Keyword – UK news
Trefwoorden – Scotland, UK news
Title – Man charged with terrorism-linked attempted murders after Edinburgh attacks | Scotland | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/severincarrell
Link – Man charged with terrorism-linked attempted murders after Edinburgh attacks | Scotland | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T20:08:41.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/22/john-swinney-victims-edinburgh-knife-attacks-deeply-traumatised

A 36-year-old man has been charged with five counts of attempted murders “aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection” after a series of attacks in Edinburgh last Friday.

Lewis Hawkes has also been charged with assault and robbery, two counts of breach of the peace and two counts of culpable and reckless conduct, all of which were also aggravated by reason of a terrorist connection.

Hawkes appeared in private at Edinburgh sheriff court on Monday but made no plea or declaration, and has been remanded in custody with a further court appearance expected within the next eight days.

The investigation into the series of attacks across Edinburgh last Friday has involved specialist counter-terrorism officers.

John Swinney has said victims of the allegedly anti-Muslim knife attacks in Edinburgh last week have been deeply traumatised by their experiences.

Scotland’s first minister spoke to some of the five men injured in the series of attacks that appeared to target Muslims and people of colour around the city on Friday evening, with four taken to hospital.

Speaking to the PA news agency after a visit to Broomhouse mosque, near where the attacks are thought to have started, Swinney said he had come with a message of solidarity, sympathy and empathy for those affected.

“I have spoken to some of the young men who were injured as a consequence of this act on Friday evening. They are not only physically injured but they are deeply traumatised by the attack,” he said.

“I’m here to express the solidarity of the Scottish government and the political leadership of Scotland with the community who will be traumatised,” he said. The incident could have “enormous consequences for cohesion within our community”.

Police with stun guns arrested a white Scottish man, who was bare chested, on Leith Walk at about 9.30pm on Friday night after reports of a series of incidents at least six locations involving someone wielding bladed weapons.

Two men were stabbed as they left Broomhouse mosque in the south-west of the city at about 8.30pm, and a taxi was vandalised at a petrol station on Telford Road near Crewe Toll in the north-west about 45 minutes later.

At about 9.28pm, shelves were reportedly overturned at a shop at the eastern end of Ferry Road in Leith, and at about 9.30pm three people were hurt on Leith Walk. An eyewitness told the Guardian a bicycle courier was attacked and a minicab had its window smashed.

The five injured men were aged between 22 and 39.

Owais Ahmed, a member of Broomhouse mosque’s management team, said on Saturday: “There is a sense of anxiety and uncertainty in some aspects but people are resilient, and people are looking at it as objectively as they possibly can.”

Omar Afzal, the director of public affairs with the Scottish Association of Mosques, said anti-Muslim hatred had become normalised in the UK, leading to a “profound sense of shock, alarm and anger within Muslim communities” across Edinburgh and Scotland.

Swinney said he had grown up near Broomhouse and used to play football there: “This was always a very welcoming, inclusive community, a community that was brought together, so it’s heartbreaking to experience what we’re experiencing now.”

Friday’s incidents reinforced the importance of encouraging people to “understand and appreciate the strength that comes from diversity” from a young age, he said.

Supt Neil Wilson of Police Scotland said officers had spoken to more than 90 faith-based organisations and community leaders in Edinburgh and other parts of the country since Friday, and had also visited local businesses in the areas affected.

He said Scottish counter-terrorism officers were continuing to assess the evidence, but that there was no evidence of a wider threat.

“We are carrying out a community impact assessment and will closely monitor the situation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all communities, and we are prepared to respond promptly to any emerging issues,” he said.

Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – Iceland, European Union, Europe, World news
Title – Why the EU should be moving heaven and earth to get Iceland into the club | Valérie Hayer | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/val-rie-hayer
Link – Why the EU should be moving heaven and earth to get Iceland into the club | Valérie Hayer | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T11:00:23.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/22/iceland-eu-brussels-rigid-rules

I celand is preparing for a referendum this summer on whether to restart negotiations with the EU about joining the bloc. If voters approve, the government in Reykjavík could complete talks for the country to become the EU’s 28th member state. Iceland is already part of the Schengen passport-free area, and has access to the EU single market through the European Economic Area, meaning that much of the regulatory groundwork for its integration is already done.

Yet the conversation about a possible Icelandic application for EU membership reveals a deeper issue: the European Union must rethink its own future admission of like-minded democracies as a geopolitical necessity.

There is, thankfully, a long queue of candidate countries, from Ukraine to Montenegro, seeking to become members of the club. At some point in the future, who knows, the UK and even Canada might come knocking on our door. Either way, deep reforms within the EU are needed to cope with further expansion.

As we learned with Hungary under Viktor Orbán, a union of 27 countries, let alone 32, cannot run efficiently on unanimity, the principle that allows one country to veto decisions and progress for everyone else.

For years, Iceland’s potential membership has stumbled over fishing rights. Iceland’s economy and national identity are deeply tied to the control of its territorial waters, and disputes over the EU’s common fisheries policy were one of the main reasons why negotiations, which first began in 2009, stalled four years later.

It hardly seems appropriate that a single policy issue – fisheries, in this instance – can paralyse an entire accession process. But Iceland’s difficulty demonstrates how the EU’s traditional enlargement model, requiring full alignment by candidate countries across every policy area from day one, is increasingly ill-suited for a world in which Europe needs to expand strategically, move faster and build coalitions with like-minded democracies.

A more flexible membership process should become the rule, not the exception, while maintaining a strict merit-based approach to assessing a country’s readiness and its commitment to the rule of law as a core condition. Those who oppose letting more members join the club will use existing EU treaties to block reform, but they fail to fully appreciate the extent to which Europe already operates at different speeds.

There are different ways to be part of the EU. Not every country has adopted the euro as its currency, despite this being a condition of membership. Not every member is part of the Schengen agreement, or of defence initiatives. The concept of a “multi-speed Europe” exists already, case by case. But this logic has never been fully applied as a new enlargement model. Now it’s time to move on from our old ways.

We must remember, as we have seen all too well since the fall of the Berlin Wall, that countries neighbouring the EU can be very much up for grabs for competing powers. When it was an EU member, the UK played an active role in encouraging engagement in the Balkans. Regrettably, after Brexit that slipped, and Russia and China have filled the void. It is in our interests to have stable, democratic neighbouring countries. Hence, we must once again understand enlargement not as a threat but as a strategic instrument of power projection and continental stabilisation.

A new, more flexible system of enlargement would allow the EU to anchor candidate countries earlier at the heart of its institutions. This approach would recognise that sovereignty sharing can occur in layers: countries could take part in the single market before their full institutional integration, integrate their security and defence before complete political accession. They could opt out selectively from certain sensitive domains.

Enlargement is one of the few tools the EU possesses to shape its neighbourhood peacefully yet decisively. But the painstaking, box-ticking logic that defined previous enlargements prioritised completeness over speed. Today, time lost risks giving the upper hand to China, Russia or even the Trump family. Ultimately, it would also foster public disillusionment with Europe, democratic backsliding and regional instability, as we have seen in Serbia.

Admitting Iceland would strengthen Europe’s Arctic strategy and our defensive capabilities in the North Atlantic, amid reports of increased Russian and Chinese activity in the region. For the people of Iceland, accession would mean security and safety as a member of a club of democracies.

At the same time, Reykjavík would lend the EU deep expertise in ocean governance, climate science and Arctic diplomacy.

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the threats of Donald Trump and China, Europe’s security architecture has to evolve. If the EU is serious about becoming a geopolitical actor, it will eventually need more agile decision-making structures – including a possible European Security Council bringing together key states for rapid coordination on foreign and defence policy.

Iceland, a Nato member located at a critical North Atlantic crossroads, would be a natural participant in such a framework. Its geography alone – between North America, Greenland and Europe – makes it strategically indispensable. Getting Iceland on board would kick off the geopolitical rise of an EU that understands the realities of the 21st century.

Valérie Hayer is a French MEP and leader of the Renew Europe parliamentary group

Keyword – UK news
Trefwoorden – Rail transport, Bedfordshire, Train crashes, Transport, UK news
Title – Train driver killed in Bedford crash named as family pay tribute | Rail transport | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/donna-ferguson,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/harry-taylor
Link – Train driver killed in Bedford crash named as family pay tribute | Rail transport | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T16:47:49.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/21/major-disruption-after-bedford-train-crash-to-continue-for-at-least-a-week

Police have named the driver killed in the Bedford train crash on Friday, as his family paid tribute to him.

British Transport police said Shaun Burton, 60, was the East Midlands Railway driver killed in the collision between two trains on the line between Bedford and Luton that also left 100 people injured.

In a statement released on Sunday, Burton’s family said: “We are devastated by his loss. Our thoughts are also with those affected by this incident.”

Aslef, the train drivers’ union, also paid tribute to Burton. Its general secretary, Dave Calfe, described him as “dedicated to the job, and devoted to his colleagues and enormously popular at his depot”.

“Shaun, a driver at East Midlands Railway, joined the railway relatively late in life. He loved public transport – he used to work on buses and coaches – before he became a train driver seven years ago … The railway family grieves his passing; no one should go off to work in the morning and not come home. Our thoughts are with his family and friends tonight.”

The managing director of East Midlands Railway, Will Rogers, said Burton was a “dedicated railway professional” who had “touched the lives of colleagues and passengers alike”.

Rogers said the company’s “deepest condolences” are with Burton’s family. He added: “Shaun was known for his quick-wit, kind, generous and intelligent nature, and for always having a smile on his face.

“He was a well-respected colleague both in his role as a driver, and in his previous role as a train manager, often acting as a trusted adviser and available to share his wisdom, support and guidance to others.

“He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.”

Earlier on Sunday, Network Rail said it expected major disruption on the rail line to continue for at least a week.

Engineers are working to remove the track’s overhead electrical wires and construct a temporary access road to the crash site.

This will enable two 110-tonne cranes to lift the damaged trains and carriages on to trailers to remove them by road, allowing engineers to assess any damage to the track and complete the necessary repairs.

The line between Bedford and Luton will remain closed for the rest of the week, with a limited rail replacement bus service in operation instead. There will be no services between Bedford and London St Pancras station.

A limited service will begin to run north from St Pancras as far as Luton from Monday, but there will be no services north of Luton on the busy commuter Thameslink line. Luton airport express services have been cancelled and a rail replacement bus will operate between Luton airport and Luton.

Investigations into the crash are continuing, but the managing director of Network Rail’s eastern region, Ellie Burrows, said “current indications are that this was a tragic isolated incident”.

Removing the two trains is a “complex and challenging task”, she said, adding that services through the area would be disrupted for most of the week and people should only travel if absolutely necessary.

More than 80 passengers were treated in hospital on Friday night. As of Saturday morning, 28 were still in hospital, nine of them in a critical condition .

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said on Saturday that its inspectors were continuing to gather evidence at the scene, which is just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6. An update would be provided “in the coming days”, the organisation said.

The trains involved were the 4.40pm Friday service from Corby to St Pancras and the 3.50pm departure from Nottingham to the same destination.

The front of the Corby train was crushed when it crashed into the rear of the Nottingham train, and it also sustained damage to its rear carriages when they were shunted into the ones in front.

The chief constable of British Transport Police, Lucy D’Orsi, said people in Bedfordshire had shown “immense kindness to those stranded on trains and casualties”.

One person from Elstow, who did not wish to be named, said a friend’s son had had a full view of the crash site from his home. “There was loads of people throwing out water and food over the fence. They did everything they could to try and help those people,” she said.

Network Rail said that while the Midland mainline was closed at Bedford, train operators would accept tickets for affected EMR customers on any alternative route. If customers decide to travel on EMR once the line is reopened, their connecting ticket on other operators will be valid on that day too.

Journey planning apps and websites are being updated to reflect the changes to the timetable but may take a few hours to do so, Network Rail said. Customers are advised to check live travel updates before they travel.

Keyword – UK news
Trefwoorden – Immigration and asylum, Home Office, Shabana Mahmood, UK news, France, Refugees
Title – UK and France rewrite ‘one in one out’ treaty to stop removed migrants returning | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rajeev-syal
Link – UK and France rewrite ‘one in one out’ treaty to stop removed migrants returning | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T09:17:44.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/22/uk-and-france-rewrite-one-in-one-out-treaty-to-stop-removed-migrants-returning

The UK and France have been forced to rewrite the “one in, one out” deal because of concerns over the numbers of people re-entering the UK after being removed to the continent.

The original treaty said people arriving in small boats could be returned to France. But people smugglers have used lorries to bring people who had been deported to France under the deal back to the UK.

Shabana Mahmood, the UK home secretary, has agreed with her French counterpart to amend the treaty so that previously deported “one in, one out” migrants who return to Britain by lorry can be sent back to France again.

To close the loophole, the Home Office created a new classification of claimant, a “returnee case”, according to documents first disclosed by the Times .

The UK has removed to France 921 migrants who arrived on small boats since the treaty came into effect on 6 August last year, which represents 3.5% of all such arrivals in the same period.

The UK has accepted 896 asylum seekers from France in that time, under the reciprocal deal.

The treaty stipulated that Britain could send illegal Channel migrants back to France in return for taking the same number of asylum seekers.

At least four people who had been deported under the scheme travelled back to the UK by lorry over a two-week period in March and this followed at least two in the autumn.

Mahmood and Laurent Nuñez, the French interior minister, have agreed to apply the treaty to any returning migrant entering the UK illegally, regardless of their method.

In a letter to Nuñez, Mahmood said: “Following our recent meeting which allowed us to observe the quality of the cooperation established under the agreement … I wish to propose an addition to the objectives of the agreement, explicitly adding the objective of deterring clandestine returns to the UK by individuals previously transferred to France under the agreement.”

People removed to France under the agreement who then travelled back to the UK previously told the Guardian: “The [people] smugglers know where the shelter is in Paris where people sleep in the first few days after being returned to France.

“They caught me near the shelter and sent me back to UK by force in a lorry. The smugglers have guns, they control everything, we have to try to stay alive.”

The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, signed a deal they hailed as “groundbreaking” last July, known as “one in, one out”.

Under the terms of the deal, every asylum seeker who arrives in the UK in a small boat is forcibly returned to France, in exchange for another in France who has not tried to cross the Channel being brought to the UK legally.

The two leaders agreed that initially the scheme would be a pilot, which was due to end on 11 June. But the two countries have now agreed to extend the scheme until 1 October.

The numbers crossing the Channel so far this year have fallen by about a third compared with the same period last year, although this is thought to be partly due to the weather.

In April, the UK and France confirmed a new £662m deal to stop migrants from crossing the Channel.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Under our returns agreement with France, we have already removed more than 900 illegal migrants from British soil.

“This contributes to the nearly 70,000 illegal migrants who have been returned from July 2024 to March 31, 2026, up 41% on the 21 months prior.”

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Women’s Super League, Women’s Super League 2, Women’s football, Football, Alcohol, Sport
Title – WSL and WSL2 fans can drink alcohol in stands next season after successful trial | Women's Super League | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-garry
Link – WSL and WSL2 fans can drink alcohol in stands next season after successful trial | Women's Super League | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T11:44:00.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/wsl-wsl2-fans-can-drink-alcohol-in-stands-next-season-after-successful-trial

Women’s Super League and WSL2 clubs can permit supporters to drink alcohol in view of the pitch from next season, the Guardian can reveal, after a change to the leagues’ regulations on the back of a successful trial over the past 18 months.

Not all clubs will necessarily take up the opportunity, but it is understood WSL Football’s shareholders have approved the change. Clubs will be expected to inform their fans whether they will allow the practice, and in which areas of stadiums it will be permitted.

Drinking alcohol in view of the pitch is banned across English men’s football’s top five leagues, in accordance with the Sporting Events Act of 1985. The WSL was not tied to that legislation but opted to follow suit while run by the Football Association. After the league split from the FA in 2024 a pilot scheme was introduced to test whether a change could be beneficial.

Birmingham, Bristol City, Newcastle and Southampton took part in a second-tier trial from January 2025 and that was expanded to include 20 clubs, 29 venues and 190 matches in the 2025-26 season across the top two divisions.

More than 4,000 fans were surveyed last summer, in January and at the end of the recent season, and the proportion of respondents supporting the idea grew from 58% to 69% over the past year. More than 90% of those surveyed continued to say they felt WSL matches had a safe atmosphere and remained family friendly.

WSL officials have frequently spoken about wanting to test innovative ways in which the women’s game can try to modernise and appeal to new fans, and this process is regarded as an example.

The comparatively low incidences of crowd trouble in women’s football have been a key factor under consideration throughout this process. Government data for the 2023-24 season showed there were no arrests recorded at any women’s football matches in England and Wales.

The WSL and WSL 2 seasons will begin on the weekend of 4-6 September.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, World Cup, Sport, Football, Photography, Marcelo Bielsa, Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham
Title – Who are ya? Behind the scenes of the official World Cup portrait photographs | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jonny-weeks
Link – Who are ya? Behind the scenes of the official World Cup portrait photographs | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T09:39:23.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/behind-the-scenes-official-world-cup-portrait-photographs

L ionel Messi of Argentina stands rigidly in front of the camera. Marc Cucurella of Spain whips his hair and appears to boogie. Diego Moreira of Belgium covers his eyes with his forearm and reveals an eerie tattoo. Harry Kane leans awkwardly on to one knee.

There are 1,248 football players and 48 managers at the World Cup , and none could escape the obligatory media duty that is the official portrait – whether or not they had a fun pose in mind.

Shot by Getty Images on behalf of Fifa in recent weeks, the portraits capture a wide array of poses and expressions, revealing details about each player’s personality – and the image they wish to convey to the world.

The accompanying behind-the-scenes images, shared by Getty, tell the stories of how the portraits were made and what some of the players were like off camera.

(Above) Diego Moreira of Belgium obscures his eyes for an eerie portrait. (Below) Marc Cucurella of Spain, Ronald Araújo of Uruguay and various other familiar faces.

Two photographers were assigned to shoot each team, enabling them to prepare opposing sets – one plain and one distinctive – so players and managers could be rotated into position quickly.

Simple lighting set-ups were used throughout: typically, a large studio strobe-light with a softbox aimed at the subject’s body, with a couple of rim lights to provide shape and definition from the rear.

Though the backdrops were muted compared to the official portraits for the 2022 World Cup , the photographers were able to create vivid images using special lens filters that produced unpredictable blurring and kaleidoscopic effects (like the Messi image above).

(Above) Danilo of Brazil waits as his compatriot Alisson poses for a picture in front of a softbox. (Below) Neymar plays up to the camera and the resulting image.

An emotive shot of Marquinhos.

The Guardian sports photographer, Tom Jenkins, says photographing famous footballers can be challenging at the best of times, let alone when it’s like a production line.

“With these kinds of shoots, you only get a few minutes with each player and you have to bash out various pictures and think incredibly quickly,” he says.

“You want some shots that are dead plain like a school photo – that’s how player portraits always used to be done – but these days you also want pictures that are more emotive and fun. A lot of players will have their own poses and goal celebrations already but you’ve also got to have a list in mind.

“The interesting thing is that you’re in control of these superstars and every aspect of the shoot. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with that. You have to make sure you’ve set things up and tested everything before they arrive, so that when the shoot starts you can just focus on them.”

(Above) Lionel Messi Argentina poses rigidly. (Below) Messi appears warmer off camera.

Name cards were prepared for every player – Messi included, lest anyone in the editing team fail to recognise the world’s most feted footballer – and players often reviewed the images on set for their own satisfaction.

“Most football players are very aware of their own image these days and they know how powerful it can be, especially through Instagram,” Jenkins explains.

“They’ve done this kind of thing before for big brands – Eberechi Eze did Burberry and Declan Rice did L’Oreal – so actually they’re much more comfortable with being in front of the camera and some of them really enjoy it.”

(Above) The USMNT team being photographed in Laguna Niguel, California. (Below) Tightly-cropped details of South African players’ faces.

Despite being image savvy some of England’s players got roasted in the wake of their photoshoot: Declan Rice for his sunburn, Anthony Gordon for his passing resemblance to Princess Dianna and Dean Henderson for his disturbing side-eye.

But the more creative images of Bellingham and co show what photographers can achieve in camera, even if the players themselves lack spark.

(Above) A special effects camera filter creates a blurry double of Jude Bellingham . (Below) Some of the images for which England players were ribbed.

Curiously, the portrait which has received by far the most coverage this time around is not of a player, but of Uruguay’s manager, Marcelo Bielsa . The image, shot by Michael Regan at the team’s base in Cancún, Mexico, captures Bielsa’s unwillingness to cooperate with the process.

Instead of facing the camera, he looked down at his feet, creating an unusual image that says much about the unorthodox Argentinian. “I’m not a model,” he later protested .

Jenkins adds: “Ultimately I think the best portrait is one that displays the individual’s personality, and that’s why the Bielsa picture is so brilliant. It’s perfectly him.”

Marcelo Bielsa, head coach of Uruguay, refuses to look at the camera during his photoshoot which went viral.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, World Cup, Serbia, Football, Sport
Title – Serbian TV pundit causes outrage with racist comment during Belgium game | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – AFP
Link – Serbian TV pundit causes outrage with racist comment during Belgium game | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T19:48:51.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/serbian-tv-pundit-rade-bogdanovic-causes-outrage-racist-comment-belgium-iran-world-cup-game

The former Yugoslavia and Atlético Madrid striker Rade Bogdanovic has sparked controversy on Serbian TV after saying that “Black players lack concentration beyond 60 to 80 minutes” during the Belgium v Iran World Cup match .

Bogdanovic, 56, made the comment on a World Cup programme aired by Serbia’s public broadcaster (RTS) late on Sunday night while discussing the 66th-minute red card shown to the Belgium defender Nathan Ngoy.

“I have always said those players – and I’m really not racist – but Black players lack the concentration to last more than 60 to 80 minutes,” Bogdanovic said.

“When we played, we sometimes had to protect our own players to stop them making mistakes,” he added.

The host challenged Bogdanovic over the remark, but the former international forward doubled down, insisting that “the majority lack concentration”.

His comments drew widespread attention and condemnation on social media. RTS, however, has not commented on nor apologised for Bogdanovic’s remarks, and a day later had him back in the studio as an analyst for the Argentina v Austria match.

Bogdanovic began his career in his home town of Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for Zeljeznicar, before moving to South Korea and then Japan. He later returned to Europe, briefly playing for Atlético and later joining Werder Bremen, in Germany.

He made three appearances for Yugoslavia in 1997.

Belgium and Iran drew 0-0 in their Group G match in Los Angeles, leaving Iran second and Belgium third as both sides battle to reach the next phase.

Keyword – Games
Trefwoorden – Twitch, Games, Culture, Social media, Digital media, Media, Technology
Title – ‘Streaming gave me a space to be myself’: Twitch creators on what it’s like to grow up on the platform | Twitch | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/keithstuart
Link – ‘Streaming gave me a space to be myself’: Twitch creators on what it’s like to grow up on the platform | Twitch | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T08:30:16.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jun/16/twitch-gamer-creators-twitchcon-rotterdam

A imee Davies, better known as Aimsey to their fans, is 24 but looks much younger. Sitting in a bland meeting room above the annual TwitchCon event in Rotterdam, they’re a barely contained whirl of energy in a beanie hat and T-shirt, all smiles and lightning-fast chatter. Aimsey (who uses they/them pronouns) is also a Twitch veteran, having started streaming eight years ago at the tender age of 16. A million subscribers tune in every week to see them chaotically play Minecraft and share snippets of their life. They have grown up, from teen to young adult, carrying a vast audience with them into maturity. What is it like to experience that?

“When you’re 16 you want to tell everyone everything about you,” they say as music blares from the event below. “When I came out as a lesbian, I told the world. Every part of my identity, my mental health struggles … I thought if I could help one person feel like they weren’t alone, I wanted to do that.”

For several years Aimsey was in a relationship with another content creator, Guqqie, and it played out in front of their fanbases with very little filtering – until it ended. It’s a situation common to streamers – they’re young and naive, they build an audience through sharing personal details with few boundaries, then the pressures of endless invasive attention take a toll. “Honestly, for a long time, the lines got blurred,” says Aimsey. “Streaming would seep into my real-life friendships, where I thought the only way people would be my friend was if I could give them something – because that’s obviously how it is on a stream.”

Recently however, Aimsey has learned how to step back and be a little more guarded. “I’ve been so open all my life, but I was falling into these cracks where I was like, God, who am I? I felt like I couldn’t figure that out. I think that in the last few months something switched in my brain. I’m living a little bit more of a reserved life. I’m still myself when I stream, but I’m trying my best to keep some things private – at least for now. I surround myself with people who definitely remind me that I’m not just content.”

Fellow Twitch star Sweet Anita is older at 35 years old, but she too is a veteran, having streamed since 2018. As a sufferer of Tourette syndrome, the platform has been a kind of emancipation. “Streaming has changed me a lot,” she says. “I used to be a timid person and quite apologetic – obviously I’d learned to be after a lifetime of dealing with Tourettes. I feel like streaming really gave me a space to be myself without constantly having to apologise to people. I have a lot more fun, I reach out to more people, I’m a lot more sociable now.”

It concerns her that so many children are now listing content creator as their ambition. “When I was a kid, it was astronaut or fireman, but now they desperately want to be in my position,” she says. “But it’s a little bit of a trap because once you’re here, people don’t forget you. You could leave tomorrow and someone might continue stalking you for the next 10 years. Once you’re in, you’re in. The only difference is how much security you can afford.”

For its part Twitch recognises the vulnerability of streamers. It has set up guilds to help specific minority groups navigate the platform and communicate concerns to the executives. It has created an AI-driven AutoMod feature, which polices chat during streams to delete abusive messages. “We’ve invested heavily in moderation tools so streamers can define what safety looks like to them,” says head of community Mary Kish. “It is going to be very important to be familiar with how you can protect yourself. I’m worried about anyone who might think on a whim, I’m going to go live. You need to be prepared – you need to have mods, or at the very least, turn Auto Mod on, you need to set your community up. We have a little work to do to make sure that anyone making their first stream understands what they’re getting into.”

Tellingly, neither Aimsey and Sweet Anita have plans to stop streaming any time soon. “Honestly, my vision is I’m probably always going to be streaming,” says Aimsey. “It’s something that’s been so consistent in my life and I adore it. That could change. But I’ve got so much more stuff I want to do with Minecraft – I want to do events, I want to do more stories and role-play, and there are so many more ideas in my head that there’s no point in even thinking about stopping.”

Sweet Anita has plans to move on from video games, at least some of the time. “I used to do animal rescue before this and I haven’t done enough for animals – that’s what I’d like to do next. I hope I get to go to animal sanctuaries, I hope I get to show people endangered animals. I’d love to do some rehab again, release some wild birds, that was the core of my existence before all of this.”

The maturation of both streamers and stream watchers is certainly something Twitch itself is thinking about. A huge majority of streams used to be about playing and watching video games, but recently categories such as Just Chatting and In Real Life (IRL) have become more popular. Streamers are getting out of their home studios and taking their viewers on days out, to restaurants, on walks, and beyond – top creator IShowSpeed has been streaming while scuba diving. Shayanelhawk literally sent his Twitch chat into space.

“Right now our biggest age group is actually 25-34 because people have aged up while using it and they keep using it,” says CEO Dan Clancy. “We’ve seen this in the growing diversity of content because as creators get older, they have new interests and their community stays with them. So I think we’ll see continued diversification. I’ve often conjectured that when the so-called Twitch generation gets to 60-70, we’ll see all these knitting and crochetting streams. As you get into retirement – the issue of looking for connection that you had as a teenager comes back, because the kids have left home, you’re looking for people, for community – and you have time. As we saw during Covid, Twitch is a platform that explodes when you have time.”

The one massive gamechanger lurking on the horizon is AI. There is already a successful AI avatar streamer, Neuro-sama, a cutesy anime girl with 1 million followers. Will Aimsey be part of the last generation of human teens who’ve had the chance to become, and grow up, as streamers? They think not. “No matter what happens there is always going to be an audience for human-made things. It doesn’t matter what we do, it doesn’t matter how big AI gets, there’s always going to be people who need that human connection to feel real.”

Keyword – Environment
Trefwoorden – Wildlife, Somerset, UK news, England, Animals, Environment, Conservation
Title – ‘Emotional and horrific’: volunteers ‘live’ as Somerset animals to study wildlife risks | Wildlife | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/patrickbarkham
Link – ‘Emotional and horrific’: volunteers ‘live’ as Somerset animals to study wildlife risks | Wildlife | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T14:48:59.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/22/volunteers-somerset-animals-study-wildlife-risks

What does a kestrel make of the dog sniffing in the long grass below? Why does an exhausted salmon pause before a weir? How will an otter experience the rumble of a passing train?

Eighteen people have spent six weeks swimming, slithering and soaring as otters, salmon, earthworms, red deer and kestrels in an attempt to better document the risks for wild animals in our human-dominated landscape.

The volunteers were trained to experience distinctive animal “umwelts” and report back on the reality of being a non-human animal trying to survive around the River Tone in Somerset , England.

Anita Roy, a nature writer, chose to be an otter in what she called the “revolutionary” Risks Beyond Human Eyes research study. “Otters are apex predators, playful and fierce. I like their style,” she said. “The whole point was not to go out and see an otter but to be in the world as if you had taken that imaginative leap into otterhood, and see what happened.”

In the pioneering study – conducted by the University of the West of England and the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment ( ASRA ), funded by the Ecological Citizen(s) Network – participants were given a detailed scientific briefing about the sensory powers of their chosen “animal collaborators” and trained to undertake exercises in the wild.

Encouraged to use a single key sense, they were advised by social anthropologists on the research team not to interpret, explain or evaluate, but simply to describe their experiences. By “de-centering” human understanding, they were told they might allow another understanding to come through, before they reported their oral testimonies back to researchers.

Roy said she began her life as an otter by scanning the riverbank for suitable places to deposit her spraint. “Assessing the landscape for a suitable place to poo isn’t something I normally do,” she said.

Because otters sense so much through their whiskers and paws, she was encouraged to pay attention to vibrations. She was struck by the thundering disturbance caused by trains on the nearby railway line that would disorientate her otter during fish-hunts.

She and another volunteer, Helen Lawy, who sought to experience the world as a kestrel, became newly aware of the ubiquity of dogs. “People stick to the path but dogs are rooting around all the time,” said Lawy. “That’s a massive issue we all need to face up to. Everybody is always wanting open access everywhere – I came to the conclusion that kestrels would probably like some areas left alone, with nobody there.”

“Sitting by the riverbank for two hours, there were probably 15 dogs that came past and jumped in the river or played around,” added Roy. “If I had been a human, I would have said: ‘Dogs in the river is a major problem for otters, with flea treatments entering the water.’ As an otter, the testimony came out absolutely viscerally: ‘I hate dogs!’ I was really taken aback. When you are ‘inside’ the animal, the whole experience is extremely emotional.”

Lawy, who is the chair of the Friends of Longrun Meadow , a community green space beside the River Tone, said she was attracted to living as a kestrel by the appeal of being “free”. She did not try to fly – “I thought that might be a step too far” – but imagined her kestrel-self searching for long grass where she could hunt for voles and mice. “When you look at a landscape through a kestrel’s eyes, you realise there’s very little opportunity for them to feed. Far from being free, the kestrel was reduced to looking for disjointed little strips of land.”

James Grischeff, the director of nature recovery at Somerset Wildlife Trust , who volunteered to step into the mind of an earthworm, said: “I’ve been a nature conservationist for a very long time and my training has been in soils, but this project did a lot more than I expected – it really made me get under the skin of worms. It was fascinating, it wasn’t exactly a trance but there was a moment where you went: ‘OK, that’s how these worms interact with the environment.’”

Phil Tovey, the director of nature-centric approaches at ASRA and a former soldier, said the testimonies they received from the “as-otter”, “as-kestrel” and others were rather like civilians caught in a war zone who struggled to find food, safety or shelter. “We heard that access was deeply stressed. When the volunteers gave their testimonies they were on the verge of tears. They took it so seriously but none of them dramatised it.”

Roy said she was almost crying when a fellow volunteer described how his salmon-self was too weary to leap up a fish-run constructed to supposedly help salmon around the weirs on the River Tone. “We mostly think of nature as biodiversity, a concept, but this made it so personal, so emotional and so horrific,” she said. “It was hard to feel how we’ve made the world a really hostile place for all these individual creatures. When that’s you, you really feel it. It was quite galvanising.”

The project reflects a growing interest in the rights of nature movement and the burgeoning More-Than-Human Life programme, and follows innovative thinkers such as Charles Foster , whose pioneering book Being a Beast documented him living as a fox, red deer, badger and swift .

The study will be written up for academic journals, but Tovey said its second phase – a plan to revitalise the wild River Tone – would hopefully trigger local action.

“We should definitely do more of this kind of work,” he said. “Animals are here, active and shaping the very ground that we live on. We have to find a way to acknowledge them, and not in an abstract or performative way,” he said. “We need to accept that we live in a multispecies society, as our Indigenous brothers and sisters know.”

Roy added: “We’re already living in a multiverse, it’s right on our doorstep and yet [through our destruction of nature] we’re trying to make it into a monoverse.”

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Health & wellbeing, Fitness, Life and style, Yoga, Pilates, Training programmes
Title – From riding the bus to reaching the top shelf: 18 simple exercises to prepare you for everyday life | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/joel-snape
Link – From riding the bus to reaching the top shelf: 18 simple exercises to prepare you for everyday life | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T13:00:31.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/21/18-simple-exercises-for-everyday-life

T here are lots of movements that make you stronger and more physically capable – press-ups, squats and kettlebell swings build strength and muscle that help in a huge variety of situations. But can you get more specific? Well, yes: there are exercises that target the challenges of everyday life, whether that’s playing on the floor with your kids or bringing in the big shop. Here are the moves you may want to consider, presented by a dozen movement coaches, personal trainers and strength specialists.

To stay upright on public transport … do side planks with a twist

Plenty of people think planks are just for abs, but they’re a full-body stability exercise that helps us brace against other movements, from carrying a toddler on one hip while unlocking the front door to standing on the deck of a ship (or, er, the No 12 bus).

“Side planks with extra movement – hip dips or leg lifts, for example – teach your body to stay strong when something is trying to pull you sideways,” says Callum Roberts, the head coach at the gym Results Inc . “They train your obliques, hips, glutes and shoulder stability all at once.”

To begin, start in a classic side plank – one forearm on the floor, feet slightly staggered – then move one leg up and down .

To simplify the big shop … do the suitcase carry

Lots of coaches will tell you to do the farmers’ walk – a heavy weight in each hand – but this one-sided variation will help you carry groceries, luggage or a toolbox without leaning unnecessarily to one side, explains the trainer Jacob Siwicki . “Hold a heavy weight such as a dumbbell or a kettlebell in one hand and walk tall,” he says. “It will teach your core and body to resist tipping over sideways; almost nothing else trains this specifically.”

To entertain the kids on car journeys … work on your thoracic rotations

If you regularly occupy the passenger seat on long road trips with children, then you probably know that constantly turning around to deliver snacks, fix tablets or address arguments takes its toll – especially on your spine. “Most people are really stuck in the mid-back, so the spine ends up rotating as one stiff block rather than moving segment by segment,” says the posture and pilates expert Kerrie-Anne Bradley . “Rotating and moving the middle thoracic spine – the middle section of your back, made up of the 12 vertebrae between the neck and the lower ribs – helps to restore rotational range without loading a stiff spine.”

For a simple way to prepare, try thoracic twists : “Sit up on your sit bones [at the base of your pelvis] on your chair, with your feet flat on the floor, and imagine your head being pulled up by an invisible thread,” says Bradley. “Bring your middle fingers to touch at the centre of your chest, elbows lifted in line with shoulders, keeping the tops of shoulders down. Keep your pelvis, legs and arms fixed in this position, breathe in through your nose and rotate to the right. Let your head move with your chest, not ahead of it, and rotate only as far as you can without your hips shifting.

“Once that feels controlled, extend your arms straight out in line with your shoulders once in the rotation and turn a little further, doing a full breath in and out. Return to the centre with your arms straight out to the sides before bending them to start the rotation on the other side.”

To always win at tag … learn the Cossack squat

“This variation of a side lunge develops lateral strength, hip mobility, ankle mobility and the ability to shift your weight confidently from side to side, which are qualities that often get neglected in traditional fitness programmes,” says Autumn Noble, a personal trainer at Genesis Health Club. “Practising this lunge will help with movements such as scrambling over rocks on a hike, stepping sideways on to a crowded train or recovering from a misstep on uneven ground.”

Squat down with most of your weight on one flat foot , with your other leg extended, toes pointing up and heel on the floor. Slowly shift your weight across to hit the same position on the other side, feeling the stretch in your groin and hamstrings.

To safely put bags in the overhead locker … do wood chops

“Twisting is one of the most underrated movement patterns,” says the wellness coach Nikkii Behrens , the founder of Rare Street Pilates. “We rotate constantly in everyday life, whether we’re unloading the dishwasher, putting luggage into an overhead compartment or lifting and turning with a child. Wood chops help build strength through the core while improving mobility through the upper back. They also teach the body how to create and control rotation safely, which is something many people lose as they get older.”

You can do these with a cable or a resistance band tied to a solid anchor – or, for a slight variation, a kettlebell or dumbbell. Hold the handle low on one side of your body, then bring it upwards and across your body, twisting as you do it. Pause, then return to the start.

To mow the lawn more easily … get into bridging

“Bridging is one of my favourite exercises, because it strengthens the glutes, the hamstrings and the back of the body, which are muscles many people underuse due to spending so much time sitting – it can take time for the muscles to actually wake up and engage properly,” says Behrens. “Strong glutes are essential for all sorts of everyday tasks and they’re crucial for supporting the lower back.”

For the simplest version, lie on your back with your feet close to your bottom. Push through your heels to “bridge” your hips up in the air until your upper thighs form a straight line with the rest of your body, then pause and repeat.

To prepare for parenthood … do loaded carries

“I love variations of the loaded carry for my clients who are parents or parents-to-be – they’re great for the awkward unilateral loading involved in holding a child, a bag or a pram,” says Brian Abell, a coach at Fit Happens personal training.

Start with the “front rack” – hold a kettlebell in one hand, resting the bell part on your forearm with your elbow tucked against your ribs. Practise walking or even lunging like this and consider adding a second kettlebell – especially if you’re having twins.

To make rambling easier … learn the step vault

Full-bore parkour may feel like a bit much to take on, but the “step vault” – among its most beginner-friendly movements – is one of the safest and easiest ways to clear an obstacle that is below your chest height. “The step vault is a very natural movement and can be one of the fastest ways to vault,” says Dan Edwardes, the founder of Parkour Generations . “Take the time to train it and you’ll find it becomes an invaluable part of your basic movement skills, letting you glide over low walls, handrails or gates.” As long as you’ve got right of way, obviously.

Move towards the obstacle at a comfortable speed. Avoid taking small steps as you approach. As you get close, push off from one leg and reach out with the same hand to place it on top of the obstacle at the same time as your opposite leg comes up to step on top of the obstacle (with either the ball or the heel of the foot). Bring your trailing leg up and through the space that has been created between your body and the top of the obstacle. Keep your momentum going forward. The trailing leg then becomes the leg to touch the ground first on the other side, landing softly on the ball of the foot. Keep moving!

To get something off that high shelf … master the tree-to-three

“This yoga transition builds balance that doesn’t leave you frozen in one place – it’s about control as your centre of gravity moves forward,” says Bassanti Pathak , the co-founder of Pathak Yoga. “It’s just what you need to lean forward to pick something off a high shelf.” Start in a “tree” pose with one foot tucked against the opposite leg and your hands high. Then, without putting your foot down, straighten the tucked leg behind you as you bend forward at the waist, keeping your supporting leg as straight as possible and bringing your torso and arms parallel to the ground. This pose is known as “warrior three”. If you like, you can go back to your starting position for the tree-to-three-to-tree.

To catch falling crockery … use the chest expansion

“There’s a perception that pilates is just a boutique workout for wealthy women, but that misses the entire point,” says Lesley Logan, a pilates teacher and mindset coach. “Joseph Pilates originally developed the method for men recovering from illness and war injuries. It’s not about doing pilates instead of your life or other sports – it’s about doing pilates to make everything else you do better.”

It’s also underrated for preparing you for unexpected physical tasks such as twisting to catch a falling mug. Use the chest expansion to open up your tight shoulder and chest muscles and add a neck turn to challenge your balance. With your arms by your side, hold a pair of light weights (or cans of beans, say). Bring them slightly behind you to stretch your shoulders, then look left and right. Repeat by bringing the weights ahead of you before reaching back again, trying to stretch slightly further each time.

To recapture your childhood … train slow step-downs

Remember the joys of running downhill at top speed as a child, knowing that the worst-case scenario was losing your balance and tumbling giddily through a cloud of daffodils? If that thought made your knees twinge, it’s time to take action. “Lots of people train going uphill, but nobody trains the brakes,” says Siwicki. “ Training step-downs helps in situations such as running down a steep hill at full speed, or walking up and down stairs with a laundry basket and no free hand for the rail.”

This one couldn’t be simpler: just step on to a lowish box at normal speed, then lower your trailing foot to the floor slowly ahead of you (you can also do variations where you lower your trailing leg behind or to the side). Do a few reps and repeat on the other side.

To avoid embarrassment at soft play … do the bear crawl

“Crawling reconnects shoulders, hips, trunk, hands and feet in one coordinated pattern,” says Oscar Trelles, the founder of the training company Breathing Flame . “It builds strength and control in positions adults often lose access to, without needing heavy equipment or complicated technique.” And if you’re chasing an errant toddler through a brightly coloured tunnel, it will allow you to match their pace without ending up too red-faced.

In the classic bear crawl , you keep your knees an inch or two off the ground and move each hand and its opposite foot forward simultaneously; it’s surprisingly fast once you get the hang of it. Put it into your warm-up or try it in the garden.

To prepare for five-a-side season … start skipping

“Skipping is something that lots of us stop doing after school, but it’s the perfect way to warm up our lower body and all of our jumping, sprinting and dancing muscles,” says Steve Kamb, the author of How to Try Again and the founder of Nerd Fitness. “Plus, it’s basically impossible not to smile while you do it.” If you haven’t skipped in a while, start simply, trying to keep your jumps low and quiet – then move to bouncing from one foot to the other, figure-eights – and eventually the punishing double-under , where the rope passes under your feet twice every time you jump.

To look good at the garden centre … try sandbag bear hugs

“Real life doesn’t look like the gym,” says Brian Murray, the founder of Motive Training . “Sandbags and stones – like the atlas stones you’ll see in World’s Strongest Man – are bulky, often asymmetrical and awkward to pick up and hold. For beginners who have never used one before, a bear hug carry is a good place to start.”

The bear hug carry involves holding the weight in front of you with your arms squeezed around it and one hand holding the other wrist. You could try carrying bags of compost or gravel, but if you’re after something more portable, try duct-taping together bags of builders’ sand, then throwing them in a rucksack or duffel bag. Hold the bag in a bear hug while you do squats, lunges or just walk around the house.

To get off the floor with ease … learn the Turkish get-up

“This trains the ability to move from the ground to standing with strength, motor control, balance and adaptability,” says Noble. “Getting on to and off the floor while playing with a toddler or grandchild, getting down to recover something from under the bed and crouching low to scoop cat litter all incorporate parts of the Turkish get-up.”

You can do it with a weight – the world record is nearly 119kg – but for control and balance, a clean shoe balanced on your upraised fist works just as well. Start lying down with one hand high, roll on to the opposite elbow, and use it to prop yourself up while you bring your other leg underneath you. From there, stand up, and then reverse the whole process to lie down again.

Also helpful is the no-hands get-up. This isn’t a specific movement – just practise standing up without using your hands, any way you like.

To recover gracefully … do extra-range lunges

“Forward or reverse lunges where you use a tool or an obstacle to push yourself beyond your usual range of motion build strength while improving mobility, balance and dynamic control,” says Roberts. “They’re perfect for getting up from the floor without using your hands, climbing stairs or catching yourself when you stumble.”

Start with the forward version. Lunge forward on to a small step such as a kerb or a weight-plate; this will give you a better stretch through the hips as your trailing knee brushes the ground. Push off your front heel to stand back up, then repeat on the other side.

To carry the kids in from the car … do Zercher exercises

The Zercher squat – a variation of the barbell where you hold the weight in the crook of your arms – is a favourite of Olympic wrestlers, as it mimics the positions that occur in a heated grappling exchange. But it’s also good for carrying a baby in a car seat, an older sleeping child or a very full laundry basket, says Roberts: “Any form of Zercher exercise trains awkward real-life strength – forcing your upper back, core, legs and arms to work together.” Try it with squats, lunges or even just a brisk walk.

To be ready for anything … work on your cartwheel

“Many people haven’t done one of these since childhood,” says Lara Heimann, the creator of LYT Yoga , who combines yoga, strength training and functional training in her own training system. “The practice of the cartwheel restores qualities such as lateral movement, inversion, play and whole-body coordination that many adults unknowingly lose. But these qualities are what make us remarkably capable and responsive during other physical challenges,” she says. “Plus, weight-bearing through the hands is an excellent motor skill for improving scapular [shoulder] strength and upper-body vitality – key areas that are often neglected.”

You can start very simply, with a mini-cartwheel , where your feet barely leave the floor and your hands only briefly support your weight. From there, it’s all about building confidence – and shoulder strength.

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