Keyword – Australia news
Trefwoorden – Health, Heart attack, Heart disease, Australia news, Children, Genetics
Title – ‘A child goes to bed and doesn’t wake up’: the families left in shock after the sudden death of their healthy children | Health | The Guardian
Author – Jonathan Barrett
Link – ‘A child goes to bed and doesn’t wake up’: the families left in shock after the sudden death of their healthy children | Health | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T20:00:13.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2026/jun/21/sudden-cardiac-arrest-leading-cause-death-young-people

Before Alexandra Thoms goes to sleep, she puts together a flat-pack dining table with her father, Gordon. She needs the table for her otherwise sparse two-bedroom Melbourne apartment which she has moved into just weeks earlier.

At 23, Alexandra has met the milestones of an ambitious life at lightning speed. She is well travelled, has earned a double university degree and a graduate job at Deloitte. She is healthy; an avid skier and gymgoer. Now, she is also a homeowner. She didn’t have a formal housewarming, though, as most of her friends still live at home.

Alexandra is excited about her independence but, even after moving out, she regularly goes to her parents’ home nearby armed with ingredients and a meticulously researched new recipe to make them dinner.

She likes to watch Australian rules football with her dad.

On the evening of the flat-pack table, she sends her parents a picture of the food she prepared for dinner. She goes to bed, places her phone next to her pillow and falls asleep for the last time.

It is Sunday 27 August 2023.

When a heart’s electrical signals are firing correctly, the body’s most important muscle beats in rhythm.

Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.

During malfunction, it quivers, and oxygen-rich blood is no longer pumped to vital organs, including the brain.

Lub-dub, lub-uh-dub … l-l-l-l, lub-d-d-d.

And when it doesn’t self-correct?

Lu- … du-b-b-b … b … b …

Sudden cardiac arrest kills millions of people around the world each year.

Among those, every week in the UK, at least 12 seemingly healthy people aged 35 and under die from undiagnosed heart conditions. In the US, about 2,000 people aged under 25 die each year of sudden cardiac arrest. Studies suggest that, on average, one person under 35 experiences a sudden cardiac arrest every day in Australia. Most die.

There was 17-year-old Edward Millear , who died last year after rowing training on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne. Joshua Oguns , a 14-year-old schoolboy from Canberra, succumbed during a game of basketball. Fifteen-year-old Perth schoolboy Kent Yamazaki died playing tennis.

The fatality rate for sudden cardiac arrest is extreme, with studies putting it at 90%. It is then classified as a sudden cardiac death. Over the past 50 years, public health campaigns and advances in screening and treatment have led to rates of cardiovascular disease death dropping by 80% . Over the same period, experts say, the rate of sudden cardiac death – an unexpected cardiac death that occurs within an hour of first symptoms – among young Australians has remained virtually unchanged.

Statistically speaking, it’s a rare cause of death. But when it comes to children and young adults, it ranks among the leading causes of fatalities, surpassing deaths from car accidents and various forms of cancer.

“It’s just such a shock to the families,” says André La Gerche, an academic cardiologist and the head of the Heart Laboratory, supported by St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. “The child goes off to school and doesn’t come home, or goes to bed and doesn’t wake up. They go from being perfectly well to not being there at all.

“It’s near the top of the reasons why a young person dies, and even when there’s a high‑profile case, it’s often soon forgotten.”

La Gerche, who chairs the Australian Sudden Cardiac Arrest Alliance, says research is underfunded and public awareness is low, even in the broader medical community.

“Even professionals sort of fall back on the idea that young people don’t die very often.”

Alexandra Thoms speaks to her parents, Gordon and Bronwyn, every day. She is usually the one to phone first.

On Monday 28 August 2023 she doesn’t call.

Gordon and Bronwyn try calling her. No one picks up.

They think Alexandra must be unwell. At night-time, there’s still no answer. They start to worry.

The exact cause of sudden cardiac arrest often differs but there is one element that characterises them all: an immediate loss of consciousness.

“A sudden cardiac arrest is dramatic,” says Elizabeth Paratz, a cardiologist at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

“That’s when the heart stops suddenly and you need resuscitation. It’s an endpoint. The heart has stopped, and it can stop for a whole heap of reasons.”

Cardiac death in children is typically caused by inherited conditions – arrhythmias – that interfere with the tiny impulses that tell the heart muscle to squeeze. In older teenagers and young adults, inherited structural abnormalities – cardiomyopathies – are more prevalent. They can also cause an electrical short-circuit or pump failure.

But forensic pathologists conducting autopsies on young people often find a heart without an obvious flaw. The cause is considered to be “unascertained”; a classification given to about 40% of fatal cases.

“The younger you go, the more likely it is that the heart will look entirely normal and you won’t find a reason,” Paratz says.

For families mired in grief after the loss of a child to sudden cardiac death, there’s an extra layer of pain and confusion when a genetic cause is identified – what does it mean for younger brothers, sisters or other family members?

The prevalence of cardiac arrest rises as lifestyle factors, rather than genetics, become the dominant risk. Towards middle age and beyond, the likely cause of heart failure shifts to coronary artery disease, whereby cholesterol deposits are often the culprit.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

This can lead to cardiac arrest but, more typically, a blockage in a coronary artery manifests in chest pressure, pain and breathlessness. This is a heart attack; a person may clutch at their chest but usually remains conscious and can seek help.

Most young people facing sudden cardiac arrest are not afforded that time. Sometimes, though, help comes before it’s too late.

On 12 June 2021, the Danish footballer Christian Eriksen was playing against Finland in the opening game of the European Championship. The midfielder was moving into an attacking position to receive the ball from a throw-in when he stumbled and fell face-first into the turf .

He didn’t try to break his fall. To thousands watching in the stands and on live TV, it looked as though life had abandoned him before he hit the ground.

Eriksen received almost immediate CPR and an electric shock from a defibrillator, and survived.

He collapsed again this month – on 7 June 2026 – during an international match. This time Eriksen quickly regained consciousness after the implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted in his chest in 2021 returned his heart back into rhythm. He even walked off the field.

“The paradox of exercise,” says Belinda Gray, director of the genetic heart disease clinic at Royal Prince Alfred hospital, “is that it is protective for your overall cardiovascular risk, but there is also an increased risk of sudden death for elite athletes.” About 10% to 15% of sudden cardiac deaths occur during or immediately after exercise.

In Australia charities including the Heartbeat of Football – founded by the sports broadcaster Andy Paschalidis after seeing a teammate die on the pitch – have been pushing for the installation of defibrillators in community sporting grounds. Widespread automated external defibrillator (AED) availability could push cardiac arrest survival rates from 10% to about 20%, according to cardiologists interviewed by Guardian Australia.

On a cool winter evening in August 2024, then 12-year-old Xavier Arruzza was at soccer training at the Eschol Park football club in Sydney’s south-west.

Just after 9pm, following an intense cardio session, Arruzza collapsed. Bystanders initially thought it was an asthma attack but quickly discovered he had no pulse.

A club member started CPR before Nick Beashel, a trained volunteer alerted via the GoodSAM app, took over the resuscitation effort. Another person rushed the club’s AED to the fallen child.

Three shocks. Thud, thud, thud.

And then: lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.

While state governments across Australia have supported AED rollout through grants, South Australia is the only one to make them mandatory in a range of public buildings and facilities. A Heartbeat of Football board member, Angelo Tilocca, says every state and territory should follow South Australia’s lead and that every school child and young adult should be trained to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.

About half of all European Union countries require citizens to complete CPR training, which includes defibrillator use, as a prerequisite for obtaining a driving licence. Many countries, including Japan and Sweden, provide comprehensive training at school.

I ask Xavier’s mother, Rose, how her son is going. He is, she says, a typical 14-year-old boy.

“I count my blessings every day while also banging my head against the wall,” she says, smiling.

“Without the defibrillator, I don’t think he’d …

“I am one of the lucky ones, and he is one of the lucky ones.”

But defibrillators can’t save everyone.

On Tuesday 29 August 2023, Gordon and Bronwyn drive to Alexandra’s apartment. The door is locked and some deliveries are outside, untouched. They call the police and fire brigade. The door is knocked down and the police go in.

A young police officer comes out of Alexandra’s apartment and looks at Gordon. “I’m so sorry,” he says.

“They didn’t want us to go in there but we went in and saw our baby girl,” Gordon recalls.

She is lying on her bed in her pyjamas. She looks peaceful.

