News and stories from all over the world

Burberry group
Burberry’s £2,000 Cotswolds handbag hits ‘a sweet spot’ with Americans
Sarah Butler
Thu 14 May 2026 13.38 CESTFirst published on Thu 14 May 2026 12.20 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/14/burberrys-handbag-cotswolds-hits-sweet-spot-americans

The luxury fashion brand Burberry has said a new £2,000 handbag named after the Cotswolds has bolstered sales, as the English region becomes increasingly popular with wealthy Americans.

Joshua Schulman, the company’s chief executive, said its tote bags – which mix leather and the signature Burberry check – had helped drive its best performance in bag sales since 2023.

He said: “During Mother’s Day in North America the customer has been responding to our vintage check introductions and Cotswolds lines. We’ve hit a sweet spot on price and value for money in a luxury context.”

The Cotswolds region, which runs through counties including Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, has become popular with wealthy Americans, and has been referred to as the “Hamptons of England” .

Schulman said Burberry had phased out its Knight bag, which was selling at more than £2,400 for certain versions, and last year had brought in the Cotswolds bags , which are priced at “around and under £2,000”.

Schulman – who joined Burberry in 2024 – said the shift marked a change from a focus under the brand’s previous management on “all attention on bags and having those at pinnacle price points without recognisable brand signatures”. He added: “That strategy didn’t work.”

Burberry on Thursday reported a return to full-year profits amid rising sales in the US and China.

The company made pre-tax profits of £49m in the year to 28 March, compared with a loss of £66m in the previous 12 months, as it cut £80m of annual costs, trimmed store numbers and won back Chinese and North American shoppers.

Sales were flat year on year, once the impact of exchange rates was taken into account, at £2.4bn.

“I am more optimistic than ever that Burberry can meet the £3bn [sales] milestone and go beyond that,” Schulman said.

He added that a revival had been led by core categories of scarves and outerwear but sales of ready-to-wear items had now “taken off”, bag sales were beginning to improve and the brand had “strong attraction” among younger shoppers.

Global sales were knocked back by poor performance in Europe and the Middle East, where travel was affected by the Iran war. The Middle East accounts for 2% of Burberry’s global sales.

Shares in Burberry fell 5% on Thursday amid fears about the conflict’s impact.

However, Kate Ferry, the finance director of Burberry, said the company was confident it could meet the consensus of analysts’ profit expectations for the year ahead, despite the problems in the Middle East.

“We have great momentum starting the year and we are confident we are going to make progress on sales growth and margin,” she said.

Democratic Republic of the Congo
‘It’s heartbreaking’: panic in eastern DRC over return of Ebola
Carlos Mureithi
Mon 18 May 2026 20.33 CESTLast modified on Tue 19 May 2026 08.07 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/18/ituri-eastern-drc-ebola-outbreak-panic-fear

“O n public transport, in bars and at mass gatherings, everyone is talking about Ebola,” said Gloire Mumbesa, a resident of Mongbwalu, a mining town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . He said cases of the disease had been reported locally and panic was engulfing the area because of the lack of a vaccine for the Bundibudyo strain. “The fear is that this disease may spread to many other areas.”

Residents of Ituri province in eastern DRC, where the World Health Organization announced an outbreak of Ebola last week, are living in growing fear of the possible continued spread of the disease and its deadly impacts, nearly six years after the last outbreak in the region ended.

“We’re stunned by the resurgence of Ebola in our region,” said Dieudonné Lossadekana, a resident of Bunia city, where the first suspected case was reported. “We’ve already recorded several dozen deaths. For us, it’s heartbreaking.”

The economic impacts of the outbreak are a serious worry, and residents are concerned that authorities may impose restrictions that would hinder them from earning a living in a region plagued by armed conflict and where people are already struggling financially.

“We live in a region where poverty is rife and people live from hand to mouth,” said Claude Kasuna in Irumu territory. “When a health emergency like this one strikes, it hits us hard economically.”

The WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths were reported in the DRC and two deaths in neighbouring Uganda.

The majority of the deaths and suspected cases have been reported in Ituri province, a business centre and migratory hub that borders Uganda and South Sudan. The gold-rich province is the centre of a long-running conflict between militias allied to the Hema and the Lendu, who are fighting over land and the mineral. The fighting has killed more than 50,000 people since 1999.

