A quest for the settings that inspired Homer – and Hollywood’s latest blockbuster – turned into a personal voyage of discovery

Swimming ashore from the boat I can see a narrow shingle beach covered in driftwood. There are logs, bamboo canes and the sundried planks of an old shipwreck. The steep climb up the hill behind is not easy. I skirt thick clumps of thorn and abandoned ancient olive trees, scrambling over jagged outcrops of limestone. Every time I curl my fingers into a rocky niche I think about snakes. The only residents, however, are spiders. Their webs are strung between the trees, and so thick and strong that I grab a stick to slash through them. No one has been here for a long time.

Near the hilltop I stumble on a ruined stone building. Who lived here, I wonder? And where have they gone? A few steps further and the land abruptly ends in a vertical white cliff that plummets into an improbably blue sea. Far away, in the haze, there is a stack of Ionian islands and one of them, I know, must be Ithaca.

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Politicians across Celtic nations braced for constitutional turmoil if Reform continues to rise

The rise of Nigel Farage has prompted political leaders across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to game the unthinkable: the break-up of the United Kingdom.

Unionists who wish to save the union and nationalists who wish to end it are bracing for constitutional turmoil if Reform UK emerges triumphant – with Farage as prime minister or official leader of the opposition – after the next election.

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In a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday evening, the US president claimed a resurgent ‘communist menace’ posed a severe threat the country

Donald Trump has kicked off America’s 250th birthday weekend with an extraordinary partisan attack on what he called the “communist menace” in America, framing its supporters as “the enemy of July 4th, 1776”.

The US president spoke for half an hour on Friday night at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the latest stop on his tour celebrating the milestone anniversary of the US declaration of independence from Britain.

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Lily, 26, a PhD student, meets Brodie, 24, a chef

What were you hoping for?
Love, passion … marriage. Failing that, some good craic and a free dinner.

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Dear England, Ink, Sherwood … I owe my career to publicly funded art. Never downplay it: it’s how we speak to each other

• James Graham is a British playwright and television writer

It shouldn’t feel like a contentious image: a large cross of St George – England’s national flag – being unfurled and laid out on a raked stage. But at that time, in that place, and in this way, you could feel one of those unique, intake-of-breath moments that happen sometimes in the theatre.

The place in question was the Nottingham Theatre Royal in the East Midlands, one of my local theatres when I was growing up. The play – forgive the self-aggrandisement – was my own, Dear England, about Gareth Southgate’s tenure as England men’s football manager: the first production in the country to receive funding through Arts Council England’s incentivising touring scheme. And the time was the opening night of the play’s nationwide tour in September 2025.

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Perhaps I’ll learn love our EV once it stops talking utter nonsense – and knows where it’s going

You don’t say goodbye to your old car when you get a new car – I mean, I’m presuming they’d let you if you made a fuss, but they make no provision for it. It just gets left there in the car park, awaiting its next owner. They’ve already taken the keys.

Instead, my wife and I are escorted through a different exit, where our new electric car awaits, still wet in places from a recent wash. The salesperson is leaning in the driver’s window, explaining the dashboard display and steering column toggles to me, but I’m not listening. After two long showroom visits, I’ve had enough of car buying.

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The gap between America and Britain has grown economically as Trump asserts ‘the UK is dying’. Culturally, however, it’s a different story

On 1 June 1785 John Adams travelled to London to become the first US ambassador to Britain, in which capacity he was to meet George III. By his own admission, Adams trembled at the encounter. After all, it had been less than a decade since he helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence denouncing the king as an absolute “tyrant” who had “plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people”.

A trepidatious Adams trudged through the London drizzle to St James’s Palace, where he presented his credentials to King George. He bowed three times, then declared he would be “the happiest of men if I can be instrumental in recommending my country more and more to your Majesty’s royal benevolence”.

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As this year’s invertebrate of the year competition launches, we join scientists studying last year’s winner

• Nominate your invertebrate of the year

Witek Morek is closely inspecting an old brick-and-flint wall on the Cambridgeshire campus of the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

“We are going to use a very advanced tool designed by bioengineers and evolved over millions of years – the human hand – and grab some moss, and put it in an envelope,” he says.

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A spicy, umami-rich salad provides sweetness and crunch alongside these simple Chinese-style courgette pancakes

This week marks nine years since I started writing this column, and here’s something I’m excited by: that we’ve only just scratched the surface when it comes to our collective knowledge about Asian cuisine. When it comes to Chinese food, for example, we might know a fair bit about, for example, Cantonese or Sichuan food, but what about Fujian or Hunanese? There are still so many riches to discover and excellent meals to be had. Today’s offering is a small token in that vein: a simple vegetable pancake made with courgette, known as hutazi and straight from the homes of Beijing. I’ve taken the liberty of embellishing it with some hot and sweet cucumbers.

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Half of county’s planning infringement notices target caravans in fields, fuelling eviction fears for vulnerable people

People living in caravans and horseboxes on farms in Cornwall because they can’t afford or find a house to rent are facing homelessness after a crackdown by the council.

Cornwall council recently announced that it was one of the top five authorities in England for enforcing infringements of planning regulations. Half of those notices, it said, were served on caravans in agricultural fields.

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ERFURT (ANP) - De Duitse politie heeft moeten ingrijpen bij grootschalige demonstraties die plaatsvinden in het Duitse Erfurt. Daar wordt zaterdag het partijcongres van het radicaal-rechtse AfD gehouden. Volgens regio-omroep MDR is het lokale AfD-kantoor aangevallen met vuurwerk en verfbommen. Hierbij zouden ook agenten gewond zijn geraakt.