“It was clear she had instantly passed away,” he says. “No struggle. We wanted to go in and see her. That’s a memory we will unfortunately have to live with for the rest of our lives.”

Alexandra Jane Thoms died in her sleep from an undetected arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition in which the heart’s electrical signals can misfire. About one-third of sudden cardiac deaths take place while people are sleeping, due to the simple fact that we spend about one-third of our lives asleep.

Gordon says while nothing can bring his daughter back, sudden cardiac arrest needs to be taken more seriously.

“This is not about blame,” says Gordon, who set up Alexandra’s Mission, a charity designed to help prevent cardiac deaths in young people. “It’s about leadership, and recognising sudden cardiac arrest for what it is – a major, preventable public health emergency.”

In late 2021, nine-month-old Sonny Green showed mild symptoms of gastro.

Danielle, his mother, thought she was being overly cautious as a first-time parent. It was rare for Sonny to be out of sorts; he was almost always content, and loved sharing his snacks with the family’s jack russell. This was Sonny’s first real illness in his short life so she took him to the local emergency department.

Shortly after arriving, Sonny went into cardiac arrest and died.

The cause of death was marked unascertained.

A year later, Danielle Green gave birth to a daughter, Airlie, whom she described as the family’s “heart healer”.

At five months old, Airlie showed mild symptoms of gastro and went into cardiac arrest. She survived and had a defibrillator implanted. She grew older, became a toddler who loved Sesame Street’s letter and number of the day and the “wiggle wiggle” dance.

At 18 months Airlie contracted gastro again and suffered cardiac death.

How do you begin to process that?

“Some days I wake up and I just think that this isn’t my life, and it isn’t my story, and you kind of continue on,” Green says.

“You have to compartmentalise your life. Sharing our story and talking about Sonny really opens people’s eyes to what can just happen to your family because my children were healthy, and developing as expected, and meeting all their milestones.”

It was only after Airlie suffered her first cardiac arrest that medical teams considered genetics were at play. Airlie had a rare genetic disorder called PPA2 which is known to cause lethal cardiac failure, often triggered by viral illnesses such as gastro. In adolescents or young adults, even the smallest intake of alcohol can be the fatal trigger.

Sonny’s postmortem samples were tested. He had it too.

“It makes me think, how many deaths are classified incorrectly?” Green says.

The absence of genetic testing after the unexplained death of a young person can lead to significant consequences for others on their family tree. This is particularly true for conditions like PPA2, where people who unknowingly carry the gene mutation survive common childhood illnesses, only to succumb after they take their first drink of alcohol.

Green has been lobbying policymakers to mandate genetic testing in the postmortems of young people when the cause of death is unexplained.

“Everyone in the medical field – geneticists, cardiologists, paediatricians – they’re all pushing for genetic testing to assist with diagnosis,” Green says. No Australian state government has mandatory genetic testing in such cases.

Richard Bagnall, the head of the Centenary Institute’s centre for cardiovascular research, says targeted postmortem genetic testing offers a critical way to identify at-risk people.

“If you find a variant that caused the death, you can answer the two questions that almost every family will ask: why did this happen and how can we prevent it from happening again to other people in the family?”

Once identified as at risk, preventive measures then open up; including periodic cardiac screening, changes in lifestyle, medication or having a cardioverter defibrillator implanted.

Some countries offer mass screening, including Japan – where it is extended to the general school population – and the UK – where the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young subsidises screening of the heart’s structure and electrical systems for those aged between 14 and 35. In Italy, cardiac screening is mandatory for competitive athletes.

Australian cardiologists tend to support more targeted measures, citing the costs of mass screening and prevalence of “false positives” which could lead to anxiety, unnecessary follow-up testing and lifestyle restrictions.

After Alexandra’s death, it took the Thoms family nearly two years to navigate the complex process of identifying the genetic cause, getting family members tested and, finally, taking preventive measures for those at risk.

The testing revealed that Alexandra’s younger brother, Charlie, now 24, has the same advanced cardiomyopathy as his sister. He now has an implanted defibrillator and takes daily medication.

Gordon describes the process as “long, cumbersome and stressful”.

In Australia, referral systems for genetic testing through coroners, general practitioners and cardiologists are hit and miss, and victims’ families say symptoms can go unrecognised. Those who are referred to specialist clinics for genetic testing can face increasingly long wait times, and there is unequal access between metropolitan and regional areas and higher and lower socioeconomic groups, according to Jodie Ingles, the lab head and cardiac genetic counsellor at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

“The reality out there in the community is that it’s just a total mess,” Ingles says.

Alexandra always spoke with her hands. She felt her best with her long, brown hair straightened. It was “her uniform”, her friends say. She was funny. Excitable. She loved music, especially anything she could dance to.

“Out of everyone, it just wasn’t meant to be her – she was too full of life,” says her close friend Olivia Murdoch.

“When she died, she was thriving. That’s the thing with sudden cardiac death, there’s no visible illness; we were with her one weekend and then she was gone.”

When Gordon thinks about his daughter, he recalls skiing at her favourite spots at Mount Hotham in Victoria’s alpine region.

“She loved adventure and was totally fearless – she would push me to ski in places that I wouldn’t have gone on my own, always with a big smile on her face,” he says.

“My wife and I often talk about how she lived her life almost as if she knew tomorrow may never come.”

Jonathan Barrett is Guardian Australia’s business editor. His father died from a sudden cardiac arrest in 1998, aged 57. It was caused by an undetected genetic heart condition.

In Australia, support for people who are grieving is available from Griefline on 1300 845 745

Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Television & radio, Culture, Television, Jon Snow
Title – Jon Snow: A Last Big Story review – the finest swan song you could hope for | Television & radio | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lucymangan
Link – Jon Snow: A Last Big Story review – the finest swan song you could hope for | Television & radio | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T20:35:11.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jun/20/jon-snow-a-last-big-story-review-channel-4

J on Snow: A Last Big Story is a valediction that forbids mourning. The hour-long documentary follows the 78-year-old investigative journalist and former Channel 4 news anchor in the wake of his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease. During the course of one of his visits with his wife, Dr Precious Lunga, to family in Zambia, he gets wind of a story about a nearby environmental catastrophe involving a Chinese mining company that has gone virtually unreported. And so the documentary opens outwards and we see the man in his element as well as in the grip of what 850,000 Alzheimer’s sufferers in the UK alone, to say nothing of their carers, families and other loved ones, know to be an unforgiving, relentlessly worsening condition.

Early on, Snow asks with interest and no disquiet what the people with cameras around him are doing. “We’re making a film about your career,” his interviewer, Laura, explains. “And who you are now.” “Lumme!” says Snow, the son of a bishop. “How nice!” As they travel in a car together a little later, he leans forward and says politely: “I’ve forgotten your name already … ?” “Laura,” she tells him. “Lovely,” he says, sitting back. “I’m Jon.”

Historical footage of Snow reporting from El Salvador, Manhattan after 9/11 and Bhopal, and interviewing Mandela, Reagan and Gorbachev, is followed by his appointment with his doctor to measure his decline – he does not know the day’s date and cannot remember three test words a few minutes after he has been told them – and see if there are any treatment trials he could take part in. “I am your willing victim,” he says, because dementia takes memory before it takes the man. But it is hard not to look at his painfully composed wife, also a neuroscientist, and not see a woman trying not to envisage the time when the man, too, will have left.

In Zambia, he learns from a safari guide that a dam has collapsed at a copper mine owned by Sino-Metals Leach Zambia, spilling what will eventually be found to be 1.5m tonnes of toxic waste, including uranium, arsenic and cyanide, into great swathes of the surrounding lands and waterways that will carry it yet further. His nephew Charles Sibanda-Lunga takes him to visit the environmental activists Chepa Mahata and Sarah Sakani, who have more information. As they travel downriver he asks, again with interest and no disquiet, what the people with cameras are doing on the boat. They are making a film about him. He laughs. “Did you know about this?” he asks Precious. She did.

He listens to everything the activists say, asking pertinent questions, getting a feel for the size of the story and accurately summarising it for Charles as “the whole nine yards of exploitation, suffering and failure”. And then, in a rare moment of self-acknowledged vulnerability, asks him: “Am I doing all right? You would say if I was not?” A little further on, when Mahata is taking him round some of the appalling devastation, the team film them as Snow repeatedly – and repeatedly – asks him how many people are affected and how many have died. Eventually, Laura calls for Charles.

