Author: The Guardian

As if to sum up the weirdness of this England team stumbling into the semi-finals of Euro 2024, perhaps the only time they looked in control against Switzerland was when it went to penalties. Before then? Choked play in the final third, chaotic defending in extra time and touchline inertia were the overriding themes – or at least they would have been had another moment of individual brilliance, this time from the magnificent Bukayo Saka, not saved Gareth Southgate again.Switzerland had England on the ropes when Breel Embolo made it 1-0 after 75 minutes. Murat Yakin’s team were dominant for…

Iga Swiatek may very well win Wimbledon one day, but not this year as the world No. 1 was eliminated by Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in a brilliant match on Saturday (Yulia Putintseva) Knocked out. The Pole, who won her fifth Grand Slam title last month, dominated after the first set, but Putintseva, full of skill and tennis smarts, held off 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. After a stunning victory, her performance collapsed.”It feels great, it feels really great,” said the world No. 35, who had won five matches in nine visits here until this year. “I just focused on playing fast and…

Keir Starmer touched upon a number of difficult topics in his first press conference as prime minister, answering questions on prisons, NHS understaffing and the economy.The 20-minute session also gave way to a few lighthearted moments from a politician who has long been accused of lacking pizzazz.He has not yet unpacked or found his way around No 10“I’ve got a basic understanding of the rooms I’ve used so far here, and that’s good, but there are plenty of hidden places I’ve yet to discover,” Starmer said. “We are not unpacked quite yet, but we will be soon and we’ll be…

Harriet Dart said she had “only myself to blame” after her shock third-round loss to China’s Wang Xinyu on Court Two. Defeated by herself as many times as by her opponents. She led all three sets and led 3-0 in the third, but then lost six straight games, losing 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.Reaching the second week of a Grand Slam is Dart’s stated goal in 2024, and this loss will hurt her even more because she is so close to that goal. “It’s heartbreaking to be up two sets and lose the match,” Dart said. “I had a lot of chances…

Joe Biden’s doctor met with a leading Washington DC neurologist at the White House this year, it was reported on Saturday.The report came after Biden on Friday ruled out taking an independent cognitive test and releasing its findings publicly, in an interview with ABC News arranged following his disastrous performance in last week’s presidential TV debate with Donald Trump.According White House visitor logs reviewed by the New York Post, Dr Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s disease expert at Walter Reed medical center, met with Dr Kevin O’Connor, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who has treated the president for years.The visit took…

Rosewall honoredEvery year, Tennis Australia rents a house near the All England Club for its two-week tournament. It’s also home to the First Friday Aussie BBQ, where many of the country’s legends come together to celebrate one of their team’s many achievements. This year, the focus is on Ken Rosewall. The Sydney native, who turns 90 in November, is an eight-time Grand Slam winner who has never won Wimbledon, but it is 70 years since he reached his first final here and his last It’s been 50 years since the final (which he reached at the age of 39).Morozova backSpeaking…

I am not usually one to offer diagnoses of people I’ve never met, but it does seem like the pundit class of the American media is suffering from severe memory loss. Because they’re doing exactly what they did in the 2016 presidential race – providing wildly asymmetrical and inflammatory coverage of the one candidate running against Donald J Trump.They have become a stampeding herd producing an avalanche of stories suggesting Biden is unfit, will lose, and should go away, at a point in the campaign in which replacing him would likely be somewhere between extremely difficult and utterly catastrophic. They…

Andy Murray played his final Wimbledon match after Emma Raducanu announced she was withdrawing from the mixed doubles due to a right wrist problem.The pair were due to meet in the first round on Saturday night, but Raducanu said in a statement that she withdrew to protect herself from injury.quick guideHow do I sign up for sports breaking news alerts?exhibitDownload the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for “The Guardian.”If you already have the Guardian app installed, make sure you’re using the latest version.In the Guardian app, click…

I had an idea of London inside my head from English films. Every film made in London was art, but from Hollywood it was junk. I was an arrogant teen!” says a smiling Ron Arad of his decision to leave Tel Aviv and move to London in 1973, at the age of 22.Arad, who studied architecture, under pressure from his mother, at the Architectural Association school in London, is sporting his trademark round felt hat. He is sitting on a curvaceous Victoria & Albert crimson sofa, one of his own pieces, created for the Italian furniture brand Moroso, in the…

England limped out of the final Test of the tour of New Zealand with a foot injury in Saturday’s 16-15 defeat and it appears England will miss the match. They also admitted they missed a vital chance to beat the All Blacks on New Zealand soil for the first time since 2003.Steve Borthwick revealed the experienced Mahler will need scans on the injury but early signs are not encouraging. “To have someone as strong as Joe come off the field obviously means it’s not just a minor injury – it’s not just a bruise,” he said. “We don’t know the…