A health worker who was the first suspected case reported fever, haemorrhaging, vomiting and other symptoms on 24 April and died at a medical centre in Bunia, according to WHO .

Jean Pierre Badombo, a former mayor of Mongbwalu, which is at the centre of the outbreak, told Reuters that people started falling ill in mid-April after a large open-casket funeral procession arrived from Bunia. “After that, we experienced a cascade of deaths,” he said.

On Monday the Congolese health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said the government would open three treatment centres for Ebola in Ituri.

The WHO regional office for Africa said on Sunday that 35 experts from the organisation and seven tonnes of emergency medical supplies and equipment had arrived in Bunia.

Elsewhere in eastern DRC, where fighting between government and rebel forces has persisted for years , one case was reported in rebel-controlled Goma – that of a woman who travelled to the city from Bunia where her husband had died of the disease.

Heather Kerr, the DRC country director at the International Rescue Committee, said the conflict in the region made containing the Ebola outbreak “all the harder.” “Eastern DRC’s years of conflict and displacement have left health systems on their knees,” she said. “With dozens of lives already lost and an already overstretched health system, we need to act fast.”

Manenji Mangundu, the DRC country director at Oxfam, said the outbreak was “hitting a country already stretched to breaking point” due to ongoing conflict and years of aid cuts.

First identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC, Ebola is a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease that affects humans and non-human primates. It spreads through body fluids or contaminated materials and causes organ damage, blood vessel impairment and sometimes severe internal and external bleeding.

WHO has said the current outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo variant, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. It is named after the district in western Uganda where it was first discovered in 2007.

Dr Jean Kaseya, the director general of Africa CDC, said he was in “panic mode” due to the lack of a vaccine and highlighted the need for manufacturing capacity on the continent.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, the director general of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in the DRC and a co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, said some candidate compounds for a Bundibugyo vaccine were expected to enter trials by the end of May or in June.

In the meantime, he said, the government was implementing public health preventive measures including protecting healthcare workers and treating cases based on symptoms. “This is how we brought the Bundibugyo strain outbreak under control in 2012 in Isiro, not far from Ituri,” he said.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC. From August 2018 to June 2020, the country recorded the second largest outbreak of the disease in history globally, and the country’s deadliest, centred in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. It caused more than 2,000 deaths.

In Ituri, authorities have to address enduring stigma and misconceptions and rumours associated with Ebola in fighting the disease, just as with past outbreaks . Kasuna, the Irumu resident, said: “Our people tend to believe in false myths rather than rely on scientific evidence. We need to raise awareness to save people’s lives.”

Putin in China and a photocall in Cannes: photos of the day – Tuesday

Tue 19 May 2026 14.25 CESTLast modified on Tue 19 May 2026 14.36 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/may/19/putin-in-china-and-a-photocall-in-cannes-photos-of-the-day-tuesday

In pictures, Manhattan, 1972
You can spray that again! New York drenched in colour – in pictures
Harry Gruyeart
2026-05-19
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/may/19/new-york-harry-gruyaert-in-pictures
Culture

Harry Gruyaert is a Belgian photographer known for his images of India, Morocco and Egypt as well as his innovative use of colour.

He is a member of Magnum Photos and his work has been published in a number of books and exhibited widely. For more than 50 years, Gruyaert has wandered New York City’s streets, capturing its dazzling contrasts – from towering skylines and neon-lit diners to multicultural neighbourhoods and fleeting street scenes. Harry Gruyaert: New York is published by Thames and Hudson.

 

 

Manhattan, liquor store, 1985

Acclaimed French film director, screenwriter and producer Cédric Klapisch has collaborated with Gruyaert, providing text to accompany this striking visual journey. Klapisch’s fictional vignettes blur the lines between reality and imagination. A city of endless spectacle, New York becomes a global stage in Gruyaert’s hands – alive with drama, diversity and colour.

