Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Spain, Overtourism, Europe, World news, Travel
Title – Beyond the beach: Spain pushes offbeat regions as tourist numbers nudge 100m | Spain | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/samjones
Link – Beyond the beach: Spain pushes offbeat regions as tourist numbers nudge 100m | Spain | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T07:00:03.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/20/spain-offbeat-regions-tourist-numbers-overtourism

Spain is redoubling its efforts to push its tourist appeal beyond the familiar “sun and sand and coast” model as it prepares for another record-breaking year in which the number of foreign visitors could reach 100 million for the first time, the country’s tourism minister has said.

Speaking to the Guardian, Jordi Hereu rejected suggestions that Spain was now saturated with tourists but said it had become clear that the “old formulas no longer work”, especially amid growing concerns about overtourism and the effects of the climate emergency.

Hereu, the minister of industry and tourism, said the steady growth in tourist numbers – which could be further boosted this summer by uncertainty over Middle Eastern destinations after the US and Israel’s war on Iran – could be managed sustainably and responsibly.

Last year, the number of foreign tourists rose by 3.2% to 96.8 million, while the value of their spending grew by 6.8% to hit €134bn (£116bn). Figures from the first quarter of this year show tourist numbers up by 3.4% and revenue up by 6.7%.

“With that growth, we could reach 100 million,” Hereu said. “But I’d like to point out that that doesn’t worry us or obsess us … [We favour] what I call calm growth – in other words, growth that can be easily managed. And this year, despite what’s happening and the demand diversion effect, I think that in general, for the moment, our forecast is for moderate growth.”

While tourism has long been a pillar of the Spanish economy, making up more than 12% of its GDP, its rapid and unchecked growth in many parts of the country over recent years has triggered protests and a furious backlash . Overtourism , not least the proliferation of tourist flats, has changed the face of entire neighbourhoods and cities, priced locals out of the housing market and increased pressure on public services and natural resources.

Asked if the current rates of tourism were sustainable, Hereu said: “Yes, if we do our homework, and no if we don’t do anything.” The minister, a former mayor of Barcelona, praised his successor in that role, Jaume Collboni, a fellow socialist, for pushing ahead with a decision to ban tourist flats in the Catalan capital by 2028 , but he said Spain’s highly decentralised nature made it hard for the central government to drive local change. He also contrasted the different approaches of leftwing and rightwing administrations.

“I think there are places in Spain that are now seeing the effects of not regulating anything,” he said. “But I also want to be very clear, because this is also influenced by political stripes. The left is more in favour of regulating tourism than the right, because the right holds the view that we should allow freedom because the market will self-regulate, which isn’t true, and in many places it’s clear that it isn’t self-regulating.”

Hereu said that while he believed anti-tourism feeling was “very much a minority thing” in Spain, it was becoming increasingly clear that a new approach was needed and that local and regional authorities needed to properly limit, regulate and tax their tourist offerings.

“What I do believe is that in some places there’s a demand for better tourism in the sense of a better model,” he said. “But the culture I see throughout Spain is a culture of a country that knows how to welcome people. Our key principle is that we’re in favour of transforming the model to keep ahead and that we’re working humbly to transform that model because the old formulas no longer work.”

Although he defended traditional beach tourism, which still makes up 37% of all visits, and said Spain had to be open to “all sectors” of the market, he noted that people were now seeking experiences beyond their sun loungers.

“It’s very interesting to see in the qualitative surveys that people who come basically because ‘hey, I’m here to relax, sun and beach, etc,’ also start asking for add-ons – like ‘beach plus’,” Hereu said. “I think this is also a good trend, because what we need is to add value.”

The minister said Spain’s socialist-led coalition government was committed to the socially, economically and environmentally sustainable principles set out in its 2030 tourism strategy.

“One is decentralising destinations over time and we’re also working towards deseasonalisation,” he said. “The third, very clear principle is the diversification of our offering away from all those decades of sun and sand and coast, which is where the [Spanish tourist industry] was born, and which is still the dominant offering.”

