Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Mount Everest, India, Nepal, Mountaineering, Mountains
Title – Mount Everest, a climber known only as ‘Green Boots’, and the mission to solve a 30-year mystery | Mount Everest | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/mark-saunokonoko
Link – Mount Everest, a climber known only as ‘Green Boots’, and the mission to solve a 30-year mystery | Mount Everest | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T03:25:08.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/mt-everest-green-boots-man-cave-climber-identity

Thirty years after he perished in a small limestone cave near the top of Mount Everest , the body of the climber known only as “Green Boots” may finally be heading home.

If successful, the mission into Everest’s notorious “death zone” will also lay to rest any doubts about the identity of Green Boots.

Since 1996, it was often reported – but never confirmed – that the climber was Tsewang Paljor, an Indian climber killed on Everest during a severe blizzard .

But now that has been called into question. Indian authorities recently released a plan to retrieve Green Boots that contains information about the identity of climber – and also sets up an incredibly difficult recovery process.

The plan identifies Green Boots as Dorje Morup – not Paljor. Both Indian climbers died near the summit on the same day.

“That’s kind of a mystery to me, why all of a sudden the identity has changed,” says Alan Arnette, US mountaineer and prominent Everest blogger. “I’m glad that they’re bringing him down [but] it’s going to be a gruesome task.”

For decades, Green Boots has been stitched into Everest lore.

Named after his lime-coloured Koflach boots, Green Boots became a landmark for climbers tackling the tricky north-east ridge route, accessed from the Tibet and China side of the world’s tallest mountain.

Curled up as if napping, Green Boots is fully clothed and lies nestled under a small rocky alcove about 8,500 metres above sea level and just 350 metres from the summit. A red fleece is pulled up over his face; perhaps a final act as he succumbed to -30C temperatures and hurricane-force winds in a storm that was documented in Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book Into Thin Air.

Since 1996, climbers have used Green Boots as a macabre marker of their progress and timing up Everest’s 8,848 metres. Many radio back to base camp, informing support teams they have reached Green Boots. Others rest or seek shelter alongside the body.

In 2006, on his first summit from the north side, Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa encountered Green Boots as he sought shelter from strong winds under the rocky outcrop. A light dusting of snow had mostly covered Green Boots, he tells the Guardian. “When I touch[ed] him, I clear[ed] the snow a little bit. Then I totally saw Green Boots lying down under that snow.”

About 200 bodies remain on Everest. Grieving families make hopeful inquiries, but taking dead climbers down is often too hard or expensive, and helicopters cannot safely fly at such extreme altitudes.

Use the slider below to show a picture of the body of the climber known as Green Boots where it lies on Mount Everest. Some readers may find the image distressing:

A gruelling task

India’s plan to bring Green Boots home is contained in a tender document, seen by the Guardian, asking companies to bid for the mission. The specialist team must have at least six Sherpas who have summited Everest multiple times. They must provide evidence of the mission, and transport the body to Delhi by October.

The document explicitly names Morup as the climber called Green Boots. The identification of Morup “has been confirmed through a prior verification process conducted under an earlier tender/technical assessment”, the document states, without providing further detail. The tender does not state why authorities want Green Boots brought down.

In 1996, Morup and Paljor were part of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) expedition attempting a historic first Indian ascent of Everest from the north side. Both men pushed for the summit on the same day, along with a third member of the team. None made it down.

Tshiring Jangbu, the founder of Everest Sherpa Expedition, has been involved in numerous body recovery efforts. He says retrieving Green Boots will be arduous and dangerous, even for an experienced Sherpa team. With only a third of the oxygen available at sea level, activity above 8,000 metres requires huge effort and decision-making can become more difficult.

An iced-up body in climbing gear can weigh up to 200kg, Tshiring Jangbu says. And limbs frozen solid at awkward angles make dragging or lowering the corpse down rocky and icy terrain exhausting and treacherous work. Sometimes, he concedes, they must amputate a limb that “we cannot bend” – a gut-wrenching act, “but there is no choice to do another way”.

Such work takes a toll on the Sherpa, who are predominantly Buddhist, Arnette says. “They don’t believe in desecrating bodies, they really don’t even believe in touching bodies.” He believes a team would seek about $150,000 to carry out the expedition.

Nepal-based Makalu Adventure says monsoon weather conditions , with its heavier snowfall, will complicate a recovery between June and October, the timeframe stipulated in the tender. It estimates the mission, from start to finish, could take 40 days.

Guy Cotter is a New Zealand climber whose company Adventure Consultants operates expeditions in the Himalayas. In 1997, Cotter coordinated the retrieval from Everest of a climber who died the same year as Morup and Paljor.

“It would have been a good thing to have done a long time before now,” says Cotter, of the attempt to bring down Green Boots.

“For families to have a body returned from the mountain brings closure, as long as it’s not putting other people at undue risk,” Cotter says. “There have been situations with body recoveries where more people have died. It’s a very thin line.”

A family wanting the body can complicate matters, Arnette says, because many experienced climbers wish to be left on the mountain if they die on a climb, but to be moved out of sight.

In the past 10 years unconfirmed rumours suggest the body of Green Boots has been moved or buried. But Arnette says he has heard from climbers who insist Green Boots remains in the cave, “right where he’s always been”.

Keyword – Environment
Trefwoorden – Extreme heat, Europe
Title – Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you? | Extreme heat | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guardian-community-team
Link – Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you? | Extreme heat | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T11:27:59.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/22/tell-us-how-is-the-heatwave-in-europe-affecting-you

Temperatures are soaring across Europe, with forecasters warning that June heat records could be broken this week. Temperatures are set to reach 44C in some areas and authorities warning of risks to health, travel and public services.

How are you coping with the extreme heat? Has it affected your work, health, travel plans or daily routine? Are you taking any special precautions for children, older relatives, pets or vulnerable people?

Keyword – Games
Trefwoorden – Online multiplayer games, Games, Culture, Consumer rights
Title – ‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable | Online multiplayer games | The Guardian
Author – Nicole Carpenter
Link – ‘They kill games, we fight back’: the activists campaigning to keep video games playable | Online multiplayer games | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-19T09:00:27.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jun/19/stop-killing-games-activists-campaigning-online-gaming

Y ou can never be sure how long an online video game will last. Developer BioWare shut off sci-fi shooter Anthem’s servers in January, after seven years. Electronic Arts discontinued access to The Sims Mobile the same month. Wildlight Entertainment shuttered its Highguard servers in March, mere months after the game’s release. Activision Blizzard took Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile offline in April. Dozens more games have had their servers shut down in the first six months of 2026, adding to an already long list of video games that are no longer playable.

There is little that players can do when a company decides to stop supporting online play. Communities work hard to keep their favourite games online, sometimes keeping dead games running on private servers , though that may not necessarily be entirely legal. Generally, though, when a game goes offline it is dead and it’s not coming back.

But there’s a movement lobbying to stop this practice. Stop Killing Games was set up in 2024 by YouTuber Ross Scott, after Ubisoft announced it was shutting down its online-only racing game The Crew . Something about that particular instance of game-death seemed to particularly rile people: two gamers filed a lawsuit accusing Ubisoft of fraud over it.

In the simplest terms, Stop Killing Games wants governments to introduce legal protections to prevent publishers shutting down video games, and advocates for “end-of-life plans” to keep them playable. Stop Killing Games’ director of US operations Jonah Goldman posits an example: if you play Call of Duty, you have the option to play multiplayer matches both online or through your own home network. If publisher Activision were to shut down the Call of Duty servers, Stop Killing Games suggests the company should allow players to buy and operate their own private online servers.

The movement has grown quickly, and Stop Killing Games has evolved into a non-governmental organisation in the US and Europe. The group has pursued “multiple legal and legislative avenues”, according to its website: a European Citizens’ Initiative petition, a lawsuit filed in conjunction with a French consumer advocacy group over Ubisoft’s The Crew, and a successful petition to get the issue debated in the UK parliament. As a result, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot met with European Commissioners and the trade organisation Video Games Europe on 3 June to discuss digital policy. And on 9 June, 45 members of the European parliament sent a letter urging the commission president Ursula von der Leyen, executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen, and commissioner for consumer protection Michael McGrath to commit to legislative action.

The European Commission responded this week that “it cannot propose a legal obligation to keep video games playable after they stop being provided commercially” because of European copyright and intellectual property laws. But it stated it will work with publishers to create a “code of conduct on managing video games’ ‘end of life.’”

This is a better response than expected. In an interview with the Guardian before the decision, Stop Killing Games’ strategy lead Moritz Katzner said that it had expected the Commission to simply do nothing. Instead, the group will lobby for inclusion in a forthcoming piece of legislation aiming to regulate manipulative practices online. “The Digital Fairness Act, which is a law package coming in front of the European parliament this summer, is perfect for us,” says Moritz. “We have committed promises, public commitment, that they’re going to put [our proposals] in there.”

In the US, meanwhile, Stop Killing Games helped the Protect Our Games act pass California’s Assembly vote in June; now it will head to the California senate for a second vote. If it becomes law, this bill will require publishers to give advance notice before taking a game offline, and mandate a way for players to keep accessing the game. It would apply only to purchased games – not free-to-play titles – released after January 2027.

“A constituent in my district brought this issue to my attention, highlighting a concerning gap in consumer protection for live service games,” assembly member Chris Ward told the Guardian in an emailed statement. “As technologies and markets evolve, our laws must keep pace, in this case to ensure that Californians can make use of the games they pay for.”

Goldman says the quick progress on the bill was “slightly unexpected, but very exciting.” He is optimistic about the bill’s chances of getting through the state senate. But whether it passes or fails, he expects more states to get involved. “There’s a lot of opportunity here for a lot of different states, especially those who have members who are focused on and care about consumer rights and consumer protections,” he says.

Stop Killing Games’ advancements have encouraged other states. Legislation such as that proposed in California is a major boon for the movement. That bill’s impact could be felt across the US; a California bill about transparency of digital licensing is the reason why every player purchasing a game on Steam now sees a disclosure right below the payment button: “A purchase of a digital product grants a licence for the product on Steam.”

The bill has met opposition from the Entertainment Software Association, a US-based trade organisation for the video games industry. In a press release in June, its president Stan Pierre-Louis wrote: “Behind every online game is an enormous, invisible infrastructure … When a game’s popularity fades, that infrastructure continues to run, for a fraction of the audience, at nearly the same cost.

“A legal requirement to keep games playable indefinitely will put game publishers in an impossible situation … This proposal essentially keeps games alive long after their natural lifecycle, draining resources and energy from creating what comes next.” Pierre-Louis posited that companies will make fewer games if they become “permanent obligation[s].”

Game companies’ resistance to Stop Killing Games policies is a “pure business decision,” says Katzner. “They’re concerned that … people still playing their existing games aren’t going to buy a new one,” he said. “That’s the simple thought chain here. But if you buy a new car, your old provider doesn’t come and destroy the old one.”

Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – Brexit, Ireland, Europe, European Union, Politics, UK news, World news, Foreign policy
Title – The aftershocks of Brexit’s failure could be gaining strength – a fearful prospect for Ireland | Fintan O’Toole | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/fintan-o-toole
Link – The aftershocks of Brexit’s failure could be gaining strength – a fearful prospect for Ireland | Fintan O’Toole | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T04:00:51.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/22/aftershocks-brexit-failure-fearful-prospect-ireland

F or Brexit’s true believers, Ireland will always be the spoke in the wheel that set everything off course, the green tarnish that took the shine off the golden age. Without the vengeful and malicious obstructionism of the Irish, all the promises of freedom and prosperity would have been fulfilled.

To understand how nonsensical this is, it is necessary to go back five years before the referendum of 2016. Back, that is, to the sense of an ending. In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth made a four-day state visit to Ireland. This should not have been remarkable – the heads of state of neighbouring countries visit each other all the time. But no reigning British monarch had set foot in what is now the Republic for almost exactly a century .

The weight of too much history pressed on these formalities – too much condescension, too much resentment, too many raw nerves. But the queen’s visit, when it finally came, was an exquisitely choreographed exercise in statecraft. It was obvious that the British state had thought very deeply about how it would make clear that Ireland and the UK now related to each other as equals.

For many of us in Ireland, this felt like an exorcism. The ghosts of a colonial past were banished and with them went the demons of Anglophobia. The ordinary experiences of adjacent islands whose people’s lives are deeply entwined through family and friendship, through culture and commerce, could now be the political realities too.

This moment didn’t come from nowhere. Two big things had made it possible. One was the extremely close cooperation between the two states in the Northern Ireland peace process. Dublin and London had understood that the Troubles could be ended only if they worked together as inseparable partners. They had to learn to speak with one voice.

The other was the European Union . Its peculiar nature is that it gives small nations most of the same rights as big ones. Over nearly half a century, Irish and British officials discovered how to work together to advance their countries’ mutual interests. They were not merely sitting at the same tables – they were often arguing for the same things.

The shock of Brexit for most Irish people wasn’t so much the event itself. We know too much about the distorting logic of certain kinds of nationalism on our own island to feel superior to anyone else who is in the throes of such passions. We also know that deciding to leave a larger union (which is what most of Ireland did a century ago, after all) is not a simple calculation of economic losses and gains – emotional satisfaction and collective pride matter, too.

The shock came, rather, from the sheer recklessness of the Brexiters. It was obvious in the referendum debates: any time Northern Ireland came up (which was rarely enough) they simply changed the subject. The Irish question wasn’t even a question. It was at best an afterthought, to be settled after the fabulous UK-EU trade deal (“the easiest in human history ”, according to Liam Fox) had been wrapped up.

David Davis’s assertion that there was “no downside to Brexit at all, and considerable upsides” was, from an Irish perspective, terrifying – not because he was lying but because he actually believed it to be true. Such confidence was possible only if it was rooted in blithe ignorance.

Only those who knew nothing of Ireland (or of the great success of British-Irish cooperation over many decades) could believe that turning the meandering, uncontrollable Irish border into one of the EU’s main external frontiers had no downside. Only those who had no sense of the human price that had been paid to get to a point where the people of Northern Ireland believed that they would be left in peace to decide their own destiny could think it was fine to drag them out of the EU against their will.

The Irish state thus had little choice but to enter damage limitation mode. Strikingly, the Irish government and diplomatic service prepared for Brexit far more thoroughly than their British counterparts did. They got in ahead of the referendum to convince all the other EU members that avoiding the reimposition of a hard border must be a precondition for any exit agreement.

Hence, of course, the tortuous (and tedious) crisis over the backstop and the eventual concession that Northern Ireland would remain, in effect, in the customs union and the single market and that the border would be in the Irish Sea.

This was a dreadful outcome for unionism – and in the tribal mentality of the zero-sum game that had to mean that Irish nationalism won. There is, it must be admitted, a limited sense in which Ireland did win. For the first time ever, it was (because of the solidarity of all the EU member states) in a stronger position than Britain in a crucial tussle.

But in truth nobody won anything. Damage limitation is not victory. Ireland managed to make the best of a bad job. Yet very few people on the island were unaware of what had been lost – the trust that had been built over decades, the deep sense of common purpose, above all that feeling in 2011 that a lot of bad history was now properly acknowledged and therefore capable of being transcended.

In fairness to Keir Starmer (not a phrase much used in Britain now) the departing prime minister’s government has done a great deal to rebuild trust. The dominant feeling about Brexit in Ireland is, I think, not anger but sadness. There is no pleasure in being proved right about the economic stasis and political instability it created. If Britain wants to move back into a closer relationship with the EU, Ireland will be there to help in every possible way.

But there is the fear in Ireland that one of the delayed consequences of Brexit could be Nigel Farage in Downing Street. It feels from our side of the Irish Sea like the aftershocks of Brexit – and of its comprehensive failure – may be not diminishing but strengthening. Having seen what a reactionary British government can do to the delicate fabric of our relationships, we cannot be complacent about that prospect.

Fintan O’Toole is a columnist with the Irish Times and the author of Heroic Failure: Brexit and the politics of pain

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Cycling, Life and style, London
Title – Naked cycling: is it ever acceptable to ride a rental bike in the nude? | Cycling | The Guardian
Author – Guardian Staff
Link – Naked cycling: is it ever acceptable to ride a rental bike in the nude? | Cycling | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T14:51:29.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/16/naked-cycling-ever-acceptable-rental-bike-nude

Name: World Naked Bike Ride.

Age: 22.

Appearance: A global celebration of potentially crushed genitalia.

Is it World Naked Bike Ride again already? Where does the time go? Well, the World Naked Bike Ride event in London already happened, last Sunday. I can’t believe you missed it.

Always the naked bridesmaid, never the naked bride. Don’t worry, though, because the repercussions of World Naked Bike Ride will carry on for weeks to come.

Really? Why’s that? Primarily because everyone is freaking out about the, er, let’s call them consequences of sharing a saddle with someone who has ridden it in the buff.

Oh. Oh . Yuck. I’m afraid so. Apparently, of the 1,000 cyclists who rode naked through the streets of London at the weekend, about half of them were using rental bikes. As such, social media is quickly filling up with people hyperventilating about saddle hygiene – issues such as sweat and fungal infections have been mentioned.

Well, World Naked Bike Ride sounds absolutely disgusting. That’s the thing, it really isn’t. This is the 22nd year that it has taken place in London, and nudity is always an optional aspect. People can take part fully dressed if they like.

Ah, World Ride a Bike With All Your Clothes On. That’ll grab the headlines. It’s held for an important reason, too.

Which is? Safety. In big cities that are dominated by cars, cyclists are physically vulnerable. Doing it with all your bits flapping around highlights this vulnerability as strongly as possible.

Why hasn’t there been this much fuss about it before? Oh, there has. Six cyclists were charged with public indecency when the event took place in Chicago in 2005. A man was removed from the event in Canterbury in 2015 after becoming too visibly excited. Last year, the Reform MP Lee Anderson called it a “freak show”.

That sounds like all the excuse I need to support it, then. However, this is the first time that hygiene has been used as a weapon. The rise of cycle hire schemes means that bikes now belong to everyone.

So now cyclists are also vulnerable to catching chlamydia from a saddle? No: from an infection control standpoint, the risk of catching a disease from a bike previously ridden by a naked person is vanishingly small.

Have the rental bike companies said anything? A spokesperson from Lime – one of the biggest e-bike rental companies in London – told the Metro: “As with any ride, we ask that people leave our bikes in the condition they’d want to find them. For safety reasons, we’d always encourage everyone to wear appropriate clothing when cycling.”

Do they at least clean them? According to the Metro, Lime bikes are “regularly” pressure-cleaned with recycled rainwater.

So it’s fine then? No, of course it’s not fine! It’s gross! Next time World Naked Bike Ride happens, bring your own bike. Or pop a shower cap over the saddle.

Do say: “Please leave your bikes in the condition you found them.”

Don’t say: “Drenched in someone else’s sweat.”

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 – Environment
Trefwoorden – Climate crisis, Extreme heat, UK weather, UK news, Environment
Title – The ‘silent killer’: what you need to know about heatwaves | Climate crisis | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ajit-niranjan
Link – The ‘silent killer’: what you need to know about heatwaves | Climate crisis | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T15:00:48.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/27/the-silent-killer-what-you-need-to-know-about-heatwaves

Heatwaves have grown hotter and stronger as the planet has warmed, making what doctors call a “silent killer” even more dangerous. How worried should we be about heat – and how can we stay safe as the climate changes?

How many people die from heat?

Hot weather kills an estimated half a million people each year. The average annual death toll is greater than that from wars or terrorism, but smaller than that from cars or air pollution.

Despite this, heat is rarely listed as the cause of death. That’s because extreme temperatures are largely indirect killers. Most heat victims die early from illnesses – such as heart, lung and kidney disease – that are made worse in warm weather.

How does extreme heat hurt your health?

High heat stresses the human body, sending the heart and kidneys into overdrive as they work to keep the body cool. The added strain – particularly for those with chronic illness – can prove fatal even before heatstroke hits.

There are also secondary health effects from high heat. Heatwaves lead to more accidents, dirtier air, bigger wildfires and more frequent power outages, all of which can increase the burden on health systems.

Why do warm nights matter?

When days are too hot to function and nights are not cool enough to recover, the body is unable to rest. This compounds the damage done during scorching days.

In many European countries, meteorologists describe nights with temperature minimums above 20C as “tropical”, while in Spain, which is more familiar with extreme heat, they call nights above 25C “equatorial” or “torrid”. In recent years, they have informally introduced a new category for night-time temperatures above 30C: “hellish”.

Who is most at risk from extreme heat?

People who are forced to be outdoors in scorching weather – builders, farmers, rough sleepers etc – are most likely to suffer from heat exhaustion and the heatstroke that can follow.

But older people, and particularly those with underlying illnesses, make up the bulk of heat-related deaths. Women are more likely to die from heat-related causes than men. Poorer people – who are less likely to have air conditioning, well-insulated homes or access to green spaces – are also at greater risk.

Why does humidity make it feel hotter?

Sweat is the body’s best defence against heat, lowering internal temperatures as it evaporates. But when humidity is high and the air hot and sticky, the body struggles to cool down because sweat clings to the skin. The effect this has on perceived temperatures can be equal to several degrees, enough to spell the difference between life and death.

Why are heatwaves getting hotter?

More than a century’s worth of fossil fuel pollution has clogged the atmosphere, trapping sunlight and heating the whole planet. Average global temperatures have risen by about 1.3C since preindustrial times – and land temperatures by even more – which has pushed the baseline higher and made punishing extremes far more common.

There is also some evidence that the climate crisis is making heatwaves worse by weakening the jet stream. Scientists think this is increasing the occurrence of heat domes, which are areas of high pressure and heat that get stuck over a region for days or even weeks.

Won’t climate change mean fewer people die from cold?

Cold weather kills far more people than hot weather today, even in warm regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. But as temperatures rise, the number of deaths from heat is projected to grow much faster than the number of lives saved from milder cold. When scientists modelled this in 854 European cities, they found a net increase in temperature-related deaths under all emissions scenarios, even accounting for how people adapt.

How can we adapt to heatwaves?

Cutting fossil fuel pollution is the biggest step that can be taken to stop heatwaves from getting even hotter, along with protecting forests and wetlands that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Urban planners have called for cities to be redesigned so they have less concrete and fewer cars, and more parks and water. This can negate the urban heat island effect, which makes cities hotter than their rural surroundings.

Buildings with air conditioning or passive cooling can bring down death tolls, as can strong healthcare systems and swift emergency warnings.

Does air conditioning make heat worse overall?

Air-conditioning units increase planet-heating emissions if the power they consume is generated by burning fossil fuels, as it mostly is today, but their pollution is falling as countries clean up their electricity grids. Some experts cite the scale of the heat-related death toll as a worthy reason to use more air conditioning – particularly for the most vulnerable groups – even if it pushes temperatures higher.

This year, the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) recommended that air conditioning be installed in all care homes and hospitals within the next 10 years, and in all schools within 25 years.

How can I stay safe in a heatwave?

The simplest advice is to stay out of the heat: avoid going outside during the hottest parts of the day, and stay in the shade if you have to. To keep your home cool, close windows during the day and open them after dark, when outdoor temperatures fall below inside temperatures. Cover windows with blinds or curtains to block out direct sunlight.

Doctors also recommend drinking water frequently, wearing loose clothing and checking on vulnerable people in your community.

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Serena Williams, Wimbledon 2026, Wimbledon, Tennis, US sports, Sport
Title – Serena Williams to make Wimbledon singles comeback after being handed wildcard | Serena Williams | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tumaini-carayol
Link – Serena Williams to make Wimbledon singles comeback after being handed wildcard | Serena Williams | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-21T19:11:58.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/21/serena-williams-wimbledon-singles-comeback-handed-wildcard-tennis

Serena Williams will make a stunning return to singles competition at Wimbledon after being announced as the tournament’s final wildcard on Sunday.

Wimbledon will mark Williams’s first singles appearance in nearly four years after retiring from the sport at the 2022 US Open and it marks a dramatic escalation in her comeback.

Williams, a 23-time grand slam singles champion and seven-time Wimbledon singles champion, resumed her doubles career at the beginning of the grass-court season this month after months of speculation. The 44-year-old had already received a wildcard into the ladies’ doubles draw at Wimbledon alongside her 46-year-old sister, Venus.

However, she had remained coy about whether she planned to return to singles. Asked this past week in Berlin about whether she would take a singles wildcard, Williams responded: “That’s the question of the hour, right? I don’t know. I don’t know. I wonder why there’s … I don’t know,” she said.

She left the announcement to the last moment. The All England Club (AELTC) has spent the week allocating its various wildcards and as of Sunday morning, only one wildcard in either draw remained. The ladies’ qualifying singles draw will be published on Monday, meaning the AELTC had to decide on the recipient of the final wildcard before the draw.

Williams had been victorious in her doubles comeback match alongside Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club, but Mboko was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to the significant knee injury she suffered in her singles match. Williams then competed alongside Karolina Muchova in Berlin this week, with the pair losing in their opening match, but she declared herself satisfied with her level. She has spent the rest of this week training on the grass courts of the All England Club in advance of her return.

Although her first career eventually ended on a positive note, with Williams sensationally defeating the then world No 2, Anett Kontaveit, at the US Open before falling in a dramatic three-set battle to Ajla Tomljanovic , her Wimbledon career had ended badly earlier that summer. After suffering a serious hamstring injury by falling on a slippery Centre Court in her first round match in 2021, Williams was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon 2022 by the world No 115 Harmony Tan , a loss that many believe played a part in motivating her to return to Wimbledon. She has not won a singles match at the tournament since 2019.

Williams will now have an opportunity to end her Wimbledon career on a different note, but it remains to be seen what level she will be able to compete at in singles. Singles requires far more movement and physicality than doubles, making it a much more difficult task for a 44-year-old. As has been the case for more than 30 years, the American refuses to shy away from a great challenge.

Keyword – World news
Trefwoorden – Spain, Pedro Sánchez, Europe, World news
Title – Spanish PM’s former right-hand man jailed for 24 years for corruption | Spain | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/stephen-burgen
Link – Spanish PM’s former right-hand man jailed for 24 years for corruption | Spain | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T15:51:50.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/spanish-pm-pedro-sanchez-former-right-hand-man-jailed-24-years-corruption

Spain’s supreme court has jailed the former transport minister José Luis Ábalos for 24 years for taking bribes on public contracts for sanitary equipment such as ‌face masks during the Covid pandemic.

Ábalos’s aide, Koldo García, was jailed for 19 years in a trial that is one of several scandals to have enveloped the government of Pedro Sánchez over recent months.

The case is seen as particularly damaging for Sánchez because Ábalos was his trusted right-hand man for many years.

Ábalos and Koldo heard the sentencing via video-conference in the Madrid prison where they have both been held in preventive custody since November.

Presided over by seven judges, the court heard evidence from public officials, civil servants, expert witnesses and police, and found Ábalos and García guilty of being part of a criminal organisation, bribery, misuse of public funds, money laundering and influence peddling.

The court concluded that “the seriousness of the charges derives from the fact that they erode the fundamentals of a democratic state and distort the purpose of public power into an instrument at the service of individual interests”.

The sentencing comes two days after a separate court ruled that Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, who faces corruption and influence-peddling charges, is a flight risk and must hand over her passport .

Gómez is awaiting trial over accusations she used her influence as the prime minister’s wife to secure sponsors for a university master’s degree course she ran, and that she used state funds to pay her assistant for help with personal matters. The case was triggered by a complaint from the rightwing pressure group Manos Limpias, which translates as Clean Hands.

Gómez lives in the Moncloa palace, which is the seat of government and probably one of the most secure buildings in Spain, but the judge Juan Carlos Peinado said members of her security detail might help her to escape.

This in turn has led Spain’s judicial watchdog, the General Council for Judicial Power, to take disciplinary action against Peinado for the “serious offence” of impugning the integrity of public servants, in this case, Gómez’s personal protection agents.

Spain’s national police also released a rare statement calling the judge’s reasoning unjustified and stressing the force’s political neutrality.

The government has denounced Peinado for what it described as his obsession with Gómez who, even if found guilty, would apparently have derived no personal benefit from the alleged influence peddling.

Sánchez has not been named in any of the ‌cases, but his brother, David, is on trial over allegations that he was handed a bespoke job by the Socialist-led council of the south-western town of Badajoz in July 2017, when his brother was the national leader of the party but not yet prime minister.

Gómez and David Sánchez have denied any wrongdoing, and the prime minister has said his family have been the victims of a harassment and bullying operation.

The case against David Sánchez was also brought by Manos Limpias, leading many to believe there has been a concerted effort by rightwing forces to damage the Sánchez government.

So-called “lawfare” has become increasingly common in Spain, where the courts are obliged to consider cases brought by private organisations or individuals, however frivolous the charge might initially appear.

During her eight years in office, Barcelona’s leftwing mayor Ada Colau faced 22 legal challenges to her policies, every one of which was eventually dismissed.

Ábalos is the fifth government minister to be jailed since Spain’s transition to democracy in 1978.

Víctor de Aldama, a businessman linked to the scandal was also jailed for four and half years on Monday, but his sentence was suspended because he had cooperated with the court. Nor will he have to hand back the €3.7m (£3.2m) he received in commissions over the procurement of masks.

Keyword – Television & radio
Trefwoorden – Television, Culture, Television & radio
Title – Tell us your favourite TV shows of 2026 so far | Television | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guardian-community-team
Link – Tell us your favourite TV shows of 2026 so far | Television | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-09T15:52:01.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jun/09/tell-us-your-favourite-tv-shows-of-2026-so-far

The Guardian’s culture writers have compiled their favourite TV shows of the year so far – and we’d like to hear about yours, too.

Are there any new series that you would recommend watching? What have been best TV shows of the year so far, and why?

If you’re having trouble using the form click here . Read terms of service here and privacy policy here .

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, Documentary films, New York, Culture, US news, World news
Title – Benita review – Alan Berliner puts new spin on late film-maker’s work in entrancing tribute | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/lesliefelperin
Link – Benita review – Alan Berliner puts new spin on late film-maker’s work in entrancing tribute | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-22T10:00:23.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/22/benita-review-alan-berliner-puts-new-spin-on-late-film-makers-work-in-entrancing-tribute

T his is a one-of-a-kind documentary that has been coaxed and cut together by veteran film-maker Alan Berliner (Intimate Stranger, First Cousin Once Removed), who also serves as its narrator – but most of its graphics, footage and imagery were made by film-maker Benita Raphan , also the subject of the film. As such, it’s not exactly a collaboration since Raphan took her own life in 2021, for reasons the film gently tries to untangle. Nevertheless, Berliner commits to creating in this film something that limns the fragile spirit, startling originality and dogged, and indeed doggy, kindness of his canine-loving late friend.

In the process, Berliner has completed the unfinished film she was worrying over when she died but at the same time makes something entirely new; it might be called a tribute perhaps, or a bio-pastiche, or maybe a found-footage cinematic seance. Any way you slice and dice it, it’s a strangely entrancing work, an “irregular verb” like its subject, as she was described by her mother Roslyn in her New York Times obituary .

A maker of short, semi-animated experimental documentaries, Raphan wasn’t as well known as Berliner, but she had her niche in New York City’s film world and its adjacent realms, especially in art school academia where the untenured Raphan nurtured young talents, for example at the School of Visual Arts in the Lower East Side. Born in 1962, she was just the right age to enjoy the downtown post-punk scene centred on the Mudd Club and CBGB; she got her first break as a photographer shooting her then-boyfriend’s band. Peregrinations in Europe took her to the Royal College of Art and a spell in Paris where she built up a CV as a graphic designer, working with some big-name brands, though (as one friend recollects) she never managed to hold on to any job for long before being fired. Despite the precariousness of her employment situation, she found some success making intimate, flickering movies about troubled geniuses she clearly felt some kind of kinship with, like mathematician John Nash (also the subject of A Beautiful Mind), poet Emily Dickinson and architect Buckminster Fuller.

Utterly devoted to her rescued dog companions, she planned to make a film about canine cognition that morphed into a portrait of the loneliness and devastation brought about by Covid 19. Berliner and friends speculate that the isolation of that time, coupled with a lifelong struggle with depression and anxiety, are what led her to kill herself. The film is wise to leave some of the questions about Raphan unanswered, and what lingers is a portrait of a complex, creative woman who poured so much of herself into her work and yet who remains in death an evanescent, inscrutable mystery.

Benita is at Bertha DocHouse, London from 24 June.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org