THE GUARDIAN

  • England v Ukraine: Women’s World Cup qualifier – live
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 6:45 pm

    ⚽ Updates from the Group A3 fixture; kick-off 8pm BST⚽ Mail Will | Hemp backs team to bounce backITV are not particularly interested in this game, they have spoken about Friday night for about 15 mins. Look forward, folks.Sarina Wiegman: “Every game you don’t win, it hurts. Friday was a hard one because we didn’t create any momentum. Continue reading...

  • Hard-right groups have expanded their influence across US government, report finds
    by Maya Yang on June 9, 2026 at 6:39 pm

    Southern Poverty Law Center releases report as US government pursues federal fraud charges against groupA new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) finds hard-right groups have increasingly expanded their influence across the US government, which is pursuing a federal fraud case into the civil rights organization.Tuesday’s report – which identified 1,263 hate and anti-government groups in operation throughout 2025 – comes less than two months after it was indicted by the […]

  • Police chief urges those ‘who know nothing about Northern Ireland’ not to stir up disorder via social media – UK politics live
    by Nadeem Badshah (now), Siraj Datoo,Andrew Sparrow (earlier) on June 9, 2026 at 6:39 pm

    PSNI give update on attack after the Northern Ireland secretary praised members of the public for interveningFull report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.It led to the Macpherson report, she said.[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which […]

  • Atlético Madrid reject £129m bid from Real Madrid for Julián Alvarez
    by PA Media on June 9, 2026 at 6:21 pm

    Real Madrid reveal they have made offer for ArgentinianArbeloa departs club, paving way for Mourinho returnReal Madrid have revealed they have had a €150m (£129.4m) bid for Julián Alvarez rejected by city rivals Atlético Madrid. The Argentina striker has scored 49 goals in 106 appearances for Atlético since joining from Manchester City in 2024.The 26-year-old, whose contract runs until 2030, reportedly wants to leave and has been linked with Arsenal and Barcelona. Florentino Pérez vowed […]

  • US judge finds man accused of killing woman on Charlotte train incompetent to stand trial
    by Anna Betts on June 9, 2026 at 6:01 pm

    Decarlos Brown Jr to stay in custody while receiving treatment for remainder of case over Iryna Zarutska’s deathThe man accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte commuter train in August has been found incompetent to stand trial in federal court for now, the US attorney’s office for the western district of North Carolina said on Tuesday.Decarlos Brown Jr, 35, is accused of killing Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte light rail train in a case that drew […]

  • Why ‘podcast wars’ will be real broadcast battleground at this World Cup
    by Matt Hughes in Mexico City on June 9, 2026 at 6:00 pm

    This summer’s hottest rivalry no longer belongs to the BBC and ITV, but football’s online and streaming presenceFor the first time since the BBC and ITV began sharing World Cup coverage in 1966 their local rivalry will not be the main broadcasting battleground this summer.In keeping with the first World Cup staged across three countries the expanded 48-team tournament will play out as a global media event, with YouTube and TikTok broadcasting live action for the first time and Netflix […]

  • Stranger Things: The First Shadow announces final curtain in London and New York
    by Chris Wiegand on June 9, 2026 at 6:00 pm

    The theatrical prequel to the Duffer Brothers’ smash-hit Netflix series is to shut down in the West End and on Broadway this winter, after selling more than 1.5m ticketsThe London and New York productions of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the theatrical prequel to Netflix’s TV blockbuster, are to both close this winter. The stage spectacular will have run for just over three years in the West End, where it won two Olivier awards, and for just over 20 months on Broadway, where it won […]

  • World Cup Q&A: ‘Are you allowed to be scared of the prospect of losing to Haiti? Of course you are!’
    by Ewan Murray on June 9, 2026 at 5:54 pm

    Ewan Murray is in North Carolina to report on Scotland’s first World Cup since France 98. He answered your questions on Steve Clarke’s selections, his outsider tip and what Scotland-Haiti’s equivalent of the ‘Frey Bentos trophy’ would beKTwoDJF asks: I know that there is technically a path to it, but what are the chances USA will be knocked out of the tournament by Iran ?I have the USA being knocked out by Belgium. But I also have the USA winning their section; the mood in this […]

  • Crackdown on tech platforms will go ahead despite US intervention, says No 10
    by Dan Milmo and Jessica Elgot on June 9, 2026 at 5:47 pm

    US embassy came out against UK’s proposed under-16 social media ban, which would affect American firmsWhite House displeasure over the prospect of an under-16 social media ban will not deter the UK from cracking down on tech platforms, the British government has said.The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, told the Guardian she was not concerned “in the slightest” by the Trump administration’s intervention in the debate over restrictions, after the US embassy in London posted a notice […]

