The best women’s lingerie: 22 favourites for every mood and budget

Whether you want everyday comfort or a special set for Valentine’s Day, our fashion writer rounds up the styles that’ll have you hooked – from skimpy to supportive, recycled to racy

• The best Valentine’s Day gifts for 2026

Lingerie isn’t about dressing for someone else. The best lingerie will feel comfortable, supportive and genuinely good to wear, whether that’s an everyday staple or an investment piece.

The design of lingerie has never been better, with a wide variety of brands focusing on comfortable materials, breathability and support, as well as style. From ultra-soft lace that moves with the body to wireless bras that actually stay up, sometimes the best lingerie is all about subtle design details rather than extra frills.

‘Don’t lose your 12,739 points!’ The text scams cashing in on bogus rewards

Scam message claims points will expire in days so click through to claim your prize – just pay the postage

You get a text message with some good news: your mobile provider has been operating a rewards programme and you have earned almost 13,000 points.

You haven’t heard of the scheme before but since so many of the operators have rewards plans, you assume you must just have missed it. When you click on the link, you arrive at a site branded with your operator’s logo and find you can cash in your points for a new massage chair or a high-end vacuum cleaner, among other items. All you have to do is pay the postage.

No one owns our Arctic land, we share it, say Greenland’s Inuit

Greenland and its people were thrust into the global spotlight last year when Trump revived his demand that the US take control of the island for national security and to access its abundant mineral resources. For the Inuit people, who have lived here for centuries, no one owns the Arctic land

As goes the Washington Post: US democracy takes another hit under Trump

Jeff Bezos’s axing of more than 300 jobs at the storied newspaper has renewed fears about the resilience of America’s democracy to withstand Trump’s attacks

The email landed in Lizzie Johnson’s in-tray in Ukraine just before 4pm local time. It came at a tough time for the reporter: Russia had been repeatedly striking the country’s power grid, and just days before she had been forced to work out of her car without heat, power or running water, writing in pencil because pen ink freezes too readily.

“Difficult news,” was the subject line. The body text said: “Your position is eliminated as part of today’s organizational changes,” explaining that it was necessary to get rid of her to meet the “evolving needs of our business”.

After years spent documenting state terror, I know it when I see it. And I see it now in the US and Israel | Janine di Giovanni

It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned

• Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza

In Syria, where I worked during the years of Bashar al-Assad’s terror, people were often taken away to torture cells before dawn by masked men. The timing was deliberate. It disoriented them at their most vulnerable, ensuring the torture to come would be even more agonising. The testimonies I recorded from survivors almost always contained the same phrase: “The morning they came for me.” One young woman, shattered by rape and violence, later told me that her life had split in two – before and after the masked men came for her.

In Iraq, those who spoke against Saddam Hussein – even abroad, even casually – were punished in cruel ways by a vengeful leader determined to crush any hint of dissent.

Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza. She is the author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria.

Failure to compensate pelvic mesh implant victims ‘morally unacceptable’, say campaigners

Thousands of women with life-changing complications still in limbo two years after call for financial redress

The government’s failure to respond to calls for a compensation scheme for women harmed by pelvic mesh has been described as “morally unacceptable” by campaigners.

Thousands of women were left with life-changing complications after receiving transvaginal mesh implants, with some unable to walk or work again.

Queensland moves to ban pro-Palestine slogan ‘from the river to the sea’ under sweeping new hate speech laws

Laws to be introduced this week include up to two years in prison for distributing, displaying or reciting prohibited phrases to harass or offend

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Queensland could become the first state in Australia to outlaw the phrase “from the river to the sea”, under sweeping new hate speech reforms announced by the state government.

The premier, David Crisafulli, announced the proposed laws on Sunday, ahead of their introduction to parliament on Tuesday, describing them as a direct response to the Bondi terror attack, in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukah celebration.

For many U.S. Olympic athletes, Italy feels like home turf

Many spent their careers training on the mountains they'll be competing on at the Winter Games. Lindsey Vonn wanted to stage a comeback on these slopes and Jessie Diggins won her first World Cup there.

Spice up your life! 17 soups with a kick – from chicken curry laksa to roast pumpkin

What could be more warming than a tangy soup? Here are some excellent options, whether you’re using up leftover veg or exploring unexpected new flavours

Technically, many soups are spiced in some way, even if it’s just with pepper. But we all know what is meant by a spiced soup: something with a jolt to it, and a bit of heat to warm up a winter evening. When it comes to soup, spice is the ultimate companion to a main ingredient that may otherwise be considered boring or bland. In this sense, the spices are the most important component: they are what the soup will taste of.

But which spices go with which ingredients, and how? Here are 17 different recipes to help you figure that out.

Did a popular acne medication drive a Texas teen to shoot his friends?

Connor Hilton, 17, said that after taking Accutane, a prescribed acne medication, he began to have suicidal and homicidal thoughts – thoughts that, his defense argued, led him to shoot two friends in the head at his Friendswood, Texas, home. Prosecutors weren't convinced.

