Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – US news, US politics, Donald Trump, Washington DC
Title – Algae thwarts Trump’s $14.2m attempt to turn reflecting pool ‘American flag blue’ | US news | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/callum-jones
Link – Algae thwarts Trump’s $14.2m attempt to turn reflecting pool ‘American flag blue’ | US news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T12:35:58.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/16/algae-trump-lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool

Donald Trump ’s $14.2m bid to turn the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool from what the US president described as a “filthy” and “dirty” site into a “beautiful” monument has encountered a hitch.

The water is green again.

Days after the renovation was finished, algae has frustrated Trump’s attempt to transform the shade of the pool to “American flag blue” in time for the country’s 250th birthday.

The reflecting pool – one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic attractions, and the scene of Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I have a dream” speech – has been one element of Trump’s efforts to recondition the country’s capital during his second presidency.

A no-bid contract to waterproof and repaint the site, which dates back over a century, raised eyebrows. It was awarded to a Virginia-based company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had previously carried out work on a swimming pool at one of the president’s golf clubs.

The administration had claimed “residual” algae would be cleared in the immediate aftermath of the renovation. But it has proliferated amid warm weather.

The US Department of the Interior has claimed in recent days that the installation of a water treatment system which a spokesperson described as “nanobubbler technology” would help address the algae issue.

“The nanobubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening since 1922,” a spokesperson told the Guardian on Tuesday. The spokesperson claimed the pool had been “broken and disgusting” days after a project that took place while Barack Obama was president.

“Now, due to deploying the advanced nanobubbler technology, the algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak,” the spokesperson added. “We thank President Trump for fixing the reflecting pool for good.”

In a 5 June post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed the renovation he ordered of the reflecting pool would stand the test of time. “This was not a paint job,” he said. “This was highly sophisticated material, industrial strength, that could last for 100 years, applied by very talented people.”

Administration officials have repeatedly claimed that other presidents tried and failed in years gone by to beautify the pool with “extremely costly” projects.

While Trump initially put the cost of this latest effort at about $1.8m, it quickly rose beyond $14m .

National Park Service employees were seen using skimmers on Monday in a bid to clean algae from the reflecting pool and return to it to the intended hue.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Football, Leicester City, Sport, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Championship, League One
Title – Leicester appoint Russell Martin as Wolves unveil César Peixoto as coach | Football | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/dominic-booth
Link – Leicester appoint Russell Martin as Wolves unveil César Peixoto as coach | Football | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T21:33:31.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/leicester-appoint-russell-martin-as-wolves-unveil-cesar-peixoto-as-coach

Leicester have confirmed Russell Martin’s appointment as manager, on the same day as Wolves unveiled César Peixoto as head coach, replacing Rob Edwards.

The two Midlands clubs were relegated from the Championship and the Premier League respectively last season and have moved quickly to restructure their setup, with Martin joining Leicester eight months after his nightmare 123-day stint in charge of Rangers came to an end.

The 40-year-old has signed a ⁠contract until 2029 and his remit will be to inspire an immediate return to the second tier after Leicester’s shock relegation to League One in 2025-26, amid a litany of off-field problems including a points deduction.

“I’m delighted to be here and excited to begin working with the ‌players and staff,” said Martin, who previously had spells in charge of MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton. “This is a club with great history, strong support ​and high expectations. My immediate focus is on the team: building strong relationships, setting clear standards and creating performances that Leicester City supporters can connect with.”

Leicester’s chief football officer, Jon Rudkin, described Martin, who is known for his possession-based football, as “a strong leader, a clear decision-maker and ​someone with ‌a defined way ​of working”. He insisted Martin “is well placed to help us move forward with purpose and direction”.

Peixoto, meanwhile, has joined Wolves from the Portuguese top-flight club Gil Vicente, with whom he finished sixth in the Primeira Liga in 2025-26. He will be tasked with restoring their Premier League status after they finished rock bottom with 20 points under Edwards, who replaced Vítor Pereira in November.

Edwards’ sacking last week came out of the blue after the former Middlesbrough coach had reportedly been a major factor in the recent signings of Raúl Jiménez and Kieran Trippier. Peixoto’s appointment means four of the past seven Wolves managers have been from Portugal.

“I’m proud to be here at this big, historic club in England,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity for me and I’m prepared to do everything to put Wolves where it belongs in the Premier League.”

The Wolves chair, Nathan Shi, said: “Throughout our discussions with [Peixoto], it became clear very quickly that he possesses many of the qualities we believe are important for the future of this club.”

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Nigel Farage, Immigration and asylum, Reform UK, Robert Jenrick, Race, Politics, UK news
Title – Reform UK’s Honest Bob stands up for the little people like him | John Crace | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/johncrace
Link – Reform UK’s Honest Bob stands up for the little people like him | John Crace | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T16:22:08.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/15/reform-uk-robert-jenrick-little-people-like-him

N ow is not a good time to be a white Brit born in this country. Nigel Farage is clear about this. So much so that he wrote a 6,000 word Substack piece about it at the weekend. Or rather someone did. Possibly an intern who had been told to channel their inner Nige.

Or maybe, if Matt Goodwin was involved, ChatGPT helped out. “Write me an essay in the style of an even more deranged Rupert Lowe.” Don’t hold back. Go for it. The UK is unrecognisable. Foreigners everywhere. It’s time that black and disabled people started paying reparations to white people. For all the benefits they have taken off us.

