Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Rice, Food, Cheese, Indian food and drink, Main course, Vegetarian food and drink, Tomatoes, Herbs and spices, Vegetables
Title – Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for one-pot nigella-spiced paneer fried rice | Rice | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rukmini-iyer
Link – Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for one-pot nigella-spiced paneer fried rice | Rice | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T12:00:23.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/22/one-pot-nigella-spiced-paneer-fried-rice-quick-easy-recipe-rukmini-iyer

T his is such a gorgeous one-pot rice dish, though it deviates from my usual microwave method and goes back to cooking rice the good old-fashioned, stove-top absorption way. If you’re vegan, you can easily substitute tofu for the paneer cubes. In fact, I told my tofu-mad children that the paneer was tofu, and they were none the wiser.

One-pot nigella-spiced paneer fried rice

Prep 15 min Cook 30 min Serves 2-3

225g paneer , cut into 1cm cubes 2 tbsp neutral oil 1 onion , peeled and finely chopped 2 garlic cloves , peeled and finely grated 2cm piece fresh ginger , peeled and finely grated 2 tsp nigella seeds 1 scant tsp ground turmeric 1 heaped tsp freshly ground coriander 200g cherry tomatoes , halved 150g spring greens , finely chopped 200g basmati rice 400ml boiling vegetable stock Flaky sea salt Yoghurt , to serve (optional)

Tip the cubed paneer into a bowl of just-boiled water and leave it to rehydrate while you get everything else ready.

Pour half the oil in a large frying pan or casserole with a lid, and put it on a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and fry, stirring, for five minutes, until slightly softened. Add the garlic and ginger, and fry for a further two minutes.

Drain the paneer into a colander, shake it dry, then tip it into the onion pan and stir to coat. Fry for three to four minutes, without disturbing the paneer, until it’s well browned on one side. Add the nigella seeds, turmeric and ground coriander, stir-fry for 30-40 seconds, then add the tomatoes and spring greens, and fry for a further minute.

Tip in the rice, stir well to coat, then pour over the stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low, cover the pan and leave the rice to cook for 12 minutes without lifting the lid – do not peek.

Spoon out the rice on to two large plates, then spread it out and leave for five minutes, so it dries out and fluffs up. Taste and add salt as needed, then serve warm with yoghurt on the side, if you wish.

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Politics, UK news, Keir Starmer, Labour party leadership, Andy Burnham, Labour, House of Commons, Nigel Farage, Zack Polanski, Green party, Reform UK, Ursula von der Leyen, Anthony Albanese, Jeremy Corbyn, Your Party, Micheál Martin, Mark Carney, Opinion polls, Anas Sarwar, Kemi Badenoch
Title – Andy Burnham sworn in as an MP after Keir Starmer resigns as prime minister – as it happened | Politics | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/vivian-ho,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andrewsparrow,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/severincarrell,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jessica-elgot,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jennifer-rankin,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthewweaver,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sallyweale,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jakub-krupa,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/stevenmorris,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterwalker,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/benquinn
Link – Andy Burnham sworn in as an MP after Keir Starmer resigns as prime minister – as it happened | Politics | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T19:50:59.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-timeable-andy-burnham-labour-leadership-prime-minister-latest-news-updates

Andy Burnham sworn in as MP for Makerfield

Lindsay Hoyle says, in a particularly loud voice, ‘we now come to Andy Burnham , member for Makerfield.”

There is a heckle from Desmond Swayne.

And Burnham takes the oath.

Summary

Keir Starmer announced that he is resigning as prime minister following days of intense pressure from Labour MPS, paving the way for the newly elected Andy Burnham to take over at Downing Street.

A new prime minister is set to take over by mid July if Burham runs unopposed, or by the end of August if there’s an election.

Nigel Farage , leader of Reform UK , has called for a general election, claiming that it is “ridiculous to pretend that Andy Burnham has any kind of meaningful mandate to lead the country.”

Wes Streeting has confirmed that he won’t stand as a candidate for the Labour leadership, saying that a contest where candidates spend the summer “exaggerating small differences” would not be good for the party or the country. Having spoken to Burnham, he said he was confident that that there is “a place” for the policies he has been advocating under a Burnham premiership.

Andy Burnham traveled from Manchester to London to be sworn in as MP of Makerfield. Labour MPs turned up en masse in Westminster Hall to pose for photographs. Chancellor Rachel Reeves was there as well to greet Burnham, though she was not present outside No 10 for Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister this morning.

The UK-EU summit scheduled for 22 July has been postponed to allow new PM more time to prepare. Tributes to Starmer and his premiership have been coming in from European leaders all day, with Ursula von der Leyen , the European Commission president, posting that “European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you” and Volodymyr Zelenskyy , the Ukrainian president, thanking Starmer for “always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed and what will truly help”.