Thai voters head to the polls with three main parties vying to form government

People’s party, which is pledging structural changes to Thailand’s political and economic system, leads opinion polls but is not expected to win outright majority

Polling stations opened in Thailand on Sunday for an election that pits a youthful pro-democracy party against rivals that are offering a mix of nationalism and populist policies.

The People’s party, which is pledging structural changes to Thailand’s political and economic system, has led opinion polls before Sunday’s vote, fuelled by support from younger voters. However, the party, led by 38-year-old former software engineer Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, is not expected to secure an outright majority, and may struggle to build a coalition. Its candidates are also facing a looming legal battle.

The world heard JD Vance being booed at the Olympics. Except for viewers in the US | Bryan Armen Graham

The real risk for American broadcasters is not that dissent will be visible. It is that audiences will start assuming anything they do not show is being hidden

The modern Olympics sell themselves on a simple premise: the whole world, watching the same moment, at the same time. On Friday night in Milan, that illusion fractured in real time.

When Team USA entered the San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones. Canadian viewers heard them. Journalists seated in the press tribunes in the upper deck, myself included, clearly heard them. But as I quickly realized from a groupchat with friends back home, American viewers watching NBC did not.

Hilary Knight shows the world why she's one of the greatest at 2026 Olympics

Ice hockey forward Hilary Knight showed the world why she's one of the greatest players ever. With her 14th goal, the captain of Team USA moved into a tie for the most goals scored by a U.S. Women's hockey player at the Winter Olympics. Andres Gutierrez reports on her career and her last Olympic run.

Why has food become another joyless way to self-optimise? | Emma Beddington

The age of ‘liquid salad’, fibremaxxing and recolonising your microbiome is here – but our meals should be about pleasure, too

The crisis point came with the sea moss. Or perhaps the hemp protein powder? Certainly, when I started adding goose-poo-coloured dust to my breakfast, the unease I have been feeling around food culture deepened. Turning an already drab meal (plain vegan yoghurt, enough seeds to kill a gerbil) into what looked, and tasted, like mud felt more like self-harm than self-care. But, no, what pushed me over the edge was the tiny £2 Marks & Spencer sea moss shot. Sorry, not just sea moss: “High-quality red algae sea moss … high in iodine, vitamins C, B1, B6 and B12.” It was blue and tasted awful, with hints of bubble bath. Of course it did – I’m not a limpet; I’m not supposed to consume sea moss!

When did food become medicine? There’s all the pseudoscientific supplementary stuff, but even normal food has started to feel functional, mere units of nutrition. A tally runs in my head of things I “need” to eat: am I getting enough oats, beans, leafy greens? What about nuts? I cut back on crisps to cram more nuts in and chuck tofu into everything, because neglecting protein is the worst crime a middle-aged woman can commit. I’m not sure I remember what I actually enjoy eating any more. I’m certain no one on earth enjoys eating flaxseeds – they have all the personality of polystyrene packaging chips – but I choke them down daily, for my cholesterol and gut health.

Sunday night's matchup is about more than a game for Levi's, aiming to share their story

The countdown is on for the big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. Kris Van Kleave is outside what's been called the Field of Jeans.

What to know after the Winter Olympics' first full day

Saturday marked the first full day of the Olympic Winter Games in Italy. Switzerland took the first gold medal in men's downhill skiing. In all, five medal events were held, but no gold yet for Team USA. Seth Doane has the latest details from Cortina, Italy.

White House removes Trump post with racist footage of Obamas hours after defending it

The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.

Fallout over Epstein files directly threatening Prime Minister Keir Starmer

The political fallout in Britain following the latest Epstein documents release became so intense that on Saturday, there were growing calls for the U.K.'s prime minister to step down.

Savannah Guthrie says "we will pay" in new plea for mother's safe return

Savannah Guthrie released a new video​ on Saturday, saying her family is willing to pay for the safe return of their mother.

Trump refuses to apologize for racist video despite outrage, condemnation

President Trump refused to apologize after sharing a racist video on Truth Social and then later taking it down. Willie James Inman has more.

Massive release of Epstein files includes 3 million documents and photos

The Justice Department released more new documents on Jan. 30 from the Jeffrey Epstein files, more than a month after the DOJ's original deadline to do so.

Savannah Guthrie makes another video plea: "This is very valuable to us and we will pay"

Saturday marks one week since Nancy Guthrie, mother of "Today" show host Savannah Guthrie, was last seen by her family. Andres Gutierrez has the latest on the investigation.

In the decade since my sons left home, walking has brought us together

The exodus of grown children mostly happens without fanfare. For Lisa Walker, hiking the Camino turned into both a goodbye and a glimpse at the future

• Read more summer essentials

Don’t let them push you around, my youngest son said halfway through the Camino de Santiago. You don’t have to get up early if you don’t want to.

I didn’t know that was an option, replied his brother from his bunk.