  • Ben Stokes set to be left out of England squad for second New Zealand Test
    by Simon Burnton on June 9, 2026 at 5:47 pm

    England captain considering his long-term futureECB continuing investigation into nightclub incidentBen Stokes is highly unlikely to be included in England’s squad for the second Test against New Zealand after the 35-year-old asked for space and time to consider his long-term future amid the fallout from a nightclub incident in the early hours of Monday morning.The England and Wales Cricket Board is determined to bring the latest furore surrounding the culture of the men’s Test team under […]

  • Ella Baron on social division and the spread of disinformation – cartoon
    by Ella Baron on June 9, 2026 at 5:45 pm

    Continue reading...

  • Middle East crisis live: Donald Trump says Iran shot down military helicopter and US ‘must’ respond
    by Maya Yang (now); Vivian Ho, Tom Ambrose and Yohannes Lowe (earlier) on June 9, 2026 at 5:38 pm

    ‘The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack’, the US president said in a social media postDonald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are close allies with a deeply complicated and often strained relationship that has shown signs of fracturing over recent days. The Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Julian Borger, has looked into how the two leader’s diverging political priorities are undermining ceasefire negotiations. Here is an extract from his analysis […]

  • The Guardian view on Ukraine and the prospects of peace: time to ramp up the pressure on Putin | Editorial
    by Editorial on June 9, 2026 at 5:30 pm

    Russia’s ‘spring offensive’ is failing and Kyiv’s drones have brought the war to Moscow and other cities. Europe must strengthen Zelenskyy’s hand furtherLast week, Vladimir Putin responded with characteristic disdain to an open letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for face-to-face talks. Declining to mention Ukraine’s president by name at an economic forum in St Petersburg, he said that he saw “no point” in a meeting and insisted that all Russia’s war aims, including the […]

  • The Guardian view on the care system: support for teens must go beyond reunions with old friends | Editorial
    by Editorial on June 9, 2026 at 5:25 pm

    A new scheme to support care leavers’ relationships is welcome. But loneliness is one problem among manyIt might sound obvious that – as Benjamin Zephaniah wrote – “People will always need people / To make life appealing / And give life some meaning.” But the care system has not always behaved as though relationships are a condition of human flourishing. So it is good to see this simple yet crucial idea reflected in the latest announcement about support for care leavers in England. […]

  • Former Air Canada pilot charged after allegedly flying without proper license for 16 years
    by Associated Press in Toronto on June 9, 2026 at 5:10 pm

    Geoffrey Wall is alleged to have flown over 900 flights domestically and internationally between 2009 and 2025A former Air Canada pilot has been charged after flying for years without a proper license, Canadian police have said.Geoffrey Wall, of Barrie, Ontario, is alleged to have operated as an airline captain between 2009 and 2025 without a license to fly large commercial passenger planes, according to Peel regional police. Continue reading...

  • UK and allies impose sanctions on firms enabling West Bank settler violence
    by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor on June 9, 2026 at 5:08 pm

    Labour backbenchers disappointed as new trade guidance over illegal settlements stops short of outright banThe UK in alliance with a group of other western powers including France and Norway has announced it is imposing sanctions on six firms and one individual involved in enabling and financing the recent upsurge in settler violence in the West Bank.However, the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, disappointed many of her own backbenchers by stopping short of banning trade, saying instead the […]

  • ‘Earth’s first starfleet’: Nasa reveals Artemis III crew and project’s next steps
    by Richard Luscombe on June 9, 2026 at 5:07 pm

    Luca Parmitano to pilot all-male crew of four paving way for planned first human landing on Artemis IV in 2028Jared Isaacman, the Nasa administrator, hailed the creation of “Earth’s first starfleet” on Tuesday as he revealed the Artemis III crew and details of the next stages of the space agency’s project to return humans to the moon.An Italian astronaut, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency (ESA), will be the pilot of the planned two-week mission to lower Earth orbit next year […]

  • Labour has to reassess what it is for, and that is no bad thing | Letters
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 4:49 pm

    Responding to an article by Polly Toynbee, Patrick Diamond says the party must have courage to think anew. Plus letters from Tom Kelly and Michael OrtonPolly Toynbee is right to argue that Labour, and the centre-left more broadly, need the genuine debate about ideas they unwisely avoided before the last general election (British politics is fractured and chaotic – but at last it’s brimming with ideas for the future, 2 June). They must have the courage to think anew. The issue is not merely […]

  • Did Harold II take an arrow to the eye? We cannot be sure | Letters
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 4:49 pm

