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Lions handed wake-up call as Argentina hang on to edge thrilling win in Dublin

  • British & Irish Lions 24-28 Argentina

  • Tries from Aki and Beirne not enough for victory

The 2025 British & Irish Lions tour is up and running but here was a reminder that not everything can be minutely choreographed. This was anything but a comfortable evening for the coaches and players who were given a serious workout prior to climbing on board the plane to Perth this weekend and embarking on their eagerly awaited Australian tour.

Should they win the Test series 3-0, of course, this pre-departure wake-up call will rate as only a minor footnote in the great scheme of things. The Wallabies, nevertheless, will have taken due note of the positive manner with which Argentina approached the contest. The Pumas, despite the absence of some first-choice players, led by 11 points at half-time and battled heroically right to the end.

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© Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images

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Trump administration almost totally dismantles Voice of America with latest terminations

Terminations of 639 employees were announced at organization founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda

The Trump administration has terminated 639 employees at Voice of America and its parent organization in the latest round of sweeping cuts that have reduced the international broadcasting service to a fraction of its former size.

The mass terminations announced Friday rounds out the Trump-led elimination of 1,400 positions since March and represents the near-complete dismantling of an organization founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, whose first broadcast declared: “We bring you voices from America.”

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© Photograph: Gene J Puskar/AP

© Photograph: Gene J Puskar/AP

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Flamengo stun Chelsea with comeback victory at Club World Cup as Jackson sees red

  • Group D: Flamengo 3-1 Chelsea

  • Bruno Henrique 62, Danilo 65, Wallace Yan 83; Neto 13

After all the hype about Cole Palmer taking the No 10 shirt, it was hard to understand why Enzo Maresca seemed so determined to shackle his best player as Chelsea’s hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the Club World Cup as winners of Group D were dented by a second-half implosion in which Nicolas Jackson picked up a rash red card for the second time in his past four appearances.

How Flamengo made light of the financial gap. The leaders of the Brazilian league were better and more motivated than their English opponents. Chelsea were dire, with Maresca’s tactics weirdly reactive. The Italian compromised Palmer by moving him to the right and defeat leaves Chelsea, who collapsed after taking an early lead, at risk of facing Bayern Munich if they reach the last 16.

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© Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

© Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

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CDC vaccine panel to review ingredient RFK Jr has targeted for removal

ACIP panel to discuss influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal, which Kennedy called ‘dangerous’ in 2014 book

A key vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by health secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr is slated to discuss thimerosal-containing influenza vaccines in its first meeting – an ingredient which has been a fixation of anti-vaccine activists for decades.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will hold two separate votes later this month: one on “influenza vaccines” and one on influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal.

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© Photograph: Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

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Millions of people across central and eastern US under ‘heat dome’ warning

Temperatures at or above 100F expected as extreme hot air and humidity are trapped in atmosphere

Scores of millions of people across the central and eastern US will swelter under the summer’s first “heat dome” beginning this weekend and extending through the end of next week as extreme hot air and humidity get trapped in the atmosphere.

The arrival of the heatwave coincides with Friday’s first day of summer and will bring temperatures at or above 100F (37.7C) to numerous cities as it moves to the east of the US in the coming days, forecasters say.

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© Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

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Michael Vaughan criticises Ben Stokes’s ‘staggering’ decision to put India into bat

  • Tourists end opening day at Headingley 359-3

  • Former England captain Vaughan questions choice

The former England captain Michael Vaughan said he was “staggered” that Ben Stokes chose to bowl first after winning the toss on the opening day of the Test series against India. The tourists proceeded to plunder 359 runs for the loss of three wickets on a flat pitch with Yashasvi Jaiswal and the new captain, Shubman Gill, both scoring centuries.

The last six Tests played at Headingley had all ended in victory for the side that bowled first, and Vaughan, a former Yorkshire batter, accused England of making their decision based on the history books rather than the conditions on the day. “I am an old-school traditionalist here at Leeds that when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat,” said the 50-year-old Vaughan, who played 51 first-class matches at Headingley including four as England captain.

