Politics
Moroccan fans frozen out of the 2026 World Cup after mass US visa refusals
For dozens of Moroccan football fans, the 2026 World Cup was supposed to be another chapter in a long, loyal journey following the Atlas Lions across continents. Instead, it has turned into a financial and emotional blow, as at least 40 supporters were denied US visas despite months of preparation, thousands spent, and a spotless record of following their national team abroad.
The denials have been delivered without clear explanation. They have left fans stranded with match tickets, hotel bookings, and travel plans they can no longer use. For many, the losses run into the tens of thousands of dirhams.
World Cup: everyone saw this coming
The Sports Association of Moroccan National Team Fans, a long‑standing and well‑organized supporters’ group, saw 40 of its 42 applicants rejected. Members had applied from Casablanca, Marrakech, Fès, and Tétouan, expecting routine approvals given their travel history and the nature of their trip.
The group’s head, Azzedine Al Attaraoui, said:
No clear reasons were given for the visa refusals.
We just want to support our national team.
Hespress English reported that:
Al Attaraoui added that several supporters had already booked hotels costing between $400 and $1,000 per night, with some total expenses reaching up to 20,000 MAD covering tickets, visas, travel, and paperwork.
Many of these fans had followed Morocco to Russia in 2018, Qatar in 2022, and even the Paris Olympics but always returning home, always representing the country with pride.
Another group, same story
The Sbouaa (Lions) supporters’ group, who are known for orchestrating the noise, choreography, and atmosphere that have become synonymous with Moroccan fan culture, have faced a similar fate. Nearly 50 of their coordinators applied for visas. Only six were approved.
For a group tasked with organizing thousands of fans inside stadiums, six coordinators is nowhere near enough. They estimate they need at least 30 to recreate the energy seen in Qatar 2022 or the Africa Cup of Nations.
The rejections, they say, were largely issued under Section 214. This is a clause used when consular officers doubt an applicant’s intention to return home. The coordinators insist this makes no sense, they have stable lives in Morocco, long travel histories, and no intention of overstaying.
What stings most is the inconsistency. Moroccan authorities have previously helped facilitate visas for supporters traveling to Chile for the U20 national team. Those visas were issued quickly and efficiently. Fans expected similar cooperation for the World Cup, especially given Morocco’s rising global football profile.
Instead, they find themselves locked out of the tournament they helped energize in previous editions.
Dreams shattered
Behind the numbers are stories of sacrifice. Fans who saved for months. Families who planned entire trips around the World Cup. Supporters who have never missed a major tournament. Coordinators who volunteer their time to create the atmosphere that has made Moroccan fans famous worldwide.
Now, many of them are left with nothing but receipts and disappointment.
This is a real blow to Morocco’s footballing identity. Moroccan supporters have become one of the most celebrated fanbases in world football. Their passion in Qatar was widely praised, and their presence at AFCON tournaments is always felt.
The mass visa refusals threaten to mute that presence at the 2026 World Cup. A tournament where Morocco’s fan culture could have shone again on a global stage.
What can happen
For now, the fans are waiting. Waiting for answers, for intervention, for a solution that might salvage their World Cup dreams. They are calling on FIFA to acknowledge the issue and on Moroccan authorities to advocate on their behalf.
Whether anything changes remains uncertain, but the message from the supporters is clear, they want to be there for their team, as they always have been.
If the situation remains unresolved, the 2026 World Cup may unfold without one of its most vibrant and recognisable fanbases. For the fans, it’s a painful prospect, it’s a loss of energy and support. For the tournament itself, it’s a reminder that football’s global celebration can be derailed by corrupt politicians.
Featured Image courtesy of Francois Nel/Getty Images
By Faz Ali
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has warned that food insecurity is not a distant threat. He says it’s already impacting customers, farmers and workers in the food industry.
In a speech to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union on 8 June, Polanski warned that the UK’s food system is close to collapse. He spoke of pressures from rising temperatures and global instability and called for urgent action to support the UK’s food resilience.
The speech comes as figures from the Autonomy Institute show that UK fruit and veg prices could rise 170% by 2050. And the climate crisis is likely to become the leading driver of fresh produce inflation in the UK.
Speaking at the union’s keynote address, Polanski accused the government of ‘just not getting it’ when it comes to the crisis facing the UK’s food system. And he called for government to produce a real plan to boost UK food production and support customers struggling to afford groceries.
Last week, Green MP Adrian Ramsay challenged ministers in parliament over two suppressed government-commissioned reports warning of serious risks to the UK’s national security, including ecosystem collapse, biodiversity loss, food security and water supplies.
