Fed Chair Powell says he's under criminal investigation, won't bow to Trump intimidation

President Donald Trump has criticized Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates as much and as quickly as the president wants.

1/11: CBS Weekend News

Protests in Iran intensify despite threat of death for dissidents; Suspect in custody after Mississippi's oldest synagogue targeted in arson attack.

Golden Globes 2026: the winners, the losers, the outfits – live!

This year will see films such as Sinners, One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme and shows including Adolescence and The Pitt compete

It’s not an awards ceremony without a pregnancy reveal is it? Wunmi Mosaku, the British Nigerian star of Sinners is wearing a canary yellow bespoke gown and sheer veil by Matthew Reisman, and the colour is steeped in meaning. “In Yoruba, we say Iya ni Wúrà which means ‘mother is golden’”, she wrote in Vogue. Top tier stuff. More colour please.

Wanda Sykes is the first celeb I’ve seen on the red carpet tonight with a “Be Good” pin, which some are wearing in honor of Renee Good, the unarmed woman shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week, sparking national outrage. Others are wearing “ICE OUT” pins as part of an ACLU-endorsed protest of the Trump administration’s persecution of undocumented immigrants and larger $100m recruitment campaign aimed at expanding ICE presence in communities across the country.

Arson engulfs Mississippi synagogue, a congregation once bombed by Ku Klux Klan

A suspect is charged with arson in a fire that burned through a synagogue in Mississippi. Flames and smoke destroyed its library, housing Torahs.

Some Americans say they'll go without health insurance as ACA rates spike

After the ACA tax credit lapsed in December, enrollees are opting for less robust health plans or dropping coverage altogether.

Justice department opens investigation into Jerome Powell as Trump ramps up campaign against Federal Reserve

Fed chair accuses DoJ of threatening criminal charges over building renovation projects because central bank defied Trump’s interest rate demands

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve, a significant escalation in Donald Trump’s extraordinary attack on the US central bank.

Powell said the Department of Justice had served the Fed with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment related to his testimony before the Senate banking committee in June last year, regarding renovations to the Fed’s historic office buildings in Washington DC.

DOJ subpoenas Federal Reserve in escalating pressure campaign

The Justice Department has subpoenaed the Fed over chair Jerome Powell's testimony over the central bank's headquarters renovation. Powell calls it part of a pressure campaign over interest rates.

Photos: 2026 Golden Globes Red Carpet

The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet.

Justice Dept. served subpoenas to the Fed, Powell says

The subpoenas threatened a criminal indictment related to Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June 2025, according to the Fed chair.

Trick play helps 49ers eliminate Super Bowl champion Eagles from NFL playoffs

• San Francisco 49ers 23-19 Philadelphia Eagles

• Niners will play Seahawks in divisional round

• AFC wildcard: Allen shines as Bills beat Jags

Brock Purdy threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey late in the fourth quarter, San Francisco used a trick play on a TD toss from wide receiver Jauan Jennings, and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles with a 23-19 wildcard victory on Sunday.

The 49ers head to top-seeded Seattle next weekend for an NFC divisional playoff game. The NFC West rivals split the season series.

Allegiant to buy rival budget airline Sun Country in $1.5 billion cash and stock deal

Budget airlines in the U.S. like Allegiant and Sun Country have faced a surge in costs following the pandemic and the increase in domestic capacity.

Remembering the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir

Andres Gutierrez looks back at the life and career of Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir, who has died at 78.

Fire damages historic Mississippi synagogue, suspect arrested

Authorities have not disclosed the suspect's motive, but Jackson Fire Chief Charles Felton told CBS News the FBI is looking into the possibility of a hate crime.

Ukraine war briefing: Nightfall – Britain races to develop ballistic missile for Kyiv

UK government starts contest to have deep-strike prototypes delivered within 12 months; heat-starved Kyiv under Russian attack again. What we know on day 1,419

Britain is to develop a new deep-strike ballistic missile for Ukraine, the government has announced. Under the project, named Nightfall, the British government said on Sunday that it had launched a competition to rapidly develop ground-launched ballistic missiles that could carry a 200kg (440lb) warhead to a range of more than 500km (310 miles).

“Nightfall missiles will be capable of being launched from a range of vehicles,” said the UK defence ministry (MoD), “firing multiple missiles in quick succession and withdrawing within minutes – allowing Ukrainian forces to hit key military targets before Russian forces can respond.”

Three industry teams would each get £9m to design, develop and deliver their first three Nightfall missiles within 12 months for test firings, said the MoD. Ukraine’s current ballistic missiles include Atacms, for which it relies on the US, and the self-developed Sapsan.

Russia was again attacking Kyiv early on Monday, the Ukrainian military said, sparking a fire in at least one district. Ukrainian air defences were at work against incoming targets, said Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration.

The renewed attack came as more than 1,000 apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital remained without heating because of a Russian bombardment on Friday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said that despite repairs the situation was “still extremely difficult”, particularly in border regions.

At the Vatican, Pope Leo offered prayers for the people of Ukraine, saying the “particularly serious” strikes on energy infrastructure were “hitting the civilian population hard, just as the cold weather is getting worse … I pray for those who are suffering and renew my appeal for an end to violence and for efforts to achieve peace to be intensified.”

Ukraine’s forces hit three drilling platforms operated by Russian oil company Lukoil in the waters of the Caspian Sea, the Ukrainian military general staff announced on Sunday. The strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of oil export revenue used to fund the war. Moscow meanwhile said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh.

Reporter remembers saving animals a year after L.A. wildfires

One year after the devastating L.A. wildfires, CBS Los Angeles' Jasmine Viel remembers when she and her photographer rushed in to help a woman desperate to save her pet chickens and ducks as flames closed in on her home.

U.S. officials to meet with Danish officials Wednesday about Greenland, sources say

Trump administration officials are set to meet with Danish officials about Greenland on Wednesday, diplomatic sources tell CBS News.

Suspect in custody after Mississippi's oldest synagogue targeted in arson attack

A suspect is in custody after the oldest synagogue in Mississippi, and the only synagogue in the city of Jackson, was set on fire in a suspected arson attack. Shanelle Kaul has more.

Noem says more federal agents coming to Minnesota, protests continue days after fatal ICE shooting

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says hundreds more federal agents are being sent to Minnesota as protests continue there and across the country, demanding justice after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good. Nicole Sganga has more.

Trump briefed on new military options for Iran strikes amid protests, sources say

President Trump has been briefed on new military options for a strike against Iran amid widespread protests and a government crackdown on communications for Iranians, a senior U.S. official tells CBS News. Willie James Inman has more.

Andrew Clements, Guardian’s classical music critic, dies aged 75

An outstanding critical voice, his deep knowledge and love of music was evident in everything he wrote

The Guardian’s long-serving and much admired classical music critic Andrew Clements died on Sunday aged 75 after a period of illness.

Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel, who argued for Clements to get the job on account of his deep understanding of contemporary music. For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music in his writing for the Guardian, and often beyond.

If we silence voices we don’t agree with, we’re doing the work of extremists for them | Peter Greste

I do not need to share Randa Abdel-Fattah’s views to believe that removing her is wrong. This is why I’ve withdrawn from Adelaide writers’ week

If there has been a bright red thread running through my career, it’s the importance of freedom of speech. It underpinned my life as a journalist and correspondent, became central to the campaign to get me out of prison in Egypt and, perhaps paradoxically, it is why I have reluctantly withdrawn from this year’s Adelaide writers’ week.

On Thursday the Adelaide festival board announced it had removed the writer and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the program, not because of anything she was proposing to say at the festival but because of things she said previously, reassessed in the aftermath of the Bondi attack.

Peter Greste is a professor of journalism at Macquarie University and the executive director for the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom

Shaun Murphy crashes out of Masters on opening day of title defence

• Murphy defeated 6-2 by China’s Wu Yize

• UK champion Mark Selby also knocked out

The defending champion Shaun Murphy is out of the Masters after a shock 6-2 defeat against China’s Wu Yize on the opening day of the 2026 tournament at Alexandra Palace.

Wu, the world No 13, dominated from the outset and won the opening three frames, recording a superb break of 137 in the second. Murphy, the top seed, rallied briefly but, with a highest break of only 49, could not get back into the contest.

National Portrait Gallery removes impeachment references next to Trump photo

A new portrait of President Trump is on display at the National Portrait Gallery's "America's Presidents" exhibition. Text accompanying the portrait removes references to Trump's impeachments.

Meta blocked nearly 550,000 accounts in first days of Australia’s under-16s social media ban

Tech giant says ongoing compliance will be a ‘multi-layered process’ as UK Labour faces pressure to bring in similar ban for teenagers

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Meta has deactivated more than half a million accounts for teenagers across Facebook, Instagram and Threads as a result of Australia’s under-16s social media ban, the company has announced.

Just over one month since the ban came into effect, Meta announced on Monday that between 4 December, when the company began deactivating accounts, and 11 December, 544,052 accounts Meta believed to be held by users under 16 were deactivated.

Arson suspect arrested after blaze at historic Mississippi synagogue

Multiple Torah scrolls were damaged after fire broke out early Saturday at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson

A suspect has been taken into custody after a historic synagogue in Mississippi was badly damaged in a fire that authorities described on Sunday as an arson case.

According to officials, the blaze broke out shortly after 3am Saturday at Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson. No one was hurt in the fire.

Three arrested after alleged racially motivated attack on Muslim religious leader in Victoria

Police allege a 47-year-old imam was assaulted after he and his wife were forced off the road by three people in Melbourne’s south-east

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A Victorian Muslim religious leader was punched in the face after he and his wife were allegedly forced from their car on a Melbourne freeway in what police allege was a racially motivated attack.

Police allege the pair were travelling along the South Gippsland Highway in Melbourne’s south-east at 7.40pm on Saturday when they were “racially abused” by three occupants of a small black hatchback.

Iran protests enter third week under internet blackout

As Iran's protests enter a third week, the country's president blames foreign powers for the unrest, and warns it will retaliate if the US intervenes militarily.

Michael Carrick emerges as favourite to be Manchester United interim manager

• Former midfielder ahead of Solskjær after interviews

• Darren Fletcher admits he is in the dark over his position

Michael Carrick has emerged as the favourite candidate to be Manchester United’s interim manager for the rest of the season ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjær after the interview process, with the club’s executive expected to finalise the decision on Monday.

While Omar Berrada, the chief executive, and Jason Wilcox, the director of football, are understood to have not made a formal offer, they are leaning towards Carrick, sources have informed the Guardian. This follows both Carrick and Solskjær having face-to-face discussions with the hierarchy. Berrada and Wilcox met Carrick on Thursday and Solskjær on Saturday at the club’s Carrington training ground.

Omar says it is "not acceptable" to make early judgments on Minneapolis shooting

"If they're saying we shouldn't believe our eyes, then let the investigation take place before you characterize this mother of three as a domestic terrorist," Rep. Ilhan Omar said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Raphinha doubles up as Barcelona sink Real Madrid to lift Spanish Super Cup

• Supercopa de España: Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid

• Raphinha 36 73, Lewandowski 45+4; Vinícius 45+2, García 45+7

Football is wild sometimes, and this was one of those times. A night that didn’t always make sense but was a lot of fun ended with every player on the pitch inside the Barcelona penalty area and the ball dropping through the crowd to Raúl Asencio, standing there on the edge of the six yard box. The board had gone up with six minutes on it, those six minutes had passed and now here it was, his moment and another twist: the chance to somehow take the Super Cup final to a penalty shootout.

Instead, with the clock on 96.43 Asencio headed at Joan García. On his line, the goalkeeper grabbed the shot and held on hard; his team had done the same, two goals from Raphinha and another from Robert Lewandowski enough to take the trophy, goals from Vinícius Júnior and Gonzalo García not enough to take it from them. Whether they will be enough to keep Xabi Alonso in his job remains to be seem; Jeddah was supposed to be the final judgment but there may be those that judge Madrid’s reaction here reason for him to remain.

Omar says federal probe into Minnesota fraud is "creating confusion and chaos"

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar denounced a surge of federal agents to Minneapolis targeting Somalis and other immigrants after a fraud scheme in the state.

2 men killed, 2 others rescued after avalanche in Washington state

Kittitas County Sheriff said four men were on two snowmobiles in an area near Longs Pass trail on Friday afternoon when they were caught in the mass of snow.

Trump is weighing options against Iran: Reports

Iran has said it will retaliate if the U.S. intervenes amid political unrest in the Middle East country.

Avalanche kills British skier in La Plagne in the French Alps

Man, thought to be in his 50s, was found under 2.5 metres of snow and had been skiing off-piste

A British skier has been killed by an avalanche in the French Alps.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was found under 2.5 metres of snow after a 50-minute search, a statement from the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France said.

Reference to Trump's impeachments removed from National Portrait Gallery

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's "American Presidents" exhibition.

America's top figure skaters dazzled St. Louis. I left with a new love for the sport.

The U.S. Figure Skating National Championships brought the who's who of the sport to St. Louis. St. Louis Public Radio Visuals Editor Brian Munoz left a new fan of the Olympic sport.

Tom Willis wins family affair to help Saracens topple Toulouse in Champions Cup

• Pool 1: Saracens 20-14 Toulouse

• Rotimi Segun also scores twice for Prem side

Even for the world’s best rugby player it is not all glamour. As he sniffed the damp air on a blustery, cheerless Sunday night in north London, Antoine Dupont must privately have been wondering if this was some sort of fiendish Anglo-Saxon conspiracy. Any similarity with the classic cathedrals and comforting familiarity of the Stade de France in next month’s Six Nations was conspicuously lacking.

For a defiant Saracens, though, this chilly, sodden evening delivered the most beautiful of outcomes and a result that transforms the mood of their previous flagging season. They fully deserved this rousing victory, two first-half tries from Rotimi Segun and a barnstorming display from man-of-the-match Tom Willis laying the foundations for the hosts’ best performance of the season which has sharply improved their Champions Cup knockout qualification prospects.

Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Jan. 11, 2026

On this "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" broadcast, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and Rep. Ilhan Omar join Margaret Brennan.

"Real possibility" U.S. businesses take stake in Venezuelan oil, energy secretary says

"That's going to be up to American businesses. That's certainly a very real possibility," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Iran warns US against attack as protest death toll reportedly soars

Tehran issues warning after Donald Trump says US stands ready to help amid crackdown on demonstrations

• ‘The streets are full of blood’: Iranian protests gather momentum as regime cracks down

Iran has warned the US not to attack over protests that have rocked the country, as Donald Trump weighed the options for a response from Washington, with the reported death toll from the demonstrations soaring to the hundreds.

At least 538 people have been killed in the violence surrounding demonstrations, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, including 490 protesters. The group reported that more than 10,600 people were arrested by Iranian authorities.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Jan. 11)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Peter Mandelson declines to apologise for association with Jeffrey Epstein

Former UK ambassador tries to distance himself from financier and says he knew nothing of his sex life

Peter Mandelson has declined to apologise to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for staying friends with the convicted child sex offender, and suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the financier’s sex life.

The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC on Sunday, saying he had paid a “calamitous” price for his association with the “evil monster”.

Minnesotans speak out about fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good

Former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton talks about reaction to the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent, and why she says it is a time for action to make sure it doesn't happen again.

ICE Minneapolis shooting: Noem to deploy hundreds more federal agents to city

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good was engaged in an act of domestic terrorism, a claim Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey disputes.

Extended interview: Oprah Winfrey

In this web exclusive, Oprah Winfrey sits down with Jane Pauley to discuss her lifelong struggles with weight, which she writes about in her new book, "Enough." She also talks about how it affected the journey from her early days in broadcasting to leading a media empire.

‘The last actual hippie’: musicians pay tribute to Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir

Stars from Bob Dylan to Brandi Carlile remember rock band co-founder as ‘beautiful human’ after his death at 78

The death of Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead co-founder, rhythm guitarist, vocalist and writer of much of the legendary psychedelic rock band’s songs, drew a chorus of tributes from fellow musicians and fans who described him as a “musical guru” and “the last actual hippie”.

Weir recently survived cancer but died from “underlying lung issues”, according to a statement posted on Saturday on Instagram.

DHS restricts congressional visits to ICE facilities in Minneapolis with new policy

A memo from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, obtained by NPR, instructs her staff that visits should be requested at least seven days in advance.

Ella Baron on Iran’s anti-government protests – cartoon

Trump tells Cuba to ‘make a deal’ or face the consequences

No more Venezuelan oil or money will flow to the communist-run island after Maduro’s fall, says US president

Donald Trump has told Cuba to “make a deal” or face unspecified consequences, adding that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow to the communist-run Caribbean island that has been a US foe for decades.

As Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela and big beneficiary of its oil, braced for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as the South American nation’s leader, the US president ramped up his threatening language on Sunday.

The Guardian view on India’s employment guarantee: scrapping a right to work risks a rural revolt | Editorial

A globally unique programme allowed the poor to demand – and get – jobs, empowering rural women. Narendra Modi courts trouble by hollowing it out

Few countries have attempted anything as ambitious as India’s rural jobs guarantee. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, any adult in the countryside who demanded work was entitled to a job on local public works within 15 days, failing which the government had to pay an unemployment allowance. Enacted in 2005, MGNREGA created the world’s most far-reaching legal right to employment. It generates 2bn person-days of work a year for about 50m households. Over half of all workers were women, and about 40% came from Dalit and tribal communities.

For a country where vast numbers rely on seasonal farm work, the scheme mattered. It stabilised incomes, raised rural wages, expanded women’s bargaining power and reduced internal migration. Households could demand up to 100 days of paid work at a statutory minimum wage, turning employment into an enforceable right. The World Bank derided it as a “barrier to development” in 2009 – but praised it as “stellar” five years later. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has however replaced this rights-based system with a centrally managed welfare scheme, VB-G RAM G, a shift opposed by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and the inequality scholar Thomas Piketty.

Historic upset in English soccer's FA Cup as Macclesfield beat holders Crystal Palace

The result marks the first time in 117 years that a side from outside the major national leagues has eliminated the reigning FA Cup holders.

The Guardian view on Europe’s stalling night train revival: don’t let it hit the buffers | Editorial

The most romantic way to traverse the continent is environmentally friendly and popular with the public. But market challenges need addressing

When the European Union made its 2020 commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, there was a wave of excitement about what that might mean for the continent’s most romantic form of travel. The golden era of night trains had, it was previously assumed, gone for good amid the rise of low-cost, short-haul flights. But the new environmental imperatives suggested that they could be a glamorous part of a greener future, delivering a climate impact that was 28 times less than flying. The European Commission enthusiastically identified a plethora of potential new routes that it judged could be economically viable.

Sadly, due to a series of challenges that Brussels and national governments have done too little to address, the renaissance appears to be stalling. Last month, a two-year-old night service linking Paris with Vienna and Berlin was scrapped after state subsidies were removed. The French operator, SNCF, has claimed that without financial assistance, the particular costs associated with running a night train are simply too high. Meanwhile, a petition was vainly launched to save the new Basel-Copenhagen-Malmö route, which was due to open in April but has also been derailed by the withdrawal of state funding.

Germany rejects RFK Jr claims about Covid vaccine exemption prosecutions

Health minister Nina Warken says Robert F Kennedy Jr’s assertions that German doctors are facing legal action are unfounded

The German government has sharply rejected claims by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, that doctors in Germany have faced legal action for issuing vaccine and mask exemptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The statements made by the US secretary of health are completely unfounded, factually incorrect, and must be rejected,” Germany’s health minister, Nina Warken, said in a strongly worded statement released late on Saturday.

Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American public

Donald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.

Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over what Americans watch and which stories get told.

Courtney C Radsch is director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute

‘Fateful moment’ for Denmark amid Trump threats to take over Greenland

Danish prime minister says country is at a crossroads and accuses US of turning its back on Nato

Mette Frederiksen has said that Denmark is at a “fateful moment” amid Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, accusing the US of potentially turning its back on Nato.

Speaking at a party leader debate at a political rally on Sunday, the Danish prime minister said her country was “at a crossroads”.

Guard at Winter Olympic construction site dies in freezing conditions

• 55-year-old worker died during overnight shift

• Temperatures plunged to -12C in Cortina d’Ampezzo

A guard at a construction site near a 2026 Winter Olympic venue in the mountain resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo died during a freezing overnight shift, authorities have confirmed. Italy’s infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker’s death.

Italian media reported that the death occurred on Thursday while the worker was on duty at a construction site near Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures that night plunged to -12C (10.4F).

Influencers and OnlyFans models are dominating O-1 visa requests: ‘This is the American dream now’

Content creators are leveraging their high follower counts to apply for the visa for ‘individuals with extraordinary ability’

Content creators and influencers in the US are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1 work visas. Astoundingly, the number of O-1 visas granted each year increased by 50% between 2014 and 2024, as noted by recent reporting in the Financial Times.

These visas allow non-immigrants to work temporarily in the US. The O-1 category includes the O-1A, which is designated for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics and the O-1B, reserved for those with “extraordinary ability or achievement”.

EU wants ‘Farage clause’ in Brexit ‘reset’ talks with UK

Move would mean Brussels would receive compensation if future government reneged on deal Starmer is negotiating

The EU is reportedly demanding guarantees the UK will compensate the bloc if a future government reneges on the Brexit “reset” agreement Keir Starmer is currently negotiating.

The termination clause is a stark reminder of the painful and costly divorce in which the EU set up a colossal €5.4bn (£4.7bn) fund to help its member states cope with the disruption caused by the UK’s exit in 2020.

Gabriel Martinelli hat-trick guides Arsenal to win at stubborn Portsmouth

Gabriel Martinelli ended Arsenal’s last game as public enemy No 1 with Liverpool fans and Gary Neville after his clash with Conor Bradley on Thursday. But the Brazilian was his team’s saviour against Portsmouth, after the Championship side had threatened briefly to record their first win against the Premier League leaders in 23 attempts after Colby Bishop’s early strike.

Martinelli’s first senior hat‑trick included two almost identical headers from corners after an own goal from Andre Dozzell had drawn them level following – you guessed it – another corner. That takes Arsenal’s tally from set‑pieces this season to 17 and one wonders where they would be without them. Yet such is their proficiency under Nicolas Jover these days that Mikel Arteta can virtually rely on at least one bearing fruit.

Green whisky? Scottish distillery tests eco-friendly aluminium bottles

Stirling Distillery project risks being viewed as heresy but it says it wants to make the industry more sustainable

Whisky drinkers and tourists are often bewitched by the amber rows of malt whisky that line the shelves of Scotland’s bars, restaurants and hotels.

So proposals from one of Scotland’s smallest distilleries could be viewed by many as heresy.

Walmart teams up with Google's Gemini to make it easier for shoppers to find and buy products

The retail giant also has a similar deal with OpenAI's ChatGPT and has its own AI-powered chatbot, Sparky.

The surprising history of the Monroe Doctrine

In 1823, President James Monroe called for European powers to stay out of the Americas – a stance that for generations led to U.S. military interventions across the Western Hemisphere, including President Trump's incursion into Venezuela.

Nature: Turtles in Hawaii

We leave you this Sunday with turtles relaxing on the beach in Maui. Videographer: Jamie McDonald.

The surprising history of the Monroe Doctrine

In 1823, President James Monroe called for European powers to stay out of the Americas. What came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine would influence U.S. foreign policy for generations, and lead to military interventions across the Western Hemisphere. This past week President Donald Trump repeatedly invoked the Doctrine when discussing last week's incursion into Venezuela. Mo Rocca talks with historian Jay Sexton, author of "The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America," about how Monroe's words – and how presidents have interpreted them – have affected world history.

Humiliating FA Cup loss leaves Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner at crossroads

After Macclesfield defeat, club must invest wisely to bolster a weak squad and convince their manager to stay

Oliver Glasner’s face told the story. The Crystal Palace manager watched in exasperation as the FA Cup holders headed towards ignominy on Macclesfield’s artificial surface and was still in shock when he conducted his post-match interview. “Honestly, I have no explanation for what I have seen today,” said Glasner.

A mere 238 days since the greatest day in Palace’s history, when he and the club stalwart Joel Ward paraded their first major trophy at Wembley, Marc Guéhi’s first thought after the final whistle at the weekend was to face the music from the diehards who had made the trip to Cheshire from south London. Accompanied by the assistant manager, Paddy McCarthy, the Palace captain held intense discussions with several supporters as Macclesfield celebrated their historic victory with a pitch invasion.

Minnesotans speak out about fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good

Videos of Wednesday's fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis have led to anti-ICE protests across the country, while putting Minnesota officials sharply at odds with the Trump administration. Nicole Sganga talks with former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton about the reaction to the killing of Good (a 37-year-old mother of three), and why she says it is a time for action.

David hat-trick dismantles Stormers to send Harlequins into Champions Cup last 16

• Pool 3: Harlequins 61-10 Stormers

• Quins score nine tries against much-changed opponents

Harlequins back? Or is this latest outrageous twist in the story of their inconsistency a case of same old, same old? First, it needs to be acknowledged that this was a comprehensive dismantling of a side who had not lost a game this season. This was hardly the Stormers’ first team, but an unbeaten squad is an unbeaten squad. God knows, they are beaten now.

The notion that Harlequins are one of the Premiership’s whipping boys was made to look absurd as they strutted the turf of the Stoop with supreme confidence and aplomb. Try after try followed, a hat-trick for Nick David with consecutive tries either side of half-time. But the star performers were legion here. Their eighth try (of nine) on the hour opened up a 54‑0 lead. How far away seemed the past few weeks, in which they have conceded nigh-on 150 points in three Premiership matches.

Bob Weir was a songwriting powerhouse for the Grateful Dead – and the chief custodian of their legacy

‘The Kid’s jazz-influenced rhythm guitar made him utterly integral to the Dead and his later collaborations solidified the band’s influence over latter-day alt-rock

• Bob Weir, co-founder of rock group the Grateful Dead, dies at age 78
• Bob Weir: a life in pictures
• Aaron Dessner: ‘Bob Weir remained completely in touch with the Grateful Dead’s wild wonder. I’ll never forget playing with him’

For most of their career, the other members of the Grateful Dead referred to Bob Weir as “the Kid”. You can understand why. He was only 16 when the band that would ultimately become the Grateful Dead was founded. Moreover, Weir was implausibly fresh-faced and boyishly handsome, particularly compared to some of his bandmates. Jerry Garcia’s photo was used in one of Richard Nixon’s campaign broadcasts, a symbol of all that was wrong with US youth. Keyboard player Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, by all accounts sweet-natured, nevertheless gave off the air of a man who would strangle you with his bare hands as soon as look at you. Weir, on the other hand, somehow managed to look like the kind of charming young man a mother would be happy for her daughter to bring home, even in the famous 1967 photo of him leaving the band’s Haight-Ashbury residence in handcuffs after being busted for drug possession. His relationship with Garcia and bass player Phil Lesh – five and seven years older than him, respectively – is regularly characterised as that of a junior sibling: at one juncture in 1968, the pair contrived to have Weir dismissed from the band on the grounds that his playing wasn’t good enough.

It never happened – Weir simply kept turning up to gigs and the matter was eventually dropped – but it’s hard to see how the Grateful Dead would have worked without him. For one thing, the band’s famed ability to improvise on stage was rooted in a kind of uncanny psychic bond between the key members – “an intwined sense of intuition”, as Weir described it – that they usually claimed was forged while playing together on LSD as the house band at Ken Kesey’s infamous acid test events of 1965 and 1966. For another, whether Garcia and Lesh thought it was up to snuff in 1968, Weir’s rhythm guitar style was an essential component of their sound. It was less obviously striking than Garcia’s fluid soloing or Lesh’s extraordinary approach to the bass – inspired by his grounding in classical music, he played countermelodies rather than basslines – but no less unique, a mass of alternate chords, harmonic pairings and bursts of contrapuntal lead lines that he said were influenced by the playing of jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. More practically, Weir had huge hands, which enabled him to play chords others physically couldn’t.

Jim Gaffigan: Children are not pancakes

The comedian, who has raised many kids, says parenting is not like whipping up a stack of pancakes, but it may be like eating them.

Jim Gaffigan: Children are not pancakes

The comedian, who has raised many kids, says parenting is not like whipping up a stack of pancakes, but it may be like eating them.

Remembering CBS makeup artist Riccie Johnson

Jane Pauley looks back on a longtime member of the CBS family, makeup artist Riccie Johnson, who died last weekend at age 101, after decades of making up everyone from presidents and broadcasters to Beatles.

A mangled pickup truck draws mockery – and kindness

In South Bend, Ind., Mo Riles' pickup truck was impossible to miss, with damage so severe it was hard to believe it was still drivable. For the past few months, people online have been mercilessly poking fun at the truck, until one man reached out to Riles in a way that was life-changing. Steve Hartman reports.

Almanac: January 11

"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date.

State of denial: How insurance companies impact health care today

As millions of Americans struggle with paying for health care, doctors and health experts discuss how medical care is being eroded by insurers denying necessary tests and treatment, making it "more difficult to be healthy in the United States."

State of denial: How insurance companies impact health care today

Millions of Americans are struggling with medical care – either unable to pay high premiums, burdened with high deductibles, or denied coverage for necessary tests and treatment by health insurance companies. Erin Moriarty of "48 Hours" talks with doctors and health experts about how medical care is being eroded by insurers motivated by profit. As one doctor says, insurance companies have "made it more difficult to be healthy in the United States."

As the year begins, don’t look away from the headlines, look better and deeper | Justine Toh

It’s important to cultivate a fresh way of seeing – one that isn’t blind to harsh realities but refuses to be cowed by them

• Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life

I once heard that a journalist, stunned by the horrors they’d witnessed while on assignment as a foreign correspondent, was almost equally shocked to find themselves seeking solace in the strangest of places: a church. Not to pray; that wasn’t their thing. But to sit and take stock in silence – perhaps the most appropriate response when processing history’s bloody body count.

If we’re news junkies, or just extremely online, we’re a little like that traumatised journalist. A little. More removed from frontline carnage, sure, but subject to a similar onslaught of non-stop bad news: polarisation, the climate crisis, grim domestic violence statistics. The rising cost of living, the rise of the far right, and AI threatening to upend our livelihoods.

She spent 366 days searching for her cats after losing them in the LA fires: ‘I promised my babies’

After her Altadena home burned down, Darlene Hamilton wondered whether her cats Merlyn and Kiki had escaped. A year later, she hasn’t given up hope

Most nights for the last year, Darlene Hamilton slept four hours and woke at about 4.30am. She wanted to sleep, but she could not.

Instead the 66-year-old started the day at her Altadena rental home in morning darkness with a familiar routine, scouring through websites of local humane societies and lost animal groups in search of two familiar little faces. For a year, her days often began and ended with this ritual.

The kindness of strangers: alone in the crowd at Glastonbury, a stranger hugged me tight while I cried about my dead dad

As I sobbed to U2, she would hug me tighter as we swayed to the music

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

My father died when I was 19, after a short and sharp fight with cancer. Unsure of what to do or how to proceed with life, I took a year off university and went backpacking through Europe. The other side of the world seemed like a good place to be.

I ended up at the music festival Glastonbury in 2011. It was a great lineup that year but there was one act on the bill that really caught my eye: U2. They were my dad’s favourite band, so it seemed only right that I should go and see them. Of course, U2 aren’t exactly a massive draw for people my age, so I ended up alone in the massive crowd at the main stage while my friends saw other bands.

Joel Dommett looks back: ‘I paid $10 to do a three-minute standup slot in a bar on Sunset Boulevard. I was hooked’

The comedian and presenter on being a quiet child, his alternative youth, and doing 300 gigs in a year

Born in Rockhampton, Gloucestershire, in 1985, Joel Dommett is a comedian and presenter. His career began with acting roles in shows such as Skins and Casualty, before making his name as a standup comedian, performing on Live at the Apollo, and becoming a household name on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! in 2016. Dommett is the host on I’m a Celebrity … Unpacked and The Masked Singer on ITV.

This was taken outside the front door of the bungalow I grew up in. I’m stood next to my grandpa’s yellow pickup truck. That T-shirt was a gift from Uncle John who lived in South Africa.

Grab your fidget spinners! Why gen Z are pining for 2016 | Coco Khan

As galling as it is to see young people refer to the items I wore 10 years ago as ‘vintage’, surely the real problem is that so many of them believe their best years are behind them

‘I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled,” wrote TS Eliot in 1915, in his seminal poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock. And as I sit here in 2026 with my jeans turned up (as per the style of the thirtysomething urban millennial), well, I can relate. What has brought on this bout of contemplation? The latest TikTok craze. Loosely known as “Bring Back 2016”, it involves TikTokers urging their mostly gen Z audience to “live 2026 like it’s 2016” – complete with mannequin challenges, a Major Lazer soundtrack and the promise of never-ending summer. And it’s sure to get heads spinning quicker than the fidget spinners it’s resurrecting.

Admittedly, most of the content is just plain silly: 2016 challenges and dances (the bottle flip, the dab); nostalgia for tech crazes (Pokémon Go and that Snapchat dog filter that made you look like a slobbering puppy but in a weirdly sexy way); and a return to 2016 makeup, fashion and low-effort aesthetics. Remember when “vintage film” filters were all the rage (RIP Instagram’s Mayfair and Sierra)? When videos didn’t need a number of takes, lengthy edits, and border on a professional production? When it was OK to just be online without considering what it said about you as a personal brand? Or when the internet wasn’t divisive politics everywhere? Well, that’s 2016 according to TikTok, and it’s time to “Bring! It! Back!”

Ice cold purification and sleeping bike riders: photos of the weekend

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Latin American left responds to Trump's pledge to take over of Venezuelan oil

Latin America's left is in disarray after the seizure of Nicolas Maduro and the U.S.'s pledge to take over Venezuela's oil industry. Many on the left are changing their rhetoric about President Trump.

After Venezuela, is the world order shifting from diplomacy towards aggression?

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with Peter Krause of Boston College about the Trump Administration's willingness to act unilaterally against other countries and what this means for international relations.

‘It’s more productive than doomscrolling’: film-maker Ben Wheatley on his secret life as musician Dave Welder

While playing with nine-figure Hollywood budgets, the Kill List and Meg 2 director has become a prolific music producer. Next up is his experimental film, Bulk

Dave Welder may just be the most prolific musician you’ve never heard of. In a little more than a year, he has released a staggering 26 records spanning electronica, dub, ambient, kosmische and drone. One of these albums, Thunderdrone, is more than four hours long. Based in Brighton and Hove and described as “a rotating group of musicians and artists”, in reality “Dave Welder” is largely the work of one man who, until now, has been operating in secret: film director Ben Wheatley.

“I’ve always wanted to make music,” says Wheatley, whose films include the independent movies High-Rise, Kill List and Sightseers, along with big-budget Hollywood flicks such as the shark thriller Meg 2: The Trench. “I wanted to do it for my films but there was a dissonance. Of all the art forms, I couldn’t really understand it. I would dream that I could play, but then it was like, no, I can’t.”

Ending the war in Ukraine has more support than ever. So why is peace still not in sight? | Gwendolyn Sasse

The Paris declaration by the ‘coalition of the willing’ supports a nonexistent ceasefire that remains at the mercy of Russian intransigence

• Gwendolyn Sasse is director of the Centre for East European and International Studies

An end to Russia’s war against Ukraine is still not in sight. The frequency of high-level meetings of Ukrainian, US and European representatives in recent weeks, as well as the intermittent US-Russia exchanges, have not changed this fundamental reality. There is no ceasefire in place, European and US military support is not confirmed and, most importantly, Russia does not want the war to end.

The latest talks in Paris managed to bring 35 countries of the “coalition of the willing” together. The core objective was to advance the principle, and implementation, of security guarantees for a future ceasefire. The participation of the US alongside European leaders and a wider coalition of partners was noteworthy. However, the actual result remains vague.

Gwendolyn Sasse is the director of the Centre for East European and International Studies and non-resident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe

How to make penne all’arrabiata – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

Arrabiata means angry, but this simple and delicious pasta dish is pure joy

Pasta all’arrabbiata is the perfect dish for January. Not only is it quick, vegan and made from ingredients you might conceivably have in the cupboard already, but the name, which means angry, could be said to suit my mood now that the last of the Christmas festivities are over. Happily, a big plate of rich, tomatoey pasta can always be relied upon to lift the spirits.

Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 2

Nobel Institute rejects María Corina Machado’s offer to share peace prize with Trump

Organisers clarify award ‘cannot be revoked, shared or transferred’ after Venezuelan opposition leader’s comments

The organisers of the Nobel peace prize have said it “cannot be revoked, shared or transferred” after Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, said she wanted to give her award to Donald Trump.

When Machado was named Nobel laureate in October, it was seen as a snub by the White House, despite Machado rushing to dedicate the prize to the US president and his “decisive support of our cause”.

Family seeks answers after ICE deported man to Costa Rica in vegetative state

Exclusive: Before Randall Gamboa Esquivel died, his health had deteriorated badly while he was in ICE custody

• Costa Rican family demands answers after ICE deportation and death: ‘Have you ever smelled a cadaver?’

The family of a Costa Rican man who was deported from the United States in a vegetative state and died shortly after arriving back in his home country is still urgently seeking answers from the authorities about what happened to him while he was in detention.

Randall Gamboa Esquivel had left Costa Rica in good health and crossed the United States-Mexico border in December 2024, according to his family. However, Gamboa was detained by the US authorities for re-entering American soil unlawfully, as he had previously lived there undocumented between 2002 and 2013.

Game On: the Swiss sports brand using hi-tech and chutzpah to challenge Nike and Adidas

Zurich-based firm taps into latest robot tech to ‘fibre-spray’ high-end sports shoes worn by the likes of Roger Federer

A robot leg whirs around in a complex ballet as an almost invisible spray of “flying fibre” builds a hi-tech £300 sports shoe at its foot.

This nearly entirely automated process – like a sci-fi future brought to life – is part of the gameplan from On, the Swiss sports brand that is taking on the sector’s mighty champions Nike and Adidas with a mix of technology and chutzpah.

A congresswoman wants to impeach Kristi Noem. She’s right to do so | Jan-Werner Müller

It may be tempting to dismiss the move as hopeless – but it interrupts the Trump administration’s promise of impunity

In the wake of the killing of Renee Nicole Good, Congresswoman Robin Kelly has announced the filing of three articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary. Predictably, reactions have been muted at best: with the GOP holding both the Senate and the House, impeachment can be dismissed as purely performative, a helpless response to an in and of itself understandable moral imperative of “just do something!”

But such dismissals are too quick: this administration has been running on a promise of impunity at all levels, and Democrats have to start signaling that actions have consequences. They also need to break out of a fateful dynamic: during Trump 2.0, misdeeds and scandals are following each other in such rapid succession that neither the press nor the public ever seem to get to focus on one. Impeachment can concentrate minds and slow down political time.

Jan-Werner Müller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University

‘People think abuse comes with working in A&E. It shouldn’t be like that’

How a hospital is helping NHS staff realise they need not accept violence, abuse and aggression on the job

Hugo (not his real name), an advanced clinical practitioner, was on the night shift in A&E at Great Western hospital, Swindon, when a drunk patient started swearing aggressively at a nurse. “When I asked if I could help, he told me, ‘Fuck off you gay cunt.’ When I asked him not to speak to me like that and to return to his seat in the waiting room, he just walked up the corridor swearing and repeatedly shouting ‘gaydar’.”

Hugo said he was initially more annoyed than scared, even when the patient grabbed a crutch and started swinging it about. “There wasn’t time to be frightened,” he said. “You’re just trying to protect your colleagues and the patients.” He called security and in the end the police had to arrest the patient. He said although he had experienced aggressive and violent behaviour – over the course of his career, he has been kicked, spat at, pushed and intimidated – “it’s still upsetting and psychologically exhausting to deal with.”

My favourite family photo: ‘This is a happy picture – and also saturated in grief’

The snapshot was taken just months after I lost my mum, and not everyone in it is still with us. But it is an image of survival, capturing the aftermath of grief and the beforemath of future losses

I remember the moment this photo was taken: five years ago, on my partner Claire’s birthday, in a National Trust for Scotland garden six miles east of Edinburgh. We were standing on a wooden deck, an ideal spot for pond-dipping with the kids and a lesser-known viewing platform for trainspotters. This is where my autistic son, then six, loved (and still loves) to jump in tandem with the ScotRail trains toggling back and forth in the middle distance. We had just eaten a small, hasty birthday picnic of pastries and Nosecco. We wandered down through the walled garden to the wild meadow encircling a pond. We ended up where we always end up. On our deck.

Somehow I knew it was a moment worth freezing in time. I gave our dear friend Dawn – whose husband had recently died and who was slowly, informally becoming part of our family – my phone. She took two photos. In the first, two of the five subjects – dog and son – are showing their rear ends to the lens. In the second – this one – almost all of us are looking directly at the lens. Some of us even look happy. Result!

Boeing's airplane deliveries are the highest in 7 years. Now it's about to pick up the pace

Boeing is set to outline its production increase plans later this month after it's expected to post its best year for deliveries since 2018.

This is how we do it: ‘The dark room is a judgment-free place, where we can live out fantasies together’

Sex parties allow Conrad and Callum to explore their desires in a safe space – and as couple

• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

We keep the connection with subtle signals, glances across the room and an unspoken agreement that we won’t disappear

‘There’s nothing better on TV’: behind the scenes of Industry, the high-stakes finance drama that has everyone hooked

Created by two uni mates whose last gig was a David Hasselhoff comedy, the series has become a star-making transatlantic hit. Now it’s back for an intense fourth season that heads everywhere from Ghana to Sunderland

• Spoiler alert: this article contains references to major events in the previous three series of Industry

Industry is not for everyone. Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s drama about young City bankers is zeitgeisty, iconoclastic and slightly inaccessible. “It is niche,” says Down. “We don’t write to any kind of brief. We don’t write what we think is going to be interesting to other people – or commercial.” For every 10 people that don’t understand a “reference or the thing we’re trying to do with the costume or the subtle hint we’re making about someone’s class, there’ll be one person that gets it. The show’s for that one person.”

And for that one person, Industry is hard to beat. “Not to toot my own horn,” says Myha’la, the mononymous 29-year-old who co-stars as daredevil American trader Harper Stern, “but I think there isn’t anything better than this show out there right now.”

Inside GM's new world headquarters: Modernized midcentury designs with artifacts, surprises from the American icon

GM has filled its new Detroit headquarters with artifacts, design nods and "Easter eggs" tied to the Detroit automaker's history.

‘It restored my hope’: the five charities at the heart of the Guardian’s 2025 appeal

More than £900,000 has been raised for local groups bringing people together, with the appeal closing this week

• Donate to our charity appeal here

The Guardian’s 2025 charity appeal theme has been about hope: practical and inspiring grassroots voluntary projects that encourage community pride, tolerance and unity as a positive and joyful antidote to polarisation, racism and hatred.

We aim to raise £1m for our five partner charities. Donations are now just over £900,000. The appeal closes at midnight on Wednesday evening.

‘You feel violated’: how stalkers outsource abuse to private investigators

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds PIs have been hired as part of harassment campaigns and in some cases have tracked women to domestic violence refuges

As Laura stood in the court witness box, preparing to tell magistrates about her ex-husband’s obsessive nature, she flicked through the prosecution’s evidence file and saw the photographs. One of her leaving the house, another of her driving her car on the motorway. They had been taken by a professional. Staring at the grainy images, she felt numb.

Laura’s ex-husband had hired a private investigator to put her under surveillance. On two occasions she had been trailed, with the PI taking photographs of her as he went. Her ex-husband was later sanctioned with a stalking protection order, but the man he hired to facilitate his harassment was never even questioned.

How to dress in cold weather: 10 stylish and cosy updates for winter

Whether it’s hidden layers or touchscreen gloves, our fashion expert shares her tips for staying snug when the temperature drops

• The best slippers for men and women

Dressing for winter is a balancing act: it’s rare you’ll ever be the perfect temperature. One moment you step outside to see your breath hanging in the air, the next you’re packed into a sweltering, crowded train.

Luckily, a few smart wardrobe hacks can help with this seasonal conundrum. From thermal fabrics that keep you warm without bulk to breathable knitwear, these simple upgrades can transform your winter style while keeping you warm and cosy even on the coldest days.

Lamar wants to have children with his girlfriend. The problem? She’s entirely AI

As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers

Lamar remembered the moment of betrayal like it was yesterday. He’d gone to the party with his girlfriend but hadn’t seen her for over an hour, and it wasn’t like her to disappear. He slipped down the hallway to check his phone. At that point, he heard murmurs coming from one of the bedrooms and thought he recognised his best friend Jason’s low voice. As he pushed the door ajar, they were both still scrambling to throw their clothes on; her shirt was unbuttoned, while Jason struggled to cover himself. The image of his girlfriend and best friend together hit Lamar like a blow to the chest. He left without saying a word.

Two years on, when he spoke to me, the memory remained raw. He was still seething with anger, as if telling the story for the first time. “I got betrayed by humans,” Lamar insisted. “I introduced my best friend to her, and this is what they did?!” In the meantime, he drifted towards a different kind of companionship, one where emotions were simple, where things were predictable. AI was easier. It did what he wanted, when he wanted. There were no lies, no betrayals. He didn’t need to second-guess a machine.