'We will pay,' Savannah Guthrie says in desperate video plea to potential kidnappers of her mother

Today show host tells potential kidnappers of mother Nancy that family is prepared to pay for safe return

Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old entered a seventh day.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Immigrant whose skull was broken in 8 places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked

Alberto Castañeda Mondragón was hospitalized with eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages. Officers claimed he ran into a wall, but medical staff doubted that account.

Nancy Pelosi to endorse Jack Schlossberg in New York congressional race

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to endorse Jack Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy's grandson, a source familiar confirmed to CBS News.

‘Sea puppy pancakes’: what it’s like to pat a 300kg wild stingray

Visitors to a site near Gisborne in New Zealand’s North Island get to interact with the animals in their habitat and learn about their importance to Māori culture

In a shallow reef close to New Zealand’s east coast shore, a group of 30 people wearing khaki overalls and boots huddle together like a crescent moon, waiting for the stars of the show to arrive.

They don’t have to wait long.

A timeline of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as search stretches into 6th day

Savannah's Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, went missing over the weekend, and authorities have still not identified a possible suspect or person of interest.

What we know about the massive sewage leak in the Potomac River

A collapsed sewer line, about 8 miles from the White House, pumped 368 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of wastewater into the Potomac. Repairs could take longer than previously expected.

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis resigns just days after paper enacts mass layoffs

Will Lewis, CEO and publisher of the Washington Post, has resigned just three days after the storied newspaper laid off about one-third of its staff.

‘Take them away, crush them’: Australia faces an ebike surge that some say poses a health emergency

They offer independence, reduce emissions and congestion. But they are also endangering lives

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After the Sydney Harbour Bridge was swarmed by 40 or so ebikes and e-motorcycles on Wednesday, the Australian government said the country faced a “real emergency”.

“[Illegal ebikes] are a total menace on the road,” the health minister, Mark Butler, said on Friday.

Pentagon says it's cutting ties with 'woke' Harvard, ending military training

Amid an ongoing standoff between Harvard and the White House, the Defense Department said it plans to cut ties with the Ivy League — ending military training, fellowships and certificate programs.

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis abruptly resigns amid criticism of staff cuts

Departure comes days after newspaper laid off nearly one-third of staff, including more than 300 journalists

Will Lewis, the Murdoch media veteran who took over as publisher and chief executive of the Washington Post in early 2024, announced abruptly on Saturday evening that he is leaving the company.

His departure comes just three days after the Post laid off nearly one-third of its entire staff, citing the need to cut costs and reposition the money-losing publication. Lewis, who did not appear on the all-staff meeting during which the cuts were announced, has faced criticism for his absence and leadership.

Brad Arnold of Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down dies aged 47

Lead singer died on Saturday, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer

Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down, has died, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He was 47.

The band said in a statement on Saturday that Arnold “passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, in his sleep after his courageous battle with cancer”.

'Washington Post' CEO resigns after going AWOL during massive job cuts

Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis has resigned just days after the newspaper announced massive layoffs.

Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show

Though the commerce secretary has called his interactions with Epstein as "limited," the two were in business together four years after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.

Nearly a thousand Google workers sign letter urging company to divest from ICE, CBP

Hundreds of Google workers signed an open letter urging the company to cut its ties with ICE and CBP after rising violence.

Veteran French politician quits as head of prestigious institute after Epstein links revealed

Former culture minister Jack Lang resigns from Arab World Institute in Paris and is also subject of tax investigation

Jack Lang, a former French culture minister, has resigned as head of Paris’s prestigious Arab World Institute after revelations of his past contacts with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the launch of a financial investigation by French prosecutors.

Lang, 86, resigned on Saturday night before he was due to attend an urgent meeting called by the French foreign ministry to discuss his links to Epstein.

One week since Nancy Guthrie was last seen, here's what we know

Nancy Guthrie was last seen a week ago. In the days since, investigators have launched a frantic search to return the 84-year-old home.

Cortina awakens to embrace competitive curling couples and Vonn’s valiant gold bid | Andy Bull

The well-dressed alpine town, all art deco and Prada, is watching Mouat and Dodds dominate before the focus turns to Vonn’s daredevil act

The sun rises late in Cortina d’Ampezzo, like everything else in this little alpine town. It’s gone eight o’clock in the morning by the time the daylight has made it over the high peaks to the east, and it’s another two hours from that before the Olympic day gets under way.

It’s slow out, as if everyone’s still sleeping off the night before, when the town was out cheering for the athletes as they made their parade around the square. The police are still packing away all the railings, and the street sweeps are brushing up the confetti. Non c’è fretta. No one’s in a rush. Maybe your bus will turn up, but no one’s making any promises.

Hims & Hers pulls copycat weight-loss pill after threats of legal action

Hims & Hers on Saturday announced it would stop offering its copycat of the weight-loss pill Wegovy after threats of legal action.

Wales’ woes are not just for their team and fans, but a crisis for the Six Nations | Michael Aylwin

England did not play all that well in thrashing Wales and it is hard to see how the visitors pull themselves out of the rut

England really didn’t play that well. Certainly, if the number of points left out there is any guide. There were times in the first half, that part of the game when both teams are meant to be still in it, when it seemed as if scoring a try just required the hosts to string enough passes together.

Fair enough, they did score four in the first half alone, but two of them, the second and third, came when Wales were down to 13. So, yeah, string enough passes together …

Pressure mounts on American Airlines CEO as carrier lags rivals

American Airlines made $111 million last year, while rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, brought in $5 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively.

Judge orders U.S. to return families affected by Trump's separation policy

A judge ordered the U.S. to return three migrant families who were affected by  President Trump's family separation policy​ in his first term and then deported in his second.

Gyökeres’ gifts of bundling and poaching suggest Arsenal have found the real thing | Barney Ronay

After a slow start, the Sweden striker is now appearing regularly on the scoresheet with six goals in eight games

At times during that difficult start to his first season at Arsenal Viktor Gyökeres looked more likely to fall over than score a Premier League goal. But why compromise? Why choose one over the other? Against Sunderland Gyökeres found a third way. He fell over while scoring. Maybe you can have it all.

It made for a deeply wholesome moment. Gyökeres couldn’t help smiling ruefully behind his peekaboo celebration, even as he was mobbed fondly by his teammates. The goal was also his first touch seven minutes after coming on, a goal to kill a game Arsenal had eased through in low gear, and which always felt like a matter of housekeeping, a question of exactly how and how many, from the moment they took the lead just before half-time.

RSF drone attack kills 24 people fleeing fighting in central Sudan, says doctors group

Eight children including two infants among dead in vehicle carrying displaced people, says Sudan Doctors Network

A drone attack by a paramilitary group has hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said on Saturday.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces took place close to the city of Er Rahad in North Kordofan province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s war. The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.

Liverpool v City is no longer the Premier League’s big show: how have the mighty fallen? | Jonathan Wilson

Pep Guardiola has led the way with his tactics for a decade but he has changed course and Arsenal have taken advantage

Great rivalries are always more about feel than about numbers. There have been only four Premier League seasons in which Manchester City and Liverpool have finished in the top two positions in the table (and one of those occasions was 2013-14 when the managers were Manuel Pellegrini and Brendan Rodgers, which is not a duel anybody is writing books or making documentaries about).

Yet for most of the decade that Pep Guardiola has been at City, it has felt that English football was defined by his struggle with Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool, and by a form of the game that developed as each learned from the other.

Who's performing at the Super Bowl halftime show? Here's the full list

Bad Bunny is set to take the stage at halftime for the 2026 Super Bowl. Here's who else is performing at Super Bowl 60.

Team GB lose Cas appeal over new skeleton helmets at Winter Olympics

• Cas ruling deems helmets illegal due to protruding rear

• Setback for Team GB’s Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt

Great Britain’s skeleton team have been banned from wearing its new aerodynamic helmets at the Winter Olympics after the court of arbitration for sport ruled they were illegal because its “rear significantly protrudes”.

The news is a big blow to Team GB’s Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt, who have dominated skeleton all season, winning all seven of the World Cup races between them.

Ohio man charged with threatening to kill Vance, processing child abuse files

An Ohio man has been charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance​ while he was visiting his home state last month.

Jake Paul joins JD Vance to watch U.S. women's hockey team at Olympics

The U.S. women's hockey team eased to a 5-0 win over Finland on Saturday afternoon.

Authorities tow car from Nancy Guthrie's home, investigate new message

Local and federal authorities said "investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity" regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.

Suryakumar’s brilliant blitz denies USA seismic shock in India’s T20 World Cup opener

• India, 161-9, bt USA, 132-8, by 29 runs

• Suryakumar’s 84 from 49 balls proves the difference

There was, in the end, no shock – but there was not a lot of awe either. India’s form over the last two years has made them the most feared side in world cricket but for a while as they got their World Cup campaign under way the only dread was being experienced by their own fans as the USA threatened a humiliating upset. But for some missed chances, a hugely unfortunate injury and the brilliance of Suryakumar Yadav it might well have happened.

As it was, Suryakumar’s late acceleration took him to 84 off 49 balls and his team to 161 for nine, while the USA reply started with three early wickets – the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, ruled out by illness, doing little to dull India’s cutting edge – and the margin in the end was 29.

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found.

The platform, which says it has about 50 million users worldwide, allows members of the public to self-publish articles and charge for premium content. Substack takes about 10% of the revenue the newsletters make. About 5 million people pay for access to newsletters on its platform.

Tom Brady reverses course after backlash and now wants Patriots to win Super Bowl

• Former QB initially said he had no ‘dog in the fight’

• Comments had angered fans and former teammates

As the New England Patriots prepare for Sunday’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady has decided he is backing his former team after all.

Brady, who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots, came under heavy criticism this week after saying he won’t have a “dog in the fight … may the best team win” when New England take on the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.

Automakers largely sit out 2026 Super Bowl advertising amid industry uncertainty

Automakers are largely sitting on the advertising sidelines during this year's Super Bowl amid broader uncertainty in the U.S. automotive industry.