But Snow’s compassion, his outraged sense of justice (“The whole field is dead! And nothing has been done”) remains undimmed. As does his courage when the team, now including his old editor Ben de Pear, attend a meeting between the affected community and their lawyer Brigadier Siachitema, and it is broken up by police and a representative of the mining company. “Have we got everything we want?” says Snow as De Pear bundles them into the car to retreat. As they drive home, we hear him thank them all “for being so supportive of me, given my condition”. “The privilege is all ours,” says Ben.

Later the team gets hold of an explosive report on the dam collapse and leaks it to international news outlets, who seize with alacrity on the story of the worst environmental disaster in Africa for 30 years. It is not clear how much Snow remembers his part in breaking the story, but he seems happy that it is out there.

Looking back on his career, he says: “It would be arrogant to claim that I have been excellent throughout. I haven’t. But I feel I’ve made an honourable contribution.”

Few would disagree with that, nor with the claim that the film-within-the-film here is part of it. The honourable contribution made by these documentary-makers should not be overlooked, either. This intelligent, gentle-but-unsentimental hour gives the journalist his laurels and the man his dignity, all while acknowledging the cruelty and grief behind the disease. If this is Snow’s swan song, it is as fine a one as he could wish.

Jon Snow: A Last Big Story aired on Channel 4

This article was amended on 21 June 2026. Dr Precious Lunga is a neuroscientist, not a neurologist as an earlier version said.

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Family, Life and style, Education
Title – I can’t afford a tutor to help my daughter get into grammar school. Will she still fulfil her potential? | Family | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/annalisabarbieri
Link – I can’t afford a tutor to help my daughter get into grammar school. Will she still fulfil her potential? | Family | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T05:00:22.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/21/cant-afford-tutor-daughter-grammar-school-fulfil-potential

I have two children aged eight and four. My eight-year-old is very bright . She’s in year 3 and doing year 6 maths . Her state school has large classes and limited resources, so I challenge her by doing fun maths at home. I wanted to try getting her into a grammar school (our local state secondaries do not get good results ), but lots of local parents pay for their children to have private tutor s , which I can’t afford .

I fear my children will be penalised and stuck in a cycle of not fulfilling their potential. This hits personally because I was diagnosed with dyslexia in my 20s after underachieving and disciplinary issues at school. I could be projecting my baggage and putting unnecessary pressure on my children to do better than me . But I feel sad and hopeless at the unfairness of this issue in the education system , and the way the rich will always outrun the poor. Sometimes I wonder if there is any point in trying for something better.

I work hard in a job I love and my salary is OK, but it is unlikely I will ever earn much more. I feel like this now when they are so young, so I think it will only get worse as they get older.

Your line about projecting hit the nail on the head. Your children know nothing yet of jobs, education or achievement. Their needs now are different from what you perceive them to be. Are you right to think about their future? Absolutely. But let’s take a step back.

I went to UKCP registered psychotherapist Sarah Kane, who felt you might be “trying to correct the imbalance you felt in your own childhood. I imagine you felt alienation and shame when you were punished unfairly at school, perhaps even labelled as a disobedient or defiant child. That feels very unfair. But the big difference is that your children have you. The lack of support you suffered may be feeding into your need to offer maximum support now.”

It’s good to separate our own needs, fears and wants from those of our children, which are often very different. What was going on for you at the age your daughter is now? Sometimes things buried deep can be reactivated.

“I’m curious,” continued Kane, “who the maths challenges are fun for. Do you find them fun but feel under pressure to do them? If so you may be removing all the fun for both of you.”

Kane also pointed out that you use “maximising language, such as ‘we will be stuck’; ‘not fulfilling potential’; ‘the rich will always outrun the poor’. When you respond to a situation with maximising language, it can seem futile, insurmountable. Plus, using ‘what if’ statements tends to create anxiety. Rather try using ‘what is’ statements. And what is happening is that your child is bright and you enjoy helping her with learning. There’s so much more to be gained from school than just education. It’s where children learn about making friends, negotiating their needs, playing and socialising as well.”

Kane noticed a theme of “imbalances and extremes in your letter: no support v maximum support; no attention v maximum attention; failure v success”. She also wanted you to be mindful of “splitting” your children or labelling them by saying one is bright. “You could be recreating the unfair system within your own family,” said Kane.

I promise your child won’t be feeling how you are, but she may sense how you feel and want to please you. She’s eight. The whole world is before her. Real learning and development is about failing, curiosity and discovering who we are. It’s not that I don’t agree that the world is unfair – it is. But the things most people want – and can’t buy – are love and being accepted for who they are, so they can develop into who they truly want to be.

Every week, Annalisa Barbieri addresses a personal problem sent in by a reader. If you would like advice from Annalisa, please send your problem to ask.annalisa@theguardian.com . Annalisa regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions . The latest series of Annalisa’s podcast is available here .

Comments on this piece are pre-moderated to ensure the discussion remains on the topics raised by the article. Please be aware that there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site.

Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – Food, Health, Society, Restaurants, UK news
Title – The hill I will die on: Food-sharing is gross without serious rules of engagement | Poorna Bell | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/poorna-bell
Link – The hill I will die on: Food-sharing is gross without serious rules of engagement | Poorna Bell | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-19T05:00:23.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/19/hill-i-will-die-on-food-sharing-gross-rules-dessert-drink

W hen I was a child, I remember the grimace on my uncle’s face when one of my sticky little cousins drank from his can of soda. He announced that he could no longer drink it because another person’s saliva had touched it. While no one said the words “germaphobe weirdo” out loud, we were all thinking it. Our shock increased as he abandoned his old can for a fresh one, because in the early 1990s wastage was serious – fizzy drinks were a treat and we had whatever the opposite was to the “don’t worry if you can’t finish that, darling” school of parenting.

Fast forward 35 years, and I’ve realised I am now that uncle. And not just drinks – this extends to food too. This may come as a surprise to some people, given that I’m Indian and sharing food is a fundamental pillar of who we are. But at home, we serve our food in giant pots, family style. There’s a spoon for every dish, and that kind of sharing is perfectly fine. There is no double-dipping because there are unspoken rules of engagement. What is not perfectly fine, however, is when different cultures come together, and someone thinks it is OK to put the spoon that was in their gob into the main pot, or use it to scoop something from another person’s plate.

The other week, I went to a chic restaurant; the kind of place that only has five things on the menu and dainty glassware. Since quitting alcohol a year ago, I’ve upped my desserts game and because I’m in the wonderfully belligerent “I’ll do whatever I damn well please” stage of perimenopause, I ordered a creme brulee as a starter. The waitress, in what I perceive to be an act of violence, said: “Two spoons?” despite me giving no indication whatsoever that I was looking to share.

I was with new friends, and so I did the British thing and said yes, even though I wanted to say no. But when the two spoons arrived, I couldn’t continue with this farce any longer. As my new friend held her spoon aloft, I told her that she had to have the first bite. “Oh, but then you won’t get to crack the top of the brulee!” she said. I had to patiently explain that as a 45-year-old, I would be OK not doing that. When I could see her about to protest again, I had to be direct and say: “I really don’t want to double-dip because I’m conscious about catching germs.”

Despite the awkward silence that followed, I regret nothing.

The pandemic undoubtedly radicalised me, given how many people I knew who seemed to have caught Covid after sharing food off each other’s plates. But it was also noticing how I tended to fall ill after sharing drinks with friends who would insist I take a sip, and ask to try mine. These viruses often knocked me out for two weeks, and now I refuse point-blank. I don’t care if it has been made with the cordial of a flower that only blooms every 20 years. If it’s touched your mouth and you aren’t my lover or partner, it isn’t touching mine.

“But I’m fine,” a friend protested when I refused to try the braised cauliflower on her plate, muttering that I was being precious. When she messaged me about coming down with a cold two days later, I replied: “Vindication!” She didn’t respond.

Poorna Bell is a freelance journalist and author of She Wanted More

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 – Sport
Trefwoorden – England v New Zealand 2026, England cricket team, New Zealand cricket team, Over by over reports, Cricket, Sport
Title – New Zealand rout England by 253 runs: second men’s Test, day five – as it happened | England v New Zealand 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/robsmyth,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tanyaaldred,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/simonburnton,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andybull,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ali-martin
Link – New Zealand rout England by 253 runs: second men’s Test, day five – as it happened | England v New Zealand 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T11:36:21.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/jun/21/england-v-new-zealand-second-mens-test-day-five-live

Stokes to return as captain at Trent Bridge

More from Brendon McCullum on the imminent return of Ben Stokes.