 

Manhattan, 2010

Cédric Klapisch: ‘Harry knows my personal connection with New York, having studied and lived there. It took me some time to figure out what it was about the city that fascinated me so much. There’s a particular kind of light there. The sunlight is sharp and the shadows of the skyscrapers sometimes plunge the streets into a deep penumbra. Tourist guides lead you to believe that it’s a gridlike city, neat and orderly. They claim that it’s divided into three sections: downtown, midtown and uptown. But when you live there, you learn that it’s much more subtle and complex than that’

 

Manhattan, 1985

‘Living in New York means experiencing chaos and diversity. It’s the very definition of “cosmopolitan”. The word comes from the Greek cosmos, meaning “world” or “universe” and politês, which means “citizen” or “of a city”. When Harry takes pictures on the streets of New York, this is exactly what he’s trying to capture. A cosmopolitan and multicultural population that welcomes strangers without treating them as “other”. Harry creates a portrait of the city that focuses on otherness’

 

Manhattan, 1985

‘You can’t talk about Harry without mentioning his relationship with colour. His images follow in the footsteps of great colourists like Stephen Shore, Helen Levitt, Ernst Haas, Saul Leiter, Joel Meyerowitz, William Eggleston and Alex Webb: photographers who are very conscious of the key role that colour plays in the structure of an image’

 

Manhattan, 1985

‘Looking through the images in this selection gives you the same feeling you’d get walking down a New York street. You’re not following a thread of logic but you can feel an effervescence, a commotion, a frenetic fusion of people, signs, street furniture, advertising and cars. The world capital of social contrast and unparalleled ethnic diversity, New York is a combination of rich and poor, communities and skin tones from around the world. The city is a magnificent, many-coloured melee’

 

Manhattan, 2017

‘While millions of people take millions of photos in the street and the vast majority of these are simply banal, Harry notices the banality but when he captures it with his camera, it turns into something else. When I look at his photos, I immediately see life. I often find myself wondering who these people are that I’m looking at; they turn into characters in a potential movie. And that’s what I’ve enjoyed doing throughout this book’

 

Madison Avenue, 1985

A vignette by Cédric Klapisch: ‘George told me to check the weather on TV this morning. But I didn’t listen and now I’m stuck in this ridiculous raincoat. It was a gift from my mother-in-law. She’s from South Carolina and she’s always saying “Why did you want to move to New York? Manhattan’s nothing but rain, rain, rain.” I came out of the subway, which was packed, and I’m sweating like nobody’s business under this blue plastic. Yesterday it rained all day but I wasn’t wearing this coat. I wished I had, I was so cold. Apparently it was the wind coming down from Canada’

 

 

Queens, 2002

Another vignette: ‘“Did you do it? Is he dead?” “No, not yet. I’m still thinking about it.” “What’s there to think about?” “Look, it’s a tough decision. I know he’s in a bad way, but it’s hard to think I won’t ever see him again. We had some great times together. Walking in this park every morning, it was nice, you know? It’ll be weird not coming here any more.” “But if he’s in pain, you’ve got no choice. Just take him to the vet and they’ll take care of him.” “Yeah, I guess so.”

 

Manhattan, 2017

‘I know that Harry’s much too modest to consider himself an artist. To me, the purpose of photography – and perhaps a definition of art itself – is to make the banal beautiful. Harry elevates the real by never seeing it as elevated. Reality is reality, it’s the everyday, it’s insignificant, it’s often messy, and sometimes pretty ugly’

 

Manhattan, 1978

‘By celebrating the man on the street, the “man of no importance”, all the people walking through the city, shopping and running errands, waiting for a bus, a subway train, or a friend, heading for who-knows-where, Harry Gruyaert methodically builds up, step by step and place by place, a multicoloured map of humanity’

 

 

Manhattan, 2014

All text by Cédric Klapisch. Harry Gruyaert was born in 1941 in Antwerp, Belgium. He currently lives in Belgium

Depressie
Immunotherapie zou gebruikt kunnen worden bij de behandeling van depressie, suggereert een eerste onderzoek.
Tobi Thomas
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/20/immunotherapy-drug-tocilizumab-potential-treatment-depression-uk-trial

Britse wetenschappers ontdekken dat tocilizumab, een medicijn dat wordt gebruikt bij reumatoïde artritis, mogelijk kan helpen bij patiënten die resistent zijn tegen antidepressiva.

[IMG]https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d45af1937d3957f1c40f3fc2107df33f23eec116/583_0_2917_2333/master/2917.jpg?width=620&dpr=2&s=none&crop=none[/IMG]

Deelnemers die tocilizumab kregen, leken na verloop van tijd grotere verbeteringen te ervaren dan degenen die een placebo kregen. Foto: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
Depressie
Immunotherapie zou gebruikt kunnen worden bij de behandeling van depressie, suggereert een eerste onderzoek.
Britse wetenschappers ontdekken dat tocilizumab, een medicijn dat wordt gebruikt bij reumatoïde artritis, mogelijk kan helpen bij patiënten die resistent zijn tegen antidepressiva.