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© Photograph: Matt West/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Matt West/Shutterstock

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EU cites ‘indications’ Israel is breaching human rights obligations over conduct in Gaza

Leaked document marks significant moment in relations with ally but stops short of calling for immediate sanctions

The EU has said “there are indications” that Israel is in breach of human rights obligations over its conduct in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for immediate sanctions.

“There are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations under article 2 of the EU-Israel association agreement,” states a leaked document from the EU’s foreign policy service, seen by the Guardian.

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© Photograph: APAImages/Shutterstock

© Photograph: APAImages/Shutterstock

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British & Irish Lions v Argentina: rugby union – live

  • Live updates from the 8pm BST kick-off in Dublin

  • Have any thoughts? Send them to Will via email

It looks like there are excellent vibes in and around the Aviva right now. A good few pints of Guinness put away, no doubt. (Other stouts are available.)

The two sides are out on the pitch, the backs running a few passing drills and the forwards warming up on the tackle pads. Just under half an hour to go until kick-off.

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© Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP

© Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP

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Flamengo v Chelsea: Club World Cup updates – live

6 min Liam Delap breaks free on the right side of the Flamengo area but just delays his shot a touch – he does let fly, forcing Rossi to palm the ball away for a corner.

4 min Sánchez provides two wayward kicks from the back to land Chelsea in trouble but a toe-punt from De Arrascaeta, from outside the area, flies high.

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© Photograph: Carl Recine/FIFA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Carl Recine/FIFA/Getty Images

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Federal judge orders release of Mahmoud Khalil from Ice detention

Columbia graduate had been held for over three months over his activism against Israel’s war in Gaza

A federal judge has ordered the release of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil from US immigration detention, where he has been held for more than three months over his activism against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Khalil, the most high profile of the students to be arrested by the Trump administration for their pro-Palestinian activism, and the last of them still in detention, is set to be released from an Ice facility in Jena, Louisiana, where he has been held since shortly after plainclothes immigration agents detained him in in early March in the lobby of his Columbia building.

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© Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters

© Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters

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Club World Cup didn’t start the fire – it didn’t light it but we'll try to fight it | Max Rushden

Football competitions are expanding, overlapping and bleeding into one another, but is a month off too much to ask?

Does it feel too much? Premier League bleeding into the playoffs into the Champions League into the international break … we’re still bleeding … rip off your shirt and make a tourniquet! The European Under-21 and Under‑19 Championships into the Club World Cup, overlapping with the Women’s Euros … oh look the Premier League fixtures for 2025-26 are out and the EFL ones come out next week … and there’s David Prutton paying (excellent) homage to David Mitchell’s pisstake of Sky Sports on Sky Sports: “Catch all of the constantly happening football here it’s all here and it’s all football. Always. It’s impossible to keep track of all the football.”

You start to imagine Billy Joel rewriting We Didn’t Start the Fire … an endless list of footballers and pundits, of owners and streaming services, of controversies and grimness amid the beauty and joy. Will it ever reach breaking point?

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© Illustration: Nathan Daniels

© Illustration: Nathan Daniels

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California challenges troop deployment after appeals court rules for Trump

State to argue in federal court that control of national guard – deployed to Los Angeles – should return to Gavin Newsom

California’s challenge of the Trump administration’s military deployment on the streets of Los Angeles returned to a federal courtroom in San Francisco on Friday after an appeals court handed Donald Trump a key procedural win in the case.

Friday’s hearing comes a day after the ninth circuit appellate panel allowed the president to keep control of national guard troops he deployed in response to protests over immigration raids.

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© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

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Social success not about who you know – it’s about knowing who knows whom

Knowledge trumps popularity in the long haul of trying to be influential, researchers say

When it comes to social climbing, it’s not who you know, or how many people you know, it’s about knowing who knows whom, research suggests.

Experts studying social connections made by first-year university students say those who ended up with the most influence were not necessarily the most popular, but those who had a good idea, early on, about who belonged to which clique or community.

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© Photograph: MBI/Alamy

© Photograph: MBI/Alamy

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Florian Wirtz seals Liverpool move from Bayer Leverkusen in club record £116m deal

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. The German will cost a club record £100m and his price could rise with add-ons to £116m, which would make him the most expensive British transfer.

Leverkusen had wanted €150m (£127.6m) for the 22-year-old, who also attracted interest from Bayern Munich, but weeks of talks brought down the price. Wirtz, an attacking midfielder, scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists in the past season in 45 club appearances. He has signed a five-year deal at Anfield.

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© Photograph: Liverpool FC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Liverpool FC/Getty Images

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Two hikers killed by major rockfall on popular trail in Canada

‘Basically a whole shelf of a mountain came loose’ said one person who fled the scene in Banff National Park

Two people have been killed and another three injured when a major rockfall crashed onto a group of hikers on a popular Rocky Mountain trail in western Canada.

The accident happened on Thursday near the Bow Glacier Falls in Banff National Park, about 225km (140 miles) north-west of Calgary, Alberta. The area is known for its natural beauty and is particularly busy in summer.

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© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

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India’s Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal make tons to leave England toiling in first Test

India slightly snuck into the country four weeks ago, dribs and drabs getting an A tour under way before the bulk of the first-teamers landed and began playing intra-squad cricket. The delayed finish to the Indian ­Premier League commanded eyeballs, then the World Test Champion­ship final last week. All told, it was a soft launch.

But on day one of this summer’s marquee series, the tourists announced their arrival with a flex of the muscles and an eruption of runs. Sublime centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101) and ­Shubman Gill (127 not out) had driven England potty and taken India to 359 for three at stumps. Gill’s first outing as captain was an unqualified success – not least because the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma barely got a mention.

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© Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

© Photograph: Scott Heppell/AP

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Cars and steps do not mix: why The Italian Job has a lot to answer for

A driver who got stuck on the Spanish Steps in Rome is the latest in a series of similar vehicular misadventures

The 1969 caper The Italian Job spawned a Hollywood remake, helped drive the cool-factor of the Mini and launched decades of dad jokes about bloody doors being blown off. It may also have inspired one driver who got stuck trying to travel down the Spanish Steps in Rome this week.

The film ended with Michael Caine teetering on the edge of a cliff in a coach, claiming to have a “great idea”. In Rome, the 80-year-old’s navigational error on his way to work ended with emergency services having to bring in a crane to winch his vehicle off the Italian capital’s landmark.

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© Photograph: X

© Photograph: X

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Israel warns of ‘prolonged war’ with Iran as conflict enters second week

Israeli military chief says ‘difficult days’ ahead as salvo of ballistic missiles trigger air raid sirens across country

Israel’s military has warned of a “prolonged war” with Iran as the conflict entered its second week with no sign of stopping, as Israeli forces targeted Tehran and other areas while an Iranian missile attack wounded many people in the Mediterranean port city of Haifa.

The Israeli military said its aircraft destroyed Iranian surface-to-air missiles in southern Iran, as well as killing a group of Iranian military commanders responsible for missile launches. According to the IDF, the strikes prevented launch of missiles scheduled for later on Friday evening.

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© Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters

© Photograph: Florion Goga/Reuters

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Unicef warns children could die of thirst in Gaza amid collapse of water systems

Fears grow of drought as well as hunger as medics report more killings by Israeli forces of Palestinians seeking aid

The collapse of water systems in Gaza is threatening the territory with devastating drought as well as hunger, Unicef has warned, as medics reported that Israel had killed more desperate Palestinians seeking aid.

On Friday at least 24 people waiting for aid were killed by Israeli fire in central Gaza, according to local health authorities, in addition to other deaths by airstrikes.

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© Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

© Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

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The Guardian view on Our Story With David Attenborough and The Herds: a new theatre of the Anthropocene | Editorial

A cinematic immersive experience and stampeding animal puppets are bringing the climate emergency into the city

As parts of the UK swelter, this week brought yet more alarming reports of increasing temperatures, extreme weather events and dwindling chances of meeting the global 1.5C target. It was the UK’s warmest spring on record and its driest in more than 50 years.

Communicating the urgency of our predicament without provoking despair and hopelessness is an intractable challenge, especially when it comes to children. But two trail-blazing theatre experiences are bringing the breakdown of the natural world into urban metropolises, and raising the alarm with such immediacy that even those of us fortunate enough to live in places that have so far been relatively unaffected by the climate crisis must pay attention.

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© Photograph: Tony-san/Ayuntamiento de San Fernando

© Photograph: Tony-san/Ayuntamiento de San Fernando

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Canada poised to pass infrastructure bill despite pushback from Indigenous people

Bill prioritizes ‘nation-building’ pipelines and mines, causing concern that sped-up approvals will override constitutional rights

Canada’s Liberal government is poised to pass controversial legislation on Friday that aims to kick-start “nation building” infrastructure projects but has received widespread pushback from Indigenous communities over fears it tramples on their constitutional rights.

On its final day of sitting before breaking for summer, parliament is expected to vote on Bill C-5. The legislation promised by Mark Carney, the prime minister, during the federal election, is meant to strengthen Canada’s economy amid a trade war launched by Donald Trump.

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© Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images

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Tears and prayers as MPs reflect on the journey to a historic assisted dying vote

At the end there was high tension on both sides of a debate that for some was deeply personal

When Kim Leadbeater walked out of the chamber of the House of Commons into parliament’s central lobby, she was embraced by some campaigners who did not even know if they would be alive when the vote came.

“Overwhelmingly the sense is relief,” she said. Her close colleague the Labour MP Lizzi Collinge was near to tears. For the Conservative Kit Malthouse, standing nearby, it was the culmination of a decade of campaigning within his own party. More than 20 of his colleagues – more than he expected – backed the bill.

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© Photograph: House of Commons/PA

© Photograph: House of Commons/PA

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Fuel firms can challenge California’s emission limits, supreme court rules

Court votes to back challenge to state waiver that allows it to set tougher car emission standards than federal limits

Fossil fuel companies are able to challenge California’s ability to set stricter standards reducing the amount of polluting coming from cars, the US supreme court has ruled in a case that is set to unravel one of the key tools used to curb planet-heating emissions in recent years.

The conservative-dominated supreme court voted by seven to two to back a challenge by oil and gas companies, along with 17 Republican-led states, to a waiver that California has received periodically from the federal government since 1967 that allows it to set tougher standards than national rules limiting pollution from cars. The state has separately stipulated that only zero-emission cars will be able to sold there by 2035.

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© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

© Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Israel and Iran: where is the conflict heading? – Today in Focus extra

The Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger reports from Tel Aviv as the Israel-Iran conflict enters its second week and the world awaits Donald Trump’s decision on whether the US will enter the war

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© Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

© Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

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America made a catastrophic mistake with the Iraq war. Is it about to repeat it in Iran? | Stephen Werthheim

If the United States joins Israel’s fight to try to finish Israel’s job, it will enter into a war of unknowable scope against a country of 90 million people

Two decades ago, as Americans debated whether their country should invade Iraq, one question loomed the largest: did Saddam Hussein possess weapons of mass destruction? If so, the implication was that the United States should disarm and overthrow his regime by military force. If not, Washington could keep that option in reserve and continue to contain Saddam through economic sanctions and routine bombings.

In time, the implications of the Iraq war far exceeded the boundaries of the original debate. Saddam, it turned out, had no weapons of mass destruction. But suppose he had possessed the chemical and biological agents that the war’s advocates claimed. Invading his country to destroy his regime would have given him the greatest possible incentive to use the worst weapons at his disposal. The war would have been just as mistaken – more so, in fact.

Stephen Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

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© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

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Experience: I’ve walked across three countries in a straight line

I didn’t train for my first attempt and got stuck on a mountain with no signal, darkness falling and hypothermia setting in

Growing up, I loved the outdoors. I gallivanted through the Staffordshire countryside with my stepbrother, Greg. We used to pick a point in the distance and create “missions” to walk towards it. It was a mischievous challenge that saw us hopping fences, wading through rivers and sneaking around farmers.

I was also obsessed with maps, and even read the Birmingham A-Z for fun. When Google Earth came out in 2005, I spent hours studying satellite images.

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© Photograph: Stephen Burke/The Guardian

© Photograph: Stephen Burke/The Guardian

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Were the No Kings protests the largest single-day demonstration in American history?

Depending on who you ask, between 4 and 6 million people showed up – and according to one theory, this could be a turning point

The scale of last weekend’s “No Kings” protests is now becoming clearer, with one estimate suggesting that Saturday was among the biggest ever single-day protests in US history.

Working out exactly where the protest ranks compared with similar recent events has been a project of G Elliott Morris, a data journalist who runs the Substack Strength in Numbers, calculated turnout between 4 million and 6 million, which would be 1.2-1.8% of the US population. This could exceed the previous record in recent history, when between 3.3 million and 5.6 million people showed up at the 2017 Women’s March to rally against Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric.

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© Photograph: Getty, Zuma Press

© Photograph: Getty, Zuma Press

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Fries with everything: fans swelter on Headingley’s Test return as Jaiswal tucks in

Queues for water refills and ice creams surpassed even those for beer at a sun-baked ground offering unseasonably hot sustenance

After two years without a Test here, 23 in which India’s red-ball side had visited only once, seven months since the last tickets for the first three days were snapped up and six in which the sum total of England’s action in this format had been a low-key three-day win over Zimbabwe, it is fair to say that Leeds was ready for this. Or at least, in classic Yorkshire fashion, that it would be ready in its own sweet time.

Play started with the stands barely half-full and television commentators feeling they had to remind viewers the day was actually a sellout. That much was swiftly evident, but as India’s batters settled in for the long haul there was no need for anyone to hurry.

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© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

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The Guide #196: How blockbusters, streaming and risk-averse studios shaped the last 25 years of cinema

In the ​last ​of our miniseries,​ we look at how Hollywood has become a franchise machine​​. But in a sea of superheroes and sequels, there is still room for cinematic artistry

We’ve mulled over music, tackled TV and now, to finish our series looking at how pop culture has changed in the first quarter of the 21st century, we’re chewing over cinema.

And there’s quite a bit of chewing to do, equivalent to at least a medium-rare steak or a large toffee. Because, while film might not have been disturbed quite as dramatically by streaming as music or TV has, its still had to contend with some serious changes in audience habits. The more than a century-old practice of spending money to stare at a giant screen in a darkened room now has all manner of competition, including streamers like Netflix beaming films with the same production values and star names straight to your living room at a fraction of the price.

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© Composite: Marvel Studios, Warner Bros, PR

© Composite: Marvel Studios, Warner Bros, PR

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Manchester City open to letting Ilkay Gündogan join Galatasaray

  • Midfielder likely to have limited game time next season

  • Former Germany international wants to keep playing

Galatasaray are considering a move for Ilkay Gündogan, with Manchester City open to a transfer for the 34-year-old midfielder.

The Turkish club are believed to have inquired about Gündogan’s availability in the winter window but City did not want him to leave midway through the season. But with Pep Guardiola having signed Nico González in February and Tijjani Reijnders in this window, with Rodri again fit after a serious knee injury and Mateo Kovacic expected back from an achilles problem in mid-September, game time for Gündogan may be limited.

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© Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters

© Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters

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‘It is impossible to recall him without smiling’: Simon Rattle on Alfred Brendel

The conductor first heard Brendel as a schoolboy. He was to become his cherished friend, inspirational collaborator and valued mentor for many decades. Simon Rattle remembers the great pianist’s wit, wisdom – and a particular pair of scissors

It’s hard even to know where to start with Alfred: for any musician of my generation he was simply always there, the very definition of integrity and a kind of unique probing humour.

I heard him first in Liverpool, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 22, K482, an unforgettable concert for an impressionable 14-year-old. I could never have imagined then that my first collaboration with him would be in the same city when I was 20. That Beethoven – his first piano concerto – began a long journey of learning and friendship over the subsequent decades. I cannot stress how much I learned from him, or how painfully obvious it was to me just how steep the climb was to be able to come anywhere near to being an adequate partner for him. I remember clearly the sense of being kindly but firmly stretched to beyond my level of musicianship. Immense freedom within a strict framework. I am profoundly grateful that he was willing to carry on pulling me upwards for nearly 40 years!

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© Photograph: unknown/Sophia Evans

© Photograph: unknown/Sophia Evans

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‘Fashion murder’: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy fans aghast at first images from Netflix series

Style watchers quick to disapprove of late publicist’s portrayal in Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story

In fashion, only the real favourites have acronyms. See SJP for Sarah Jessica Parker, ALT for the fashion editor André Leon Talley and – particularly relevant right now – CBK for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.

The wife of John F Kennedy Jr who died in a plane crash in 1999 is sometimes seen as America’s answer to Diana, Princess of Wales. Like Diana, she was loved for her style – called minimalist, chic or “quiet luxury”. Instagram is full of accounts posting archive images of her, influential brands such as The Row, Toteme and Gabriela Hearst design clothes that channel her approach to dressing and there have been books and auctions in recent years.

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© Photograph: AKGS/BrosNYC/BACKGRID

© Photograph: AKGS/BrosNYC/BACKGRID

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Critic of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega shot dead in Costa Rica

Retired army officer Roberto Samcam was killed in San José by gunmen, the latest of several attacks on Ortega’s critics

A retired Nicaraguan army officer in exile turned fierce critic of the country’s authoritarian president Daniel Ortega has been shot dead in neighboring Costa Rica.

Maj Roberto Samcam, 66, was shot at his apartment building in San José on Thursday, reportedly by men pretending to deliver a package.

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© Photograph: Inti Ocón/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Inti Ocón/AFP/Getty Images

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Britain is one step closer to compassionate, kind death for all | Kim Leadbeater

This historic day comes too late for many who supported my bill, but I will never forget their courage and selflessness

  • Kim Leadbeater is Labour MP for Spen Valley

I am relieved and overjoyed by the historic vote on assisted dying in England and Wales in the House of Commons today. The road has been long and hard, and I am very aware that many others have been on that journey since long before I even became an MP. The question of whether to offer choice to people at the end of their lives was first raised in parliament in 1936 – almost a century ago.

Since then, terminally ill people have pleaded repeatedly with MPs to heed their simple wish to have control and autonomy at the end of their lives. A courageous few have taken their cases to the courts, even while they confronted the prospect of their own imminent and inevitable deaths. The judges said it was for parliament to decide. Now, at last, the House of Commons has responded, and responded decisively to recognise the justice of their cause.

Kim Leadbeater is Labour MP for Spen Valley

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: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

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Woman appears in court charged with murdering sister in north London flat

Nancy Pexton appears at Highbury Corner magistrates court charged with murdering Jennifer Abbott

A woman has appeared in court charged with murdering her 69-year-old sister who was found stabbed inside her north London home.

Nancy Pexton, also 69, appeared at Highbury Corner magistrates court on Friday charged with murdering Jennifer Abbott, also known as Sarah Steinberg, last Tuesday.

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© Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

© Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

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Thousands gather at Stonehenge for summer solstice celebration

Combination of weekend timing and good weather could make this year’s event one of the busiest in years

Glen Michael Herbert, a woodcarver known as Herbie to his friends, summed up the draw of the summer solstice beautifully.

“It’s a spiritual thing that people of all faiths and none can embrace,” he said. “I think it’s about feeling the wheel of the year turning, enjoying the light, appreciating nature. Most of all, coming together.”

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© Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sam Frost/The Guardian

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‘I’ve never been so obsessed with a band’: readers’ best albums of 2025 so far

Bad Bunny blasting bigotry against Puerto Ricans, Davido’s uplifting vibes and a blast from trip-hop’s past. Here’s what has caught your ear this year
Read the Guardian’s best albums of the year so far

Constellations for the Lonely is a fabulous return for Doves: textured, layered and, as ever, occupying a space and sound all their own. From the futuristic reflection of Renegade to the soulful Cold Dreaming to the thought provoking A Drop in the Ocean, and the devastating realisation of loss in Last Year’s Man ... This is a band confronting the past, to channel hope and find redemption by coming through challenges that can only be overcome through genuine friendship. Steven, Wolverhampton

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© Photograph: Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock

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Mike Lynch’s superyacht Bayesian raised from seabed off Sicily

UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter were among seven killed when vessel sank during storm last August

Mike Lynch’s superyacht, Bayesian, has been resurfaced for the first time since it sank during a violent storm off the coast of Sicily in August last year, killing seven people including the tech tycoon and his teenage daughter.

The white top and blue hull of the 56-metre (184ft) vessel emerged from the depths of the sea in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge, as salvage crews readied it to be hauled ashore for further investigation. The Italian coastguard said the recovery was scheduled to begin on Saturday morning.

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© Photograph: Igor Petyx/Reuters

© Photograph: Igor Petyx/Reuters

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