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A decade after the Brexit vote, Europe has moved on even if Britain hasn’t
In this week’s newsletter: As the EU consolidates, the UK faces renewed debate over the long‑term shape of its relationship with the continent • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here The morning of 24 June 2016, the day after Britain voted to leave the EU, dawned grey and overcast in Brussels, after a stormy night. As the Guardian’s correspondent in the city, after a few hours’ sleep, I hurried to a breakfast briefing with Conservative MEPs at a smart hotel in the EU quarter. Large trays of eggs, sausages and beans were barely touched, as MEPs fielded questions they couldn’t answer: What happens now? When would the UK leave? Would David Cameron resign? A few hours later he did. In the EU institutions officials broke down in tears. A few top British EU civil servants prepared to resign. Anti-EU populists were jubilant. European leaders feared a domino effect of withdrawals. Sadness, shock and anger swirled on that humid day. The then-president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, told me that EU lawyers were studying whether it was possible to speed up the triggering of article 50 , the then-obscure and untested EU exit clause. Then European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker declared he would like to get Brexit negotiations started “immediately”. The idea of hurrying Britain out the door was soon dropped, but those statements reflected the febrile mood. Continue reading...
Dior mashes up laid-back ‘indie sleaze’ with elegant luxury
Jonathan Anderson’s golden touch is on display in Paris with mix of metallics, brooches and ripped jeans Fashion brands were tuned to the weather forecast in Paris in the run-up to the menswear shows this week – and aware temperatures would reach 40C on Wednesday. This weekend a decision was made – the Christian Dior show, originally scheduled for the afternoon, would be moved to 9am, to avoid the heat of the day. The change in time certainly made the experience more palatable – as did (in possibly a fashion-week first) the cool towels handed to guests on arrival, umbrellas to block out the sun and personalised fans on seats. Taking place in the grounds of the grand Musée Nissim de Camondo, which is under renovation to reopen in 2030, those in the garden even had the benefit of the occasional breeze. Continue reading...
Top army general who was last US soldier to leave Afghanistan abruptly steps down
Gen Christopher Donahue, commander of forces in Europe and Africa, is leaving after just 18 months in the job The army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa – who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 – is unexpectedly stepping down from his post after just 18 months in the job, the Army confirmed late Tuesday. Gen Christopher Donahue, commanding general of US Army Europe and Africa and commander of Nato’s Allied Land Command, will relinquish his command on 2 July, according to an army statement provided to the Associated Press. He is the latest in a line of nearly two dozen top military leaders to either retire or depart their jobs early under the leadership of the defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who has undertaken an effort to thin the ranks of the military’s top brass with the mantra “less generals, more GIs”. Continue reading...
Andy Burnham plans to move parts of No 10 operation to Manchester
Makerfield MP considering northern base for PM’s office as part of measures to devolve power away from London Andy Burnham is planning to move parts of the No 10 operation to Manchester as part of measures to devolve power away from London. The Makerfield MP will say next week he wants to transfer parts of the prime minister’s office to the north should he become prime minister later this year. Continue reading...
Driven to succeed: meet London’s youngest black-cab driver
Bahrain Mujagata is just 21 years old and balances taxi driving with university studies and acting classes “I’ve got T-shirts older than you!” The joke draws laughter from a table of black-cab drivers gathered in the Astral cafe on Regency Place in Westminster. Around the table, cabbies swap stories accumulated over decades behind the wheel: picking up the England World Cup hero Geoff Hurst, ferrying senior politicians around London, and navigating the capital long before smartphones and satnavs existed. At just 21, Bahrain Mujagata is an anomaly among them. In late 2025, he became London’s youngest licensed black-cab driver after completing the Knowledge – the notoriously demanding test of the capital’s streets – in just two years and five months. Most candidates take three to four years to qualify, according to Transport for London. Continue reading...
Hammon acknowledges Brunson’s greatness but won’t apologize for questioning star
Las Vegas Aces coach had said guard was not a ‘1A dude’ Hammon says Brunson ‘proved history wrong’ Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon twice on Tuesday acknowledged what Jalen Brunson accomplished in leading the New York Knicks to the NBA championship was historic and her “opinion was wrong,” but she offered no apology for her previous comments. Hammon spoke to reporters at the Aces shootaround earlier in the day and then before Las Vegas’ home game against the New York Liberty. In the pregame news conference, Hammon opened by making a point to say she was wrong that the 6ft 2in point guard was too small to lead the Knicks to the title. Continue reading...
Gracie the giraffe who loves to wander found safe after search with community help
Local sheriff’s office appealed for citizens to keep their eye out for Gracie’s ‘rounded ears’ – to distinguish from any other missing giraffes For almost two weeks, residents of a rural Texas county have been looking, mostly up, for a missing giraffe called Gracie that wandered off from a private game ranch. On Wednesday, it appeared the free-roaming mammal’s odyssey was over, after it was reportedly found safe a “little farther out than expected” from its hill country home. Continue reading...
Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy after 28 people died in 2025 Texas floods
Camp owners said total debt exceeds $10m in chapter 11 filing after catastrophic flood last July Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp in Texas where 28 people died in a catastrophic flood last July, has filed for bankruptcy, according to court records. In a Chapter 11 filing, submitted Wednesday in the southern district of Texas, the camp’s owners said that the camp’s total debt “exceeds $10m”. Continue reading...
The Warriors come out to Broadway with Lin-Manuel Miranda musical
Miranda and Eisa Davis’s concept album based on the 1979 film is to be realised for the stage, co-directed by Jenny Koons and Hamilton’s Andy Blankenbuehler Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’s concept album based on The Warriors, the cult novel and film about warring New York gangs, is to become a Broadway musical next year. The album, Warriors , was released to critical acclaim in 2024 and followed the eponymous Coney Island clan’s odyssey back to the Bronx after being falsely accused of killing the leader of the city’s biggest gang. The original story was written by Sol Yurick, whose 1965 book was inspired by Xenophon’s ancient epic Anabasis, and it became a Walter Hill action film in 1979. Continue reading...
Pair admit manslaughter after poisoning men in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire
Woman posed as sex worker and drugged men in order to steal from them with accomplice A woman posed as a sex worker and administered a deadly amount of sedative to two men so that she and an accomplice could steal from them. Adina Mihai, 31, and Madalin Dumitru, 30, admitted the manslaughter of an 80-year-old Gloucestershire man and a 37-year-old from Oxfordshire. Continue reading...
Zohran Mamdani has lost none of his political magic
The New York Knicks might have won in five, but the city’s mayor did it in three: a trio of candidates backed by Mamdani appear set to land seats in US Congress US politics live – latest updates A man or a movement? That was the question being asked when Zohran Mamdani gambled his political capital on Tuesday’s elections in New York. The answer from voters was emphatic: they prefer Mamdani and his brand of democratic socialism to the Democratic party establishment and its lukewarm version of capitalism. America’s biggest city has swung even further to the left. Continue reading...
Bahraini award to UK envoy shows ‘our diplomats are up for grabs’, says peer
Rights activists call UK ambassador ‘morally compromised’ for accepting honour from Bahraini king in apparent breach of Foreign Office rules The British ambassador to Bahrain has been accused of breaching government rules over accepting an award by the Gulf state’s king, a move critics suggest signals diplomats and civil servants are “up for grabs”. This week, the ambassador, Alastair Long , received the Order of Bahrain from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, in recognition of his diplomatic tenure, which human rights activists and politicians say is in “direct breach” of the Foreign Office’s rules on accepting foreign awards. Continue reading...
NBA draft 2026 first-round winners and losers: triumph of the tankers and the Jalen Brunson Effect
AJ Dybantsa went No 1 in a draft that proved to be low on drama, but loaded with generational talent The tanking teams Continue reading...
Bedford train crash occurred after train passed red signal and was not stopped, investigators believe
Interim report says other train it hit had halted on line because warning system wrongly caused it to brake The train whose driver died in the Bedford rail crash passed a danger signal and was not automatically stopped – while the train it hit had halted on the line because its warning system had wrongly caused it to brake, investigators believe. An initial report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into the crash, which killed a train driver and injured more than 100 people, said it was not yet clear whether the train’s automatic warning system alerted the driver of the southbound Luton airport express from Corby that he had passed a red signal. Continue reading...
France confirms first Ebola case in doctor who had worked in DRC
French health ministry says patient’s contacts are being traced and that risk to European public is very low The first case of Ebola has been confirmed in France, the country’s health ministry has said, in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission to an area affected by the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The patient was transferred to a specialist facility and is in a stable condition, the ministry said in a statement . “All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.” Continue reading...
Darializa Avila Chevalier: pro-Palestinian doctoral student steps into politics with ‘faith in the future’
Mamdani-backed candidate won New York’s 13th congressional district with no experience in office but ideas for how politics can ‘actually invest in life’ Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City In the months leading up to New York’s primary election, the 32-year-old political newcomer Darializa Avila Chevalier faced a barrage of negative ads. Super Pacs supporting her opponent – the veteran incumbent Adriano Espaillat – spent millions trying to stop her. And as an endorsement from Avila Chevalier’s fellow Democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, boosted her odds, the attacks turned racist, with false accusations suggesting she was lying about her Dominican ethnicity. But on Tuesday, Avila Chevalier defied predictions and seized a stunning win in New York’s 13th congressional district, which spans upper Manhattan, including Harlem, and parts of The Bronx – with more than 49% of the vote. If she wins the general election in November, she will be the first Dominican woman elected to Congress. Continue reading...
The weirdest things a leak revealed about Peter Thiel’s secret club | Tayo Bero
The Dialog society grades its attendees on a hidden scale, tackles issues from sex to world wars, and offers matchmaking What would happen if roughly 200 members of the global elite gathered every year for a top secret retreat? What would they do? What would they talk about? Who would be on the guest list? Well, data leaked by the Swiss hacktivist maia arson crimew (who also brought us the justice department’s no-fly list back in 2023) is shedding new light on Dialog , the private social club co-created by the former PayPal boss Peter Thiel and the angel investor Auren Hoffman. Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Farm workers at high risk amid screwworm outbreak in US south-west
Those who work with animals are at greater risk for infection, but face challenges in accessing healthcare Agricultural workers are among the highest risk group for human infection during the screwworm outbreak in the American south, yet they frequently face challenges in accessing public health – an ongoing concern amid zoonotic spillovers such as H5N1 bird flu. Screwworm has been detected in goats and sheep in three Texas counties in recent days, bringing the total to 16 known cases among animals and none reported in people. Continue reading...
Louis Vuitton brings the beach to Paris in near 40C heat
Pharrell Williams’s menswear collection had a surf theme, while Saint Laurent models wore skinny suits In temperatures close to 40C, most of Paris would have loved to go to the beach this week. Guests at the Louis Vuitton show got the look at least – the ground was covered with sand and there was a huge artificial wave as a backdrop. The menswear collection, designed by Pharrell Williams, had a surf theme. There were branded wetsuits, Ugg-style boots and the chunky knits surfers wear at the end of a day. There were some jumpers and slouchy suiting, but the active lifestyle idea took centre stage with board shorts, caps, skate-style sneakers and a gilet. Some models carried surfboards branded with the Louis Vuitton logo and the final look was a model in a monogram wetsuit carrying a bike on his shoulder. Continue reading...
Meta pauses employee tracker for AI training amid privacy concerns
Workers signed petition against tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and computer screen content Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash. The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens in order to collect data for training its AI models. Continue reading...
Israel continues to commit genocide by targeting children in Gaza, UN inquiry finds | First Thing
Palestinian children ‘deliberately targeted and killed’, report’s chair says. Plus, Mamdani-backed candidates sweep NYC Democratic primaries Good morning. Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an independent UN inquiry has found . What does the report say? That Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025. “The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, said in a statement accompanying the report . How has Israel ’s government reacted? The Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel rejected the commission’s “libellous sham”. The country has fought hard against allegations of genocide, while receiving critical diplomatic support from its allies including the US and the UK. What about legal and rights experts? A significant body of research has concluded that Israel is intent on destroying Palestinians, including analyses by UN investigators, rights bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch , and genocide scholars worldwide. Which Mamdani allies won their primaries? Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated the Democratic representative Dan Goldman; Claire Valdez, a state lawmaker and former union organizer, defeated Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of Nydia Velázquez, who is retiring; and Darializa Avila Chevalier, a public defense investigator, toppled Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the congressional Hispanic caucus. Continue reading...
Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier wins Democratic NYC primary – video
The public defence investigator Darializa Avila Chevalier toppled Adriano Espaillat, the powerful five-term incumbent who chairs the Hispanic caucus in Congress, in the diverse 13th congressional district, which covers Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. Chevalier was backed by the New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who had a clean sweep with wins from Brad Lander and Claire Valdez meaning all three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries Mamdani-backed candidates sweep Democratic primaries in New York City Continue reading...
London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley named as first focus of grooming gangs inquiry
Inquiry will compel individuals and institutions to explain what they did or did not do to protect children from sexual abuse London, Oldham, Bradford and Keighley will be the first towns and cities investigated by an independent grooming gangs inquiry, it was announced on Wednesday. The independent inquiry into grooming gangs has confirmed that its three-part hearings will investigate Whitehall departments and politicians alongside local councils, the NHS and national police institutions. Continue reading...
Children’s watchdog rebukes Home Office plan to crackdown on refused asylum seekers
Proposals including use of force on minors will cause ‘significant harm’, says England Children’s Commissioner Shabana Mahmood has been told that her crackdown on refused asylum seekers, including the forcible removal of children from the UK, will cause “significant harm”, in an intervention by an independent watchdog. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said the home secretary’s plan under consultation to push families – including those with children receiving ongoing medical treatment – to leave the UK should not be implemented as proposed. Continue reading...