Tobi Thomas, correspondent Gezondheid en ongelijkheid
Woensdag 20 mei 2026 16.00 BST

Deel
Geef de voorkeur aan The Guardian op Google.
Immunotherapie zou gebruikt kunnen worden om depressie te behandelen bij patiënten die niet reageren op conventionele antidepressiva, zo blijkt uit de resultaten van een eerste klinische studie.

Onderzoekers van de Universiteit van Bristol onderzochten of tocilizumab, een ontstekingsremmend medicijn dat vaak wordt gebruikt bij auto-immuunziekten zoals reumatoïde artritis, de symptomen van moeilijk te behandelen depressie zou kunnen verbeteren.

Ongeveer een op de drie mensen met een depressie knapt niet op ondanks de gangbare medische behandelingen, die gericht zijn op chemische stoffen in de hersenen. Naar schatting één op de zes volwassenen in het Verenigd Koninkrijk krijgt in zijn of haar leven te maken met matige tot ernstige depressieve symptomen.

Tocilizumab werkt door de IL-6R-receptor te blokkeren. Hierdoor kan de receptor zich niet aan cellen binden, waardoor de ontstekingssignalen die verband houden met auto-immuunziekten worden voorkomen.

Aan het onderzoek namen 30 mensen deel met matige tot ernstige depressie die niet goed reageerden op standaard antidepressiva. De deelnemers werden willekeurig toegewezen aan een groep die tocilizumab kreeg of een groep die een placebo kreeg, gedurende een periode van vier weken.

Hoewel de resultaten weinig statistisch bewijs leverden voor een significant verschil tussen de twee groepen, zoals te verwachten was bij een kleinschalige studie, leken deelnemers die tocilizumab kregen na verloop van tijd op verschillende gebieden grotere verbeteringen te ervaren in vergelijking met degenen die een placebo kregen, waaronder de algehele ernst van de depressie, vermoeidheid, angstgevoelens en kwaliteit van leven.

Golam Khandakar, hoogleraar psychiatrie en immunologie aan de medische faculteit van Bristol en hoofdauteur van de studie, zei dat de proef een “belangrijke mijlpaal” betekende in de ontwikkeling van nieuwe behandelingen voor depressie, een aandoening die bijzonder moeilijk te behandelen is.

“Dit is een van de eerste gerandomiseerde, gecontroleerde onderzoeken naar immunotherapie voor depressie, het eerste onderzoek naar IL-6R als behandelingsdoelwit en het eerste onderzoek dat een gerichte aanpak hanteert om patiënten te selecteren die er het meest baat bij hebben, en dat aantoont dat het werkt,” voegde Khandakar eraan toe, onderzoeker bij de MRC-eenheid voor integratieve epidemiologie aan de universiteit.

Deelnemers aan de studie die met tocilizumab werden behandeld, hadden ook een grotere kans op remissie van hun depressie dan degenen in de placebogroep, namelijk 54% tegenover 31%. Deze verhoogde kans was significant, aangezien het overeenkomt met een ‘number needed to treat’ (NNT) van 5, wat betekent dat er vijf extra patiënten behandeld zouden moeten worden om één patiënt te helpen. Ter vergelijking: de NNT voor SSRI’s – het meest gebruikte eerstelijns antidepressivum voor patiënten met matige tot ernstige depressie – is ongeveer 7, wat erop wijst dat immunotherapie mogelijk een grotere kans heeft om patiënten zich beter te laten voelen.

De onderzoekers gaven aan dat, hoewel het onderzoek slechts een klein aantal mensen betrof, het een vroeg bewijs leverde dat bepaalde vormen van immunotherapie de symptomen van depressie kunnen helpen verminderen.

Dr. Éimear Foley, senior onderzoeksmedewerker immunopsychiatrie bij de MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit en mede-auteur van de studie, zei: “Naar schatting krijgt ongeveer 10-20% van de mensen wereldwijd in hun leven te maken met depressie, maar voor veel patiënten werken de huidige behandelingen niet goed genoeg.

“Ons onderzoek brengt ons dichter bij een meer op maat gemaakte behandeling van depressie, waarbij behandelingen worden gekozen die beter aansluiten bij de biologische behoeften van een persoon. Dit zal ons helpen om de juiste behandeling op het juiste moment aan de juiste patiënt te bieden.”