Lord Neil Kinnock , former leader of the Labour party, was on LBC’s Tonight With Andrew Marr to say that he believes Keir Starmer resigned due to his “really seriously bad judgments, some of which had a real effect on people’s lives”,

“His greatest flaw is his inability to appoint really effective, honest, independently minded advisors,” Kinnock said.

However, Kinnock commended Starmer on his “absolutely irrepressible sense of duty”.

“With the tawdriness of politics, it’s difficult for people to grasp, and I understand why, that there is honour, there is duty, there is commitment, there is integrity, and he showed a lot today,” he said.

Andy Burnham called for a general election during the Conservatives’ leadership crisis in 2022 after Boris Johnson resigned, BBC Verify has revealed.

The new MP for Makerfield declined to answer a question today over whether there should be a general election if he becomes prime minister.

But the fact-checking team at the BBC has found several Tweets by Burnham where he said a general election was needed after Conservative leader Johnson resigned, plunging the Tories into chaos.

“We need to start demanding a General Election at the end of this Tory leadership election”, Burnham said on July 13 2022. “They were all elected on a manifesto promise to level up the North and are all abandoning it.”

Britain will soon have its fifth prime minister in four years. How did we get here and what challenges await Keir Starmer’s successor?

Ben Quinn , our political correspondent, explains what will happen next in UK politics after the prime minister’s resignation.

Former home secretary Alan Johnson was on BBC Radio 5 Live with some advice for Andy Burnham : “Be brave Andy, be brave.”

Johnson’s idea of being brave is for Burnham to “go to the country”.

“It’ll be a very bold thing to do,” Johnson said. “It might set a precedent that others in the future will have to follow, but it will help restore trust in politics, and that is Andy’s big plus. He can’t do that and say, oh, but I’m going to do what every other previous leader who waltzed into Downing Street without any consultation with the public… “…Because if he doesn’t go to the country, he has got to follow the mandate and the manifesto of Keir Starmer and he’s criticised big chunks of that.”

The former home secretary applauded Burnham for standing in Makerfield , calling it “bold stuff”.

“You have to continue that boldness,” Johnson said.

YouGov poll: 62% of Britons say Keir Starmer right to resign

Six in 10 Britons (62%) think Keir Starmer was right to quit, while one in five (19%) think he was wrong, according to new YouGov polling conducted after Starmer announced his resignation.

Of those who voted Labour in 2024, 52% thought he was right to resign while 28% wish he had stayed in office.

When asked how Starmer performed as prime minister , 21% thought he did a poor job while 29% thought he did a terrible job. However, 28% thought he was an “average” prime minister, while 13% thought he was good and 2% thought he was great.

Among Labour voters, 33% thought Starmer did a good or great job while 28% considered him average.

Meanwhile, 39% of those polled believe that Labour MPs will look back in a few years and be glad Starmer was forced to resign but 26% expect they will come to regret the situation.

Among Labour voters, 31% said they think Labour MPs will be glad Starmer was forced to resign, while 34% think they’ll regret it.

The Guardian’s Lucy Hough speaks to senior political correspondent Peter Walker on the latest Today In Focus about today’s happenings:

The latest edition of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly UK podcast is out. It features Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey talking about Keir Starmer’s resignation.

That’s all from me for today. Vivian Ho is taking over now.

Keir Starmer gave a private speech to No 10, after his public resignation announcement, thanking them for their work, Emilio Casalicchio and Noah Keate report in their London Playbook PM briefing. They say:

Once the door was closed, Starmer made another speech thanking staff — in particular those who have been there from the start. He said the super-human effort, moments of kindness and extra hours worked were all for the good of the nation and had been noted and appreciated. “It will make a difference to people who you will never meet, who will never know what you did,” he told them, according to one paraphrased account that others confirmed. “That’s what really matters.” He also thanked those who worked in the building to look after his wife and kids, and spent time talking to people one-on-one in the garden over teas and coffees.

Farage condemns Burnham as ‘another professional politician’

The JL Partners polling explains why Reform UK is so alarmed about the prospect of Andy Burnham becoming PM. (See 5.01pm .) In a statement issued earlier, Nigel Farage , the Reform UK leader, said:

I’ve had enough of waiting around. Britain needs change – real change, not another washed-up has-been shoved into place by the uniparty.

If Labour thinks it can shove another professional politician into No 10, it has another thing coming. Reform is ready for an election, and we are ready to deliver radical change.

It’s a bit rich for Farage to criticise Burnham as a “professional politician”. Farage himself was first elected as a parliamentarian (an MEP) in 1999, two years before Burnham was first elected as an MP. And “bit rich” is an understatement when it comes to describing how much Farage himself now earns from second jobs linked to the celebrity he has achieved as politician.

Last week Deltapoll published some polling suggesting that, with Labour led by Keir Starmer, Reform UK would be 8 points ahead of Labour in an election, but with Andy Burnham leading the government instead, Reform’s lead would be just 1 point.

Today another polling company, JL Partners, has released polling suggesting that people think Reform UK would win an election with an 18-point lead if Starmer were leader, but that with Burnham as leader they think Labour would be on course for a 2-point win.

