Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – WNBA, Minnesota Lynx, Basketball, Sport, US sports
Title – Olivia Miles: the goggled wonder woman pulverizing WNBA opponents in her rookie season | WNBA | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andrew-lawrence
Link – Olivia Miles: the goggled wonder woman pulverizing WNBA opponents in her rookie season | WNBA | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T11:06:44.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/18/olivia-miles-the-goggled-wonder-woman-pulverizing-opponents-in-her-rookie-season

For dedicated WNBA fans, every morning begins with the same question: what did Olivia Miles do this time? A no-look pass through three defenders? A crossover that sends another grown woman staggering out of frame? Statue of Liberty layups launched from angles that flout Euclidean geometry? You just never know with this wonder woman. The rush she gives fans makes a double espresso feel like a nightcap.

No player in the WNBA has brought more joy to the season’s opening month than Miles, who has quickly emerged as one of the league’s most compelling talents. Fifteen games into her professional career, the 23-year-old North Jersey native has already established herself as the engine of the Minnesota Lynx offense, pacing the team in average scoring (19.0) and assists (5.7) while sinking more than half her shot attempts. In a 99-83 road win against a short-handed Los Angeles Sparks team on Wednesday night, Miles poured in a season-best 31 points on a blistering 80% percent shooting in just 26 minutes.

Miles’s splashy breakout hasn’t merely put her in the same must-see conversation as Caitlin Clark. It’s made her indispensable to a Lynx team who have been missing their best player, Napheesa Collier, since last September – and sit atop the league standings anyway. It’s made Cheryl Reeve look like a genius for selecting Miles with the second pick in this year’s draft. “I’m not gonna sit here and say that we knew from day one that she’d be a top-three player in the league,” the Minnesota coach said after another Miles masterclass against Portland . “But it’s like when we got Maya Moore – the perfect superstar, a humble superstar.”

There are worse compliments a rookie can receive than being compared to the greatest player in franchise history and, arguably, the best woman to ever lace ’em up . But whereas Moore entered the league with undeniable swagger and championship pedigree from near-perfect high school and college careers, Miles is less Wonder Woman than Diana Prince – the tweedy alter ego Lynda Carter made famous. At 5ft 10in, Miles is a mite small compared to the current crop of WNBA point guards. And yet she’s impossible to miss with her chunky goggles and luxuriant afro, looking for all the world like a time-traveling racquetball hustler. Lynx fans have taken to calling Miles “The Spectacle” – as much for style as substance.

Beneath that understated profile is a showwoman. Miles points to Moore and Luka Dončić as inspirations, and you can see it in her creativity, her rhythm, her sangfroid. You can tell she’s a student of the game by the influences she brings on to the court. She threads the needle in transition like Magic Johnson, slows the game down and finds cutters in the half court like Steve Nash. Her knack for using her body to protect her dribble and finish through contact against bigger defenders is downright Brunson-esque .

When Minnesota faced Dallas on the road last month and Miles thoroughly outplayed this year’s top pick, Azzi Fudd, in a narrow Lynx win to take a commanding lead in the rookie of the year race, the immediate discourse turned to Dallas’s obvious draft-day blunder . (Miles, for her part, called Fudd “a great player” who “fully deserved to go No 1.”)

“She just has the wiggle of a guy,” Indiana Fever standout Sophie Cunningham said in praise of Miles on her podcast. “Like, she is good, good-good. I know people think it’s weird when you compliment other people in our league because you have to play against them. But I’m also like: ‘Give this girl her flowers’. She is putting the whole league on notice right now.”

No one can say they didn’t see Diana Prince coming. A five-star high school prospect who also excelled on the soccer pitch , Miles chose Notre Dame over Stanford and Connecticut and led the Fighting Irish to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen three out of four years. In fact, Miles could have entered the WNBA draft in 2025 when she was already projected as a top-three pick. But the disappointment of falling well short in the Irish’s championship ambitions and the long grind back from a 2023 ACL injury left her second-guessing the move. Reflecting on her post-injury bounceback, she told Sue Bird, another of her idols: “I just didn’t feel like myself.”

It was only because of the current freewheeling, pay-for-play era of college sports that Miles was able to put off the pros. The new rules enabled a seamless transfer to TCU, the same program that had ended Notre Dame’s season in the 2025 Sweet Sixteen . She played immediately, posted career numbers, and led the Horned Frogs back to the 2026 Elite Eight – all while profiting from her name, image and likeness, and rekindling her passion for the game in a pro-style system that would prepare her for the next jump.

Completing a Notre Dame masters degree in nonprofit administration was another proud reward for staying in school. “Having that experience of being injured allowed me to regain my joy because now I know what it’s like to not have it,” she told Bird. “So I have no choice but to go out there and not take any moment for granted.”

To say it all worked out would be underselling her success. Had Miles entered the 2025 WNBA draft, she might have been lost in the shuffle behind top picks Paige Bueckers, French phenom Dominique Malonga and longtime Fighting Irish teammate Sonia Citron. What’s more, Miles would have also started out earning roughly $80,000 in the first year of her rookie contract.

But with the players’ union and league having agreed to a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement three weeks ahead of the 2026 draft, which left room for a 2027 schedule expansion to 50 games schedule that was officially announced on Wednesday, her timing proved perfect: Miles entered the league just as starting salaries for top picks surged to $500,000 a year, with the potential to triple on her next contract.

It’s a pay rise made possible by Collier, the Minnesota Lynx lynchpin and players’ union leader who helped launch the offseason league Unrivaled as leverage in collective bargaining talks. Collier was last seen on the court last September, when she injured both ankles in Game 3 of the WNBA semi-finals. Without their franchise cornerstone to open the 2026 season, the Lynx could have been vulnerable. But Miles has more than just held down the fort. She’s added another layer of firepower to go alongside All-Stars Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams and eased the urgency around Collier’s return.

Still, for all of Miles’s patent gifts, there remains plenty of room for growth. Her defensive focus can wander, and her emotions boil over at times. But with Reeve on the sideline and one of the league’s most veteran rosters surrounding the rookie, those feel more like maturity flaws than incorrigible limitations. Even with a limited sample size to judge from, the verdict on Miles is clear: the Lynx appear primed for another title march – and just two years after a controversial whistle cost them a fifth championship. If Miles had turned pro a year earlier, with the Lynx kicking off their draft with the 15th overall pick, this year’s dream start in Minnesota becomes ripe fodder for a fantasy basketball debate.