No one has suffered more than Robert Jenrick . A man who has only ever wanted to do the right thing for his country. Apart from the times when he was actively doing bad things. Like making sure a Tory donor and pornographer was granted a previously denied planning permission with just hours to spare to avoid charges of £50m in the council’s community infrastructure levy. Nothing matters more than looking after your friends. Like painting over murals of cartoon characters in an asylum seeker reception centre for migrant children. It’s what they would have wanted.

Honest Bob. Always the victim. Take the Tory leadership election of 2024. He had been certain he would win. It had been obvious to him that he was by far the best candidate. But the vote had been rigged because Tory members had all been told to positively discriminate in favour of a black woman. It was now impossible for a white man to get on in the modern-day Conservative party.

Kemi Badenoch had been handed the job that should have been his. Enough was enough. Like Nige, he too thought the time had come to reassert white privilege. Just look at the world. Full of foreigners. Most of whom had come over to the UK. True Brits had been demoted to the bottom of the pile.

No more Mr Nice Guy for Honest Bob. He’d always been one to stand up for the little people. The oppressed. The people like him. For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones and worse. And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe. And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing. Now he was Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen combined. The voice of protest. The fight back started here. Time to see more white faces in the boardrooms of the top FTSE 100 companies.

Nige has been so downtrodden that he too is now on benefits. Albeit ones handed out to him as a £5m gift from a Thai crypto-billionaire. And that’s before we get to the £1.4m second – or is it third? – home that he already owns. He too was the victim in all this. If he had been black then he would have been given at least £10m. And no one would have batted an eyelid. Because that’s what every black person is getting a week on universal credit. The discrimination is never ending. Which is why Nige has gone to ground.

So it was left to Honest Bob to take the press conference on Monday morning. It was scheduled to start at 11am but there was still no sign of him by 10 past. He talks a lot about the honesty of alarm clock Britain. He appears to have his on snooze. Or maybe he was just sulking, having just discovered that Kemi Badenoch was trying to steal his thunder with a press conference of her own at the same time. The attendance at Reform HQ was … sparse, to say the least. Yet another example of Kemi using her black privilege against him. Not for much longer.

Eventually Jenrick was coaxed into the room and made his way to a lectern with “British Workers First” written across the front. That’s the type of nativism that warms his heart. First he had things to get off his chest. Foreigners. They were everywhere. Taking all our jobs. Costing us hundreds of billions of pounds. Using our roads, hospitals and schools. He didn’t have the exact figures, but didn’t want to interrupt his stream of unconsciousness. It was a FACT. Foreigners were forcing Brits on to benefits.

So here was the plan. Reform was going to scrap Rachel Reeves’s employers’ national insurance hike. But only for British workers. And by British, he meant British. Not those with indefinite leave to remain. Not EU workers with settled status. Even if they were married and had children who were born British, they would still be deported. It was far better for kids to have no parents than parents who weren’t British. They could go to the workhouse. Or be put up for adoption. Who cares? Because if your parents aren’t British, then neither are you. Not really.

And if employers did choose to retain an immigrant workforce, there would have to be a foreign worker levy. The less the staff earned, the higher the levy would be. That was the only way of getting employers and workers to see sense. For the last time. Foreigners should just go home. The sooner the better. He couldn’t say what the levy would be right now. Because that would be irresponsible. People expected more from Reform than figures. But rest assured it would be a lot.

By now almost everyone in the room was slightly bemused. Was Honest Bob a halfwit? Or was he worse than that? A quarterwit. Because it had been clear to the entire country that the reason Brits weren’t working in care homes wasn’t because the foreigners had pipped them to the jobs. It was because they didn’t want to do them. They would rather not look after old people and those with disabilities. There again, maybe they instinctively knew what was good for the country. Old people and the disabled have also had it easy for far too long.

There was just time for one question on the social media ban for under-16s that Keir Starmer had announced a few hours earlier. Honest Bob equivocated. He believed in free speech. What was really needed was a social media ban for foreigners. Then Brits could get back to being Brits.

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Tennis, Emma Raducanu, Sport
Title – Emma Raducanu fights back from shocking start but loses Queen’s final to Donna Vekic | Tennis | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tumaini-carayol
Link – Emma Raducanu fights back from shocking start but loses Queen’s final to Donna Vekic | Tennis | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T14:59:51.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/14/emma-raducanu-fights-back-from-shocking-start-but-loses-queens-final-to-donna-vekic

Emma Raducanu walked through the famous clubhouse at the Queen’s Club and down to the stadium court smiling widely. She had arrived at this occasion, another noteworthy final in front of a home crowd on a historic court, playing some of the best tennis of her life. It had the makings of the second perfect day in her career.

That smile was wiped off her face by a ruthless performance from one of the few true grass court enthusiasts in Donna Vekic of Croatia, a lucky loser, who produced an inspired attacking display to clinch the biggest title of her career, beating Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) in the final.

Despite a torrid start, the British player gave herself many chances to force a final set and keep alive her shot at a second career title after the stunning US Open triumph in 2021 .

Raducanu, who went into the match as the world No 42, fought brilliantly to lead 5-2 in the second set and held two set points on her serve at 5-4 but was too tentative in the decisive moments. She was painfully disappointed at her inability to at least extend the match.

“I haven’t really played much this season, but to think I have made two finals so far, which I haven’t done in years, it has to be celebrated. It’s a good achievement for me and I’m proud of it,” said Raducanu. “Right now it obviously really stings, so I’m just going let myself feel it today but try to get over it pretty quick.”

Her performances this week still represent a massive step forward. Raducanu had not won a match since March after a post-viral illness, her latest in a long line of physical ailments, had sidelined her for two months. She found her way again by performing at an excellent level throughout the week. The next step is for her to learn how to perform consistently and remain healthy enough for an extended period of time so she can put herself in these positions more regularly.

“I think I have been training well the last months,” said Raducanu. “I have been doing the same thing every day. On the clay, I just didn’t have the results, but I was applying myself the best I possibly could each day. Even when I didn’t necessarily feel like it, even when I felt down about the results, I kept showing up. It was great to see the result of that this week.”

Despite her loss in qualifying and her current ranking of 76, Vekic is a formidable player and at her strongest on a grass court. The 29-year-old reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2024, just missing out on the final, shortly before earning an Olympic singles silver medal in Paris. She reached a career-high ranking of No 17 last year. There is nothing surprising about a player of Vekic’s calibre winning a WTA 500 event.

Her path to the title is another example of how odd this sport can be. Vekic lost her final qualifying match in straight sets to Anna Blinkova, who was then bulldozed 6-0, 6-3 in the first round by Raducanu.

Vekic had felt so sick on the weekend that, after losing to Blinkova, she had been hoping not to be drafted in as a lucky loser. She relied on antibiotics to help see her through the opening rounds before playing freely from the semi-final stage, defeating Katie Boulter and Raducanu in consecutive days. “I was just really grateful that I had another opportunity to play,” she said.

At her best, Vekic is one of the best servers on the tour and a big, flat ball-striker. She pulverised the ball off both wings, particularly her stellar two-handed backhand, and was untouchable behind her serve.

Raducanu had entered the final after a dramatic Saturday in which she won two matches, including a semi-final victory against the world No 19, Iva Jovic, and recovered after appearing to hurt her thigh when slipping in the first match. The combined weight of Raducanu’s fatigue, physical niggles and tension complicated her attempts to counter a spectacular Vekic. Raducanu lacked pace on her groundstrokes and struggled to absorb the immense pace generated by Vekic across the net. Her serve, a pillar of her success this week, was poor, and she looked uncertain out of the corners.

Still, Raducanu fought hard and she should have contested a final set. After failing to serve out the second set at 5-2, she generated two set points at 5-4. On the second, a strong first serve set up an easy forehand right on top of the net, but she tried to wrongfoot Vekic, who stood her ground and rolled a sweet backhand lob over her head. Quickly down 5-6, Raducanu valiantly saved three match points on her serve to force a tie-break but Vekic re-established control of the baseline and held her nerve to complete an unforgettable recovery from her sickbed to her most significant title.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, World Cup, Qatar, Switzerland, Football, Sport, US sports
Title – Qatar 1-1 Switzerland: World Cup 2026 – as it happened | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/john-brewin,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rodrygo
Link – Qatar 1-1 Switzerland: World Cup 2026 – as it happened | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-13T21:40:22.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/jun/13/qatar-v-switzerland-world-cup-2026-live

Full-time: Qatar 1-1 Switzerland

Brilliant for Qatar , who held their nerve as the Swiss took them too lightly, and the celebrations are loud and raucous. What a header that was from Khoukhi. What a moment.

Here’s the two heroes of the hour for Qatar , as we sign off.

The embryonic Golden Boot table takes shape. Emolo failed to add to his total.

Here’s the match report on a match with a surprising denouement , though one Switzerland probably deserved for being so casual. Though perhaps that is harsh on Qatar, who defended like demons and their goalkeeper had a good game. Also: the mystery of the offside that never was for Swiss penalty goal.

The headline on the Swiss newspaper website Blick is “Catastrophe at the start of the World Cup .”

Anyway, well done, Qatar: the greatest moment in the country’s football history? Has to be, even if they have won the last two Asian Cups.

Mike in Vancouver gets in touch: “Stadium looks packed to me. Pity those knocking everything couldn’t leave their negativity at home. Guess they must have been listening to those commercials for American Express Traveller’s Cheques. “Don’t leave home without it.” Reminder: they’re a bit dated, too….”

Mike Smith gets in touch: “i’m not going to defend Fifa’s pricing, But I’ll point out that I saw the “other”semifinal of Euro 96 in front of 40,000 empty seats at Old Trafford. A quick Google search tells me Portugal versus the Czech Republic drew 26,000 to Villa Park in the quarters, while the dog of the tourney (Bulgaria v Romania, group stage) saw 19,000 at St. James Park. I don’t remember any hand-wringing about the hosts not filling their stadium or Uefa charging too much for tickets.”

Well, I do. And I paid £55 for tickets for the quarter-final at Old Trafford when it usually cost me £16 to go to watch United. Can’t we agree that none of this is good?

Full-time: Qatar 1-1 Switzerland

Brilliant for Qatar , who held their nerve as the Swiss took them too lightly, and the celebrations are loud and raucous. What a header that was from Khoukhi. What a moment.

90+7 min: Switzerland push for the second goal that’s evaded them all day. It doesn’t come, their desperation to score fails them once more. They had 26 shots on goal.

90+6 min: What a moment, what a cross, and the goal music is excellent, and Homan Ahmed was the supplier.

Goal! Qatar 1-1 Switzerland (Khoukhi, 90+5)

Oh my! A first ever point for Qatar ? Khoukhi’s header is brilliant.

90+2 min: Julen Lopetegui is full of rage on the sideline, asking his team for more. Murat Yakin is looking cooler and taking on water.

