Author: Liam Porter

The 2025 Women’s European Championship is off and running. Let’s catch you up on what’s happening, what you’ve missed and what’s still to come.We will update this file throughout each matchday with the latest reporting, analysis and fun from the competition.The lead: Spain steamroll Portugal on tragic day in the sportBERN, Switzerland — World champions Spain were as hot as the blazing temperatures at Stadion Wankdorf on Thursday as they took down a Portugal side mourning the death of Diogo Jota earlier in the day.Alexia Putellas and Vicky López — filling in for Aitana Bonmatí, who was only fit enough…

Tabby WilsonBBC News Digital – WorldGetty ImagesAfghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Russia’s ambassador on ThursdayRussia has become the first country to formally recognise Taliban rule, with Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi calling it a “courageous” decision.He met Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul on Thursday, where Mr Zhirnov officially conveyed his government’s decision to recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.Muttaqi said it was “a new phase of positive relations, mutual respect, and constructive engagement”, and that the shift would serve as “an example” to other countries.The Taliban have sought international recognition and investment since…

Sam FrancisPolitical reporterWatch: PM says he understands what President Trump cares aboutSir Keir Starmer has said he “understands what anchors” US President Donald Trump, having built a relationship on shared family values.Despite “different political backgrounds” the prime minister said he found common ground with Trump, and that their “good personal relationship” helped land a vital US tariff deal.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking programme, Sir Keir revealed Trump reached out to console him after the death of his younger brother Nick Starmer on Boxing Day.”For both of us, we really care about family and there’s a point of connection…

When I left my family home to study at university in 2007 and moved to downtown Budapest, housing costs were hardly a topic of conversation among my friends. I rented rooms in centrally located flats for £80-£100 per month. Fast forward to 2025 and a similar room in a shared flat would set you back at least £200 – double the price of 15 years ago. Talk to anyone in their 20s in Budapest today, and the deepening housing crisis will inevitably come up as one of the defining struggles of their lives.The statistics paint an equally grim picture. Between…

You got into Y Combinator, raised $20 million from a16z, and then exited to Meta? That’s cool, I guess. But did Soham Parekh apply to work at your startup? There is now a new badge of honor for startup founders: your proximity to one previously unknown Indian software engineer named Soham Parekh. The Anna Delvey of Silicon Valley was outed on Wednesday when former Mixpanel CEO Suhail Doshi posted on X to warn fellow founders about Parekh. “PSA: there’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He’s been preying on YC…

In retrospect it all seems so obvious. Form a band, plunder the Beatles’ back catalogue for riffs, guitar tabs, chord changes and song structures, then bang it out in a key that a stadium crowd could put their lungs into but which suited the subway busker, too.The resulting success now looks so inevitable. In 1994, dance music flooded the UK charts but not everyone thought a rave DJ wearing oversized headphones and playing records counted as a gig. Some people – a vast number, it turned out – still yearned for meat-and-two-veg pop-rock with guitars and drums, and for songs…

“This collection was primarily about romance for us. Not just in the classic sense, like in a romantic relationship, but also much more about the nostalgic romanticization of things you no longer have,” said SF1OG’s Rosa Marga Dahl and Jacob Langemeyer from, while models line up around them. Some of the models wore headbands with arrows attached, a very obvious reference to Cupid, while the other references were much more subtle. SF1OG has remained true to their aesthetic. Very young, very body-conscious, a little dreamy indie-core; they repeatedly fall back on the same slim pants, tailored jackets, and striped sweaters.The…

For years, Christopher Witt took birdwatchers to Holloman Lake in the Chihuahuan desert off the route 70 highway in New Mexico. By mid-morning the sun would beat down as they huddled in the scant shade of the van. There were no trees other than a collection of salt cedars on the lake’s north shore. But the discomfort didn’t matter when the peregrine falcons appeared, slicing through the sky. “It was hard to leave that place,” says Witt.The lake – created in 1965 as part of a system of wastewater catchment ponds for Holloman air force base – is an unlikely…

Enzo Maresca said that he will let Pedro Neto decide if he is ready to face Palmeiras after Chelsea excused the winger from training following the death of his friend and international teammate Diogo Jota.Neto played with Jota at Wolverhampton Wanderers and won the Uefa Nations League alongside the Liverpool and Portugal forward last month.The mood was sombre at Chelsea’s training camp as they prepared to face Palmeiras in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup on Friday. Neto was given permission to miss the session and Maresca was unsure if Neto will be in the right frame of mind…

A wildfire in central California’s wilderness rapidly expanded Thursday as hot, dry conditions heightened fire risks ahead of July Fourth. The Madre Fire, now the state’s largest this year, scorched over 82 square miles (212 sq km) in San Luis Obispo County since Wednesday. Containment remained at just 10% by evening.