Emma Raducanu slumps to straight-sets defeat in Transylvania Open final

• British No 1 beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Sorana Cirstea

• Boulter wins Ostrava Open for first title since 2024

Emma Raducanu missed the chance to win her first title since her US Open triumph in 2021 after losing in straight sets to home favourite Sorana Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final.

Raducanu, the top seed, appeared to be feeling the effects of her marathon semi-final win against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova on Friday, falling to Cirstea 6-0, 6-2 in little over an hour in Cluj.

Sloppy Scotland stunned as Italy make winning start to Six Nations amid deluge

• Italy 18-15 Scotland

• Azzurri resist fightback in appalling conditions

They say the Six Nations is all about momentum and Scotland, again, find themselves sliding rapidly downhill. Passion and effort are guaranteed from any Italy team, but they were clinical and defended magnificently in Rome. Gonzalo Quesada’s side ruthlessly capitalised on Scotland’s often rank inaccuracy and this richly deserved win – a second in three years against Scotland – sets them up beautifully for the tournament.

The fly-half Paolo Garbisi played the appallingly wet conditions superbly to celebrate his 50th Test, testing the visitors’ defence with spiralling contestable kicks and striking the ball sweetly off the tee. The centres Tommaso Menoncello and Juan Ignacio Brex, also marking his 50th cap, were sensational again while the energy and skill of the wing Louis Lynagh significantly softened the blow of Ange Capuozzo’s injury absence.

Super Bowl food that's bound to go viral

Super Bowl chefs spend an entire year developing the menu for the big game, and "CBS Saturday Morning" gets a sneak peek at some of the mouth-watering options.

UK trade policy: time to stop the secret deals and get systematic

Liam Byrne is echoing Robin Cook’s ethical trade policy, warning the UK needs deals more open to scrutiny to prevent future issues

Trade can be a dirty business. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was tolerated as a “special representative for trade and investment” in the noughties despite allegations that he kept convicted gun smugglers for friends, while Peter Mandelson’s ability to schmooze the rich and famous repeatedly overruled concerns about his probity.

To close a deal, there are always compromises to be made, and sometimes the terms are unsavoury.

Use of Irish airport for US deportation flights to Israel called ‘reprehensible’

Irish politicians condemn use of Shannon airport by private jet en route to Israel, owned by Trump donor Gil Dezer

• Revealed: Private jet owned by Trump friend used by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank

Politicians in Ireland have said the use of an airport in County Clare by planes deporting Palestinians from the US to Israel is “reprehensible”.

A private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week.

UK supreme court hearing interrupted by history podcast played from judge’s phone

Proceedings briefly halted after audio from The Rest Is History broadcast over the courtroom speakers

As the highest court in the UK, the supreme court is usually the forum for proceedings of the utmost gravity. But last week, one hearing was momentarily interrupted by an unlikely and comic intervention.

As one legal professional addressed the bench, the voice of Tom Holland, host of the popular podcast The Rest is History, boomed out through the court’s microphone system, delivering a satirical impersonation of the late US president Jimmy Carter.

Avocados are a Super Bowl staple – but are they truly a miracle food?

Americans are expected to devour nearly 280m pounds of avocados during Super Bowl weekend. Are they actually healthy?

Most American adults today didn’t grow up with avocados, but we’ve certainly developed a hearty appetite for them. In 1990, the United States imported 38m pounds of avocados; by 2023, that number was 2,789m, mostly from Mexico.

On average, each of us eats about 20 avocados, or 9lbs of the fruit, a year – a sixfold increase from 1998. Super Bowl guacamole alone fuels a staggering demand for the fruit; in the lead-up to this Sunday’s game, Americans are expected to devour nearly 280m pounds of avocados, a historical record.

How drones impact Super Bowl security

While drones give Super Bowl viewers some of the coolest shots of the game, they also impact security. "CBS Saturday Morning" explores how.

Trump shifts blame to aide as he refuses to apologize for racist video of Obamas

After first dismissing uproar over depiction of Obamas as apes, White House then said it was erroneously posted by staffer

Donald Trump said on Friday he made the call to post a now-deleted video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes but deflected blame for the move, causing new speculation in his orbit about whether the blame lay with the president or his aide Natalie Harp.

The brief clip, shared late Thursday night on Trump’s Truth Social account, appeared in a video pushing conspiracies about the 2020 election. Invoking racist tropes, the video depicted the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of cartoon apes dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Zelenskyy says US has set June deadline for Ukraine-Russia peace deal

Ukrainian president says Trump administration has proposed to host next round of trilateral talks in US

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the US has given Ukraine and Russia yet another deadline to reach a peace settlement, and is now proposing the war should end by June. The Ukrainian president also told reporters that both sides had been invited to further talks next week.

Zelenskyy said the Trump administration “will probably put pressure” on Ukraine and Russia to end the war by the beginning of the summer. “They say they want to get everything done by June,” he said. “They will do everything to end the war and they want a clear schedule of all events.”

Authorities say they're "aware of a new message" in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance

Authorities said Friday they were inspecting an apparent new message relating to the disappearance of "Today" host Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy, after the family reported her missing from her home on Sunday.

Super Bowl fans warned to leave drones at home amid flight ban

The FAA says it is collaborating with the FBI to detect, track and assess unauthorized drone activity at the Super Bowl.

‘My ACL is 100% gone’: Lindsey Vonn’s improbable comeback at 41 is just another risk

Time has never seemed to stop the US skiing star. Entering Sunday’s Olympic downhill medal race, injuries haven’t either

It was all going a little too easy for Lindsey Vonn. All the nervous apprehension, the paternalistic concern, the arch skepticism and hushed snickers that had rippled through the sports world when she announced her comeback from a six-year retirement had long since gone silent. A once-unthinkable fairytale ending at the age of 41 on the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo was practically within touching distance.

Back in November 2024, having been chased from the sport in 2019 by a battered right knee worn down by a string of gruesome crashes and multiple surgeries, Vonn proposed a return to a high-risk sport where no woman had ever won a race past the age of 34. There’s a history of comebacks like these going brutally wrong, and even Vonn’s most dedicated fans were bracing themselves for the worst. Think a shopworn Joe Louis getting battered through the ropes and on to the ring apron by Rocky Marciano. Or Björn Borg returning to the tour in the early 90s with a wooden racket, defiantly flailing through a sport that had moved on without him.

Trump posted something blatantly racist? What a surprise | Arwa Mahdawi

The Obama video should take a toll on the president’s political career – but of course it won’t

Despite Donald Trump’s war on woke, he hasn’t (yet) made Black History Month illegal. In fact, on Tuesday the president issued a proclamation declaring February 2026 to be a celebration of Black history and called “upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities”.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Anthems, agency and arias: baritone Davóne Tines on rewriting his role – and the rules

The acclaimed US opera singer refuses to restrict himself or his audience. His current Barbican residency sees him range across genres. Always ask questions, always engage, he says. He talks ‘capital O opera’ and big ideas

In performance, Davóne Tines is electrifying. In the first concert of the US bass-baritone’s 2025-26 residency at London’s Barbican Centre, he appeared at the back of the auditorium and then slowly descended towards the stage, spotlit and subtly miked. His unaccompanied voice fractured into stentorian booms, spat-out consonants and the violent crackle of mouth noises. This, unmistakably, was the musician whom the New Yorker announced back in 2021 was “changing what it means to be a classical singer”.

Since then, Tines has been named Musical America’s vocalist of the year, he has won a 2024 Chanel next prize for “international contemporary artists who are redefining their disciplines”. And he was awarded the 2025 Harvard arts medal for distinguished alumni of the Ivy League university who have demonstrated achievement in the arts. Recent winners of the latter include architect Frank Gehry and novelist Margaret Atwood. Unlike those cultural figureheads, Tines is not yet 40.

Bangers and smash: Von Allmen wins first gold of Winter Olympics to fulfil butcher’s dream

• Special sausage named for Swiss champion – the ‘Silberblitz’

• Hosts claim silver and bronze on a perfect day in Bormio

When the Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen first broke through in the junior ranks, his village butcher created a special sausage – the Silberblitz-Wurscht or Silver Lightning – in his honour. After his stunning performance in the men’s downhill on Saturday, it is surely time for an upgrade.

On a beautiful day in Bormio, the 24-year-old dominated a challenging course to win in 1:min 51.61sec and take the first medal of these Olympic Games. That time was good enough to withstand Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished with the silver medal 0.20sec back. Another Italian, Dominik Paris, who is vocalist of a heavy metal band called Rise of Voltage, claimed bronze.

After the Fall: How Olympic figure skaters soar after stumbling on the ice

Olympic figure skating is often seems to take athletes to the very edge of perfection, but even the greatest stumble and fall. How do they pull themselves together again on the biggest world stage? Toughness, poise and practice.

Elon Musk wants to be a trillionaire — here's how SpaceX may get him there

Elon Musk's net worth soared past $800 billion this week after he merged SpaceX with xAI in a deal that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.

Opinion: Alternate endings for modern attention spans

Some film professors are bemoaning the shortcuts students take to avoid watching assigned movies: some don't know what happens at the end. NPR's Scott Simon offers his own synopses.

They're cured of leprosy. Why do they still live in leprosy colonies?

Leprosy is one of the least contagious diseases around — and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. The colonies are relics of a not-too-distant past when those diagnosed with leprosy were exiled.

California urges avoiding wild mushrooms after deaths, liver transplants

More than three dozen cases of death cap mushroom poisonings have been reported in California since November, health officials said.

Deafening, draining and potentially deadly: are we facing a snoring epidemic?