Polanski called for:
- Support for farmers to adapt their practices to a changing climate to make UK crop growing more resilient.
- Stronger regulation of supermarkets to ensure farmers get a fair deal for their produce.
- Free school meals for all primary and secondary pupils to support families struggling to put food on the table.
- A £15/hour minimum wage for all workers to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Polanski added:
Just a couple of weeks ago, we saw the hottest May day ever recorded in the UK. By the beginning of May, the UK had received received 23% less rain than average. The Climate Change Committee warns that within 25 years we could see temperatures above 40°C.
That doesn’t just mean more people getting sick from extreme heat, or more pressure on infrastructure that just isn’t built for these temperatures. As many of you in this room well know, it has terrifying implications for the most fundamental need we all have – food.
And right now, from food growers to customers – and everyone in between – the crisis is already making itself felt.
That’s something you all know well – and it’s time we started listening to you.
Because whether you get up at the crack of dawn to serve pasties to hungry commuters, spend hours rising dough, or work in rain or shine picking fruit – your work is what keeps this country moving.
But all too often, that fact is forgotten. Your work is sneered at, shrugged off, or taken for granted.
Your pay doesn’t match the importance of the work you do – and doesn’t keep up with your rising bills. Your hours get longer, you’re expected to work in increasingly hot or wet conditions, you’re on a precarious contract so you’re scared to take sick leave or have a day off to spend with your kids.
And all the while, when you go to the supermarket to put food on the table, the prices there are rising too – while the farmers that produced it aren’t being paid fairly either.
The system is broken. And under increasing strain from the climate crisis, it’s close to collapse.
Dr Will Stronge, CEO at the Autonomy Institute, said:
We have been cautious in our assumptions – looking only at heatwaves, and only against a stable inflation backdrop. The conclusion is still stark: within fifteen years, climate change will be the biggest single factor driving up the cost of fresh food.
Politicians cannot afford to wait and see. The time to build food resilience into our industrial strategy is now, before the pressures become acute.
Featured image via Jon Rowley / Getty Images
By The Canary
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is a US event at which American Conservatives gather to revel in their own evil. Or it was, anyway. The most recent event was significantly diminished from the conference’s heyday. And as such, it’s no surprise to see the organisers expanding out into new markets:
CONFIRMED SPEAKER: Nigel Farage Leader of Reform UK for CPAC Great Britain, July 16-18, in London, United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/ZblpFJJlxk
— CPAC (@CPAC) June 7, 2026
The question for the UK is this: do we really want some tired, Yank hand-me-down event, or are we going to start being our own country again?
Farage and Yank slop
In days gone by, CPAC hosted scenes such as an allegedly drugged-up Elon Musk brandishing a chainsaw:
This stuff seems ridiculous – and it is – but the freaks in attendance had the time of their lives. The most recent CPAC, however, failed to attract any significant speakers. As Mother Jones reported:
In the days leading up to this week’s opening of CPAC, the nation’s oldest conservative political convention, organizers still seemed to be holding out hope that some brighter MAGA luminary would agree to headline the event. The CPAC app and social media accounts offered a slow drip of news of newly confirmed speakers. There was the HUD secretary, a low-level HHS official, and a Nigerian lawyer who advocates for Christians in his Muslim country. On March 21, CPAC excitedly announced that Todd Chrisley would be joining the lineup.
Who?
Did Mother Jones get to the bottom of who this Todd Chrisley was? The truth is you don’t care, and nor should you, because that’s not the point.
What the downturn tells us is that the American right is in a lull period. They’ve gotten everything they want, and as a result they can’t do their usual thing of railing against the establishment, because the establishment is this now:
Trump appears to be completely passed out asleep during his 3pm Oval Office announcement pic.twitter.com/gKyNjvgZW3
— Headquarters (@HQNewsNow) June 4, 2026
While the US is flagging, however, the British right is on an upswing. And as such, the British CPAC could potentially outshine its progenitor.
And we’re not saying this as a positive.
Speaking out
The list of speakers at CPAC Great Britain include a mixture of Yanks, Brits, and Europeans. The ones you’re likely to have heard of include:
- Liz Truss.
- Nigel Farage.
- Jacob Rees-Mogg.
- Toby Young.
- Mike Graham.
- Matt Goodwin.
- Allison Pearson.
- Dan Wootton.
- Lucy Connolly.
We’re not going to say these are people you’d want to hear speak, but they are at least speakers you’ve heard of. Possibly.
What will they say?
We’re going to predict that the speakers will rattle off the grievance politics we’re used to alongside Yank talking points we’re not. So expect more right-wing Christian nationalism, as well as the need to ban abortion and reintroduce the death penalty.