Collier has said she expects to be back “ very soon ” (read: after the late-July All-Star break in all likelihood), a timetable that has hoops fiends bursting with anticipation. The idea of the league’s most selfless star returning alongside its most creative rookie isn’t just tantalizing, after all. It’s another reason to get up in the morning.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Transfer window, Liverpool, Football, Sport, Real Madrid
Title – Liverpool beat Newcastle to £34.5m Víctor Muñoz in first signing of Iraola era | Transfer window | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/will-unwin
Link – Liverpool beat Newcastle to £34.5m Víctor Muñoz in first signing of Iraola era | Transfer window | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T09:10:03.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/18/victor-munoz-liverpool-newcastle-andoni-iraola-transfer-news

The Osasuna winger Víctor Muñoz will become the first signing of Andoni Iraola’s reign at Liverpool after the club triggered a £34.5m release clause, beating Newcastle to his signature. Muñoz will sign a six-year contract after undergoing a medical on Wednesday in Atlanta, where he is part of the Spain squad at the World Cup.

Liverpool have been following Muñoz’s progress for an extensive period and sped up the deal after Iraola’s appointment because the head coach was eager to add his compatriot. Iraola spent most of his playing career at Athletic Bilbao, continues to closely monitor La Liga and Muñoz has impressed him.

Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen were also interested in the 22-year-old. Muñoz represented Barcelona and Real Madrid at youth level and those clubs also shortlisted him for a move this summer, but elected to bid for other targets.

Muñoz can play on either wing and as a central striker, versatility Liverpool are eager to have as they begin a new era. One of Muñoz’s key attributes is his speed and a big part of the transfer strategy this summer will be attracting players with pace.

The winger has two international caps, making his debut in March and scoring against Serbia. He was an unused substitute in the draw against Cape Verde .

Muñoz’s arrival will not affect the future of Federico Chiesa. The Italian was a bit-part player under Arne Slot, but he could be a better fit for Iraola’s style. Chiesa, however, is eager to get more playing time and is open to leaving.

Ibrahima Konaté’s move to Real Madrid has been confirmed, the defender joining on a four-year deal when his Liverpool contract expires at the end of this month. Madrid have also signed Marc Cucurella and Bernardo Silva since confirming José Mourinho as their head coach .

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, Walt Disney Company, Culture, Television, Television & radio, US television, Los Angeles
Title – Daveigh Chase, child star known for Lilo & Stitch and The Ring, dies aged 35 | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/maya-yang
Link – Daveigh Chase, child star known for Lilo & Stitch and The Ring, dies aged 35 | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T20:58:35.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/17/daveigh-chase-dies-aged-35

The former US child actor Daveigh Chase has died at age 35.

She was best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and portraying Samara Morgan, the ghost in the 2002 horror film The Ring.

According to Chase’s boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, the actor died on Tuesday from meningitis and a blood infection which in turn led to sepsis, TMZ reports.

He added that Chase had been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this month due to malnutrition.

In a GoFundMe page set up before her death, Hernandez described Chase as having always “been a light in my life”, adding: “But behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship. After a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family, Daveigh was bullied and struggled to find safety and happiness in downtown LA. When we met, I promised to protect her and give her the love and comfort she deserved. Together, we found moments of happiness and hope.

“Recently, everything changed. Daveigh was diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections. Her condition has become critical, and the doctors have told me she may not have much time left. All she ever wanted was a place where we could live together, feel safe, and be happy. Now, more than ever, I want to give her that sense of home and peace in her final days,” he added.

The GoFundMe page had raised $1,300 out of $5,500 as of Wednesday evening.

Chase, born on 24 July 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared in several film and television projects in the early 2000s. As well as The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, she voiced Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. She also had roles in Donnie Darko and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, Horror films, Spain, Culture, Europe, World news
Title – La Cabina/El Televisor review – horror and anxiety on the air and down the line in Franco’s Spain | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterbradshaw
Link – La Cabina/El Televisor review – horror and anxiety on the air and down the line in Franco’s Spain | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T06:00:04.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/18/la-cabina-el-televisor-review-horror-on-the-air-and-down-the-line-in-francos-spain

T wo macabre Spanish TV plays from the 1970s are being released as a double bill: Antonio Mercero’s La Cabina (★★★★★) is a cult 1972 surreal short film lasting just 35 minutes but encompassing an entire dreamworld of anxiety. It was conceived for television in the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, but I can imagine it shown in cinemas as a curtain-raiser before Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel.

La Cabina is a black comic nightmare in which a fussy middle-aged man, played by veteran Spanish comedy actor José Luis López Vázquez, steps into a phone booth that has just appeared in a suburban sidestreet. But the phone doesn’t work and then he can’t get out; the door is jammed. What to do? There’s no mobile phone to reach for; in 1972, the phone booth was the mobile phone. He gesticulates and waves in panic through the glass, though seems mysteriously robbed of the power of speech and is clearly inhibited by how ridiculous he must look. Crowds cluster round and try ineffectually to help. A callous, carnivalesque atmosphere develops. The man sees himself reflected in a mirror that one onlooker is carrying: trapped, absurd, bourgeois homo sapiens as zoo animal.

When the telecoms engineers finally show up and load the booth with him in it on to their van and cart him away, he might assume that these are the experts who can take him to some specialist warehouse where he can be released. But no. Could it be that this is not an accident? What is the meaning of it all? La Cabina could be a parable of surveillance and tyranny in Franco’s Spain; or a vision of death with the phone booth as the vertical coffin; or just a meditation on how very strange phone boxes were (no surprise Doctor Who used a police phone box as the Tardis). And it also plays on the uncanny anonymity of the telephone call, the voice reaching out of the ether. You could compare this to Joel Schumacher’s claustro-thriller Phone Booth , with Colin Farrell as the creep who finds himself karmically trapped in the very New York phone booth he was using to make extramarital assignations. There’s also Graham Starks’ clever short film Lust from the 1971 anthology The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, starring Harry H Corbett as a sad, lustful loser who tries to seduce a woman in the neighbouring phone box.

