Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Food, Indian food and drink, Snacks, Starter, Main course, Curry, Chicken, Seafood, Shellfish, Vegetables, Rice, Herbs and spices, Nuts and seeds
Title – Chicken tikka, crab curry and podi cauliflower rice: Chetna Makan’s easy Indian recipes | Food | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/chetna-makan
Link – Chicken tikka, crab curry and podi cauliflower rice: Chetna Makan’s easy Indian recipes | Food | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T05:00:03.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/15/five-ingredient-indian-recipes-chicken-tikka-crab-curry-podi-cauliflower-rice-chetna-makan

T hese are my absolute favourite little chicken bites to eat with some coriander chutney: they make a perfect snack, enjoyed hot on their own, but they’re also great with some paratha, plain roti or even a simple pulao . The crab curry, meanwhile, is something I make especially for me, because my family are not big on crab yet (maybe one day?): the spices work perfectly with the intense flavour of the crab meat, and the spinach adds bite and colour – this goes beautifully with plain white rice. And, finally, a must-try rice dish: being a fan of cauliflower, this recipe is really special to me, not least because the combination of the cauliflower, podi masala and peanuts is just so delicious; it’s also a great way to jazz up leftover rice.

Chicken tikka

Prep 10 min Cook 25 min Serves 4

60g gram flour 150g greek yoghurt 50g cheddar , grated 1 tsp salt 1 tsp chilli powder 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs , cut into 2½-5cm chunks Oil , for frying 1 tsp chaat masala (see below)

For the chaat masala 20g cumin seeds 5g peppercorns 10g ground ginger 15g black salt (kala namak) 30g mango powder (amchoor)

For the coriander chutney (optional) 30g fresh coriander , leaves and stalks 10g fresh mint leaves Juice of 1 lemon 2 tbsp natural yoghurt 2 green chillies , stems removed (if you prefer less heat, remove rthe pith and seeds, too) ½ tsp salt ½ tsp sugar To make the chaat masala, set a frying pan on a low heat, then dry-roast the cumin seeds for two to three minutes, until fragrant and starting to change colour. Leave to cool, then tip into a spice grinder. In the same pan, dry-roast the peppercorns for a couple of minutes until fragrant, leave to cool, then add to the spice grinder with the ginger, salt and mango powder, and blitz to a nice, smooth powder. Transfer to a clean, airtight jar, seal and store in a cool, dark place for up to six months.

To make the chutney, if using, in a food processor, blitz the coriander, mint, lemon juice, yoghurt, chillies, salt and sugar until smooth. Don’t be tempted to add any water. Dry-roast the gram flour in a frying pan on a low heat for two to three minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl, add the yoghurt, cheese and a teaspoon each of salt and chilli powder, and mix well. Add the chicken pieces and turn until thoroughly coated. Put a little oil in a large, deep frying pan on a medium heat, then cook the chicken in batches for eight to 10 minutes, turning frequently, until golden and cooked through. (Alternatively, thread the chicken on to skewers and cook on a barbecue.) Once cooked, sprinkle with the chaat masala and serve with coriander chutney, if you like.

Crab curry

Prep 5 min Cook 25 min Serves 2 Oil , for frying 2 onions , peeled and finely chopped 1 tsp sabji masala (see below) 1 tsp garam masala (see below) ½ tsp salt ½ tsp chilli powder 100g spinach , finely chopped 200g white crab meat

For the sabji masala 50g cumin seeds 50g coriander seeds 50g ground turmeric 5g asafoetida 30g mango powder (amchur)

For the garam masala 10g cinnamon stick 5g black cardamom pods 5g green cardamom pods 20g cumin seeds 5g cloves

To make the sabji masala, put a frying pan on a low heat, then dry-roast the cumin and coriander seeds, stirring from time to time, for five minutes. Once they start to change colour and smell aromatic, tip into a mortar or spice grinder and crush to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl, add the turmeric, asafoetida and mango powder, and mix well. Tip into a clean, airtight jar, seal and store in a cool, dark place for up to six months.

To make the garam masala, crush the cinnamon and both types of cardamom (including the pods) in a mortar – this will break them up, so they are easier to roast and grind to a powder. Put a frying pan on a low heat, then dry-roast all the spices for three to four minutes, stirring frequently. Once they start to change colour and turn smoky and aromatic, take off the heat and leave to cool completely. Transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Tip into a clean, airtight jar, seal and store in a cool, dark place for up to six months. Put two tablespoons of oil in a large, deep frying pan on a low heat, add the onions and cook, stirring, for about eight minutes, until golden. Add the sabji masala, garam masala, salt and chilli powder, then add the spinach, crab meat and 200ml boiling water, and cook for four to five minutes, until everything is bubbling hot. Serve with rice.

Podi cauliflower rice

Prep 5 min Cook 35 min Serves 4

200g basmati rice , or 600g cooked/leftover rice) Oil , for frying 10–12 fresh curry leaves 1 small cauliflower , cut into small florets 3 tbsp podi masala (see below) 1 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp salt 1 tsp chilli powder

For the podi masala 200g peanuts , skin-on 100g split yellow peas (chana dal) 1 tbsp cumin seeds 6 garlic cloves , peeled Oil , for frying 6 dried red chillies 1 tsp salt

Cook the rice according to the packet instructions (unless you are using cooked rice).

To make the podi masala, put a frying pan on a low heat, then dry-roast the peanuts for eight to 10 minutes, until aromatic and golden. Transfer to a bowl. In the same pan, dry-roast the chana dal and cumin seeds on a low heat for five to six minutes, until golden. Transfer to a bowl. In the same pan, dry-roast the garlic on a low heat forfive to six minutes, until golden, then set that, too, aside. Finally, put two tablespoons oil in the same pan on a low heat, and roast the chillies for a minute.

Put the roast chillies and garlic in a food processor, add the salt and blend smooth. Add all the remaining toasted spices and blend to a coarse powder. Make sure not to over-blend, to avoid the peanut oils being released. Leave to cool completely, then transfer to a clean jar, seal and store in the fridge for up to two months.

Put two tablespoons of oil in a saucepan on a medium heat, add the curry leaves, the cauliflower florets and two tablespoons of water, cover and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the podi masala, turmeric, salt and chilli powder, then add the cooked rice and mix again. Cook on a high heat for a final two minutes, then serve on its own or with some coconut chutney.

These recipes are edited extracts from 5 Ingredient Indian, by Chetna Makan, published by Hamlyn at £26. To order a copy for £23.40, go to guardianbookshop.com

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Biopics, Period and historical films, Film, Greece, Europe, Culture
Title – Wannabe despot, dashing diplomat or boring back-office swot? Greece’s founding father divides opinion | Biopics | The Guardian
Author – Katy Dartford
Link – Wannabe despot, dashing diplomat or boring back-office swot? Greece’s founding father divides opinion | Biopics | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T04:00:44.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/16/life-of-greece-first-governor-kapodistrias-biopic

O n a hilltop in central Corfu, a marble bust carved in the classical style gazes skyward, lean, fine-featured and composed to the point of austerity. There is no uniform, no decorations, nor symbols of office, just a name cut into the base in Greek capitals: Ι Α ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑΣ. The bust stands alone in the gardens of Koukouritsa, once the family home of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece. The villa is now the only museum in the country dedicated to the man who gave up one of the most powerful diplomatic positions in Europe to return to a country that was barely a country and try to build one.

Without Kapodistrias, there may have been no modern Greek state, and the map of Europe might look very different today. He spent years supplying material and moral support to the Greek revolutionaries; once independence was won from the Ottoman Empire, he negotiated directly with Britain, France and Russia over the new country’s borders and future, then set about building the institutions, its currency, courts, schools and civil service that the modern state still stands on. “He who murdered Kapodistrias murdered his homeland,” Swiss philhellene Jean-Gabriel Eynard wrote on hearing of the statesman’s assassination in 1831 at the hands of rebel leader allies turned enemies.

Yet 250 years after his birth, Kapodistrias remains one of the least well-known politicians of post-Napoleonic Europe outside Greece , and often within it. Even the museum that preserves his memory is struggling “to cover basic operational needs,” as its director recently told Greek newspaper Kathimerini. A new film about his life, opening in UK cinemas this week after a successful run in Greece and screenings across Europe, is attempting to change that.

Born in Corfu in 1776, when the island still belonged to Venice, Kapodistrias entered the Russian diplomatic service in his late 20s and, within six years, rose to become joint foreign minister of the Russian Empire under tsar Alexander I. At the Russian court, he moved in a glittering cultural circle. “He was a political operator of great skill,” says Roderick Beaton, author of Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation. “Foreign politicians and diplomats at the time, particularly of the Vienna Congress, thought highly of him.”

The film, Kapodistrias, written and directed by Yannis Smaragdis, makes sure to show that while its protagonist was shaped by Russia, he was not subservient to it. In one scene, Kapodistrias urges the tsar towards war with the Ottomans, calculating that a Russian front would draw Ottoman forces away from Greece.

On his promotion to foreign minister, Kapodistrias warns the tsar that if it ever came to a choice between Russia and Greece, he would choose Greece. Not long after the revolution, Kapodistrias resigned from St Petersburg and spent years working the diplomatic circuits of Europe on behalf of his homeland. He later reflects on what kept him alive during his years in Russia: the knowledge that a grave was waiting for him in Corfu, “a grave”, he says, he “never once thought to trade for the largest palace in the world”.

Yet when the first emissary from the independence movement came to him, Kapodistrias is said to have turned them away. Things changed when he was elected Greece’s first head of state in 1827: he arrived the following year to a country with no currency, no functioning courts, no schools, and no army answerable to any single authority.

Kapodistrias is said to have worked from five in the morning until late at night, and the film portrays him as constantly working, attending mass and revered by those around him. He famously insisted: “First we must make Hellenes, and then make Hellas,” recognising that building a nation required first building its people. He founded schools, minted Greece’s first currency, the Phoenix, organised the judiciary, and introduced the potato to stave off famine.

There are limits to how modern a figure Kapodistrias can be made to seem, however. Smaragdis’s film strains to build a colourful character out of his relationship with Greek aristocrat Roxandra Sturdza, which may have been less romantic in real life, and his association with bohemian types like the writer Alexander Pushkin, on whose behalf Kapodistrias intervened when the tsar exiled him over a politically offensive poem.

“The fact that he was a friend of Pushkin means he must have been an interesting person rather than a boring back-office swot,” says Jonathon Bond, a British researcher who has spent years studying Kapodistrias.

There’s little the film can do about Kapodistrias’s politics, which historians agree leaned towards the sort of autocracy that he had been used to in Russia. Some accused him of being a tyrant motivated by selfish ambition; others call him an enlightened despot, a description Beaton finds not far from the mark.

“The Greeks wanted colourful heroes after the war of independence, and he doesn’t provide that,” Bond says. “And if you’re a monarchist, he’s a failed republican.” He didn’t raise a sword in the war of independence, and worse still, he tried to cramp the style of the colourful warlords who had. “He was a sort of backroom diplomat of a type they didn’t really recognise.”

This tension is shown vividly in the film; there is no warmth between the austere statesman in his black European coat and the colourful, gun-wielding men around him.

Addressing the warring local leaders directly, Kapodistrias tells them Greece is at war with the Ottomans, and they must contribute. “We have to give?” one questions. “Weren’t the Ottomans your enemies?” Kapodistrias asks. “You’re an enemy too,” comes the answer. “Beware”.

Lead actor Antonis Myriagos describes his approach to the role as “the chronicle of a death foretold”. When he is warned of an attempt on his life, he goes anyway. As he walks to the church of St Spyridon in Nafplio, where the murder takes place, he is followed by what appears to be a chorus of mourning women, in the tradition of a Greek tragedy.

That Kapodistrias remains largely forgotten outside Greece can be explained “only very partly” by his assassination, says Beaton. More likely is that he was “highly controversial and divisive in his lifetime, and, more remarkably, still is.” Beaton adds: “In more recent times he has been adopted as a hero by the political right, and condemned as a dictator by the left.”

In Greece, where the film opened on Christmas Day, critics and the public were sharply divided. Professional reviewers were largely withering; audiences embraced it, while it has now been confirmed as the fifth highest-grossing Greek film of all time. The gap between the two verdicts is itself a Kapodistrias story; a figure who still, nearly two centuries on, provokes argument about what Greece is and what it should have been. “His is a fascinating story,” says Beaton, “and deserves to be much better known.”

Kapodistrias is in UK cinemas now

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Le Mans 24 Hours, Motor sport, Sport, McLaren, World Endurance Championship
Title – Toyota reclaim crown to reignite Le Mans 24 Hours love affair with race in rude health | Le Mans 24 Hours | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gilesrichards
Link – Toyota reclaim crown to reignite Le Mans 24 Hours love affair with race in rude health | Le Mans 24 Hours | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T04:00:04.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/15/toyota-le-mans-24-hours-mike-conway-kamui-kobayashi-nyck-de-vries-motor-sport

A s the fans walked away understandably a little wearily from the 94th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours , they had surely earned a sit down in a shady spot and a cold drink or two. Tired but happy, then, after a vingt-quatre that demonstrated the event and the series of which it is part are in rude health.

After the twice-round-the-clock challenge in baking sunshine and through the night with nary a spot of rain, it was the No 7 Toyota TR010 of Britain’s Mike Conway, Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi and the Dutch driver Nyck de Vries who took the flag after 381 laps, just 11 seconds up the road from the chasing BMW. It was a first victory for De Vries and a second for Conway and Kobayashi. There were tears from the Japanese driver in the cockpit as he brought the Toyota home. “I need a beer,” he told the team. He had earned it.

The race had not been the most dramatic but it had been close, tense and enormously hard-fought. Such is the engineering reliability and performance of the current cars it is a relentless flat-out sprint. The tortoise is no longer in this fight and the hares cannot afford to have so much as a whisker out of place. After 20 hours of running the top three were but seven seconds apart and their relentless chase was pursued to the flag.

For Toyota this was further success to go alongside their five consecutive victories between 2018 and 2022 at the meeting every team wants to win more than any other. Le Mans is special and it commands a devotion among competitors and fans alike.

At the Circuit de la Sarthe this was evident more so than ever: 350,105 were in attendance this year, of which it is estimated as many as 120,000 were from the UK. The 8.47-mile track and its environs were heaving. Some may mourn that it is a far more corporate and slick affair than it used to be but, like Formula One, Le Mans is adapting to the times and a new, younger audience and it is proving more popular, year in, year out. Not that this is something that should be taken as a given, as other motorsport series are more than aware.

For drivers too it remains the unmissable meeting, not least because it is so fiercely competitive across every class. This year’s GT3 category was won, after another ding-dong battle, by the TF Sport Corvette of Britain’s Jonny Edgar, the Dutch driver Nicky Catsburg and their amateur driver, Ben Keating from the US.

Keating declared it “the most competitive race I have ever seen” having shown no little commitment to taking part. Just nine weeks ago he had undergone surgery to deal with an elbow injury he suffered in a bike accident.

“The doctor said: ‘There’s no way you’ll be ready.’ On Monday [before the race], he said: ‘Ah, you’re not going to hurt it. You can race,’” Keating revealed. He admitted it did not feel comfortable and the stitches were still visible on his elbow. Yet race on he did and win, such is the attraction of the 24. Such stories are part of why it has such a rich history and why it is held in such high regard by fans.

The race is part of the World Endurance Championship and both now boast a similarly enthusiastic appeal to manufacturers. For the first time in a decade, next year’s WEC series will consist of nine rounds including a long-awaited return to Silverstone in April.

That will likely be of even greater appeal given that in 2027 McLaren will be competing in the top – Hypercar – class of sportscar racing for the first time since 1998, looking to add to the team’s only Le Mans win, with the McLaren F1 GTR in 1995. Indeed, McLaren’s CEO, Zak Brown, an avid fan of sportscar racing, had opted to attend Le Mans this year rather than take his usual place on the pit wall at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP .

He was wearing the McLaren Hypercar team top and was greeted with enormous enthusiasm on the grid, signing the hats of a swathe of marshals with something of the panache of a rock star. McLaren’s popularity with the new younger motorsport audience is likely to swell further the popularity of Le Mans and the WEC.

Ford too will join the Hypercar ranks in 2027, in an effort to win their first outright victory at the race since the glory days of the GT40 with which they last won the race in 1969 and perhaps reignite their rivalry with Ferrari that defined Le Mans in the 1960s.

Those three teams will join a lineup in the top class that will also include Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Peugeot, Toyota and Genesis (Hyundai’s luxury car brand, who made a good showing on their debut this year), a grid that might have been considered fanciful as little as a decade ago. With the sun setting in La Sarthe on another glorious year, for many Le Mans 2027 cannot come soon enough.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, Lionel Messi, Argentina, World Cup, Inter Miami, MLS, Football, Sport
Title – In twilight of Messi’s career, Americans are gifted one last chance to witness his international magic | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/pablo-iglesias-maurer
Link – In twilight of Messi’s career, Americans are gifted one last chance to witness his international magic | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T17:00:30.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/lionel-messi-career-us-mls-americans-argentina-world-cup

I t’s a moment more iconic than any other in the 30-year history of Major League Soccer. Lionel Messi , then 36, standing over a free kick 30 yards from goal, days after completing a shock move to the United States. On that night in the summer of 2023, deep into the dying moments of his US debut, Inter Miami were in need of a miracle.

With one brilliant stroke of his left foot, Messi delivered. His game-winning free kick, placed just out of reach of the opposing goalkeeper, was a work of art. It rolled back the years, reminiscent of the brilliance that had by then already solidified his stature as the greatest player in the history of the sport. Those in attendance who weren’t screaming were simply wide-eyed and slack jawed, in disbelief at what they’d seen.

To many who were there that night, Messi’s mere presence in Major League Soccer was more surreal than what they’d just witnessed. The Argentina legend was of course a staple in the US by 2023 but he’d largely been kept at arm’s length. He was readily available on television, his genius almost always narrated by Ray Hudson’s hyperbolic prose, and Americans would occasionally visit with Messi in person as well, almost always in the form of a meaningless summer friendly every year or two.

Now in the twilight of his career, Messi had shirked other leagues and offers and had come to the US to retire. What has followed has been a complicated yet unquestionably successful two-and-a-half years, with Miami winning their first league championship and solidifying themselves as the standard-bearers in MLS .

A funny thing also happened along the way.

When Messi joined up with Miami, he was months removed from his crowning achievement – winning the 2022 World Cup – and he’d suggested repeatedly that the tournament would be his final one. Up until that point, the only true, meaningful moment of Messi’s international career Americans had witnessed in person had been his brief retirement from the national team after the 2016 Copa América Centenario, when a tearful Messi broke down to the media after losing the final.

Messi, of course, did return to the Albiceleste and offered Americans another chance to watch his magic on the international stage during the 2024 Copa América, which he won. Despite some frustrations, he also enjoyed his club football at Miami and his everyday life in the US tremendously. Slowly, it began to feel more and more possible he’d feature in his sixth World Cup this summer, and American fans began to realize they’d get an entirely unexpected chance to watch the diminutive forward’s international curtain call in person.

Messi follows in the footsteps of Pelé, who came to the US in the mid-70s, and David Beckham, who did so three decades later. Unlike those two, Messi only ever came here to play football, not to proselytize the game to the American masses. He’s expanded his commercial footprint here, certainly, but Messi never needed to conquer American club soccer to do so. His face and name alone would have sufficed. His presence here at times feels more like a gift than anything else.

Argentina are favored by few to repeat as champions this year, often thrown behind Spain, France and even England, at times, as contenders. He is approaching Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goals record of 16 (Messi has 13) and could log his 200th international cap during the tournament. The appeal of watching Messi win another World Cup feels undeniable. It has little to do with his legacy. Any suggestion that Messi needs to win another title to solidify that feels genuinely farcical.

He does feel well equipped to perform this summer, in no small part because his time in MLS has already exposed him to many of the stadiums he’ll play in and, more importantly, because he’s already grown accustomed to the absurdities of traveling thousands of miles between matches, as is frequently the case in the American top flight. He has been at ease in the US, telling reporters last week he is “savoring every moment” of his swan song with Argentina as the end approaches.

The US is savoring every moment of Messi’s North American curtain call as well.

Messi, put simply, is in extra time at this point, and winning another championship would only solidify his legend. Entirely unburdened, the Argentinian is playing his final World Cup free from the expectations that come with being a precocious wunderkind , in competition for the best player in the world, or a legend of the game looking for one last piece to balance his trophy cabinet. That sort of freedom can liberate and empower a player, but players of Messi’s ilk often need those expectations to continue to perform.

How Messi responds this summer remains to be seen, but we will get our first glimpse at him on Tuesday evening in Kansas City, as his US denouement continues.

Keyword – Games
Trefwoorden – Games, Culture, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation, Nintendo, Steam
Title – Summer Game Fest highlights: 34 new video games to look out for, from Alien Isolation to Crazy Taxi | Games | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/keza-macdonald
Link – Summer Game Fest highlights: 34 new video games to look out for, from Alien Isolation to Crazy Taxi | Games | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-08T16:46:48.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jun/08/summer-game-fest-highlights-new-video-games-resident-evil-silent-hill

Alien: Isolation 2 (Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

The sequel to a revered 2014 horror game from British developer Creative Assembly: this time you must evade the xenomorph on the surface of a storm-ravaged colony world.

Bad Magpie (2027) (PC, Xbox)

A little magpie with a broken wing and a lost flock makes its way alone, enthralled by a fallen piece of star.

Resident Evil Veronica (2027) (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

The latest of Capcom’s zombie games to be raised from the dead is 2000’s Code: Veronica, presented here in first-person rather than the original’s third-person view. Every RE remake so far has been a banger, so expectations are high.

Mighty Cuphead Adventure (Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

An extremely 1980s platform shooter that looks straight off the NES/Mega Drive, from the makers of the notoriously difficult 1920s-animation tribute Cuphead. (Fans of that game will also be delighted to know that development has finally begun on another new Cuphead game, and that the announcement was made by a Cuphead puppet in a business suit.)

Apple Crumble (PC)

It’s your grandma’s birthday and your family is here – to murder her. This Knives Out inspired British locked-room mystery comes from the makers of Duck Detective.

God of War: Laufey (PlayStation)

The first blockbuster action game in which we play an extremely angry mother: Kratos’ wife, Laufey, trapped in the afterlife with a whole pantheon of other gods and demigods. Co-starring a talking sword and a gelatinous cube.

Magicians: The Devil’s Deal (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

A sort of extended violent vaudeville production in which a magician has to escape hell, mocked at every turn by a very dapper Satan and his minions. Notes of Bioshock and Dishonored.

Gen Atlas (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

The first game in a decade from Fumito Ueda, designer of landmark PlayStation games Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian. It has those games’ trademark sense of scale, as you pilot gigantic robots from within their detachable heads. I’m expecting Pacific Rim but with delicate emotional nuance.

Crossfire (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

A military sci-fi narrative action game in the Last of Us mode, from developer That’s No Moon, in which two opposing operators must form an alliance to survive.

Control Resonant (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

In this paranormal action game, you are an operative from the Federal Bureau of Control, a shady US government agency tasked with keeping supernatural threats imprisoned in a brutalist building in Manhattan. Except everything from the parallel realms that they were trying to contain is now loose, and you’ve got to deal with it.

Guild Wars 3 (2027) (PC, PlayStation)

It’s high time someone tried to evolve the massively multiplayer online role-playing game in which World of Warcraft still has a near monopoly. The glimmering high-fantasy setting of Guild Wars makes a pleasing contrast to the ravaged worlds of many online games.

Virtua Fighter Crossroads (PC, Xbox)

From Yakuza/Like a Dragon developers RGG Studio, this resuscitated Sega series sees you running from the Chinese mafia – half fighting game, half story adventure, with shades of Shenmue (which itself started out as a Virtua Fighter game).

1666 Amsterdam (PC)

French designer/director Patrice Désilets presents this impossible-to-describe game about witches set in early modern Europe, but these robed women are battling demons rather than consorting with them.

Final Fantasy VII Revelation (2027) (Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

The long-awaited final part of Final Fantasy VII Remake, in which Cloud and his painstakingly assembled crew of allies finally face off against Sephiroth. The conclusion of a six-year project to breathe new life into a seminal role-playing game.

Into the Wind (PC)

Seemingly inspired by both Kiki’s Delivery Service and Pixar’s Luca, in this game you inherit a family delivery service and must fly/zoom around an island community on a scooter or in a plane to get the goods to their destination.

Fable (2027) (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

Man, this fantasy game has had quite the glow-up. It appears to have ditched the fairytale vibe and fart humour of the classic games for a more ambitious (but no less irreverent) tone.

Gears of War: E-Day (PC, Xbox)

Now back to being an Xbox exclusive, this long-awaited prequel covers the day when subterranean aliens arise to wipe out humanity.

Clutch (PC, PlayStation)

It’s been so long since we had a driving game with a story! This is a new cinematic open world driving game, set in Monaco and the French Riviera, a story about a young driver in a seemingly extremely dangerous racing competition run for the entertainment of the super-rich. The opulence of the surroundings matches the cars. Featuring Peter Serafinowicz and Little Simz.

Until Dawn 2 (PlayStation)

A bunch of young idiots are on a very haunted tropical island making a documentary about horrible things that happened there. Unsurprisingly this does not end well: your choices determine who lives and who dies.

The Lost Wild (PC, PlayStation)

The dinosaur survival game of every young kid’s nightmares – it looks like you’ll spend a lot of time avoiding extraordinary beasts while cowering underneath things that provide very little protection from their jaws.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (2027) (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

A remake of the very first Lara Croft adventure, starring Alix Wilton Regan as the next iteration of the storied action-hero. A classic globe-trotting adventure film of a game.

Threads of Time (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

I was very charmed by this stunning-looking indie tribute to Chrono Trigger and the other Japanese RPGs of the 90s, which its developers obviously revere. Its band of heroes ravel through the eras of human history, from prehistory to the far future.

Red Kiss (PC)

Vampires are running amok in 1989 Berlin – and you are one of them, running a house of sexy undead misfits. A counterculture-inspired underground/underworld game with a soundtrack to match.

Exodus (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

From some of the key people behind the sci-fi opera Mass Effect comes a new space-game that looks… well, a lot like Mass Effect. You’re a traveller venturing across worlds abandoned by an ancient race of aliens, looking for tech that can save your homeworld. It’s difficult to tell at this stage whether it will be as colourfully written as its inspiration, but one of the characters was a sentient octopus and another was an elephant, so there’s hope on that front.

Silent Hill: Townfall (PC, PlayStation)

Possibly the most promising of all the many, many horror games shown at the summer showcases, this psychological horror game is set on a Scottish island and looks profoundly (and interestingly) horrible.

The Wolf Among Us (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

After many, many years of development hell, this comic-book adaptation returns from a re-formed Telltale Games .

Crazy Taxi: World Tour (2027) (Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

Sega’s colourfully insane driving game returns after a long, long hiatus – complete with its original theme track from the Offspring. It’s truly 1999 again.

Wardogs (PC)

A 100-player battlefield game for those who appreciate online shooters the old way – ie, not an extraction shooter or a battle royale, but a tactical war game. Old school Battlefield vibes.

The Lift: Supernatural Handyman Simulator (2027) (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

Turn screws, assemble modules, rebuild furniture, clean things and find out what on earth went on in a vaguely post-communist-looking facility that it’s your job to renovate.

Clockwork Revolution (2027) (PC, Xbox)

InXile’s new game looks really fun, like Peaky Blinders except steampunk – another game in the Dishonored tradition. Time-travelling rogues flit back and forth in time to mess with the balance of power in their corrupt city.

Persona 6 (PC, PlayStation, Xbox)

There was just the merest glimpse of this upcoming entry in Atlus’s impeccably stylish series of role-playing games, in which teenagers harness manifestations of their psyches to battle (usually adult-controlled) evil. But the previous games’ pedigree is enough to inspire excitement.

There Are No Ghosts at the Grand (PC, Xbox)

Restore a crumbling old grand hotel in a dilapidated British town, befriending the local hapless policeman and meeting all the local residents. Also: there are giant shadow-spiders to shoot, and everything gets very weird after dark.

Vivarium (2027) (PC, Xbox)

A game about summertime memories that looks like a 1970s children’s manga, set in a rural community where humans intermingle with fantastical creatures. The Ghibli comparisons are inevitable, but appreciators of niche Japanese PlayStation games will also notice notes of Boku no Natsuyasumi.

Penguin Colony (PC, Nintendo)

Horror from a new perspective. This adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s novellas At the Mountains of Madness and A Shadow Out of Time has you observing through the eyes of a penguin, as humans come to the Antarctic in search of a cosmically powerful entity.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, Bukayo Saka, England, Football, Sport
Title – Saka says he is gambling on fitness but ‘ready to go’ for England’s date with Croatia | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ed-aarons
Link – Saka says he is gambling on fitness but ‘ready to go’ for England’s date with Croatia | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T20:57:55.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/bukayo-saka-fitness-gamble-england-world-cup

Bukayo Saka has admitted he is continuing to gamble on his fitness to play for England at the World Cup finals but said he “is ready to go” despite a nagging achilles injury.

The Arsenal forward came off the bench in England’s last warm‑up game against Costa Rica but the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, warned that Saka’s fitness is being monitored carefully. The 24‑year‑old player is believed to have picked up the injury during the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in March and missed Arsenal’s next seven matches as a result. Since then, he has completed 90 minutes only once in five appearances and was substituted before the end of normal time in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Asked whether he agreed with Tuchel’s suggestion that he was not ready to play an entire match, Saka said: “I don’t want to say anything that goes against the manager. But what I would say between Mikel [Arteta] and Arsenal’s medical team and England’s medical team, since March they have managed me amazingly and helped me get back on the pitch and do what I can for the team. I am feeling better than I have felt for the last few months. I am ready to go.”

Saka acknowledged, though, that he has been playing through the pain barrier. “As players it’s the biggest gamble, especially if you’re not feeling your sharpest. You have the choice whether you don’t play or you put yourself out there knowing people are going to judge you the same.

“At the end of the day people don’t really care how you’re feeling, they expect you to deliver, they expect you to perform. I’m happy to take the gamble. It paid off, I’d say. I’m going to continue doing that. But I am feeling a lot better than I did in March and I’m ready to go.”

Noni Madueke could start in place of Saka on the right side of England’s attack if Tuchel decides not to risk Saka against Croatia on Wednesday in Dallas. The two of them, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze were all given extra time off after Arsenal’s Champions League commitments and Saka believes that winning the club’s first Premier League title for 22 years has given them “more confidence and freedom”. He said: “Knowing what it takes to win is important, and we have that feeling now. It gives you more belief.”

John Stones is expected to start his 25th tournament game in a row despite being used sparingly by City this season. The 32-year-old has revealed previously that he even considered retiring at the end of last season but is now determined to play his part for England.

“City didn’t want to keep me any more and wanted me to find a new challenge,” he told ITV.

“I said to myself: ‘OK, I could do that and find somewhere.’ Or what did I do as a kid when you played down for two years, wasn’t big enough, played out of position, what did you do? I fought and that’s what I did and I have always reflected on that. I think I feel as good as I’ve ever been before a tournament.”

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Prem Rugby, Sport, Rugby union
Title – Fast-paced, risk-taking Prem is a blueprint for England but everyone needs to buy in | Prem Rugby | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/robertkitson
Link – Fast-paced, risk-taking Prem is a blueprint for England but everyone needs to buy in | Prem Rugby | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T09:22:38.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/16/fast-paced-risk-taking-prem-rugby-is-blueprint-for-england-the-breakdown

F or anyone who hasn’t yet watched them, the weekend’s two English Prem semi-finals were brilliant adverts for the sport. The game between Northampton and Leicester fizzed with speed and quality passing. The following day’s encounter between Bath and Exeter involved one of the best fightbacks and tautest finishes imaginable.

The upshot is a Northampton v Exeter final this Saturday, a showpiece with the potential to be just as absorbing. Henry Pollock v Greg Fisilau, Tommy Freeman v Henry Slade, Fin Smith v Harvey Skinner … not to mention two intelligent English coaching teams led, respectively, by Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty, and Rob Baxter and Dave Walder. If the Rugby Football Union is pondering future homegrown alternatives to Steve Borthwick there are some increasingly strong candidates.

But hang on a second. The future has to start now. There is a World Cup next year at which Borthwick’s England have to show the very best of themselves. There is some magnificent young talent in English rugby – it would be utterly bonkers not to trust it.

Take Northampton’s sixth try, an absolute beauty in which Tom Pearson and Fraser Dingwall exchanged passes before George Furbank reappeared on the inside to give a scoring pass to his equally alert scrum-half Archie McParland. Stick them in Toulouse jerseys and everyone would be gushing about French flair, casually excellent support play and total rugby.

Cue the naysayers who argue that transferring this kind of enterprise to the international stage is impractical. Defences are better, the margins tighter, the stakes higher. Which is true to a certain degree. The Test arena is a step up from the club game and World Cups, in particular, are rarely won by the prettiest rugby.

But that kind of traditional thinking ignores present-day trends. Top-level rugby is fast becoming a different sport. As Bath found on Saturday teams who shut up shop are increasingly vulnerable. At 26-10 ahead entering the second half there should only have been one winner. Instead Bath tightened up, their energy levels drained down the plughole and they stopped playing.

It was reminiscent in some ways of how England plodded through the middle chunk of the Six Nations. Structured, controlled, clunky … it all appeared distinctly outdated compared to the approach of other more enterprising teams. “Rugby in general is going that way and we probably realised that a little bit too late,” said Jamie George, talking to his former England teammates Ben Youngs and Dan Cole on their Love of Rugby podcast.

How good to hear someone in the England camp publicly acknowledging the obvious. And the penny, in fairness, did eventually drop in the form of a sharply improved performance against France in Paris . The question is whether Borthwick’s England can now reproduce that free-wheeling rugby when the weight of expectation is heavier or the opposition forwards are pawing the turf, starting in Johannesburg against the world champion Springboks on 4 July?

This may be the area in which last weekend’s semi-finals can best inform the Borthwick project. Fin Smith, the Saints and England fly-half, was particularly insightful on Friday night regarding Northampton’s determination not to be hampered by nerves. “You can still go and play a certain style of rugby if you’re brave enough,” said Smith. “Just because it’s a final doesn’t mean you have to be cagey.”

For that to become possible, though, everyone has to buy in. There will inevitably be the odd mistake; not every offload will stick. There are loads of people, too, who bang on about the DNA of English rugby being based around forward dominance and/or playing the percentages at the exclusion of everything else. OK, but what if the rest of the sport has moved on?

Better, surely, to try to replicate the can-do mindset of their top clubs. Imagine an England starting pack this summer containing George Martin, Alex Coles, Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl and Pollock, who had perhaps the most impressive game of his still-fledgling career against Tigers. Start Smith, Freeman and Furbank against the Boks as well.

Yes, it clearly matters who starts in the front row, with this Friday’s preparatory game against a French XV in Vannes sure to be instructive on that front.

Either way the more crucial it becomes that Borthwick selects proactively at No 9. To win the World Cup a go-faster England require a running nine – or, ideally, two of them – with genuine vision. There are better box-kickers than McParland but his club relationship with Pollock and Smith is a plus. To get ahead of the curve between now and the World Cup, England will need to take a few calculated risks.

This is an extract from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To subscribe just visit this page and follow the instructions.

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – US-Israel war on Iran, Iran, Iran nuclear deal, World news, US news, Strait of Hormuz, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Middle East and north Africa, Iran nuclear programme
Title – Trump hails Iran deal that fixes nothing except a problem his war caused | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/julianborger
Link – Trump hails Iran deal that fixes nothing except a problem his war caused | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T18:33:49.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/15/analysis-us-iran-peace-deal-nuclear-talks-resume

If we get to a Friday signing ceremony without this uncertain new US-Iran deal being derailed by any of its inherent ambiguities, then nuclear talks can finally restart in the same place – and at almost exactly the same point they were before this conflict started.

The world will have irrevocably been changed in other ways. There is no going back for the 120 Iranian children in Minab killed in their primary school in the war’s first hours, nor for their bereaved parents, or any of the thousands in Iran, Lebanon and around the region whose lives were erased or blighted by a feckless war of choice.

Iran itself has been changed as a state and society in ways which will only become clear in the coming months and years, but for the time being it is evident the military has been strengthened at the expense of secular civilian governance. Freedom and basic rights for Iranians are as elusive as they were before the conflict, maybe more so .

Tehran has been bolstered by its proven capacity to close the strait of Hormuz and squeeze the lifeblood of the global economy. Conversely, the power and credibility of the US has been undermined decisively in front of the entire world.

Donald Trump has so far achieved none of the stated regime change and nuclear disarmament goals he laid out when the war was launched with Israel on 28 February. The achievement he advertised overnight – “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” – was a matter of claiming credit for fixing a problem his war had caused.

Even that is not in the bag yet. It is still a long way to Friday and a planned signing ceremony in Geneva, in view of all the fudges that have been packed into this compromise deal . It is not clear, for example, if Iran will continue to charge tolls (or “service fees”) for the use of the strait, nor whether $24bn (£18bn) of Iran’s frozen assets will be released and paid to Tehran before or during the intended nuclear talks in Geneva. The two sides have very different spins on what was agreed under those headings in the past few days.

Ultimately, the ships will only start their engines and the oil begin to flow through the strait of Hormuz when the shipping companies and insurance companies judge it to be safe – and that may be some days or weeks off.

At the same time, Iran and the Pakistani brokers are adamant that the deal should stop Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have already made clear they do not intend Israel to be bound by the agreement .

A deal that freezes the Middle East battlefield as it stands now is a political disaster for Netanyahu , who promised Israelis he would rid them of their worst enemies: Iran’s regime with its nuclear programme, Hezbollah and Hamas. They are all still standing while Israel’s relationship with the US, its ultimate security guarantee, has taken a battering.

Netanyahu’s greatest success was finding a US president he could persuade to go to war with Iran with him, but that glimmering triumph has turned to ashes in his hands. Trump is now openly dismissing the Israeli prime minister as a “difficult guy”, and the relationship is unlikely to get any easier in the near future, as Netanyahu seeks to demonstrate his independence of action to sceptical voters before elections due by October.

Trump will try to constrain Israel as much as possible – certainly to get to Friday’s signing, and through to the end of the US-hosted World Cup extravaganza – but Netanyahu has his own security and political imperatives. The divergence will sour the partnership still further, at a time when a majority of Americans no longer treat the relationship as sacrosanct.

A continuing Lebanese conflict will not be the only centrifugal force tearing at the limbs of this fragile agreement. There will be internal US and Iranian politics too , which could tempt each side to renege.

Most importantly, there will be the nuclear issue – the supposed casus belli itself, left essentially unmoved by the war. Starting from Friday, US and Iranian negotiators are due to sit down to 60 days of talks in Geneva to resolve the fundamental dispute over how much of a nuclear programme Iran should be allowed to have.

At the centre of the negotiations will be Iran’s right to enrich uranium, how long a moratorium on enrichment it should observe, and what should be done with its stockpile of uranium which has already been enriched to a level approaching weapons grade.

If that all sounds familiar, it is because it is exactly what was on the table in Geneva on 26 February, the last day of negotiations before Trump and Netanyahu went to war two days later. By all accounts, including those of UK government observers , those talks had been making progress at the time they were abruptly curtailed and the bombs started to drop.

The hope now is that some of that forward momentum can be restored, but the postwar Iranian delegation is likely to be an even tougher nut to crack. The regime has shown its durability and has a proven weapon in its pocket: the Hormuz option.

The Iranians will arrive knowing that it was Trump who blinked first to get this interim deal over the line. It seems to include no detailed parameters for future nuclear negotiations, as the Americans had wished, and Israeli reporting confirms arrangement for Tehran to get some of its frozen assets delivered before the Geneva nuclear talks, as Iran had demanded.

If Trump and Netanyahu had set out to demonstrate the futility of war, they could not have staged it better.

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – South Korea, Starbucks, Asia Pacific
Title – Starbucks Korea to temporarily shut all stores for history lesson after bungled coffee promotion | South Korea | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/raphael-rashid
Link – Starbucks Korea to temporarily shut all stores for history lesson after bungled coffee promotion | South Korea | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T03:07:36.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/16/starbucks-korea-shut-all-stores-tank-day-promotion

Starbucks Korea will simultaneously close all its stores for a mandatory history lesson, after a disastrous promotion that evoked memories of a pro-democracy massacre sparked public and political backlash .

More than 2,000 stores will temporarily close at 3pm on 22 June, the company said, so staff can watch recorded lectures on modern Korean history and engage in “social sensitivity” training. The half-day closures will cost Starbucks an estimated 2.1bn won ($1.4m) in lost sales, according to data firm IGAWorks.

The measures follow a public relations crisis triggered when Starbucks Korea ran a discount promotion for its “Tank” tumbler series on 18 May, the anniversary of a 1980 massacre in Gwangju . The promotion led to store boycotts, customers smashing Starbucks mugs and tumblers and government ministries cutting ties with the chain.

Chung Yong-jin, the billionaire chair of Shinsegae Group, which operates Starbucks Korea under licence from its US parent company, will take the same training on 24 June alongside other executives.

The curriculum covers major events in contemporary Korean history and how companies should account for historical and social sensitivities in their marketing decisions.

Shinsegae said the shutdown was intended to demonstrate the seriousness with which it viewed the incident and to prevent a repeat of similar controversies. The only exclusion to the shuttering will be a handful of outlets at airports, a company spokesperson said.

Payment volumes, which plunged 26% in the week after the controversy, have shown signs of partial recovery, rising 12.8% in the first week of June, according to market data, but they remain about 25% below pre-controversy levels.

The Gwangju massacre is a painful memory for many. Over 10 violent days, paratroopers crushed pro-democracy protests against military strongman Chun Doo-hwan . Victims’ groups say hundreds were killed.

Starbucks branded the date of its promotion “Tank Day”. It also featured the slogan “thwack on the desk”, evoking a notorious police explanation for the 1987 torture death of student activist Park Jong-chul. Authorities falsely claimed he had died after an officer “hit the desk with a thwack” during questioning.

Marketers chose the “thwack” slogan after consulting an AI tool for suggestions, Shinsegae Group said. It turned out some managers who approved the campaign never opened the email attachments showing the marketing material.

The company pulled the campaign within hours, but the fallout was swift and the chief executive was sacked the same day.

Starbucks said it was “deeply sorry for an unacceptable marketing incident” and that it “should never have happened”. Chung issued a written apology, and also apologised in a televised press conference where he bowed three times.

Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters sent a written apology directly to the May 18 Foundation, one of the main bodies representing Gwangju victims, after the foundation wrote to the company demanding a formal response.

An internal investigation found no evidence of deliberate intent, though a police investigation is ongoing. Chung and the former chief executive have been registered as criminal suspects by Seoul police.

Attitudes towards the Gwangju Uprising remain one of the deepest fault lines in South Korean society.

Far-right groups have kept alive a decades-old, discredited state narrative that the Gwangju protesters were North Korean sympathisers, a claim the supreme court ruled false and defamatory earlier this year.

Keyword – Business
Trefwoorden – Interest rates, Economics, Japan, Asia Pacific, World news, Business
Title – Bank of Japan raises interest rates to 31-year high … of 1% | Interest rates | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/graemewearden
Link – Bank of Japan raises interest rates to 31-year high … of 1% | Interest rates | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T10:41:08.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/16/bank-of-japan-raises-interest-rates-iran-war-inflation-us-fed-bank-of-england

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war.

Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75% , and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”.

The BoJ decided to tighten monetary policy despite a fall in the oil price in the past few days as Washington and Tehran agreed the basic structure of a peace deal , and also despite Japan’s annual core inflation having fallen to a four-year low of 1.4% ​in April.

The central bank’s governor, Shinichi Uchida, told a press conference in Tokyo that the signing of a memorandum by the US and Iran to end the Middle East conflict was “a welcome move”. He said there was uncertainty about how quickly oil supplies would rise.

“Compared with the previous meeting, the risk of a sharp deterioration in the economy has diminished. On the other hand, price rises are broadening, and there is a risk that underlying inflation may deviate from our target,” Uchida said. “With underlying inflation approaching 2%, it’s important to ensure we achieve our target stably.”

The BoJ also said the risk of Japan’s economy deteriorating sharply from the Middle East conflict had diminished. It cited the government’s relief package to help households facing high fuel costs.

Tuesday’s rate rise has lifted Japan’s borrowing costs to their highest since 1995, when the BoJ was midway through lowering interest rates after a bubble in property and asset prices burst .

Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: “The move – increasing the short-term policy rate to 1% from 0.75% – was widely expected, but it’s a step-change in monetary policy for Japan, given it pushes borrowing costs to levels not seen since 1995. There was some relief that the move wasn’t more hawkish, with even a 50-basis-point hike having been mooted.”

In 1973, the BoJ raised rates as high as 9% as it tried to combat inflationary pressures from the Opec oil embargo. But by 2016 the BoJ was implementing a negative interest rate policy as it tried to drag Japan out of a long deflationary slump that followed the end of its asset boom in the late 1980s.

Tokyo’s stock market closed at a new record high after the Nikkei share index hit 70,000 points for the first time during Tuesday’s session. The Nikkei has soared by a third so far this year.

The BoJ is the second G7 bank to raise borrowing costs since the Iran war began. Last week the European Central Bank lifted its main interest rates. The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at their monetary policy meetings this week.