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Visual Chronicle of Arne Slot’s Liverpool JourneyThe Guardian assembled a curated collection of photographs that map the arc of Arne Slot’s Liverpool career, from his inaugural press conference to his final matchday. Each image serves as a visual timestamp, capturing the atmosphere in the dressing room, the intensity on the pitch, and the reactions of supporters.Key Milestones Captured in the GalleryFirst win that broke the early‑season slump, sparking a brief resurgence.Signature tactical shift to a high‑pressing 4‑3‑3 that produced a string of clean‑sheet victories.Notable defeat against a traditional rival that reignited criticism of the side’s defensive organization.Season‑ending cup final appearance, marking the deepest run in a major tournament under Slot.Financial and Competitive Implications of Slot’s TenureTransfer window activity saw a net spend of approximately £85 million, reflecting Slot’s emphasis on youthful acquisitions.Merchandise sales surged by 12 % following the early‑season winning streak, before stabilising.League position fluctuated between 3rd and 7th, influencing prize‑money distribution and broadcasting revenue.Repercussions for Liverpool’s Strategic DirectionSlot’s blend of attacking flair and occasional defensive frailties prompted the club’s hierarchy to reassess long‑term recruitment and coaching philosophies. The visual narrative underscores a shift toward a more progressive playing style, while also highlighting the need for greater squad depth to sustain challenges on multiple fronts.Outlook for Liverpool Post‑Slot EraWith Slot’s departure now a focal point, Liverpool faces a crossroads: whether to double‑down on the tactical framework he introduced or revert to a more conservative approach. The images suggest a fan base that remains divided but hopeful, setting the stage for a pivotal appointment that could define the club’s trajectory for the next decade.

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The Lead: This Week's Entertainment HighlightsThis week's entertainment landscape offers a diverse array of critically acclaimed shows and films, from hilarious comedies to chilling horror. Channel 4's "Make That Movie" stands out as one of the funniest shows of the year, while Netflix's "The Four Seasons" returns with a brilliant second season. Horror fans can explore the disturbing world of "Backrooms," while Marvel offers a stylish take with "Spider-Noir."TV Comedy Gold: Make That MovieChannel 4Summed up in a sentence Last One Laughing finalist delivers one of the funniest shows of the year, with this mockumentary about a director who makes awful films.What our reviewer said "So ostentatiously silly that it deserves to be paraded around the streets." Stuart HeritageRead the full reviewFurther reading "People are like: you're a crackpot": how Sam Campbell became comedy's oddball superstarNetflix Triumph: The Four Seasons ReturnsNetflixSummed up in a sentence Tina Fey triumphs again with the return of this comedy about a group of middle-aged friends who reunite during holidays throughout the year.What our reviewer said "Even more perspicacious, poignant and hilarious than the first." Chitra RamaswamyRead the full reviewMarvel's Stylish Take: Spider-NoirPrime VideoSummed up in a sentence In Marvel's witty homage to the hard-boiled films and fictions of the 40s – which can be watched in colour or black-and-white – Nicolas Cage plays Ben Reilly, who gave up being superhero "the Spider" five years ago.What our reviewer said "Everything is shot with style and confidence." Lucy ManganRead the full reviewFurther reading The life of PIs: the strange case of 2026's resurgence of hard-boiled detectivesHidden Gem: PoniesNow/Sky AtlanticSummed up in a sentence Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson have heaps of fun as two widows who become cold war spies in this espionage comedy-drama.What our reviewer said "It's a mashup of genres and tropes, but it is its own thing too – and an unexpected treat at that." Lucy ManganRead the full reviewHorror Innovation: BackroomsIn cinemas nowSummed up in a sentence A debut from 20-year-old director Kane Parsons that examines memory, reality and fear in an icily disturbing horror, in which Chiwetel Ejiofor accesses an infinite series of hidden rooms that all feel creepily askew.What our reviewer said "Backrooms progressively raises its game towards the big finish with jump scares, squirm scares and tiny shiver scares. There is real fascination in exploring this vast, invisible city state of fear." Peter BradshawRead the full reviewFurther reading Are you sitting uncomfortably? How Backrooms upended the horror movieMusic and Bromance: Power BalladIn cinemas nowSummed up in a sentence Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd star in a comedy of bromance and betrayal from Irish writer-director John Carney that brilliantly brings together Rudd's washed-up wedding singer and Jonas's insecure ex-boyband superstar.What our reviewer said "Power Ballad is about making it and dreaming big, about every busker never giving up on hopes of one day being mega. But as so often with Carney, it's about something else, usually left unacknowledged in movies about music or any sort of show business: the terrible binary of success and failure." Peter BradshawRead the full reviewUnexpected Pairing: TunerIn cinemas nowSummed up in a sentence Playing a piano tuner with super-sensitive hearing, Leo Woodall's relationship with Dustin Hoffman is a tender highlight in this safe-cracking thriller.What our reviewer said "What a pair they are; they are a real pleasure to watch in an easy, unforced drama that mixes romcom moments with a relaxed crime thriller. It's like the Safdie brothers in chill-out mode." Cath Clarke

Why Fans Are the Smart Summer Cooling ChoiceThe Guardian’s award‑winning tech journalist measured 16 fans and several evaporative coolers to see how they perform against a typical portable air‑conditioner that draws 1,000W (about 26p per hour). Fans in the test consumed between 8W and 60W, delivering a far lower electricity bill and carbon footprint while still moving enough air to make a noticeable temperature drop.Power Consumption Numbers Show Fans Beat Air‑ConditionersAirCraft Lume – 18W on top setting; could run 56 hours for the cost of one hour of air‑con.Dreo TurboCool misting fan 765S – 22W, best overall cooling performance.Devola desk fan – 12W, cheapest at £64.99.Shark FlexBreeze Pro Mist – 30W, premium misting option at £249.99.Swan Nordic evaporative cooler – 15W, lowest‑energy water‑based cooler at £69.Cooling Comfort Meets Carbon Savings for UK HouseholdsRunning a fan instead of an air‑conditioner can cut summer electricity use by up to 95 %, translating into lower bills and reduced greenhouse‑gas emissions. For a typical UK home, swapping a 1,000W air‑con for an 18W fan saves roughly £23 per month and avoids about 0.12 tCO₂ of emissions.What’s Next for Home Cooling in a Warming Climate?As heatwaves become more frequent, manufacturers are likely to focus on quieter, smarter fans with integrated sensors that adjust speed automatically. Expect more hybrid designs that combine low‑energy misting with airflow optimisation, giving consumers a wider menu of carbon‑friendly cooling solutions.

The British Solving Championship: An Opportunity for Chess Enthusiasts This week’s puzzle is a chance to enter an annual national competition in which Guardian readers ­traditionally perform well and in ­considerable numbers. White in the diagram, ­playing as usual up the board, is to play and checkmate in two moves, against any black defence. The Event Details The puzzle is the first stage of the annual Winton British Solving Championship, organised by the British Chess Problem Society and sponsored by the investment ­managers ­Winton. This competition is only open to ­British ­residents and entry is free. To take part, simply send White’s first move by post to Nigel Dennis, Boundary House, 230 Greys Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1QY, or by email to [email protected]. Entry Requirements and Deadline All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than 31 July 2026. Entrants must provide their name and home address. Juniors under 18 on 31 August 2025 must also give their date of birth. The Competition Structure The best 15-20 players from the postal round, plus the best juniors, will be invited to the final at Harrow school on Saturday 13 February 2027, where the prize money is expected to be at least £1,600. The winner of the final will have the right to represent Great Britain at the 2027 world ­solving championships, an event where GB are often medal contenders. A Note on Chess and Professionals Back in the 1950s most top English players were amateurs, often civil servants or teachers, who competed in tournaments during their vacations. After the 1970s Fischer boom and English successes brought an influx of sponsors, chess professionals could earn a decent living, but the tide turned again during the 1990s. The breakup of the Soviet Union brought harder international competition, while Nigel Short’s world title defeat and the move to screen rather than print marketing drove sponsors away. A New Grandmaster: Harry Grieve Harry Grieve became England’s latest grandmaster on Tuesday when the 25-year-old, who was British champion in 2022 and helped CSC/Kingston finish second in this season’s UK 4NCL League, won first prize in Budapest with a 7/9 total.

The Masterpiece of John Woo The title of this 1990 John Woo extravaganza might lead the uninitiated to expect a chillingly focused, targeted assassination. Actually, there are innumerable bullets and innumerable heads in this over-the-top gonzo spectacle. It is a crime thriller, a wartime action film set in Vietnam, but it offers something other than the usual Hollywood perspective; it is a parable of greed comparable to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and even a kind of romantic melodrama. The Symbolic Bullet There is, however, one key bullet in a head, a literal bullet lodged in the skull of someone who achieves a macabre zombie-like semi-survival, the bullet being symbolic of the way violence takes root in the brain, dehumanising its victim. The final “boardroom” scene disclosing this image is toweringly mad and strange. Yet in this movie, as in so many other Woo films, we can see how the director counterintuitively uses sad music – harmonica, woodwind – over grisly, brutal action sequences, as if what he wants us to register is not the violence or the shock but just how poignantly futile and pathetic it all is. The Plot Unfolds The setting is – initially – late 60s Hong Kong; Tony Leung plays Ben, a young guy getting married to his sweetheart Jane (Fennie Yuen), and on hand are his buddies Frank (Jacky Cheung) and Paul (Waise Lee). This trio are involved in a gang war with a rival mob who corner Frank when he has gone to get cash from the local moneylender to pay for the wedding. The confrontation ends in violence and, simply to get away and avoid the heat – Woo has a cameo as a police inspector – the three guys accept a crooked job from a local gang boss smuggling contraband pharmaceuticals in Vietnam. The Climax In Saigon, all their plans explode in pure anarchy; they are at first arrested under suspicion of working for the Vietcong, then upgrade their strategy to cynical arms smuggling for the North Vietnamese, and stealing the gold belonging to the local wiseguy who was supposed to be distributing their drugs. They make contact with a worldly fixer called Luke (Simon Yam), who has a Catherine Deneuve poster in his apartment, and also gallantly undertake to rescue a Hong Kong singer Sally (Yolinda Yam), who has been trafficked to Vietnam to sell sex. They end up on the spectacular field of battle itself (with helicopters, explosions, burning villages), where Paul, increasingly obsessed with the gold, finds himself at a key moment at mortal risk of detection if he cannot keep the wounded Frank quiet, whose cries of pain might alert the enemy to their position. The Legacy It’s an extraordinary, uninhibited barnstormer from Woo, who takes us from regular, domestic crime to military chaos with confidence and sweep. One moment, in which someone stands in front of a tank, even appears to echo the Tiananmen Square protests. No one else could have made it. The Release Bullet in the Head is in UK cinemas from 1 June, and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from 22 June.

The Guardian’s review of Pressure argues that the film’s competent cast cannot overcome a thin script and a repetitive structure, leaving it destined for a modest box‑office showing and a quick move to streaming.What “Pressure” Attempts to Capture: A WWII Meteorology ThrillerPressure centers on the final days before the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, dramatizing the clash between chief meteorologist James Stagg (played by Andrew Scott) and American forecaster Irving Krick (Chris Messina). The narrative frames the historic operation as a high‑stakes weather‑forecasting battle, with Brendan Fraser portraying General Dwight Eisenhower, anxiously checking a weather app for the decisive storm.Release Schedule and Market PositioningThe film’s rollout is staggered across key territories, reflecting a modest commercial strategy:29 May 2026 – United States cinemas9 September 2026 – United Kingdom cinemas29 October 2026 – Australian cinemasThese dates suggest a focus on theatrical windows before the film likely migrates to streaming platforms, a path common for mid‑budget historical dramas.Why the Film Falters with Audiences and CriticsAccording to the review, the film’s shortcomings stem from:Repetitive character dynamics that recycle the same confrontations between Eisenhower, Stagg, and Krick.A visual palette dominated by “cool blues” and military‑jacket greens that feels formulaic.Insufficient exploration of the meteorological science that drives the plot, leaving the “nerdy” aspect under‑developed.Attempts to broaden scope with invasion montages that clash with the intended “pressure‑cooker” intimacy.While performances from Scott and Fraser are praised—Scott’s “gentle seething” and Fraser’s “fun” portrayal—their work is constrained by the script’s limited depth.Outlook: Streaming Prospects and LegacyThe review predicts that Pressure will likely enjoy a brief theatrical presence before becoming “arm‑chair nap material” on streaming services. Its niche appeal to “weather dads” and “history dads” may generate modest viewership, but the film is unlikely to achieve lasting cultural impact or become a reference point for WWII cinema.

The LeadSimon Rogers, Google's data editor, presents a fascinating exploration of human curiosity through the lens of search queries in his book 'What We Ask Google.' The compilation of anonymized search data from 2004 to the present offers a unique mirror into our collective concerns, from parenting questions to existential queries, though the review suggests the book presents a somewhat rose-tinted view of technology's role in our lives.The Book OverviewRogers, a former Guardian journalist who joined Google in 2015, organizes the search data into themed chapters that blend statistics with personal anecdotes. The book traces search trends back to 2004, when internet access was limited to less than half of UK households. Rogers posits that our search queries reveal something 'real and deep and meaningful about who we are as humans,' arguing that even brief searches indicate genuine care and concern.The Data InsightsThe book reveals intriguing patterns in human search behavior. Parenting-related queries like 'Why do babies get hiccups?' and 'How to tell kids about divorce?' appear frequently. Notably, in early 2023, searches for 'take care of parents' surpassed 'take care of kids,' reflecting the demographic pressures on the sandwich generation. The data also highlights geographical peculiarities, such as Austrians, Nigerians, and Canadians most frequently asking about back pain at night, and Americans in Kansas struggling to spell 'chaos' while their Missouri neighbors are stumped by 'unconscious.'The Critical PerspectiveThe review identifies significant limitations in Rogers' approach. As a 'company man' who joined Google from Twitter, the book presents an overly optimistic view of the internet and Google's role in society. There's minimal acknowledgment of the AI revolution's impact on search behavior and its consequences for content creators. The book also avoids addressing darker aspects of human nature reflected in search histories, political influences like Donald Trump, and how big tech may actually amplify parenting anxieties rather than alleviate them.The Cultural ImpactDespite its limitations, the book offers a diverting window into collective curiosity. It demonstrates how our search habits reflect societal concerns, from the practical ('How to fold a burrito') to the profound ('How often can you donate plasma?'). The reviewer notes that Rogers interprets this latter query as evidence of altruism rather than recognizing it as a symptom of US healthcare inequities. The book ultimately serves as an interesting, if selective, cultural artifact that captures our digital age's peculiarities and preoccupations, even if it doesn't fully confront the complexities of our relationship with technology.

The Escalation of the Farage Security ScandalLabour Chair Anna Turley has formally intervened to report the alleged hacking of Nigel Farage’s phone to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Metropolitan Police. This move comes after Reform UK failed to initiate an official investigation into claims that Russian actors accessed Farage’s communications, leading to the leak of a £5m donation story.Forensic Analysis and Alleged Russian InvolvementReform UK claims Farage’s phone was compromised via a "spear phishing" attack by actors linked to Moscow. Farage submitted his device for forensic analysis by counter-espionage experts, who reportedly concluded the breach was state-sponsored. The party suggests the Guardian’s reporting on the donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne originated from this breach.Method of Attack: Spear phishing identified by counter-espionage experts.Alleged Source: Actors linked to Moscow.Party Response: Reform stated the matter has been reported to authorities but declined to specify which agencies.Financial Scrutiny and Taxation RisksThe financial implications of the alleged hack are significant, centering on a £5m donation that Farage failed to declare before entering parliament. Labour MPs have written to HMRC urging an examination of whether Farage owes tax on the gift, which he initially claimed was for security costs before calling it a "reward" for Brexit campaigning.Political Fallout and the "Russia Card"The incident has triggered a sharp political war of words. Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative party chair, criticized Farage for "playing the Russia card" to deflect attention from legitimate scrutiny of his financial affairs. The Guardian dismissed the hack claims as an "attempt to deflect attention," while Labour emphasized the crime's impact on national security and democratic integrity.Implications for British Democracy and CybersecurityThis case highlights the increasing vulnerability of UK political figures to state-sponsored cyber-espionage. As political parties increasingly rely on digital communications, the politicization of cybersecurity investigations—where parties may delay reporting hacks until convenient—poses a significant threat to public trust in the integrity of British politics.