By contrast, Spanish horror director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s El Televisor (★★★☆☆) from 1974 is frankly less interesting: a spirited, but rather overextended and pedantic satire on TV, and its attendant promotion of convenience and leisure. The director’s father Narciso Ibáñez Menta plays Enrique, a sad and mediocre little man who works all hours at his boring job to earn enough to provide for his wife Susana (María Fernanda D’Ocón) and their two children, with whom he spends no time at all. He dreams of buying all the mod cons imaginable, but the holy grail is a brand new colour TV set (and the state-of-the-art prestige of a colour TV now seems almost as obsolete as a phone box).

But once the precious TV set is installed in Enrique’s study, where he used to read and listen to classical music, Enrique forgets about work and everything else and becomes maniacally obsessed with watching TV all day, every day (though a quirk of this film is that it appears actually to be black-and-white). The TV programmes seem realer than reality itself, and certainly no more futile than the soul-sapping job that paid for the TV set in the first place. But his excitement and rapture soon curdle into horror; he broods about what he sees on the news: “… the napalm … the bodies of Palestinian guerrillas …” He obsesses about all the people who don’t win on the gameshows and the violence of the cartoons, and eventually he comes to believe that the people on TV are talking to him and trying to escape through the glass screen which he walls up with a sheet of cardboard. At around an hour’s running time, El Televisor finally gets round to a predictable twist ending, but the absurdism of it all is performed with a theatrical relish.

La Cabina/El Televisor is in UK cinemas from 19 June, and on Blu-ray from 20 July.

Keyword – Global
Trefwoorden – Society, Carers, UK news, London, Schools, Education, School attendance and absence, Social care, Documentary films, Documentary, Film
Title – Aiden’s story of life as a young carer | Is Mum OK? Documentary | Society | The Guardian
Author –
Link – Aiden’s story of life as a young carer | Is Mum OK? Documentary | Society | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-09T09:31:31.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/global/ng-interactive/2026/jun/09/how-do-you-give-britains-hidden-army-a-break-is-mum-ok-documentary

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Life and style, Family
Title – Should my husband stop letting our kids climb over our neighbour’s fence to get their ball back? | Life and style | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/georgina-lawton
Link – Should my husband stop letting our kids climb over our neighbour’s fence to get their ball back? | Life and style | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T06:00:02.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/18/should-my-husband-stop-letting-kids-climb-over-neighbours-fence-get-ball-back

The prosecution: Penelope

It doesn’t matter that it only takes five seconds. It’s a flagrant disregard for property rights

My husband, Spencer, and I have two children, Georgia, 12, and Alex, nine. We are usually quite aligned on how we parent, but I recently learned that Spencer is a little more relaxed with our children’s garden activities.

During half-term, Spencer was at home and I was at work. When I got back and asked the kids how their day was, they told me their ball went over the fence and into the neighbour’s garden. I assumed our neighbours hadn’t been in and the ball was still there, but they said “Dad let us hop over the fence to get it.” I was shocked.

When I spoke to Spencer, he just shrugged and said it was fine. These neighbours are a middle-aged couple with no kids. He said getting the ball only took five seconds, and then Alex and Georgia hopped back over. I asked them how many times they’ve done this and they said “four or five”.

This is a flagrant disregard for boundaries and property rights. If we allow our kids to hop over fences into spaces that don’t belong to them, we are encouraging public and private disobedience. It also reflects badly on us if the neighbours happen to be in one day. So far, it’s been OK, as they’ve been at work.

I said to Alex and Georgia that they need to be more careful with their football and tennis balls. We have a large garden and there’s no need for their balls to be going over the fence. It is really Spencer’s fault, though. He should be the disciplinarian.

We have a good relationship with our neighbours, but we haven’t asked their permission to retrieve these balls so if they suddenly see my kids playing in their garden, they would have every right to have a go at us.

I’m annoyed at Spencer for encouraging this. I am the stricter parent, but I thought we had similar styles overall. He thinks it’s funny how annoyed I am over this, but it’s the thought that Alex and Georgia have done this many times without me knowing. Spencer needs to see that he is in the wrong and be stricter when I’m not by his side.

The defence: Spencer

No harm was done to their garden. It’s just a lawn with a few shrubs. I don’t see the problem

The way Penelope goes on, you’d think I was letting the kids roam around the garden naked and screaming. They hopped over our fence to get their ball – it’s happened a few times. It was either let them go and get it, or listen to them complaining because the neighbours weren’t there to pass it over.

I manage my own business from home, so during half-term I had to juggle work and looking after the kids, which I’m happy to do, but some peace and quiet is conducive to a good working day.

The first time Alex’s football went over the fence he asked if he could hop over. I said, “Be quick.” He was very quick and Georgia helped him hop back over. From then on, they just retrieved the ball whenever it flew over.

Alex told his mum they went over the fence a few times. No harm was done to the neighbour’s garden, it’s just a flat lawn with a few shrubs, so I don’t see the problem. I’ve seen him do it – it’s very quick and it is usually just Alex going into the garden. It’s not as if both of the kids are there “trespassing”, as Penelope calls it.

Perhaps I’m used to this sort of thing because I grew up with siblings on a busy road in London. Penelope grew up in the countryside with no neighbours either side of her. I think they take trespassing and boundaries a lot more seriously there. Penelope said, “What if Alex damaged the garden and we had to pay for something?”

She is worried about going to war with our neighbours, but she’s being a bit dramatic. There’s no way for Alex to damage anything. We also share responsibility for the fence.

Penelope is worried about how it makes us look if the neighbours come home and see our children in the garden, but I would explain and say they needed the ball. If I had to apologise, I would. Penelope says I’m not strict, but I know how to discipline the children without her. I just don’t think this is a situation that requires so much emotion.

The jury of Guardian readers

Spencer and the kids should really get permission – asking your neighbours if it’s OK if the kids hop over the fence to get the ball when they accidentally hit it over would only take a moment, and the answer is unlikely to be no. Asking is just good manners. Tammy, 44

The worst thing that can happen is that the neighbours spot the kids and may give them and you a talking to. Everyone learns that way and hopefully it’ll improve communication in the long term, so carry on kids – just don’t smash any windows! Charlie, 33

Penelope is right. Spencer shouldn’t be encouraging the children to jump over the fence into their neighbours’ garden without permission. They either need to ask their neighbours if they mind them jumping the fence, or perhaps just get some more balls. Sarah, 29

I think people should respect their neighbours’ privacy and property, so Spencer is teaching his kids the wrong attitude. The family should apologise for any misdirected balls and maybe the couple will suggest hopping over next time, but it is up to them who they let into their garden. Kelly, 52

Spencer is definitely guilty. It’s an important part of being a kid that you have to wait, bored, until the neighbour comes home and chucks the ball back over. Good luck with teenagers who have been taught other people’s boundaries don’t matter, Spencer. Alicia, 53

Now you be the judge

In our online poll, tell us: is the game up for Spencer?

