Mauricio Pochettino’s team clinched their place in the knockout round as they beat the Socceroos in Seattle

The atmosphere here at Lumen Field (excuse me, Seattle Stadium, how dare I) is positively electric a full 30 minutes before kickoff. This was predictable — the stadium has a well-earned reputation for being among the loudest in the United States — but it is still a sight to behold. The place is nearly full, and there are no shortage of Aussie fans as well, very prominently sat behind the goal at the south end of the stadium. Truly incredible atmosphere.

Pre-anthem mailbag

Goalscorer Alex Freeman was the pick of the bunch for the co-hosts while Connor Metcalfe’s performance off the bench gave the Socceroos some cheer

Matt Freese Tested even less than he had been against Paraguay, though some timidness about leaving his line to sweep and claim crosses projects worrying command of his area. 6

Soccer won. That much could have been predicted before a temperate and bright Friday afternoon in the Pacific north-west, in a rare match between two sides that can agree on that terminology.

The manner of play, too, had been predicted by the players and coaches of both teams: a tight, competitive match of football (or whatever you want to call it), with a 2-0 win for the United States delighting the vast majority of the 66,925-strong sellout crowd and securing the host nation’s place in the knockout round.

Working at a tournament brings its own demands but nothing like the pressure on home players for a good showing

Greetings from Los Angeles – from your own podcasting correspondent. England aside, it’s been 20 years since I was in the host country for a major tournament. Professional commitments make this a marginally different experience from driving around Germany with Ian, Matt and Oli in 2006 just wondering when the next stein was going to be thrust into my hands – dancing with Trinidad and Tobago fans, feeling lucky to miss out on Brazil v Australia tickets because my hangover was too much for the sun.

The question you are asked most by people back home is along the lines of: “Is there World Cup fever in the States?” I am reminded of a local TV crew who walked around central Cambridge on the eve of our FA Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace in 1990 asking people how they felt about the game, and being rewarded with lots of nice middle-class people who didn’t even know there was a football team in Cambridge.

Age verification means that the sector’s biggest players will now have access to information that will only make them richer and more powerful

This week, the UK announced a wide-ranging ban on social media that will soon block users from communicating or accessing information on apps such as X, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat unless they prove that they’re over the age of 16.

The prime minister, Keir Starmer, called the policy “a line in the sand”. “Tech giants had their chance and failed,” he said, “but we’re stepping in to protect children, back parents and set a new normal for future generations.” All internet users, especially children, should be protected from exploitative systems online, but this new law will only foster more harm and help the largest and most powerful tech companies consolidate power and influence over everyone’s lives.

Taylor Lorenz is a technology journalist who writes the newsletter User Mag and is the author of the bestselling book Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet

Guardian readers in the US share concerns about how the SpaceX IPO and AI boom affect their retirement accounts

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire last week after SpaceX debuted on the stock market with a valuation of $1.77tn.

Millions of Americans could soon become indirect investors in SpaceX and other emerging AI-focused companies as US markets increasingly shift toward AI-driven investments.

Ukrainian strikes on a Moscow oil refinery, protests at the G7 summit, wildfires in Spain and Messi at the World Cup – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Warning: this gallery contains images some readers may find distressing

US-Iran meeting in Switzerland on implementation of peace deal cancelled over clashes in southern Lebanon

• Middle East crisis – live updates

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict.

A meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday between Washington and Tehran in Switzerland to discuss implementation of the new deal was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.

This live blog is now closed.

• Israel and Hezbollah agree to renew ceasefire after flareup of violence

Inside the city of grief hit hardest by Israel strikes on southern Lebanon

As the procession wound its way through mounds of rubble, the crowd chanted and beat their chests, their lamentations echoed by the dull thud of shelling in the foothills just beyond the city.

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here:

• Cabinet loyalists tell PM he has weekend to set out timetable for exit

• ‘Now is the change moment’: Burnham staff have no doubts

• Podcast: will Burnham become prime minister?

• What would ‘change’ look like if Burnham becomes PM?

David Blunkett, the former Labour cabinet minister, has suggested that Keir Starmer should stand down after the Makerfield byelection.

In an interview on the BBC’s Newsnight, Blunkett suggested that Starmer standing aside would be the best option for the party regardless of whether Andy Burnham wins tonight or loses.

Ensuring fair compensation for those affected by legacies of enslavement and measures to address debt burdens, part of 18-point strategic roadmap

More than money: the logic of slavery reparations

A global framework for reparatory justice has been adopted at a conference in Ghana.

Heads of state and government and other officials formally approved the strategy on Friday at a gathering in a hotel in the capital, Accra, which was the first major meeting since the adoption of the landmark United Nations (UN) resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.

Amid UK government proposals for a ban, experts discuss what other activities might really serve children well

When a Lancashire schoolgirl was asked what she would do if the proposed social media ban for under-16s came into effect, her answer hit a national nerve: “Stare at a wall,” she deadpanned.

The clip went viral, not least because it distilled a question many parents have been asking themselves about the consequences of the government’s proposed social media ban.

Judge finds public interest outweighs privacy rights in request made by staffer at Heritage Foundation

A federal judge on Friday rejected Joe Biden’s attempt to block the Trump administration from releasing to a conservative group the recordings that Biden made with a ghostwriter.

The US district judge Dabney Friedrich found that the public interest in the material outweighed whatever privacy rights Biden had.

Book also details Trump’s ‘enthralled’ reaction to pictures of injuries caused by Israeli pager attack on Hezbollah

Donald Trump declared he would not go to war with Iran last year, according to a new book, which claims he told Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk: “We’re not doing that.”

The US president is said to have provided the assurance during an Oval Office meeting with rightwing commentator Carlson and SpaceX CEO Musk – the world’s richest person, who recently became its first trillionaire – early last year.