Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – Crystal Palace, Lens, European club football, Ligue 1, Football, Sport
Title – Crystal Palace confirm Pierre Sage as head coach and plan to back him on transfers | Crystal Palace | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ed-aarons
Link – Crystal Palace confirm Pierre Sage as head coach and plan to back him on transfers | Crystal Palace | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T17:04:55.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/crystal-palace-confirm-pierre-sage-head-coach

Crystal Palace are determined to hold on to their best players this summer after confirming the appointment of Pierre Sage as their manager, with the Frenchman to be backed in the transfer market to prepare for their Europa League campaign.

Sage has signed a three-year contract to replace Oliver Glasner, having led Lens to second place in Ligue 1 last season and won the French Cup. He emerged as Palace’s preferred candidate after they missed out on Andoni Iraola and it is understood that the 47-year-old’s preference to play a 3-4-2-1 system was a key factor in his appointment.

“It’s amazing to be here at Crystal Palace,” Sage said. “I am excited by the history of the club, and by recent seasons. Oliver Glasner achieved some amazing things, and now I have to do the same. That’s why we come here with a lot of ambition. The dynamic here is really positive, and we are in this mindset too. We won last year –and we want to continue in this way, in a new club, a new project, but with a lot of winning habits.”

Sage, who will be joined by his assistant from Lens, Jamal Alioui, a former Morocco defender, is believed to have been offered assurances by Palace’s co-chair, Steve Parish, that he will be able to strengthen the squad. They are in the market for a central midfielder and have held talks with Middlesbrough over Hayden Hackney, although Everton are also interested in the England Under-21 player.

Palace are also believed got be targeting a central defender to provide extra cover for their second European campaign after winning the Conference League under Glasner last month. But they could face a fight to keep hold of Maxence Lacroix, who is part of France’s World Cup squad and is thought to have interest from clubs including Liverpool and Manchester United. Adam Wharton, Daniel Muñoz and Ismaïla Sarr are also expected to attract interest, with Liverpool heavily tracking Wharton despite the midfielder missing out on the World Cup.

Palace confirmed last week that they had offered Daichi Kamada a new deal but the Japan midfielder, who scored against the Netherlands on Sunday, has yet to commit his future. A new contract has also been on the table for Jean-Philippe Mateta since his January move to Milan broke down but the France striker would be sold if another club meet their valuation of the 28-year-old.

“I am tremendously excited to welcome Pierre, who joins us off the back of a trophy-winning season at Lens as well as a fabulous second-place finish in Ligue 1,” Parish said. “As we move into another European campaign off the back of our success in Leipzig, I know he will give everything to target more success for our fantastic football club.”

Keyword – Fashion
Trefwoorden – Fashion, Life and style, New York
Title – ‘Simple, bold and remixed endlessly’: why the I ❤️ T-shirt is cool – again | Fashion | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sinead-campbell
Link – ‘Simple, bold and remixed endlessly’: why the I ❤️ T-shirt is cool – again | Fashion | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-12T11:14:27.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2026/jun/11/how-the-i-t-shirt-became-trendy-again-thanks-to-gen-z-and-anti-trump-sentiment

T he biggest faux pas a tourist can make? Dressing like one. Selfie sticks and oversized backpacks fall within this category, but there is one item that has seemingly transcended cringe and entered the realm of cool.

The “I heart” T-shirt is an instantly recognisable item. While it’s found in every souvenir shop in every major city across the world, there is no place the T-shirt is more associated with than New York . But what would ordinarily be found for sale at a stall on Canal Street for no more than $20 has recently caught the interest of a kitsch-loving, meme generation – and now it is making its way down the catwalk.

In fashion circles, designers have turned the T-shirt into more than a celebration of the city. Coach’s interpretation featured beaded hearts and pen-scribbled text, worn by Ella Emhoff, the model and stepdaughter of Kamala Harris, as she walked for the brand during New York fashion week back in September 2024. Matthieu Blazy’s Métiers d’Art show for Chanel, held in a subway station in December last year, styled a sequined version with a matching tweed set.

Then came the celebrities. Gen Z’s favourite supermodel, Alex Consani, wore the Chanel T-shirt at an event in Times Square in April, as did Teyana Taylor when she hosted Saturday Night Live in January. Amelia Dimoldenberg of Chicken Shop Date fame casually wore her own faded baby tee over a gown made by New York designer Miss Claire Sullivan on the red carpet at The Devil Wears Prada 2 premiere in the city.

The T-shirt is as synonymous with the Big Apple as a dollar pizza slice or an off-Broadway show – but where exactly did the design come from? Like all good New York journeys, it started in the back of a yellow taxi. In 1976, graphic designer Milton Glaser was commissioned by New York state and advertising agency Wells, Rich, Greene to develop a logo that would promote tourism in the city during an economic downturn and surge in crime. Glaser made the initial sketch while he was on his way to the advertising agency, inspired by Robert Indiana’s Love pop art image .

The New York state government has rarely succeeded in its efforts to uphold the trademark, faced with an uncontrollable amount of global knockoffs. The logo is ubiquitous, and has been imitated in memorabilia from all corners of the globe, from London to Paris to … Magaluf. It is perhaps the most salient example of city merch. Jose Filipe Torres, global director for nation and city branding at Bloom Consulting, says they are a sign that “the place has become aspirational”. “Fashion is effectively a third party narrating that city to a global audience in a context that shapes whether people want to visit, invest or live there.”

What started as a marketing ploy gradually transformed into a pop culture symbol during the 90s and early 00s. And here it is again now, catalysed by an online generation whose aesthetic sensibilities are governed by Pinterest boards of paparazzi shots and film stills from decades past.

The T-shirt’s resurgence also seems to move in tandem with the political shifts of the city. Just days after the September 11 attacks, actor Jenna Elfman wore a ripped and torn-up version by designer Rebecca Minkoff on The Jay Leno Show. Now, the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor has brought in a new brand of pride for the city – one that is egalitarian, embracing of difference and seemingly firm in its opposition to threats from the Trump administration. It has been met with enthusiasm across the world, making it stylish again to “heart” New York, regardless of whether you live in the city or not. It has become an anti-Maga hat, of sorts.

But brand consultant and content creator Miranda Shanahan thinks the T-shirt’s revival is more of a symptom of Laver’s law, whereby a trend follows a 20-year “emotional” cycle. “What feels hideous after 10 years becomes ridiculous after 20, then gradually ironic and desirable. The tourist tee’s cultural peak puts us at exactly the right distance for an ironic reappraisal,” she tells me. “They’re simple, bold and can be remixed endlessly for any city, subculture or in-joke – much like a meme template.”

British singer-songwriter Rose Gray has incorporated the tourist T-shirt into her onstage wardrobe, often coordinating with the city she’s performing in. “It’s such a simple way for me to show my love to a city and my fans,” she says. The first New York one Gray owned was passed down to her by her mum. “There’s this kinda tacky nostalgia I feel wearing it,” she says.

It’s a blend of nostalgia and irony, low culture and high fashion, that has elevated the T-shirt’s meme potential, and thus its virality. Much like the metropolis it was conceived to represent, it crosses boundaries. All at once, the tourist T-shirt is tacky yet trendy, accessible enough to be found in a souvenir shop and yet at the same time indicating a humblebrag of worldliness that says: “Look at me, I’ve travelled to this city.”

