jack

Posted by Daniel Robson

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/16/japanese-punk-band-otoboke-beaver-dave-grohl-foo-fighters

Dave Grohl spread the word about the ferociously funny quartet and now they’re supporting Foo Fighters in stadiums. Just make sure you switch off your phone’s flash if you go to their gigs …

They say brevity is the soul of wit and few bands have as much of both as Otoboke Beaver. Playing short, sharp songs packed with equal parts ferocity and black humour, next week the Japanese quartet will play easily their biggest UK gig yet, at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium supporting Foo Fighters.

“We met Foo Fighters at an overseas festival, and again in Japan,” says vocalist Accorinrin as we chat in a music bar in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, a couple of hours before Otoboke Beaver go on stage and eviscerate an audience at the nearby O-Nest. “Dave Grohl told so many people about us, which helped us a lot. He didn’t have to introduce a nobody band like us, but Dave is always looking for newcomers and he wanted to hook us up within the music industry.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/16/japanese-punk-band-otoboke-beaver-dave-grohl-foo-fighters

Posted by Graeme Wearden

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/16/japan-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-iran-war-thames-water-rescue-nationalisation-latest-news-updates

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

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.

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.

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.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/16/japan-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-iran-war-thames-water-rescue-nationalisation-latest-news-updates

Posted by Sarah Rendell (now) and Yara El-Shaboury (earlier)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/jun/16/world-cup-2026-news-france-enter-fray-iran-feel-oppressed-var-official-cleared-over-gesture-live

⚽ All the latest on day six of the tournament
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Donald Trump: The US president is in France for the G7 summit where he is meeting with world leaders. The US-Iran agreement will be high on the agenda after Trump clashed with and threatened key allies. Why am I mentioning this in the Geopolitics World Cup blog? Because the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, took a punt and opted to give Trump a belated 80th birthday gift: a Germany football top with the number 47 on the back and “Trump” written on it. It is quite rare for Trump to endorse anything that is not branded “USA! USA! USA! but he seemed pleased.

Algeria: The Desert Warriors will hope to harness strong backing from local supporters ⁠when they open their campaign ​against the defending champions Argentina. Residents of Lawrence, Kansas have fallen in love ⁠with Algeria, who have made their base camp in the city 40 miles west of Kansas City and Petkovic praised the north African team’s newfound fans for their warm welcome.

Lawrence is located a little over 40 miles from Kansas City, a roughly 40-minute drive from the Metropolitan area that is hosting the base camps of Argentina, the Netherlands, and England for the World Cup. All three are staying at boutique hotels around the city. Algeria? Well, they chose the humble Lawrence DoubleTree.

So where did this come from? According to Stan Herd, a local artist, you have to go back to April, when it was officially announced that Lawrence would host Algeria. “I think everybody’s surprised at it,” Herd said. “We’re not.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/jun/16/world-cup-2026-news-france-enter-fray-iran-feel-oppressed-var-official-cleared-over-gesture-live

Posted by Andrew Pulver

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/16/russell-crowe-says-gladiator-ii-failed-because-it-didnt-have-a-moral-core

The star added that the original film appealed to a female audience ‘because it’s not about revenge, it is about vengeance’ – and because it didn’t have a gratuitous sex scene

Russell Crowe has said that the Gladiator sequel was a failure because it lacked a “moral core” and that studio behind it “didn’t understand why [the original movie] was successful”.

Crowe was speaking at the Taormina film festival, and in remarks reported by Variety he outlined why the thought the first Gladiator, released to considerable acclaim and box office success in 2000, was a success, and where its sequel, released in 2024, struggled.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/16/russell-crowe-says-gladiator-ii-failed-because-it-didnt-have-a-moral-core

Posted by Jonathan Wilson in Monterrey

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/16/enzo-fernandez-julian-alvarez-argentina-river-plate-teacher-world-cup-2026

Luciana Alvarengue likes to think she had the smallest of influences on two of her old pupils as they take aim at another World Cup

For all Argentinians, sitting down to watch the 2022 World Cup final was special – but for Luciana Alvarengue there was additional emotion. In the Argentina side were not one but two players to whom she had taught maths at school: Enzo Fernández and Julián Álvarez.

“They are still my students, even if they are no longer in the classroom,” she says. “To see it with my son telling me: ‘Mamá, there are your students’ … that’s really nice.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/16/enzo-fernandez-julian-alvarez-argentina-river-plate-teacher-world-cup-2026

Posted by Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/16/developers-greedy-leasehold-scandal-campaign-women

Katie Kendrick, Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire were subject to tens of thousands of pounds of hidden costs as their new-build freeholds soared in value, making their homes unsellable. Their campaign could finally end the ‘feudal’ system in England and Wales

When a leaflet about leasehold injustice landed on Cath Williams’ doorstep in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, nearly a decade ago, she barely gave it a second thought, tossing it straight into the bin. Had she given it more than a cursory glance, she’d have read about how residents on her new-build estate had found out the leaseholds for their homes had been sold without their knowledge, which could cost them all thousands of pounds. “Sometimes you get things through the door and you go, ‘what are they on about?’” recalls the 69-year-old retired university lecturer. It was of no interest to her. Or so she thought.

Williams hadn’t realised her home was leasehold when she decided to buy it. It was never mentioned in any promotional material, she says, and the word “leasehold” was only later added to her paperwork in pencil by an estate agent four weeks before her move in date – by then she had already paid her deposit and it was too late to back out. Her unease about what this would mean built over time and it soon became clear it would be a huge headache for her: any alterations to her home would require paying the leaseholder an ever-increasing permission fee, the property would decrease in value as the lease got shorter, and the ground rent could increase drastically over time. Ultimately, it could leave her trapped and unable to sell her home.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/16/developers-greedy-leasehold-scandal-campaign-women

Posted by Graeme Wearden

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/16/japan-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-iran-war-thames-water-rescue-nationalisation-latest-news-updates

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

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.

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.

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.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/16/japan-hikes-interest-rates-inflation-iran-war-thames-water-rescue-nationalisation-latest-news-updates

Posted by Jakub Krupa

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/16/g7-world-leaders-ukraine-russia-war-iran-trump-zelenskyy-putin-eu-france-eu-europe-latest-news-updates

US president confirms he will meet with Ukrainian leader again later today

… and given the delay this morning, the meeting may or may not have happened already – guess we will find out at some point during the day.

in Évian-les-Bains

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/16/g7-world-leaders-ukraine-russia-war-iran-trump-zelenskyy-putin-eu-france-eu-europe-latest-news-updates