Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – Brexit, Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, Politics, European Union, Labour, UK news
Title – The Guardian view on Britain and the EU: Ed Davey is right – a changed world changes the argument | Editorial | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial
Link – The Guardian view on Britain and the EU: Ed Davey is right – a changed world changes the argument | Editorial | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T17:50:41.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/17/the-guardian-view-on-britain-and-the-eu-ed-davey-is-right-a-changed-world-changes-the-argument

M embership of the European single market was at stake when the UK voted on Brexit , but it was not the decisive question in the campaign. The leave campaign dishonestly promised a cost-free severance of ties with Britain’s largest trading partner. As immigration came to dominate the debate, the requirement to allow free movement of people as a condition of seamless integration with European markets undermined the remainers’ most compelling argument.

Reluctance to advocate a liberal migration regime imposed a taboo on calls to reconsider the Brexit settlement, even as warnings about the cost of rupture were vindicated. Now, after a decade of forsaken growth, the mood is finally changing.

On Wednesday, Sir Ed Davey used a speech marking the referendum anniversary to call for Britain to rejoin the single market. The Liberal Democrat leader describes Brexit as an experiment that has failed. He observes that the world has changed since 2016. These things are self-evidently true and public opinion has shifted accordingly. Opinion polls regularly show a majority would vote to reverse the referendum outcome.

The idea that Britain needed liberation from Brussels to enjoy competitive advantages was misguided already at a time when the US was a reliable ally, upholding a rules-based global economic order. It looks catastrophically mistaken with Donald Trump in the White House, using tariffs as a weapon of economic coercion, and with Russia waging a brutal war on Europe’s eastern frontier, while supporting acts of sabotage to destabilise democratic politics in countries that support Ukraine.

Although the Lib Dem position is supported by strategic and economic logic, those factors do not easily rival the forces of domestic politics that mobilise anti-immigration sentiment to shut down discussion of Britain’s need to reconnect with the European project. That resistance can be challenged. It can be argued that Brexit failed to deliver the control that the leavers promised; that Eurosceptic diplomatic vandalism made the task of border management harder. It could also be noted that freedom of movement was a reciprocal benefit, not a one-way street – an opportunity denied to the generation that lives with the consequences of a ballot in which they were too young to participate.

That perspective deserved greater salience in the debate 10 years ago. Whether it would have swayed public opinion then, or can move the dial now, is unknown. Anxiety around appearing to support “open-door” immigration is not unfounded. It explains why Sir Keir Starmer ruled out single-market membership in his 2024 manifesto, why that red line still limits the ambition of Labour’s “reset” in EU relations and why it has taken the Lib Dems two years to get from their own caution on these matters at the last general election to their current, more assertive stance . It is easier to set out a theory of better UK-EU relations from opposition than it is to negotiate a better deal in government.

Lib Dem plans for Britain to rejoin the single market are not going to be enacted any time soon, but that doesn’t invalidate the call to reconsider. The challenges are formidable, especially when it comes to changing political narratives around migration. But a lesson from the past decade is that arguments for integration with Europe will only gain ground when politicians show the courage to make them in the first place.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

Keyword – Books
Trefwoorden – Science and nature books, Books, Culture, Health, mind and body books
Title – Morbid by Saul Justin Newman review – why everything you think you know about longevity is wrong | Science and nature books | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rachel-clarke2
Link – Morbid by Saul Justin Newman review – why everything you think you know about longevity is wrong | Science and nature books | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T06:00:24.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/17/morbid-by-saul-justin-newman-review-why-everything-you-think-you-know-about-longevity-is-wrong

T here is a special place in hell reserved for doctors who trade on their authority, status and medical training to monetise public fear and gullibility. Every time I scroll past a qualified physician touting elixirs that promise youthful vigour, cellulite-free thighs or gut microbiome makeovers, I want to poke their fraudulent eyes out. At best, these charlatans have chosen lining their pockets over helping others. At worst, as in the case of the Covid deniers and anti-vaxxers, they are actively dangerous – something I witnessed first-hand on hospital wards in 2021 as unvaccinated patients succumbed to the disease.

Nowhere is human hope monetised more ruthlessly by medical grifters than in the anti-ageing industry. Our inescapable fate – decrepitude and death – makes us ripe for exploitation. Who doesn’t want to pop a pill or hook themselves up to an IV infusion that, for only £99.99 a month, will magically stave off the moment you turn into your grandparents? In Morbid, debut author Saul Justin Newman, a research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Institute of Population Ageing, sets out to topple the whole, sordid house of cards. His central argument is that our fear of frailty and dying has “created an opening for all manner of skullduggery in the science of ageing”, an area of research which is rife, he argues, with “misleading claims, mistaken assumptions, and outright chicanery. The world’s oldest man is a fake, hundreds of thousands of the world’s oldest people are actually dead, and five decades of research on human longevity is moot.”

These are startling allegations, especially when made by someone whose Amazon author page reads as though it was aiming for whimsy, but written on acid. Among other things, Newman has “met a man with walrus-skull book-ends, saved two people from drowning … got run over by a moped, stuck his arm in a giant clam, got hit full in the face with a pavlova.” My unease grew at his publisher, MIT Press, describing the book as a descent “into amusing, if edifying, chaos”. I am a curmudgeon who seeks from nonfiction not chaos, but education and inspiration. MIT Press sells its author short, though – because that is exactly what this intriguing, eccentric book provides.

Take the debunking of the world’s oldest recorded man, Jiroemon Kimura, who died in Japan in 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days. Newman points out that though his age had ostensibly been verified by exhaustive examination of demographic records, Kimura had at least two documented names, two documented birthdays and three documented wives, despite having no documented divorces. The more Newman dug into individual cases of world famous “oldest” people, the more record-keeping inconsistencies he found. A pattern emerged: “An extreme longevity case would be announced, get catapulted into the global press and lauded by everyone, and disappear years later once the evidence was checked.”

More worryingly still, inaccurate ageing of the world’s oldest people appeared to exist at population level. In 2010 in Tokyo, for example, the renowned supercentenarian Sogen Kato, official age 111, was revealed to be a mummified husk in his family’s home – where he’d lain dead for at least 30 years while a relative continued to claim his pension. In the wake of the ensuing scandal, Japan’s ministry of justice investigated everyone allegedly aged over 100. More than 82% of them were discovered to be dead or “missing”. Newman found another population of dead centenarians in Greece. There, in a push to clean up public records in 2012, the government discovered that more than 9,000 people listed as being over 100 were actually dead, with many survivors only existing on paper to enable unscrupulous relatives to draw their pensions.

The islands of Okinawa (Japan) and Ikaria (Greece) happen to be two of six much-hyped “Blue Zones” – areas of outstandingly high late-life survival where centenarians, seemingly, abound. Newman brilliantly skewers Dan Buettner, an American entrepreneur who built a lucrative brand around the trademarked term, setting up the Blue Zones company and selling books, diets and lifestyles that promise the nine “secrets” of longevity. In many ways, Buettner is a precursor to the tech-bro biohackers such as Bryan Johnson, also filleted by Newman, who aims to defy death by infusing himself with his son’s plasma, injecting his penis with Botox and publicly tracking his bowel movements. Needless to say, Johnson’s website promises “personalised longevity insights” when you purchase “Biomarkers membership” for a mere $365 a year.

In an age of incessant online grifting and conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy as US secretary of health, Newman’s conclusions are refreshingly simple. Longevity “science” is largely built on nonsense data. So laugh at those promising you a “cure” for ageing or selling trademarked hokum. Give space to reproducible basic research. Value scientific method. Don’t smoke, eat more plants, move more. There is only one target I will not allow him. Newman must not, cannot, in any shape or form, contest the longevity of David Attenborough.

Morbid: Debunking Modern Longevity Science by Saul Justin Newman is published by MIT (£27). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply.

Keyword – UK news
Trefwoorden – UK news, Russia, Water transport, Military, Europe, World news, Ministry of Defence
Title – ‘We don’t want world war three’: yacht couple call for calm after Russian warning shots | UK news | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/emine-sinmaz,https://www.theguardian.com/profile/helena-horton
Link – ‘We don’t want world war three’: yacht couple call for calm after Russian warning shots | UK news | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T13:45:33.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/17/british-yacht-couple-russian-warning-shots

A British woman on a yacht in the Channel near which a Russian warship fired warning shots has told how she does not want the incident to be blown out of proportion, saying: “We don’t want world war three to start because of this.”

Jane Kelvey, 69, and her husband, Alan, 70, were on their yacht, Bright Future, travelling from the south coast of England towards France on Tuesday when they came into close contact with the Admiral Grigorovich, a 409ft (125-metre) Russian frigate.

Jane said the warship fired four or five warning shots that sounded like “a whipcrack. You can tell when a gun’s been fired. You know that noise.”

Despite the incident, the retired couple from Buckinghamshire were determined to enjoy their two-month sailing trip, Jane said.

“We just don’t want it blown out of all proportion. We don’t want world war three to start because of this, because had it just been the five blasts on their horn, we wouldn’t have reported it, there would have been nothing to report. It was just the gunfire that was a little bit surprising,” she told the Guardian on Wednesday.

“I don’t want it to put any other British sailors off either. We all cross the Channel so often, it doesn’t need to be made into a big incident.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Russian vessel fired warning shots to prevent a possible collision after making attempts to contact the 40ft (12-metre) British-flagged yacht, which was about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside the UK’s territorial waters.

A translation of a statement posted on the Russian defence ministry’s Telegram channel said the yacht had been on a “dangerous approach” and the warning shots were fired after attempts were first made to attract the crew’s attention with signal flares and sound signals.

Jane said the Russian statement was untrue. Recounting her version of events, she said: “We were following our course from Lymington to Cherbourg at about five knots, we could see them in the distance. As we got closer, we could see it was a warship. We saw the Cyrillic lettering on the side and assumed it was a Russian warship.

“We were in no danger. We were not about to collide with them. They didn’t appear to be adrift, which is what they’re saying, that they had inability to manoeuvre.”

She said their yacht was using an automatic identification system (AIS), a maritime tracking system, so the Russian vessel would have known their location.

“They had plenty of opportunity to warn us off, if that’s what they wanted,” she said. “They didn’t fire flares, they didn’t get on the radio to us, they just gave five blasts from their horn to let us know they were there. We acknowledged by changing our course and then they did another five blasts, and then they fired the warning shots at which point we put our engine on and steered about 90 degrees to port to get right out of the way. But we weren’t in the way, we were not about to collide with them at all.”

She added that the only reason she was talking to the press was because of the untruthfulness of the Russian statement. “For us, until the shots were fired, it was just a nothing incident. We obeyed their five toots when we manoeuvred out of the way. But then when the gunshots happened, it was just completely unnecessary, and what they said was just not true. We weren’t adrift, we weren’t under motor, which they said we were. We were sailing and to be fair, we were the stand-on vessel, we actually had right of way, but we weren’t going to argue with a warship.”

The Russian statement said naval personnel had acted “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations. But Jane said: “They [the Russians] obviously realised that what they did was going to cause some concerns so I think they just got their statement out early and they wanted to frame it in a way that shifted the blame to us.”

She said the couple contacted the UK Coastguard before a boat from HMS Tyne, another patrol vessel, was sent to the yacht to gather details and check they were safe.

On Wednesday, the Kelveys, who retired in 2023, were praised by their former colleagues for how they handled the incident. For 40 years they owned a local business that makes signs for the NHS and care homes, as well as celebrities and politicians – including Boris Johnson.

Daniel Murphy, the company’s production manager, said: “That’s typical of them not to be too stressed about it, they have a good way of looking at life, they brush off things, they have a stiff upper lip. They’re irreverent and funny.”

In 2022, Johnson visited the sign factory for a photo opportunity and Jane showed him how to make signs.

Murphy said: “This was the day before Russia invaded Ukraine and we got a heads up it might be coming, because suddenly Boris’s aides surrounded him and got him into a corridor where he took a call from [the then US president] Joe Biden.”

Murphy said of Alan: “He built this business from nothing – it started in his dad’s shed. They are self-made people so it’s great they are living their dream.”

Looking ahead to the rest of their trip, which will take in the coast of Brittany, Jane said: “It’s worth working hard to get to do this.”

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Football, Sport
Title – Football’s greatest showman shows Mbappé and Haaland who’s boss | Football | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/yara-el-shaboury
Link – Football’s greatest showman shows Mbappé and Haaland who’s boss | Football | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T13:44:16.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/17/football-daily-greatest-showman-messi-mbappe-haaland

Here comes the Messi-ah

The GWC has barely had time to unpack its suitcase and already the goals are flying in like overenthusiastic airline baggage. Stadiums are full, scoreboards are busy and, most importantly, football’s three marquee attractions decided that now would be a good time to remind everyone why they dominate highlight reels, sponsorship campaigns and social media algorithms.

First up, Kylian Mbappé. France’s resident cheat code arrived in New Jersey with a mission and left with a place in the history books. Senegal did a respectable job of standing in his way until Mbappé remembered who he actually is. A low finish broke the deadlock before a thunderous long-range effort in stoppage time effectively put a bow on proceedings and a crown on his head.

A 3-1 win for France , 58 international goals for Mbappé and a new national scoring record. We would apologise to the previous record holder, Olivier Giroud, but he did not seem that fussed. “Congratulations Kylian,” Giroud tooted on BBC One, where he is working as a not-so-great pundit. “I’m happy for him. It makes sense, it was expected. He will beat every single record – the number of caps and goals.”

Mbappé’s goals for France have come in just 99 appearances and his double against Senegal moved him to 14 World Cup goals, leaving Miroslav Klose’s all-time record of 16 looking less like a countdown.

“I think he can easily reach 100 goals and maybe [beat] Miroslav Klose’s World Cup record,” predicted Giroud. “He’s delivered great performances in World Cups and big games.”

On to Norway’s Erling Haaland. Big Cup debut? Hat-trick. Bundesliga debut? Hat-trick. Premier League debut? Two goals. GWC debut? Naturally, two goals in a 4-1 win over Iraq .

The Norway manager, Ståle Solbakken, certainly was not surprised. “You can see he lived up to the occasion – it wasn’t too big for him. I had a good feeling before the game, the last training session was very good. I had a feeling he would do it for us today.”

Yet for all the brilliance of Mbappé and Haaland, football’s greatest showman was not about to accept third billing. Hours after the younger generation had dazzled, Lionel Messi wandered on to the stage and reminded us sequels rarely outperform the original.

A first World Cup hat-trick . A record-equalling 16th World Cup goal. Another entry in the ever-expanding folder labelled “proof he still has it”. Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 and Messi was involved in absolutely everything that mattered, including a raking challenge on Aissa Mandi that surely would have been a red card for mere mortals. Perhaps not inconsequentially, Gianni Infantino was in Kansas, watching on through misty eyes.

As the sun dipped behind the Kansas City skyline, the 38-year-old became the first player in history to appear at six World Cups, beating his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo to the landmark by a single day. Twenty years after making his World Cup debut as a teenager in Germany, and on his 200th international appearance, Messi looked a man casually ignoring the passage of time.

Afterwards, he cheered: “To enjoy this with my family, with my teammates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment. The squad, it’s a very united, very strong group. I feel good; we were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game.

“I’m grateful to the fans, because once again they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this – we packed the stadium again. Everything I’m experiencing now is a bonus. I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve all my dreams – or even more than I ever dreamed of achieving – professionally and personally.”

So then. Mbappé has broken more records. Haaland has continued his full-time hobby of terrorising defenders. And Messi has once again bent time and logic to his will.

Ronaldo and Harry Kane, over to you.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Daniel Harris for live updates from Portugal 1-0 DR Congo from 6pm BST (1pm EDT), before Scott Murray guides you through England 1-1 Croatia from 9pm BST (4pm EDT). Then, it’s Rob Smyth in the hot seat for Ghana 2-0 Panama at midnight BST (7pm EDT), with Jonathan Howcroft taking over for Uzbekistan 0-2 Colombia (10pm EDT, Thu 3am BST). Then you can sleep.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I said that no ball would enter his goal and that is exactly ⁠what happened. He is a great goalkeeper. I am very proud to be Vozinha’s mother and I hope he continues to save every ball that comes his way” – Ana Candida Évora hails her boy’s performance in keeping Spain at bay for Cape Verde, after hacks popped up at the family home in Mindelo on São Vicente.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

First we have Football Daily on the weekend, and now we have Tuuka Tomperi stating in yesterday’s letters : ‘Football Daily is the best newsletter in the world, by far!’ The first I can pass off as GWC Fever, but the second is inexplicable and means I will be visiting my general practitioner as soon as the group stage is over” – Alex Bull.

Before kick-off on Sunday I was pessimistic about having to slog through three Curaçao matches in the GWC. But, after seeing them torn apart by Germany, 7-1, I can safely say that it’s just like watching Brazil. 2014-era Brazil , but still” – R Reisman.

You could argue that Vozinha is actually better than Pat Jennings ( yesterday’s Football Daily ). Vozinha’s given first name is Josimar, after the Brazilian defender who was a star of Mexico ‘86. That Josimar not only played in the game against Northern Ireland (and Jennings) that you referenced, he scored the second Brazilian goal, with a shot from way out on the right touchline if I remember correctly. Surely that’s conclusive proof that a Josimar is better than a Jennings?” – Richard O’Hagan.

The late music legend Cesaria Évora had a voice that reached the ends of the earth. She was from the same town in Cape Verde as the goalkeeper Vozinha, whose nickname is Portuguese for ‘little voice’. That little voice produced a massive roar heard around the world” – Peter Oh.

I wanted to add my Roy Hattersley recollection ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ). His column was my favourite part of the Guardian, bar none. The man wrote exquisitely, so I was delighted to bump into him at Priestfield before a Gillingham v Sheffield Wednesday game about 25 years ago. He was polite and charming for our brief chat and responded with ‘I hope not’ when I bid him adieu, having said ‘may the better team win’. Wednesday duly lost to my beloved Gills. RIP Roy” – Martin Griffiths.

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

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Get listening to World Cup Daily ! Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Ben Fisher, Lars Sivertsen and Philippe Auclair as Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all hit their stride.

RECOMMENDED WATCHING

With the World Cup expanding to 104 matches, navigating the “morass of endless football” can feel a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, Barney Ronay, has done the heavy lifting. He breaks down the group fixtures you absolutely cannot miss .

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

Keyword – Media
Trefwoorden – BBC, Media, Sexual harassment, Television industry, Television & radio, UK news
Title – BBC presenter Ashley Cain called women ‘slags’, ‘sluts’ and ‘bitches’ | BBC | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sirin-kale
Link – BBC presenter Ashley Cain called women ‘slags’, ‘sluts’ and ‘bitches’ | BBC | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T05:00:24.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/17/bbc-presenter-ashley-cain-called-women-slags-sluts-bitches

A BBC presenter lauded by the corporation for his appeal to young male audiences has a history of making abusive and misogynistic remarks about women, whom he has variously called “slags”, “sluts”, “psychos” and “bitches”, the Guardian can reveal.

Ashley Cain is the presenter of the BBC Three documentary series Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone , which was filmed on location earlier this year after the BBC commissioned a second series.

A former footballer turned reality TV star, Cain travels to the world’s most dangerous places, interviewing young men who live on the fringes of society.

Before Cain began working with the BBC, he was a prolific user of X, which was then known as Twitter. He frequently referred to women in tweets using abusive terms, making jokes about hitting women and degrading sexual practices.

He also sent female users of the social media platform abusive messages with offensive sexualised language. In 2014, in response to a since-deleted tweet he perceived to be homophobic, Cain tweeted that one female user should “go and choke on a cock you slut”.

To another female user in 2015 he wrote: “The only thing that’s desperate around here is your pictures with your shit tits. Now suck a dick, and fuck off.”

These and dozens of other similar posts, all of which were publicly available, raise questions for the BBC about what, if any, vetting was conducted before his appointment. Late on Wednesday, Cain’s X account appeared to have been removed from the platform.

Cain did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A BBC spokesperson said: “We are very clear we expect the highest standards of behaviour from everyone who works with or for the BBC. When allegations are brought to our attention we take them seriously. We will consider this information carefully and do not intend to comment further at this stage.”

A source at the BBC said the corporation had been unaware of Cain’s social media posts. The revelations could pose the first big test for the BBC’s new director general, Matt Brittin , who joined the corporation last month after a string of scandals related to misconduct by BBC presenters.

BBC executives have in the past praised Cain’s “exceptional” ability to connect with young men, and promoted him on the broadcaster’s youth-focused channel, describing him as “what BBC Three is about”. He also appeared on the BBC’s flagship Celebrity MasterChef in 2025, reaching the semi-final.

When Cain was first commissioned by the BBC for Into the Danger Zone, which was filmed in 2024 and aired in 2025, there were ample warnings in the public domain about his controversial background.

He had previously appeared on an MTV reality TV show, where he was known for using the phrase “you can’t turn a hoe into a housewife”.

And a newspaper article from 2015, which is easily discoverable online, reported an incident in which a woman alleged that he uploaded footage of them having sex on to Snapchat without her consent. At the time, Cain said the woman consented to the footage being shared, saying: “Everyone knows what happens on my Snapchat.”

Misogynistic and sexualised language

It was around the time of the Snapchat incident that Cain was frequently tweeting abusive jokes about hitting and slapping women. While watching an episode of the ITV reality show Love Island in 2015, Cain tweeted that if he were a contestant he “would have to choke slam” the female contestant Jessica Hayes “real quick”.

On a separate occasion, he abused Hayes again, saying he would like to “dick fuck her and her big mouth, spit in her face and then fuck her off”. While watching a 2012 Channel 4 documentary, Cain tweeted that he wanted to “talcum powder pimp slap these bitches already!”

Cain also posted about sexual practices that blur the boundaries of consent, or that many would regard as offensive. In 2011, he joked about an extreme sex act involving semen, describing how it would be perpetrated against a “chick” or “bitch”.

Two years later, in 2013, Cain posted a tweet which joked that “eating bad food at weekends is like when a girl says, ‘Don’t cum in me’, but you do it anyway, then think ‘shit’,” adding three laughing emojis.

In 2014 he tweeted: “A girl bangs 100 guys = Slag A guy bangs 100 girls = Ledge.” The same year he tweeted: “I DO NOT.. I repeat I DO NOT think EVERY girl is a slag! There are some absolute PHENOMENAL women out there.. They’re just a rare commodity.”

In 2015, he wrote: “I know some sluts that think they’re not sluts cuz they slut discreetly. Lol.” In 2017, he wrote: “You’ll never see a good girl trying to prove to you she’s a good girl, she’s naturally different.”

While the comments are several years old, the fact most of them have been available on Cain’s public X account for more than a decade raise questions about the BBC’s vetting procedures given his controversial background.

A former reality TV star with 2.1 million followers on Instagram, Cain came to prominence through the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach, leading him to adopt the moniker “[the] bad boy of MTV”. During its first season, which aired in 2014, Cain twice tried to attack male contributors, being sent home early from the show due to his second attempted assault.

His on-screen girlfriend described him as “controlling”. Referring to her in an on-camera interview after an argument, Cain said: “I’m quite a lenient guy, and I kind of let her do what she wants to do, and I don’t put the reins on her, but obviously it’s gone to show that that’s not a good thing.” Cain later returned for subsequent seasons of the show.

Since the death of his daughter Azaylia in 2021 from leukaemia, he has become a prominent fundraiser, setting up a foundation in his daughter’s name and taking part in extreme physical challenges to raise money for childhood cancer research and treatment.

BBC executives perceived Cain as someone who could appeal to younger male audiences, particularly on Instagram and YouTube. In a press release to announce season one of Into the Danger Zone, Ricky Cooper, a BBC commissioning editor, described Cain as someone who “connects with young men in a truly exceptional way”. In an event for the Royal Television Society in 2025 , another BBC commissioning editor, Nasfim Haque, said: “Ashley is what BBC Three is about – a new talent giving us a new perspective.”

The BBC first hired Cain to present his own series in 2024, when he filmed the first season of Into the Danger Zone on location in France, South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Sweden and the Philippines. The series was made by True North Productions, in association with Cain’s own production company, House of Panthera.

The revelations over Cain’s background will reignite a debate over the BBC and its treatment of prominent talent.

In April 2025, a BBC-commissioned external review of its culture found evidence that “a minority of people” behaved “unacceptably” within the corporation and that their behaviour “is not addressed”. The review was conducted after BBC scandals involving on-screen talent including the newsreader Huw Edwards and the MasterChef host Gregg Wallace.

The report recommended clear “standards for everyone who works with or for the BBC”, emphasising that BBC staff had a responsibility to “take appropriate action” in response to “sexist” or “abusive” behaviour.

Had the BBC conducted even a basic internet search of Cain’s background, executives are likely to have discovered Cain’s extensive history of offensive social media postings, as well as the 2015 report in the Daily Star alleging that he had posted sexually explicit footage of a woman without her consent.

‘There was no consent’

Speaking to the Daily Star at the time, the woman, Rachel Roftis, said she “definitely didn’t give him permission to take photos of me or film me at all” and that she had been abused online after Cain uploaded the footage to Snapchat.

Contacted by the Guardian this month, Roftis, 33, who lives in Bexley, south-east London, said she met Cain on 27 March 2015, after he made an appearance at Pure-bar nightclub in Bexleyheath. Roftis said they had consensual sex at a local hotel.

She said she only discovered later that Cain recorded videos and took photos of her naked without her consent, and uploaded these to Snapchat.

The following morning, Roftis recalled, she received calls and messages from friends and family. In one, sent to Roftis at 11.26am on 28 March, a friend wrote: “Rachel I know it’s none of my business, but do you know there’s videos of you on Ashley’s Snapchat of you having sex? And videos of your vagina?”

Roftis said that upon learning that Cain had shared explicit imagery of her online, she “screamed” at him and made him delete the images and footage, but by then they had gone viral. Posts still available on X show users using the hashtag #Room303, an apparent reference to Cain’s hotel room number that night, and making other references to the explicit content on his Snapchat.

Roftis said that she neither consented to Cain taking photographs or videos of her during sexual activity, nor to him sharing them online. A close friend whom she confided in at the time said Roftis had always been clear “there was no consent” and that the experience “massively affected her relationships with men. She doesn’t trust anybody really now.”

Cain himself made light of the events in posts on 28 March 2015. After deleting the Snapchat posts, he tweeted: “Some of the explicit Snapchats had to be removed ;(.” When a user responded to say that they were “the most explicit Snapchats I’ve ever seen”, Cain replied “that’s why they call me the Snapchat king”. Later that day, Cain himself tweeted “#Room303🔞.”

Roftis recalled that she received online abuse, including death threats. She also suffered in-person harassment at the bar she then worked at. She said: “I went into work the next day and I had people coming in there, basically shouting abuse at me, throwing things at me.”

The incident boosted Cain’s popularity, and days later he was booked to appear on O’Brien, an ITV daytime talkshow. On 3 April 2015, Cain described himself on the programme as a “modern-day playboy” who slept with up to “15 girls a week, every week”. He said he “openly” had sex with women on Snapchat, who “know what they are doing with me” and consented. He said he received up to 60,000 views on his Snapchat videos.

“I believe in respect and respect is mutual,” said Cain. “If you are a lady, I respect you. But if you don’t respect yourself, how can you expect me to respect you?” When challenged by a panellist, who asked how he would feel if a man treated his sister disrespectfully, Cain said he would “like to think” that his sister “was brought up in a good enough way not to do” what his sexual partners do.

After the Daily Star story was published later that month, Cain denied that the footage of Roftis was recorded and uploaded without her consent. In posts that tagged her on Twitter on 23 April 2015, Cain said she “tried to get her 5 mins of fame by selling a story claiming she was unaware” and that “she knew about it…she consented to it…& she fucking loved it!” He tagged Roftis in a post that read “if you need the money that bad, send me your acc number and sort code and I’ll fire you over a grand now!”

Roftis told the Guardian that, contrary to Cain’s claims, she was not paid by the Daily Star for the interview. Cain’s tweets prompted further misogynistic abuse, with users calling her a “slag”, “hoe” and “attention seeking little slut”. The experience was traumatic, she said. “I was made out to be this horrible person, that girl, a slag,” she said.

Roftis added that no one from the BBC had ever contacted her in relation to the incident. When she sees Cain on TV, Roftis said she “can’t physically watch”. She added: “I get angry at any TV thing that I see him on, because I’m just like, really ? It makes me angry that everybody, including these TV producers, are either not doing their research, or they just don’t care.”

Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – Texas, Plane crashes, US news, Mexico
Title – NetJets aircraft crashes on Texas highway, killing one and injuring five | Texas | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/anna-betts
Link – NetJets aircraft crashes on Texas highway, killing one and injuring five | Texas | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T14:31:34.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/17/netjets-deadly-crash-laredo-texas

A private jet carrying six people crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas on Tuesday night, killing one person, local police said.

Videos shared online by the Laredo police department showed the wreckage of the aircraft and firefighters working at the scene. Other footage, shared by the Associated Press , captured the immediate aftermath of the crash, with flames rising from the plane as police and others worked to pull people from it.

The plane had left San José del Cabo in Mexico and was bound for Austin, Texas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). NetJets, a private plane company owned by Warren Buffett ’s Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement on Wednesday that one of its aircraft was involved in the accident.

“What we have tonight is a tragic event,” Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo police department, told reporters on Tuesday night.

Baeza said officers received a radio call from the local airport control tower just before 10pm local time, “indicating that they had an aircraft that was in trouble, that they had lost communication with the aircraft”.

“Regrettably and tragically” one person onboard the aircraft died, Baeza said. The five other passengers were transported to local hospitals, he said, and were reported to be in stable condition.

Authorities are withholding the identity of the deceased pending notification of next of kin.

In a statement to the Guardian, Laredo international airport (LRD) officials said that “at approximately 9:58 pm CDT on June 16, 2026, LRD Air Traffic Control received notification from the flight crew of a Cessna 680 Citation Latitude business jet reporting mechanical difficulties and declaring an emergency while en route from Los Cabos, Mexico , to Austin, Texas.

“The aircraft was attempting to divert to LRD when it went down on Loop 20, several miles short of the airfield, and came to rest after striking a passenger vehicle on the highway,” the airport officials said.

The statement confirmed that “six individuals were aboard the aircraft” and that “one person was fatally injured”. The “remaining five occupants, along with the driver of the affected vehicle, were transported to local hospitals and are reported to be in stable condition”.

The airport officials commended the “swift response of the Laredo Police Department, Laredo Fire Department, area first responders, and the bystanders who acted without hesitation to assist those aboard the aircraft” and said that “five police officers sustained injuries related to smoke inhalation during rescue operations and were treated accordingly”.

Replying to questions on Wednesday, the FAA said the aircraft was a “Cessna 680A business jet” and confirmed it crashed south of Laredo around 10pm local time on Tuesday with six people on board.

“The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate,” the FAA said, with the NTSB in charge of the investigation.

NetJets confirmed that an aircraft with tail number N523QS was involved in the accident. “Our immediate concern is for the well-being of our Crewmembers, our passengers, and their families during this time,” the company said in a statement. “We are activating our crisis response and family support teams to support those affected and their loved ones, and we are deploying a team of experts to the site of the accident.

“The NTSB has been notified and is investigating,” it said. “Until investigators release information or findings, NetJets cannot comment further and will not speculate on the cause of this accident.”

Laredo international airport said in its statement that the NTSB and FAA “have opened a joint investigation into the cause of this incident”.

“Laredo International Airport (LRD) extends its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the individual who lost their life in last night’s aircraft incident,” the airport’s statement added. “Our thoughts are also with the five surviving passengers and crew, as well as the occupant of the ground vehicle involved, all of whom are receiving medical care.”

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, Australia, USA, World Cup, Australia sport, Football, Sport, US sports
Title – As USA World Cup barbs fly, the Socceroos get motivated to have the final word | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jack-snape
Link – As USA World Cup barbs fly, the Socceroos get motivated to have the final word | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T15:00:34.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/18/usa-usmnt-barbs-australia-socceroos-world-cup-group-d-match

T he poisoned words have added sizzle to the Socceroos’ clash against the USA, and underlined the Australians’ belief in their status as underdogs. Commentators have described the Socceroos as a “lay up” for the Americans. That they don’t have any good players. That they are nothing but an average team with a “smug” coach.

USA midfielder Sebastian Berhalter – even as some teammates took a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday – chose to continue the war of words: “I think one [of this team’s core beliefs] is that we’re American. We don’t take shit.”

It was a surprisingly aggressive contribution to the escalating hype around the match which has not often been respectful. Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati offered a simple reply to Berhalter later in the day. “I’ve got no response to that,” he said.

“I mean, we don’t take it [shit] either. We’re just out there to play a game of football, to win, and to do our best.”

The slandering began late last year when the USA were drawn against Australia. Former professional player and now TV pundit Mike Grella said the Socceroos represented a “lay-up” for the hosts.

Grella addressed the backlash to his comments on Wednesday: “I’ve got tell you something, I don’t think they’ve ever been more united as a football side. If they do something in this tournament – which they won’t – if they do something in this tournament, they should make a statue of me there in Australia, because I’ve unified an entire country.”

The barbs didn’t stop with him. Former USA player Landon Donovan also dismissed the Socceroos’ chances after the draw, and took aim at Australia’s “smug” coach. “You can get on the Qantas airplane and head back home,” he said.

Circati, asked to offer his own adjective on Wednesday to describe Popovic, used the word “smart”. “He doesn’t let these things get to him,” the defender said. “People spoke probably about him before Turkey … and he sort of just shut them all up because we got a result.”

The team have also been targeted by Alexi Lalas, another former USA player, who described the Socceroos as “average”. He doubled down, encouraging the Australians to use his words as motivation. “I hope that they print it out,” he said. “Make sure you spell my name correctly. I hope that it’s wallpaper all around the Australian dressing room, because they’re going to need all the help they can get.”

Australian fans and media jumped on the comments, inflaming tensions ahead of an already a highly anticipated clash which is likely to decide the winner of Group D. Harry Kewell even weighed in, claiming he hadn’t heard of Grella even though the American had a brief stint at Kewell’s former club Leeds.

Former Australian rugby league player Josh Mansour asked Socceroos goalkeeper Maty Ryan about the vitriol on his podcast two weeks ago. Ryan’s response was seen as controversial, even if it was offered half in jest. “I’ve heard there’s been some Americans saying comments and to be honest I have a chuckle to myself because actions speak louder than words and I try to let my football do the talking,” he said, adding he was confident Australia could beat the hosts. “Ain’t no C-word scoring against me.”

Strictly speaking, the goalkeeper may have been right, given he lost his place to Patrick Beach . But the contributions from Ryan and Berhalter are the exception, as the players appear to be going out of their way to avoid giving their opponents any additional motivation.

USA midfielder Tim Weah said the rhetoric from TV pundits was “nonsense” and the Australian team “has a lot of fight, a lot of grit, and a lot of hunger, just like us”. His teammate Tyler Adams addressed Grella’s comment specifically: “It’s not going to be a lay-up. If anything, it’s going to be one of the most difficult games we play.”

Circati and USA winger Christian Pulisic are friends – both playing in Serie A. “I know him very well and I think he’s a great player,” the Australian said. “His season has been a little bit stop and start, but keeping that aside, I think he’s phenomenal.”

The negativity towards the Socceroos has mostly been confected by broadcasters and commentators with incentives to inflame in the polarised age of social media. But there is no doubt the Socceroos go into the match as underdogs, despite their impressive victory over Turkey .

The USA have three highly rated Premier League players in midfielder Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), defender Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) and fullback Antonee Robinson (Fulham) – while the Socceroos have none. Pulisic is at AC Milan, with teammates playing in Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1. By comparison, the only Australian at a top-division European club is Ryan, and he just lost his job as No 1 goalkeeper to Beach.

After his heroics against Turkey, Beach said that whatever people say, the Socceroos know they are outsiders and that is motivation enough. “They are a great opposition, they’ve got great players, and we just don’t worry about that stuff,” he said. “We know we’re the underdogs in the minds of a lot of other people and a lot of teams, and we’re happy with that.”

Keyword – Global development
Trefwoorden – Colombia, Amazon rainforest, Farming, Deforestation, Conservation, Trees and forests, Environment, World news, Americas
Title – Why farmers see Colombia’s knife-edge election as a battle for the Amazon’s future | Colombia | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/natalia-torres-garzon
Link – Why farmers see Colombia’s knife-edge election as a battle for the Amazon’s future | Colombia | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T11:00:29.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jun/17/armed-groups-colombian-farmers-election-run-off-guaviare-small-landowners-security-candidate

L ike most people settling in the area, Pablo Peña was seeking to escape violence and make a living from a patch of land when he moved to Guaviare in central Colombia . While his life has been strongly marked by conflict and deforestation, more than 30 years on he now focuses on community work and conservation.

Peña first visited Guaviare during his mandatory military service. Years later, in 1994, he settled down to farm in Guaviare’s Calamar, a town in a remote corner of the Amazon.

“When the guerrillas went to Havana [in 2012] to negotiate the peace treaty with [former president Juan Manuel] Santos, we realised that we didn’t even know where we had settled or the boundaries of our land,” says Peña. “Then we decided to protect our land.”

In 2018, Peña and his fellow campesinos began the process of creating a peasant reserve zone (ZRC), a designated land-use area aimed at safeguarding rural communities, supporting local farmers and stabilising their territories amid conflict that remains ongoing despite the 2016 ceasefire.

Reserve zones have been at the heart of President Gustavo Petro’s plans to improve farmers’ livelihoods while tackling deforestation and protecting biodiversity in the Amazon. During the past four years, his government has created 20 of the 27 existing zones.

The Colombian government officially approved the request for a ZRC in 2025. But Petro’s presidential term is coming to an end and a far-right candidate, Abelardo de la Espriella, is competing with the leftwing Iván Cepeda in a highly polarised election . Farmers such as Peña fear for the future of the ZRCs if the far right wins in the second round on 21 June.

De la Espriella won the first round by a narrow margin over Cepeda on 31 May. The run-off election will show whether Colombians support a continuation of Petro’s policies, based on dialogue and reform, or return to a hardline militarised strategy proposed by De la Espriella.

Like many others, Peña was drawn to Guaviare by a surge in coca leaf production in Colombia. A few years later, he bought his first plot of land – which lacked title deeds. The price: a kilo of coca paste.

The land Peña occupied was within a forest reserve, further complicating property rights under Colombian law. According to the ministry of agriculture, before the peace treaty this was not an exceptional situation, as at least 40% of rural land in Colombia lacked formal titles .

With the “ war on drugs ” and intensive programmes to eradicate plantations in Colombia, many farmers, including Peña, who had been growing coca leaves shifted to raising cattle, leading to increased deforestation. Between 2002 and 2025, Guaviare lost 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) of forest – an area nearly five times the size of Singapore.

“While you could survive with five hectares of coca, cattle needed larger extensions of land,” Peña says.

S ome ZRCs have become more sustainable, however. In Calamar, the Guardian of Chiribiquete , a peasant reserve covering 183,200 hectares and supporting 4,430 people, was officially established in 2025. It is named after the nearby Chiribiquete national park, a Unesco world heritage site , which has inspired the community’s efforts to develop sustainable economies.

ZRCs are essentially a mechanism for bringing farmers into the institutional framework and away from armed groups’ territorial control, but they have also had a positive impact on the environment when followed by investments in sustainable development, according to Camilo González Posso, founder of Indepaz, a peacebuilding NGO, and a former government peace negotiator.

“The law requires that these zones create sustainable development plans in collaboration with institutions, while the government has a commitment to contributing to the development of sustainable economies through investment and programmes,” González Posso says.

Within the Guardian of Chiribiquete, almost half of the native forest remains intact . Community members work to protect the area while planting native trees and Amazonian fruits, such as cacao and copoazú , to generate income.

Supported by organisations such as the conservation charity WWF and the reforestation programme Visión Amazonía , residents have been establishing plant nurseries, restoring waterways and receiving training in woodworking.

While its members recognise the need to reduce deforestation, cattle remain an important part of people’s lives and livelihoods, so many hope that a smooth transition to sustainable practices can take place without affecting their finances.

“Although we live in a hidden corner of the country, we understand the damage caused to nature, and we are trying to compensate for the damage caused without affecting our economies,” says Leydy Janneth García, a representative of the conservation project Green Amazon .

García and her family arrived in Guaviare in 2018 after fleeing conflict. They bought land previously used for coca cultivation and planted cacao, which thrived as the coca trees withered. Their farm now also produces oranges, avocados, chontaduro (also known as peach palm) and tamarind, sharing spaces with a small herd of cattle. Nearly half of their land, 14.5 hectares, is set aside for conservation.

Yet most farmers in ZRCs feel unsure about what will happen to them and to the Amazon after the general election. Many feel Petro has ensured the right to land but not security, as he failed to bring armed groups under control. They believe Cepeda would follow the same path. There are also fears that a far-right government led by De la Espriella would bring back the conflict and prioritise large landowners, extensive farming and agribusiness growth at the expense of the environment.

“History shows that the current government has demonstrated this determination, but political will alone, without security, is not enough,” says Jesús Cuestas, a farmer and ZRC member.

While acknowledging progress made by Petro’s government in land rights, farmers remain concerned about guerrillas’ increasing influence. “Under Petro’s administration, armed groups have expanded, and we fear that if Cepeda wins, this trend will continue,” says García.

On the other hand, the prospect of a rightwing administration is even more concerning for experts such as González Posso. De La Espriella supports fracking and intends to expand its use, leading to fears about the impact on the environment and local communities. He has also urged Colombia to withdraw from the UN , which could impact international investment in rural initiatives and peace efforts.

“De la Espriella links development to extractivism, supporting an extensive livestock model and benefiting the wealthy landowners,” he says.

González Posso fears that a far-right administration could bring more violence, not just from armed groups. He says farmers are likely to resist being expelled from their lands to benefit the agroindustry, and guerrillas would be empowered by extensive livestock farming, which is more lucrative, so they could increase extortion practices by charging landowners for each head of cattle and hectare of pasture, and imposing a fine for each hectare of deforested land.

“Cepeda aims to strengthen a sustainable economy created with and for the people. It’s crucial to develop a medium-term strategy that integrates ZRCs, peace initiatives and environmental considerations,” says González Posso.

Whoever wins the election, campesinos agree that the next government will have to bring about far-reaching changes to the country’s rural economy.

“We need to shift focus from discussion to action. A great deal of money has been spent, yet not a single peasant survives on conservation or rainforest resources,” says Cuestas. “The day a hectare of rainforest becomes more expensive than a hectare of grass, we will finally have achieved balance.”

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Royal Ascot, Ryan Moore, Horse racing, Sport, Horse racing tips
Title – Unbeaten Bow Echo holds off Gstaad in Royal Ascot thriller as Moore gets ban | Royal Ascot | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gregwood
Link – Unbeaten Bow Echo holds off Gstaad in Royal Ascot thriller as Moore gets ban | Royal Ascot | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T19:51:42.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/16/bow-echo-bravely-holds-off-gstaad-to-stay-unbeaten-in-thriller-at-royal-ascot

Five races and two Group Ones into his career, Bow Echo remains unbeaten – just. He had only a short head to spare over Gstaad at the line in the St James’s Palace Stakes, having briefly looked likely to canter to victory passing the two-pole, but it was enough to secure a first Royal Ascot Group One for both George Boughey, Bow Echo’s trainer, and his 20-year-old rider, Billy Loughnane, whose best season yet just keeps getting better.

On the face of it, perhaps, this was a slightly scrambled success, given Bow Echo’s winning margin of nearly three lengths over Gstaad in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket last month, and the apparent ease with which it was achieved. But Ascot is a very different track, with a sterner climb to the finish, and Bow Echo is hardly the first colt to find that it has different demands.

The favourite was also involved in some early scrimmaging as the half-dozen runners looked for a good early position, interference that was enough to see Ryan Moore , Gstaad’s jockey, pick up a three-day suspension from the stewards for “careless riding for allowing his mount to edge left-handed without correction, causing Bow Echo and [third-favourite] Talk Of New York to become short of room and awkwardly placed.”

As a result, Bow Echo can be forgiven for needing the line at the other end of the race, against a rival who enjoyed a perfect, ground-saving trip after Christophe Soumillon, on Gstaad’s front-running stable companion, Puerto Rico, moved left at the top of the straight to allow the second-favourite a clear run up the rail. While it did not affect the result, the manoeuvre did not impress the stewards and Soumillon picked up an eight-day suspension for “riding his mount in such a way that intended to give an advantage to another horse from the same stable”.

“The first furlong was crucial and I got squeezed out early,” Loughnane said. “There were five of us in a line and I slightly lost my position and Bow Echo got lit up. It was then a case of trying to manage things. The Amo horse [Power Blue] came back into our lap and it meant I had to move probably sooner than ideal, but his guts got him through. He’s a very determined horse with a great turn of foot and fantastic ability.

“You have to adapt, and it was a case of getting him back relaxed, breathing again and into his rhythm. Once he found that, he was powerful.”

Goodwood, where Bow Echo is likely to head next for the Group One Sussex Stakes in late July, is a different challenge again, but this time a speedier track that should play to his strengths. He is favourite at around 7-4 to extend his streak to six if he lines up for what would be his first race against all-aged competition.

“I think that was the first time Bow Echo got into a proper battle,” Boughey said. “It was quite a scrap early doors [but] I think we’ll see a better horse now that he’s been in a scrap like that. He has done everything we’ve hoped. It’s fine margins in this game and luckily he was on the right side of it.”

Bow Echo and Gstaad’s memorable duel in the feature event was matched for excitement by a three-way conclusion to the King Charles III Stakes, as Mission Central edged out Rayevka by a head with the Australian-trained favourite, Overpass, three-quarters of a length away in third.

Mission Central, something of a rarity as an Aidan O’Brien-trained sprinter, was off the pace early but came with a powerful run towards the stands’ side to grab victory in the final strides.

Having seen off one of the southern hemisphere’s top sprinters at Ascot, Mission Central may now be tasked with repeating the trick on Australian soil in the Everest, the world’s richest turf race, in October.

“We have a slot in the Everest,” Tom Magnier, from the Coolmore syndicate that owns Mission Central, said. “It’s a great race and one we’d love to win. We will see how the horse pulls up, but it would definitely be a race that you could put on the radar for him.”

The first-day crowd was stunned into near-silence by the opening race of the meeting, as Ten Bob Tony, at 50-1, accelerated from last to first in the closing stages of the Group One Queen Anne Stakes. Ed Walker’s gelding was the longest-priced winner of the race for 76 years.

“It is just an amazing story,” Walker said. “Ten Bob Tony won a Group Three [at Epsom] 10 days ago and then turned up here and did that.

“Kieran [Shoemark] gave him an absolute peach of a ride [and] the miracle happened. We’d agreed we’d sit last and try to pass as many as possible.”

Hopes for a winner in the royal colours in the Ascot Stakes Handicap proved to be wildly optimistic as Reaching High, who was the subject of a significant gamble to start favourite at just 13-8, trailed home a long last behind Joseph O’Brien’s Kizlyar in the two-and-a-half-mile contest.

The king and queen’s search for a first winner at the meeting since Desert Hero three years ago will now move on to their colt Point Of Law, an 8-1 shot for the Queen’s Vase at 3.05 on Wednesday.

Take Daryz to dazzle

The betting suggests that the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on Wednesday is close to a head-to-head between Ombudsman, last year’s winner, and Daryz, who took the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, but both Almaqam and Minnie Hauk, the Arc runner-up, have form that puts them in the mix and the race could well be the highlight of the week.

Daryz (4.20), though, is both the top-rated runner according to both the official figures and Timeform , and the only horse in the field with fewer than 10 runs in the book. He has also dropped back from the Arc trip to make short work of Group One on his two starts this season, over ten-and-a-half and then an extended nine furlongs at Longchamp.

Good-to-firm ground is an unknown for Francis Henri-Graffard’s colt but there will be plenty of water going on overnight, and while he was last of six on his only previous trip outside France for last year’s International at York, that was just the fourth start of his career and he looks much more the finished article this season.

Royal Ascot 2.30 Senorita Bonita, who cost a shade under £1m at the breeze-ups in the spring, made a successful racecourse debut at Nottingham despite finding all sorts of trouble in running and the turn of foot and attitude that got her out of trouble should be potent weapons here.

Royal Ascot 3.05 Andrew Balding’s Galiyan improved for a step up in trip and posted a strong time when breaking his duck at Chester in May and promises to be better still over an extra two furlongs.

Royal Ascot 3.40 The lightly-raced Catalina Delcarpio ran in the 12-furlong Ribblesdale here last year but has shown improved form dropped back in trip this season and a strongly-run race over the this stiff mile could be ideal.

Royal Ascot 5.00 A closer from a high draw tends to be the percentage call in the Royal Hunt Cup and Erzindjan is an ideal fit. The eight-year-old is not long with the excellent TJ Kent stable and was value for more than the official margin at Newmarket last time. With Ryan Moore booked to ride, he looks a big price at around 14-1 from stall 24.

Royal Ascot 5.35 Miss Nightfall was better than the bare result at Yarmouth last time and could find this set up for her fast-finishing style.

Royal Ascot 6.10 Robson de Aguiar’s Controlla was a big outsider on debut but the clock suggests her run into second was no fluke.

Keyword – Business
Trefwoorden – Federal Reserve, Business, US economy, US interest rates, US politics, World news, US news
Title – Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady for fourth time this year | Federal Reserve | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/gaya-gupta
Link – Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady for fourth time this year | Federal Reserve | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-17T18:50:28.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/17/federal-reserve-interest-rates

The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for the fourth time this year after its first meeting under new chair, Kevin Warsh, a Donald Trump appointee who has taken over the central bank during a tumultuous time for the US economy.

“Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East,” the Fed’s open market committee said in a short statement. “Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”

The Fed was widely expected to keep rates at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, where it has remained since December. The decision was unanimously supported by the Fed’s voting committee.

The committee’s monthly policy statement was notably shorter compared to previous statements. The statement acknowledged that “inflation remains elevated relative to the committee’s 2% goal, in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy”, and said the central bank “will deliver price stability”.

The Fed released a slate of projections illustrating when individual officials predict rate changes will occur. Nine members projected at least one rate increase this year. Warsh confirmed he was the sole board member who did not contribute to the projections.

The projections mark a U-turn in outlook from just a few months ago: the last time Fed released projections, in March, 12 of the 19 officials projected at least one rate cut by the end of this year.

Warsh begins his four-year term as chair at a time when the US economy has been rattled by heightened inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.

A sharp spike in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East has pushed inflation to 4.2% – the highest level the US has seen since 2023 and far from the Fed’s 2% target. Though the announcement of a ceasefire deal between the US and Iran sent oil prices tumbling to a three-month low, it will likely take months for energy prices to return to prewar levels.

Meanwhile, hourly earnings dropped to a seasonally adjusted 0.7%, indicating that price increases have stripped out wage gains over the past year.

But it’s unclear whether higher inflation will ever convince a majority of the Fed’s 12 voting members to call for a rate increase. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, has increased only mildly, to 2.9% from the year prior. The country’s labor market has also remained relatively strong, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3%.

Even as Americans continue to balk at higher prices, Trump has continued to advocate for lower rates but said last week that he doesn’t “want to have a big influence” on Warsh.

“Kevin is fantastic, and I want him to do whatever he wants,” Trump said in an interview with Meet the Press on NBC News, while also reiterating his desire for a rate cut.

Before he was first nominated by Trump in January, Warsh argued for the importance of rate cuts – publicly agreeing with the president at a shaky time between the White House and the Fed.

Warsh is likely to receive more favorable treatment from the president compared to his predecessor, Jerome Powell, who Trump repeatedly harassed for holding off on cut rates.

In January, Powell was put under a federal investigation over renovations at the Fed headquarters that went over budget, which the justice department dropped after political pressure. Powell said that the investigation was a”pretext” meant to pressure the central bank to lower rates.

When accepting the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award earlier this month, Powell warned that politicizing the Fed could permanently damage trust in the central bank.

“The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans,” Powell said. “The Fed’s credibility would be lost.”