UPDATE: The JL Partners figures are not from a voting intention poll (how people would vote); they are from a poll of what people would expect the result to be, which is different. I have changed the language in the second paragraph to make that clear.

Jonathan Freedland has an excellent account of where it all went wrong for Keir Starmer . Here is an extract.

Perhaps there was a time when voters would have given a newly elected PM a few years to turn things around, but those days are long gone. The electorate is impatient now, demanding almost instant results. That process has been intensified and accelerated by social media, which does not merely put the worst possible gloss on the actions and motives of those in its sights, but distorts public figures out of all recognition. Labour canvassers for the May elections were shocked to find voters who were not just disappointed in Starmer but harboured a visceral loathing for him – who saw him in almost demonic terms. They were reacting to an invention untethered to reality, but one pushed and promoted by Elon Musk and his X platform especially.

Given all that he faced, historians might be impressed with what Starmer achieved. In his resignation speech, he highlighted his transformation of the Labour party, the fall in NHS waiting lists and the lifting of half a million children out of poverty, along with a raft of workers’ and renters’ rights that, say Starmer’s advocates, sits at the centre of a record of progressive accomplishment that bears comparison to the first two years of the 1945 government. They also credit Starmer with boosting Britain’s standing on the world stage, the canny statecraft that kept Donald Trump’s US engaged on Ukraine and which kept the UK out of Trump’s doomed war with Iran – a decision that takes its place alongside that of Starmer’s hero, Harold Wilson, to abstain from the war in Vietnam. At all this, say Starmer’s friends, he was brilliantly adept. But, sighs one, “This is not an age of substance, it’s an age of sheen – and he was just not very good at that.”

And here is the full article.

A reader asks:

Is there any realistic possibility that Keir Starmer might be offered a ministerial post in an Andy Burnham government? There was some speculation a while back that Burnham might ask him to be Foreign Secretary, for example. His legal background might also make him a good Attorney General, or perhaps even Justice Secretary.

Short answer: No.

There is precedent for a former PM coming back to serve as foreign secretary. Alec Douglas-Home did that, as did David Cameron.

But I can’t think of any precedent, at least in modern history, for someone stepping down as PM one week and then turning up to cabinet the following week in a more junior role. There is far too much bitterness between Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham to imagine that happening; even if there wasn’t, you might imagine that an ex-PM would want time to adjust to their reduced status before rejoining the cabinet.

Cameron resigned in 2016 and did not become foreign secretary until 2023. Douglas-Home lost an election in 1964 and did not become foreign secretary until 1970. He did become shadow foreign secretary in 1965, when Ted Heath replaced him as leader. But there was no particular animus between them; Douglas-Home had not been forced out. And, in those days, a shadow cabinet job was more part-time than it is now.

Badenoch claims Starmer having to resign because he ‘failed on national security’

In the Commons Kemi Badenoch , the Conservative leader, has been responding to David Lammy’s statement about last week’s G7 summit. She criticised Andy Burnham for not being present himself, claiming he was “more interested in his leadership bid than Britain’s national security”.

She went on:

If [Burnham] becomes prime minister, he will be briefed by the heads of our military about Britain’s reducing ability to defend herself, let alone Ukraine.

In order to fund defence, we need more money, not more speeches at summits. He will find that Britain is not able to borrow any more money. He will find that it has all been spent on welfare. He will realise that this government is providing export finance to rebuild Ukraine’s energy system while crippling our own, reducing sanctions on Russian oil while sanctioning oil from Aberdeen.

She accused Labour MPs of “living in La-La Land” on defence. And she went on:

The prime minister is resigning because he failed on national security. He appointed a known security risk as our ambassador to Washington. He is destroying our energy security, which is national security, and he is refusing to fund the defence investment plan needed to keep our country safe.

Responding to Badenoch, David Lammy , the deputy PM, sarcastically thanked the Tory leader for her “generosity and constructive suggestions” and said Starmer had left the UK “stronger and fairer” than it was before.

A reader asks:

@Andrew: Can Lucy Powell remain deputy leader if Burnham becomes leader? I presume not, which probably means she will be given a cabinet role in exchange, right?

She can. In fact, she must. Lucy Powell is the only Labour MP with a senior post who is elected to her role, and that means she cannot be sacked. She is also a fellow north-west MP who is a friend of Andy Burnham’s, and so her prospects are looking good. One theory is that she could be appointed deputy PM – or co-deputy PM, if Burnham decides to keep David Lammy in post.

Keyword – Info
Trefwoorden – Information
Title – What is the ‘Deeply read’ list? | Information | The Guardian
Author – Guardian staff
Link – What is the ‘Deeply read’ list? | Information | The Guardian
Publish date – 2024-02-28T09:45:16.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/info/2024/feb/28/what-is-the-deeply-read-list

For many years at the Guardian we have been looking at how long our readers spend with our journalism. While the number of clicks on an article can help us understand the possible importance or popularity of an article on a given topic, it’s just as important for us to get a sense of the quality of a piece and the time readers spend with it can help us gauge that.

Along with many other sites, the Guardian has for a long time shown readers the pieces other people are clicking on in the form of a “Most viewed” list. But these lists often don’t include wonderful journalism on topics more off the beaten track. The “Deeply read” list uses attention time to surface a wider range of journalism that other readers are spending more time with. It appears on our regionalised home pages and reflects the interests of the region’s audience.

Not all of these pieces are long. To power the list we created a metric that looks at the attention time from readers compared with the length of the piece. This means that the list is diverse in terms of topic, length and format.

We hope you enjoy the increased variety and depth of the pieces you find here.

Keyword – Global
Trefwoorden – Newsletter sign-up
Title – Sign up for the First Edition newsletter: our free daily news email | Newsletter sign-up | The Guardian
Author – Guardian Staff
Link – Sign up for the First Edition newsletter: our free daily news email | Newsletter sign-up | The Guardian
Publish date – 2022-09-20T10:16:38.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/sep/20/sign-up-for-the-first-edition-newsletter-our-free-news-email

Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Food, Snacks, Side dishes, Vegetables, Italian food and drink, Summer food and drink
Title – How to make courgette fritti – recipe | Food | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/felicity-cloake
Link – How to make courgette fritti – recipe | Food | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T12:00:30.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/21/courgette-fritti-recipe-felicity-cloake-masterclass

T hese are not chips. If you’re hankering after a fluffy, carby heap of fried potato, I’ll be honest, these courgette numbers probably won’t cut the mustard. If, however, you like the idea of hot, crisp, juicy veg, then you’re in luck. As well as a vegetable side, these make a fantastic snack with drinks, particularly when paired with a hot sauce or punchy dip.

Prep 15 min Salt 30 min+ Cook 15 min Serves 8 as a side

2 medium courgettes Salt 150g plain flour 2 egg whites Light olive or neutral oil

1 A note on the courgettes

You can use just about any size of courgette or other summer squash for this, but do bear in mind that the bigger the fruit, the more seeds it will contain, so consider using a teaspoon to scrape out the watery core of larger courgettes and marrows, because the steam those seeds give off during cooking may turn the batter soggy.

2 A note on the shape

Having tested various shapes, I found that the thinner the cut, the crisper the outsides, though at the expense of the juicy centre. Chunky matchsticks seem to me the best compromise, but you might like to cut yours into bigger batons for easier dipping. If using a rounder squash such as a pattypan, half-moons also work well.

3 Cut the courgettes

Trim the ends off the courgettes, then cut each one in half lengthways. Stand one on its wider end and carefully slice down into roughly 5mm-thick pieces (use a mandoline to do this, if you have one). Stack the slices on top of each other, cut into matchsticks, and repeat with the remaining courgette.

4 Salt the courgettes

Toss the matchsticks with a fairly generous sprinkling of salt, then put them in a colander or sieve set over a bowl or sink and leave to drain for about 30 minutes. You can skip this step if you’re pressed for time, though it does draw out the water, making for a crisper finish; it also seasons the courgettes from the inside out.

5 Start the batter

Meanwhile, put the flour (a gluten-free variety will also work just fine here) in a wide, shallow dish, then stir in enough lukewarm water (probably about 250ml) to make a batter with the consistency of double cream (for non-UK readers, a thick but pourable liquid). Season lightly and rest for 20 minutes, if you have time.

6 Whip the egg whites

Put the egg whites in a large bowl and whisk to stiff peaks (if you like, use the yolks to make a mayonnaise for dipping; any blender mayonnaise recipe will work). Stir a spoonful of the egg white mix into the batter to loosen it, then carefully fold in the rest.

7 Heat the oil and turn on the oven

Fill a large, deep pan by a third with oil, then heat it to 170C (150C fan)/335F/gas 3½ (or use a deep-fat fryer set to the same temperature). Turn on the oven to low, and have ready an ovenproof tray lined with kitchen paper near the hob. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the salted courgettes, then tip them into a clean tea towel and rub as dry as possible.

8 Fry in batches

When the oil is hot, drop a handful of the courgettes into the batter, then shake off as much excess batter as possible. Fry, stirring to separate the fries and prevent clumping, for three to four minutes, until golden. Scoop out on to the kitchen paper-lined tray, season lightly, then keep warm in the low oven while you repeat with the rest of the courgettes, making sure the oil comes to temperature each time.

9 Serving suggestions

You can cut the courgettes and make the batter up to 24 hours in advance, and store both in the fridge. The cooked fries pair well with garlic mayonnaise, hot sauce, salsa verde or a quick dip made by mixing thick plain yoghurt with crushed garlic, crumbled feta and fresh herbs, then season and add lemon juice and olive oil to taste.