The poll closes on Wednesday 24 June at 9am BST

Last week’s results

We asked whether Charlene should share a digital calendar with her partner 57% of you said yes – Charlene is guilty 43% of you said no – Charlene is innocent

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – US-Israel war on Iran, Iran, Trump administration, Strait of Hormuz, Israel, Donald Trump, Lebanon, Hezbollah, US foreign policy, Middle East and north Africa
Title – Middle East crisis live: US will restart military action if Iran does not uphold deal, says Hegseth | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/adam-fulton,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/aneesa-ahmed,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/taz-ali,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/graemewearden,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jonathan-yerushalmy,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/natasha-may
Link – Middle East crisis live: US will restart military action if Iran does not uphold deal, says Hegseth | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T14:04:56.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/18/middle-east-crisis-live-us-iran-presidents-sign-peace-deal-mou-trump-tehran-strait-of-hormuz-toll-lebanon-israel

US will restart military action if Iran does not fulfil commitments under signed agreement, Hegseth says

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been speaking in Brussels after meeting with Nato defence ministers there.

He said the US will restart military action and ⁠reimpose a ⁠blockade ​against Iran if it does not fulfil its commitments ⁠under the agreement signed yesterday.

“The ‌president has pointed out ‌that we will be prepared to recommence if underneath the timeline of these talks, Iran ‌does not do what it says it’s ​going to do,” Hegseth said.

“If Iran doesn’t comply, then ​we’re ​more than ​able to reimpose an ​ironclad ‌blockade.”

He also slammed Nato for its perceived lack of support on the Iran war, as my colleague, Jakub Krupa, reports on the Europe live blog.

Hegseth said:

The United States has defended Europe for generations, and the President said all he said was that our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.

But too many of our allies said no, or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful.

These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing an overflight that never should have been in question at all.”

The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, held a meeting with Beirut negotiators as they prepare for the next round of talks with Israeli counterparts in Washington next week, his office has said.

The negotiations are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with Aoun directing the Lebanese delegation of his country’s position, including “the final cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands they occupy”, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement posted on social media.

Other key demands include “the deployment of the Lebanese army to the international borders, the return of Lebanese prisoners, and the launch of the reconstruction campaign”.

In a statement yesterday, Aoun expressed hope that next week’s fifth round of talks “will be more positive, particularly considering the US administration’s great interest in Lebanon”.

UK wholesale gas prices have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the Iran war.

The month-ahead UK gas price fell as low as 95p per therm this morning, following the signing of the interim peace deal by the US and Iran .

That’s the lowest since 2 March, the Monday after the conflict began. Reminder: Brent crude oil has also fallen to its lowest since 2 March today ( see earlier post ).

However, this still leaves UK gas prices above their level just before the start of the war – 78.57p per therm.

Continential European gas prices have also fallen today, down 3% to €40.6 per megawatt hour.

Hopes for a resumption of traffic through the strait of Hormuz are pushing down energy costs, despite concerns that it will take time for the situation to return to prewar levels.

Oxford Economics say:

With the new US-Iran ceasefire including an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz, Oxford Economics anticipates an initial surge in traffic as ships that have been stuck are finally able to exit. Flows are then expected to slow until confidence builds that the ceasefire is durable. The firm expects the recovery in shipping to be gradual as logistics are adjusted and oil and gas production restarts.”

Follow our business live blog for the latest economic and financial news:

Three people killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon – state media

Three people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media, despite the signing of the US-Iran agreement which provides for the end of the war on all fronts in the Middle East, including Lebanon.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported an “enemy drone targeted a car” in Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, killing two people. Another drone attack in the neighbouring village of Zebdine killed one person, according to the news agency.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed last night in an incident in southern Lebanon that left seven others injured.

While Israel’s strikes in Lebanon have been sporadic since a ceasefire was announced in the country in April, the fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah has not stopped. The Iran-backed group, however, has not claimed responsibility for any new attacks against Israel since the US-Iran agreement was announced earlier this week.

Ships pass through strait of Hormuz, according to shipping tracker

At least seven vessels have crossed the strait of Hormuz so far today, according to Marine Traffic data.

Four cargo ships, a French flagged LNG tanker and a Cook Islands flagged bitumen tanker all exited the strait towards the Gulf of Oman – CNN reports . Additionally, a Panama flagged Starway entered the strait heading toward the Gulf.

This marks an increase in traffic on the strait, but still far below the prewar average of about 135 ships per day moving through the vital waterway.

This comes after the route was reopened as part of a deal between the US and Iran was made on Wednesday.

European leaders have largely been sidelined from the negotiations, but expressed relief that the strait of Hormuz would reopen, allowing the flow of oil to resume. Emmanuel Macron said it would put a stop to a “situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies”.

President of the Philippines Ferdinand R Marcos Jr was also optimistic, saying the freedom of navigation returning to the Hormuz strait was “what we have been hoping for since the day after the war started”.

Pakistan and Turkey’s politicians hope for “lasting peace” in the region, after discussing the US and Iran peace deal over the phone.

According to the office of Pakistan’s foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar , he had a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan , about the news of the deal.

“Fidan congratulated Pakistan on the historic signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran and endorsed by Pakistan as the mediator,” a statement said.

“Both leaders expressed hope that this significant development would contribute to lasting peace, stability, and progress in the region and beyond,” it added.

Here are some of the latest images from the Middle East on our wires:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement saying it would continue operating in southern Lebanon within an area it has occupied since the start of the current war.

The IDF posted a map on social media showing its so-called “security zone” that stretches 10km (more than 6 miles) into Lebanese territory from the northern Israeli border. The military has forced thousands of people to flee their homes in the towns and villages within the zone through mass “evacuation” and no-return orders.

“IDF forces have established themselves in their area of operations in southern Lebanon and continue to operate to remove threats and improve protection for residents of the north,” it said.

The US-Iran preliminary memorandum of understanding signed last night stipulates “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”, but Israel said it will continue its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and does not feel bound by the agreement, which it took no part of.

Iranian president hails ‘historic’ deal with US

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has praised what he called a “historic” deal with the US to end the war between the two countries and pave the way for negotiations towards a final settlement.

In a post on social media, he said: “This is a historic document and a message from a powerful Iran: peace will be realised in the shadow of mutual respect.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been committed and steadfast to global peace while preserving its dignity and independence, as well as to progress and regional cooperation.”

He also posted an image of the document bearing his signature and that of US president Donald Trump .

Kaja Kallas has responded to the Israeli foreign minister’s announcement that he was severing all contact with the EU’s top diplomat (see post at 10:05 ).

In a message to Gideon Saar, she said she valued the “dialogue and engagement” between the EU and Israel but did not address reports that she allegedly compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid South Africa.

In a post on X, Kallas said:

Dear Gideon, as you know, the EU and Israel have a lot that binds us. I value our dialogue and engagement, and I’m open to continue in that spirit, respectfully and constructively. Dialogue is the foundation of diplomacy, especially when differences arise. The EU is always committed to a constructive relationship with Israel.

To bring peace to the Middle East, the two-state solution remains the only viable path. The EU has condemned the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank that make it increasingly difficult to get to that goal. That is the EU position.”

Earlier this week, Kallas said the EU would explore options for restricting trade with Israeli settlements following calls from several member countries, according to AFP.

US will restart military action if Iran does not fulfil commitments under signed agreement, Hegseth says

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been speaking in Brussels after meeting with Nato defence ministers there.

He said the US will restart military action and ⁠reimpose a ⁠blockade ​against Iran if it does not fulfil its commitments ⁠under the agreement signed yesterday.

“The ‌president has pointed out ‌that we will be prepared to recommence if underneath the timeline of these talks, Iran ‌does not do what it says it’s ​going to do,” Hegseth said.

“If Iran doesn’t comply, then ​we’re ​more than ​able to reimpose an ​ironclad ‌blockade.”

He also slammed Nato for its perceived lack of support on the Iran war, as my colleague, Jakub Krupa, reports on the Europe live blog.

Hegseth said:

The United States has defended Europe for generations, and the President said all he said was that our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.

But too many of our allies said no, or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful.

These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access facing an overflight that never should have been in question at all.”

The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, met with the head of the Palestinian committee tasked with overseeing the future administration of Gaza, as part of efforts to “revive” the peace plan aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

Cooper’s meeting with Ali Shaath, the general commissioner of the National Committee for Gaza Management (NGAC), came as the US and Iran signed an initial agreement to end the war between the two countries.

Cooper said the deal serves as an opportunity to rescue the US-brokered 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan signed in October, which calls for an interim Palestinian administration to govern the Strip and launch a reconstruction programme for the devastated territory.

The NGAC was established as part of the peace plan to oversee the transition of power in Gaza, but the process appears to be at a standstill as Israel tightens its grip on the Palestinian territory and Hamas retains administrative control.

“The 20-point peace plan is on life support,” Cooper said in a statement.

While she praised Egypt, the US, Turkey and Qatar for their efforts, she added: “Momentum has stalled and we need to see rapid progress on implementation as living conditions for ordinary Gazans remain dire. “Now an agreement between the US and Iran has been reached, we must seize this opportunity to hold the parties who agreed the 20-point peace plan to their commitments and to deliver that plan in full, at pace.”

‘Jealous, bad people, or stupid’: Trump hits out at critics over his Iran deal

Donald Trump has hit out at critics who say he has “not been tough enough on Iran”, calling them “jealous, bad people, or stupid”.

Among his critics are top Republicans , who have said the agreement achieves even less than the deal negotiated by former US president Barack Obama in 2015.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said:

These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are “tumbling” down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Israeli foreign minister says he is ‘severing all ties’ with EU foreign policy chief over ‘apartheid’ remarks

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said he is cutting off contact with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas after she reportedly compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa’s racist apartheid era.

In a post on social media, Saar accused Kallas of “acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness” against Israel and claimed she has not denied, clarified or addressed the remarks reported in Euractiv, a European news website.

“Therefore, as Israel’s minister for foreign affairs, I have no choice but to sever all ties with Ms Kallas,” Saar said.

Kallas did not immediately comment.

According to Euractiv, Kallas made the apartheid comparison during closed-door and confidential talks with officials in Mexico City last month as part of a senior EU delegation attending a summit there.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said the organisation was ready to start defining the “concrete steps” that will need to be taken after the signing of the agreement between the US and Iran which provides for the dilution of Iranian uranium stocks under its supervision.

“It is good that the memorandum is there. ​Now the technical work starts,” Grossi told reporters in Geneva.

“Now it is for us to sit ​down with our American and Iranian colleagues and start formulating concrete steps that will have to be taken.”

One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon this morning, according to the country’s official National News Agency.

The strike hit a car near Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, where the Israeli military has been operating, the news agency reported.

Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreed in April, but it is facing pressure to halt attacks after the US and Iran signed a deal to wind down the conflict.

⁠Israel is “conducting stubborn ⁠negotiations” ⁠with the ​US on ⁠the issue of ⁠continuing its ​deployment ‌of ‌troops in ‌southern Lebanon, a senior Israeli official ‌close to Benjamin Netanyahu ⁠told Reuters.

Israel has ​no intention ​of ​backing ​down ‌on ​its ​positions, the official said.

Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Wine, Food, French food and drink, Italian food and drink, Spanish food and drink
Title – Why corner shop wines are not to be sniffed at | Wine | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mina-holland
Link – Why corner shop wines are not to be sniffed at | Wine | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T12:00:02.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/18/why-corner-shop-wines-are-not-to-be-sniffed-at

T here was a time in my life when Campo Viejo Tempranillo was as essential as milk or bread; my flatmates and I designated it our “house wine”’. The year was 2011, we wore a lot of elasticated statement belts and lived opposite a corner shop by Brixton prison. Like us, the wine was young, fruity and there for a good time.

Campo Viejo remains one of the more obvious choices for a last-minute bottle of red. Even better is Muriel Tempranillo Rioja at the Co-op, which has all the dark red fruit and vanilla you might expect from young rioja. These days, I’d freshen up either of them with a blast in the fridge, or mix with lemonade for that emblematic Spanish summer cocktail, tinto de verano .

“Corner shops” can be variously defined. For me, the term includes mini supermarkets, or anywhere that might have a blown-up picture of a glass of deep red wine on the shopfront and whose wine selection is as commercial as it is limited. I’ve trotted around several of these places in recent weeks, and deployed friends across the UK to take photos of the wine selection in their own local corner shops.

If it’s fizz that you’re after, you know as well as I do that there will be prosecco. And if you struggle with the sherbetiness of commercial prosecco, amaros are your friend: glowing bitters such as Aperol are widely available in corner shops, and do a delicious dance with the melony, moussey notes of prosecco. Job done. Champagne is thornier territory, meanwhile, and is usually kept safe on a shelf behind the till – that is, in warm, light and unideal conditions – which is a risky way to spend big money. If you’re dead set on champers, try an affordable, own-label one; all the mini supermarkets have a classic non-vintage blend at £25-ish.

Unless you’re in a mini supermarket with own-label wines, corner shops tend to be dominated by big brands. This is tricky, because the likes of Chile’s Casillero del Diablo , say, are much stronger on reds than whites. I tend to avoid white wines in brightly labelled, clear glass bottles like the plague. Pale French rosés are a different matter, however, and you could do a lot worse than the “chicken wine” southern French rosé (made with a classic blend of cinsault, grenache and syrah) or Studio by Miraval’s “Mediterranean rosé” in today’s pick. Both offer what I hope for from a corner shop wine: good, inoffensive fun, and wine’s answer to Kylie Minogue. Oh, wait …

When it comes to whites, France seems the safest bet. Picpoul de Pinet is always good value and rarely offends, and most corner shops have a line in Burgundian giant Louis Jadot’s wines. Its Mâcon Villages offers good bang for your buck at about £13 at Tesco (the same brand’s Beaujolais Villages is an equivalent price and great served a little chilled). You could also look to lesser-known grapes: crowd-pleasing, smoky-mineral carricante from Sicily or Romania’s aromatic fetească regală, for example, which are both food-friendly and having a moment in mini supermarket selections. Who knows – you might even designate it your own house wine …

Five corner shop dependables

Muriel Tempranillo Rioja £9.75 Co-op , 13%. Classic, fruity, sweet, spiced, young rioja – no drama.

Studio by Miraval £12.50 Sainsbury’s , 12.5%. Easy-drinking light rosé to fuel you through the summer.

Waitrose Loved & Found Carricante £9.50 , 12%. Mineral and food-versatile. If your local has this, you’re in for a treat.

The Wine Atlas Fetească Regală £7 Asda , 11.5%. Great with a curry (and I know for a fact that Asda Express in Romford stocks it).

M&S Delacourt Champagne Brut £25 Ocado , 12.5%. Never a bad choice, if your “corner shop” is an M&S Simply Food.

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Nigel Farage, Reform UK, Party funding, Politics, UK news, Cryptocurrencies, Bank of England, Economic policy, Business, Technology
Title – Farage trying to block ‘Britcoin’ plans that could be costly for billionaire donor | Nigel Farage | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-burgis,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/henry-dyer,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rowena-mason
Link – Farage trying to block ‘Britcoin’ plans that could be costly for billionaire donor | Nigel Farage | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-18T10:30:00.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/18/nigel-farage-trying-block-britcoin-crypto-plans-bank-of-england-christopher-harborne

Nigel Farage has been trying to block a Bank of England cryptocurrency plan that could be costly for the billionaire bankrolling his party.

The Reform UK leader has said Christopher Harborne wants nothing in exchange for the millions he has donated to the party and the undeclared £5m personal gift to Farage that the Guardian revealed in April.

But Farage used a private meeting at the Bank to urge the governor to drop plans for a state-run alternative to the digital currency that has made his Thailand-based benefactor one of the richest people in the world.

Farage’s opposition to the proposal for a “Britcoin” is so strong that, after the meeting last September, he told an audience of crypto enthusiasts he would be “prepared to go to prison” to stop it, footage of the event shows.

Harborne’s £25m in donations to Farage’s Reform UK , formerly the Brexit party, account for about two-thirds of its funding. He is one of a handful of tech figures who own Tether, the company that issues the world’s most widely traded cryptocurrency.

Tether’s digital cash, known as stablecoins, is pegged in value to government-issued currencies, allowing users to exchange their money easily between the two. Registered in El Salvador with a small staff, Tether’s reported profits have surpassed those of Netflix and Coca-Cola.

If Harborne’s share of the profits is equal to his 12% stake, that would give him about £1bn a year. Those profits could fall, however, if the Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, proceeds with the Britcoin plan, which could cut demand for stablecoins such as Tether’s, according to a submission to the central bank by an industry body that represents the company.

Anna Turley, chair of the Labour party, said she would write to the financial regulator to ask it to investigate Farage’s actions.

Farage told October’s Zebu Live event in London he regarded the Bank’s plans for a digital pound with “total and utter horror”. He recounted the meeting he and his fellow Reform MP, the property developer Richard Tice, held at Threadneedle Street with Bailey. “I asked him straight: ‘Are you still progressing your plans for a British central bank digital currency?’ And the answer was: ‘Yes.’”

Farage’s dislike of Bailey’s governorship has recently become the subject of deepfake memes promoting crypto scams that depict the politician beating up the central banker at a falsified TV appearance.

Like his advocacy for crypto in general, Farage frames his position on central bank digital currencies as part of a campaign for freedom from an over-powerful state. Rather than linking his opposition to the possible threat to companies such as Tether, he claims to be concerned that Britcoin would rely on a digital ID system. Some critics have made this claim, but the Bank has not said this would be the case.

“I don’t want to live in a country with a central bank digital currency,” he told the crypto event. He added: “I’m prepared to go to prison to stop us having [central bank digital currencies] administered under digital ID. That is how committed I am.”

The Guardian sent the main points of this article to Reform and Harborne. Harborne’s lawyers said they contained “a number of unsupported insinuations, hallucinations, and conspiracy theories bearing no basis in reality” but did not give detailed responses, adding: “Mr Harborne will not comment on fantasy.”