[Will Ben Stokes return as captain at Trent Bridge?] Yeah, at the moment that’s what we’re planning. The rest of the squad will be announced this afternoon once we’ve told a few of the lads.

[On the mixed messaging around Stokes’ mental state ] People always have a difference of opinion, that’s the way things are – people read things differently. From my point of view I’ve been speaking to Ben every day since the incident and have obviously been trying to be supportive.

I think it was great he was able to play cricket this week and get some runs. He looked like he had a bit of pep in his step as well. We know a fit, firing Ben Stokes is an asset to every team in the world.

Those conversations between Stokesy and I are private; I’m not going to go into that at all.

[On his relationship with Stokes] You’ve got to separate the actions from the man. I was disappointed with the actions, which didn’t meet the standards we’ve set for ourselves, but then you support the man. I’ve always firmly believed in that. We have the same vision for an England team that is long-term sustainably successful.

[Could you and Rob Key have backed him more as captain in the immediate aftermath?] There was a formal disciplinary process we had to go through. Until you have that information, nobody is able to make any decisions or make any emphatic public statements.

People make mistakes, right? We all try to abide by standards, but you’re always supporting the man. I have no problem and it’ll be nice to have the opportunity to try to close out a series win against a very good New Zealand win. If we do that I think it’ll be a mighty achievement, particularly after the last week which has been very difficult.

I want to make special mention of Joe Root. The way he picked up the responsbility in a difficult period… I can’t speak highly enough of him.

Brendon McCullum’s verdict

It happened a bit quicker than we wanted today. My optimism knows no bounds – I thought we might be able to do something special. But New Zealand outplayed us in all three aspects and they were relentless with the ball.

I thought our tactics were pretty good across the board. We created opportunities to take wickets but we weren’t able to take them. I don’t know how many Tests have been won when you drop 10 catches.

I thought Joe did an outstanding job, working with Harry across the Test. There’s lots to be proud of and some stuff we need to tidy up. You might not get the instant gratification of a win but the young guys will be a lot better for the experience.

Match report: New Zealand win by 253 runs

Tom Latham’s reaction

It’s been a fantastic week. We managed to get our nose in front during some crucial moments and I thought we played fantastically well.

The way the bowlers were able to operate was crucial: top of off, a little bit of old-school cricket, and we managed to get the results.

We all know the talent [Glenn Phillips] has got. He’s played some crucial innings, and the way he batted against Jofra showed the ticker and the method that he has.

We thought hitting the top of off repeatedly was the best method on this surface. Henners [Matt Henry] is a pretty good exponent of that. He’s been a spearhead for us for a long period and it was nice for him to get the results.

Joe Root’s reaction

Credit to New Zealand, I thought they played really well. There were a number of moments when the game was in the balance and they won them. Fair play to them. It’s still 1-1 and there’s everything to play for at Trent Bridge.

I really enjoyed coming back into that space [as captain] and working with Baz. And it was a great opportunity for the young guys coming into the team. There were a lot of good things across the five days, but we just have to do things better for longer. If you miss eight chances, catches in particular, against a good team on a good pitch it’ll hurt you.

Glenn Phillips played really well during a really fiery spell from Jofra, who I thought was excellent throughout the Test. It was a good lesson for our batters, the way he recognised that scenario, got through a really tough spell and reaped the rewards the following morning. As a young side, we can learn from that.

When you lose a game you always think: ‘What did we do wrong?’ Sometimes that’s unfair on the opposition. They’re allowed to play well and New Zealand certainly did that.

[Do you want to put the captaincy blazer back in the garage?] We’ll see what happens in the next couple of days.

The player of the match is Matt Henry

We probably didn’t expect it to unfold like that today, but we probably saved ourselves a really hot day in the field!

[On the value of a 10-day break between Tests] It helped massively. I was just trying to regain some confidence in the body. It feels pretty bad when you let the guys down on day one, so it was great to come here and get my quota out.

The top order did some great work in challenging conditions on day one, helping the ball get soft for Glenn [Phillips] to do his thing. With the ball we talked about being relentless and offering something different from each end, because we thought it might take until the last session today.

[On Tom Blundell standing up to the stumps and the influence of the Ashes] We actually used the tactic in New Zealand a few years ago; we brought Tommy up at the Basin [Reserve in Wellington]. We talked about trying to keep guys in their crease because they wanted to walk out and get busy. Having a world-class operator like Tom is huge – you can’t do it unless you have somebody as good as him behind the stumps. He was absolutely outstanding.

[Do you have to keep your ego in check when the keeper stands up?] I’ve always said I’d rather be effective than be a hero! The main thing for us was to create pressure.

[On his role as attack leader] Ah, it’s pretty easy when you’ve got such a strong bowling group.

England lost the game on the second morning , when they mislaid the plot in the field and allowed New Zealand to get too many in the first innings. In a sense they lost this game on day four at Lord’s, but we don’t need to go over all that.

Matt Henry’s match figures of 42.1-9-109-11 are the best by a New Zealand bowler in a Test against England. He goes past Dion Nash, a criminally underrated seamer who almost bowled New Zealand to victory at Lord’s in 1994 . That match also featured a glorious century from an ageing Martin Crowe.

Since you asked, Sir Richard Hadlee took a couple of ten-forsagainst England: Wellington 1978, Trent Bridge 1986.

That was a crushing victory for New Zealan d, a triumph of experience, class and equilibrium. It’s hard to write about New Zealand without inadvertently patronising them, but bloody hell they are good.

Jordan Cox made 27 and 25 in his debut Test – nothing scores, it’s true, but there were plenty of signs that he might have what it takes at this level. He certainly has the strokeplay.

Matt Henry has taken 5-3 this morning to finish with 6-29 in the innings and 11-109 in the match. I don’t know if that’s the best performance of his career, but it’s in the top one right up there. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.

New Zealand win by 253 runs!

WICKET! England 209 all out (Cox b Henry 25) New Zealand didn’t need Baker on strike. Henry spears in a yorker that beats Cox’s premediated sweep to hit middle stump and end the match. Canny, classy bowling from a late-blooming giant of world cricket.

58th over: England 209-9 (Cox 25, Baker 0) Cox charges Jamieson and pulls a mighty six over midwicket. A clever clip through square leg brings three more and allows him to keep strike. Somebody shouted for O’Rourke to leave it, as a boundary would have meant Baker being on strike at the start of the next over, but he either didn’t hear or ignored it.

57th over: England 200-9 (Cox 16, Baker 0) This has been a rewarding series for lovers of skilful seam bowling. Ollie Robinson was player of the match at Lord’s; Matt Henry will surely win the award here.

Henry has a full over at Baker, who solidly plays out a maiden. Baker is cut from the tailend cloth as Will O’Rourke, a No11 who doesn’t score runs but has a decent defensive technique.

“The Kiwi cricket team has a decent claim to be the most likeable bunch in international sport (and ALWAYS has done),” writes Robert Wilson. “That unassuming moral rectitude, that reflexive self-deprecation and team-ethos primacy is permanently standard. They’re almost impossible to dislike. And this fluffy cuteness can obscure their brilliance and power. They’ve been a hard ask for a decade but they never seem to shake off Graham Gooch’s (admittedly fabulous) Ilford 2nd XI slur.

“Amid the obscenity of the Trumpian Bread & Circuses kickball tournament in the US, it’s cleansing to see a bunch of blokes who could all be that neighbour who uncomplainingly lends you a perfectly maintained and beautifully oiled power-tool that you don’t know how to use. And make no mistake, they have absolutely ****ing CANED England.

“I’ve enjoyed every over of it.”

I couldn’t put it nearly as well myself.

56th over: England 200-9 (Cox 16, Baker 0) Cox charges Jamieson, who drops the ball shorter as a result. Cox improvises nicely to uppercut over the slips for four and bring up England’s 200. He is a serious talent.

55th over: England 196-9 (Cox 12, Baker 0) With Cox on strike, the field is spread for Matt Henry’s hat-trick ball. I was going to say, ‘That’s a bit weird, Tom Latham should be sacked,’ etc, but on reflection I like that it captures New Zealand’s side-over-self philosophy.

Cox defends the hat-trick ball. This time he gives Baker the last two deliveries to survive. Good boy that he is, Baker obliges.

54th over: England 195-9 (Cox 11, Baker 0) Jordan Cox gives Sonny Baker one ball to survive. Good boy that he is, Baker obliges.