Basically, this is what the British right are now – a bunch of waiters serving up reheated Yank slop and pretending its Sunday roast dinner.
Featured image via Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)
By Willem Moore
I’ve begun to refer to a junction near my home as “sneeze corner”.
While the pavement outside my flat is shady, the path perpendicular to it is almost always sunny – inevitably, passing from one to the other makes my eyes water and my nose twitch. I usually sneeze about three times afterwards.
It turns out I am not alone, and that I likely have a condition with a (surprisingly cute) name: ACHOO syndrome.
What is ACHOO syndrome?
The name, which stands for Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst, refers to “uncontrollable sneezing in response to the sudden exposure to bright light, typically intense sunlight”, the clinician resource book Medical Genetics Summaries (MGS) explained. It’s also known as photic sneezing.
The Cleveland Clinic said it could happen due to all kinds of sudden bright light, though it’s more common in sunlight.
Those with the condition find that when they go from dark (or shade) into bright light quickly, they can’t help but sneeze.
What are the symptoms of ACHOO syndrome?
The main symptom is sneezing, or wanting to sneeze, when met with sudden light. It’s not the light itself, but the change in intensity from dimmer light to a brighter kind, that appears to trigger the response.
It might also manifest as a “prickling feeling” in your nose.
In fact, MGS said, about 25% of people who already feel that prickling go on to sneeze in sunlight. But ”‘pure’ photic sneezing is far less common,” they added.
Dr Tan Zhibin, an associate consultant at the Department of Neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute, said in some cases, it can lead to over 40 back-to-back sneezes at a time.
Why does ACHOO syndrome happen?
Researchers aren’t really sure.
Genes seem to have something to do with it: if one of your parents has ACHOO syndrome, you have a 50-50 chance of getting it too.
Still, not only has the genetic basis of ACHOO syndrome remained “unknown” to scientists, but the mechanisms behind photic sneezing is a bit of a mystery, too.
Some think it has to do with “over-excitability of the visual cortex in response to light, leading to a stronger activation of the secondary somatosensory areas”.
That means bright light might make the part of the brain that processes sight react a little too strongly, affecting other parts of our mind that deal with physical touch and sensory processing.
Another theory is that there might be a crossed wire between the part of your brain that senses irritants and tells you to sneeze, and the section that tells your eyes’ pupils to constrict in bright light.
How common is ACHOO syndrome?
Again, we’re not sure – but The Cleveland Clinic puts it at anywhere from 18-35% of the population.
Research shows that it may be more common in people who are:
- white, especially women,
- affected by a deviated septum.
Is ACHOO syndrome dangerous?
Not in and of itself. But, like anything that temporarily distracts you, it might have knock-on effects.
One case study documented a 26-year-old whose sudden sneezing was linked to three motor vehicle accidents while he was driving a scooter.
It might also put you at risk if you’re having dental surgery and a dentist shines a bright lamp onto your face. And eye tests can prove tricky, too.
Experts think ACHOO syndrome might also pose risks for high-wire acrobats, some athletes (like baseball players), pilots, and drivers exiting tunnels into bright daylight.
Speaking to the Cleveland Clinic, allergist Dr Dylan Timberlake said: “You certainly wouldn’t want [photic sneezing] to happen when you’re behind the wheel or operating heavy machinery.”
He added it’s probably worth bringing it up with your healthcare providers before they do any procedures, just in case.
This may be especially true if you’re about to undergo eye surgery. Eye injections used to administer anaesthesia to the area might elicit sneezes in people with the syndrome, too, Healthline said.
How can I lower my risk of sneezing in sunlight?
Shielding your eyes from the sun before leaving a dark area and wearing sunglasses or a hat that provides shade might help.
Healthline explained that taking antihistamines might also reduce your risk of photic sneezing if you have seasonal allergies.
But right now, there are no medications or surgeries to target ACHOO syndrome specifically.
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It’s no secret we’re living in a nostalgia economy: from our makeup down to our shoes, there’s a nineties and noughties revival happening.
While there is seemingly a new trend emerging every week, one that’s stuck around for a couple of years now is the jelly shoe.
Yep, those shoes you wore to the beach when you were a kid are back, but this time for adults.
Recently, the internet lost its mind over Chloe’s own jelly design.
But (sobs) not everyone can afford to drop almost £500 on a princess shoe, even if they wanted to.
The good news is, there are plenty of alternatives out there that I predict will become your shoe of the season. From frilled flip flops, to jelly Mary Janes, I’ve rounded up the 11 best jelly shoes to skip through summer.