Although Spain has been pushing the summery charms of its eastern and southern coasts for decades, Hereu argues that the key to sustainable tourism lies in making it less seasonal, less beach-fixated and more geographically and culturally diverse.

The country’s current advertising campaign, called Think You Know Spain? Think Again , swerves sun-kissed costas to focus instead on images of churches, paradores , orange groves, folk festivals, food, wine, lakes, green spaces, handicrafts and brown bears. It even features rain.

“You don’t see any coastal beaches; instead, it’s inland Spain and the green Spain of the north,” he said. “So, it’s about decentralising and discovering other realities. And what’s happening? Low and mid season are growing much more than high season, and the inland, green Spain is growing much more than the majority segment.”

Spain’s reliance on tourism was laid bare during the Covid pandemic. In 2020, international visitor numbers dropped by 77% to just 18.9 million. That led the government to invest €3.4bn of EU next generation funds in a plan to modernise and transform the sector.

According to Hereu, that investment has allowed less visited areas of Spain – such as Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and Navarre – to develop their tourist markets.

“There’s a lot of potential there, and that’s where we need growth to happen,” he said. “Because, for example, on the Mediterranean coast, especially now, in the high season, there are limits.”

The minister believes that diversifying and decentralising the tourist industry can help Spain tackle depopulation by ensuring that young people don’t have to leave their home towns in search of work elsewhere. Lengthening the season would also help to provide more stable employment, he added.

“Before it was June, July, August and, at most, September,” he said. “But now people open in April, May or June, and we have more stability. October is also very important now, and the truth is, in some cases chains tell me they’re open almost all year round. This also gives us more job stability, and it’s obvious that salaries also have to increase, right? You have to attract people to the sector and retain them. And that’s good news because it also brings social stability and a redistribution of profits.”

Hereu said the government was also seeking to help the industry adapt to the effects of the climate emergency, which are becoming ever more evident in Spain in the form of droughts, heatwaves, forest fires, floods and rising sea levels. He said renewable energy, efficient water use and good waste management could all help mitigate the consequences of the crisis.

It was now abundantly clear, he added, that sticking to the old model would be a mistake. “We’d have the opposite of what we have now – we’d be growing the number of tourists rather than the spending value,” he said. “And [now] we are growing more in value than in number.”

Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – US news, Los Angeles, California, West Coast, Animals
Title – LAPD releases footage of moment officers shot and killed woman’s dog | US news | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/roque-planas
Link – LAPD releases footage of moment officers shot and killed woman’s dog | US news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T20:52:08.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/20/lapd-releases-footage-officers-dog

The Los Angeles police department has released footage of the moment when officers shot and killed a woman’s dog in the hallway outside her apartment in the Canoga Park neighborhood.

Police had responded to reports of a woman screaming on 13 June, which turned out to be cheering, the night that the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA finals.

The body-camera footage shows the moment that the woman, Marie Marseille, opens her door for the officers. Her two-year-old golden Saint Bernard doodle runs to the door and barks at the officers, whose faces are blurred in the video.

One of the officers immediately draws his gun and aims it first toward the ground, then lifts it toward the doorway. “Put your dog away!” one of the officers shouts.

“That’s a big-ass dog,” the officer wearing the camera says to his partner.

“I ain’t getting bit by that, bro,” says the officer seen holding his pistol.

Marseille returns to the door and appears to hold it to keep the dog inside, but does not shut it entirely. She tells the officers the dog is not aggressive.

The dog, wearing a blue Knicks jersey, walks out into the hallway and barks again at the officers, pauses, then takes a step forward and barks again. The officer who had drawn his pistol then fires four times. Both Marseille and the officer’s partner are standing behind the dog.

The other officer appears to also raise a pistol into view when his partner shoots.

Images from the body-worn camera used by the officer who shot the dog appears to show that the other officer carries two guns. During the first interaction with Marseille and her dog, his right hand hovers over what appears to be his service pistol.

After Marseille puts her dog away, he uses his other hand to unholster what appears to be a separate pistol, which he holds in his left hand through the rest of the encounter.

A video of Marseille sobbing and hugging the body of her two-year-old dog, named Jameson, went viral after Saturday’s shooting . The Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, said she had spoken with the police chief, Jim McDonnell, to ensure an investigation into the use of force against the dog.

NBC4 reporter Eric Leonard noted that LAPD had released the video faster than normal, but that the department did not provide raw footage. Instead, the footage had been edited and the officers’ faces blurred, which is unusual.

“We’ve been looking at these body-worn videos for years. I don’t remember another instance where officers’ faces were blurred ever before,” Leonard said .

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – US-Israel war on Iran, Iran, Lebanon, Middle East and north Africa, World news, Switzerland
Title – Middle East live: US-Iran talks begin in Switzerland as strait of Hormuz remains closed | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/fran-singh,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/roth-andrew,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/patrickwintour
Link – Middle East live: US-Iran talks begin in Switzerland as strait of Hormuz remains closed | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T12:43:57.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/21/iran-us-israel-war-middle-east-lebanon-peace-talks-switzerland-vance-trump-strait-of-hormuz-latest-news-updates

Qatari mediator confirms that US-Iran talks have begun

Mediator for Qatar has confirmed the US-Iran talks in Switzerland have begun, according to AFP.

The talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end have been beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon.

In a statement Qatar’s foreign ministry announced “the launch of the Lake Lucerne Summit and the first meeting of the high-level committee with the participation of representatives from the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran , and the two mediating states, the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

The US vice-president, JD Vance , leading the US delegation, earlier said he was adding Lebanon to an agenda that had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas.

The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions.

The Swiss foreign ministry said the US and Iranian delegations, plus mediators from Pakistan and Qatar, were all present at the luxury resort.

Four months after the horrific Iran school bombing, fears grow that Trump and Hegseth will bury the truth

A secretive investigation into the attack that killed at least 175 has concluded, reports suggest. Will its findings ever see the light of day?

The attack on a girl’s elementary school in the Iranian town of Minab was one of the US military’s deadliest civilian bombings in decades. But nearly four months on, the Pentagon has produced no answers about why the military fired a Tomahawk cruise missile into a school on the first day of the war, killing at least 175 people, mostly children.

Some critics doubt that the Pentagon ever will, or will bury the results under classifications to keep the worst mistakes secret from the public.

As the US signs a shaky memorandum of understanding on a ceasefire with Iran, the secretive investigation into the attack has also become a test case for the self-styled secretary of war Pete Hegseth’s new approach to what he calls “warfighting”. As he said in early March, nearly two weeks after the attack, “our rules of engagement are bold, precise and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it”.

Shortly after the attack, Donald Trump suggested that it was carried out by Iran. When it became clear that the strike used a US-made Tomahawk missile , he suggested that Iran also had access to the cruise missiles. It does not.

Read more:

Envoys from regional heavyweights Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt pushed for swift progress in US-Iran talks at a meeting in Cairo on Sunday, as negotiations between the two countries began in Switzerland .

In a joint statement, the ministers called for a “swift and successful conclusion” to negotiations aimed at reaching a solution to outstanding issues that is “lasting, verifiable and mutually acceptable”, while taking into account regional concerns, particularly the security and stability of Gulf states.

Saudi Arabia, which was hit by Iranian attacks during the conflict, joined mediator Pakistan alongside Turkey and Egypt in facilitating negotiations weeks into the Middle East war.

My colleagues Heather Stewart and Philip Inman have done some analysis on how despite the ceasefire and ongoing peace talks, the Iran conflict is continuing to cast a shadow over the global economy

You can read their analysis here :

A technical fault in air traffic control, triggered by ⁠security measures for peace talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland , caused ⁠disruptions at Zurich airport ⁠on ​Sunday, aviation authorities said, adding the problem had been resolved.

