patients, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) medicines have transformed how obesity is treated and there is growing evidence of wider health benefits. They help reduce blood sugar levels, slow digestion and reduce appetite.

• Club co-owner John Textor is also majority owner of Lyon

• Palace may drop out of Europa League or Europe entirely

Uefa has rejected offers from the Crystal Palace shareholders John Textor and David Blitzer to put their shares in a blind trust to ensure the club can compete in Europe next season.

Palace’s participation in the Europa League has been cast into doubt as the club’s largest shareholder, Textor, is also the majority owner of Lyon, who have also qualified for the second-tier competition. And to compound matters, Blitzer’s Danish club Brøndby have qualified for the Conference League, so the prospect of the FA Cup winners dropping into that competition is also not an option due to the European governing body’s multi-club ownership rules.

Back in the groove for Chelsea, attacking midfielder will be competing with Bellingham and Foden for World Cup berth

Things that Cole Palmer is not bothered about, part 89: golf. Which is a pity as he is spending a warm-weather training week with England at the magnificent Camiral Golf & Wellness resort; the expected venue for the 2031 Ryder Cup.

Formula One. Palmer attended the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday with Thomas Tuchel and the rest of the England squad, which he thought was good. “I went to the one in Abu Dhabi not long ago,” he says, presumably meaning the race in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. Who knows, who cares? “But I fell asleep at that one.”

Parliament backs scheme for relatives of 123 men who died in worst disaster in Norway’s waters since second world war

Forty-five years after the Alexander L Kielland oil rig capsized in the North Sea, Norway’s parliament has voted to set up a compensation scheme for relatives of the 123 men who died in the worst disaster in Norwegian waters since the second world war.

“This is a historic day, the end of more than four decades of fighting for justice,” said Mímir Kristjánsson, an MP from the leftwing Red party. The chair of the victims’ committee, Anders Helliksen, said the state had “finally accepted its responsibility”.

Advocates say unaccompanied minors are being detained longer and used as bait to arrest those who care for them

A 10-year-old girl showed up for a routine check-in about her immigration case – and agents cuffed and detained her mother on the spot. A 14-year-old boy was shaken out of bed at 6am when plainclothes officers showed up, unannounced, at his door for what the agents claimed was a “wellness check”. A 17-year-old girl has been detained for months with her newborn baby due to new restrictions on who can sponsor unaccompanied minor immigrants.

Hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children have arrived at the US southern border in recent years, seeking refuge. The Trump administration is now targeting them – and their caregivers – for deportation.

Frontrunners Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani sparred on stage as all candidates said they’d stand up to Trump

In the first debate of the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, nine candidates took the stage and fielded questions on housing, affordability, crime, policing, public safety, political regrets and how each candidate would handle the Trump administration if elected.

The candidates included former New York governor Andrew Cuomo; democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani; the New York City council speaker, Adrienne Adams; the current New York City comptroller, Brad Lander; former comptroller Scott Stringer; former Bronx assemblyman Michael Blake; state senators Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos; and former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson.

Research finds more than 15m in US, UK, Germany and France with MASH have not been diagnosed

More than 15 million people in the US, UK, Germany and France do not know they have the most aggressive form of fatty liver disease, according to research.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) – the formal name for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – occurs in people who drink no or minimal amounts of alcohol whose liver contains more than 5% fat.

In a new documentary, the words of Venida Browder take us back to a devastating story, even as the film provides hope for the future

Premiering on the 10th anniversary of Kalief Browder’s death, the poetic and thought-provoking documentary For Venida, For Kalief transcends time to tell the story of Kalief through the poems written by his mother, Venida.

The film opens with tender scenes of a carnival in New York City during the reading of Venida’s poems by Jasmine Mans. “My heart aches for what he went through, headaches that I couldn’t prevent. It aches that he is no longer here. How often I relive the steps I took to find him hanging out of the back window of the second floor, just lifeless.”

• Lomachenko retires with 18-3 pro record and 12 KOs

• Two-time Olympic gold medalist ends storied career

• Ukrainian star thanks fans in emotional farewell video

Vasiliy Lomachenko, a three-division world champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and arguably the greatest amateur boxer in history, announced his retirement from the sport at the age of 37.

“I’m grateful for every victory and every defeat both in the ring and in life,” the Ukrainian said in a video on Instagram Thursday morning. “I’m thankful that as my career comes to an end, I’ve gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory, not just in the ring.“

Actor to make Broadway debut in play set 19 years after events of the final book in JK Rowling’s fantasy series

More than a decade after casting his last spell, Tom Felton, best known for playing Harry Potter’s bleach-blond nemesis, is returning to the wizarding world.

The actor will reprise his role as Draco Malfoy in the acclaimed stage production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, making his Broadway debut.

We all have questionable kitchen habits – experts break down how to avoid spreading pathogens at home

• Buy an exclusive print from our Well Actually series

Do you use the same kitchen sponge for days on end? Let your takeout pizza languish on the counter overnight?