John C Reilly has admitted he once tried to give Leonardo DiCaprio some advice that would have changed the course of the young actor’s career.
The pair met on the set of the 1993 coming-of-age drama What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, with John going on to collaborate with Paul Thomas Anderson on his movie Boogie Nights.
Before filming got underway, the future Oscar-winning director had hoped to snag Leo for the lead role of Dirk Diggler, after watching him in The Basketball Diaries.
However, the Romeo & Juliet actor had to turn the offer down as he’d already agreed to appear in a little-known indie film you may or may not have heard of… known as Titanic.
During an appearance on Ted Danson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, John recalled: “I knew Leo. I met him when he was 17. And I was like, ‘Give me the assignment, Paul. I’ll get this guy to do your movie. I’ve known him since he’s a kid’.”
He continued: “I was like, ‘Listen, Leo, let me tell you something. That movie Titanic is about a boat that sinks. Everyone knows the boat sinks. No one’s going to give a shit about who’s on the boat’.
“I was like, ’This guy, this director, is going to be one of the most talented film directors going forward, and you should not miss this opportunity.”
Apparently, Leo wasn’t sure on this as his agents had assured him Titanic was about to become “a really big movie”, to which the Step Brothers star replied: “I’m telling you, man. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t give you a bum steer here. It’s about a boat that sinks.”
New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock
Of course, as we all know now, Leo eventually turned down Boogie Nights, recommending his former co-star Mark Wahlberg for the role instead, although he once claimed that not doing the film was his “biggest regret”.
All’s well that ends well, though – and he did finally get to work with Paul Thomas Anderson on 2025’s One Battle After Another, which was awarded Best Picture at this year’s Oscars.
On 1 June, the Starmer government banned streamer Hasan Piker from entering the UK. He blamed the ban on his criticism of Israel. And since then, he’s had ample opportunities to discuss his position with the British media.
The most recent example of this happened on 7 June with LBC host Lewis Goodall:
I started to construct a precise argument against Lewis Goodall's position here. But all that needs saying is: The only Jewish state is behaving like the Nazis. It is Israel's genocidal behaviour that is the problem, not the people making such comparisons. https://t.co/FYaLCEFSKq
— Heather Mendick (@helensclegel) June 7, 2026
Piker accused of being ‘crass and offensive’
The above conversation played out as follows:
Lewis Goodall: Do you think it might ever be better sometimes just to never compare any Jews to Nazis? It might just be wise to do that.
It’s important to note that Piker didn’t compare Jews in general to the Nazis; he compared the Israeli government and its backers to them, and he did so because of their documented:
Hasan Piker: Oh no, no, I don’t, I’m not so precious about that comparison and I’ve actually had-
Lewis Goodall: Maybe that’s easy for you to say as a non-Jewish person.
Hasan Piker: Oh for sure. At the end of the day it’s a genocide. At the end of the day, this is an apartheid state, and Zionism as an ideology is a racist ideology. And many Jewish thinkers are now also coming to terms with that, even if they had self-identified as Zionists their entire lives.
Lewis Goodall: So you would compare what’s happened in Gaza to the Holocaust?
Hasan Piker: It’s not to the same extent, no, but I have compared it to the Holocaust, yes.
Lewis Goodall: But it’s not the Holocaust, is it, Hasan?
The clip excludes Piker’s response, skipping to the following from Goodall:
I think the thing about you is you speak compellingly about many things, but you undermine your case and you open yourself to the accusation, which might not be unreasonable, of antisemitism.
It then skips to this:
My suggestion to you would be that it is crass and offensive to compare the only Israeli… Jewish state in the world. And we should, of course, be careful of eliding Israel and Judaism, of course, but it is the only Jewish state in the world, mainly comprised of Jews, comparing them to Nazis, given that Nazis literally tried to exterminate this entire race and came very close to succeeding.
The Nazis also tried to exterminate the Soviets, killing 27 million individuals, including 19 million civilians and 3.6 million prisoners of war. Should we not compare Putin to Hitler despite him literally annexing a neighbouring country?
This is what a comparison is – an act of saying ‘this thing is like another thing‘; not ‘these two things are identical‘.
Goodall’s comments are reminiscent of the meme which goes ‘yeah, I may be racist, but you were mean, and that’s worse‘:
This is a childish way of framing the issue, of course, but is it any more grossly simplistic than Goodall’s insistence of prioritising manners over human lives?
Roundly panned
Criticisms of Goodall included the following:
Kudos to @hasanthehun for managing to remain calm in front of an honestly unrecognizably and uncharacteristically angry @lewis_goodall as he goes through every single tired pro-Israel talking point, to the point of low-key justifying the UK ban, and tbh putting words in his mouth https://t.co/sWwRiBEtal
— Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) June 7, 2026
Lewis Goodall is a classic British imperialist. He feels sympathy with colonised peoples, like the Irish, or the Palestinians, as long as they are passive victims.
But as soon as they pick up arms to actually defend themselves and challenge their oppression, he despises them. https://t.co/JBt09CKXow
— Harry Pettit
(@HarrygPettit) June 7, 2026
Journalist Glenn Greenwald said:
There’s nothing “offensive” about comparing the actions and mentality of Israel to those of the Nazis. What is offensive is demanding that one country and only it — Israel — be exempt from those comparisons because it hurts people’s feelings, or because it seems “bigoted” to compare them.
The whole point of the Nuremberg Trials was that the precedents set there would only have meaning — i.e., be something beyond mere “victor’s justice” — if those principles applied to the actions of **all countries** in the future. Israel doesn’t have some special, unique exemption from the imperative.
Some criticised LBC for cutting out Piker’s response (something which was obvious in the transcribed clip above):
hey @LBC why did you interview hasan if you're going to cut out all his answers? what was the point of having a conversation if many of his answers wouldn't be heard? pic.twitter.com/yfec4VjxM6
— palki
(@themeasuredtake) June 7, 2026
Goodall justified the edits as follows:
What? We played 30 mins on the radio and put the full thing out on YouTube. There was an edited social clip but we’ve put tonnes out from the interview. It was a great conversation.
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) June 7, 2026
This shouldn’t need explaining, but people are more likely to see the clips than the full video. Therefore, the clips should not be selectively edited to remove the responses to the questions being asked.
Many accused Goodall of ‘defending Israel’ in how he presented his arguments:
Wild that Lewis repeats the lie that Hamas executes gay people, only to wheel it back to a ten year prison sentence after being challenged. Like, why lie lmao. How long it’s been and how ignorant commentariat is of the reality is staggering. https://t.co/eCnkk0zqvr
— Chłoddy (@OfSymbols) June 7, 2026
Completely inaccurate tropes used here. I’m assuming “thrown off a bridge” is a variation on the bad-faith “thrown off buildings” accusation you hear about the Muslim world when, in reality, it was ISIS that did this. It has happened nowhere else. pic.twitter.com/yL1Kgceqw5
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) June 7, 2026
"BECAUSE ISRAEL HAS DONE AN OCTOBER 7 A THOUSAND TIMES OVER TO THE PALESTINIAN POPULATION" – @hasanthehun stands by his stance that he would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time. Also Lewis Goodall saying he's not defending Israel when he literally is defending Israel. — adri ♡ (@socialistadri) June 7, 2026
pic.twitter.com/nVbY7Ifq5o
Unarguably, by pushing Israeli talking points, he is in fact defending Israel. And you could say he has good reason to do so.
Goodall’s wife works for the Tony Blair Institute, and Blair himself was recently in the running to become the ‘viceroy of Palestine‘. We’re not saying Goodall is working to subvert the Palestinian liberation movement so that his wife can get a promotion, but we are saying people should be aware of this connection.
Admittedly, it would be difficult for news channels to announce all of their conflicts of interest up front. There are so many in the British establishment that there’d be no time for the news.
Very easy to hate your Stephen Pollards and your Sarah Vines but ultimately they're on the same intellectual level as Tommy Robinson supporters and can't help themselves. It's people like Lewis who are smart enough to know exactly what they're doing who I truly despise https://t.co/sRiZO7wF3h
— hen (@afterwayafter) June 7, 2026
To end on a positive note (of sorts):
Nothing has exposed the British public to @hasanthehun’s ideas like @ShabanaMahmood banning him from a pretty normie tech conference and a debate society he already did last year. Instead, he got GB News, Piers Morgan, The Times, and LBC Well done! Excellent strategizing!
— Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) June 7, 2026
“Spirited and good”
Goodall described the broader conversation as follows:
Have you watched the full interview? It was a spirited and good conversation. And I’ve spoken out saying I think the ban is outrageous.
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) June 8, 2026
Piker himself agreed with this interpretation:
i think this was an interesting conversation, kind liberals cont to make optics arguments that center the feelings of ppl w sympathies to the state that has conducted industrial mass slaughter & maintains an apartheid. the purpose of holocaust scholarship is to never let it… https://t.co/MhKjjQGNM9
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) June 7, 2026
Of course, the fact that the debate was overall “spirited and good” doesn’t exclude Goodall from criticism. You could say the Titanic was a very “spirited and good” voyage besides the bit that wasn’t, but that wouldn’t accurately convey what happened, would it?
It’s ultimately worth remembering that the British media doesn’t exist to accurately convey events; it exists to convey just enough information to create a narrative. You could compare them to the propaganda wing of another regime for that, but doing so would be “crass and offensive”.
Featured image via LBC
By Willem Moore
Retailer Sainsbury’s has pledged to stop selling brown eggs under their own brand as part of their sustainability program, moving to white-shelled versions instead.
The second-largest UK supermarket chain cited animal welfare and carbon emissions when announcing the decision.
But why don’t white and brown eggs have the same environmental impact, and why are eggshells different colours to begin with?
Why are brown eggs worse for the environment?
An assessment by SAC Consulting for Sainsbury’s found that brown eggs have a 12.7% higher carbon footprint than white eggs, as the hens that produce brown eggs are larger and eat more food.
Sainsbury’s said the change would therefore “indirectly reduce demand on land and water used to grow feed crops, as well as the amount of manure produced” by the chickens.
Chicken manure emits greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide as well as ammonia, which can have “detrimental impacts on the environment and… animal and human health”, per Aberystwyth University’s Farming Connect.
“White‑feathered hens typically live longer, eat less feed and lay eggs for longer, cutting carbon emissions by over 12 per cent compared with hens that lay brown eggs,” the supermarket continued.
Sainsbury’s also says that the breeds which produce brown eggs are more likely to experience feather pecking (a stressful and sometimes dangerous process in which birds peck the feathers of other birds) than those which make white eggs.
The company hopes this will help them to meet their goals to meet net zero within their own operations by 2035, and across their suppliers by 2050.
“White eggs have the same delicious taste and nutritional benefits as their brown counterparts, but result in lower emissions and better welfare outcomes for the hens that lay them,” a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said.
Why are some eggs brown and others white?
Speaking to HuffPost previously, Jacquie Jacob from the University of Kentucky’s department of animal and food sciences said that all eggs start off white.
For a brown egg, “At the very end of the shell-making process, the pigment gets added, almost like you’re painting a house,” she explained.
But some hens are “just not genetically programmed to do that”.
It takes more energy to produce the pigmented layer of the brown-shelled egg, she added.
Are brown eggs healthier than white eggs?
In short, no. Healthline writes that all eggs are nutritionally pretty similar, no matter their size or colour.
In fact, the Retail Gazette said, white eggs were the norm in the UK until about the ’70s, “before brown eggs became dominant as shoppers increasingly associated them with being healthier or more natural”.
They add that the UK supermarket might have a bit of an issue: the British Egg Industry Council said white-egg-laying hens make up about 15% of our flocks, compared to the US, whereas white eggs account for 75% of all eggs consumed in the US.
Beekeeper and University of Galway Zoology Professor, Grace McCormack, has warned people to “keep an eye” on areas like their sheds and roofs this summer during a recent appearance on Irish broadcaster RTÉ’s News At One, because bees may be likelier to “swarm” near them.
The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBA) also agreed that in the UK, the pollinators usually display the behaviour on warm, sunny days from May to July.
They added that swarming is especially likely on sunny, “high teens”-temperature days, after a period of colder, wetter weather.
These conditions are expected to reach much of the UK starting at about mid-June, following our current wet spell.
What is a bee swarm?
It happens when a queen bee – the sole reproducing female of the hive – leaves her old home to allow another, developing queen to take over.
She doesn’t leave on her own, though.
Speaking to the BBC, Gavin Ramsay, the Chair of the Scottish Native Honey Bee Society, said that “about half of the bees will head off in a very organised manner and find a new home” with the original queen.
Those splinter bees form a cluster as they try to relocate, Inverclyde council added.
Before that cluster is formed, the BBA said, the bees – sometimes “thousands” of them – can buzz up in an “extremely dramatic” and noisy cloud.
This process usually only takes about 15 minutes, though.
Once clustered, bees begin to look for places to build new combs. Ramsay explained they’re especially keen on “cavities that are about the right sort of size with a smallish entrance”.
This can include your chimney, roof, wall space, or unused shed, experts like the Shropshire Beekeepers’ Association said.
If they succeed, you’ll be stuck with a sometimes very hard-to-budge established bee colony.
What should I do if I spot a bee swarm?
“Swarms are usually very mild-mannered, but if you see one out and about, especially one that’s settled somewhere, then really the best thing to do is to get in touch with a local beekeeping association,” Ramsay explained.
They will try their best to manage the situation.
While the swarm isn’t likely to sting you, the BBA has previously advised keeping kids and pets indoors if you spot one, just in case.
Sometimes, though, an early check can help you to notice upcoming swarms sooner.
If you see groups of five to 20 bees near your roof, Prof McCormack said to call a beekeeper, as odds are these are scouting out a new home.
At this point, “you still have time before the swarm arrives, and that is really the best time to act,” she said.
Shropshire Beekeeper’s Association, meanwhile, said that these scouts have usually broken off from an existing, unsettled cluster. This is the”best time for a beekeeper to collect the swarm”, they added.
Keep especially alert on warm and sunny days, particularly those following a chill.
If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for new parenting tricks and tips to help make your life calmer – and your kids happier.
I recently stumbled across something called the 7-7-7 parenting rule, where parents aim to spend seven minutes in the morning, seven minutes after school or work, and seven minutes before bed connecting with their child.
Over the course of the day that’s 21 minutes of undivided attention – and experts say it can work wonders for their behaviour.
Dr Sasha Hall, a senior educational and child psychologist, tells HuffPost UK the idea draws on attachment theory. “When children experience regular, undivided attention, it can strengthen emotional security and support regulation,” she explains.
“Over time, this can reduce behaviours linked to seeking attention, as the need for connection is being met more consistently.”
The benefits of the 7-7-7 rule
If you’re juggling work, household responsibilities and family life, carving out this time and embedding it into your routine can give you something concrete to aim for, rather than a “vague sense” that you should be forming deep connections with your child all day, says Dr Hall.
“Instead of repeatedly saying ‘just one minute’, and feeling they have fallen short, it creates defined moments where attention is fully focused,” she adds.
The timing of these moments can also support key transitions across the day. “A focused period of connection before school can help a child feel more settled when separating,” says the psychologist.
“Time after school can support decompression. Connection before bed can help with emotional settling and winding down.”
For children who have siblings, and feel like they receive less individual attention, carving out this one-on-one time can also be beneficial and reduce fights.
“Having protected moments where a parent is fully present and focused on one child can strengthen the parent-child relationship and support that child to feel seen as an individual,” says Dr Hall.
“It shifts them away from being experienced as the sibling who joins in, towards being recognised in their own right.
“When a child knows there are moments where they will have a parent to themselves, it can lessen the drive to seek attention in other ways.”
The challenges of the 7-7-7 rule
Obviously, if you’ve got multiple kids, carving out 21 minutes per kid over the course of the day can quickly become unachievable.
“Parents may find themselves trying to repeat this several times in the morning and evening, which is often when time is most limited and stress levels are higher,” notes Dr Hall.
There is also a risk that it becomes too rigid. “If parents feel they must stick to it in a very fixed way, it can add pressure rather than relieve it, particularly for single parents or those working long hours,” she adds.
What if this doesn’t feel achievable?
The psychologist suggests a more realistic approach is to build connection into routines that already exist, rather than adding extra pressure.
“For example, the school run or pick up can be used as a point of focused attention, without trying to manage other tasks at the same time,” she says.
Short bursts of focused attention, or ‘micro-moments’, can also be very effective for parents, notes Dr Hall, adding: “These might include eye contact, physical closeness or following the child’s lead in play, even for a brief period.”
Instead of choosing three points in the day, parents could narrow it down to just one or two, such as the start and end of the day.
Child psychologist Dr Becky Kennedy, founder of Good Inside, calls it “special time” and previously said it’s the “best bang-for-your-buck” parenting strategy, helping kids who struggle to listen, are being angry or rude, or having constant tussles with siblings.
She suggested even just 10-15 minutes of special time can be beneficial. The key is to give them your undivided attention – no phones, no distractions, no siblings.
“For families with more than one child, it may be more achievable to rotate one-to-one time, so each child has predictable opportunities for individual attention across the week,” Dr Hall adds.
Ultimately, every parent is doing their best with the resources they have.
Dr Hall suggests our focus can be less on meeting a fixed time target and more on ensuring children regularly experience moments where they feel “noticed, valued and responded to”.
Ahead of the ten year anniversary of the EU referendum on 23 June, UK in a Changing Europe experts have written a short series of blogs reflecting on some of the issues at the heart of Brexit then and now. Here, John Curtice examines how public opinion has changed over the past decade.
In 1975, the UK voted by two to one to stay in the European Union. Yet despite that seemingly decisive outcome, the debate about Britain’s membership did not stop. By 1983, Labour was campaigning in favour of withdrawal, and for a while most voters appeared to agree with them. Then, during the 1990s the Conservative party – and many voters – became increasingly sceptical about the EU. Eventually, forty-one years after the original ballot, Britain voted narrowly – by 52% to 48% – to Leave the EU. Harold Wilson’s referendum did not withstand the test of time.
