Keyword – News
Trefwoorden – World news, UK news
Title – A Kyiv far-right protest and summer solstice celebrations: photos of the weekend | World news | The Guardian
Author –
Link – A Kyiv far-right protest and summer solstice celebrations: photos of the weekend | World news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T12:27:08.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/jun/21/a-kyiv-far-right-protest-and-summer-solstice-celebrations-photos-of-the-weekend

Keyword – Fashion
Trefwoorden – Fashion, Life and style, Women, Women’s trousers
Title – Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: elegant but practical, capri pants are a perfect summer look | Fashion | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jesscartnermorley
Link – Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: elegant but practical, capri pants are a perfect summer look | Fashion | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T13:00:33.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jun/17/jess-cartner-morley-fashion-capri-pants-audrey-hepburn-vibes

I think we can probably agree that Audrey Hepburn would not have been seen dead in jorts. The baggy, grunge-adjacent knee-length denims that were everywhere last summer and are creeping back around are definitely cool. Totally a vibe. But elegant they are not.

The capri pant is an undeniably elegant solution to the problem of what to wear when jeans or tailored trousers are too hot and cumbersome, but you don’t want to wear shorts. For instance, when it is sunny while you are getting dressed, but you are going to be out all day and the forecast looks dodgy later on. Or when there is a heatwave but you still have to go to the office, so Daisy Dukes are not going to work.

Capri pants were invented in Munich in the late 1940s. Diminutive German designer Sonja de Lennart was frustrated that the Katharine Hepburn style of blousy trouser didn’t flatter her shape. She came up with a below-the-knee crop, ending with a little kicker of a slit at the hem and elongated at the top with a high waist. Presumably because she recognised that Munich pants was not the most alluring moniker for her new style, particularly in postwar Europe, she named them instead after the Italian island, to capture their sunny sprezzatura . American film costume designer Edith Head was an immediate fan, and dressed Audrey Hepburn in de Lennart’s capris for the 1954 film Sabrina.

Capris kicked happily around the south of France for a couple of decades before fading from vogue, but enjoyed a renaissance in the 2000s, when their retro glamour became a signature look for Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and The City, showing that the capri can work as well on city streets as on the beach.

They haven’t been around for a while, so we need to figure out how they fit into our wardrobes. It’s all about balance. You don’t want to go too literal on the 50s nostalgia, or they can get a bit cutesy. On the other hand, they have a specific set of proportions that need to be considered when putting your look together. You want your capri outfit to look intentional, not like you rolled your trousers up to go paddling.

It works kind of like this. Go sparingly on the milkshake-drinking-bombshell stuff. If you want to wear gingham, I would do a boxy short-sleeve gingham shirt but maybe not a gingham lace-up bodice top. Or you could wear a broderie anglaise top with your capris, but then I’d suggest a casual flip flop or thong sandal rather than kitten heels or mules. Just so that it’s not too cherry-on-top pretty, if you know what I mean.

You might consider a silk scarf, but perhaps tie it around the handle of your bag or in your hair, not jauntily at the neck. If you want a simple starter outfit, you won’t go wrong with head-to-toe black: a cap sleeve T-shirt, your little capris, and ballet flats. (Head and Hepburn knew what they were doing.) But if this all feels a little too midcentury and costumey for you, capris also work well with a bomber jacket or a zip-up windbreaker.

The right shoe is crucial. Anything too heavy throws the silhouette off, and showing some skin below the bend of the ankle makes the line much more graceful. The v-shape of a flip flop works well. For a little more coverage, a slender lace-up jazz shoe beats chunky trainers.

The joy of a capri pant is that it feels kind of snazzy, but is practical at heart. This is a piece that understands summer. You can run for a train. You can sit cross-legged on the grass. You can cycle (they are not also known as pedal pushers for nothing, after all). They may not have the ironic cool of a pair of jorts, but they have a founding myth, a film star and a sun-drenched Italian island behind them. They have summer romance in their DNA. They make life feel slightly cinematic. Jorts may have the edge, but capris have the pedigree.