“I don’t get all the pessimism,” says Paul Griffin. “In addition to your list of joyful vignettes, the test has been a Tactical Great Leap Forward for cricket and English sport in general. We have established that deploying your captain out of position, in the north-east of England idyll to be precise, is not optimal. Now this is resolved, the only way is up. I hear Tommy Tuchel has abandoned his thought experiment of sending Harry Kane to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne for the next World Cup game. Kissinger, Kasparov, and Sun Tzu must be looking on in envy.”

53rd over: England 192-9 (Cox 8, Baker 0) That was the last ball of the over, so there may be no hat-trick ball. In the last five years, Matt Henry has taken 114 Test wickets at – and you’ll like this – an average of 19.70.

WICKET! England 192-9 (Tongue c Mitchell b Henry 0)

You ripper! Matt Henry has taken his first ten-for in Test cricket, and he’s on a hat-trick as well. Josh Tongue edged another immaculate delivery to first slip and was taken by Daryl Mitchell.

Henry snaps his head back and roars with delight. Honestly, this is about as good as flat-pitch seam bowling gets.

WICKET! England 192-8 (Henry b Fisher 0)

Even when he doesn’t hit the stumps, Matt Henry hits the stumps. Fisher feels for a slightly wider ball and drags it back onto leg stump to give Henry his ninth wicket of the match. He is so good.

52nd over: England 192-7 (Cox 8, Fisher 0) Cox times Jamieson nicely to the cover boundary. The game is done, and Cox is unlikely to play at Trent Bridge on Thursday, but it’s still an important innings because he can put some credit in the bank.

“I enjoyed Andy Bull’s article ,” writes Tom van der Gucht. “McCullum has brought some amazing moments for us all, but most coaches seem to have ‘their method’ that works brilliantly until it doesn’t.

“Although I’m drifting off cricket and across sports, I was rewatching Winning Time and the coaching revolution at the LA Lakers lately and it reminded me how few coaches are able to mimic Ferguson with Man U and sustain success over such a long period.

I wonder whether the ECB will turn to what’s viewed as a safe pair of hands if McCullum goes. Could we be preparing ourselves for the third coming of Peter Moores… county cricket’s top coach of the 21st century and one of life’s good guys?”

If McCullum gets sacked after the Ashes, fine, but to damn him based on this game, after all the upheaval and weirdness, makes no sense to me. When history is written, I suspect the received wisdom will be that Bazball died after the India tour of 2023-24. Yas Rana’s point that McCullum was a much better fit for an experienced team in the doldrums than an inexperienced team feels spot on.

51st over: England 188-7 (Cox 4, Fisher 0) A double-wicket maiden from Henry, and why not.

WICKET! England 188-7 (Archer b Henry 0)

Make that eight wickets for Matt Henry. Jofra Archer has no chance with a wicket-to-wicket grubber and is bowled second ball for nought.

WICKET! England 188-6 (Root LBW b Henry 77)

The end is nigh. Root plays defensively at an off-cutter from Henry that snakes past the inside edge to hit the back pad. He reviews, just in case, but that was a clean LBW. Henry has dismissed the big two, Root and Brook, in both innings has match figures of 38.1-6-108-7 on a flat pitch. It’s been a wicket-to-wicket masterclass.

50th over: England 188-5 (Root 77, Cox 4) Cox hits Kyle Jamieson through the covers for three before Root edges a good ball on the bounce to second slip.

“Good morning, Rob and Happy Solstice,” says John Starbuck. “We are at the peak of summer but at this rate it won’t be remembered fondly by future generations, going by the pretty miserable performance of England cricket. What consolation can we take from this match?”

Crikey, loads . Jofra Archer v Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry’s magnificence, the first Test century by a known ADHDer, Sonny Baker’s joie de vivre, Matt Fisher’s fifty, Harry Brook’s madcap genius, Joe Root’s 14,000th Test run, the (seeming) improvement in Ben Stokes’s mental health, Rachin Ravindra’s strokeplay, Henry Nicholls shuffling into the spotlight. I could go on, but luckily for you there’s some cricket to talk about. And a wicket.

49th over: England 184-5 (Root 76, Cox 1) Henry sets the agenda with a perfect first delivery on off stump that is defended awkwardly by Root. After Root takes a single later in the over, Jordan Cox gets off the mark from his 15th delivery. Can’t imagine that has happened too often.

Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham and Surrey’s ongoing County Championship matches at the request of the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB].

“Ben Stokes has been withdrawn from the remainder of Durham’s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at the request of the ECB,” a club statement on X said. “Colin Ackermann will replace Stokes in the Durham 11.”

Neither player was selected for the second Test after they broke the team curfew celebrating England’s first Test win against New Zealand at Lord’s. The interim captain, Joe Root, was then handed an inexperienced side who have struggled against New Zealand at The Oval, and start Sunday needing 281 more runs to win with just five wickets in hand.

The players are ready to roll. Matt Henry will open up to Joe Root.

England this, England that. It’s time to talk about New Zealand, who calmly parked their defeat at Lord’s and have quietly outclassed England in the second Test.

Glenn Phillips’ century, the first in Test cricket by a known ADHDer, was a multi-faceted masterpiece; Henry Nicholls played an innings of which Kane Williamson would be proud; and Matt Henry has been quite majestic.

There’s so much more to his performance than numbers, but the detail of Harry Brook’s performance provides a snapshot of Henry’s brilliance.

Brook v Henry 4 runs, 19 balls, 2 wickets, SR 21

Brook v the rest 78 runs, 67 balls, 0 wickets, SR 116

Imagine restricting Harry Brook to a strike-rate of 21, never mind dismissing him twice at an average of 2.

Josh Tongue admitted England have missed the influence of Ben Stokes after a day in which they crumbled to the brink of defeat in the second Test against New Zealand at the Oval. While they were doing so the team’s full-time captain, forced out of international duty for disciplinary reasons, was 275 miles north at Chester-le-Street, scoring a swashbuckling 95 for Durham in the County Championship.

England ended the fourth day on 182 for five, a distant 281 from victory, after the tourists scored 362 in their second innings. The home side have worked this week under the interim captaincy of Joe Root, on whose back their slender hopes once again lie, after he became the second player in Test history to pass 14,000 career runs on his way to an unbeaten 75,

“Yeah, we’ve missed him,” Tongue said of Stokes. “He’s an unbelievable player. Obviously I made my debut when he was captain, so I’ve got huge respect for Stokesy and it’s always nice seeing him get some runs as well. But obviously we’ve got a lot of leaders in our team. Rooty has stepped up as captain, he’s obviously an unbelievable player and an unbelievable leader.”

At the end of the fourth day’s play here the abiding question wasn’t whether England could complete a record-breaking fourth innings chase or even if they could bat the match out to secure the draw. It was why everyone is still watching an England team coached by Brendon McCullum six months after he ought to have moved on from the job.

The way we tell it in this country, McCullum’s backstory as England coach begins on 2 January 2013 when, in his first match as New Zealand’s Test captain, the team were bowled out for 45 by South Africa at Cape Town. Legend has it this was the watershed Test. In a management meeting that evening, McCullum laid out his ideas about the way the game should be played. The hard-charging, happy-go-lucky approach that has characterised England’s cricket in the past four years was born right here, when, New Zealand’s coach, Mike Hesson, said, McCullum was first empowered “to do the job the way he wanted it done”.

There is a chapter missing in this version. Everyone involved in New Zealand cricket knows it by rote, but it’s not often discussed in England. It’s all about what happened in the months running up to that match, when McCullum’s predecessor as captain, Ross Taylor, was forced out of his job by Hesson, who was an old teammate of McCullum’s.

Here’s more on the news that Ben Stokes is back, baby

What do you get if you pick three debutants , two more with one cap each, a strike-bowler who is returning to Test cricket after two solid months of sending down four-over spells in India, and hand the captaincy to a guy who has spent the past four years with the job happily in his rear-view mirror ?

Throw in a seasoned opposition side like Tom Latham’s New Zealand and the answer, England have discovered, is the need to knock off a monstrous fourth-innings target of 463 – or bat out nearly five sessions – to avoid a defeat that will invite questions beyond simply that optimistic selection.

Stokes withdrawn from Durham match

So, about that third Test. Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have been withdrawn from Durham and Surrey’s ongoing County Championship matches at the request of the ECB. The services of Benoit Blanc will not be required on this matter.