The glitch occurred after ⁠the integration of a restricted zone over Buergenstock, the Swiss mountain resort where negotiations are ⁠taking place, into radar display systems, Swiss air traffic control ​authority Skyguide said.

The ‌zone was only ‌decided at the last minute because the decision to ‌hold the latest round of talks was not finalised until Saturday, according to a statement.

Operations have since returned to normal, Skyguide said, adding: “The systems are running smoothly, and security was ensured at all times.“

By ‌midday, 12 arrivals and 14 departures had been cancelled, an airport spokesperson told Reuters. ​At least 60 departures were delayed, she added. US vice-president JD Vance arrived for peace talks with Iran at Buergenstock on Sunday as foreseen in a tentative ⁠peace deal, but the diplomacy was overshadowed by ​Iran’s announcement ​that it had reimposed its ​blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

Qatari mediator confirms that US-Iran talks have begun

Mediator for Qatar has confirmed the US-Iran talks in Switzerland have begun, according to AFP.

The talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end have been beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon.

In a statement Qatar’s foreign ministry announced “the launch of the Lake Lucerne Summit and the first meeting of the high-level committee with the participation of representatives from the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran , and the two mediating states, the State of Qatar and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

The US vice-president, JD Vance , leading the US delegation, earlier said he was adding Lebanon to an agenda that had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas.

The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions.

The Swiss foreign ministry said the US and Iranian delegations, plus mediators from Pakistan and Qatar, were all present at the luxury resort.

Israel will not withdraw from security zone in Lebanon, says defence minister

There ⁠was and is ‘no restriction’ on ⁠Israeli ⁠soldiers ​to act to eliminate ⁠threats in Lebanon , and that troops would not withdraw from the security zone, ‌Israeli defence minister ‌Israel Katz said in a statement on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Israeli strikes killed at ‌least 20 people in Lebanon ​on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported, ⁠a day after a ​ceasefire with ​Iran-backed Hezbollah ​took effect ​after ‌months of ​escalating ​violence.

UN nuclear energy chief in Switzerland to ‘take stock’ of Iran developments

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says he has met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in Burgenstock “to take stock of recent developments regarding Iran , the path ahead and the important role of the IAEA”.

The pair shook hands as teams from Iran and the US met to negotiate in Switzerland .

“At this critical moment, it’s important to give diplomacy every opportunity to succeed,” he said.

Earlier this month, IAEA’s governing board passed a US-backed resolution demanding Iran provide “complete information” on its enriched ⁠uranium stocks and grant access to inspectors to verify them.

Poll finds Israelis believe Iran won war

Israelis overwhelmingly believe that Iran emerged stronger from the Middle East war and its subsequent deal with the United States, a poll released on Sunday found, as reported by AFP.

The poll of 3,644 respondents, conducted between 17 June and 20 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in collaboration with the Agam Institute, paints a stark picture of public sentiment after the US-Iran deal.

Of those surveyed, 92.1% said Iran had won or gained more from the conflict, while 82.9% felt that Israel’s long-term security had been weakened.

The survey found that even among voters who support the right-wing bloc, the electoral base of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 93.1% believed Iran had won.

Opposition to the US-Iran agreement was widespread, with 63.2% of respondents opposing it compared with just 12.1% expressing support.

The findings pointed to a broader crisis of confidence in Israel’s leadership.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, 72.5% , said they did not believe Netanyahu’s claims about the military campaign’s achievements, while 56.4% rated his management of the campaign as “failed” or “poor”.

The poll also pointed to the political price paid by Netanyahu, with support for his premiership plummeting from 40.5% in early March to 29.4% in June.

Despite this, the survey found ongoing support for military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon .

Nearly half of respondents, 48.2%, backed renewed major military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if it risked confrontation with Washington, while only 21% opposed such a move.

US-Iran talks in Switzerland to get under way as strait of Hormuz remains closed

Talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end the war are due to get under way in Switzerland, beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon.

The US vice-president, JD Vance , leading the US delegation, said he was adding Lebanon to the agenda, which had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas.

Vance arrived at a Qatari-owned Swiss mountainside resort in Bürgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time since the months-long conflict began. He has already held direct talks with the Iranians in Islamabad.

The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions.

The first clause of the memorandum of understanding published last week requires a ceasefire on all fronts including Lebanon , where fighting has escalated between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Full report here:

Iran says not seeking nuclear weapon or relinquishing enrichment rights

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Sunday that Tehran was willing to provide assurances that the country was not seeking a nuclear weapon, while insisting that Iran would not relinquish its right to enrich uranium, AFP reports.

“What the United States demands is that Iran not build an atomic bomb. This is nothing new, and we can also state in writing that we have no intention of building a bomb,” the president’s website quoted him as saying.

“However, we will not relinquish our right to enrichment, and the other side will have no choice but to accept this right,” he added, before Iranian and US negotiators were set to meet for talks in Switzerland later on Sunday.

Iran says Lebanon conflict ‘main topic’ in US talks

Iran said on Sunday that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the US in Switzerland , as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country’s oil.

“The Zionist regime continues to violate its commitment in Lebanon , this issue will be the main topic of discussion in today’s talks,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a video shared by IRNA state news agency.

Tehran said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Washington to end months of hostilities that began on 28 February following US-Israeli attacks on Iran .

Under the agreement, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon was also due to stop.

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, local authorities said, despite reports of a renewed ceasefire aiming to end the continuing clashes.

Lebanon’s civil defence agency said its personnel transported “16 dead and 12 wounded” to hospital, adding that they had been working “since the early morning hours” in the Nabatieh district.

Iran says it is closing strait of Hormuz over Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Iran has said it is closing the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US, signed just days ago.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway, which before the war carried a fifth of global oil and liquid gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.

It was unclear if the threat had been carried out, or if it would jeopardise talks in Switzerland scheduled for Sunday that were supposed to start the process of turning the current interim agreement between the US and Iran signed this week into a more detailed deal covering Iran’s nuclear programme.

Donald Trump promptly declared that “NO TOLLS” would be charged on ships seeking to pass through the strait during or after the ⁠60-day interim ceasefire. In a social media post on Saturday, however, he raised the prospect of the US imposing a toll should negotiations fail.

US-Iran talks to begin in Switzerland

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the latest in the Middle East and updates on the on going peace talks between the US and Iran .

Here are the latest developments:

On Sunday delegations for the US and Iran delegations have arrived at Swiss resort for talks . Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar will also be in attendance according to the Swiss foreign ministry. Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding earlier in June.

This follows news that Iran has said it has closed the strait of Hormuz over continued strikes from Israel in Lebanon . On Sunday Iran’s Fars news agency agency cited a military source ⁠as ⁠saying that the strait ⁠of Hormuz remains closed and the Revolutionary ⁠Guards navy has ​not ‌issued permission for ‌any vessels to ‌transit until further notice.

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people , local authorities said.

US vice-president JD Vance arrived at the Swiss mountainside resort of Burgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time.

US Central Command says ⁠55 merchant ships transited strait on Saturday.

Read our latest report here :

Iran has said it is closing the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US, signed just days ago.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway, which before the war carried a fifth of global oil and liquid gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.

It was unclear if the threat had been carried out, or if it would jeopardise talks in Switzerland scheduled for Sunday that were supposed to start the process of turning the current interim agreement between the US and Iran signed this week into a more detailed deal covering Iran’s nuclear programme.

Keyword – Politics
Trefwoorden – Labour party leadership, Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting, Keir Starmer, UK news, Makerfield byelection, Politics, Labour, Greater Manchester
Title – Burnham allies confident of No 10 ‘coronation’ after surge in backers | Labour party leadership | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jessica-elgot,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/geraldine-mckelvie
Link – Burnham allies confident of No 10 ‘coronation’ after surge in backers | Labour party leadership | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-20T14:41:51.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/20/burnham-allies-confident-no-10-coronation-after-surge-backers-labour-leadership

Allies of Andy Burnham are increasingly confident of a coronation-style transfer of power after the number of MPs backing him for the Labour leadership surged following his byelection victory.

Burnham and his team are understood to have spent the last few days enlisting the support of MPs and ministers, as he prepares to challenge Keir Starmer in the coming weeks.

It was reported on Friday that, after his triumph in the Makerfield byelection, where he comfortably saw off the threat of Reform UK, Burnham’s team were hoping for 200 nominations , about half of the parliamentary party.

However, one minister said that figure was now “in the dust”, while another said it was “logical” that the number of backers would be closer to 300, which could complicate a challenge by the former health secretary Wes Streeting .

The former Greater Manchester mayor is hoping to have enough support to dislodge Starmer from Downing Street without the need for a lengthy leadership contest.

However, an uncontested takeover is not favoured by all MPs, some of whom want the new Makerfield MP to face the “scrutiny” of his ideas being “put through the wringer”.

Streeting and Burnham are expected to speak this weekend but sources close to the former insisted he also had the numbers to challenge Starmer and remained determined to do so, although they added that Streeting would not trigger a contest this weekend in order to allow the prime minister to “reflect on his position”.

Labour party rules mean that potential leadership candidates must secure nominations from at least 20% of the parliamentary party in order to force a contest.

The party has 403 MPs, meaning prospective challengers would need the support of 81 to stand. They would also require the backing of 5% of local branches, and at least three party-affiliated groups, of which a minimum of two must be trade unions.

Members would then vote for their preferred candidate, if more than one MP met the criteria to stand.

Starmer, as leader, does not have to meet these requirements and would be on the ballot automatically unless he chose to stand down. The prime minister has said he will fight any potential leadership contest, which could take months.

However, previously loyal cabinet ministers warned the PM on Friday that he faced the indignity of being forced out of office by a string of damaging resignations if he did not set out a timetable for his departure.

Burnham secured a majority of 9,000 in Thursday’s Makerfield poll, little more than a month after the constituency largely backed Reform in the local elections. His team now believe he is Labour’s best hope of preventing Nigel Farage’s party winning the next general election.

Although Starmer led Labour to a landslide general election victory in 2024, he is deeply unpopular with the electorate after a series of policy U-turns.

One Burnham ally said: “We passed every single ridiculous test that they set – to win the way Andy has won, we smashed through every single ceiling they set, I think there couldn’t be a clearer message.

“It’s not a personal thing, but we can’t afford not to do this. We’ve got to be honest with ourselves about where we are and what we need to do to keep a Labour government going and [Starmer] can’t do that sadly.

“This is an existential crisis for us, and it’s proven that there’s another way you can do things that navigates us through that. And I just think it’s unwise and sad that Keir and his team want to, at this point, not acknowledge or accept that. They’ve got time obviously, so we’ll see what happens.”

Jess Phillips, who resigned as the safeguarding minister last month and is close to Streeting, said that while Burnham had beaten Reform “absolutely soundly” he should still face the “rigour of at least some manner of contests”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Lots of people don’t know Andy Burnham, have never worked alongside him, and that’s not his fault, unless you’re a Greater Manchester MP … I look forward to Andy Burnham arriving [in parliament] on Monday and those who are prospective candidates setting out their stall.”

Another close ally of Streeting said the “priority” for MPs was ensuring that Starmer understood he could not continue as leader.

They said: “There [are] two ways forward. One is orderly and comradely and gives the space for a forward-looking policy debate which could be a proper battle of ideas and whoever wins will come out stronger for it.

“And the alternative is one that is entirely focused on who’s to blame for what’s gone wrong in the last two years and extremely bitter and angry. I don’t think anyone wins in that scenario. That is within Keir’s gift.

“If Keir steps down, that does allow for a contest that is fought in a pretty collegiate way, because it won’t be about what’s gone wrong, it doesn’t have to be.

“I think putting [Burnham’s] ideas and [Streeting’s] ideas through the wringer and the challenge of media scrutiny and scrutiny from members means we’re more likely to come out of it with a stronger programme and a leader whose programme is tested and can then be put into action.

“I think there is also a risk of chaos if you don’t go into government with that kind of definition that you get from a campaign.”

Keyword – Art and design
Trefwoorden – Photography, Spain, Art and design, Culture, Europe, World news
Title – From the US-Mexico border to protests in Poland: highlights of PhotoEspaña 2026 | Photography | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guy-lane
Link – From the US-Mexico border to protests in Poland: highlights of PhotoEspaña 2026 | Photography | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T06:00:23.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jun/21/us-mexico-border-protests-poland-highlights-photoespana-2026-spain

P hotoEspaña, Spain’s leading festival of photography, held its official opening in Madrid this month and by September nearly 100 exhibitions will have showcased the work of more than 300 visual artists in the capital and across the country. Loosely corralled under the theme of reimagining, the exhibitions feature work by major figures in Spanish and international photography and less well-known emerging artists.

From the series Invisible Line. Photograph: Alejandro Cartagena

From the series Between Borders. Photograph: Alejandro Cartagena

Fundación Mapfre hosts an expansive overview of the career of the Mexican photographer Alejandro Cartagena, including three series he produced focusing on the effects and meaning of the US-Mexico border: Invisible Line, Between Borders and Los Americanos.

Of the border wall he says: “It’s potent, it shows its power all the time. Wherever you look, there’s these jagged lines or these massive concrete walls that are cutting and showing that we are different. They are from the north, we are from the south and the cultures don’t mix. There’s this obsession with being separate, being two different cultures.”

From the series Los Americanos. Photograph: Alejandro Cartagena

The effects of separation can be devastating. “One of the interesting or more poignant things of this experience was how the border, the wall, basically dissolves the idea of identity and personhood,” Cartagena says.

“And I’m iterating on the same idea. Who am I? Who are the people that live around me? Who are we as Mexicans? Who are we as Americans? And this physicality of the wall basically erases us and we become generic, we become no one.”

Laia Abril at her endometriosis solo show at Museo del Romanticismo in Madrid. Photograph: Jorquera

Seven life-size portraits by Laia Abril are installed in an intimate show at the Museo del Romanticismo exploring the debilitating effects of endometriosis. Her subjects, six women and a trans man, were photographed in the postures they adopt to manage their pain.

“The idea was to visualise in real size”, she says. “Their bodies in moments of pain, but also they were showing us what are the different positions they take when they try to have relief from that pain.” Abril’s portraits are taken from above in a reference to the almost out-of-body experiences she endures while coping with her own pain.

The triptych presentation is a further nod to the physical effects of the condition. “It’s kind of a fight between our body helping us to be resilient and fighting the pain, but also our body needs to be disconnected because it’s carrying a lot of pain.”

Lux and Umbra at the Fernán Gómez centre. Photograph: Jorquera

Top left: Yellow Vlei by Viviane Sassen. Top right: Sassen at the opening of Lux and Umbra. Above: Venus and Mercury at the Fernán Gómez centre. Photographs: Jorquera

Lux and Umbra , a retrospective of the work of the Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen at the Fernán Gómez centre, explores a career marked by a restless eclecticism. A childhood in Kenya and an interest in fashion design and art history with particular reference to surrealism all inform a visual language that defies easy categorisation.

If certain themes, including death, sexuality and mourning, recur, they do so on strictly ambiguous terms. Even the umbra, or shadow, of the show’s title has various meanings, appearing in her work as abstract or representational, staged or natural, literal or metaphorical.