Styling: Melanie Wilkinson . Model: Maria Diaz at Milk. Hair and makeup: Sophie Higginson using Sam McKnight and Dr Sam’s . Styling assistant: Charlotte Gornall. Earrings , £25.99, Pilgrim. Coat , £395, The Fold. Shirt , £110, With Nothing Underneath. Scarf belt , £22 Next. Trousers , £99, and shoes , £99, both Mint Velvet.

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Dating, Relationships, Life and style
Title – Blind date: ‘I got a bit carried away once the wine kicked in’ | Dating | The Guardian
Author – Guardian Staff
Link – Blind date: ‘I got a bit carried away once the wine kicked in’ | Dating | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T05:00:54.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/20/blind-date-alex-ellie

Alex on Ellie

What were you hoping for? To meet someone kind and have an enjoyable evening with someone I maybe wouldn’t ordinarily choose for myself.

First impressions? Pretty, with great style, loads of personality and a really relaxed energy.

What did you talk about? Work. Travelling. Shared Bristol connections and an unexpected link to a nightclub in Swindon. Her new personal training side hustle. Probably a bit too much about my cycling, in hindsight.

Most awkward moment? I managed to make a bit of a mess with some crackers that were a lot more brittle than I expected.

Good table manners? She had really nice table manners.

Best thing about Ellie? Her smile and infectious laugh.

Would you introduce Ellie to your friends? Absolutely.

Describe Ellie in three words Warm, easygoing, fun.

What do you think Ellie made of you? I’m not entirely sure. She was very honest at the end and said she didn’t feel romantic chemistry, which I respected. Aside from that, I hope she found me decent company.

Did you go on somewhere? Nope.

And … did you kiss? Only a friendly peck on the cheek.

If you could change one thing about the evening, what would it be? Probably I’d talk a little less. I think I got a bit carried away once the wine kicked in.

Marks out of 10? 7.5.

Would you meet again? I’d definitely meet again as friends. I really enjoyed her company.

Ellie on Alex

What were you hoping for? I try to have not to have too many expectations, but was hoping for good chat, laughter and alfresco dining.

First impressions? We were both nervous and early, but as soon as I met him I was at ease.

What did you talk about? Japan. Our lack of wine knowledge. Favourite fitness things.

Most awkward moment? A piece of food fell out of my mouth as I was talking. But he nearly knocked his wine over, so I think we were even.

Good table manners? Yes. Mine were worse, due to the above.

Best thing about Alex? He has a really welcoming, warm vibe.

Would you introduce Alex to your friends? Yes, but I can’t fully imagine us in each other’s social circles.

Describe Alex in three words Warm, humble, intelligent.

What do you think Alex made of you? I’m not sure. I think he agreed we had fun, but the attraction wasn’t there.

Did you go on somewhere? No.

And … did you kiss? Only the cheek.

If you could change one thing about the evening, what would it be? Some chemistry might have been nice.

Marks out of 10? 8.

Would you meet again? I don’t think so, but I had a wonderful evening getting to know Alex.

Ellie and Alex ate at Pasta Ripiena in Bristol. Fancy a blind date? Email blind.date@theguardian.com

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Brexit, Wales, UK news, Politics
Title – ‘There’s no jobs’: struggle and regret in a Welsh town that backed Brexit | Brexit | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/bethan-mckernan
Link – ‘There’s no jobs’: struggle and regret in a Welsh town that backed Brexit | Brexit | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T05:00:23.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/21/ebbw-vale-wales-struggle-regret-brexit

W here Ebbw Vale’s steelworks once stood is now a cluster of gleaming modern buildings including a hospital, a leisure centre and a college. Over the past decade, these public facilities have been joined by a public-private cybersecurity research centre and two tech firms. A new railway station opened at the site in 2015.

Yet, during the Guardian’s visit to the Welsh valleys town last week, the area was quiet. Nearly as many sheep as people appeared to be using the new facilities: a ewe and three lambs, escaped from somewhere, busied themselves in a strip of rewilded land next to the tech buildings.