Duitse media schrijven dat demonstranten wegen geblokkeerd hebben die naar het gebouw leiden waar het partijcongres plaatsvindt. Volgens ZDF hebben sommige demonstranten zichzelf aan de tramrails in de stad vastgelijmd. Een groep van honderden demonstranten zou door een blokkade zijn heengebroken. Volgens Bild worden zij tegengehouden met wapenstokken en pepperspray.

De politie gaf eerder aan rond de 50.000 vreedzame demonstranten te verwachten, maar ook tot 2500 activisten die bereid zijn geweld te gebruiken. Er zijn duizenden agenten naar Erfurt gestuurd om de demonstraties in goede banen te leiden.

Krokodillenverblijven schoonmaken en de ramen lappen aan de binnenkant van het haaien-aquarium. Eng? Niet als je het aan Mike Groenendijk vraagt, die al jarenlang een bijzondere baan heeft bij Diergaarde Blijdorp in Rotterdam. Als dierenverzorger in het Oceanium werkt hij onder water en tussen gevaarlijke dieren.

Het WK sprookje van Kaapverdië is vannacht ten einde gekomen. De wedstrijd tegen regerend wereldkampioen Argentinië werd in een zenuwslopende wedstrijd pas beslist in de verlening, 3-2. "We hebben mensen laten zien wie we zijn."

Weer voor Rotterdam ☀️ - 04-07-2026 07:15 CEST

In één oogopslag:
• 18.5°C · Zonnig ☀️ | Min 17.4°C / Max 24.3°C | Kans op neerslag 4%

Verwachting voor vandaag:
• Min 17.4°C, Max 24.3°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 4%, 🧭 1023.8 hPa ↘️ -1.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 21.2 km/u (5.9 m/s), richting: → 260°

Uurlijkse voorspelling voor de komende 12 uur:

• 08:00: 19.4°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1024.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.6 km/u (4.6 m/s), richting: ↗ 235°
• 09:00: 21.7°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1024.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.0 km/u (5.0 m/s), richting: → 258°
• 10:00: 22.6°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1024.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: → 264°
• 11:00: 23.0°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1024.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.8 km/u (5.5 m/s), richting: → 265°
• 12:00: 23.9°C (Zonnig) ☀️, 🧭 1024.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 17.6 km/u (4.9 m/s), richting: → 265°
• 13:00: 24.3°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, 🧭 1024.5 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 18.7 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: → 266°
• 14:00: 23.8°C (Gedeeltelijk bewolkt) ⛅, 🧭 1024.4 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: → 281°
• 15:00: 23.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 2%, 🧭 1024.6 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.2 km/u (4.5 m/s), richting: → 281°
• 16:00: 23.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 5%, 🧭 1024.3 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 16.6 km/u (4.6 m/s), richting: → 273°
• 17:00: 23.3°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 8%, 🧭 1024.1 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 17.3 km/u (4.8 m/s), richting: → 271°
• 18:00: 23.4°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 11%, 🧭 1023.5 hPa ↘️ -0.6 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 19.4 km/u (5.4 m/s), richting: → 273°
• 19:00: 22.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 15%, 🧭 1022.5 hPa ↘️ -1.0 hPa/1h, Windsnelheid: 21.2 km/u (5.9 m/s), richting: ↘ 306°

Voorspelling voor de komende dagen:

• zondag 05 juli: Min 18.8°C, Max 22.2°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 21%, 🧭 1022.6 hPa ↘️ -1.2 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 16.6 km/u (4.6 m/s), richting: ↘ 295°
• maandag 06 juli: Min 19.6°C, Max 22.9°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 1%, 🧭 1018.1 hPa ↘️ -4.5 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 18.9 km/u (5.2 m/s), richting: → 267°
• dinsdag 07 juli: Min 17.4°C, Max 23.6°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, Kans op neerslag 4%, 🧭 1015.0 hPa ↘️ -3.1 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 19.7 km/u (5.5 m/s), richting: → 291°
• woensdag 08 juli: Min 16.5°C, Max 23.8°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1020.2 hPa ↗️ +5.2 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.7 km/u (3.2 m/s), richting: ↓ 338°
• donderdag 09 juli: Min 16.8°C, Max 28.0°C (Bewolkt) ☁️, 🧭 1019.1 hPa ↘️ -1.1 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 10.5 km/u (2.9 m/s), richting: ← 83°
• vrijdag 10 juli: Min 21.8°C, Max 30.7°C (Licht bewolkt) 🌤️, Kans op neerslag 1%, 🧭 1016.1 hPa ↘️ -3.0 hPa/24h, Windsnelheid: 11.2 km/u (3.1 m/s), richting: ↓ 341°

Details:
• 🌡️ Huidige temperatuur (om 07:15): 18.5°C (Zonnig)
• 🤚 Gevoelstemperatuur: 18.1°C (-0.4°C)
• 💨 Windsnelheid: 18.4 km/u (5.1 m/s), richting: ↗ 229°
• 🌬️ Windstoten: 35.3 km/h (9.8 m/s)
• 💧 Luchtvochtigheid: 70%
• 🧭 Luchtdruk: 1024.8 hPa ➡️ 0.0 hPa/3h
• 👁️ Zichtbaarheid: 20.0 km
• ☀️ UV-index: 1.1
• 🌅 Zonsopgang: 05:29 · 🌇 Zonsondergang: 22:03

Luchtkwaliteit:
• AQI: 30 🟢 (Goed)
• PM2.5: 9.6 μg/m³
• PM10: 12.3 μg/m³

Gegevens geleverd door Open-Meteo

#Rotterdam #Meteo #MeteoBot #MeteoNetherlands #OpenMeteo #FediMeteo

hiroki.sato has added a photo to the pool: