“Russian soldiers stayed in our building,” my friend, the poet Lesyk Panaisuk, wrote to me when the Ukrainian city of Bucha was liberated from Russian occupation on March 31. Some months before, as soon as the war ensued, Lesyk had left Bucha in a hurry, fleeing the Russian soldiers.

Although the city is now liberated, it is still dangerous to walk around Bucha. Lesyk’s neighbors find mines in the halls of their building, inside their slippers and washing machines. Some neighbors return only to install doors and windows. “In our neighborhood, doors to almost every apartment were broken by Russian soldiers,” Lesyk emails.

“A Ukrainian word / is ambushed: through the broken window of / a letter д other countries watch how a letter і / loses its head,” writes Lesyk in one of his poems. He continues: “how / the roof of a letter м / falls through.”

While I read Lesyk’s emails, miles from Ukraine, my own uncle is missing. As bombs explode in Odesa, I email friends, relatives. No one can find him.

Kate, Luke and Pete have a Captain Cook at the Socceroos’ glorious procession to World Cup glory, on the back of mad Andrew Redmayne dancing and sod all else. 

Elsewhere, France lulled us further into a sense of false security with another loss, Harry the Hornet remains a marked man and some seismic rule changes rear their head in Holland!

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The event that created a myth

May 14 – June 18, 2022

April 28 – June 18, 2022

Buzz Lightyear's origin film has a 'gloomy setting' and 'depressing storyline'

Saturday. July.       7:15 am

Yoga.

Translating Bayard’s Peut-on appliquer la littérature à la psychanalyse? from a Spanish copy of ¿Se puede aplicar la literatura al psicoanálisis? One word at a time. Speed limit, 25 mph.

To Cartagena with Jamie this 22-26 September.

Marcus, Andy and Pete react to a reminder of England's dark past after their turgid, uninspiring 0-0 draw with Italy in front of a few children. 

Meanwhile, Ireland had a glorious saunter through the Dublin sunshine against an abject Scotland while Wales impressively held Belgium. And - brace yourselves - there's been more questionable scorelines! Ah, the off-season.

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Roma are claimed to be keen on signing Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka after missing out on his signature 12 months ago.

The Giallorossi were strongly linked with the Swiss international’s signature last summer, only for Xhaka to end up signing a new deal in north London instead, with the two clubs seemingly unable to agree to a transfer fee.

Fast forward 12 months and we look to be ready to strengthen in that area of the team once more, this time with Belgian Youri Tielemans strongly linked with a move, and that could well mean that we could be ready to loosen our stance on Xhaka’s stay at the Emirates.

Granit is always spoken highly of in the dressing room, and was previously elected as the club’s captain before a fallout with the fans, but remains amongst the leaders of the group, and his presence in the dressing room will be missed.

Roma recently signed Nemanja Matic on a free transfer from Manchester United, but are claimed to still be in want of Xhaka’s signing, with Mourinho remaining keen on working with him.

Thousands of people joined hundreds of protests across the country on Saturday to demand that lawmakers take action against the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

After a series of mass shootings, including in Uvalde, Texas, and in Buffalo, New York, demonstrators staged more than 450 protests nationwide. The largest, in Washington, DC, was organized by March for Our Lives, the group founded by student survivors of the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. President Biden expressed his support for their cause. “I join them by repeating my call to Congress: do something,” he tweeted.

The second March for Our Lives on the National Mall, standing against gun violence four years since the original, with thousands in attendance under the Washington Monument. David Hogg speaking: "All Americans have a right to not be shot, a right to safety." pic.twitter.com/MHirplU49l

— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) June 11, 2022