“We don’t get as many visitors as we would like,” said John Edwards, 77, a volunteer at the Ebbw Vale Works Museum, an archive of the area’s coal, iron and steelmaking past in the steel mill’s former general offices.“The train station is busy in the mornings, it’s packed with people going to Cardiff. We’ve become a commuter town.”

After the Ebbw Vale steelworks closed in 2002, Blaenau Gwent received the maximum amount of EU funding available for structural and regional development programmes. Much of the money went towards the regeneration projects on the old site.

Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales voted leave in the 2016 EU referendum, although research suggests the Welsh result may have been skewed by retired English people . In Ebbw Vale, support for Brexit was strong: 62% of voters in the town of 18,000 people voted leave, the highest proportion in Wales, despite the huge amount of EU money the town received.

Out shopping on the high street, Claire Jones, 52, winced as she recalled the Brexit vote. “It was shocking so many people voted leave when you just had to look around to see how much help we got from the EU – the flag was on signs everywhere,” she said. “Either people didn’t care or they didn’t know, or they believed what [the leave campaign] said about immigration.”

Lindsay Whittle, a Plaid Cymru representative for the constituency in the Welsh Senedd, said: “What the Brexit vote showed was the depth of despair and how people felt left behind. I think now, with more information available and a lot more engagement on the subject, a lot of people here now regret that decision.”

Ebbw Vale and the wider Blaenau Gwent area are among the poorest places in the UK. Everyone the Guardian met said the town’s troubles began long before Brexit shrank trade and investment and stalled growth , leaving families across the country on average thousands of pounds a year worse off.

The steel mill closed for good more than two decades ago, taking away the last traditional skilled manufacturing jobs in the area. Despite the area receiving the maximum amount of EU funding, up until the Brexit vote in 2016 the number of jobs in the area steadily declined , as did median wages in real terms.

A report by the Bevan Foundation, a Merthyr Tydfil-based thinktank, said: “It’s pretty clear that whatever else EU funds may have achieved, they didn’t boost the fortunes of Blaenau Gwent and many other parts of Wales. If these towns were ‘ showered with cash ’, it appears to have gone straight down the drain.”

In the decade since Brexit, the UK has – as predicted – failed to make up the EU funding shortfall in full. Ebbw Vale has become part of the Welsh government’s £100m tech valleys programme, which aims to bring new industry to the area. Three tech companies have opened offices on the old steelworks site, which is also home to the Goldworks, or Gwaithaur, a coworking and business support hub opened in 2024.

According to Blaenau Gwent council, more local businesses have opened over the past 10 years than in the 10 before it – a net gain of 870, up on 511 – and Blaenau Gwent and neighbouring Torfaen have just announced a joint blueprint for growth capitalising on the Welsh government investment and funding pots for deprived areas announced by Labour in Westminster.

None of it, it seems, has yet made a tangible difference to people in town dealing with the cost of living crisis. Nathan Grist, 40, part of the family-owned butchers with the same name, said: “We’re doing OK but some businesses are barely keeping afloat, and people, customers, have to cut back on even little things now. It’s a struggle for everyone.”

A shopper who gave his name as Mike, 62, called the regeneration projects on the former steelworks site “white elephants”. “I worked in the steelworks until I was made redundant, then I worked for myself. But it’s different for my kids and my grandkids,” he said. “There’s no jobs. You have to get the train, and people from other places have realised that and now it’s pushing up house prices .”

Mike, like other people on the high street, said immigration was a problem in the town, although according to Office for National Statistics data, just 3.2% of Blaenau Gwent’s population was born abroad.

Even though Blaenau Gwent is the birthplace of the Labour movement , Brexit has contributed to soaring support for Plaid Cymru, at Labour’s expense.

It was once unthinkable that the area could abandon the party – at times, it has been the safest Labour majority in the country – but in May’s Senedd election Ebbw Vale’s constituency did not elect a single Labour Senedd member. Three of the six seats available under the new, more proportional voting system went to Plaid Cymru, and the other three to Reform UK.