Do me a quick favour: close your eyes and just i magine the noise when Stokes walks out to bat at Trent Bridge. It might even register on the Headingley 2019ometer.

Preamble

This shouldn’t take long. New Zealand need five wickets to wrap up an emphatic victory at The Oval and set up a mouth-moistening series decider at Trent Bridge later in the week. The only teeny-tiny hope for England is the not dissimilar precedent of Aukland 2013 . On that occasion they were four down going into the last day, with one of the not-out batters a pre-pubescent Joe Root one of the not-out batters.

They saved that Test, and the series, with a performance of immense defiance led by Matt Prior. (Funny how things work out. At 31, Prior seemed to be moving inexorably towards greatness; 18 months later he was done as a Test cricketer.)

Realistically, on a day like today, ‘remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation. England are going to lose – decisively, deservedly – and tomorrow’s headlines will be about the future. One subject will be discussed more than any other: what part, if any, Ben Stokes and the rest of the absent Oval Five play in that series decider.

Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Television, Television & radio, Culture, Tennis, Sport
Title – Goolagong review – a lovely tribute to an Aboriginal tennis legend | Television | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/hannah-j-davies
Link – Goolagong review – a lovely tribute to an Aboriginal tennis legend | Television | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T20:50:11.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jun/20/goolagong-review-tribute-to-an-aboriginal-tennis-legend-bbc-four

G oolagong opens to the soulful strains of Ann Peebles proclaiming: “It’s your thing – do what you wanna do!” It feels a little on the nose as a way to soundtrack an inspirational sporting drama, as Australia’s Evonne Goolagong (played by Lila McGuire) steels herself for her first ever Wimbledon match. (For the uninitiated: not only was Goolagong the first Aboriginal player to compete in tennis’s most prestigious tournament, but she would go on to win the ladies’ singles title twice, in 1971 and 1980, plus a doubles win in 1974. She won seven grand slams in total and was – for a time – ranked world No 1.) This three-part drama from Australia’s ABC is sometimes saccharine, and the opening sequence of a teenage Evonne wandering starry-eyed through the corridors of the All England Club – portraits of former winners on the walls – feels heavy-handed. More difficult themes do come to the fore in time, but Goolagong is largely an unapologetic, flashback-heavy tribute to a sporting legend. It’s beautifully drawn, but do we really need to watch the primary school-aged Evonne (a cherubic Eloise Hart) hit a ball against a wall with a plank of wood this many times?!

Sadly, being a woman in sport – or maybe just a woman in the world – Goolagong would go on to apparently suffer financial abuse and sexual harassment at the hands of her coach, Vic Edwards. The contrast between those fluffier scenes and the unwanted advances of Marton Csokas’s slippery Edwards feels like a screeching handbrake turn. Not least because we see Edwards move Goolagong from her happy but impoverished Wiradjuri family in rural Barellan, New South Wales – with a population in the hundreds – into his family home in Sydney at 14, grooming her for sporting fame but also maybe just grooming her full stop. But – as uncomfortable as that segue is – it is her reality. “When it stops being fun, come home,” Evonne’s mother tells her, with more than a little foreshadowing on the part of the writers. Later, after family tragedy and chicanery on Edwards’s part, Evonne will echo those words, declaring that tennis is “not fun any more”, ruined by the selfishness of her mentor.

Elsewhere, the series does well to weave in the big issues that overshadowed the game in the 70s – and conversations on race, gender and pay equity – without feeling too much like a rehashing of Goolagong’s Wikipedia page. McGuire is brilliantly believable as the clueless upstart who isn’t unfeminist, but sticks her foot in her mouth by telling a journalist that she would play for free if she had to. (Naturally, Billie Jean King is deeply unimpressed, and Goolagong finds herself ostracised by her fellow women players.)

As syrupy as some scenes can be, they are anchored by the brilliance of Hart, McGuire and Rilee Clarke, who play Goolagong as a defiant, determined, quirky woman at different points of her life. The supporting cast is strong, too – in particular Luke Carroll as Goolagong’s father, Kenny, and Chenoa Deemal as her mother, Linda. And who can resist the burgeoning, trans-hemisphere romance between Evonne and English tennis journalist Roger Cawley (Felix Mallard), who would go on to become her husband? (Well, perhaps Vic Edwards could – allegedly, Edwards lied about not being invited to the wedding, then unilaterally announced Evonne’s retirement.) Even so, Goolagong can’t quite make up its mind tonally. The result is a drama that’s frequently charming, but frequently lightweight. Certainly, the crescendo of the final episode – and Goolagong’s return to the sport just months after the birth of her daughter, Kelly, in 1977 – drags on and on with a tension that feels forced. All before a miraculous recovery, a family reunion and that joyous second Wimbledon win. Hurrah! Cue more flashbacks …

Goolagong is an uneven thing, although clearly it’s a story that wholeheartedly deserved to make it to the screen. It ends with a slideshow of images of the real Evonne, which only confirms my sense that a documentary or docudrama would have been more compelling. We are told that she “seeks out a new generation of talented Indigenous children” through her tennis charity, “supporting them to dream, believe, learn and achieve”. She and Roger have now been married for 51 years. There’s a brief clip of her with McGuire, as they wave to a crowd of extras, that is rather moving. It’s not quite smashing, then, but it is lovely.

Goolagong aired on BBC Four and is on iPlayer now.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Spain, Football, Sport, World Cup, Arsenal
Title – David Raya: ‘When you lose a Champions League final it destroys you inside’ | Spain | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sidlowe
Link – David Raya: ‘When you lose a Champions League final it destroys you inside’ | Spain | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T11:00:04.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/20/david-raya-when-you-lose-a-champions-league-final-it-destroys-you-inside

“N o, no, there’s someone else,” David Raya says, leaping out of his chair at Spain’s training camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee, pulling his phone from the wash bag sitting on the floor and starting to scroll. Ah, look, here it is,” he says eventually, reading from the screen: “‘… the goalkeeper, who played in yesterday’s match, was at Southport on loan from Oxford United…’ Yeah, Max Crocombe. I think that is right”

And so then there were four, another name to add to the list. Peter Withe, Stan Mortensen, him, and now New Zealand’s No 1: the men who played for Southport and went to a World Cup .

The first senior competitive game Raya played was in front of 1,405 people away at Macclesfield in the Conference; the last was in front of 61,035 at the Champions League final in Budapest , making him only the third footballer to play non-league football and the biggest club game of all. The other two, in case you’re interested – and Raya is – were Steve Finnan and Chris Smalling. Four days later, via an open-topped bus parade with the Premier League trophy, he joined the favourites to win the World Cup. The best days of his career, he calls them.

Those ones, not these ones. “That time took me where I am now,” Raya says. He was 18 when he joined Southport. “I was with the Under-21s [at Blackburn] and there were no demands, no pressure, no sense that the three points really mattered,” he says. “I told the club I needed minutes in professional football to experience what it means to have to win. I couldn’t go to League One obviously – I didn’t have the level – but going to the fifth tier shaped me.”

The opportunity to play came when Liam Roberts, who a decade on is at Mansfield, got injured. It didn’t go well, not then. “If you talk to the chairman or anyone else on the board at Southport they would tell you they were thinking: ‘who have we signed here?!’” Raya recalls. “I was 18, 19 years old, playing in a league that was so, so physical. I had been used to playing in the Under-21s where it was all on the floor, playing nicely, and suddenly you’re being crashed into by 30, 35-year-old men who instead of going for the ball are going for the goalkeeper.

“But once I got used to the league, earned my teammates’ trust, those were the three or four best months of my career in terms of learning.” At the end of the season he headed back to Blackburn; arriving at Southport that summer was Crocombe. Playing at Ewood Park was still not certain – behind Jason Steele, Raya played only five games the following season – but he had changed and he was ready, mentally and physically.

“You learn that it’s not as easy as when you are used to things being done for you. It’s people trying to make it to the end of the month. You have teammates who need the win bonus to pay the mortgage. You play midweek, five or six hours away, and they’re up at 6am to go to work. You see the reality, what football is, and it shapes you; you take nothing for granted. And I enjoyed it a lot, a lot – even if they did smack me all over the place. I had black eyes, pain everywhere, but I liked it and I’m so grateful. And here I am.”