Ten years on, it is beginning to look as though the 2016 ballot will be no more successful that the previous exercise in drawing the debate about Britain’s relationship to a close. On average this year, polls that have asked people how they would vote in another referendum have, once those saying don’t know are excluded, put support for being in the EU at a record high of 60%. Just 40% indicate that they would vote to stay out. Since Liz Truss’ ‘fiscal event’ in September 2022 rocked the markets – an experience whose impact on attitudes towards Brexit has been too little appreciated – only one published poll has recorded a majority vote for staying out of the EU. Meanwhile, in response to a separate question, 56% now tell YouGov they are in favour of rejoining the EU, while just 35% are opposed.
In part, the marked change in the balance of opinion has been occasioned by switching among those who voted to Leave in 2016. On average in polls conducted this May, only 72% of Leavers said they would vote to stay out of the EU, whereas 81% of those who voted Remain indicated they would vote to rejoin. However, just as important are the views expressed by those who did not vote in 2016. They back rejoining over staying out by a margin of nearly three (51%) to one (17%).
Many of these non-voters were too young to vote in 2016. Those same polls conducted in May also indicate that two-thirds (67%) of those aged 18-24 would vote to rejoin the EU, while just one in eight (13%) would support staying out. In contrast, just 35% of those aged 65 and over would vote to rejoin, whereas as many as 53% would back staying out. The clear implication is that generational turnover could gradually serve to reduce the level of support for being outside the EU even further.
In the meantime, many voters appear to have come to the conclusion that Brexit has not worked out well. In polling conducted this April, Ipsos found that over half (51%) believe that it has been ‘more of a failure’ while only one in eight (13%) reckon it has been ‘more of a success’. More specifically, YouGov polling in January 2025 reported that, on two of the key issues in the referendum campaign, the economy (65%) and immigration (52%) Brexit is now believed to have had a negative impact. In the case of immigration, that perception is just as common among those who voted Leave in 2016 as it is among those who voted Remain, while even in the case of the economy over two in five (43%) Leave voters believe it has been negatively impacted.
Of course, that still leaves the question of who voters blame for Brexit’s perceived failure. More in Common found this April that as many as 46% are of the view that ‘Brexit could have worked well but politicians have handled it badly’, a response that is particularly common (74%) among those who voted Reform in 2024. This probably helps explain why around half of those who voted Leave in 2016 are now supporting the pro-Brexit party and why most Leave voters (71%) are still inclined to vote to stay out of the EU.
However, whereas those Leave voters who are disappointed with what has happened to immigration in the wake of Brexit may be inclined to blame politicians for the perceived failure, the same is not necessarily true of those Leave supporters who are unhappy about the economic impact of Brexit. Certainly, research conducted via the NatCen Opinion panel finds that while there is little link between perceptions of the perceived impact of Brexit on immigration and Leave voters’ willingness to vote to stay out, only two in five (40%) Leave voters who feel the economy is worse off as a result of Brexit now say they would vote to stay out, a finding replicated by the British Social Attitudes survey. Meanwhile, just over half (51%) of those who did not vote in 2016 told YouGov that Brexit has had a negative impact on the economy with only 14% stating it had had a positive impact. That outlook helps explain why there is little support for Brexit among this (gradually growing) section of the electorate.
Of course, even if Brexit is no longer a popular cause, that does not necessarily mean voters are keen to see the issue revisited in another referendum. Indeed, it is commonly asserted that this is the case. Yet this is not what the polling shows. In April, More in Common found that just over half (51%) of all voters supported having another referendum on Brexit in the next five years, while only a third (33%) were opposed. Meanwhile in polling conducted for UK in a Changing Europe in May, just under half (48%) said they supported having a referendum in the next five years, while only slightly over a quarter (27%) were opposed. In practice, as we might anticipate, those who voted Remain are keen on having another referendum (by 73% to 12% according to Ipsos) while those who did not vote in 2016 are also minded to do so (by 43% to 16%). In contrast, there is considerable resistance among 2016 Leave voters, though their opposition (by 55% to 25%) is not as marked as the enthusiasm of Remain supporters.
Perhaps another referendum will not happen in the next five years. However, unless public attitudes towards EU membership shift once again, it is difficult to believe the 2016 referendum will prove to be the final word.
By John Curtice, Professor of Politics, Strathclyde University, and Senior Fellow, national Centre for Social Research and UK in a Changing Europe.
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