Whittle, the Plaid Cymru MS, said: “More and more, people in Wales are seeing that Westminster doesn’t work for them. The EU referendum and the mess afterwards are a big reason for that.”

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – World news, Ukraine, Russia, Europe
Title – Ukraine war briefing: Drones strike Russia’s Tyumen oil refinery 2,000km away, says Zelenskyy | World news | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/warrenmurray
Link – Ukraine war briefing: Drones strike Russia’s Tyumen oil refinery 2,000km away, says Zelenskyy | World news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T06:37:38.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/21/ukraine-war-briefing-drones-strike-russia-tyumen-oil-refinery-2000km-away-says-zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that Ukrainian drones attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen region ⁠in western Siberia, ⁠ more ​than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine . He said Ukrainian company Fire Point had developed new long-range drones capable of ⁠travelling more than 3,000km and they had been “successfully deployed”. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy thanked the Ukrainian ⁠military for special operations that “have reached Tyumen Region in Russia, including ​an oil refining facility. More ‌than 2,000km from ‌our state border. This is effective work.”

Unverified videos posted online showed smoke and flame rising over what was said to be the burning Tyumen refinery , also known as the Antipinsky refinery. The Tyumen governor, Alexander Moor, claimed emergency services were working at the site of “fallen [drone] debris” – a phrasing often used by Russian officials to play down successful Ukrainian attacks.

Ukraine’s forces struck an oil terminal at Kerch in occupied Crimea over Saturday night, according to Ukrainian media and online accounts monitoring the war. Nasa satellite monitoring showed a fire at the Kerch seaport where the terminal is located. In what appeared to be a broader wave of strikes against Russian-held targets in Crimea, an electrical substation at Bilohorsk was reportedly on fire, and there were other attacks at Yevpatoria and the main city of Sevastopol.

Russian attacks killed three people in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said on Sunday. A woman aged 70 was killed in Nikopol and nine were wounded in other districts of Dnipropetrovsk, said Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration. Vitali Dyakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration, said a Russian strike on Saturday evening killed two people and wounded 13 , including six children.

Russian ⁠forces struck the ⁠south-eastern Ukrainian ⁠city of ​Zaporizhzhia with glide ⁠bombs on Saturday, killing five ⁠people ​and ‌injuring 10 , said Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor. Fedorov said there ‌had been nine strikes ​in the city. He ⁠said residents could ​be ​trapped ​in the ​rubble ‌of ​damaged buildings.

Near the Russian border, a bomb attack killed ​one person on the ​outskirts of the city of ​Sumy , local officials said. In the southern Kherson region , the regional ​governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said ‌ one person had ​died in ​a drone attack on a village north of the region’s main city, also called Kherson.

Russian bombs struck an apartment building on Saturday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing at least one person and wounding nine including a six-year-old child, authorities said.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Football, Sport, Turkey
Title – Turkey need another rebrand after failing to take flight at World Cup | Football | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/michael-butler
Link – Turkey need another rebrand after failing to take flight at World Cup | Football | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T13:22:15.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/20/turkey-exit-tears-world-cup-2026-football-daily-newsletter

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

When Turkey changed to Türkiye in 2022, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced it was because the new name was “the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilisation, and values.” The rebrand, though, also had a less lofty reason. “The association with the bird genuinely annoys Erdoğan and the people around him,” explained Selim Koru of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, while even state broadcaster TRT conceded that the loose-necked Christmas bird was at least a factor in the revamp.