Just across the level crossing where the Chattanooga train passes, through the trees, is the World Cup base that Spain have set up at the Baylor prep school, three miles outside the city. Training has finished for the day and teammates are waiting for the goalkeeper to join them on the golf course before returning to the hotel opposite the aquarium downtown. They have been together for two weeks already, starting in Las Rozas, 25km northwest of Madrid; if all goes well they will have another five together ending in New Jersey, rivals before, all on the same team now.

“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”

Happy might not be the word, exactly. “The thing is that when you lose a Champions League final, when you get there for the first time in 20 years and then you lose on penalties, it destroys you inside,” the goalkeeper admits. “I left there with my head held high because of the work we had done all year but I was broken inside because we were so, so, so, so close … “

There’s a pause. “You don’t know when you’ll play another one or even if you will play another one,” Raya says. “When I went home, I was broken. We stayed [in Budapest] over night and travelled the next morning. That night is very, very hard. The following morning too. [But] then you reach the Emirates stadium, you see the fans and that lifts you. When you come out on the bus with the Premier League trophy and see all the people, what it means to them, you realise what you’ve done.

“Personally, those were very, very hard moments but you take a step back and look at it with perspective. You think about the way the club was a few years ago and the way it is now, how each year we got better in the Champions League, how we won the league for the first time in over 20 years … and that gets a smile out of you. That’s when you think next year we can do better, and win the Champions League.” Now to try to win the World Cup like his idol, Iker Casillas.

Despite being the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and arguably Europe last season, a Golden Glove winner for a third year running, Raya did not start Spain’s first game against Cape Verde . Nor did Joan Garcia , La Liga’s best. Instead, it was Athletic Club’s Unai Simón who did. That Simon has been No 1 for six years now did not prevent that from becoming the one debate that surrounds a stable, successful selección.

It is also a debate that, in truth, has tended to be turned more towards Garcia than Raya, certainly until reaching this year’s Champions League put Raya front and centre: not being at Madrid or Barcelona means not having a lobby. The day he named his squad, tired of all the Simón/García talk, Luis de la Fuente asked: “Why aren’t we talking about David Raya? It’s unbelievable. It’s terrifying.” Raya appreciated the support, he says. Being in England, perhaps he had been forgotten? “Maybe so, maybe not,” he replies. “It’s natural with Joan and Unai being in Spain. I’ve been away a very long time. I remember the first time I came to selección , people asked who I was.”

It is no exaggeration. Back then, in March 2022, “who is David Raya?” really was the headline in AS, ABC, Cadena Ser, El Periodico, Sport, La Razon and the rest. Well, he had spent his whole professional career in England since leaving Cornella at 16 and was called up having played just 15 top-flight games. He could even have played for England. “The idea never crossed my mind,” he says. “I always wanted to play for Spain and never thought about [England]: I wouldn’t have felt it, I would have felt an outsider. However long I was in England, I feel Spanish.”

“Some look for a debate or a headline, but competition is good,” he continues. If there is a word he keeps coming back to it’s naturally . How do you deal with the debate? Naturally. How do you deal with not being first choice for your country, forced to play a different role, knowing you’ll probably be away for six weeks without playing a single minute? Naturally. How do you and your teammates relate to each other knowing you’re competitors? Naturally. He’s seen it before. Remember the debate when he signed for an Arsenal side who already had Aaron Ramsdale? Even when Raya arrived at Southport he was one of eight goalkeepers.

He’s laughing now. “I don’t think there was a debate then,” he says. The scrutiny is different now, another kind of pressure. “That one is harder, quite honestly,” Raya replies. “Here, you’re exposed to the world, but you don’t have the pressure of wondering if you’ll make it to the end of the month. Media and public exposure comes with being a footballer and if you’re going to play at this level you have to be ready. I don’t find it difficult. I know I’ll make mistakes. Not everyone is going to like you. I’ll leave the debate for others.”

“Sure, it’s different with goalkeepers: only one can play. But we work together every day and we’re close. We help each other. The position is in very good hands, whoever plays. You come with an open mind, try to help – whatever your role. I’m very competitive but I always respect what the manager asks.”

“You treat everyone the same way,” Raya adds. “When you’re first choice you can’t treat anyone badly; when you are second or third choice you can’t treat anyone badly either. I have a good relationship with Kepa [Arrizabalaga], with Unai, with Tommy Setford, and with Joan, just as I had with [Álex] Remi[ro]. If a teammate’s down, it’s up to you to pick him up. They do the same for you. People say [competing] goalkeepers don’t get on well: I have always got on well with my teammates and I hope I always will. If the atmosphere wasn’t good, it would be very hard to work.

“It’s joy to be here. It’s my second World Cup and it’s a dream. I’ve had a successful year at Arsenal: I won my third Golden Glove and the Premier League. When you’re little you think about the World Cup. I was 15 when Spain won it in 2010 and I live this with total happiness and enthusiasm. It’s not every day you can be at a World Cup.”

It’s not everyone who can be, either. Still less starting out at Southport. But here’s David Raya. “And Max Crocombe,” he says.

Keyword – Technology
Trefwoorden – AI (artificial intelligence), Instagram, Technology, Meta, Computing, Advertising, Advertising Standards Authority, Media, Consumer affairs, Money
Title – Brands using AI-generated influencers to promote products on social media | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sarah-marsh
Link – Brands using AI-generated influencers to promote products on social media | AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T06:00:23.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/21/brands-using-ai-generated-influencers-to-promote-products-on-social-media

Brands promoting their products online are quietly deploying AI-generated influencers on social media, an investigation has found, prompting calls for greater transparency.

The findings suggest companies are increasingly turning to AI-generated content that purports to show genuine customer experiences while giving no obvious indication that the people featured are not real.

The Guardian has also found that some content creators making AI influencer content are being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements so they cannot talk about their work.

There are no specific rules requiring brands to tell consumers when advertising content has been created using AI. In the EU, new rules under the Artificial Intelligence Act will begin applying in August, requiring AI-generated or manipulated content such as deepfake images, audio and video to be clearly labelled. The legislation will not apply in the UK.

The consumer group Which? said that customers should be clearly informed when promotional content features AI-generated influencers rather than real people.

One example of a business appearing to use this content on Instagram includes a photo app called Once, which allows people’s phones to create disposable camera-style photographs for events. According to analysis by Reality Defenders, a cybersecurity company specialising in deepfake detection, the brand has likely used AI-generated influencers in its promotion.

Several videos on Instagram show a bride crying and saying she was pleased to have used the Once app at her wedding. In one she says: “Everyone expected a no-phone wedding, so I gave them cameras instead.” The post was captioned, “The app I used is called @oncefilmapp.”

When asked about this, Once did not respond to a request for a comment.

In another video a woman who appears to be AI generated says in a caption on the screen: “I could kiss the interior designer who showed me this.” She then goes on to show herself using the Maket app, which uses AI to design and plan housing projects.

Maket said: “AI-generated influencers have been one of several ways for us to test creative concepts and marketing hooks at a small scale before investing in broader campaigns. This is not a core part of our marketing strategy, but rather an experiment to better understand what resonates with audiences across channels, including influencer, social media and email campaigns.”

A fashion brand called Ashle, a Dubai-based business, posted a photograph appearing to show a woman wearing its clothes at a restaurant. The woman appears to have an extra finger. After being approached by the Guardian to ask about the use of AI influencers, the brand deleted photographs from its social media page.

A spokesperson for Ashle said: “To clarify, all Ashle pieces are real garments that are handmade to order. We are not selling AI-generated products. Some early marketing imagery utilised AI during our initial launch phase to showcase designs.

“The images that have been removed were taken down because those particular designs are no longer part of the collection, not because they were AI-generated.”

Lisa Barber, editor of Which? Tech, said: “Our recent investigation into deepfakes on social media found that a worrying 70% of people are unable to correctly identify all the real and fake videos we showed them, meaning consumers could be frequently being misled by AI-generated content and becoming targets for scammers.

“It is concerning that consumers are not able to trust the content they are seeing online. Companies must be transparent when content has been created using AI, particularly if AI-generated influencers are appearing in the content.”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said there was nothing in its rules that explicitly prohibits brands from posting AI-generated promotional content without disclosing it.

“There’s nothing in our rules that prohibits this and there are no disclosure rules for AI content labelling,” an ASA spokesperson said. “The content would, of course, still need to stick to the advertising rules. For example, it mustn’t be misleading and it must be socially responsible.”

The regulator said the use of AI itself is not the issue it would assess when considering complaints.