We all have questionable kitchen habits – but when it comes to food safety, shortcuts we think of as harmless can open the door to dangerous pathogens such as bacteria and toxins, according to microbiologists. Here’s how experts suggest staying safer in the kitchen.

Lawsuit alleged that Smith & Wesson and Interstate Arms aided the illegal trafficking of firearms to drug cartels

The US supreme court on Thursday spared two American gun companies from a lawsuit by Mexico’s government accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking to drug cartels and fueling gun violence on the south side of the US-Mexico border.

The justices, in a unanimous ruling, overturned a lower court’s decision that had allowed the lawsuit to proceed against the firearms maker Smith & Wesson and distributor Interstate Arms. The lower court had found that Mexico plausibly alleged that the companies aided and abetted illegal gun sales, harming its government.

Region is experiencing an unusually warm spring, raising concerns of fierce wildfire season amid limited resources

Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season.

The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region.

From Dior and Chloé to Australia’s runways, a spectre is haunting fashion. But is it a sign of resignation or rebellion?

“The look of the summer is going to be kind of haunted,” wrote fashion editor Rachel Tashjian in her newsletter, Opulent Tips, this April. Without a crystal ball – or holding a seance – she couldn’t have known Dior’s Resort 26 collection would be made up of spectral gowns and accompanied by a film featuring ghosts called Les Fantômes du Cinéma. And yet, here we are.

In Rome, for her final show with Dior on 28 May, Maria Grazia Chiuri issued female attendees an all-white dress code (men were asked to dress in black), then each look on the runway at the 18th-century Villa Albani Torlonia was more ethereal than the last. The final three: a white tulle gown that was only half there; a high-necked dress beaded so it moved like snakeskin; and another in embellished silver as resplendent as Tolkien’s mithril.

Murder accused cross-examined in Victorian supreme court trial over beef wellington lunch that left three in-laws dead

• Who are Erin Patterson and the other key figures in Australia’s mushroom trial?

There were times in Erin Patterson’s fourth day in the witness box where it seemed as if her lies she has admitted in her testimony, like the mushrooms she prepared for the beef wellington, were being cooked down as much as possible.

Had she pretended to have cancer at the fateful lunch or had she not? What, exactly, were the reasons for her repeated lies to Gail Patterson about a lump in her elbow? How about the lies she told to police?

US defence secretary says he expects goal of 5% of GDP in next decade to be agreed this month

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said Nato allies were “very close, almost near consensus” to an agreement to significantly raise targets for defence spending to 5% of GDP in the next decade.

The Trump administration official indicated he expected the increased target to be agreed at a summit in The Hague later this month – and confirmed that the headline figure was to be split into two parts.

Judges rule 9-0 in case where Marlean Ames argued she was denied a promotion because she is heterosexual

• US politics live – latest updates

The US supreme court made it easier on Thursday for people from majority backgrounds such as white or straight individuals to pursue claims alleging workplace “reverse discrimination”, reviving the case of an Ohio woman who claimed that she did not get a promotion at a state agency because she is heterosexual.

The justices, in a 9-0 ruling, threw out a lower court‘s decision rejecting a civil rights lawsuit by the plaintiff, Marlean Ames, against her employer, Ohio’s department of youth services.

Faust/Neuberger/Les Siècles/Roth
(Harmonia Mundi)
These fresh and original concertos revealed the full power of Ligeti’s new musical language; Isabelle Faust and Jean-Frederic Neuburger give accomplished and polished accounts of both

The huge stylistic shift that György Ligeti’s music underwent in the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of the most remarkable and unexpected changes of direction of any composer, perhaps only comparable with Stravinsky’s shift into neoclassicism in the 1920s and his adoption of serial techniques in the 1950s. The language that Ligeti invented for himself, which invested tonality with a whole new set of relationships and incorporated elements from a variety of non-western musical traditions, was unveiled in his Horn Trio of 1982, but it was in the two major concertos that followed, for piano in 1988 and violin in 1993, that the full power of his new language was revealed.

Both are remarkable works, which seem utterly fresh and original, yet identifiably remain part of the concerto tradition. It’s no surprise that the violin concerto particularly has been taken up by a number of soloists, or that Isabelle Faust should have wanted to add her reading to the series she has made for Harmonia Mundi. It is a typical Faust performance, perceptive, technically immaculate, and just a little on the cool side, and it’s paired with an equally accomplished, if a little more mechanical, account of the piano work with Jean-Frédéric Neuburger as soloist. Neuburger also includes Ligeti’s early, Bartókian Concert Românesc, while Faust leads performances of two of György Kurtág’s Aus der Ferne sequence, as exquisite interludes.

As their album Fables of the Reconstruction turns 40, we assess REM’s hugely varied discography, from mysterious masterpieces to commercial failures

The REM album that REM appeared to hate: guitarist Peter Buck called it unlistenable, “a bunch of people so bored with the material that they can’t stand it any more”. In truth, the songs aren’t bad, but there’s something lifeless about Around the Sun: its best tracks sound infinitely better on the 2007 REM Live album.