And although getting names right is important – just ask the good folk at Starbucks – some things never change. Save for the 2002 tournament in which the country finished a remarkable third, Turkey/Türkiye have an absolutely dreadful record when it comes to the World Cup – with 2026 being just their third appearance at a finals – and now they are out again after two miserable defeats to the flamin’ Socceroos and Paraguay. The latter was made all the more painful by the fact that the South American side played for more than a half with 10 men, after former Newcastle scuttler Miguel Almirón became the first player to be shown a red card for covering his mouth while speaking to an opponent. “We should have won these games … everybody’s sad, everybody’s crying ,” sobbed umlaut enthusiast/Turkish wonderkid Arda Güler, who alongside Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz, it had been hoped might inspire his nation to come good on their “dark horses” tag. “We tried very hard ‌but it didn’t work. But we should have scored some goals.”

Paraguay’s Matías Galarza struck the GWC’s fastest goal with a stunning ping after just 65 seconds, before Turkey/Türkiye laid siege to their opponents. But La Albirroja survived despite enduring more shots than a busy vaccination centre. In all there were 32 Turkish attempts on Paraguay’s goal, adding to their 30 fruitless shots against Australia in their opening match – the 62 shots combined are the most without a goal in any two-match span in the World Cup on record. “Somehow the ball didn’t go in,” ⁠wailed Vincenzo Montella, Turkey/Türkiye’s Italian manager. “It’s really shocking to say goodbye ‌to the [Geopolitics] World Cup ‌after only two matches. Perhaps, even unconsciously, the pressure of playing in a major tournament after such a long absence affected us.”

The fallout to elimination is yet to be established. Heads will surely roll, but does the rebrand now need a rebrand? Not everyone can enjoy the same generational reboot as Football Daily. But then our name isn’t also a domesticated flightless bird as well as being a Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of both “something that fails badly” and a “silly person”. Hard luck, Turkey/Türkiye. See you again in four years. Maybe.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

John Brewin blasts off our minute-by-minute coverage with the Netherlands 2-2 Sweden at 6pm BST (1pm EDT) before Will Unwin relishes the thrills of Germany 1-0 Côte d’Ivoire from 11pm (6pm EDT). Alexander Abnos will then deliver updates from Ecuador 3-0 Curaçao (8pm EDT, Sun 1am BST) before Jonathan Howcroft is your party host for Tunisia 1-3 Japan (midnight EDT, Sun 5am BST).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I am deeply ashamed ⁠to have been the vehicle for this pain. I must clarify that this false information was provided to me during the live broadcast as verified ​by the production team of the show, and I trusted ‌it. Even so, I take responsibility for ‌being part of the mistake, and that’s why I decided to step aside and end my participation. I apologise again ‌from the heart; I was wrong” – Argentinian host Florencia Peña resigns and issues an apology , blaming the crew for feeding incorrect ⁠information via her earpiece, after announcing on air that Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, had died and that the player would not play any further matches at the tournament.

RECOMMENDED BOOKMARKING

If our shiny GWC Golden Boot page wasn’t enough for you, we’ve now only gone and built an all-time World Cup top goalscorers page too.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

When did it become a thing for the refereeing team to have their names on the backs of their shirts? I’m amazed that Fifa isn’t looking to cash in by selling replicas” – Phil Taverner.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily . Please, up your game! Australian rules football and American football do not play with anything egg-shaped. It’s a prolate spheroid. How different the game would be (could it even exist?) if it were” – Kate Clements.

Re: Trevor Wastell and US commentary ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ). I am lucky to speak Spanish but, even if I did not, anyone who would watch football in the USA USA USA (or anywhere else) in any other language is off their rocker. Also, one needs only the barest anglicised Spanglish to get the gist. Luckily for United Statesians, Peacock TV are showing my home nation’s characteristic enthusiasm for multilingual audiences, with the basic subscription having thrown in streaming of every GWC partido en Español, much like they would reruns of ‘Betty la Fea’ or ‘María la del Barrio’. I almost hear NBC suits saying: ‘Who would be watching this? I can’t even understand it!’ Highly recommended” – Thad Brown.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com . Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Thad Brown. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here .

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

It’s day nine in the Big Brother Football Weekly house – Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the rest of the pod squad for their latest offering from LA.

RECOMMENDED WATCHING

Soccer and fandom. Jack Snape checks out the flamin’ experiences for supporters on different sides of the Pacific .

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions .

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Manchester City, Football, Sport, Chelsea
Title – Manchester City close to financial settlement with Chelsea to appoint Enzo Maresca | Manchester City | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthughes
Link – Manchester City close to financial settlement with Chelsea to appoint Enzo Maresca | Manchester City | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T07:06:03.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/20/manchester-city-close-to-financial-settlement-with-chelsea-to-appoint-enzo-maresca

Manchester City are close to reaching a financial settlement with Chelsea that will enable them to appoint Enzo Maresca as their manager.

Chelsea are demanding compensation from City to release Maresca as they believe they have evidence the Italian breached his contract at Stamford Bridge by talking to the club’s Premier League rivals when he was still their manager last season.

It has been widely reported that Maresca informed Chelsea he had been approached by City and by Napoli last winter in the chaotic weeks that led to his surprise resignation on New Year’s Day, a claim that has never been disputed.

Chelsea are adamant they deserve to be compensated for the loss of Maresca, whose departure destabilised a season that ended with them finishing 10th in the Premier League and missing out on European qualification, but they have a good relationship with City and have confidence an amicable agreement can be reached.

The club paid Leicester £8m in compensation to secure the release of Maresca as manager two years ago, and in January made another multimillion-pound payment to their sister club Strasbourg to bring in Liam Rosenior as the Italian’s replacement.

Chelsea sources have indicated they have sufficient evidence to report City to the Premier League for making an illegal approach to Maresca, but have no plans to do so and are continuing to negotiate with them.

Chelsea have also given consideration to bringing a separate legal claim against Maresca for an alleged breach of contract, but that is likely to be dropped if they reach an agreement with City.

A financial settlement worth more than £10m to Chelsea is thought to be the likely outcome, with negotiations between the clubs over the finer details continuing.

City do not return for pre-season training until the middle of next month as they have 19 players away at the World Cup so have some time to resolve the matter, although Maresca is eager to start work for the club as soon as possible.

Chelsea and City declined to comment.

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Photography, Life and style, Art, Art and design, Culture
Title – ‘You don’t have to go to special places to find beauty’: Takeshi Aruga’s best phone picture | Photography | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/grace-holliday
Link – ‘You don’t have to go to special places to find beauty’: Takeshi Aruga’s best phone picture | Photography | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T10:00:01.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/20/takeshi-aruga-best-phone-picture

T akeshi Aruga was en route from hospital back to his home in Okegawa, Japan, when he took this photograph. He’d had a consultation with a dermatologist, and while his house was a couple of miles away, good weather encouraged him to walk. Along the way, he passed PAPA Ageo, a sizeable shopping centre popular with locals. This blue sign board outside the multistorey car park caught his eye.

“On the side visible to drivers coming down, it usually displays a message like ‘Thank you for visiting’ along with directions for turning left or right to avoid traffic congestion,” Aruga says. “Just behind is a red box, likely for a fire extinguisher.”

He credits his work as a furniture designer and maker for the sense of geometric composition in his photography. “I also liked how the various colours created a striking contrast and balance,” he adds. He used Lightroom and Snapseed apps to apply minor edits.

“Due to various circumstances, I’ve not been able to create minimalist furniture, lighting, or three-dimensional sculptures recently, so have used photography as an alternative creative outlet,” Aruga says. “Sometimes people ask me where the shot was taken, or how I came upon such a beautiful place. I’m keen to let them know that it was on an ordinary street corner. We all tend to think we can’t enjoy wonderful experiences or happiness unless we go to special places, but in reality, these things exist in the spaces we pass through every day.”