    Jane M Card, Tim Wicks and Rev Dr John Caperon respond to an article about the Bayeux tapestry’s journey to the UKYour article on the loan of the Bayeux tapestry to the British Museum states with admirable caution that Harold II is “represented in his final scenes in the embroidery with an arrow in his eye” (‘Of course we will give it back’: Bayeux tapestry set for secret journey across Channel, 3 June). But was this always the case?In 1816 the Society of Antiquaries sent their […]

  • It helps to keep zombie Blairites on side | Letters
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 4:49 pm

    Joseph Hanlon and Derrick Cameron respond to an article by Aditya Chakrabortty about a backward-looking government that remains in Tony Blair’s thrallMozambique knows the importance of the zombie Blairites that Aditya Chakrabortty writes about (Zombie Blairites still have British politics in their grip – it’s time to break free, 4 June). In December, the UK trade envoy Calvin Bailey MP was in Mozambique to sign an agreement for £400,000 in UK government funding for the Tony Blair […]

  • Wild swimming should be embraced, not condemned | Letters
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 4:49 pm

    An individual needs to make a risk assessment if they choose to wild swim, just as they do when they ski, climb or ride a bike in traffic, says Nick Hopewell-SmithI’m not among those offended by young people seeking relief in cool local waterways in hot weather (The row at Hampstead Heath is about far more than a few thoughtless swimmers in a heatwave, 3 June). Nor do I find the growing trend for wild swimming irritating in any way. The author of Waterlog – my erstwhile English teacher and […]

  • Can Badenoch’s culture war win back Reform supporters? - The Latest
    by Presented by Nosheen Iqbal with Aamna Mohdin ; producers Bryony Moore and Annie La Vespa ; senior producer Ryan Ramgobin on June 9, 2026 at 4:47 pm

    Kemi Badenoch has vowed to reform the Equality Act in what is viewed as an attempt to win back support from Reform voters.The Conservative leader, who also served as equalities minister from 2020 to 2022, wants to scrap the public sector equality duty – a legal requirement that forces public institutions to to actively consider how their decisions affect equality.Nosheen Iqbal speaks to community affairs correspondent Aamna Mohdin Continue reading...

  • Tommy Robinson meets Elon Musk’s father in Moscow
    by Ben Quinn Political correspondent on June 9, 2026 at 4:42 pm

    Activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, shared video of his meeting with Errol MuskTommy Robinson has travelled to Russia, where he has met Elon Musk’s father, Errol, in a Moscow hotel.Robinson – who has been issuing calls for his supporters to take to the streets across the UK over a bloody knife attack in Belfast – shared video of his meeting with Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson, on Monday. Continue reading...

  • Spyware firm targeted WhatsApp users in defiance of US court order, Meta says
    by Aisha Down on June 9, 2026 at 4:20 pm

    Tech company says it ‘caught and disrupted’ NSO Group’s attempts to access accounts in Jordan and Lebanon A spyware firm has been targeting WhatsApp users with malicious links in contravention of a US court order forbidding it from doing so, Meta has said.In a post, Meta said WhatsApp had “caught and disrupted spear phishing attempts” by NSO Group, which a spokesperson said targeted a handful of users in Jordan and Lebanon. It had also caught the group creating “test accounts and […]

  • Vagina lasers, bananas and an awkward Cumberbatch: 10 surprising moments in Madonna’s new video
    by Zoe Williams on June 9, 2026 at 4:18 pm

    Sabrina Carpenter, a car crash, a urinal, Kate Moss and, of course, those perplexing green lasers: Confessions II has it all. Let’s make some sense of it …Madonna’s new video is called Confessions II because it’s the follow-up to her album Confessions on a Dance Floor, released in 2005. Nope, wrong: that was not more than 20 years ago. That was last week. Years are for little people. Madonna can hold back the passage of time with the power of her imagination, and that has always been […]

  • Practice dates: should you swipe right on people you’re not attracted to?
    by Guardian Staff on June 9, 2026 at 4:05 pm

    Still hoping to meet ‘the one’? While you’re waiting, one dating expert says you should romance someone you’re not totally smitten with. It could be the start of something beautifulName: Practice dates.Age: The term date – to mean romantic dating – was inadvertently coined by American columnist George Ade in 1896, when he described a “date book” used by a shop cashier to record all her meetings with suitors. Practice dating is a 2026 concept. Continue reading...