Strike newspaper 9 by Rafał Milach and the Archive of Public Protests/Jednostka Gallery

The Polish photographer Rafal Milach’s strident exhibition at Circulo de Bellas Artes explores the disruptive potential of an engaged documentary practice committed to outflanking traditional patterns of spectatorship.

Avowing that “protest photography is quite boring visually, it always looks the same”, Milach directs his energies towards making work accessible to new audiences via the Archive of Public Protests , a platform for his and others’ photographs addressing social and political tensions in Poland and eastern Europe. Banners, murals and free newspapers feature in the exhibition, promoted as means of strengthening solidarity networks and encouraging opposition.

PhotoEspaña takes its theme from Reimagining , a diverse group show of 13 accomplished projects by photographers exploring varied approaches to their subjects and their medium.

From the series The Wreckage of a Catastrophe by Txema Salvans

Above left: from The Grid by Jon Gorospe: Above right: from Iberia by Aleix Plademunt

From the series Espacio Disponible by Eduardo Nave

Among them, Txema Salvans takes a caustic look at life on the road, no longer a symbol of prosperity and expansion, in his Wreckage of a Catastrophe series.

Jon Gorospe’s The Grid uses video and audio to examine the environments and routines of commuting. Aleix Plademunt displays more than 120 black-and-white photographs to evoke a colonial gaze and its narrowed focus on rubber trees in the Peruvian rainforest.

And Eduardo Nave, describing his Espacio Disponible series as “the opposite of Times Square,” photographs empty and rusting billboards that advertise their own obsolescence and the transition to the digital era.

Two exhibitions pay homage to canonical photobooks, one from the 1980s, the other from the fifties: Richard Avedon. In the American West, 1979-1984 at Fundación Mapfre, and Robert Frank and The Americans at Espacio Fundación Telefónica.

Clockwise from top left: Ronald Fischer, beekeeper, Davis, California, 9 May 1981; Sandra Bennett, 12 years old, Rocky Ford, Colorado, 23 August 1980; David Beason, shipping clerk, Denver, Colorado, 25 July 1981; Petra Alvarado, factory worker, on her birthday, El Paso, Texas, 22 April 1982. Photographs: Richard Avedon/The Richard Avedon Foundation

Avedon travelled with a team of assistants, a large format camera and a backdrop. He could take up to two days – in the case of beekeeper Ronald Fischer – to complete a portrait. Frank preferred to arrive unannounced, Leica 35mm in hand, work swiftly and move on.

Funeral, St Helena, South Carolina, from The Americans. Photograph: Robert Frank

Differences aside, certain similarities remain: both projects achieved their fullest expression in book form, and both have long been recognised as exemplary. Not least, and central to their enduring relevance, is the sense that both photographers testified to an American reality that no amount of rhetoric – of the Cold War fifties or Reaganite eighties – could disguise.

Guy Lane travelled to Madrid as a guest of PhotoEspaña

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

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

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

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

She likes to watch Australian rules football with her dad.

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

It is Sunday 27 August 2023.

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

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

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

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

And when it doesn’t self-correct?

Lu- … du-b-b-b … b … b …

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On Monday 28 August 2023 she doesn’t call.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three shocks. Thud, thud, thud.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But defibrillators can’t save everyone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The cause of death was marked unascertained.

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

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

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

How do you begin to process that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jon Snow: A Last Big Story aired on Channel 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

Despite the awkward silence that followed, I regret nothing.

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

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

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

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

Stokes to return as captain at Trent Bridge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brendon McCullum’s verdict

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

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

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

Match report: New Zealand win by 253 runs

Tom Latham’s reaction

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

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

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

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

Joe Root’s reaction

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

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

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

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

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

The player of the match is Matt Henry

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Zealand win by 253 runs!

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’ve enjoyed every over of it.”

I couldn’t put it nearly as well myself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stokes withdrawn from Durham match

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

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

Preamble

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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