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, World Cup, Football, Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, England, Sport, Scotland, South Korea, Mexico, Czechia, South Africa football team, Canada, Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Morocco football team, Haiti football team, USA, Turkey, Australia national football team – Socceroos, Paraguay, Germany, Ecuador, Côte d’Ivoire football team, Curaçao, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia football team, Belgium, Iran, Egypt football team, New Zealand, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde, Senegal football team, Norway, Iraq, Austria, Algeria football team, Jordan, Portugal, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo football team, Uzbekistan, Croatia, Panama, Ghana football team, US sports, Australia sport, Switzerland
Title – Bracketology: predict a path to World Cup victory | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author –
Link – Bracketology: predict a path to World Cup victory | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-04T10:00:48.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2026/jun/04/bracketology-predict-a-path-to-world-cup-victory

Groups Touch and drag teams into predicted finish order

Third-place teams Pick eight sides to advance to the last 32

Knockouts Tap a winner from each match to plan your route to the final

The progress of the World Cup from match to match is determined from
the beginning: there are no further draws to decide who plays whom in
subsequent rounds.

To maximise the spectacle, the competition is structured, broadly, to
ensure that the “bigger” teams don’t face each other (and knock each
other out) too early in the competition, and to ensure that all 48
teams have an incentive to field their strongest side for every
fixture.

The top two teams from each group automatically qualify to the next
round. Because the winner of a group will face a second- or
third-placed team from another group, the hope is that France, for
instance, will not rest on their laurels once they have enough points
to qualify for the knockouts but will try to win their last game to
get what in principle are easier opponents in the next round, the last
32.

At the other end of the table, a team who know they will come at best
third in their group still have an incentive to give their all in that
last group game because the eight best-performing of the 12
third-placed teams also go into the last 32.

Let’s take the example of England, wholly arbitrarily. If England top
their group, they will face a third-placed team in the first knockout
round (technically any one of 20 other teams, but plausibly a team
such as Côte d’Ivoire or Algeria). If they come second, they will play
the runners-up from Group K, plausibly Colombia. And if they come
third but have a better points total or goal difference than four of
the other third-placed teams, they get a tougher fixture, against the
winners of Group K, possibly Portugal. The simulator includes the
predetermined routes for all 495 possible combinations of groups
yielding the eight best third-placed teams.

This simulator allows you to change the outcome of each group and see
the effect that those changes have on the last 32, and then to imagine
the winner of each knockout game to plot each team’s possible route to
the final.

Editorial: James Dart, Marcus Christenson and Philip Cornwall

Design and development: Barry Ainslie, Georges Lebreton,
Seán Clarke, Harry Fischer, Petter Nitter and Freddie Preece

Groups Touch and drag teams into predicted finish order

Third-place teams Pick eight sides to advance to the last 32

Knockouts Tap a winner from each match to plan your route to the final

Your winner

The progress of the World Cup from match to match is determined from
the beginning: there are no further draws to decide who plays whom in
subsequent rounds.

To maximise the spectacle, the competition is structured, broadly, to
ensure that the “bigger” teams don’t face each other (and knock each
other out) too early in the competition, and to ensure that all 48
teams have an incentive to field their strongest side for every
fixture.

The top two teams from each group automatically qualify to the next
round. Because the winner of a group will face a second- or
third-placed team from another group, the hope is that France, for
instance, will not rest on their laurels once they have enough points
to qualify for the knockouts but will try to win their last game to
get what in principle are easier opponents in the next round, the last
32.

At the other end of the table, a team who know they will come at best
third in their group still have an incentive to give their all in that
last group game because the eight best-performing of the 12
third-placed teams also go into the last 32.

Let’s take the example of England, wholly arbitrarily. If England top
their group, they will face a third-placed team in the first knockout
round (technically any one of 20 other teams, but plausibly a team
such as Côte d’Ivoire or Algeria). If they come second, they will play
the runners-up from Group K, plausibly Colombia. And if they come
third but have a better points total or goal difference than four of
the other third-placed teams, they get a tougher fixture, against the
winners of Group K, possibly Portugal. The simulator includes the
predetermined routes for all 495 possible combinations of groups
yielding the eight best third-placed teams.

This simulator allows you to change the outcome of each group and see
the effect that those changes have on the last 32, and then to imagine
the winner of each knockout game to plot each team’s possible route to
the final.

Editorial: James Dart, Marcus Christenson and Philip
Cornwall

Design and development: Barry Ainslie, Georges Lebreton,
Seán Clarke, Harry Fischer, Petter Nitter and Freddie Preece

Keyword – Music
Trefwoorden – Music, Culture
Title – Add to playlist: the wild club-pop of Zara Larsson cowriter Helena Gao and the week’s best new tracks | Music | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/laura-snapes,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ben-beaumont-thomas
Link – Add to playlist: the wild club-pop of Zara Larsson cowriter Helena Gao and the week’s best new tracks | Music | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-19T11:00:32.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/19/add-to-playlist-the-wild-club-pop-of-zara-larsson-cowriter-helena-gao-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks

From Aarhus, Denmark Recommended if you like Caroline Polachek, Zara Larsson, Grimes Up next Debut project coming later this year

You could hardly make a better professional songwriting debut than co-writing nine 10ths of a moment-defining album – namely Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun – then getting a Grammy nod for it. It’s an enviable springboard for the relaunch of Helena Gao’s solo career. Over the past few years, the Chinese-Danish artist has released a handful of singles and EPs – standout God’s Favourite split the difference between NewJeans and R&B, and comes with an excellent Sims-referencing video – but her new music feels like a real flourishing, sidelining her older sweetness for a freakier braid of heavy bass, stuttering trance and a pitch-bending falsetto to rival that of Caroline Polachek, singing in English and Mandarin.

You can trace her evolution in tracks released just a few years apart. When Gao put out Pretty Please in 2023, the glittering, new-agey rhapsody was laced with innuendo: “I’m a bit of a prude,” she said, conscious of her parents hearing her lyrics. But the first taste of her new era, Lao Shi 老师, translates to “teacher”; its iridescent synths blossoming like flowers as she contemplates “new positions” and “optimising pleasure”. It’s more innocent than it sounds, she’s said, written “during a period of personal awakening” that mirrors her “reconnecting with my Chinese identity”.

Born in Aarhus to a Chinese mother and Danish father, Gao moved to Copenhagen, learned classical jazz and studied – where else – at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory that produces all Denmark’s boundary-breaking pop stars, before moving to split her time between London and Shanghai, and immersing herself in both cities’ club scenes. It all reverberates through a formally wild forthcoming project that should truly make Gao’s name. Laura Snapes

This week’s best new tracks

Saul Williams – Conspiracy (ft Moor Mother and Gonjasufi) “You may choose a desire to belong …” A riveting return for the great performance poet, dispensing fortifying wisdom as if to a group of freshly minted revolutionaries, over an amapiano beat. BBT

Lily Seabird – Election Day As ultimatums go, “Love me or leave me the fuck alone” is a pretty good one – especially when screamed among squalling alt-country guitar by a songwriter primed for a 2026 breakout. LS

Yushh – Petty Vengeance With bass made for coursing through the bodywork of an aggressively souped-up hatchback, the West Country dance producer puts together an almighty secret weapon for festival season. BBT

case/lang/veirs – Accidental Tattoo Marking a decade since Neko Case, kd lang and Laura Veirs united for a one-off album, this devotional, groovy bonus track from those sessions is beyond heavenly. C’mon ladies, give us a Vol 2. LS

Fimiguerrero – Skywalker (ft Fakemink) Taken from Fimiguerrero’s pained, emo-leaning new EP The Statue of a Fool, he links with another star of the UK rap underground to mope about a clingy girlfriend over a dissonantly sweet-natured Wraith9 beat. BBT

Jordan Patterson – Cinderella The LA songwriter’s music is getting weirder in the best way possible: her vocal vibrato builds texture like impasto, summoning gruff and tinkling piano and burbling synths to her shimmering acoustic reverie. LS

Tierra Whack – Candle Wax Sat amid gorgeous boom-bap soul-sampling hip-hop on new mixtape Whack’s Museum, Whack uses a tight, repeated vocal melody to evoke a downbeat yet tenacious mood: brilliant craft. BBT

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