  • Search black boys, protect white folk: Kemi vies to out-right the far right | John Crace
    by John Crace on June 9, 2026 at 4:02 pm

    When politicians talk ‘common sense’ it’s time to worry; when the Tory leader does, it’s time to be doubly vigilantYou know how it is. You’re a middle class, straight white man in his 60s in A&E. Possibly the most disadvantaged person in the entire country. You complain of chest pains. In the adjoining triage queue there is a black woman with what looks like a broken toe. You know what happens next. The black woman is seen within minutes. You have a cardiac arrest on the waiting […]

  • Disclosure Day review – close encounters of a deferred kind in Spielberg’s conspiracy spectacular
    by Peter Bradshaw on June 9, 2026 at 4:00 pm

    Humans have been secretly abusing aliens for almost 80 years in this big-hearted thriller starring Josh O’Connor as a worried whistleblower and a never-more-magnetic Emily Blunt as a weather forecaster channelling UFO chatThe old school is the new school in this very enjoyable and entirely ridiculous space-alien conspiracy adventure from screenwriter David Koepp and director Steven Spielberg; it is cheerfully mischievous and deadly serious in equal measure. It has something of Hitchcock from […]

  • Is the pope a Real Madrid fan? Leo’s admission upsets Barcelona faithful
    by Sam Jones in Madrid and agency on June 9, 2026 at 3:55 pm

    Pontiff appeals in Catalan for harmony on Barcelona leg of Spain tour after making football foes in cityTo the delight of many, Pope Leo XIV kicked off the Barcelona leg of his week-long visit to Spain with a few words in Catalan, calling on the faithful who had gathered in the city’s cathedral on Tuesday “to build harmony and communion beyond all polarisation”.The pontiff’s familiar and commendable plea for people to set aside their differences may, however, have come a little late. […]

  • Tell us your favourite TV shows of 2026 so far
    by Guardian community team on June 9, 2026 at 3:52 pm

    We would like to hear about your television highlights of the year so far. Share your thoughts nowThe Guardian’s culture writers have compiled their favourite TV shows of the year so far – and we’d like to hear about yours, too.Are there any new series that you would recommend watching? What have been best TV shows of the year so far, and why? Continue reading...

  • UK’s biggest retailers urge government to act on youth unemployment
    by Julia Kollewe on June 9, 2026 at 3:50 pm

    Bosses of M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco among those writing to Starmer that the ‘ladder of opportunity’ is wobblingWe would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job-hunting experiencesSome of the UK’s biggest retailers are planning to write to the prime minister urging him to tackle the youth unemployment crisis, with signatories expected to include the bosses of Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.Lobby group the British Retail Consortium said it had drafted a […]

  • Emma Raducanu buoyant after thumping win over Blinkova at Queen’s
    by Tumaini Carayol at Queen's Club on June 9, 2026 at 3:50 pm

    British player wants win to be launchpad for grass seasonJack Draper pulls out of men’s event to continue recoveryEmma Raducanu believes her ­strong start to the grass-court season can be the launchpad for ­success over the coming month as she reached the second round at Queen’s Club with a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Anna Blinkova, a qualifier.“It was a really good stepping stone, and the way I was feeling on the court, the way I was moving, the way I was expressing myself, just the […]

  • Teenage sensation Gout Gout ready to dive in at Diamond League deep end
    by Sean Ingle in Oslo on June 9, 2026 at 3:33 pm

    Young sprinter up against the ‘big boys’ for the first time but he still takes life in the spotlight in his strideLife comes at you fast, especially when you are Gout Gout. In April, the 18-year-old prodigy became the fastest teenager over 200m in history. Then last month, he finally got his own bedroom for the first time, having bought his family a new six-bedroom house in Brisbane. Now, in Oslo on Wednesday, he is one of the headline acts in his first senior Diamond League race.Excited? […]

  • I know it’s taboo – but I’m a big fan of marriage | Polly Hudson
    by Polly Hudson on June 9, 2026 at 3:29 pm

    If you like the idea, but are too ashamed to admit it in the midst of this hot divorcee summer, listen up! There are some very good reasons to get wedIt’s hard to pinpoint the moment something shifts from unfashionable to taboo, but it feels as if we’re there. With a “hot divorcee summer” on the horizon, more than half of single American women believing they’re happier than their spliced sisters, and nearly 70% of college-educated singles pessimistic about finding the right partner, […]

  • Former Burberry boss leads rescue mission for Burleigh Pottery
    by Joanna Partridge on June 9, 2026 at 3:24 pm

    175-year-old Stoke-on-Trent company says Christopher Bailey’s investment will ensure continued productionChristopher Bailey, the fashion designer who turned the British trenchcoat maker Burberry into a global brand, has acquired the Stoke-on-Trent company Burleigh Pottery along with a small group of private investors.The ceramics company, founded in 1851 and best known for its intricate floral designs, said Bailey’s investment would ensure that production of its cups, saucers and plates […]