Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
The oil price has dipped to its lowest level since the Iran war began.
Brent crude has dropped by 1.8% today to $75.59 a barrel, as peace talks between the US and Iran continue.
Tag Archives: europe
Europe heatwave live: UK issues rare red heat warning as record-breaking temperatures in France bring power outages
Temperatures expected to hit 40C in parts of the UK, as extreme heatwave spreads slowly eastwards, sparking warnings in Italy and the Netherlands
-
France records hottest day ever as 40 people drown across country
-
Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you?
Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesperson, said the agency is forecasting 39C as a headline maximum temperature on Thursday in the UK, most likely for somewhere in London or the south-east.
“It is possible we could see temperatures higher than the 39C if the final values are at the upper end of our narrow range,” he said, according to the Press Association.
World Cup 2026: England frustrated; final group games kick off as Scotland face Brazil – live
⚽ All the latest news on a day packed with six matches
⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Daniel
How do we feel about the penalty that wasn’t?
I don’t really see how you can’t give it. Fatawu was in and Konsa launches into him, getting nowhere near the ball with no chance of getting at the ball – which makes it a red card too.
Kin by Tayari Jones review – a haunting tale of motherlessness
Two friends, united by their missing mothers, come of age in segregation-era America, in a cautionary tale about the limits of love
Annie and Vernice (or Niecy, as Annie calls her) are “cradle friends”, brought up in their home town of Honeysuckle, Louisiana, in 1950s America. The protagonists are defined by their motherlessness and their diverging drives to escape their individual tragedies and pre-written destinies. In this haunting novel of motherhood and sisterhood, Tayari Jones writes into unknowability – how far we can know another person, or indeed oneself.
The pair, who speak in alternating chapters, are “not the same, but still the same”. Each is tended to by mother figures – grandmothers, aunts – and gives meaning to each other’s lonely, questioning existence: “When you don’t have your mother, you don’t really know who you are.” Annie’s mother has abandoned her but is apparently alive in Memphis, and she makes it her obsession to reconcile with her; Niecy’s, on the other hand, is lost for ever, murdered by Niecy’s father. Where the former is holding out hope, the latter has none; and herein lies the fork in their futures. While Niecy chooses the sensible, stable life path – college, a traditional marriage – Annie spirals from tragedy to tragedy, consumed by thoughts of her missing mother. Call it destiny, or a kind of grieving.
The best American LGBTQ+ books, chosen by authors
From 20th-century classics to little-known treasures, Michael Cunningham, Hilton Als, Eileen Myles and others share their favorite books about LGBTQ+ life
You could debate what the best American LGBTQ+ book is until the cows come home, but experts at least tend to agree on the first one: 1870’s catchily titled Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania by Bayard Taylor. Compared with the well-worn classics of the British LGBTQ+ literary canon – from Oscar Wilde to Jeanette Winterson and beyond – its US counterpart feels invitingly hazy: greener and ever-evolving to reflect the spectrum of queer American life.
To celebrate pride month and the upcoming 250th anniversary of America, the Guardian asked nearly two dozen leading queer writers for their favorite LGBTQ+ book from the country they call home. Read on for their choices.