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Keir Starmer, Politics, UK news, Andy Burnham, Nigel Farage, Labour, Labour party leadership
Title – Starmer’s turn at the Podium of Doom sees him depart with good(ish) grace | John Crace | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/johncrace
Link – Starmer’s turn at the Podium of Doom sees him depart with good(ish) grace | John Crace | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T14:36:51.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/22/keir-starmer-resignation-podium-of-doom

T hey think it’s all over. It is now … It was all done with comparatively little fuss. No operational note sent out to the media. No timings given to the broadcasters. Just a small flurry of activity in the street outside No 10. Microphones and loudspeakers set up. Then the Podium of Doom. It was almost as if Keir Starmer was a little embarrassed about what was happening. Wanted as few people as possible to witness his departure.

Shortly before 9.30am, Downing Street staffers and a handful of cabinet ministers assembled to say goodbye. The Unhappy Few. The last remaining loyalists. David Lammy, Darren Jones, Richard Hermer and Douglas Alexander. No sign of Rachel Reeves. Maybe she had headed up to Manchester the night before so she could come back down with Andy Burnham on Monday morning. “What are the chances of meeting like this?”

The UK was about to see off its sixth leader in 10 years. It’s getting to be habit forming. We used to laugh at the Italians for their prime ministerial churn. Now the laugh is on us. The door opened and Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, emerged. Both looked utterly forlorn.

It was hard not to remember that moment less than two years ago when they had walked up Downing Street in triumph after Labour’s landslide election victory . That had been a day full of hope. When a new politics had seemed possible. One where the grownups were back in charge. Keir had promised change. No one had considered the fact that it would be Keir that would be changed. Traded in for a newer, shinier model in a tight black T-shirt. Meet the new boss. Would he go the same way as the old boss?

From outside the Downing Street gates, the sounds of Steve Bray playing Ode to Joy, the EU’s anthem. A prime minister isn’t even extended the grace of a few minute’s peace to resign these days. Maybe it’s just considered an everyday event now. Oh look! Another one bites the dust. Thankfully someone did the country a favour and pulled the plug out of Bray’s PA system and Starmer was allowed to finish his speech in silence.

Yet there will never not be something about these occasions that aren’t remarkable. A merging of the personal and the political. The all too visible passing of power from one person to another. The ultimate price being paid by someone who had chosen to live his life in the public gaze. Yet another leader who thought that – just perhaps – he could buck the trend.

He was the one who would be different from all the others. Would go in style, a much-loved prime minister, at a time of his choosing. Instead, he was just another butterfly broken on the wheel. Even having to endure the humiliation of a particularly charmless Donald Trump social media post. There again, are there any other sort of Trump posts?

For much of Keir’s time in office, his delivery has been slightly robotic. Not as bad as Theresa May – she was in a league of her own – but still something semi-detached. It’s possible that the reason he never really connected with the country was that he never really connected with himself. Now, though, we were getting the real Keir. The undiluted, unfiltered Keir. O that this too solid flesh would melt. The emotion wasn’t just near the surface. It was the surface.

He began by talking of his achievements. A reminder to the country. And possibly to himself. That he wasn’t part of a rogue’s gallery that included Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Prime ministers who had inflicted actual harm on the country they had led. His failure was of another order. He explained that he had transformed Labour from a party that was politically, financially and morally bankrupt to one that had won a landslide victory in just four years. In office, he had ended austerity and seen growth in the economy. No one could take that away from him.

But he could read the room. Even if it had taken him a bit longer than the rest of us. Only last Friday he was still insisting that he would carry on as prime minister just hours after Burnham’s convincing byelection win had effectively signalled the end. Better late than never though. Labour had moved on and he had been left behind. The question was now who the Labour party thought was best placed to win the next election. And the party had resoundingly said it wasn’t him.

“I accept with good grace,” he said. Well, goodish grace. There has still been no contact with Andy in the days since the Makerfield byelection. And Keir does still feel hard done by. Betrayed by those he trusted. Reluctant – not yet ready – to accept his own limitations. His own part in his downfall. Maybe he never will. That level of self-acceptance seems to escape all prime ministers.

Then the timetable for his departure. If there were to be a contest, then his successor would be in place by September. If not, then before the summer recess. This quickly turned out to be academic. Within minutes of the speech ending, Wes Streeting said he was now Team Burnham . Gissa Job. So it was going to be a coronation after all.

He would be giving his successor his full and unqualified support, he added. Mmm. That might be a bit of a stretch. Let’s just settle for not doing anything to actively undermine his successor. Andy would probably settle for that. There was no mention of whether he would be standing down as an MP or continuing from the backbenches. Probably too soon to be thinking of that. This was a day for taking one thing at a time. Losing Downing Street was all he could take for one day.

The five minute speech ended with an expression of thanks. To friends and colleagues. Well, some of them at least. The others could go do one. Lastly, his love for his wife and children. The people who did most to keep him sane. And will continue to do so in the coming weeks as he is slowly written out of the political landscape. Now, he was close to tears. His voice cracked and then broke. The reality was beginning to kick in. It would come in waves. A chronic condition that had become terminal.

