Narai-juku

Hanoi North End has added a photo to the pool:

Narai-juku

Shiojiri, Japan

One of the 69 post towns of the Nakasendō

The Guardian

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Versatile, skilful, graceful, lovable and spiky: Bernardo Silva is in a sphere of his own | Simon Hattenstone

Manchester City are about to lose a player Pep Guardiola called ‘my weakness’ and ‘my favourite’. Who am I to disagree?

Bernardo Silva is more than a footballer. He’s a time-travelling, shapeshifting superhero. He even looks like a superhero – a nine-volt battery of a man doing battle with feral giants on the pitch. In 55 years of watching football I’ve never seen anybody or anything like him. For the past decade I’ve been lucky enough to watch him turning out week in, week out for my club, Manchester City. And now it’s time to say goodbye.

Some footballers are famous for having played in virtually every position on the field. James Milner, John O’Shea and Phil Neville come to mind. They tend to be solid, stolid types, as reliable as they are unimaginative.

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Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

Paperwork supplied by Andrew Crowley, 46, found to be made using printing methods 25 years too modern

A fraudster who tried to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s was foiled when his bogus accompanying paperwork was found to be written with printing methods that were 25 years too modern, a court has heard.

Andrew Crowley, 46, asked the auctioneers to value three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette that he had inherited from his grandfather, Southwark crown court in London was told on Friday.

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Reeves makes case to remain as chancellor with reports Burnham may favour Miliband

Chancellor’s supporters urge MPs to back her if Keir Starmer is replaced, saying she is only candidate who can safeguard UK’s finances

Rachel Reeves has launched a rearguard action to save her job as chancellor, telling friends she would like to stay in the post even under a new prime minister.

The chancellor’s supporters have been urging MPs to back her if Keir Starmer is replaced later this year, saying she is the only candidate who can safeguard the country’s finances.

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Welcome to sport’s ultimate taboo where athletes risk it all for millions in Las Vegas

The Enhanced Games promise human advancement and world records but critics fear more worrying effects

On the eve of the most controversial sports event of the 21st century so far, one swimmer is explaining how it felt to take banned drugs for the first time. “I was anxious, to be honest,” says Andriy Govorov, the 50m butterfly world record-holder. “Because there’s no way back.”

The 34-year-old Ukrainian points to his backside. That is where the first needle carrying performance-enhancing drugs went into his body. Then to his stomach. That one hurt less. “I don’t like needles being stuck in me,” Govorov says. “When I was younger, I would pass out when I had blood tests.”

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The Joy of Six: Mohamed Salah at Liverpool

From Champions League redemption to that stunner against City, we look at half a dozen memorable moments from striker’s Anfield career

It was surely the worst moment of Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool career, yet the reaction said everything about his impact on the English game; the respect he had earned in his first season at Anfield. It was not just the Liverpool support who were upset to see Salah so upset, leaving the pitch at Kyiv’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium in tears, utterly inconsolable, having been levered out of the biggest game of his life by Real Madrid’s pantomime villain, Sergio Ramos. It was fans of all stripes. After the season Salah had enjoyed, what he did and how he carried himself, everyone knew he did not deserve this. There was the sense that Salah’s humility as much as his brilliance transcended tribal divides.

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Jannik Sinner chasing immortality at French Open with career grand slam in reach

Italian is overwhelming favourite in the men’s draw while women’s event has several genuine contenders

Daniil Medvedev sighed deeply. He had been asked in his pre-French Open press conference to provide some of the intel he gleaned from his spectacular last battle, yet for once he did not have much to say. Medvedev had produced a brilliant performance in the semi-finals of the Italian Open last week, eviscerating the ball off both sides and dragging his opponent off the baseline, scarcely making an error despite their incredibly physical, attritional battle. It was the best level any player had shown against Jannik Sinner, the current undisputed No 1, since the Australian Open in January. He still left the court with only one set.

“It’s super tough,” said Medvedev on the challenge of facing Sinner. “Actually, any match that we saw even this year, because I think he lost only two, the only way to beat him, you need to be at your best for all four, five sets. You need to run, be strong, to serve well, to return well. Everything needs to be on the top level, because him, his game is everything at the top level.”

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Premier League 2025-26 fans’ verdicts: stars, flops, and funniest moments

Our fans’ network reviews the season with one game to play: the highs, the lows and what they need in the summer

In this age of the managerial revolving door, I’m enormously proud that the Premier League champions (man, does that sound sweet!) stand as the antithesis to that. Admittedly, “trusting the process” aged a lot of us massively, but the agony of the past three campaigns evaporated with the final whistle at the Vitality. Sure, it would’ve been great to have enjoyed the sort of free-flowing football that the Cherries produced, but you won’t find a Gooner anywhere who gives a monkey’s how Mikel got us over the line. 19 great clean sheets. In the words of Fergie, attack wins games, but defence wins titles. Season rating: 10/10

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard

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I was on Love Island. After the MAFS scandal, I know what TV companies must do to keep contestants safe | Sharon Gaffka

The Married at First Sight rape allegations have again highlighted the ethics of reality TV. For things to change, better welfare provision is crucial

When I joined the cast of Love Island in 2021, I already semi-knew that reality TV wasn’t “real”. I grew up with parents who constantly reminded me not to believe everything I saw on TV or online. But I was not fully prepared for just how constructed reality TV actually is: producers shape narratives, conflict drives engagement and contestants ultimately become part of a product designed for entertainment, rather than simply living their “reality” in the moment.

After watching the BBC Panorama investigation into Channel 4’s Married at First Sight, I found myself asking a much bigger question: at what point does “good TV” come at the expense of basic human safety?

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