To read the complete version of this newsletter – complete with this week’s trending topics in The Measure and your wardrobe dilemmas solved – subscribe to receive Fashion Statement in your inbox every Thursday.

Keyword – Film
Trefwoorden – Film, The Muppets, Puppetry, Animation in film, Drama films, Culture, David Bowie, Music
Title – ‘David Bowie was a crazy workaholic’: Labyrinth at 40 – an oral history | Film | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ann-lee
Link – ‘David Bowie was a crazy workaholic’: Labyrinth at 40 – an oral history | Film | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T09:00:19.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/16/david-bowie-workaholic-labyrinth-at-40-oral-history

L abyrinth arrived 40 years ago with David Bowie at his most devastatingly charismatic, a breakthrough performance by Jennifer Connelly, and lots and lots of puppets. The film about the quest of stroppy teen Sarah (Connelly) to rescue her baby half-brother from the clutches of Jareth (Bowie), the nefarious goblin king, was a dark fantasy that played out like a trippy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. As Sarah tries to navigate an ever-shifting maze, the story evolves into a thoughtful coming-of-age tale.

Director Jim Henson, the creative powerhouse behind the Muppets and Fraggle Rock, breathed life into Labyrinth, and his company Creature Shop designed a dazzling array of puppets to appear alongside the human cast. Labyrinth was visually groundbreaking, but audiences weren’t so keen – the film bombed at the US box office and some reviews were far from glowing. It was only years later, when the film was released on home video and then DVD, that it became the cult classic it is considered now.

We speak to the cast and crew, who look back at how the film was made, its reception at the time and its legacy.

Soon after the release of 1982’s The Dark Crystal , director, animator and puppeteer Henson was keen to follow up with a film that combined human actors with quirky puppets. Terry Jones of Monty Python fame was hired to write the script, while George Lucas served as executive producer .

Brian Froud , conceptual designer and costume design : We’d just had a showing of The Dark Crystal in San Francisco. In the back of the limousine, Jim said: “Should we do another one?” I said: “What about goblins?” Jim’s eyes lit up. Then into my head came a labyrinth and I had a vision of a baby surrounded by goblins. He said: “That’s great” – and that was it.

Auditions for the lead role of Sarah started in England in April 1984 , before moving to the US . Jane Krakowski , Sarah Jessica Parker , Marisa Tomei , Yasmine Bleeth and Laura Dern were among the actors trying out.

BF: In England, at Jim’s house, he introduced me to a girl. We shook hands, and she laughed. It seemed like she was laughing at me. She went, and I said to Jim: “That’s her?” He said: “No, I don’t think so, because she’s done nothing.” I said: “I don’t care, she’s going to be a star,” and that was Helena Bonham Carter. I think he wanted it to have international appeal [by casting Jennifer].

Henson had his heart set on a musician to play Jareth the goblin king.

Brian Henson , the voice of Hoggle (a cowardly dwarf who reluctantly helps Sarah), and puppeteer coordinator : My dad [Jim] wanted a huge rock’n’roll icon. He was pretty much only considering Sting, Michael Jackson and David [Bowie]. I was a big cheerleader for David. I had seen him in The Elephant Man on stage. Modern Love was my favourite song. Let’s Dance was my favourite album. So I was thrilled when my dad decided to offer it to him.

Labyrinth started filming in April 1985 at Elstree Studios , Hertfordshire , with a $25m budget . The five-month shoot involved multiple animatronic creatures and puppets.

Karen Prell , a puppeteer for the Worm (a blue-haired worm with a cockney accent), Firey 2 and the Junk Lady : There were two versions of the Worm. There was a large hand-puppet used in closeups, but for the wide shots it was a little finger-sized worm. For the large worm, I had a joystick for the eye controls. The firey gang [hedonistic, orange-furred beasts] were very big bunraku puppets , where different puppeteers would hold different body parts.

Dave Goelz , puppeteer for Sir Didymus (a chivalrous fox), Left Door Knocker , the Hat and one of the Four Guards : We rehearsed with Didymus for three weeks. I got a great group to work with. You have a step-by-step plan of exactly how you’re going to do it. Everybody learns the feel of putting the eyebrow up, making the sneer happen and looking the eyes to the right on that syllable.

BH: For Hoggle’s face, we needed four puppeteers including me. Then Shari Weiser was inside. Hoggle was the first time we made a character that could walk around without a wire. I was performing the mouth, so I ended up voicing Hoggle. The reason he is [grumbling] all the time is because the only way that Shari could see was if Hoggle’s mouth was open. So I had to come up with all that as an excuse to open his mouth a little bit.

Connelly, who had been acting since she was 11 years old, was 14 when she made Labyrinth.

BH: I had a big brother-little sister relationship with Jennifer. I spent a lot of time with her. She was super fun to work with, professional, never forgot any lines, quick to laugh. She loved when things went wrong, that would tickle her.

KP: It was very much like her character, just being in this amazing world; she was drinking it all in, but also she was very serious. She was rehearsing, and really wanting to get things right. I was very impressed with all the physical stunts she ended up doing – she just went with it and embraced it all joyfully.

Bowie was electric as mullet-haired, leather-clad Jareth, who was inspired by Wuthering Heights’s brooding anti hero Heathcliff.

BF: A few days before we started the film, I met David in his dressing room and gave him a little flute as a present. He took it, leapt up on to the counter in front of the mirror and played it. It was astonishing. I thought: “Oh, this is gonna really work.”

BH: David was a crazy workaholic, just like my dad. They were both people who were used to being creative every waking moment of their life. So for David, doing Labyrinth was like being on vacation. He was a really wonderful spark of a person.

KP: He was really fascinated by the process with the puppets. He would also hang around the puppet workshop and just see how things were built and performed. He was very down to earth and game for anything. He would go and have a pint in the studio pub with the crew.

Froud’s one-year-old son, Toby , was cast in the film as Sarah’s brother, with the crew having to come up with lots of inventive ways to keep him engaged.

BF: Toby is called Toby in the film because he would only respond to his name. We would call him or use party blowers and balloons so he would move and look around.

BH: Toby just loved Shari. Every time you see Toby alone, we would make little spots where Shari could hide in a hole, like with her head coming up in a box, so she could see him. As long as Toby could see Shari, he was OK.

BF: When he’s in the MC Escher set with all the upside down stairs, it looks as if he’s really high up and it’s dangerous, but we actually filmed those segments on the floor, there were like three steps.

There were failed pranks and laughter on set.

KP: When we were getting ready to shoot Magic Dance with David and all the goblins, we decided: we’re gonna play a joke. Someone had a cassette tape with a copy of David’s The Laughing Gnome song on it. When they started filming, instead of playing Magic Dance, we wanted to play The Laughing Gnome. We were trying to get the cassette player to hook into the sound system to play over the speakers, but we couldn’t get it to work. It would have been the most glorious outtake in history.

BH: I think one of the most absurd moments was David throwing the enchanted peach to Hoggle and Hoggle saying: “What is it?” David kept laughing, and then I’d start laughing. Shari would be inside going nuts, because she had to catch the peach with these mechanical hands, which was really hard. Everybody was laughing, except for Shari, who you could hear yelling from the inside of Hoggle: “Guys, just get it together and do this.”

The tunnel of helping hands, which Sarah falls down, was one of many elaborate scenes.

KP: There was a 40ft-tall shaft built with puppeteers behind it, reaching through. You’re just all mashed together.

DG: It was really not fun. Having both hands in latex rubber gloves, and doing performances with another little team of adjacent gloves that make expressions while your nose itches … is awkward.

Labyrinth was the last feature film directed by Henson before his death in 1990 .

DG: Jim was the best collaborator, the best boss, the best spirit guide. He always had fun.

KP: He was like a joyful magician ready to cook up some more magic.

BF: Jim never criticised your work. [Puppeteer] Frank Oz said Jim Henson had a whim of steel – he’d never say: “It’s bad.” He’d just go: “Hmm, I think we can do better.” And indeed we could.

The film was released in June 1986 with a royal charity premiere taking place in London’s Leicester Square a few months later .

BF: Prince Charles was there, and so was Diana – there are photographs of her looking at Ludo [the puppet], bemused. A few years later, Charles opened the Museum of the Moving Image in London. I was invited and when I met him, I said: “Actually, sir, you were at one of my films.” He said: “Oh, Labyrinth.” He said that the bog of eternal stench was very funny.

Critics gave Labyrinth mixed reviews and the film only earned $12.9m at the US box office during its theatrical run – although it did well in the UK and overseas, grossing $34 m worldwide .

BH: I was furious. One of the papers accused the film of shamelessly abusing children where Bowie is throwing a baby in the air. This was just old-fashioned comedy. Everybody knows that’s not really the baby.

DG: Jim was deeply disappointed by the response. I had lunch with him in LA after the release of Labyrinth. I could see that he was not his usual self. He was shaken because he had always followed his beacon, and it had always been true. He was shocked that he wasn’t in sync with his audience. He said: “You know what my favourite part of this whole thing was? When we laughed.”

Labyrinth is now regarded as a cult classic and has been adapted into comics, video games and board games. A sequel to the film, which will be directed by Robert Eggers and co-produced by Brian Henson and his sister Lisa , was announced in 2025 .

BH: My dad didn’t live long enough to see the rebound that came with its video release. It’s unique. It’s got a little bit of The Rocky Horror Picture Show camp rock’n’roll in it, and yet it delivers as a deep fantasy. People just love it.

BF: I’ve been to some conventions for Labyrinth, and you see this wonderful relationship between mothers and daughters – the girls come dressed in Sarah’s ballroom dress, and the mothers come in her jeans, waistcoat and big shirt. What we discovered over the years is how people, especially girls, really respond to it. It’s a very emotional journey for them: it speaks to them of their place in the world, and that transition of moving from girlhood into womanhood.

KP: I wish Jim was still around to see how much people have embraced the movie. At least now they are appreciating it, and making all that hard work worthwhile. Hopefully it inspires more young puppeteers.

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 – Football
Trefwoorden – Ruben Amorim, Milan, Manchester United, Football, Sport
Title – Amorim agrees to become Milan head coach in boost to Manchester United finances | Ruben Amorim | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/will-unwin
Link – Amorim agrees to become Milan head coach in boost to Manchester United finances | Ruben Amorim | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T12:25:37.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/ruben-amorim-agrees-become-milan-head-coach-boost-manchester-finances-compensation

Ruben Amorim is poised to return to management after agreeing to become Milan’s head coach. The move will make Manchester United a significant saving on his compensation package, the club having dismissed him in January .

Amorim will replace Massimiliano Allegri at Milan after accepting a two-year contract, with the option of a third, and will be tasked with turning things around after the club finished fifth in Serie A.

Once Amorim is back in work, United will no longer be liable to pay the full £16.7m compensation package the 41-year-old and his coaching staff were due in the severance deal.

Milan cleared out a number of senior members of staff after they failed to qualify for the Champions League. The sporting director Igli Tare, chief executive Giorgio Furlani and technical director Geoffrey Moncada departed alongside Allegri.

Nottingham Forest’s head of recruitment, Pedro Ferreira, is being targeted to join his Portuguese compatriot Amorim at Milan as part of a major overhaul.

United’s finances have been further boosted by the announcement that they will be the subject of an Amazon All or Nothing documentary next season. There were negotiations carried out while Amorim was in charge but it was decided it was not the right time to follow in the footsteps of Manchester City , Tottenham and Arsenal and grant access to filmmakers.

The club will receive an access fee bigger than any paid for previous documentaries in the genre. Cameras will be a constant around the club from the start of pre-season, focusing on the men’s team under Michael Carrick, while also taking a look at the women’s and academy setups.

“Now is the right time to open our doors, so that for the first time our fans around the world can see behind the scenes of a club which means so much to so many people,” Manchester United’s chief communications officer, Toby Craig, said.

Keyword – Environment
Trefwoorden – Plants, Biodiversity, Conservation, Kew Gardens, Fungi, Environment, Science, Biology, AI (artificial intelligence), Computing, UK news, World news
Title – AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists | Plants | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/damiancarrington
Link – AI could help win ‘race against extinction’ of vital plants, say botanists | Plants | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T06:00:48.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/16/ai-could-help-win-race-against-extinction-of-vital-plants-say-botanists

The rise of AI and digitisation could be a turning point in the “race against extinction” faced by botanists trying to identify and save vital plants before they vanish, according to a major report from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

New technology is enabling scientists to track how flowering times have shifted by weeks around the world, rapidly identify new specimens and even get crucial genetic data from 180-year-old fungus specimens, potentially opening a “genomic goldmine”. Digitisation and online access to millions of specimens that were until now only accessible in archives is also producing new insights, especially in the global south.

Plants and fungi underpin all life on Earth, supplying food and medicines, storing carbon and regulating the climate. However, about 40% of the 70,000 plant species that have been assessed are at risk of extinction, while another 330,000 have yet to be analysed. There are also believed to be another 100,000 plant species still to be named by scientists.

About 2,000 new plant species are recorded each year but this “barely scratches the surface” said Prof Alexandre Antonelli, the executive director of science at RBG Kew.

It means potential new medicines and sustainable crops are going extinct before even being discovered.

The situation is even more stark for fungi, with 90% of an estimated 2m species still unknown to science and less than 1% of known species assessed for extinction risk.

“While documenting and protecting all life on Earth remain formidable challenges, digitisation and accompanying technologies make me increasingly hopeful that we’ll succeed,” said Antonelli.

AI can learn how to identify challenging plants, for example, such as sedges and peat mosses whose distinguishing features are microscopic, meaning new or vulnerable species can be spotted faster. “These AI models can sometimes now identify better than specialists – that’s incredibly exciting,” he said.

Digitising images and collection data of plant and fungi specimens also speeds up international collaboration and can open up important but rarely accessed collections in biodiversity hotspots, such as Madagascar.

Landy Rajaovelona, a senior botanist at Kew Madagascar, says: ‘Madagascar is one of the world’s most extraordinary biodiversity hotspots. By digitising [37,000 physical specimens], we’ve unlocked a treasure of knowledge spanning centuries, offering invaluable insights into today’s biodiversity.”

RBG Kew has now digitised all 7.4m of its specimens , including those collected by Charles Darwin, and these are freely available online. The four-year programme involved taking 20,000 high-resolution images a day at its peak. In total, there are 145m digital specimens now online globally, but this is less than 16% of the total held in herbariums, leaving “huge blind spots in understanding”, the scientists said.

The report also features a global study using an AI model trained to spot flowers that analysed 8m digitised specimens. It revealed flowering has shifted by an average 2.5 days a decade over the last century due to the climate crisis. Changing rainfall patterns, as well as rising temperatures, have meant some flowers arriving later and others coming earlier.

This can severely disrupt ancient relationships between plants and the pollinators and other animals that depend on them at specific times of year. For example, a study using herbarium specimens showed that about 80% of the kindal trees in India’s Western Ghats , which are important for timber, used to flower at the same time. By the 1990s, that fell to less than half.

New technology is also unlocking genetic secrets from fungi, with scientists now able to produce high-quality genomes from very old specimens, some up to 180 years old. The researchers said the breakthrough makes historical fungarium specimens a “genomic goldmine” for new medicines and the prediction of disease outbreaks. Penicillin and statins were derived from fungi.

“Fungi are very opportunistic and they love heat and humidity,” said Dr Esther Gaya, senior research leader at RGB Kew. “Some human pathogens seems to be spreading from warmer places as the hot season gets longer in temperate regions.”

There are concerns over the heavy use of energy and w ater by AI datacentres , acknowledged by the report’s authors. The Guardian reported in May that datacentres are now consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US. OpenAI’s boss, Sam Altman, said in February: “It also takes a lot of energy to train a human.”

The report, produced by 400 scientists across 40 countries, cautions that using digitisation and AI could amplify existing biases and inequalities unless the underlying data is expanded and improved. It called for partnerships between the technology companies and environment organisations and for governments and funders to invest in plant and fungi collections.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, Uzbekistan, Jordan, World Cup, Football, Sport
Title – Jordan and Uzbekistan ready to crash World Cup party with tactical grit and resolve | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/johnduerden
Link – Jordan and Uzbekistan ready to crash World Cup party with tactical grit and resolve | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T07:00:47.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/16/jordan-uzbekistan-debut-asia-world-cup-2026

B efore eagerly awaited meetings with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo comes slightly less glamorous but hugely important first ever World Cup games for Asia’s debutants. Jordan take on Austria on Wednesday before meeting Algeria and Argentina, while Uzbekistan kick off against Colombia, then Portugal and DR Congo.

Jordan v Austria has been used as an example of a game that will challenge Fifa’s dynamic pricing system but regardless of how full the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium is, the cafes in Amman’s Prince Muhammad Street and all around the country will be packed. They were a year ago, as fans watched Portugal beat Spain in the Uefa Nations League final , three days after the World Cup spot had been secured with the city still buzzing with the thought of Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous Ones) taking on the superstars of the world and … here they are.

But while Jordan may be more about team spirit, organisation and counterattacking, they have stars of their own. In the days after qualification, the faces of the big three forwards featured on billboards everywhere you looked, though they have had differing fortunes since.

The talismanic striker Yazan al-Naimat is out after a cruciate ligament injury in December and while Ali Olwan, who scored all three in a win over Oman that sealed the World Cup spot, has not played competitively since February, he should be fit to start. Musa al-Taamari, a softly-spoken baker’s son from Amman, is the main man and is used to that role as a rare Jordanian export to Europe, where the fast and hard-working winger has had a fine second season for Rennes. Odeh Fakhoury should start in attack in the absence of Naimat, the 20-year-old scoring his first international goal on 31 May against Switzerland.

That was, however, in a 4-1 defeat and was followed by a 2-0 loss to Colombia in San Diego, so there is some concern. The head coach, Jamal Sellami, a firm proponent of 3-4-3, said it was all part of the learning process and the former international goalkeeper Amer Shafi agrees with the taciturn tactician from Morocco.

“There is no cause for concern,” said Shafi, who made 179 international appearances for Jordan. “One of the best things about them is losing in order to learn from mistakes and go into the competitive games with sufficient knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses.” Shafi added that he expects Jordan to reach the knockout stage.

Jordan are ready for a physical battle and would not have minded taking on their Alpine opponents in hotter and more humid conditions than Silicon Valley can offer. Football is played hard in the country which does not have the riches of some of the neighbours. This team dug deep to get to the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, outclassing South Korea in the semi-final . A repeat of that performance and the cafes of Amman will have a bumper day.

And the plov restaurants of Tashkent could enjoy something similar even if it will be breakfast time when Uzbekistan take on Colombia in Mexico City. Asia’s other debutants brought in Fabio Cannavaro as manager soon after sealing their spot. His coaching career is not anything to write back to Naples about, but he did captain his nation to the 2006 World Cup win before returning in 2010 with a dismal first-round exit. Nobody in Central Asia expects the former but a good start and fears of the latter will recede.

Like Jordan, Uzbekistan rarely face non-Asian opposition but do have a squad with European experience. Much attention will be on the Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov but there is talent in Abbosbek Fayzullaev, a winger who fought homesickness to go to CSKA Moscow as a teenager before the lack of international football on offer brought a move to Turkey. A good tournament this time could see the 22-year-old move farther west.

Since qualifying behind Iran, Uzbekistan have lost 2-1 to Uruguay but defeated Gabon and Egypt before final warm-up defeats to Canada and the Netherlands. The latter came thanks to two penalties from Cody Gakpo with the Liverpool forward scoring the winner in the 99th minute, not long after Uzbekistan had equalised to achieve what they thought was going to be a morale-boosting result. It was an important lesson about concentration and focus.

Underestimating the White Wolves would, however, be a mistake. “Uzbeks are tough: people who fight, who never give up,” Cannavaro says. “Playing against them is a pain in the arse. We played Uruguay: we had nine injured players, they weren’t at their best, but my players are tough. It’s not easy to play against them and we only lost 2-1.”

The veteran midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov has a back problem but excitement and optimism remain high. More than Jordan, perhaps, there is a confidence that whatever happens in the next few weeks, this is just the beginning for the former Soviet republic. The rise of Uzbekistan in Asia after independence in 1991 has been fascinating, if little noticed outside. Repeated near misses at the World Cup brought a label of Asia’s chokers but also resulted in investment. Trophies at youth level are translating into senior success.

“[It] has not come overnight, and we have produced consistent results over a number of years to emerge as one of the leading Asian football nations,” Otabek Umarov, the first vice-president of Uzbekistan’s Olympic committee, says. “People abroad might not realise, but as the first country from central Asia to qualify for the World Cup, this will be a moment where the entire nation stops to cheer on our heroes.”

As it is in Tashkent, so it will be in Amman.

Keyword – Food
Trefwoorden – Food, Sausages, Sandwiches, Snacks, Pork, Meat, Bread, Vegetables, Sauces and gravies, Shellfish, Seafood, Herbs and spices
Title – Hot dogs, and prawn and pork toasts: Max Halley’s World Cup sausage party – recipes | Food | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/max-halley
Link – Hot dogs, and prawn and pork toasts: Max Halley’s World Cup sausage party – recipes | Food | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T05:00:45.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/jun/16/world-cup-party-food-sausage-recipes-hot-dogs-prawn-pork-toasts-max-halley

B oth of these sausage-based delights are great for a gathering, can be prepared in advance and go really, really well with ice-cold beers. God bless the sausage. Whether your team is winning, losing, embarrassing or delighting, everyone will consider you the Cristiano Ronaldo of half-time snacks if you bang either of these out. The prawn and sausage toasts can be made in advance and kept in the fridge with greaseproof paper between the slices, then you just need to fry them when you want them. Similarly with the hotdogs: prep everything in advance, then, when the whistle goes, boil the sausages, steam the buns and get stuck in.

Reuben(esque) hot dogs (pictured top)

I own a brilliant one , but Katz’s Deli in New York is surely everyone’s desert island sandwich shop. This hot dog is a little piece of heaven, and is eaten at my house quite often while we sit around reminiscing about Katz’s extraordinary sarnies. Your local Polish shop (or mine, at least) is a great place to get less industrial (sometimes even raw or old-smoked) hot dog-appropriate sausages – much better than you might get in the supermarket.

Prep 10 min Cook 20 min Makes 2

2 thumb-thick smoked sausages , such as kielbasa myśliwska or frankfurters 2 hot dog buns of your choice , split open lengthways 1 pinch caraway seeds 1 small pinch fine sea salt 60g sauerkraut (drained weight – if yours has lots of liquid, let it drain in a colander for 30 minutes first) 2 tbsp very finely chopped onion

For the pangrattato 4 tbsp olive oil 20g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs

For the Russian dressing 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 2 tbsp mayonnaise 1 heaped tbsp coarsely grated or finely chopped gherkins , or sweet dill pickles ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce ½ tsp white-wine vinegar 3 good schploofs Tabasco

First, make the pangrattato. Put the olive oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat, fry the breadcrumbs for about five minutes, turning them often, until deep golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper.

Mix all the ingredients for the Russian dressing in a bowl, then taste and adjust as you see fit.

In a saucepan that is at least as wide as the sausages are long, bring 2½cm water to a boil. Throw in the sausages and boil for five minutes. If you have a metal colander, sieve or vegetable steamer basket, pop it on top of the hot dog pan while they’re boiling, throw in the buns and steam briefly until soft. (Skip this step if you can’t be bothered, but I regret it when I don’t.)

Put the caraway seeds and salt in a mortar and grind to a powder.

Lay a hot sausage in each bun’s crevice and cover it in Russian dressing. Roll the sausages over in the crevice, then add a little more sauce. Cover in kraut, sprinkle on the raw onion, then some caraway powder and, finally, the pangrattato. Bloody good, isn’t it?

Sausage and prawn toasts

My dear friend Lorcan Spiteri is a brilliant cook and a fantastic fryer of things. For me, at least, he single-handedly made prawn (shrimp) toast cool again by serving it as a starter at his old restaurant, Caravel, in London. This is his recipe, with sausagemeat blitzed in with the prawns, which adds a slightly denser, chewier and wonderful feel to the whole thing and surely elevates it to the realms of Greatest Unexpected Breakfast Dishes of All Time. Lorcan serves this with a chilli jam he makes – which is wonderful, but more work – so you could have yours with sweet chilli sauce, but for God’s sake, mix some extra vinegar into it, and don’t tell anyone. To be honest, the toast is so good, I’m not sure it really needs anything beyond a cold beer.

Prep 10 min Chill 1 hr+ Cook 30 min Serves 6 as a starter

400g raw peeled king prawns 200g sausagemeat , or sausages of your choice, skinned, at room temperature 2 tsp light or Japanese soy sauce 2 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp rice, malt or white-wine vinegar 3 large garlic cloves , peeled and grated or very finely chopped 20g fresh root ginger , peeled and grated or very finely chopped 1 red chilli (size of your choosing – I like a big one), stalk, pith and seeds discarded, flesh finely chopped 3 tbsp finely chopped coriander , stalks and all 5 tbsp black sesame seeds 5 tbsp white sesame seeds 6 extra-thick slices soft white bread (Hovis or Warburtons “Toastie” is perfect – if it’s too thin, the bread will go soggy) 400–500ml rapeseed or vegetable oil Condiments of your choice , to serve (optional, but these are really good with Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp) Ice-cold lagers , to serve (optional)

First, put the prawns between a few sheets of kitchen paper and gently press down to dry them. Be thorough – they need to be really dry.

Put the sausagemeat in a food processor with half the prawns, the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic and ginger, and blitz until completely smooth.

Chop the remaining prawns into small-ish chunks, add them to the prawn and sausage paste with the chilli and coriander, and stir until combined.

Mix the black and white sesame seeds on a large, flat plate.

Use a spatula to slather the prawn and pork mix on to the bread, edge to edge in an even layer, really pressing it on. Firmly press the slices paste-side down into the sesame seeds, so they completely cover everything and are really stuck on.

Refrigerate the slices seeded side up in a stack, with a small sheet of baking paper between each one, for at least an hour (if not two), to firm up.

Heat the oven to 70C (50C fan)/160F/gas ¼, or its lowest setting, and cover a baking sheet with kitchen paper. Heat the oil in your biggest frying pan to 180C – if you have a probe thermometer, this will be easy to gauge, but if you don’t, a small cube of bread should bubble and turn golden in about 20 seconds. Fry the slices seeded side down in batches for two and a half minutes, then flip them over (carefully) and repeat. Put the cooked slices on the paper-lined baking sheet in the warm oven while you fry the rest.

Cut in half (diagonally, of course), and serve with your chosen condiment, an ice-cold beer or nothing at all.

These recipes are edited extracts from Cooking with Sausages: Delicious Things to Make with Everything from Chipolatas to Chorizo by Max Halley, published by DK at £16.99. To order a copy for £15.29, go to guardianbookshop.com

Keyword – Business
Trefwoorden – Business, Economics, Stock markets, FTSE, Bank of Japan, Thames Water
Title – Brent crude falls to three-month low below $80 as Iranian oil tankers ‘resume shipping’ – business live | Business | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/graemewearden
Link – Brent crude falls to three-month low below $80 as Iranian oil tankers ‘resume shipping’ – business live | Business | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T12:56:10.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/16/japan-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-iran-war-thames-water-rescue-nationalisation-latest-news-updates

Brent crude falls below $80 as Iranian oil tankers ‘resume shipping’

The benchmark oil price has just slipped below $80 a barrel for the first time since the early days of the Iran war, as traders remain confident about the US-Iran peace deal.

Brent crude just dipped as low as $79.96 a barrel, its lowest since Tuesday 3 March – in the first week after the US-Israel attacks on Iran began.

This means that Brent has fallen by $15 a barrel since last Thursday, before optimism began building that Washington and Tehran might reach an agreement.

Oil added to its earlier losses after Iran state media reported that Iranian oil tankers have resumed shipping following the deal with Washington.

A state television reporter explained:

“Three Iranian oil tankers are currently sailing in the northern Indian Ocean, and two others carrying essential goods and livestock feed are en route and sailing towards southern ports.”

The reporter added that “the operation to lift the naval blockade has been implemented”, which suggests that the US naval blockade has been eased.

As reported earlier , European allies at the G7 summit don’t appear to share Donald Trump’s optimism that the strait of Hormuz will reopen by Friday.

Yum Brands to sell Pizza Hut for $2.7bn

In the restaurant sector, Yum Brands is selling Pizza Hut in a $2.7bn deal, after strugging to compete with rivals in the pizza business.

Private equity firm LongRange Capital has agreed to buy Pizza Hut , excluding its operations in Mainland China, after “a comprehensive review of strategic options” that began last November.

Pizza HutChina will be acquired by Yum China Holdings .

The deal will allow Yum to focus on its other three brands – KFC , Taco Bell , and Tabit Burger & Grill.

Chris Turner, chief executive officer at Yum! Brands, explains:

“These transactions enable Yum! to be a more focused company that continues to leverage scale, technology and talent to accelerate our raising the B.A.R. priorities and deliver sustained value for our stakeholders.

“Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry. Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum!’s history. Pizza Hut was built by the passion and dedication of our team members, employees and franchisees, and we’re excited for the next chapter.”

Yum began reviewing Pizza Hut’s future after it reported several quarters of declining same-store sales in the US, facing competition from Domino’s, and from third-party delivery apps.

European gas prices have dipped a little today, adding to Monday’s falls.

The month-ahead UK gas contract is down 0.8% at 100.19p a therm. That still leaves it above its levels before the Iran war began, when it traded below 80p a therm, but below March’s high of 180p a therm.

The head of the International Energy Agency has said it is essential to “unconditionally” opening the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf tanker traffic, to end the oil and gas price shock.

IEA chief Fatih Birol told a press conference:

“The single most important solution to this problem is the fully and unconditionally opening up of the state of Hormuz to shipping.”

Birol also “warmly” welcomed the US-Iran deal, calling it “great news” that “will give a comfort to the markets”, adding:

“The crisis has started almost four months now.”

Last month, Birol warned that oil markets would enter the “red zone” by July and August , unless the strait was reopened.

SpaceX to buy Cursor firm Anysphere for $60bn

SpaceX has just revealed it is acquiring code-generation startup Cursor for $60bn in stock, just days after Elon Musk’s company floated on the US stock market.

In an SEC filing, SpaceX says it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Anysphere, the company behind Cursor , under which Cursor will become a wholly owned subsidiary.

The merger is expected to close during the third quarter of 2026.

Cursor uses artificial intelligence to automate coding. The deal could give xAI, the Grok chatbot maker that SpaceX merged with in February, a stronger foothold in the AI coding market where it has so far lagged rivals. It also provides Cursor with more computing capacity to develop AI models.

Back in April, SpaceX secured an option to either acquire Cursor for $60bn, or pay $10bn for their new partnership.

Cursor shareholders will receive shares in SpaceX , based on the average closing price over the seven consecutive trading days before the Merger closes.

SpaceX’s shares are set to jump by 9% when trading begins on Wall Street later today, having jumped around 19% on Friday – the day they floated – and another 19% yesterday.

Global investors are less pessimistic about the growth outlook, according to a poll of fund managers from Bank of America.

BoA reports:

A net 1% of investors think global growth will slow over the next twelve months, down from 36% in April.

A net 11% now expect European growth to accelerate over the coming twelve months, versus a net 16% that saw a slowdown last month, though this is still well below the net 60% expecting better growth in February before the start of the Iran war.

The drop in the oil price is also pushing down government borrowing costs.

The yield, or interest rate, on UK 10-year bonds has dipped by 0.67% to 4.781%, close to the two-month low set yesterday.

That will take some fiscal pressure off Britain’s government, and held Rachel Reeves keep to her ambition of not raising taxes in the coming months ( see earlier post) .

Two Iran-linked tankers sailing through Hormuz

In an encouraging development, two Iran-linked tankers are sailing eastward through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Musik is in the strait, while the Argo Maris has already passed through and is in the Gulf of Oman, but is still within the US blockade line that runs from the easternmost tip of Oman to the Iran-Pakistan border.

Bloomberg reports that satellite imagery shows Musik loaded a cargo at Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port deep in the Persian Gulf on June 10. Argo Maris was seen departing the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in late May, according to shiptracking firm Kpler.

They add:

It’s unclear if they will attempt ship-to-ship transfers at points such as Sohar or Fujairah, wait near the US blockade line, or attempt to cross it.

Both vesesels appear on a list of officially blacklisted tankers for transporting Iranian oil.

Bloomberg: US at odds with allies over how easy it is to reopen Hormuz

Over at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, European allies don’t appear to share Donald Trump’s optimism that the strait of Hormuz will reopen by Friday.

One G7 official has told Bloomberg there are serious difficulties in finding a common position among the group about how to deal with the situation in Iran.

They add:

One senior US official said traffic in the waterway would ramp up over time, and it could take as many as two weeks for shipping to significantly increase — and even longer for it to return to the levels seen before the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.

There are mines in the strait that still need to be cleared and shippers have different risk tolerances about navigating Hormuz, the official said.

More here .

Oil price lowest since early March despite doubts over how quickly strait of Hormuz will reopen

The oil price has dropped to its lowest level in almost 15 weeks, despite uncertainty over how quickly the strait of Hormuz will reopen.

Brent crude has fallen by almost 2.5% today to just over $81 a barrel, adding to Monday’s 4.75% drop. That’s its lowest level since 4 March, the first week of the Iran war.

However, it’s still some way above Brent’s pre-war level of $72.48 a barrel.

Oil traders are calculating that the reopening of the strait of Hormuz will lead to a rise in oil supplies from the Middle East, after Donald Trump said the vital waterway will reopen once the US and Iran have signed an initial memorandum of understanding.

Economists are warning, though, that it will take time for traffic through the strait to return to normal, as some production facilities need to be reopened, or repaired, and some oil and gas tankers are in the wrong places.

The head of the world’s biggest tanker operator, Mitsui OSK Lines , has told the Financial Times that ahipowners will not resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the US-Iran deal is “material”.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, explains:

Bosses of the world’s biggest shipping companies want to see more than just an agreement in place, mines need to be swept, and all hostilities must end, before tankers with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cargo will be able to traverse the Strait without fear of a flare up in tensions that could close the Strait mid-voyage.

Thus, even if a deal is signed to end the US/Iran war, the situation is not without its challenges. Brent crude remains above $80 per barrel, and it is unlikely to fall below this level until we start to see cargo ships successfully get through the Strait.

Mark Dixon steps down as IWG CEO after nearly 40 years

Nearly 40 years after founding flexible office space company International Workplace Group, Mark Dixon is stepping aside as chief executive.

Dixon , who has an estimated wealth of $1.3bn (£1bn), will shift to become executive chair, with IWG’s board keen to keep his “unrivalled industry knowledge, experience and long-term strategic perspective” and allow him to advise his succcessor, Christian Schmitz .

Having left school at 16, Dixon had already made a small fortune from selling a business venture manufacturing bread buns for hotdog sellers, before launching Regus (as IWG was previously known) after strugging to find a “small, quality office” to rent for his own business in Brussels in 1989.

He told the Guardian last year:

“We can see more and more companies converting to a ­simple notion…which is: ‘I don’t need a big head office in one place … I need hubs, and I just use space on a platform where people need it.’”

Reeves hopes to avoid tax rises before next budget

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said on Tuesday she hoped to get to the next budget without raising taxes.

Reeves argued that the government now had enough fiscal headroom to withstand economic shocks, following last November’s budget .

She told a conference organised by the Financial Times in London:

“We made a decision to significantly increase the headroom against our fiscal rules.

“I believe that that was the right decision.”

Reeves’s allies has been lobbying for her to remain as chancellor even if Keir Starmer is replaced by Andy Burnham , should the Manchester mayor win Thursday’s Makerfield by-election.

Thomas Pugh, chief economist at audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK , says the economy risks another messy leadership battle.

Pugh says:

The Labour Party would still have an incentive to install a new leader before its annual conference in late September.

A leadership contest focused on tax rises or ideas for borrowing will likely sap business and consumer confidence and spook financial markets, dragging on growth in a similar way to the previous two budgets effectively stalled the economy.

There are signs that things are starting to return to normal in the Gulf.

Offshore marine support firm Gulf Marine Services has told the City that all its support vessels which had been temporarily evacuated due to the Iran war have now successfully returned to hire on the same contracts.

GMS’s “self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels” are used to house workers and equipment at offshore oil and gas installations.

Mansour Al Alami, executive chairman of GMS, commented:

“We are very pleased to confirm that the fourth and final evacuated vessel has now returned to hire. This is a significant milestone, and we are encouraged by the positive momentum we are seeing both operationally and on the geopolitical front.

The swift and safe return of all four vessels is a testament to the professionalism of our crews and the strength of our client relationships, which have remained robust throughout this period.”

BoJ welcomes US-Iran peace memorandum

The Bank of Japan’s deputy governor, Shinichi Uchida, has welcomed the US-Iran peace deal.

Speaking at a press conference following today’s rate hike, Uchida said the deal was a “welcome move”, explaining:

“Compared with our previous meeting in April, the U.S. and Iran have signed a memorandum. That is a welcome move. Having said that, there is uncertainty on the pace of improvement in distribution (of oil).”

Uchida also pointed to inflationary risks, saying:

Compared with the previous meeting, the risk of a sharp deterioration in the economy has diminished. On the other hand, price rises are broadening, and there is a risk that underlying inflation may deviate from our target.”

“With underlying inflation approaching 2%, it’s important to ensure we achieve our target stably.”

Uchida is standing in for BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda, who was hospitalized last week for treatment of a liver cyst infection.

Investors may be relieved that the Bank of Japan didn’t hike interest rates more sharply today, explains Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

The Bank of Japan has raised its key interest rate to a 31-year high as a precaution, to try and stop energy costs being embedded more deeply across the economy.

The move – increasing the short-term policy rate to 1% from 0.75% – was widely expected, but it’s a step-change in monetary policy for Japan, given it pushes borrowing costs to levels not seen since 1995. There was some relief that the move wasn’t more hawkish, with even a 50-basis-point hike having been mooted.

That’s why investors responded with relief and stocks rallied even higher

Nikkei hits record closing high

The BoJ’s interest rate hike didn’t prevent Japan’s Nikkei share index from hitting a fresh record high.

The Nikkei soared through the 70,000-point mark for the first time ever, and has ended the day at a new closing high of 69,404.5 points.

Other Asia-Pacific markets have also continued to rise today, amid ongoing optimism over the US-Iran peace deal.

Thames Water rescue at risk as government opposes ‘weak’ deal

Thames Water has moved a step closer to nationalisation after government ministers reportedly formally objected to the £10bn rescue deal proposed by its creditors.

According to The Times this morning, environment secretary Emma Reynolds has written to water regulator Ofwat this week to raise concerns about the plan for the struggling, indebted utility giant.

They explain:

Reynolds is understood to be concerned that the creditors’ offer for Thames Water is “weak”, not least after “15 years of mismanagement and failure”.

Those who support placing Thames into special administration argue that this would give the company a fresh start by forcing existing investors to write off losses and allow the company to be sold without its existing debt pile.

Under the proposed rescue deal , Thames Water’s creditors would inject £3.35bn of fresh equity, and write off a third of their debt.

They are also seeking up to 15 years’ leniency from river pollution rules, arguing that this will make it easier to upgrade the trouble company’s water network.

Reynolds’s intervention comes just days after Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told the Guardian that Thames Water should be nationalised, just days before the Makerfield by-election which – should be win – could lead to a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer .

If the government were to approve the deal with creditors, then Thames Water – which currently has aroun £20bn of debt – would be part-controlled by the billionaire Trump donor and hedge funder Paul Singer.

Introduction: Japan hikes interest rates to highest since 1995

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

The inflationary consequences of the US-Iran war continue to ripple across the global economy, even though the US and Iran have agreed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end their conflict.

With price pressures rising, the Bank of Japan has raised interest rates to a 31-year high today, becoming the second G7 bank – after the European Central Bank – to hike borrowing costs since the Iran war began.

Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate to 1% from 0.75%, taking borrowing costs to levels last seen in 1995.

The BoJ said it was taking action because companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace.” That could lead to a rise in consumer prices across a wide range of items, it said.

It acted despite yesterday’s 4.75% drop in the oil price.

Encouragingly, the BoJ also said the risk of Japan’s economy deteriorating sharply from the Middle East conflict has diminished. It cited the government’s relief package to help households facing high fuel costs.

The agenda

9.45am BST: Treasury select committee hearing on the Office for Budget Responsibility

10am BST: ZEW economic sentiment index

1.30pm BST: US housing starts and business permits data

Keyword – Media
Trefwoorden – Media, Newspapers, Mail on Sunday, Reform UK, Rupert Lowe, Nigel Farage, National newspapers, Associated Newspapers, Daily Mail & General Trust, Media business, Politics, UK news, Newspapers & magazines
Title – Mail on Sunday attacks Restore as split right creates headache for UK papers | Media | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/michael-savage
Link – Mail on Sunday attacks Restore as split right creates headache for UK papers | Media | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T06:00:46.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/16/mail-on-sunday-attacks-restore-as-split-right-creates-headache-for-uk-papers

It was a Mail on Sunday headline with all the ferocity usually reserved for general elections, directed squarely at a political opponent. But in this case, the traditionally Conservative-supporting title was not targeting Labour.

The party in its crosshairs was Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain, the vehemently rightwing outfit that regards Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as too weak on deporting migrants.

“Restore Activists at ‘White Supremacy Summit’,” declared the front page. It claimed supporters canvassing for Lowe’s party before this week’s Makerfield byelection had attended an event that hosted calls for “a white-only Europe”.

Unusually, the Mail on Sunday’s vehemently anti-Restore editorial was displayed prominently on its app through much of the weekend. “Anyone who really cares about Britain won’t vote Restore,” it stated, asking voters to back Reform.

Restore Britain described the story about the summit as “totally irrelevant” and a “hit piece”.

The next day, however, the Daily Mail followed up with another blow. “Restore is the ‘new home for neo-Nazis’”, it said, citing Lowe’s claim over the weekend that if the far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, wanted to join Restore, it was “up to him”.

A Reform source supplied the killer quote used for the headline.

Lowe himself saw the attacks as a sign of success. “Two Daily Mail front pages in a row abusing Restore Britain in the most spectacular fashion,” he said. “We’ve got the buggers on the run.”

However, the prominence and strength of the stories have also caught the eye of senior figures in Westminster and the media, who view it as a sign of how the rightwing press is reacting to the fracturing of the British right.

Reform figures believe that the emergence of Restore, and its even more stark approach to deporting “millions and millions” of people from the UK, could help push the Mail and other titles towards it as the acceptable option for its readers.

The immediate driver of the Mail’s endorsement was this week’s pivotal Makerfield byelection, in which Andy Burnham is attempting to return to parliament and challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.

While Burnham is the favourite, Reform is his challenger and there is a realistic possibility that Restore’s splitting of the rightwing vote could be the difference.

The approach to Restore by the right-leaning media has not been consistent, however. Over the same weekend as the Mail on Sunday’s attack, the Telegraph ran a full-page feature interview with Lowe, in which he railed against “woke creeps” who criticise his party.

While there has been a widespread perception that the Telegraph’s politics have drifted further to the right since the Brexit vote, its imminent new owner – the German media company Axel Springer – will be significant in defining its political direction.

In fact, the politics of the Politico owner have also caused intrigue, after its titles ran opinion pieces first by Elon Musk and, more recently, by Viktor Orbán weeks before Hungary’s elections.

It remains unclear how the company, overseen by Mathias Döpfner, wants to position the Telegraph within Britain’s rapidly fracturing politics.

While political endorsements are not on the minds of editors this far out from a general election, senior figures among Britain’s right-leaning titles readily point out how messy the political scene has become. “The whole landscape – from hard left to hard right – looks chaotic,” said one.

Current coverage remains a far cry from the once united pro-Conservative approach, however.

“What you’ve got is decades of essentially right-of-centre UK press and proprietors backing the Conservative party, but now that rightwing consensus is being fractured,” said Steven Barnett, professor of communications at the University of Westminster.

“The Conservative party must be thinking to itself now: where is our support going to come from? If the Mail is going to be at least flirting with Farage – and I think they have been doing some flirting – that on its own means come the next election, they’re not going to be as full-throated in their support for the Conservative party.

“I think they’re still feeling their own way in a new political environment, where the papers themselves are not quite sure where their readership stands.”

Lowe himself suspects that the established rightwing media outlets are now rallying behind Farage. As a result, he has been accusing Farage of a charge the Reform leader is not used to facing: that of being part of the political establishment.

“If you look at the mainstream media, it is now pushing Nigel,” he told the Spectator magazine earlier this year.

Keyword – The Grid
Trefwoorden – The Grid
Title – How AI is transforming the electricity grid – and why robot dogs could have a role to play | The Grid | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/rhymer-rigby
Link – How AI is transforming the electricity grid – and why robot dogs could have a role to play | The Grid | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-03-23T16:21:32.000Z
Category – Labs
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/the-grid/2026/mar/23/how-ai-is-transforming-the-electricity-grid

Artificial intelligence may have exploded in the public consciousness thanks to a new generation of attention-grabbing chatbots, but AI and machine learning have been with us for several years – and these more established models are already delivering significant returns.

Electricity grids and AI, for instance, are a match made in heaven. Grids are complicated, have vast numbers of inputs and outputs, require constant oversight and create huge quantities of data. Dealing with enormous numbers of variables and complex systems is one of the things AI does best – better, arguably, than pretending to be human.

Iberdrola, Europe’s largest utility company, which owns ScottishPower in the UK, has been using AI for more than 10 years to make predictions, optimise processes and detect patterns, which can be used to improve its operations. One example of this is providing customers with accurate estimates of outage times after incidents, via an app. Another is allowing engineers to plan ahead by telling them which grids or transformation centres will need partial replacements the following year, using myriad variables that predict possible issues based on historical data.

In a slightly more sci-fi vein, Avangrid, Iberdrola’s US subsidiary, announced last year that it had partnered with Levatas and Boston Dynamics to deploy a robot “dog” to improve substation inspections. The dog, nicknamed Spot, has sophisticated imaging and thermal technology and uses AI to detect damaged equipment. Automated inspections will take place more frequently and the result will be greater reliability for customers.

Maximising renewables output

But AI isn’t just about making grids more operationally efficient. It is also helping to make energy more clean. Renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar are by their nature variable, but AI can help operators maximise the electricity they produce, reduce wasted energy and limit the need for fossil fuels as back-up sources. “By predicting when and where energy will be needed, AI can help avoid outages and cut down on wasted power,” says Justin Bates, co-founder of ESGmark, an organisation that promotes and recognises environmental, social and governance standards in business.

For companies such as Iberdrola, this begins in the design phase. It might start with AI-driven models finding the optimum location of a wind turbine, based on years of meteorological data. It could then go into operations and maintenance. This may include using algorithms to predict maintenance issues before they occur, or anticipating wind or solar production for each hour of the day. Knowing what is being produced and where can help balance the grid, either by shifting energy around, by releasing stored energy (such as pumped hydro) or switching on back-up energy (which may come from fuels such as gas) where needed as a last resort.

Improved energy storage solutions

Back-up fossil fuel capacity should be needed less in the future thanks to more innovative and dependable renewable-energy storage solutions – and, again, AI is playing a crucial role in these. Last year, Iberdrola partnered with Multiverse Computing, a global leader in quantum computing solutions, to deliver a pilot project in northern Spain to optimise the installation of grid-scale batteries. Multiverse’s solution uses quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms to select the optimal number, type and locations of batteries on the network – thereby reducing the costs of adding batteries to the grid and improving network performance.

Similarly, as batteries become an increasingly important part of the grid, AI could help enlist the batteries in electric vehicles. The latter could potentially form a part of the grid’s battery capacity – the UK’s cars famously spend 96% of their time parked . AI could help balance these thousands of connections.

AI can also allow grids to do more with what they already have. “Innovative grid technologies, including those based on AI, allow us to transport more electricity through our existing electricity infrastructure, by improving our understanding of the real-time conditions of our increasingly complex electricity networks,” says Layla Sawyer, secretary general of CurrENT, which represents grid technology providers in Europe. “This includes the effect of weather conditions, dynamic energy production and consumption, and many other factors that impact grid operators.”

Keeping customers informed

At the other end of the energy supply network, AI can improve the way energy companies interact with their customers. This entails sharing information on topics ranging from outages to expected bills, but also helping customers to conserve energy. “AI can help energy companies to connect with customers in a more meaningful way, encouraging smarter energy use that benefits everyone and supports ESG principles by creating a fairer, cleaner energy system we can trust,” says Bates.

Finally, AI can even help wildlife. In the future, AI modelling will be able to analyse bird flight paths and recommend renewable sites that reduce ecological concerns, while Iberdrola’s existing AI power systems can detect birds and stop specific turbines if required.

It’s modelling like this that really encapsulates the benefits of AI to the grid. While the technology has already been used for a number of years to improve existing systems, in future, it will increasingly be embedded in the planning stage of large-scale infrastructure projects and integral to their operation. As Bates points out: “AI is helping to transform our energy grids, making them smarter, more reliable, and ready to handle cleaner energy.”