Not long afterwards, Nigel Farage demanded an immediate general election. Not the coronation of another professional politician. His level of denial is breathtaking. No one deserves that label more than him.

In any case, Burnham was already on his way to London. On the 10.55am from Manchester. Delayed, obviously. Never change, west coast mainline. Never change. For reasons best known to themselves, Sky News had sent a helicopter to follow the train’s progress. It was not immediately clear what they had reckoned the money shot was. Andy climbing out the window, standing on the roof and shouting: “Top of the world, Ma”? Or political editor Beth Rigby being lowered from a winch so she could yell: “When are you going to resign, Mr Burnham?”

The scenes at Euston were something like Lenin’s arrival at Finland Station in 1917. Only, most of the crowd was made up of journalists. There to witness the historic walk from platform 13 to the waiting car. Everyone else was just waiting for their – yes, delayed – train to Manchester. Shortly after 2.30pm, Burnham entered the Commons to be sworn in, to loud cheers from packed Labour benches.

“Rome is saved,” barked Tory MP Desmond Swayne. Another Conservative shouted: ‘He’s not the Messiah.” Andy looked up and smiled. His – and they are already his – MPs begged to differ. He certainly wasn’t just a naughty boy. The King of the North had arrived in his sacred space. His kingdom had just got a whole lot bigger. He now had the country at his feet.

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Ukraine, World news, Russia, Europe, Crimea, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin
Title – Ukraine intensifies attacks on Crimea to raise cost of Russian occupation | Ukraine | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/pjotr-sauer
Link – Ukraine intensifies attacks on Crimea to raise cost of Russian occupation | Ukraine | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T10:22:37.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/ukraine-intensifies-attacks-on-crimea-to-raise-cost-of-russia-occupation

Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Crimea as part of a strategy to isolate the occupied peninsula from mainland Russia and raise the cost of the occupation.

On Sunday, Russian-installed authorities suspended civilian fuel sales until at least Wednesday, a move that underscored Ukraine’s growing ability to disrupt supply lines linking Crimea to Russia.

“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” the Russian-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and only trust official sources of information.”

Local authorities also announced that parts of the peninsula would be left without street lighting and that all public events had been cancelled.

A wave of Ukrainian medium-range strikes has targeted occupied Crimea and the transport routes connecting it to Russia in recent weeks. Kyiv hopes to turn the peninsula “into an island” by disrupting Russian supply chains and isolating Crimea from mainland Russia.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy , said on Sunday that a Crimean oil depot and an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” against Russia.

Ukrainian Telegram channels also reported that Kyiv had struck at least three Russian ferries transporting vehicles operating on the Kerch crossing between Crimea and mainland Russia.

Ukraine has focused its strikes on the main transport routes supplying Crimea, particularly the Novorossiya highway, a key logistics corridor linking the peninsula to Russia’s Rostov region through the occupied cities of Melitopol and Mariupol.

Russia had already sharply restricted traffic on the Kerch Bridge, the other major route connecting Crimea to Russia. Moscow has largely stopped using the bridge for rail fuel shipments since a 2022 Ukrainian attack damaged the crossing and set a fuel train ablaze.

The recent strikes have left residents queueing for hours at petrol stations, dealing a significant blow to Crimea’s economy during the peak holiday season, when tens of thousands of Russian tourists normally visit the peninsula. Yelena Shtringel, the director of the tour company TurEtno, told the RBC news site that about 80% of June bookings had been cancelled, while roughly half of reservations for July and August had also been abandoned.

“I want to go back to Moscow. This is just horrible,” one Russian tourist said in a video circulating online after her train service in Crimea was suspended over the weekend owing to another Ukrainian drone attack.

On Monday, Aksyonov said all children’s summer camps would be cancelled until September, the latest sign of the growing disruption caused by the attacks. With other routes under strain, Russian voices close to the Kremlin suggested that Ukraine was likely to intensify its efforts to target the Kerch Bridge in the coming weeks.

“The pressure on the Crimean [Kerch] Bridge will clearly increase in the coming weeks as part of Ukraine’s strategy to sever links between Crimea and the mainland … the strikes will intensify,” wrote Rybar, a pro-war Telegram channel with 1.5 million followers run by a former Russian defence ministry official.

“We need to prepare for such a scenario in advance and understand what weapons the Ukrainian armed forces might use,” the channel added.

The 12-mile-long Kerch Bridge, also known as the Crimean Bridge, is the jewel in the crown of Putin’s infrastructure projects – described by Russian media as the “construction of the century” and intended to reify Russia’s claimed ownership of Crimea.

The bridge was severely damaged in October 2022 , when a truck bomb detonated on Putin’s 70th birthday, collapsing sections of the roadway and setting a fuel train ablaze. Although Moscow has since strengthened its defences around the crossing, it remains one of Ukraine’s most important targets.

Keyword – Music
Trefwoorden – Music, Pop and rock, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, Culture
Title – Gorillaz review – a staggering hi-tech mini-festival from the magpie mind of Damon Albarn | Music | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/iangittins
Link – Gorillaz review – a staggering hi-tech mini-festival from the magpie mind of Damon Albarn | Music | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T10:00:46.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/21/gorillaz-review-damon-albarn-spurs-stadium

G orillaz’s first stadium show is quite the event. It’s a staggering hi-tech spectacle, a two-and-a-half hour mini-festival with a seemingly endless stream of high-profile guest stars, and its audacious ambition and military precision all stem from the fecund imagination and magpie mind of one man.

Damon Albarn has never come across a genre of music that he doesn’t want to turn inside-out to see how it works. In recent years, he has turned Gorillaz from the mildly gimmicky virtual band he co-conceived with graphic artist Jamie Hewlett into a sprawling expression of his own musical curiosity and rampant eclecticism.

The days of holograms of 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel being projected on stage are gone. Instead, Hewlett’s striking graphics play on giant screens over a stage on which Albarn, bearded in a combat jacket and beanie hat, plays the grinning ringmaster and MC of this dazzling circus.

There are a stream of virtuoso Indian musicians, reflecting a motif of Gorillaz’s recent, ninth album, The Mountain, from Anoushka Shankar’s fluid sitar patterns to Ajay Prasanna’s skittering flute. Yet Albarn also skilfully infiltrates the falsetto, rococo pop of tonight’s support act, Sparks, into the pulsing, melodic The Happy Dictator.

For The Moon Cave, veteran cosmic-pop diva Asha Puthli, in a silver cape, shimmers alongside The Roots’s loquacious Black Thought. Then Little Dragons singer Yukimi, splendid in a blue ballgown, gives way to twerking, helium-voiced soul star Moonchild Sanelly and, on the thrumming Casablanca, a prowling Johnny Marr and Paul Simonon.

Mortality and loss are major themes of The Mountain, and on Delirium the guttural bark of the late Mark E Smith bounces around a stadium full of both greying first-generation Blur fans and their excited kids. Both generations get off on effervescent Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara’s keening harmonies and gorgeous traditional attire.

There’s a strong rap presence, from the urgent Yasiin Bey (trading rhymes with Syrian icon Omar Souleyman) to Bootie Brown appearing on the verge of self-combustion and Little Simz spitting words like bullets. When the focus shifts back to India, singer Zanai Bhosle fills the shoes of her grandmother, Asha, who recently passed away.

For the encore, Gogglebox’s own Shaun Ryder materialises to growl through Dare before the charismatic Posdnuos from De La Soul ignites the giddy delirium of Feel Good Inc. The night ends as Gorillaz began, 25 years ago, with the sly, loping melodies of their insouciant debut single, Clint Eastwood.

The evening has been an extraordinary triumph and you can be sure that, as soon as he got backstage, Damon Albarn will have been planning what he will do next.

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, Horror films, Culture, Life and style
Title – Pitfall review – big-hole survival horror is as if cast of Friends strayed into Deliverance | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/philhoad
Link – Pitfall review – big-hole survival horror is as if cast of Friends strayed into Deliverance | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T12:00:23.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/22/pitfall-review-friends-deliverance-survival-horror

N o low-budget horror movie can apparently now be greenlighted without featuring the obligatory posse of supremely irritating victims ripe for the culling. Pitfall director James Kondelik is evidently unbothered that this might make his bloody agenda too blatant; even his “sympathetic” characters – a pair of grieving siblings on a wilderness trip to commemorate their parents – bleat out their issues at such length that it’s sweet relief when a maniac woodsman (played by former UFC fighter Randy Couture) arrives to shut them up in a laborious and bombastic survival horror.

Pitfall plays a bit as if the cast of Friends had strayed into Deliverance. Ashley (Alexandra Essoe) and her brother Scott (Marshall Williams) are returning several years later to the forest location where their parents died in a car accident after hitting a deer. Their respective other halves, Charlie (Matt Hamilton) and Gwen (Jordan Claire Robbins), are in tow – as well as carping spare wheel Lars (Richard Harmon). But Scott and Charlie’s credentials as outdoorsmen are rumbled when, fleeing from wolves, the former falls into a spiked hunting pit of the type he’d warned everyone to avoid a few hours earlier.

Kondelik, co-writing with Victor Rose, tries for a mildly fractured structure that kicks off with a prologue putting a seemingly unrelated mother and child in the redneck crosshairs, then intersperses Ashley and co’s search for Scott with another separate manhunt, as well as flashbacks to the parental catastrophe. One death is recounted via a camcorder recording, sadistically left for Scott to watch at the bottom of the pit. But this profusion of perspectives is haphazard, and only occasionally adds extra force to the main storyline – like when the stricken Scott is flooded by guilty memories.

This interlude is yet another waypoint on Pitfall’s long, heavily signposted melodrama trail, from Ashley’s alcoholism, to her estrangement from Scott and Gwen, to her newly discovered pregnancy. Kondelik takes every opportunity to ladle out another helping of schmaltz – after a gratuitous decapitation, gouging or centipede burrowing into someone’s leg wound. The overblown finale unites the family therapy and gorehound strands, as the demonic hunter does his atavistic worst – while everyone else competes to sacrifice themselves for each other (and vocalises their need to do so). It’s like the Scary Movie franchise did a splatterhouse Last of the Mohicans skit.

Pitfall is available on digital platforms now and on DVD and Blu-Rray from 20 July.

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Athletics, Keely Hodgkinson, Sport
Title – Keely Hodgkinson exits in tears from UK Championships but injury fears played down | Athletics | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ben-bloom
Link – Keely Hodgkinson exits in tears from UK Championships but injury fears played down | Athletics | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T16:50:49.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/21/keely-hodgkinson-exits-tears-uk-athletics-championships-400m-final

Keely Hodgkinson’s camp moved swiftly to play down concerns after the Olympic 800m champion withdrew from the 400m start line in tears just seconds before she was due to race at the UK Athletics Championships.

Using the weekend in Birmingham as a speed-work opportunity, Hodgkinson emerged for the women’s 400m final and began the usual pre‑race strides in her lane, only to stop, grimace and slowly make her way to the side of the track. After a few seconds of thought, she crouched down and started to cry before she was led away, with the race going ahead in her absence.

In a statement later she said: “I wasn’t feeling 100% standing on the start line, so I made the tough decision to step away and not race. I didn’t want to risk anything ahead of this summer.” She subsequently expanded on this on Instagram, posting: “Leaving champs healthy!! Sometimes the hard decision is saying no, body wasn’t feeling 100[%], exciting summer ahead.”

Her coaches insisted the withdrawal was precautionary before an attempt at the longstanding 800m world record later this summer. They suggested the problem was muscle tightness, which had emerged at the end of her warm-up just before the race yesterdayon Sunday.

Hodgkinson has recent experience of serious injury after missing much of the 2025 season because of a torn hamstring in February that year. She belatedly returned to action in mid‑August, but could only win bronze at the world championships .

Minutes before her withdrawal, Hodgkinson’s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell had run a championship record 1min 55.93sec to claim the 800m title.

“I’ve only just found out,” Hunter Bell said when asked about Hodgkinson. “I’m not sure what’s up because she was warming up really well. We were warming up together and she was looking amazing. She knows she’s in really good shape.”

Hodgkinson has been open about hoping to break Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 43-year-old 800m world record of 1:53.28 this summer. This month she lowered her own national record in her only 800m outing, running 1:54.33 though losing to Audrey Werro in Stockholm, and had hoped to sharpen up her speed in Birmingham this weekend. She had qualified fifth fastest for Sunday’s 400m final after clocking 51.62 a day earlier. In her absence, Amber Anning, the British record holder and a former world indoor champion, claimed gold in a championship record 50.16.

Hodgkinson is next due to race over 800m at the Eugene Diamond League in Oregon on 4 July, before a potential tilt at the world record on home soil at the London Diamond League on 18 July.

With Hodgkinson not contesting her preferred event in Birmingham, Hunter Bell was unchallenged in a dominant front-running display, the world silver medallist leading from gun to tape. Now third in the world this year behind Hodgkinson and the rapidly improving Swiss athlete Werro, she will also compete over 800m in London.

Asked about her own proximity to a world-record challenge, Hunter Bell said: “I’ve realised over the last few years that there’s no point putting limits on anything. Everything is getting faster and faster. Today was a frontrunning job on my own after a round yesterday, so it makes me really confident going into London. I feel like all the times come when there’s a good race. The better the race, the faster the time will be.”

Just before the Hodgkinson drama, the men’s Olympic 400m silver medallist, Matt Hudson-Smith, regained the British title in 44.45, dedicating his Father’s Day triumph to his daughter, whose difficult birth caused him to miss last year’s championships.

“Last year, there were a lot of complications,” he said. “It was a whirlwind. I was at the hospital bed for five days straight due to my wife’s birth and then when I got to the world championships I was injured. It was a bit tough. But it’s part of the sport. My coach said I should make a statement to show that I’m back.”

There was a shock in the women’s 200m, where the world silver medallist, Amy Hunt, was unable to replicate Saturday’s 100m victory . With Dina Asher-Smith not contesting the final, Hunt was beaten by the 21‑year‑old Success Eduan, who clocked a personal best of 22.43 for her first national outdoor title. Pipped to the 100m crown by Romell Glave on Saturday the British record holder, Zharnel Hughes, made amends with a comprehensive men’s 200m victory in 20.04. Jake Wightman took men’s 800m gold after a battle in the straight with Ben Pattison.