“That would depend on whether the use of AI results in the consumer being given a misleading impression of the product being advertised,” the spokesperson said. “Ultimately, the issue we would look at is whether the ad itself is misleading, rather than the use of AI being inherently problematic.”

Clarissa Mansbridge, a former celebrity manager who has previously worked with Katie Price, creates images of AI influencers for brands as part of her Mia Metaverse portfolio. She says brands approach her because she has the technical ability to create hyperrealistic, aspirational digital humans.

Brands can hire Mansbridge to create entirely new AI avatars that are used for user-generated content (UGC) – a form of content paid for by brands where humans review their products. For example, a beauty company may commission a realistic-looking video of an anonymous 20-year-old applying sunscreen beside a pool in Bali. The brand can then post the content directly on its own social channels, making it appear as though it was submitted by a real influencer.

“I’m going to say about 40% to 60% of the content out there from some of the big brands is actually being made through AI, but a lot of the creators are under NDA,” Mansbridge said.

“If you sign with a brand, they’ll make you sign an NDA saying you can’t talk about the fact they’re using [AI], because consumer trust is still being built. I call it plausible deniability.”

Mansbridge said brands are increasingly attracted by the lower costs associated with AI-generated content.

“Brands want high-end photography, but they don’t want to pay $20,000 to $70,000 for a traditional photoshoot,” she said. “Unfortunately, human influencers killed the market for themselves. Brands are moving to AI to cut out issues like bad press, personal opinions, hourly rates and photographers.”

Mansbridge said the paid “UGC boom” started around three years ago, “when influencers were incredibly smart about it. They noticed brands were desperate for content that looked like real, everyday people using their products, so they started pitching paid content framed in that style. Brands loved it and paid for it.”

She added: “The authenticity of UGC was always about resonance, not [about] who made it. If the content reflects a real consumer truth about the product, it connects. AI just gives brands a smarter, more scalable way to get there.”

The use of AI-generated content that mimics authentic customer experiences is also being actively marketed to businesses.

Leeds-based artist Zac Rossiter said he was recently approached by a marketing agency promising to help boost sales. In an email seen by the Guardian, the agency wrote: “Pick one of your products. I’m thinking your artwork prints, but it’s up to you. We will use our AI studio to generate you a complimentary piece of ad creative for it, yours to keep.”

The agency said it wanted to create an AI-generated unboxing video featuring one of Rossiter’s products. Unboxing videos, in which customers open and react to products on camera, have become a popular form of user-generated content because they are often viewed by consumers as authentic recommendations.

Rossiter declined the offer. “I would never work with an agency that used fake AI unboxing videos over actual, real people,” he said.

Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – Andy Burnham, Makerfield byelection, Politics, UK news, Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage
Title – Andy Burnham has shown that he can win. But can he govern Britain? | Gaby Hinsliff | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gabyhinsliff
Link – Andy Burnham has shown that he can win. But can he govern Britain? | Gaby Hinsliff | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T06:00:01.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/20/andy-burnham-britain-makerfield-mp

B y the end, it had become less a byelection, more a mythical quest. Whoever could draw the sword from Makerfield’s stone – or more prosaically, beat Reform in a seat where it practically swept the board in last month’s local elections – would claim the divine right to rule the Labour party. And lo, on Friday morning, Andy Burnham became the chosen one.

He carries the magic shield of not being from Westminster – though that won’t last, obviously – plus the easy warmth with people that Keir Starmer lacks, and the rare ability to generate excitement in politics. Reform is beatable, and the sun shines brighter for knowing that. A third successive defeat for Nigel Farage in a winnable byelection, after losing Caerphilly to Plaid Cymru and Gorton and Denton to the Greens, suggests a trend, not a fluke.

Less obviously, Burnham’s good-natured campaign also helped the country see another side of places like Makerfield, beyond the day drinkers furnishing visiting journalists with blood-curdling quotes; a side where the Reform candidate’s sexist comments still hurt him and people with tough lives might still give a mainstream politician a chance. Another future is still possible. But only if Burnham shows he can genuinely govern as well as win.

For Starmer was a winner two summers ago, swept to victory on similarly heady but vague promises of change – and look at him now. The last loyalists began peeling away shortly after John Healey’s shock resignation as defence secretary, over yet another prime ministerial failure to take a decision. It’s over for Starmer, essentially. Barring a currently unlikely rush among Labour MPs to embrace Wes Streeting, the question now is how to bridge the gap until Burnham is ready. For turning the kind of post-industrial, leftwing populism that worked in Makerfield into a coherent national project will take some work.

Despite the snark about his supposed flip-flopping, Burnham’s values haven’t changed since I first got to know him professionally, nearly 30 years ago. He’s a small-town lad from a close-knit Catholic family , who married his university girlfriend and still has something of the wide-eyed altar boy about him. Though his faith has lapsed – he consistently votes pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ+ rights – the church shaped his family’s sense of doing right by others and provided a childhood sense of security, alongside his other religions of football and music. It was as a young cabinet minister, in 2009, that he first properly channelled all that into politics, when the shock of being booed on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster jolted Burnham into publicly battling for an inquiry.

But if his roots matter, he also has the chameleon qualities and slightly chippy confidence of the state-school-to-Cambridge kid who had to learn to fit into places he didn’t seemingly belong. His great strength is his empathy: he’s unusually sensitive to people’s underlying emotions – and unafraid of mirroring them. His instinctive gut reaction during the pandemic , to Manchester being repeatedly pushed back into restrictions, went viral because it nailed the feeling of being punished for higher Covid rates driven by inequalities and forces that people felt powerless to control. If other politicians find him ideologically hard to read, the public doesn’t.

That same empathy, however, means he struggles to say no. Every rival Labour faction sees something to like in Burnham, from his Blue Labour -tinged communitarianism to his enthusiasm for electoral reform or his socialist embrace of bringing public services into public control (which doesn’t stop him retrospectively defending the private finance initiative ). But they also all see chances to change his mind. That leaves an awful lot of cooks now jostling to stir the broth.

In the north, he resolved the contradictions through what he called a politics of place, reliant on deeply knowing your community – from cosmopolitan central Manchester, through its more conservative suburbs to struggling peripheral towns – and setting aside partisan differences in order to rebuild a sense of pride and belonging. If he could somehow translate this benign form of identity politics from Manchester to Britain at large, it would be an extraordinary achievement. But for now, that’s a superhuman task lacking a detailed plan. Having campaigned literally in poetry – his closing campaign video was a moving recital of Lemn Sissay’s elegiac Anthem of the North , originally written for Newcastle – he needs a summer of knuckling down to the small print.

Where exactly does he stand on immigration? In Makerfield, he backed Shabana Mahmood’s hardline reforms . But a Labour revolt is already brewing against them, with Angela Rayner campaigning particularly vociferously against the policy of making it harder for people who came to the UK to work as carers to settle permanently. Does Burnham, whose genuine desire to fix social care dates back to unfinished business as health secretary in the Brown government, really want to drive migrant care workers out of an already threadbare system? What’s his answer to his rival Streeting’s argument that Labour shouldn’t be afraid of making the positive case for immigration?

Big questions still loom, meanwhile, over borrowing, tax, spending on welfare and defence versus net zero – especially if Ed Miliband becomes chancellor – and what exactly “business-friendly socialism” means for, say, regulating big tech. Does Burnham mean what he says about sticking to Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules and tax pledges , and if so, what room does he realistically have left for radicalism? Though taking public control of transport, water and energy was Burnham’s most popular policy in Makerfield, Starmer is already renationalising the railways and hinting at a possible takeover of Thames Water for precious little electoral reward – perhaps because people haven’t yet felt the difference in their pockets.

Burnham’s operation is relaxed and freewheeling, and he remains suspicious of attempts to impose more order now. But while in Manchester he has relied on a small, trusted circle to hammer out the detail of his big ideas, in Downing Street he’d have to manage experienced cabinet members with agendas of their own, plus a Whitehall machine requiring crystal clear direction to deliver. He’ll need help rebuilding bridges with MPs, too, as he shifts from years of blaming Westminster for not getting it to being the one that everyone outside Westminster blames.

Nobody wants to rain on this parade of hope. But a frictionless coronation in which the party politely ducks awkward questions will ultimately do Burnham no favours. Contest or no contest, Labour must find ways of stress-testing his ideas over summer, plugging holes that might otherwise be painfully exposed in office. And then crucially, come September, it must do its level best to make what’s left work. Andy Burnham may just have earned Labour a second hearing. Squander that chance, and there won’t be a third.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist