The fight to maintain Painted Ladies' beauty in San Francisco

Aside from the Golden Gate Bridge, there's probably no more famous landmark in the Bay Area than the Painted Ladies. Itay Hod shows how one man has been fighting to keep the beloved homes picture-perfect.

Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, dies at 78

Bob Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Grateful Dead classics including "Sugar Magnolia," "One More Saturday Night" and "Mexicali Blues."

Myanmar junta holds second phase of election widely decried as a ‘sham exercise’

UN and many western countries as well as human rights groups say that in the absence of a meaningful opposition the election is neither free, fair nor credible

Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised as a tool to formalise junta rule.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished nation of 51 million people.

Bob Weir, co-founder of rock group the Grateful Dead, dies at age 78

Rhythm guitarist helped guide the legendary jam band through decades of change and success

Bob Weir, the veteran rock musician who helped guide the legendary band the Grateful Dead through decades of change and success, has died at age 78, according to a statement posted to his verified Instagram account on Friday.

The Instagram statement, posted by his daughter Chloe Weir, said he was surrounded by loved ones when he died. Bob Weir had been diagnosed with cancer in July and “succumbed to underlying lung issues”, the statement said.

Machado can't give Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, organization says

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has indicated she'd like to give or share the prize with President Trump.

Chicago man arrested in murders of Ohio dentist and his wife, police say

Michael McKee is the ex-husband of Monique Tepe, according to court records obtained by CBS News. Tepe and her husband, Spencer, were shot and killed in Columbus on Dec. 30.

Veteran actor T.K. Carter, known for 'The Thing' and 'Punky Brewster,' dies at 69

T.K. Carter gained fame as Nauls the cook in John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, "The Thing."

US protests condemn ICE killing of Renee Good and ‘a regime that is willing to kill its own citizens’

In Philadelphia, protesters demanded ICE leave US communities and Trump end warmongering in Venezuela

On a rainy Saturday in Philadelphia, two separate protests, both with a few hundred people, marched from city hall to the federal detention center. They differed slightly in solutions as well as crowd makeup – white older adults dominated the morning’s march organized by the groups behind the No Kings protests, while a more racially diverse crowd swathed in keffiyehs and N95 face masks led the afternoon’s, planned by the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter. However, both groups shared a goal: for ICE to get out of American communities and to put an end to Donald Trump’s warmongering in Venezuela.

“From Venezuela to Minneapolis, all we’re seeing is a regime that is scrambling, willing to kill its own citizens, willing to kill foreign citizens, to maintain its power,” said Deborah Rose Hinchey, co-chair of the city’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter.

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.

Greenland's leaders reject Trump push: "We don't want to be Americans"

Greenland's leaders said the island's future must be decided by its people.

Washington National Opera says it's leaving the Kennedy Center

The Washington National Opera is moving performances away from the Kennedy Center.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong says he struggles with impostor syndrome

Award-winning screenwriter tells Desert Island Discs that success has not silenced self-doubt

The award-winning screenwriter Jesse Armstrong has said a writers’ room can feel like “walking on the moon” when it is working well, but has admitted to experiencing impostor syndrome during his career.

Armstrong was behind the hit HBO drama Succession, starring Brian Cox as the global media tycoon and family patriarch Logan Roy, who sets off a power struggle among his four children.

Ban social media for under-16s, top teaching union urges UK government

NASUWT says evidence growing that unregulated access affects behaviour in school and harms mental health

One of the UK’s biggest teaching unions has called on the government to ban social media for under-16s over concerns about mental health and concentration.

The Teachers’ Union (NASUWT) wants legislation to be tightened so big tech firms would face penalties for allowing children to access their platforms.

City of L.A. has approved less than half of applications to rebuild after wildfires

This week marks one year since wildfires erupted across the Los Angeles region. At least 31 people were killed, and thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. Most have not been rebuilt. Andres Gutierrez reports.

Greenland rejects Trump's threats, with one lawmaker saying it "is not a product, we're a people"

President Trump said, "We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not," earlier this week. But Greenland, a territory of Denmark and a NATO ally, is rejecting the threats. Willie James Inman has more details.

US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries

State department says armed ‘colectivos’ appear to be setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for Americans

The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence that the occupants were US citizens or supporters of the country.

U.S. launches retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria, officials say

The U.S. military struck multiple locations in Syria to target ISIS on Saturday, according to the Central Command. It came as Syria announced a ceasefire with Kurdish fighters after three days of clashes in the north. This is the second time the U.S. has struck ISIS in response to the deadly attack on U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra last month.

DHS releases new video of Minneapolis ICE shooting

Thousands of people braved sub-freezing temperatures to protest this week's fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good and the Trump administration's surge of immigration agents to the Twin Cities. Ash-har Quraishi reports on new images raising tensions and questions.

Police arrest man in the murder mystery of Ohio dentist, wife

Michael McKee, 39, is accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife, Monique, and her husband, Spencer Tepe. The couple was found dead in their Columbus, Ohio, home last month. Ali Bauman reports.

Heated Rivalry review – these physically perfect people have so much sex it’s tedious

This steamy queer romance between ice hockey rivals is packed with constant shots of muscular bottoms in fancy hotel rooms. But a bit more character development or emotional investment wouldn’t go amiss

I suspect that Chala Hunter is still on a recuperative retreat somewhere. Until about May, I would think. For she was the intimacy coordinator on Heated Rivalry and she has earned a break.

For those not aware: intimacy coordinators gained prominence in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, when assorted testimonies from actors (largely female) made public and unignorable the shocking fact that actors (largely male) and directors (largely male) will often (largely always) try to get away with more than has been contracted for once they are naked with A N Other person. An intimacy coordinator is there to help arrange scenes and advocate for actors. Think of them as somewhere between a bureaucrat and a contraceptive.

Mississippi man charged with six murders, including father, brother and a child

Officials expect charge against Daricka Moore, 24, to be elevated to capital murder, with death penalty considered

Authorities in Clay county, Mississippi, say a man has been taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder following the fatal shootings of six people, including a child, on Friday night.

Daricka Moore, 24, is accused of killing multiple relatives as well as a local pastor before his arrest, according to Clay county sheriff Eddie Scott, who addressed the case during a Saturday news conference. Officials said the charge against Moore, who lives in the county, is expected to be elevated to capital murder, and prosecutors could seek the death penalty if he is determined to be mentally competent.

3 congressional lawmakers say they were denied access to ICE facility in Minneapolis

Three Democratic lawmakers said they were denied access to the ICE facility at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Who is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince encouraging demonstrations across Iran?

In exile for nearly 50 years, Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has issued calls urging Iranians to join protests sweeping the country. But support for him may not be clear cut.

US and allies strike Islamic State in Syria after attack that killed three Americans

Military says it targeted the jihadist group throughout Syria in response to attack on US and Syrian troops in Palmyra

US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria on Saturday, the US military said, in the latest response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead.

Washington said a lone gunman from the militant group carried out the 13 December attack in Palmyra, which killed two US soldiers and a US civilian interpreter. The area is home to Unesco-listed ancient ruins and was once controlled by jihadist fighters.

Protests against ICE taking place nationwide after shootings

Protests against immigration enforcement were taking place across the U.S. after federal officers shot three people in Minneapolis and Portland.

Chelsea thrash Charlton to get Liam Rosenior era off to winning start

It sums up the uneasy state of affairs at Chelsea that the new head coach winning his first match in charge was not enough to stop the mutiny. This was a controlled, clinical performance from Liam Rosenior’s second string, who strolled into the fourth round of the FA Cup after a 5-1 win over a game but limited Charlton Athletic, but once again the big talking point was the travelling support spewing venom in the direction of their unpopular owners.

Dissatisfaction with the project is not going away. It did not even matter when Rosenior looked at his bench with Chelsea 3-1 up in the second half and decided to give Estevão Willian a runout against tired, lowly Championship opposition. The Brazilian winger is one of the best young players in the world and his runs were soon making Charlton’s defenders dizzy, but even signings like Estêvão have done little to sway the view of a fanbase united in opposition to an ownership almost four years in and still to convince naysayers that their unique vision will bring success.

US launches new retaliatory strikes against ISIS in Syria after deadly ambush

The U.S. has launched another round of strikes against the Islamic State in Syria. This follows last month's ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter.

6 killed in Mississippi shooting rampage, authorities say

The alleged gunman, 24, has been charged with murder after the Friday shootings in northeast Mississippi. The victims include his father, uncle, brother and a 7-year-old relative, authorities said.

Afcon roundup: Salah sends Egypt into semis, Nigeria power past Algeria

• Egypt to take on Senegal after beating Côte d’Ivoire

• Nigeria progress to face hosts Morocco in last four

Mohamed Salah scored the decisive goal to give Egypt a 3-2 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final victory against Côte d’Ivoire, while strikes from Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams delivered Nigeria a deserved 2-0 victory over Algeria.

Omar Marmoush struck Egypt’s opener and Salah scored the decisive goal as they ended Côte d’Ivoire’s reign, with defender Rami Rabia also on the scoresheet. The Egyptians had little possession at the Grande Stade Agadir but took their chances with clinical precision and held on to book a semi-final with Senegal on Wednesday.

Video taken by ICE agent shows new angle of fatal shooting in Minneapolis

The White House shared video showing a different angle of Renee Nicole Good's shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis and the moments that led up to it, as the investigation continues.

Service door of Crans-Montana bar where 40 died in fire was locked from inside, owner says

Jacques Moretti, who is in custody, told Swiss prosecutor’s office he forced door open and found people lying behind it

The French owner of the Swiss bar where 40 people died in a fire during new year celebrations has told investigators a service door had been locked from the inside.

Jacques Moretti, co-owner of the Constellation bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, was taken into custody on Friday, as prosecutors investigated the tragedy.

Trump seeks to stop courts, creditors from seizing Venezuelan oil revenue in the U.S.

Any use of judicial process against the funds will interfere with efforts to "ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela," the order says.

Suspect in custody after 6 killed in spree of shootings in Mississippi

Clay County Sheriff Eddie Scott said the victims were family members related to the suspect. They were shot at three separate locations late Friday. One of the victims was a child.

Buendía deepens gloom for Frank and Spurs as Aston Villa progress in FA Cup

This was Tottenham’s second defeat to Aston Villa this season and it is becoming increasingly hard to imagine Thomas Frank being in charge when the teams come together a third time in May. A performance that put an end to any realistic chance of a trophy fell well below the expectations of a furious crowd. That their opponents currently offer the diametric opposite of Tottenham’s dysfunction can only have heightened the sting.

Goals from Emi Buendía and Morgan Rogers put this tie to bed for Villa in the first half, Wilson Odobert’s strike after half-time bringing a closeness to the scoreline that was not reflected in the general play. A scuffle on the field at the final whistle involving Rogers, João Palhinha and a host of Tottenham players only added further sourness to the occasion.

Beyond Keane’s stick-it-up-your-bollocks, there isn’t much else to Saipan | Jonathan Wilson

Why is the film of Ireland’s 2002 World Cup falling-out not a documentary but a drama that takes liberties with events?

All history is to some extent narrative. You cannot tell a story without in some way editing it, reducing it, compressing it. Which means that anybody telling a story about a historical event, particularly one from the relatively recent past, risks outraging those who have studied it or who remember it. Often those complaints are pedantic, trivial, but sometimes they are not. It’s one thing to elide two minor characters or to tweak the timeline to simplify a story, quite another to imply misleading motivations.

Saipan, Glenn Leyburn’s and Lisa Barros D’Sa’s film about the cataclysmic row between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy shortly before the 2002 World Cup, came out in Ireland on Boxing Day and will be released in the UK on 23 January. It is obsessed by detail: the tracksuits, the sweatshirts, the kits are all right. It’s startling when the film cuts between reproductions of interviews and press conferences and actual footage to realise just how accurately these scenes have been recreated. Which raises two questions. What is the point? And how can such care have been taken over the look of the film when there are such grotesque inventions and inaccuracies in the plotting and motivation?

Actor Timothy Busfield faces child sex abuse charge in New Mexico

Timothy Busfield is known for appearances in "The West Wing," "Field of Dreams" and "Thirtysomething."

Scottish Premiership: O’Neill says Celtic need ‘to get some people in’ despite rout of Dundee United

• Celtic win 4-0, equalling biggest victory of the season

• Bowie scores equaliser as Hibs and Motherwell draw 1-1

Martin O’Neill warned Celtic could be in trouble if they do not strengthen their squad despite resuming his supervision of the team with a 4-0 victory over Dundee United. A dominant display seemingly banished concerns there might be lasting damage from Wilfried Nancy’s brief but torrid tenure, when Celtic lost six out of eight games.

O’Neill returned to oversee a first clean sheet since his final game in caretaker charge and equal the two biggest wins of the Premiership season, which also came under his watch. Two first-half goals in five minutes, from Yang Hyun-jun and Arne Engels, sent Celtic on their way, with substitute Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda scoring after the break. “We played really well,” said the 73-year-old. “It was nice to see players performing well, playing with confidence, and it was just nice to win.”

I tried to make my dog go viral on social media – it taught me more than I expected

Making a star of Murphy the labrador seemed like a harmless and plausible quest. But I hadn’t reckoned with all kinds of costs

• Read more summer essentials

Eddie sits at a cafe dressed in a turtleneck and blue beret. “On a scale of 10-10, rate how good I look,” the caption to his post reads.

The socialite’s page is full of candid content: enjoying a doughnut at a popular Melbourne brunch spot, relaxing in a chic robe and celebrating a paid “staycation” at the Hyatt House in Melbourne, adorned in a leopard print outfit.

Watched, scared and trapped in an Australian visa nightmare, Kiran is one of India’s ‘abandoned brides’

Kiran was left with her in-laws in a Indian village thousands of kilometres from her husband in Brisbane – but the CCTV was always watching her

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Kiran’s* husband was more than 10,000km away from the home she shared with her in-laws in a village in northern India. But despite the vast distance, he watched her constantly through cameras which beamed into a screen in his Brisbane home.

“He would say: ‘I can always see what you do’,” she recalls through an interpreter.

Do the tiny, boring exercises: how to really look after your hips

From the best exercise moves to how many steps you really need to aim for a day, experts weigh in on how to maintain hip health

When Elvis the pelvis gyrated and thrust his way across national television screens, audiences were delighted and censors were scandalised. But physiotherapists were probably standing up in their seats cheering at the display of such healthy and limber hip movements.

Hips are a key weight-bearing joint, yet we rarely give them the amount of love and attention they deserve.

Macclesfield realise impossible dream in rise from ashes to a day of historic glory

Rob Smethurst’s resurrection of a troubled but proud club is timely reminder that football can still be the people’s game

From extinction to the impossible dream of becoming the greatest FA Cup giantkillers of all, Macclesfield’s story reminds that community will forever be football’s greatest asset. As fans celebrated victory over the holders, Crystal Palace, many took their time to peel away from the stadium. Not too long ago, many feared they may never return to Moss Rose.

Macclesfield Town FC, 1874-2020 was the etching on the gravestone of the club that died, mourned quietly by a town that had slowly lost touch with events at the shambling football ground on its southern tip, pretty much the last stop before the long drive to London begins.

Ramsdale the penalty hero as Newcastle edge Bournemouth in FA Cup thriller

Aaron Ramsdale was Newcastle’s hero as they edged past Bournemouth into the FA Cup fourth round on penalties. The on-loan Southampton goalkeeper saved from Evanilson, Álex Jiménez and Bafodé Diakité to seal a 7-6 shootout win after a pulsating encounter had ended 3-3 after 120 minutes. However, Eddie Howe was counting the cost, with Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home to Manchester City in mind.

Marcus Tavernier had taken the tie to penalties with an equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time at the end of extra time seconds after Harvey Barnes thought he had won it for Newcastle. The hosts had led through a Barnes goal, but trailed 2-1 after Alex Scott and David Brooks scored in quick succession before Anthony Gordon’s late spot-kick.

Washington National Opera leaves Kennedy Center, joining slew of artist exits

The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year.

What we know about Renee Good, the driver shot and killed by ICE agent

Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of 3, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Her father describes her as warm and witty and someone who cared deeply about others.

St Louis residents report monkeys roaming on city streets

St Louis zoo identified the stray simians as vervet monkeys, but it’s not known where they came from

Some residents in St Louis, Missouri, spotted monkeys roaming their streets this week in a situation that feels like the movie Jumanji come to life.

A handful of monkeys were spotted in north St Louis by residents on Friday.

Trump posted some U.S. jobs data the before its official release

The White House said it will review its protocols for releasing economic data after President Trump's "inadvertent public disclosure."

David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are ‘unacceptable’

Exclusive: US vice-president ‘sympathetic’ to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PM

JD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is “entirely unacceptable” for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian.

The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, expressed concern about how the technology was being used to fuel “hyper-pornographied slop” online when they met in Washington on Thursday.

Ukrainian drones set fire to Russian oil depot after Moscow launches new hypersonic missile

The strike comes a day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, including a powerful new hypersonic missile that hit western Ukraine.

Why Russia’s economy is unlikely to collapse even if oil prices fall

Hopes that tougher sanctions and lower oil prices could derail Putin’s war effort underestimate how far the Kremlin has rewired its economy

Pacing inside the Kremlin last weekend, as news feeds churned out minute-by-minute reports of Donald’s Trump’s Venezuelan coup, Vladimir Putin may have been wondering what it would mean for the price of oil.

Crude oil has lubricated the Russian economy for decades – far more than gas exports to Europe – and so the threat of falling oil prices, prompted by US plans for control of Venezuela’s rigs, will have been a source of concern.

‘History will tell’: as US pressure grows, Cuba edges closer to collapse amid mass exodus

Disillusioned with the revolution after 68 years of US sanctions and a shattered economy, one in four Cubans have left in four years. Can the regime, and country, survive the engulfing ‘polycrisis’?

Hatri Echazabal Orta lives in Madrid, Spain. Maykel Fernández is in Charlotte, in the US, while Cristian Cuadra remains in Havana, Cuba – for now. All Cubans, all raised on revolutionary ideals and educated in good state-run schools, they have become disillusioned with the cherished national narrative that Cuba is a country of revolution and resistance. Facing a lack of political openness and poor economic prospects, each of them made the same decision: to leave.

They are not alone. After 68 years of partial sanctions and nearly 64 years of total economic embargo by the US, independent demographic studies suggest that Cuba is going through the world’s fastest population decline and is probably already below 8 million – a 25% drop in just four years, suggesting its population has shrunk by an average of about 820,000 people a year.

AI memory is sold out, causing an unprecedented surge in prices

Three primary memory vendors — Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics — make up nearly the entire RAM market, and they're benefitting from this shortage.

How one football fan turned his passion into social media stardom

"CBS Saturday Morning" meets Robert Williams Jr., a war veteran and diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan who turned his love for music and the team into social media stardom.

Luigi Mangione's lawyers fight to block death penalty

Luigi Mangione was back in court on Friday, where his lawyers worked to block the Justice Department from seeking the death penalty in his federal trial for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione pleaded not guilty in April 2025.

The Shibutani siblings on stepping away from the ice and returning stronger

Maia and Alex Shibutani, sometimes called by their nickname, "Shib Sibs," are two-time Olympic bronze medalists who made history as the first ice dancers of Asian descent to medal in the Olympics. The pair stepped away from the sport after their 2018 run, but are looking to make a comeback at the 2026 Milan Games. "CBS Saturday Morning" spends time with the duo to learn why they feel their time off the ice made them stronger.

Trump faces headwinds on Venezuela, health care as some Republicans break rank

A White House official said Republicans breaking with the president represent a "tiny fraction" of the congressional GOP.

Protests continue in Minneapolis amid new video of Renee Good's last moments

Warning: video might be disturbing. Protests continued into the weekend in Minneapolis over the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. On Friday Vice President JD Vance shared a new video of the officer's point of view, which shows Good's final moments.

Mamdani’s first 10 days: getting things done despite right’s dystopian fantasies

The New York mayor’s popular moves on rent and free childcare defied rightwing predictions of a far-left hellscape

Rightwing politicians and media issued grave warnings about Zohran Mamdani.

The election of the democratic socialist would, according to some, cause a spike in crime, and a reduction in freedom, prompting rich people to flee the city and leading to, in the words of one conservative thinktank, “collapse, dependency, and political repression” in the manner of “Venezuela” and “Cuba”.

Stolen cars being smuggled to Mexico, where they're almost impossible to recover

Authorities warn organized theft rings are going after high-end SUVs, pickups and performance cars in the U.S. and smuggling them into Mexico.

Nasa announces timeline of astronauts’ early departure from ISS due to ‘serious’ medical issue

Space agency said crew of four will leave ISS next week with goal of touching down in California on 15 January

Nasa has announced when it will commence its first medical evacuation from the International Space Station after an astronaut fell ill with a “serious” but undisclosed issue.

The US space agency announced on social media on Friday night that it will aim to have the crew leave the station no earlier than 5pm EST on Wednesday, 14 January, with the goal of them landing near California early on Thursday morning, 15 January, “depending on weather and recovery conditions”.

Cars stolen in the U.S. are popping up in Mexico and are nearly impossible to recover

More than 850,000 vehicles were stolen in the U.S. in 2024, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In the last four years the number of stolen vehicles crossing the border into Mexico from California, Texas and Texas jumped 79%, the California Highway Patrol says. "CBS Saturday Morning" follows one San Diego native's grueling journey to get her stolen car back from Tijuana.

Coco Gauff beats Iga Swiatek but Poland best US to reach United Cup final

• Gaudff wins 6-4, 6-2 but loses in doubles

• Sabalenka into Brisbane final; Alcaraz beats Sinner in exhibition

A statement victory for Coco Gauff over her great rival Iga Swiatek proved to be insufficient to the American’s hopes of leading her team into the final of the United Cup. Poland showed their depth in an excellent team performance to close out a 2-1 win over the United States at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

Poland, who finished runners-up to the US last year, exacted their revenge courtesy of the doubles specialists Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa, who maintained their unbeaten run in the competition by defeating Christian Harrison and Gauff 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the decisive third rubber. Poland face Switzerland in the final on Sunday after the Swiss defeated Belgium 2-1.

Federal judge blocks White House freeze of childcare subsidies in Democratic states

Funding was paused because health department said benefits were going to people in country illegally

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot block federal money for childcare subsidies and other programs aimed at supporting low-income families with children from flowing to five Democratic-led states for now.

The states of California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York argued that a policy announced on Tuesday to freeze billions of dollars in funds for three grant programs was having an immediate impact on them and creating “operational chaos”. In court filings and a hearing earlier on Friday, the states contended that the government did not have a legal reason for withholding the money from them.

Over $120M in USDA award payments to MN suspended, Sec. Rollins says

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Friday that she is suspending payments on all active and future awards from the USDA to Minnesota amid the long-running fraud scandal in which the White House has alleged a misuse of federal funds.

Thousands of Irish farmers protest against EU-Mercosur trade deal

Demonstration follows similar actions in Poland, France and Belgium as EU states approve accord

Thousands of Irish farmers are protesting against the EU’s trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur, a day after EU states approved the treaty despite opposition from Ireland and France.

Tractors streamed into the roads of Athlone, in central Ireland, for the demonstration, displaying signs bearing the slogan “Stop EU-Mercosur” and the EU flag emblazoned with the words “sell out”.

The shocking case of LA’s ‘zombie’ fire – and the young man at the center of it

Prosecutors claim Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, started a smaller wildfire that went on to become the devastating Palisades blaze. Is he ultimately to blame?

More than a year after a devastating wildfire tore through Pacific Palisades, all but obliterating one of the west coast’s most iconic neighborhoods, prosecutors are honing their case against the man they say is responsible.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old occasional Uber driver who used to live in Pacific Palisades, was charged with three felonies by federal prosecutors in October, who claim he was in the neighborhood in the early hours of New Year’s Day. According to a federal complaint, Rinderknecht allegedly used an open flame – likely a lighter – to start a small blaze that grew to about 8 acres (3.2 hectares) before firefighters rushed to the area and extinguished it.

Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani are showing what ‘pro-family’ means | Arwa Mahdawi

The governor and mayor unveiled a plan for free childcare in New York City. Is the ‘family values’ party listening?

I think we all need a little cheering up, don’t you? So allow me to interrupt the steady stream of violent authoritarianism and state-sponsored murder in your feed with some good news. New York City, which already provides free preschool for three- and four-year-olds, is a step closer to providing free universal childcare for two-year-olds. On Thursday, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a plan for the free childcare program, which they said will start by focusing on “high-need areas” and then gradually expand to cover the city. The mayor said he expected about 2,000 children to be covered by the program this fall.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Iran protesters tell of brutal police response as regime lashes out

Videos emerging despite internet and mobile phone blackout show demonstrations continuing despite reports of escalating crackdown

Demonstrators have continued to take to the streets of Iran, defying an escalating crackdown by authorities against the growing protest movement.

An internet shutdown imposed by the authorities on Thursday has largely cut the protesters off from the rest of the world, but videos that trickled out of the country showed thousands of people demonstrating in Tehran overnight into Saturday morning. They chanted: “Death to Khamenei,” in reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and: “Long live the shah.”

Behind the Somali daycare panic is a mother-and-son duo angling to be top Maga influencers

Nick and Brooke Shirley have for years published conspiracy-minded takes on hot-button rightwing issues

YouTube influencer Nick Shirley, whose viral video alleging fraud by daycare centers servicing Minneapolis’s Somali American community came days ahead of the Trump administration’s declaration of a national funding freeze, has for years published conspiracy-minded takes on hot-button rightwing issues.

He also has close ties to the White House, Republicans, and to representatives of an earlier generation of rightwing partisan “ambush journalists” such as James O’Keefe. He worked with Minnesota Republicans to produce the viral video on Somali-run daycares.

2026 is the year of obesity pills. Here's how they could reshape the GLP-1 market

Patients can already access the first GLP-1 obesity pill from Novo Nordisk, and a rival oral drug from Eli Lilly is slated for U.S. approval later this year.

Opinion: Remembering Renee Good

Renee Good won a national prize six years ago for her poem "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," which muses on science and faith. Good was shot to death by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.

PHOTOS: Laundry is a chore but there's a beauty and serenity in the way it hangs out

A new photo series from Filipino photographer Macy Castañeda Lee offers a visually striking view of the mundane task of doing laundry and the role it plays in a rural economy.

Freedom from China? The mine at the centre of Europe’s push for rare earth metals

Swedish producer is trying to to accelerate the process of extracting the elements vital for hi-tech products

It is deep winter with temperatures dropping to -20C. The sun never rises above the horizon, instead bathing Sweden’s most northerly town of Kiruna in a blue crepuscular light, or “civil twilight” as it is known, for two or three hours a day stretching visibility a few metres, notwithstanding heavy snow.

But 900 metres below the arctic conditions, a team of 20 gather every day, forgoing the brief glimpse of natural light and spearheading the EU’s race to mine its own rare earths. Despite identification of several deposits around the continent, and some rare earth refineries including Solvay in France, there are no operational rare earth mines in Europe.

‘Bring me a gigantic Gladiator who can cradle me like a baby!’: behind the scenes of the most joyous show on TV

When it first returned to our screens, people said Gladiators was a tired format. They had clearly forgotten the joy of watching half-clad hulks with silly names go to battle, says superfan Helen Pidd as she heads backstage

When Gladiators is filming at the Sheffield Arena, it feels as if everyone is in on the joke. The woman in the ticket office looks at me gravely. “Before I give you these,” she says, “I need to ask a question. These are very good tickets. You’re in the camera block, near the red contestant’s friends and family. So there’s something I need to know. If the camera is on you, are you going to duck and hide and get all embarrassed? Or are you going to go absolutely flipping mental?”

I’ve been up until the early hours painting portraits of my favourite Gladiators with the precise hope of making it on to the telly. Of course I’m going to go absolutely flipping mental! I’ve been waiting for this day since 1992.

2026 looks ominous for media, from Hollywood to journalism

Critic at large Eric Deggans says that in 2026, audiences have more power than they realize to determine the future of news and entertainment.

Trinidad and Tobago went all in with the US – it will prove a costly misjudgment | Kenneth Mohammed

Aligning itself with Washington and dismissing regional diplomacy has left the dual island nation isolated amid the Venezuela crisis

There is a saying in Trinidad and Tobago: “Cockroach should stay out of fowl business.” It captures a hard truth. Small states that stray into great-power conflicts rarely emerge unscathed. They are not players; they are expendables.

It’s a statement that frames the reality of where Trinidad and Tobago sits uneasily today.

‘The boy’s contented face, his red hair matching the pig’s – you couldn’t plan for it’: Kelli Radwanski’s best phone picture

Remote photography didn’t dilute the intimacy of this blissful moment in the Nevada sunshine

Sara Weir’s five children had just woken up and were roaming their home in Nevada when this shot was taken. It was 7am and photographer Kelli Radwanski was after the morning light; Weir had another child on the way and had hired Radwanski to capture their family life. All the kids were feeling playful, ready to show off their talents, silly faces and prize possessions. As the eldest son wandered into the frame, holding his pot-bellied pig, Radwanski captured the moment – while sitting in her office chair in Oregon.

“Remote photography was developed during the pandemic and a handful of us still use it as one of our primary art forms,” Radwanski says. “I used a special app that took over Sara’s phone camera, an iPhone 13, and the day before the shoot she showed me around her home from the phone, so I could seek out light and vignettes that would be compelling in telling their story. We used a tall standing tripod to hold the phone and I had Sara place it where I wanted it to go. It worked beautifully for moving all five of them in and out of scenes. I’ve photographed more than 500 people in 14 countries this way.”

Influencer, White House welfare fraud claims are distorted, but the system has risks

Federal officials are targeting Democratic-led states over alleged safety-net fraud. Critics worry a drumbeat of unfounded accusations could undermine public trust.

Circumcision classed as possible child abuse in draft CPS document

Exclusive: Possible revision of guidance for prosecutors in England and Wales comes amid safety concerns from courts

Circumcision is to be classed as a potential form of child abuse under new guidance for prosecutors, amid concerns from judges and coroners about deaths and serious harms caused by the procedure.

A draft document by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on “honour-based abuse, forced marriages, and harmful practices”, classes circumcision as a potential crime alongside breast flattening, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and exorcisms.

Greenlanders ‘don’t want to be Americans’, say political leaders amid Trump threats

Five parties issue joint statement after US president warns he would acquire the island ‘the nice way or the more difficult way’

Greenlanders “don’t want to be Americans” and must decide the future of the Arctic island themselves, politicians in the self-governing Danish territory have said, after Donald Trump warned the US would “do something whether they like it or not”.

The leaders of five political parties in the Greenlandic parliament issued a united statement on Friday night, soon after the US president reiterated his threats to acquire the mineral-rich island.

Golden Globes 2026: who will win and who should win the film awards?

This weekend promises a Hollywood showdown with films including Sinners, Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another up for major awards

After a year that was notoriously close to call (did anyone initially see Anora emerging as the ultimate victor?), this awards season feels a little easier to scope out. Paul Thomas Anderson’s idiosyncratic activism caper One Battle After Another has so far dominated, becoming only the fourth film ever to win best film at both the New York and Los Angeles film circles then the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics. But how far can it go?

It leads this weekend’s Golden Globes with nine nominations but the comedy categories also feature Marty Supreme, now riding high at the box office, and its inescapable leading man Timothée Chalamet. Then on the drama side we have Sinners and Hamnet, two very different films solidifying two very different awards narratives. Here’s how I think it might all play out on Sunday:

Roger McGough: ‘How often do I have sex? Hang on, I’ll find out … Alexa, how often do I have …’

The poet on running across a minefield, being bewitched at a bus stop, and his 88th birthday celebrations

Born in Liverpool, Roger McGough, 88, worked as a teacher before forming the Scaffold with John Gorman and Mike McGear in the 1960s; they performed poetry, sketches and comic songs and had a No 1 hit with Lily the Pink. McGough hosts Radio 4’s Poetry Please and has published more than 100 poetry books for adults and children, including Collected Poems 1959-2024. He has four children and lives in London with his second wife.

When were you happiest?
Last Sunday when all the family came round to celebrate my 88th birthday. (Or was it Saturday. Or the week before, perhaps?)

The 15 best games to play on the Nintendo Switch in 2026

From the greatest cartoon racing game in history to a remastered version of an Alien-inspired sci-fi shooter, here are the Switch’s must-play games

• The 15 best games to play on the Nintendo Switch in 2025

Although the Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for several months, not everyone has made the leap to the new machine and there is still much to enjoy on the original console in 2026 (and beyond). From timeless Mario adventures to cutesy shooters to chasm-deep role-playing quests, here are 15 games no Switch owner should be without.

From boho chic to dressy: the alpha female celebrities reviving flares

Claudia Winkleman is among high-profile women again popularising the trouser style once favoured by hippies

In fashion currently, trouser shape firmly sit in two camps – skin-tight, as with the revival of skinny jeans, or ultra oversized and baggy. But, perhaps, there is a third way. Enter – once again – the flare.

The trouser shape, first popularised in the 70s and flirted with briefly five years ago, is back again in 2026. Resale app Depop says there has been a 30% increase in the searches for the style this month alone.

Mass surveillance, the metaverse, making America ‘great again’: the novelists who predicted our present

From Jorge Luis Borges to George Orwell and Margaret Atwood, novelists have foreseen some of the major developments of our age. What can we learn from their prophecies?

This year marks 100 years since the first demonstration of television in London. Elizabeth II sent the first royal email in 1976. The first meeting of the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers took place in 1876. All notable anniversaries. But I’m going with 2026 as the 85th anniversary of a great short story: Jorge Luis Borges’s The Garden of Forking Paths (1941). It’s about chance, labyrinths and an impossible novel. Ts’ui Pên, an ancestor of the narrator, sets himself the task of writing a novel with a cast of thousands: “an enormous guessing game, or parable, in which the subject is time”. In most novels, when a character reaches a fork in the path, they must choose: this way, or that way. Yet in Ts’ui Pên’s novel, all possible paths are chosen. This creates “a growing, dizzying web of divergent, convergent, and parallel times”. The garden of forking paths is infinite.

It’s often said that Borges’s story foreshadows the multiverse hypothesis in quantum physics – first proposed by Hugh Everett in 1957, then popularised by Bryce DeWitt in the 1970s as the “many worlds interpretation” of quantum mechanics. In a 2005 essay, The Garden of the Forking Worlds, the physicist Alberto Rojo investigated this claim. Did the physicists read Borges? Or did Borges read the universe? It turned out that Bryce DeWitt hadn’t known about Borges’s garden. When Rojo questioned Borges, he also denied everything: “This is really curious,” he said, “because the only thing I know about physics comes from my father, who once showed me how a barometer works.” He added: “Physicists are so imaginative!”

Trump may be the beginning of the end for ‘enshittification’ – this is our chance to make tech good again | Cory Doctorow

The US president is weaponising tech, but his tariffs and Brexit provide a surprising opportunity to gain back digital control of our lives

It’s been 25 years since I started working for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an American nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting human rights on the internet. I’ve found myself in dozens of countries working with activists, politicians and civil servants to untangle the complex technical questions raised by the internet, and every one of our discussions ended in the same place. “OK,” they’d say, “you’ve definitely laid out the best way to regulate tech, but we can’t do it.”

Why not? Because – inevitably – the US trade rep had beaten me to every one of those countries and made it eye-wateringly clear that if they regulated tech in a way that favoured their own people, industries and national interests, the US would bury them in tariffs.

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of dozens of books, most recently Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It

Heated Rivalry: this queer Canadian hockey romp is so hot it threatens to scorch the ice it skates on

Ravishing actors, charged glances, buttocks like pneumatic hams … this is one steamy love story. But it’s far more than just a porny sport-based bodice-ripper

I was surprised to learn that ice hockey romance is a genre, a popular one. Surprising, but it makes sense. Love in a cold setting has a fairytale quality. It’s why the great Russian romances endure, though they aren’t relatable. Most of us don’t sit by windows, waiting for a horse to bring word that our cousin has survived the winter in Smolensk. Perhaps it’s time for a modern Doctor Zhivago? Enter Heated Rivalry (Saturday 10 January, 9pm, Sky Atlantic), a Canadian queer romp so hot it threatens to scorch the ice it skates upon.

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are star players from Montreal and Moscow respectively, mysteriously drawn to each other on the rink, in the full glare of the media. Well, not that mysteriously. The co-leads get down to business almost immediately, with a not-quite meet cute in a shower room. Every episode thereafter features charged glances, sweaty necks and muscular pumping. Even the camera feels as if it’s in lust, gliding over 8%-fat sports star bodies and the glass walls of luxury flats. It’s an audacious feat, making ice hockey sexy. Those padded uniforms usually make wearers resemble the Thing from The Fantastic Four.

AI bubble: five things you need to know to shield your finances from a crash

Some experts have voiced fears a tech meltdown could hit our savings and pensions – here’s how to protect yourself

The new year has started as 2025 ended – with share prices booming amid warnings from some that the growth is being driven by overvalued technology stocks. Fears of an “AI bubble” have been voiced by people from the governor of the Bank of England to the head of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Even if you have not actively invested in technology shares, the chances are you have some exposure to companies operating in the sphere. Even if you do not, a collapse could take down other companies’ values.

My cultural awakening: Losing My Religion by REM helped me escape a doomsday cult

I had been a member of the Children of God for two decades, but was growing disillusioned with its controlling behaviour and worrying sexual practices. Then I heard Michael Stipe’s lyrics and was set on a path to freedom

In 1991, I was living in a commune with 200 other people in Japan, as a member of a cult called the Children of God, which preached that the world was going to end in 1993. Everything I did – from where I slept each night, to who I was allowed to sleep with – was decided by the head of my commune. I was encouraged to keep a diary, and then turn it over to the leaders every night, so they could comb through it for signs of dissent. I was only allowed to listen to cult-sanctioned music, and I was only allowed to watch movies with happy endings, because those were the types of films of which the cult’s supreme leader – David Berg – approved. The Sound of Music was one of Berg’s favourite films, so we watched it on repeat.

By the time I was living in Japan, I was in my mid-30s, and I’d been part of the cult for 20 years. I was indoctrinated by a young hippy couple when I was 16, and persuaded to run away from my family and join a sect of the cult near my home town in Canada. I was a lonely teenager and desperately searching for some kind of meaning. Everybody I knew worked in the lumber mill in my small town, and the thought that I was doomed to live that life scared the hell out of me. The first time I visited the commune, everyone hugged me when I walked in, just to say “hello”. It was intoxicating.

But by 1991, after two decades in the cult, my faith was weakening. It was becoming clearer to me that Berg was wrong about the world ending in 1993. A whole series of events that were meant to directly precede the Second Coming hadn’t happened, and Berg – who lived in secrecy and communicated with his followers by written “prophecies” – kept issuing increasingly unconvincing excuses.

I was also becoming more resistant to the way the cult leaders sought to control the most intimate parts of my life. When I joined the cult, it was very sexually conservative. If you wanted to date another member of the community, you had to ask for permission from the leadership. But as the years went by, Berg started preaching a doctrine of sexual freedom, and ordering his members to couple-swap. I had got married to another cult member in the 1980s, and was living with her in a Children of God commune in Japan. Because I resisted couple-swapping I was forcibly separated from my wife as a punishment – and ordered to live in a different commune on my own.

There was also an even darker side to the Children of God that I was trying to shut my eyes to. Berg had released a written decree which permitted adult cult members to have sex with children. I never witnessed any sexual contact with children, and while I did read that decree when it was released in the 1980s, I refused to accept it. Still, it horrified me.

Forcibly separated from my wife, and with Berg’s teachings becoming more twisted, I was in a state of spiritual turmoil. But it was only when I heard REM’s song Losing My Religion that I was pushed to action. Cult members were allowed to own Walkmans, because the Children of God released their own music on cassette, but we were forbidden from listening to “worldly” music. As my will to blindly obey crumbled, I began to secretly tune in to the American armed forces radio station that broadcast in Japan. (Technically, I’d always had the power to covertly listen to music this way, but it’s a sign of how indoctrinated I was that I had never allowed myself to do so before.) One day, Losing My Religion came on, and I remember hearing it for the first time and freezing. I physically stopped walking.

What links Billie Eilish and George Gershwin? The Saturday quiz

From Barclays, Cadbury and Clarks to Nith and Wampool, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 What identically named comic strips debuted in the US and UK in March 1951?
2 Which pharaoh was known by later Egyptians as the Great Ancestor?
3 Which Spanish-language singer is the world’s most-streamed artist?
4 Which big cat has the widest geographical distribution?
5 Who was the first woman to train a Grand National winner?
6 What element has the lowest boiling point?
7 Which artist has museums in Pittsburgh and Slovakia?
8 Which country has more than 9m abandoned homes?
What links:
9 Billie Eilish; George Gershwin; Barry Gibb; Robert Sherman?
10 Annan; Dee; Eden; Esk; Kirtle Water; Nith; Wampool?
11 Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow; nymph of Ogygia; Jacques Cousteau’s ship?
12 Elgin City; Juventus; Marseille; Swindon Town?
13 Barclays; Cadbury; Clarks; Fry’s; Lloyds; Rowntree’s?
14 Rose; tree; bird; arrow; globe; poppy?
15 Nicola Adams; Mel B; Alan Bennett; Erling Haaland; Gabby Logan; Marco Pierre White?

No, private schools aren’t victims of ‘reverse discrimination’ – and Cambridge should know better | Lee Elliot Major

Trinity Hall’s plan to target elite schools sends the message that privilege equals talent, when the reality is that poorer students are already on the back foot

A Cambridge college’s plan to target students from some of the country’s most elite private schools has struck a nerve. As reported by the Guardian, Trinity Hall justified the move by claiming that a focus only on “greater fairness in admissions” could “unintentionally result in reverse discrimination”. Alumni LinkedIn feeds and social media threads quickly filled with outrage, as many Cambridge graduates interpreted the move as class prejudice rearing its ugly head once again. One angry fellow at the college said it amounted to a “slap in the face” for their state-educated undergraduates.

It brought back memories of the sneering snobbery at Oxford when the former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, introduced a new foundation year. “We don’t do hard luck stories,” sniffed one academic. “Oxford doesn’t do remedial education,” complained another. The foundation year at Oxford and also at Cambridge has since enjoyed huge success, proving that students who have faced great adversity or academic disadvantage can flourish when given the chance.

Lee Elliot Major is a professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter. His forthcoming book Cracking the Class Codes is published in 2026.

BBCNOW/ Bancroft/ Gerhardt review – intriguing connections, magic and melancholy beauty

Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff
An imaginatively programmed concert featured Anders Hillborg alongside Sibelius and Shostakovich – with Alban Gerhardt the impeccable soloist in the latter’s second cello concerto

Cadavre Exquis was the game – akin to Consequences – in which surrealist artists such as Yves Tanguy and Joan Miró made separate contributions to a single piece of work without sight of what anyone else had done, to see how a picture might evolve, or just for the hell of it. Anders Hillborg took the principle as inspiration for his composition Exquisite Corpse but, where the surrealists hoped for signs of an unconscious collective sensibility, the emerging components of Hillborg’s piece bear his consciously singular imprint while also incorporating references to composers as disparate as Stravinsky, Ligeti and Sibelius.

In the performance given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under their chief conductor Ryan Bancroft, the unfolding layers of sound were never less than brilliantly alive. Hillborg’s instinct for a remarkable range of instrumental colour – delicate tendrils of harmony, monstrously growling bass registers, insistent conga drumming, shrill piccolos – taunted and teased the ear before finally fading into a gentle haze.

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for roast swede and purple sprouting broccoli curry | The new vegan

Earthy, sweet swede soaks up a curry sauce like a champion, and this ginger, tomato and coconut number is no exception

As a day-in-day-out home cook, there is no more welcome tool in my dinner toolbox than a bung-it-in-the-oven dish. A second necessary tool in the month of January is the ability to dispose of or transform a swede into an evening meal. For the uninitiated, when roasted, the swede, that pretty, purple-creamed, dense little ball, is part-creamy, part carrot-like in nature, and earthy and sweet in flavour. It also takes to big-flavoured sauces such as this tomato, ginger and coconut curry like a chip to vinegar and couples up well with its seasonal pal, fresh, crunchy purple sprouting broccoli.

Tim Dowling: I have a new mystery ailment but sympathy is in short supply

I can’t tell the GP ghosts are pulling my hair. That’s even more embarrassing than my previous ailments – ‘hot hand’ and ‘phantom phone’

I wake up with a headache. Not a headache, really – more of a head pain, and not exactly that either. I am sitting in the kitchen opposite the middle one, who is staring at his computer. My wife is wandering in and out, not really listening to the symptoms I’m trying to describe.

“It’s like I walked through a low doorway and cracked my skull on the frame,” I say.

Blind date: ‘The register office was next door … but we opted for the pub and more drinks’

Dara, 24, a trainee accountant, meets Alexia, 24, a healthcare worker

What were you hoping for?
Something a little different for a Tuesday night, and a fancy meal with some good company.

World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam

Richest 1% took 10 days while wealthiest 0.1% needed just three days to exhaust annual carbon budget, study shows

The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found.

Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.

My favourite family photo: ‘It’s a snapshot of our goofy bond’

Since my mum died, family photos can be painful to look at. But this one of me and my brother is a reminder we still have each other

My only sibling is seven years older than me. That means he has forever been seven years ahead of me in life, sitting somewhere between a willing co-conspirator and knowledgable surrogate parent – protective but fun, and always aware of the secrets of existence I am yet to discover. It was his aside that spoiled the secret identity of Santa Claus; he who laughingly revealed the mechanics of sex; he who gave me my first sip of beer. Yet, when he found out I was sneaking cigarettes from my dad’s stale dinner party supply, he chastised me before either of my parents could, and when my mum was diagnosed with cancer and I was just 15, he was already a 22-year-old medical student, able to speak in a doctor’s shorthand and advocate for her care while my father and I floundered.

Ever since my mum died in 2013, family photos have been a source of bittersweet pain. In the pictures where she is present, I’m reminded of her wide smile, appetite for fun and her loving presence. In the images without her, all I see is her absence – the mum-shaped silhouette where she should be, either because she was outside the frame or because she was no longer alive.

NASA hopes to return Crew 11 to Earth next week over medical issue

NASA officials reported Thursday that an unidentified member of Crew 11 was dealing with "a medical situation" that would require the crew to return to Earth sooner than anticipated.

Ukraine war briefing: UK earmarks £200m to prepare for possible Ukraine troop deployment

British defence minister says money will be spent on vehicle upgrades, communication systems and counter-drone protection, ensuring troops are ready to deploy. What we know on day 1,417

2 people shot by Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon

Two people were wounded in a shooting involving Customs and Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon, officials said.

High Noon review – Billy Crudup brings classic Hollywood western back with a bang

Harold Pinter theatre, London
Crudup and Denise Gough lead a tense adaptation that turns the film into a debate play whose McCarthy-era roots resonate powerfully today

How do you turn a classic Hollywood western into West End musical fare? Add songs, many of Bruce Springsteen’s in this case, along with a few rounds of line dancing and a sizzling star in Billy Crudup. Still, it’s an odd experience initially as Thea Sharrock’s production switches from one brief filmic scene to the next, and the endeavour seems as wooden as the clapboard saloon-bar slats that comprise the handsome set.

As a piece of theatre, it finds its flow. As a debate play, though, it gathers a locomotive energy as it travels towards the showdown between Frank Miller (James Doherty), who is returning to this “dirty little village in the middle of nowhere”, and the marshal Will Kane (Crudup) who put him behind bars. That is mostly because of the uncanny and urgent relevance of this 1952 film about a community working out (or rather, squirming out of) its civic responsibilities around institutional wrongdoing.