World Cup 2026
Haaland’s Norway to Ronaldo’s swansong: Who are the most likely first-time World Cup winners?
Jeff Rueter
Thu 21 May 2026 11.00 CESTLast modified on Thu 21 May 2026 11.09 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/21/world-cup-first-time-winners-norway-haaland-portugal-ronaldo

When Fifa expanded the field for the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, the sales pitch included giving more nations a chance at glory. In reality, the favorites are nearly always former champions.

To date, only eight nations have won the men’s World Cup. And yet, few of the former champions arrive at this summer’s tournament in their finest form. Spain are a justifiably popular pick as the reigning European champions have plenty of world-class talent. Argentina will hope to defend their title from 2022 after following it up with the Copa América in 2024. France, who top our power rankings , have reached the last two finals, and Kylian Mbappé claims this squad is the best he has been a part of.

Beyond them, however, lie plenty of questions. England strolled through qualifying but were unimpressive in their last two friendlies. Brazil struggled in qualifying – they lost six matches – and are still acclimating to Carlo Ancelotti , while Germany have some great young players but arrive without a dependable No 9. Uruguay are a longshot under Marcelo Bielsa, while Italy missed out altogether (again).

The newly hatched Round of 32 is another hurdle to trip up one of the favorites. Tack on the considerable travel teams must negotiate and historically high temperatures , plus expensive tickets that may lead to tense atmospheres as supporters look to get their money’s worth, and there are plenty of reasons to think we could be in for a surprise winner.

So who could be a first-time champion this summer? Let’s look at the contenders.

The most likely

Portugal

2022 finish: Quarter-finals

Best finish: Third place (1966)

Arguably as worthy a frontrunner as any of the past winners. Success wasn’t always a given for the Seleção in the 20th century, but the modern era has seen Portugal emerge with serious staying power. This may be their best all-around squad since they won their first major competition at Euro 2016.

This will almost certainly be Cristiano Ronaldo’s international swansong. He was a regular starter at center-forward in qualifying – though he hasn’t featured for Portugal since his petulant red card against Ireland in November. While his declining athleticism complicated Portugal’s 2022 World Cup campaign, this year’s team have better balance behind Ronaldo. Vitinha is arguably the world’s finest midfielder, a metronome who can recirculate and break lines with ease and seldom abandons his station. João Neves has emerged alongside him at Paris Saint-Germain, while Bruno Fernandes arrives at the peak of his powers. The backline is more solid this time, too, with Gonçalo Inácio proving a dependable partner for Rúben Dias. Nuno Mendes is one of the world’s best full-backs, while Diogo Costa is dependable in goal.

There’s also plenty of strength behind the starters, including Gonçalo Ramos, the nimble João Félix, and gamechangers like Rúben Neves and Bernardo Silva. Roberto Martínez will be eager to erase the stigma of having arguably underperformed when he was in charge of Belgium’s golden generation with a deep run this time around.

The hopefuls

The Netherlands

2022 finish: Quarter-finals

Best finish: Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)

Can they get over the hump this time? The Dutch breezed through Uefa qualifying, outsourcing opponents 27-4 across eight matches without defeat. The collective will always be in focus, as is customary for the nation and its national team alike, but Xavi Simons’s ACL injury robs Ronald Koeman of some needed unpredictability. There’s depth aplenty in defense and midfield, but the lack of a clinical goalscorer has hampered the Dutch in recent years. A balanced group also featuring Japan , Sweden and Tunisia will provide worthy tests before the knockout rounds start, where they’ll hope to better their run to the quarter-final in 1994, the last time the World Cup was played in North America.

Morocco

2022 finish : Fourth place

Best finish: Fourth place (2022)

Depending whom you ask , Morocco are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions. Morocco won’t surprise their opponents as they did four years ago, storming to the semi-finals in Qatar with fearless counterattacking and a well-curated structure. Success in that tournament and thereafter has built an experienced group with a chip on their shoulder due to their asterisk-laden claim to continental supremacy. Keep an eye on 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi: the midfielder had his switch from France approved after a promising season with Lille, and fills an area of need for Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi.

Senegal

2022 finish: Round of 16

Best finish: Quarter-finalist (2002)

Depending whom you ask , Senegal are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions. One assumes they won’t leave games unless they’re explicitly told to do so this time around, though they’ll hope for fewer shenanigans around them in North America. A veteran core has maintained fairly good fitness since the winter, with Édouard Mendy (age 34) in goal, Kalidou Koulibaly (34) anchoring the backline, Idrissa Gueye (36) at the heart of the midfield and Sadio Mané (34) the program’s record scorer. Younger players have begun to emerge, as evidenced by a team effort en route to the Afcon final, but few have forced the old guard toward the door. Young midfielder Habib Diarra (22) could turn heads after navigating his club-record switch from Strasbourg to Sunderland with great success.

Japan

2022 finish: Round of 16

Best finish: Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)

While Japan have yet to advance to even the quarter-finals, they earned rave reviews at the last two World Cups for valiant challenges. Hajime Moriyasu has his finger on his team’s pulse and makes Samurai Blue a difficult matchup for any opponent. Just ask England, who fell 1-0 to Japan in a friendly earlier this year. Zion Suzuki has been sharp in goal for Parma and could get a boost by playing two group games in the US, where he was born. Kaoru Mitoma’s absence as he recovers from a hamstring injury is a shame, but a deep squad could finally reach the tournament’s business end in a year without clear favorites.

The longshots

One of the co-hosts

2022 finishes

Canada: Group stage

Mexico: Group stage

United States: Round of 16

Best finish:

Canada: Group stage (1986, 2022)

Mexico: Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)

United States: Third place (1930)

“Success” will be defined on different curves for each co-host, but none of them are likely to reach the final. Canada will hope to advance from the group stage for the first time, with Jesse Marsch blessed with plenty of fine strikers but a relatively thin midfield and defense. Mauricio Pochettino still seems to be learning the nuances of international management, and a first quarter-final since 2002 would be a fine showing to cap a tumultuous cycle for the USMNT. Both of Mexico’s runs to the quarter-finals came on home soil, boding well for this instalment, and 17-year-old phenom Gilberto Mora could be the breakout star of the summer.

Ecuador

2022 finish: Group stage

Best finish: Round of 16 (2006)

The best of the rest in South America at present, Ecuador trailed only Argentina in Conmebol qualifying and hope to avenge 2022’s failure to advance from a watered-down Group A. Their squad is thin in areas, but they have one of the field’s best defenses (Pervis Estupiñán, Willian Pacho, Piero Hincapié and Joel Ordóñez). Enner Valencia, his country’s all-time leading scorer with 49 goals, remains a man for the big moment.

Turkey

2022 finish: Did not qualify

Best finish: Third place (2002)

Turkey’s impenetrable defense made them a shock semi-finalist in 2002, and they’re making their return to the World Cup after a 24-year absence. This generation boasts considerable high-end talent (Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Arda Güler, Kenan Yıldız), a deep defense that won’t shy from the thankless stuff. They could easily win their group – which also features the US, Australia and Paraguay – but a 6-0 loss at home to Spain in the qualifiers showed just how far a gap remains between them and the global heavyweights. Perhaps Uğurcan Çakır has a flawless Rüştü Reçber impression up his sleeves …

Norway

2022 finish: Did not qualify

Best finish: Round of 16 (1938, 1998)

Norway were flawless in the qualifiers: they won all eight of their games and scored 37 goals in a group that featured Italy to snap a 28-year World Cup drought. While they lack a top goalkeeper and there remain questions about a few spots in Ståle Solbakken’s lineup, they have something no opponent can match: Erling Haaland, the world’s best striker. Norwegians will anxiously monitor Martin Ødegaard’s fitness, but if Haaland and the bruising Alexander Sørloth maximize their chances, they’ll keep opponents from getting comfortable.

Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers says 2026 will be his final NFL season: ‘This is it’
Guardian sport
Wed 20 May 2026 21.25 CESTLast modified on Wed 20 May 2026 21.39 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/may/20/aaron-rodgers-final-season-steelers-retire

Aaron Rodgers has said that the 2026 season will be the final one of his NFL career.

“Yes. This is it,” the Steelers quarterback told reporters in Pittsburgh on Wednesday when asked if the upcoming campaign would be his last.

The four-time MVP agreed last weekend to return to the Steelers on a one-year deal reportedly worth up to $25m. The 42-year-old, who is entering his 22nd NFL season, led the Steelers to the AFC North division title last season.

The Steelers hired Mike McCarthy, Rodgers’s coach for 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, after Mike Tomlin stepped down this offseason. McCarthy and Rodgers defeated Tomlin’s Steelers to win the Super Bowl during the 2010 season in Green Bay, and the quarterback earned two of his four MVPs playing under McCarthy.

After signing a one-year deal with the Steelers last June, he told the Pat McAfee Show that the 2025 season would probably be his final in the NFL. He then guided the Steelers to the division title and a playoff appearance, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Rodgers said Wednesday that he contemplated retirement after Tomlin resigned following the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Houston Texans in January, but the hiring of McCarthy changed his mind.

“When [Tomlin] said he was stepping away, that was an emotional moment just because we all love him so much and care about him, and I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” Rodgers said. “But when the decision was made to hire [McCarthy], I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”

After 18 seasons with the Packers, Rodgers played for the New York Jets from 2023 to 2024. He told reporters that playing under McCarthy again would be a “full circle” moment.

“There was some doubt for sure, but I had good conversations with Mike going back to when he was hired. It’s nice to come back. It felt different than last year, cause I knew some of the guys and the people that work here,” Rodgers said. “So it felt good coming in.”

Ebola
The Guardian view on tackling Ebola: pathogens aren’t the only things that kill
Editorial
Wed 20 May 2026 19.51 CESTLast modified on Thu 21 May 2026 06.22 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/20/the-guardian-view-on-tackling-ebola-pathogens-arent-the-only-things-that-kill

T he Democratic Republic of the Congo has faced the deadly threat of Ebola 16 times since the virus was discovered there in 1976, with a 2018-20 outbreak killing almost 2,300 people. On Sunday, the World Health Organization declared the 17th outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern . So far, 139 suspected deaths and almost 600 suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever virus have been identified, nearly all in the DRC’s north-eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, with two cases in Uganda of people who had travelled from the DRC.

There is also anxiety about neighbouring South Sudan. The WHO fears the disease has been spreading for a couple of months and, given the highly mobile population, warns that it could take months more to bring it under control. While it judges the risk of global spread to be low, it thinks the regional risk is high.

The Bundibugyo virus responsible for the DRC cases is believed to be less deadly than more common Ebola strains such as the one that killed 11,000 people in the 2014-16 west African outbreak. But one study suggested that it still kills around a third of those infected , and there are no licensed vaccines or approved treatments , though some are in the pipeline. Its rarity may also have contributed to how long it took to be detected, with authorities initially testing for other strains.

Yet human choices shape disease outbreaks as much as the characteristics of the pathogens themselves. The eastern DRC has endured years of armed conflict, with a surge over the last year . War makes it harder to reach communities, forces displaced people into often crowded and insanitary conditions, and reduces access to healthcare. Too often – including in Ituri – combatants attack health facilities. Beleaguered communities receiving minimal support distrust the authorities and those sent by them, including health workers. Overcoming that requires not only sensitivity to local beliefs, customs and concerns, but also a surge in provision, with medical teams providing routine healthcare and vaccinations to establish trust and facilitate the creation of Ebola treatment centres.

Medical workers in the region have expertise and experience – they don’t need international teams flying in, but adequate resources. Instead, the slashing of aid budgets by Donald Trump and leaders in the UK and elsewhere has had punitive effects. The International Rescue Committee says that it had to cut its health and outbreak preparedness areas in eastern DRC from five to two because of US cuts, affecting everything from disease surveillance to the provision of handwashing stations and latrines. It blames the funding reduction directly for the delayed detection of the virus. US criticism of the WHO’s response as “a little late” is rich from an administration that withdrew from it , taking away the body’s biggest pot of funding.

International governments are now offering emergency-response funding. While that is essential, keeping deadly diseases under control depends on consistent support for those on the frontline and for expertise and monitoring internationally. A Global Preparedness Monitoring Board report published on Monday warned that infectious disease outbreaks are becoming more common due to the climate crisis and war, while geopolitical fragmentation is weakening collective responses. The DRC’s outbreak should remind us all that our choices have long-term consequences.

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Michael Bay
Michael Bay to direct film based on US military rescue mission in Iran
Benjamin Lee
Wed 20 May 2026 21.21 CESTLast modified on Wed 20 May 2026 21.42 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/20/michael-bay-iran-movie

Michael Bay is set to direct a military drama based on the recent rescue of two US crew members who crashed in Iran .

According to Deadline , the director of action films such as Armageddon and Transformers will work with Universal Pictures to bring the story to the screen. In April, two soldiers were rescued after their fighter jet was downed, something Donald Trump called “one of most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history”.

In a statement, Bay says the film will celebrate “the true heroism and unwavering dedication of our service members”.

The as-yet-untitled project will be based on a book by Mitchell Zuckoff to be released in 2027. Zuckoff’s book 13 Hours , about the attack on an American compound in Benghazi, was previously turned into a movie by Bay in 2016.

The film starred John Krasinski and became one of Bay’s lowest-grossing films. In a two-star review, the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw wrote that it was “like playing Call of Duty for 72 hours straight – only without the subtlety and insight”.

During his presidential campaign at the time, Trump showed his support of the movie by renting out a cinema so his supporters could watch it for free.

Bay’s most recent film, the Jake Gyllenhaal-led action thriller Ambulance , was a box office disappointment back in 2022. He was set to direct a Will Smith action vehicle in 2024 but a year later the project fell apart over reports of creative differences between the pair, who had previously worked on Bad Boys and its first sequel.

Last year, Bay also directed a Super Bowl advert for the Secret Service.

On social media, the film-maker wrote : “Filming Secret Service Super Bowl commercial: President Trump wanted to meet me. I’m the only person standing in front of AF1, Marine One lands, and the President walks up to me: surreal.”

Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea warns against fishing in New Ireland after mystery deaths of marine life

Thu 21 May 2026 02.52 CEST
News
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/21/png-dead-fish-dying-new-ireland-province-fishing-warning-papua-new-guinea

Papua New Guinea’s government has warned communities not to fish from parts of the New Ireland coastline as preliminary tests show evidence of metals in some water samples, after months of residents reporting dead marine life in the area.

On 7 May the fisheries minister, Jelta Wong, said initial testing conducted by an independent company detected various metals in water samples taken from affected areas around Kafkaf village and Larairu lagoon in New Ireland, an island in eastern PNG.

“The results indicate the presence of poisonous minerals in the marine environment and further investigations are continuing,” Wong said at a press conference.

Concern was first raised in December 2025, when residents on New Ireland’s coast began reporting unusual numbers of dead fish washing ashore. The communities of Kafkaf and Mangai were most affected.

Commercial and subsistence fishing take place in New Ireland. Independent environmental organisation Ailan Awareness has conducted assessments in the area and at least 11 villages and more than 1,250 people have been affected through illness or contaminated food and water.

Residents said reef fish were found floating dead in shallow waters with swollen eyes, damaged skin and discoloured flesh. Within weeks, the number of marine animal deaths rose, alarming communities that are heavily dependent on the ocean for food and income.

Some residents have reported health problems after swimming or fishing in the affected waters. The seawater has been described as having a strong sulphur-like smell and appearing cloudy or discoloured during low tide.

Authorities have warned communities not to consume fish or seafood from the affected waters until more testing has been completed. They said no conclusions had been reached regarding the source of the metal substances found in the water.

Investigations involving national agencies, independent scientists and international laboratories are continuing as authorities attempt to determine the full extent of contamination and whether long-term environmental damage has occurred along New Ireland’s east coast.

In January, provincial authorities declared Kafkaf an environmental hazard and contaminated zone after continued reports of marine deaths and illness among residents.

New Ireland’s governor, Byron Chan, told parliament in March that the unexplained fish deaths in the province had become a major environmental and public health concern and called on the national government to take urgent action.

The national government has been criticised for failure to act more quickly and the lack of immediate assistance for affected villages.

Marine conservation advocate John Aini said the slow response from authorities had left communities without much-needed assistance, describing the situation as “total neglect in our time of crisis”.

Kafkaf community leader Martha Piwas said families have stopped fishing as fears grew over contamination of marine food sources.

“We are suffering because the sea is our supermarket and our garden,” Piwas told local media.

“Mothers cannot feed their children fish any more. People are getting sick.”

She said many people in the village depended entirely on fishing for their survival, but no longer felt they could safely enter the water.

Ailan Awareness, led by conservationist John Aini, conducted a five-day coastal assessment in March across affected communities and documented more than 3,400 dead marine organisms across at least 15 species.

Aini warned at the time that the scale of marine deaths pointed to a serious ecological disturbance affecting reef systems and coastal biodiversity. Residents said communities continue to face food shortages and economic hardship as fishing activities were suspended.

“The communities are frightened because they rely entirely on the ocean for food security and livelihoods,” Aini said.