90 min: Six minutes added on as Qatar hope for their chance. Reider is slow to read a fine ball passed across goal. That would have killed it off.

89 min: Late changes. Edmilson off, Al Haydos, the Jordan Henderson of Qatar , comes on. The vibes man.

For Switzerland , Freuler and Rodriguez off, Muheim and Jashari on.

87 min: Nice cross to the back post, and when Afif smashes the ball in, a deflection almost takes the ball beyond Kobel who does well to read the flight in the glare of the mid-afternoon sun.

86 min: Manzambi fancies a shot, and has another dig. At least he’s trying to make something happen.

85 min: The stadium announcer delivers the attendance figures, over 67,000. Hmm. Embolo, as if he has his doubts, loses his touch just as he looked to created a decent chance for himself.

84 min: That Qatar wall continues to frustrate the Swiss. Freuler tries to spark something but the ball is blocked.

82 min: An injection of zest from Manzambi who fires wide.

Kari Tulinius gets in touch: “From what I saw of the 2023 Asian Cup, Qatar were deserving champions. They’ve been a shadow of that side today. They’re as bad as they were in 2022. Despite the stability of the squad for the last decade, it seems like two completely different players put on that Maroon shirt, depending on whether they’re playing for continental or global honours. They’re Asian champions, but global whipping boys.”

81 min: Zeki Amdouni, the Burnley man, and his team need to do far better. They’ve had 22 shots on goal, only one of them convincing.

80 min: Qatari change: Madibo off, Al Manai on. Swiss change: Vargas off, Amdouni on.

78 min: Qatar come forward again. Their attack is rusty, it has to be said. The chances they have had have been rushed, almost coming as a surprise.

76 min: Bit of confidence in the Qatar ranks? Edmilson and Afif go hunting for scraps, and Alaeedin shoots. That’s blocked and the Swiss go away, Vargas snatching at a chance. The second phase sees Embolo curve across the goal, behind Qatari lines but choose the wrong foot to shoot with.

74 min: Roger Kirkby gets in touch: “So, we’re at Levi’s Stadium built in 2014 with no shade. Ok, they can’t put a roof on it, but the Romans had sails draped over poles 2,000 years ago. How droll is it’s name…field of jeans.”

73 min: Akanji has to do some defending, as he tackles Afif. Up in the stands is a smiling Gianni Infantino, chilling away.

71 min: Switzerland really want that second goal. This was supposed to be the easy game. They have come up against a well-organised Qatar.

69 min: Andy Wood gets in touch: “Hi John, re your earlier comment and the stadium not being full – the issue is that the tournament is priced like 104 Superbowls. I live 40 minutes from this game but there was no way I was paying those prices for group games in that stadium. I don’t know anyone going to a game tbh.”

The resumption has to wait for Whitney Houston to be turned off. Yes, really.

67 min: Xhaka zips a ball across goal. It’s there to be hit, but nobody does. And here’s a drinks break as soundtracked by Proud Mary, Ike and Tina Turner version.

65 min: xG fans: The Swiss are at 2.32. So below the level. They make two changes: Ndoye and Aebischer off, Manzambi and Rieder.

The stadium announcer pronounced Dan Ndoye as “Darn Ndoye”.

64 min: Alan McWilliam gets in touch: “Maybe given Fifa’s adoption of newspeak (or no speak in the case of the offside) we should rename this WC to World Cup 1984…”

63 min: Vargas is lively, and it takes two challenges to end his run. Another free-kick into that packed area. It will have to be good. It’s not, and Ndoye can’t pick up the loose ball.

61 min: The stadium yet emptier though the concourses as full, as it’s shelter from the heat.

60 min: Qatar wanted to make subs but as it’s a Swiss corner they demure. Once that’s cleared, on come three players: Fathy, Boudiaf, Alaaeldin.

Al Oui, Gaber, Abdurisag go off.

58 min: Qatari subs are imminent. Switzerland pass the ball around with little pressure on the ball. Afif fancies escaping but the key pass is cut out.

56 min: That second Swiss goal is taking its time. Qatar have done well and they may be better suited to lasting out in what appear to be baking conditions.

54 min: Paul Keane gets in touch: “The cynic in me notes that if everyone is talking about questionable offsides and Fifa not being forthcoming with the material used by VAR, it is moving the conversation away from ticket prices, empty seats, and super-sized concourses – that’s a well-worn tactic.

“On the Mexican Wave, I’m sure you’re aware that local Bay Area icon Krazy George Henderson claims credit for first doing it in the late-70’s: He can still be seen at San Jose Earthquakes MLS games, where he regularly plays the role of Number 1 Cheerleader.”

53 min: More corners, which has been a feature of this World Cup . Qatar seem well-drilled in defending them. Lopetegui is a coach not without his talents, despite what Hammers fans might say.

51 min: Peter Oh gets in touch: “Speaking of the forward-thinking Fifa-backwards talisman, he needs to do more to control the game. In other words he needs to act more like the joystick of the Qatari console.”

Geddit? Atari being local to Santa Clara, Nolan Bushnell and all that.

50 min: It’s all Vargas so far, and he sets up Freuler to boom in a pass for Embolo to spin and shoot wide. Embolo has done a fine, old-fashioned centre-forward’s job, sans goal so far.

49 min: Vargas smashes back in, Akanji the target, and Xhaka sees glory, smashing a side-winder. The keeper saves, and the ref does not see it a corner. This seems to be a problem as this tourney.

48 min: Swiss free-kick, smashed in by Vargas, and headed behind with some element of panic. Vargas’s corner is almost as dangerous. And results in another.

47 min: Mike Wilner gets in touch: “The halftime adverts are on here in the USA. Messi is in most of them. He doesn’t say a word, just dribbles a ball around the product. Beckham is in the rest of the ads. He won’t shut up. Go figure.”

Becks’ on a lot of TV back home, too. Both of them are, in fact.

Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – Trump administration, Donald Trump, US news, US politics, UFC, MMA, US sports
Title – UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company | Trump administration | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/aram-roston,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/joseph-gedeon
Link – UFC to pay White House fighters in crypto issued by Trump company | Trump administration | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T12:20:37.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/14/white-house-ufc-fighters-crypto

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on Friday that it will pay bonuses to fighters in a form of cryptocurrency issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial at the heavily publicized White House mixed martial arts event on Sunday.

The development connects the Trump family’s financial interests to the high-profile UFC competition being promoted on government property. The competition on the south White House lawn is scheduled for 14 June, Donald Trump’s birthday.

The UFC said some fighters will receive bonuses in World Liberty Financial crypto called “stablecoins”, whose value is pegged to the US dollar. World Liberty named the currency “USD1”.

World Liberty is a venture of the Trump family and the family of Steven Witkoff, Trump’s friend and special envoy to the Middle East. The company is now listed as an “official sponsor” of UFC Freedom 250, the fight scheduled for Sunday. The use of its stablecoin in the fight would appear to boost efforts to have it used more more broadly.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle said there is no conflict of interest and that Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children. “The Fake News’ continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust in what they read.”

The fight is not linked to Freedom 250, a separate organization promoting the 250th anniversary of the country.

World Liberty Financial, a Delaware-based cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons in 2024 alongside the Witkoff sons , has emerged as one of the highest-profile businesses connected to the president’s family.

At one point, Trump Sr was publicly listed by the company as its “Chief Crypto Advocate”.

His financial disclosure form lists his holdings in World Liberty Financial as “over $50m ”.

Reuters reported this month that the Trump family’s crypto ventures, led by WLF, have generated billions of dollars in paper gains and become one of the largest sources of wealth tied to the president and his family.

World Liberty announced the company was creating a “bonus pool” for the event the company and quoted Zach Witkoff, Steve Witkoff’s son and CEO of World Liberty Financial. “We believe this is the future of finance, and we’re excited to partner with UFC,” he said, “which has done more than any organization to modernize the business of sports”.

World Liberty was dogged by controversies surrounding its digital “governance token”, a type of crypto it sold , and is in litigation with Justin Sun, the crypto tycoon who was an early buyer of the tokens. He sued the company this year alleging it improperly froze his tokens, and World Liberty sued him for defamation.

The USD1 stablecoins are separate from the tokens and are tradable digital assets that are backed by dollar reserves. The firm has also applied for a banking license from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency.

World Liberty Financial’s role in the festivities emerged only this week. The company first announced it was an official sponsor of the event on Wednesday 10 June via x.com . The next day, on Thursday, the UFC announced it was distributing bonuses to fighters in a separate cryptocurrency called CRO. Then on Friday at 9.30pm, the UFC issued a press release to say World Liberty Financial would be the “Presenting Partner of a new $250,000 Performance of the Night bonus pool”. The UFC revealed it was make those payments in USD1.

“This sounds like advertising,” Todd Phillips, an expert in crypto at the Klaros Group, told the Guardian. He said “Paying the fighters in the USD1 stablecoin would have the same economic function as writing them a check but announcing to the world they are doing it in USD1 sounds like they are adverting to the world that USD1 is out there and that it is connected to the UFC and the White House.

Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Food, Chicken, American food and drink, Snacks, Starter, Cheese, Sauces and gravies, Meat, Vegetables
Title – How to make buffalo chicken wings – recipe | Food | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/felicity-cloake
Link – How to make buffalo chicken wings – recipe | Food | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T12:00:43.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/14/how-to-make-buffalo-chicken-wings-recipe

W hen I first made these back in 2015, I noted that the British are “not enthusiastic” consumers of chicken wings. The fried chicken boom has changed all that, but these tangy, spicy versions, named after the American city rather than the beast, still aren’t as well known as they deserve to be, given what perfect finger food they make while watching (or pretending to watch) sport.

Prep 15 min Dry 1 hr+ Cook 20 min Serves 4 (with sides)

For the wings 16 chicken wing pieces , or 8 whole wings 40g butter 2 garlic cloves 120ml sour hot sauce (eg, Frank’s RedHot ) 2 tsp cider vinegar , or white-wine or white vinegar 1 tsp sugar , preferably dark brown Neutral oil , to fry 2 carrots 2 celery sticks

For the blue cheese sauce 100g roquefort , or other blue cheese, crumbled 6 tbsp soured cream , or creme fraiche 2 tbsp mayonnaise 2 tsp cider vinegar , or white-wine or white vinegar ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 small bunch chives , finely chopped (optional)

1 A note on the wings

Chicken wings are generally separated into two different cuts for cooking: drumettes (the bits that look like tiny legs) and flats (the other bits, with two bones running parallel towards the triangular wing tips). If your wings are not already separated, you can keep them whole, but they’re far easier to eat if you break them down before cooking.

2 Split the wings

To do this, put a chicken wing flat on a board, then pick up the drumette end, so the wing stretches out into a natural V. Using a large, sharp knife, feel around for the point of least resistance in the joint and cut down vertically with a decisive stroke; you shouldn’t need to use too much pressure. Repeat with the other wings. If you like, remove the wing tips, too (save those for stock), but I rarely bother.

3 Dry the wings

For the crispest results, air dry the wings before cooking – you can do this before or after separating them or, if you don’t have the time, skip this step entirely. Spread out the wings on a rack set above a tray or bowl, then put in the fridge uncovered for between one and 12 hours.

4 A note on the sauces

Buffalo wings are traditionally served with two sauces – one to coat the chicken, the other for dipping – plus some crudites as a cursory nod to a balanced diet. You might prefer just to make the first, a piquant, sweet-and-sour sauce, but I’d recommend the other elements, too, for the full experience.

5 Start on the coating sauce

For the coating sauce, melt the butter in a small pan on a medium-low heat. Peel and crush the garlic, then fry it in the hot butter until it’s fragrant but not coloured. Pour in the hot sauce – I like the tangy but fairly mild Frank’s RedHot, but use your preferred brand (bear in mind, though, that anything that’s too spicy will be incendiary in this context).

6 Finish the coating sauce

Taste the sauce: if it’s already very tangy or sweet, you may like to adjust the amounts of sugar and vinegar accordingly, before adding them now, or indeed add a little extra touch of your own in the form of a pinch of salt or smoked paprika, or a teaspoonful of mustard, for example. Take off the heat and set aside.

7 Make the blue cheese dip

Mash the cheese (roquefort’s soft, creamy texture and intensely savoury flavour makes it my preferred candidate here, but feel free to substitute in another cheese of your choice) with the soured cream until the mix is fairly loose, then stir in the remaining ingredients and adjust the seasoning to taste.

8 Fry the wings

Fill a large pan by a third with neutral oil and heat it to 170C (alternatively, use a deep-fat fryer). Turn on the oven to low, and line an oven tray with kitchen paper. Pat the wings dry, then fry in batches, so as not to overcrowd the pan, for 10-12 minutes, until golden and crisp all over. Make sure the oil comes back up to temperature before adding subsequent batches of the chicken.

9 Prepare the crudites and serve

Meanwhile, scrub the carrots and de-string the celery, then cut both into batons and arrange these on a platter. Once the first batch of wings is ready, keep them warm on the lined tray in the oven while you fry the rest of the wings. Put all the cooked chicken on the platter, drizzle over the hot sauce (this keeps the wings more crisp than tossing them in the sauce) and serve with the dip.

Keyword – Travel
Trefwoorden – Road trips, United Kingdom holidays, England holidays, Wales holidays, Scotland holidays, Travel
Title – From Sussex to Scotland, my road trip through four centuries of British holidays | Road trips | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/annabelle-thorpe
Link – From Sussex to Scotland, my road trip through four centuries of British holidays | Road trips | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T06:00:35.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/jun/14/sussex-to-scotland-road-trip-british-holidays-history

O ne of my favourite recent photographs is of me (unusually), perched on the bonnet of our car, about to set off on a solo, two-week road trip from our Sussex home to the wilds of Scotland, taking in Eryri (Snowdonia), Lancashire, the Lake District and Yorkshire. I had no idea that the research trip I was about to embark on – for my book, which traces the story of British holidays over 400 years – was going to reveal my homeland as somewhere I barely knew.

As a southerner, it was the northern half of Britain that I needed to discover. I’d stitched together my route with visits to museums, archives and classic seaside resorts that had once blazed so brightly. I’d visited Cumbria before, but the Conwy coast, the Lancashire countryside, Blackpool, Morecambe, Scarborough? All these were unknowns.

My first stop was Eryri, where it turned out my hotel, the Royal Oak in Betws-y-Coed, had been welcoming artists such as JMW Turner since the late 18th century. Fifty years later, it became the hub of the country’s first artists’ colony , drawn here by the dramatic beauty of the dense, bottle-green swathes of the Gwydir Forest and the spectacular peaks of the Glyderau range and Moel Siabod.

Over coffee, hotel manager Katie Valentine told me about the artists who called the area home – David Cox, Henry Clarence Whaite and Thomas Collier among others – at least until Betws railway station opened in 1868. “At that point,” she said, “many moved to houses further up the valley, grumbling that the place was becoming flooded with tourists.” As I would discover on this journey, it seems overtourism is far from a contemporary travel trend.

From Eryri, it was a short hop to Llandudno, a beach town so pristine it felt a little like a Victorian theme park resort. “In some ways it is,” Judith Phillips, trustee of the Llandudno Museum , told me. “The family who built Llandudno in the mid-19th century – the Mostyns – still own much of it now, and control everything from what colours people can paint their hotels to what businesses are allowed on the promenade.”

The Llandudno Museum made plain that much of our history is not in the great city museums, but in libraries, archives and small museums on quiet high streets, often run by passionate volunteers with an encyclopaedic knowledge of their local heritage.

Driving from Llandudno up to Lancashire along the North Wales Expressway, I whipped in and out of tunnels, emerging to see great swathes of the cobalt-blue Irish Sea stretching to the horizon.

Further into my journey, I was pointed towards early editions of the very first guidebooks to the Lake District, written by Thomas West and William Wordsworth, at the Armitt Library in Ambleside; shown handwritten letters by Queen Victoria at Blair Castle (including her personal recipe for potato salad); and told wonderful stories of Wakes Week holidays in Blackpool by the dapper Richard Croisdale at Blackburn Museum – their longest-serving volunteer, at a sprightly 90 years old.

Blackburn’s grandiose Victorian museum and Bolton’s neoclassical town hall stand as legacies of the era when Lancashire towns were affluent manufacturing bases home to tens of thousands of factory workers. The Georgian streets of Richmond are like a mini Bath, but steeped in Yorkshire heritage. But perhaps nowhere confounded my expectations more than Blackpool.

Arriving on a Friday night, the promenade buzzed with lights and life; the illuminations blazing all the way to the tower, kids skipping along the seafront entirely unaware they had been brought to one of the most deprived towns in the country. “We are a town of extremes,” said Claire Smith, co-owner of the chic Number One South Beach B&B . “We have pockets of absolute joy next to complete caverns of woe. There’s no blending. It’s either amazing or awful.”

Claire and husband Mark shared stories of Blackpool in the 1970s, not least his coming back from the pub as a teenager to find his parents had let his bedroom – along with their own – to guests, leaving them to sleep in the lounge. This was the era when guests queued in their dressing gowns to use the bathrooms, landladies locked the doors between mealtimes, and peach Melba was the height of culinary flair.

“They were simpler times, people expected much less,” Claire told me, a little wistfully. “But I do think people were happier.” There’s still plenty of joy to be found, though. When I visit the Pleasure Beach as it opens on a Sunday morning, families are streaming in; the first coasters rattling skywards; a general air of giddy excitement that is a stark counterpoint to the rundown streets elsewhere in the town.

So many of my preconceptions were corrected or reversed: the elegant St George’s Hotel in Llandudno showed me that not all grand dame seaside hotels are faded or old-fashioned. And while we do love to run down our own seaside resorts, I saw beaches to rival anything the Med has to offer, from Scarborough’s South Bay to Morecambe’s vast, empty sandscapes.

Beyond the seaside, it was Scotland that really blew my mind. Following in the footsteps of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, who toured the Highlands and Lowlands for six weeks in 1803, I headed up the western flank of Loch Lomond, entirely unprepared for what I was about to discover. Dusk was falling as I drove across Rannoch Moor – a silent, pockmarked moonscape that seemed entirely bereft of life, save for a lone pair of car headlights, somewhere up ahead. And then, in the distance, great, hulking mountains began to rise up, guarding the entrance to Glen Coe. It is a landscape so forbidding that when I pulled up at the Three Sisters viewpoint, I was genuinely relieved to see another couple, so I didn’t have to stand alone among the ominous peaks.

Scotland had stories, too: from the spruce and redwood trees planted in Glen Coe by Lord Strathcona in the 1890s to make his Canadian wife feel at home, to Queen Victoria taking the first ever fly-and-flop (train-and-flop, perhaps more accurately) at Blair Castle in 1844. Her visit was hosted by the 6th Duke of Atholl, who promised the security of his own private army (and who had to move out of his own castle during the royal stay). It was the beginning of a royal love affair with Scotland that led to the purchase of Balmoral in 1852.

When I got home from the long road trip – 13 days and 1,600 miles later – my husband took the same photograph of me perched on the car. It had been more of an adventure than I could have ever imagined – to lands unknown on the island I call home.

The Great Escape: Britain’s 400-Year Love Affair with Holidays by Annabelle Thorpe (£18.99, DK Red) is available now. To support the Guardian, buy a copy from guardianbookshop.com for £17.09

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Ebola, Global health, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Health, Infectious diseases, Africa, Global development, World news, Uganda, World Health Organization, Humanitarian response, Society, Science, Hospitals
Title – Ebola one month on: will the latest outbreak in DRC become the most deadly yet? | Ebola | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/kat-lay
Link – Ebola one month on: will the latest outbreak in DRC become the most deadly yet? | Ebola | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T13:00:46.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/14/drcs-ebola-outbreak-become-the-most-deadly-yet

W hen an orphanage in Bunia took in a newborn baby after his mother died from Ebola , the nuns who ran it hoped they were giving the infant a chance for life. The baby survived for only another two weeks. Now four of the nuns who cared for him have fallen sick with the deadly virus.

It is a snapshot of the tragedies at the centre of an outbreak in which the number of victims is roughly doubling every week, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“It’s really, really devastating,” says Dr Babou Rukengeza, Save the Children’s Ebola response lead in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). All the children and staff at the orphanage are now being monitored for symptoms.

A month on since the latest outbreak of Ebola, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, was first identified in the DRC, the latest figures from the UN show 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths , the overwhelming majority in the DRC’s Ituri province.

Frontline workers say they are still battling shortages of the necessary supplies, including personal protective equipment and vehicles to transport dead bodies. Testing has improved, they say, but still needs to be done faster and carried out nearer to patients.

In neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases and two deaths , intensive tracing of contacts means the outbreak is under control, health officials say.

Despite the global risk remaining low , 22 countries, including the US, have imposed travel restrictions on people coming from the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan, according to Africa CDC , the health agency of the African Union.

Those restrictions have been criticised as impeding health agencies’ response . What the DRC really needs from the international community, experts say, is flexible funding that it can use to get the situation under control.

There are reasons for hope: scientists are working rapidly to test and produce vaccines against Bundibugyo, and the latest research suggests existing antivirals are likely to be helpful.

In Ituri, the organisations involved in the response meet daily to coordinate plans, and African leaders will meet virtually on Tuesday to discuss the outbreak and make funding commitments.

But there are also strong headwinds that are slowing the response: conflict continues in the worst-hit areas and misinformation is rife, leading people to avoid hospitals and the care that could save their lives, and there have even been attacks on aid workers and treatment centres.

Gratien Iracan, the local MP for the provincial capital, Bunia, noted on social media last week: “Despite the millions of dollars announced by the international community to support the response to Ebola, these resources are not yet sufficiently visible on the ground in Ituri.”

In subsequent posts, he highlighted a doctor’s death from Ebola, saying the medic had sent messages from his hospital bed complaining of poor care in the clinic. The Guardian has not been able to verify those messages.

Iracan also described an incident in which a community had called the authorities to report a suspected case of Ebola but the promised support had not arrived, sparking “incomprehension, anger and concern”.

According to Africa CDC, community trust is “a critical challenge” – CNN video footage from Bunia’s central market shows people denying the virus exists and blaming Red Cross workers for spreading it.

In a statement, the continental health watchdog cited “reports of resistance to hygiene measures and decontamination in some communities, as well as incidents of mob violence”.

A key reason for this stems from people’s reluctance to allow their sick relatives to be cared for by strangers in healthcare isolation units – and the importance of funeral rites.

For some people, their fear of displeasing God over not performing an appropriate burial for a relative can be greater than their fear of contracting a virus. According to one study after the 2016 outbreak, exposure to body fluids during each “unsafe” funeral for Ebola victims created an average of 2.58 secondary cases.

Informing people about the symptoms and risks – using mass media such as radio and TV as well as face-to-face contact in the community – has become a key part of work on the ground, says Rukengeza.

“We are pushing and currently we are working with the leaders, community leaders, religious and other people here on the ground just to let them know that this is really Ebola virus, and they have to pay attention,” he says.

With about 600 confirmed cases in one area, health experts would expect to have about 24,000 contacts to monitor. On Thursday, Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, says there are 4,955 listed – and 57% of those are being monitored.

“It means there is a huge risk of transmission [being] sustained in the community,” Kaseya says. “We still have some confirmed cases not admitted [to hospital]. They are somewhere in the community, elsewhere.”

A joint response plan drawn up by Africa CDC and the WHO estimates that $518m (£387m) will be needed over the next six months to bring the outbreak under control. Kaseya says some early financial pledges from around the world “ were not real ”, but he now thinks that about $212m, including support in kind, was “almost there”.

Many of those infected are healthcare workers. Ebola is spread via body fluids, and those caring for the sick are most likely to be exposed to them.

Speaking from Bunia on Thursday, Dr Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist who chairs the Africa CDC emergency consultative group, says he visited a treatment centre that day: “There were 22 patients in that particular hospital, five of whom were healthcare workers, two doctors and an anaesthetist.”

Even before Ebola arrived, Ituri faced a humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands of people displaced by years of conflict. WHO officials have registered more than 520 security incidents affecting their teams in the field so far.

Over the past month, the outbreak has been gradually moving up the grim league tables that rank Ebola epidemics by case numbers and death toll. It is now the third largest on record. Modelling by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests this outbreak could grow to match the 2014-16 one in west Africa , which killed more than 11,000 people.

“We hope we can stop that,” says Kaseya, “and it won’t move from the third to the second, even the first one.”

Keyword – Australia news
Trefwoorden – Sydney, New South Wales, Australia news
Title – ‘There was a lot of blood in the water’: paddleboarder rescues woman after ‘shocking’ Coogee shark attack | Sydney | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/kelly-burke
Link – ‘There was a lot of blood in the water’: paddleboarder rescues woman after ‘shocking’ Coogee shark attack | Sydney | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-13T23:10:21.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/14/there-was-a-lot-of-blood-in-the-water-paddeboarder-rescues-woman-after-shocking-coogee-shark-attack

Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has only seen one shark bigger than the one he saw on Saturday at Sydney’s Coogee beach.

The North Bondi athlete was training for July’s world championships in Hawaii on Saturday morning when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark”.

As he headed towards the area of water where about three people appeared close to a large grey shadow, several swimmers attempted to climb on to his 18-foot (5.5 metre) paddleboard.

“I’m familiar with shark behaviour and it looked like it was just being inquisitive, it didn’t look like aggressive behaviour,” he told Guardian Australia.

Verco, a trained surf life saver, attempted to signal to the lifeguards on shore, hoping they would sound the shark alarm and clear swimmers from the water.

“But then another woman started screaming, and I could see she was being dragged around by something … there was a lot of blood in the water, it was quite shocking,” he said.

“The shark surfaced, I saw its dorsal fin – it was big, about 3.5 metres. I’ve only ever seen one shark bigger than that, and that was a tiger shark in Hawaii.”

Verco said the woman disappeared, then reappeared. The shark released its grip and he managed to get her to grab hold of part of his board.

“But then I think she lost consciousness, she couldn’t hold on any more,” he said. “I had to try and keep hold of her with one hand and keep paddling towards shore with the other.”

Verco said it seemed like forever before the shark alarm went off and he reached the shallows with the woman. She was brought ashore by a number of bystanders.

In reality, he says, paddling her back to shore took “probably only about three, maybe five minutes”.

A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance said the woman suffered arm and leg injuries and had been taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital.

Multiple crews treated the woman on the beach after the attack, which occurred just after 11am. The woman, who is in her 30s, was in a critical condition on Saturday evening.

A SLSNSW spokesperson said on Saturday all beaches from Bondi to Maroubra had been closed and would remain closed for at least 24 hours.

Chief executive Steve Pearce said it was the fourth serious shark incident in Sydney since September 2025.

“We are sending our best wishes to the woman involved and her family at this time, after another terrible shark incident on our coastline,” he said.