A Reform spokesperson said: “This is utter rubbish. Nigel’s only focus is on saving the country.”

But in his opposition to Britcoin, Farage’s position appears to be closely aligned with Tether’s.

Digital Currencies Governance Group (DCGG), an industry body representing what it describes as a “full spectrum of key stakeholders in the ecosystem, including Tether”, made a submission to the Bank and the Treasury about the Britcoin plans in 2021. It claimed there was a “significant risk” that users might switch away from stablecoins such as Tether’s to the state-run digital currency, “stifling growth and innovation”.

The DCGG submission said that although “some argue that central bank digital currencies will restrict illegal activity”, the authorities should instead develop “a regulated market for private stablecoins”.

Tether stablecoins are popular as an alternative to currencies plagued by inflation, and to pricey money-transfer services. Billions in Tether stablecoins – which users can buy and sell without revealing their identity – are known to have been used by Russian people breaking sanctions, Asian perpetrators of “pig-butchering” romance scams , North Korean hackers, British drug gangs and transnational organised criminals. The company’s representatives say it collaborates with law-enforcement agencies in dozens of countries.

Harborne’s lawyers have stressed that he is a minority shareholder in Tether, not an executive. But he does appear to have sought to shape policymakers’ approach to crypto.

EU lobbying records say Harborne was registered as a DCGG lobbyist in 2020-21, seeking to influence Brussels’ crypto policy. He met the staff of at least one MEP, from the liberal Czech Pirate party.

Harborne’s lawyers point out there is no evidence his activities in connection with DCGG were undertaken for or on behalf of Tether.

Harborne also appears to have invited DCGG’s boss to a Conservative fundraising dinner in 2022, a period when he had temporarily switched his donations from Farage to the Tories.

Francesca Salierno, formerly an aide to a Ukip MEP, joined Harborne at the Victoria & Albert Museum for the exclusive event in June 2022. That was shortly after Boris Johnson’s government had announced its crypto policy, which included proposals for regulating stablecoins.

Founded by a reclusive Italian former plastic surgeon , Tether does not publish full accounts or undergo audits. It has found favour in the US under Donald Trump, who appointed its banker, Howard Lutnick, as his commerce secretary. A reported investigation into dirty money flowing through its digital currency appears to have ceased.

In the UK, the company has a champion in Farage. Talking up Tether on LBC radio in September, the month after Harborne gave Reform a record £9m, Farage said: “Stablecoins, crypto, this world is enormous, and I’ve been urging for years that London should embrace it. We should become a global trading centre for this stuff.”

As well as using his meeting with Bailey to object to the Bank’s digital currency plans, Farage has said he pushed the governor to abandon a proposed cap on stablecoin holdings by individuals in the UK.

At the Zebu Live event, Farage said he told Bailey: “Listen mate, you’re being a dinosaur.” Farage has claimed Bailey changed his plans as a result. Bank officials have said that following a consultation they are considering this and other options to address risks posed by stablecoins.

The Bank has refused a freedom of information request for details of Farage’s meeting with Bailey, saying that “disclosure would be likely to inhibit the free and frank provision of advice”.

Tim Picton, of the campaign group Spotlight on Corruption, said: “The Bank of England should disclose the full minutes of its meeting with Farage and Richard Tice last year. With the government at a critical stage of developing its landmark regulatory framework for crypto assets, it is vital that we have more transparency around the key players and vested interests trying to shape it.”

A Bank of England spokesperson said Farage’s meeting with Bailey was “part of the Bank’s engagement with political representatives” and acknowledged his “differing view” from the governor. The Bank was drawing up cryptocurrency policy with “feedback … from industry, academia, and the public”.

Additional reporting by Henry Dyer

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Health & wellbeing, Children, Life and style, Netherlands, Health and fitness holidays, Walking, Fitness, Europe, Family, Schools
Title – Dutch children are unusually happy and healthy. Is it because of this walking ritual? | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Author – Hannah Docter-Loeb
Link – Dutch children are unusually happy and healthy. Is it because of this walking ritual? | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T04:00:45.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/16/dutch-children-unusually-happy-healthy-avondvierdaagse-walking-festival

I shouldn’t have been surprised that the rain didn’t stop the Dutch kids. All day it had been thunderstorming, and the forecast didn’t look so great for the evening. And yet at 5pm, hundreds of kids started arriving – many by bike – with their parents to Amsterdam’s Westerpark, a beloved city park that caters to a more residential area of the capital. Today, it functions as a starting point: volunteers coordinate registration, and groups of children gather, decked out in raincoats and eager to embark on either a 5km or a 10km excursion around the surrounding neighbourhoods.

It’s the second night of Avondvierdaagse (which literally means “four-day evening walk”) , organised by a group of neighbourhood volunteers . It’s not a race, but if children complete every night, they get medals, a bouquet of flowers and, if they’re lucky, a lot of sweets. It’s not just Amsterdam; across villages, towns and cities in the Netherlands, hundreds of thousands of Dutch people are doing the same: every year, kids spend four evenings in early summer exploring their neighbourhoods with their school friends and parents as part of the Week van de Avond4daagse . Some places had celebrated earlier; others were walking the following week. A variation of the tradition has even made its way to Suriname, one of the Dutch former colonies. There are also four-day cycling and swimming events. According to the Royal Dutch Walking Association (KWbN), which helps coordinate the events, half a million people take part every year, in 700 locations across the country, powered by tens of thousands of volunteers.

“The event is just so Dutch – they don’t have this really anywhere else,” says fellow volunteer Judith van Oudheusden as we cycle from one checkpoint to another to catch the wave of kids at another part of the route. We are responsible for stamping cards to confirm they have completed this part of today’s 10km walk. A full card means they can get their medal on the last day, a feat many are determined to accomplish. Tonight they’ll be walking along the west boundaries of the neighbourhood, making their way through green city parks such as Erasmuspark and Rembrandtpark, and charming residential streets, catching a glimpse of the historic Molen de Otter windmill on the way back to Westerpark. Van Oudheusden participated in the activity as a child, she says, and then walked with her own children when they were younger. Volunteering is a full circle moment for her.

Avondvierdaagse originated from military ideology, explains Inger Leemans, professor of cultural history at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The first march was held in 1909 in Nijmegen as a military training event. But when the second world war broke out, different towns started to organise their own walks for soldiers. After the war, citizens were invited to walk along with them: the four-day marches in Nijmegen grew into an immensely popular event where tens of thousands of soldiers and citizens walked in solidarity. Aimed at older crowds, this is now the largest walking event in the world, with 45,000 participants from more than 80 countries, walking the same 30km, 40km and 50km routes each year. According to Arno van Gemert, a team leader for programmes and projects at KWbN, the Avondvierdaagse is like the event’s “little brother or sister”, mainly aimed at primary school children and their parents.

“It is interesting that this walk – with its military origins – grew into one of the national identity markers for the Dutch, a country that does not often self-represent as a military nation,” says Leemans, who also participated in the tradition when she was growing up in Leende, a village near the Belgian border. Most people now see it as a national event, comparable to other festivities such as King’s Day , a national holiday to celebrate the Dutch monarch’s birthday, involving street parties, flea markets, and lots of orange apparel. Avondvierdaagse even has its own traditional delicacy: half an orange, topped with a white Wilhelmina peppermint and wrapped in a piece of muslin, for kids to suck on as they walk. Many children were enjoying one along the route.

While the original walks were not necessarily to promote exercise, Avondvierdaagse has become a way to motivate kids to enjoy being outside and moving their bodies. “It’s important that children are physically active and can develop their motor skills from a young age,” explains Sanne de Vries, professor of physical activity in childhood at Leiden University Medical Center. Encouraging children to go through the whole week of walking – rain or shine – and rewarding them at the end can help build a positive association with physical activity. “Positive emotion that sticks is important.”

It also helps build resilience. “It’s been presented to them as a big challenge because it’s 5km and it sounds super hard,” says Fernanda Gomes, 44, who is walking the shorter route with her seven-year-old daughter, Alicia (who is snacking on the traditional orange as we speak). “Even if it’s raining, they do it and the message behind it is very great for the children.”

Dutch kids are consistently judged to be some of the happiest in the world. This year, a Unicef report again ranked them number one out of 44 western countries for overall wellbeing, and for mental health. Rich social relations were cited as a key factor. Research has shown that Dutch children have strong connections with their peers. In addition, many Dutch parents work part-time, so have more time to spend with their children. Children also have increased independence: parents let their kids roam more freely, and many start young, cycling to and from school by themselves.

Those social relations are at play at Avondvierdaagse: the walks are a chance for children to spend time with not only their parents but also their school friends, outside the classroom. Some even have matching shirts to represent their school: one reads “ Ren voor je leven ”, Dutch for “run for your life”. “It’s fun with friends,” says Robin Astill, 10, who is walking with her mum and a friend.

“I like that it’s something that happens each year and you get exercise out of it,” says Ansel Howard, 13. “It’s something that people have been doing for a long time and that you can do with friends and family and just enjoy.”

Parents also enjoy the Avondvierdaagse. Rebecca Astill, 46, participated when she was younger; as a parent, it’s a chance to explore more of her surroundings. She’s walked with her kids 10 times, first with her son and now with Robin. “You get to see more of your neighbourhood and walk through parts you don’t normally walk through,” she says. The organisers specifically pick out routes to expose participants to new places, and it’s a different route every year. “That’s the art and craft of the routemaster,” says organiser Philip Bueters, who walked as a parent with his own children years ago.

Astill also likes that it’s a social opportunity: a sentiment echoed by many other parents. “At school, you usually see other parents for a couple of minutes,” says Joost de Koning, 44, as his five-year-old, Noa, trails behind us at the beginning of a 5km walk. “But this is bringing the school community together.”

Avondvierdaagse is such a positive event, it’s hard to find any downsides to it. Some have questioned whether the walks are inclusive enough – for people with disabilities, for instance, or those from different cultural backgrounds. In Amsterdam, especially, the events’ participants may not necessarily reflect the diversity of the population, appealing more to higher-income parents in the neighbourhood.

Another problem: while the beauty of the event is its volunteer nature, it can be a huge undertaking. “In recent years, some events have had to stop because of a lack of volunteers,” says Bueters, who joined the neighbourhood organising committee when the last round of volunteers retired. “People are willing to chip in every now and then but not four days in a row.”

Avondvierdaagse is very much a communal effort. Locals provide their time, businesses donate food and flowers, and the KWbN supports the local committees (and provides the coveted medals) all because they know the importance of the event for the kids and the surrounding area.

“It has survived for decades because it brings communities together in a very simple, healthy and screen-free way,” says van Gemert of KWbN. As he explains, there is a specific Dutch word for it: Gezelligheid . The word doesn’t have a perfect English translation – perhaps cosiness or togetherness, but you know it when you see it. “It captures the Dutch spirit of being active outdoors regardless of the weather, combined with a highly organised community effort.”

And while Avondvierdaagse is uniquely Dutch, that doesn’t mean it needs to stay that way. “It’s not an invention of the government to make kids do sports; the formula can be copied,” says Bueters. Aicha Lagha, another volunteer, agrees. “I think it can be anywhere there is a community or you want to build a community,” she says.

And in Westerpark, as I wait at the finish line on the last day, when the sun is finally shining, that sense of community is strong. A few hundred metres from the finish line, volunteers hand out flowers, provided by a local florist. Family members wait patiently at the finish to celebrate the achievement: one grandma arrived 20 minutes early to make sure she could catch her seven-year-old grandson, walking with her daughter. “It’s a very special event,” she tells me, reminiscing about walking during her own childhood – “and that’s a long time ago”, she jokes.

As more and more kids pass the finish line, the area turns into a major celebration: children dance to Snollebollekes’ 2015 hit Links Rechts , jumping from left to right in a line during the chorus in what has become a national tradition of sorts. Some kids climb a statue for a photo opportunity. Parents are celebrating too: proudly taking pictures of their kids with their medals.

As I leave, Joost Klein’s 2024 Eurovision entry, Europapa (another local kids’ favourite), is playing for the third time in 20 minutes, and no one seems to care, nor do they mind that the weather seems to be turning overcast and rainy. They are more focused on the party. There are no English words to fully describe the feeling of pure joy that encapsulates the area. It’s just gezellig .

This article was amended on 16 June 2026 to clarify that Inger Leemans is professor of cultural history at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.