Experts say dangerous sleep apnoea affects an estimated 8 million in the UK alone, and everything from evolution to obesity or even the climate crisis could be to blame

When Matt Hillier was in his 20s, he went camping with a friend who was a nurse. In the morning she told him she had been shocked by the snoring coming from his tent. “She basically said, ‘For a 25-year-old non-smoker who’s quite skinny, you snore pretty loudly,’” says Hiller, now 32.

Perhaps because of the pervasive image of a “typical” sleep apnoea patient – older, and overweight – Hillier didn’t seek help. It wasn’t until he was 30 that he finally went to a doctor after waking up from a particularly big night of snoring with a racing heartbeat. Despite being young, active and a healthy weight, further investigation – including a night recording his snoring – revealed that he had moderate sleep apnoea. His was classed as supine, the most common form of the condition, meaning it happens when he sleeps on his back, and is likely caused by his throat muscles.

Ralph Towner obituary

Virtuoso musician and composer who was at the forefront of 1970s jazz fusion, notably with the band Oregon

For a quiet man, Ralph Towner, the American multi-instrumentalist and composer, who has died aged 85, had an impressive penchant for sharp epithets about his own creative motives.

Describing himself as a “raconteur of the abstract” was a memorable one. So was his remark in 2023, to Premier Guitar magazine, that throughout his career he felt he had generally been “more obsessive than I’ve been curious”.

Thousands of Malawi businesses close in protest over tax changes

Peaceful demonstrations force a delay in measures aimed at improving revenue collection but which many fear will be fatal for small traders

Demonstrations across Malawi’s four main cities during the past week have achieved a delay in the introduction of a new tax regime that business owners claim will cripple their livelihoods.

Tens of thousands had signed petitions which this week were presented to tax officials and on Monday thousands of small traders shut up shops and businesses to hold protest marches in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu.

This season, 'The Pitt' is about what doesn't happen in one day

The first season of The Pitt was about acute problems. The second is about chronic ones.

Zelenskyy says U.S. gave Ukraine, Russia a deadline for agreement to end war

If the June deadline is not met, the Trump administration will likely put pressure on both sides to meet it, Zelenskyy told reporters.

Waymo is trying to seduce me. But another option is staring us in the face | Dave Schilling

I understand the appeal of avoiding all human contact. Still, good old-fashioned taxis have so much to offer

It’s Super Bowl weekend here in America, which means a few things: copious amounts of gut-busting food, controversial half-time show performances, extravagant commercials, and occasionally a bit of football.

For the tens of thousands rich enough to afford tickets to the Big Game, transportation to and from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, will be paramount. Thankfully, our robotic saviors are here to rescue the throng from the indignity of sharing a ride with an actual human being. This year’s Super Bowl is a test of the driverless taxi industry, currently lorded over by Waymo – a company that’s about to get a $16bn cash injection to further expand its business to cities all around the world. Smaller American metro areas like Sacramento and Nashville are next up to get Waymo service, as are global capitals like London and Tokyo. Fleets of robotaxis are seeming more and more inevitable, yet another soldier in the onslaught of shiny gadgets designed to sand off the sharp edges of modern life. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

Blood droplets, a white van, a ransom note: where is Savannah Guthrie’s mother?

The astonishing case of the missing Today morning show anchor’s mom is six days in so far and without resolution

A missing 84-year-old mother of a famous TV morning show anchor; droplets of blood and a mysterious white van; a ransom note sent to a celebrity news website; no suspects; a city surrounded by desert near the US-Mexico border; frustrated investigators; and a concerned US president.

It is for all these reasons that the astonishing case of the missing Nancy Guthrie has captivated US public attention in a six-day mystery that still has no resolution. It leads the US news and dominates the headlines, fusing crime and celebrity together in ways not seen since OJ Simpson or the Lindbergh baby.

Rebecca Hendin on the tyranny of the UK’s stormy weather – cartoon | Rebecca Hendin

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‘The photo we want to take is closer than we think’: Dominic Dähncke’s best phone picture

Cooped up during Covid, the Spanish photographer found inspiration in a broom … and a nail in the wall

“Telekinesis,” says Dominic Dähncke, when asked how this errant broom is standing upright. He took this shot on the rooftop of his home in El Médano, Tenerife; a communal terrace filled with laundry rooms and cleaning supplies. This was 2021, in the throes of a Covid lockdown, so he would walk around in circles on the rooftop of his building, enjoying the fresh air.

“To be honest, there was a nail stuck in the wall, but I didn’t put it there,” he admits. One morning, he absent-mindedly propped the broom against the nail and noticed that it stayed at a 45-­degree angle. He returned to the rooftop for several days, waiting until the shadow of the small ceiling above matched, then captured the moment with his phone.

‘It’s become more about politics than music’: what will Bad Bunny bring to the Super Bowl?

Grammy-winning Puerto Rican star is in the center of US culture wars before leading this weekend’s half-time show

A few days after Christmas 2022, Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero, appeared without warning on one of the most unlikely of stages: the roof of a Gulf Oil gas station in San Juan. To a massive crowd singing every word, he performed a surprise concert, along with friend and collaborator Arcángel, that was part hype-y music video shoot, part exultant post-tour homecoming, and part pointed critique. He ended the set with El Apagón (“The Power Outage”), a clubby protest anthem about local displacement and the rolling blackouts that have plagued Puerto Rico, a US “commonwealth” (read: colony), since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Bad Bunny sang it from a roof on Santurce’s Calle Loíza, a thoroughfare in a former working-class Black neighborhood now dotted with Airbnbs. But you do not need the full context to get the show’s contagious energy. Though I have never walked Calle Loíza, nor do I speak Spanish, the gas station show is still my favorite concert to rewatch via online fan clips: electric, organic, genuinely popular. In terms of reach, critical acclaim and longevity, Bad Bunny rivals – and sometimes outsells – the likes of Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Drake, though it is hard to imagine those peers appearing so unguarded, so public, as he does on that roof.

The hill I will die on: Britons love saying thank you – I think we should ban the phrase | Sangeeta Pillai

Really, what is the point of this endless conversational back and forth? Step out of the loop, and change your life

You get a coffee. The barista tells you how much you need to pay. You say thank you. They take your card for payment. They say thank you. They give you the coffee. You say thank you. They say thank you for your thank you. Then you say thank you for their thank you. By this point, the words “thank you” have lost all meaning, and both parties are exhausted by the pointless stream of politeness.

Growing up in India, I learned that thank yous are only for distant strangers, and that close friends and family get offended if you thank them. I would say thank you to a speaker delivering a formal talk but never to a friend helping during a crisis or a family member making me dinner. But living in the UK for two decades has forced me to adopt our incessant “thank you” culture. I now find myself saying thank you at least 10 times a day and sometimes many more. Nevertheless, there are some British “thank yous” that I would ban completely, if I could.

Sangeeta Pillai is a south Asian feminist activist, author of Bad Daughter and the creator of Masala Podcast

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Billy Crudup: ‘My celebrity crush? I got to marry her’

The actor on a disastrous speech, his rules for how people should get around cities and an embarrassing encounter with a doorman

Born in New York state, Billy Crudup, 57, made his film debut in Sleepers in 1996. His subsequent movies include Almost Famous (2000), Big Fish (2003), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Spotlight (2015), Alien: Covenant (2017) and most recently Jay Kelly. On TV he has a long-running role in The Morning Show, for which he has won two Emmys. He stars in High Noon at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre until 6 March. He has a son and is married to Naomi Watts. He lives in New York City.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Flashes of hubris.

Never mind the lit-bros: Infinite Jest is a true classic at 30

Forget its reputation as a performative read for a certain breed of intense young man, thirty years after its publication, David Foster Wallace’s epic novel still delivers, says the Crying in H Mart author

I’m not what you might consider Infinite Jest’s target demographic. The novel’s reputation precedes it as a book infamously few ever finish, and those who do tend to belong to a particular breed of college-age guys who talk over you, a sect of pedantic, misunderstood young men for whom, over the course of 30 years, Infinite Jest has become a rite of passage, much as Little Women or Pride and Prejudice might function for aspiring literary young women.

Most readers come to the novel in their formative years, but I was a late bloomer. It wasn’t until the winter of 2023 that, at the age of 34, smoking outside a party in Brooklyn, I found myself suddenly motivated to embark on the two-pound tome. A boy I knew from high school brought it up, and as I happened at the time to have developed a casual interest in those works one might attribute to the “lit-bro” canon (Bret Easton Ellis, Hemingway, etc), it seemed the appropriate time to take it on.

AI analysis casts doubt on Van Eyck paintings in Italian and US museums

Tests on both versions of Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata were unable to detect brushstrokes of 15th-century master

An analysis of two paintings in museums in the US and Italy by the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck has raised a profound question: what if neither were by Van Eyck?

Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, the name given to near-identical unsigned paintings hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, represent two of the small number of surviving works by one of western art’s greatest masters, revered for his naturalistic portraits and religious subjects.

What links Derek Malcolm, Roger Ebert and Philip French? The Saturday quiz

From arctos and americanus to North America’s ‘other’ US, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Who is the only British female singer with seven No 1 singles (including as a featured artist)?
2 What was the alias of 15th-century criminal chaplain Robert Stafford?
3 What became the world’s first $5tn company in 2025?
4 Which hat was banned in Turkey in 1925?
5 D.G.REX.F.D is written on what everyday items?
6 Slightly Included and Very Slightly Included are grades of what?
7 What is North America’s “other” US?
8 Which watersport is usually added to make a quadrathlon?
What links:
9 Arctos (lay down); americanus (fight back); maritimus (goodnight)?
10 Dunkery Beacon; High Willhays; Urra Moor?
11 Fools and Mortals; Hamnet; King of Shadows; Nothing Like the Sun?
12 Roger Ebert; Philip French; Pauline Kael; Derek Malcolm; David Thomson?
13 Harmondsworth Barn, Hillingdon; Mathematical Bridge, Cambridge; Greensted church, Essex?
14 BYD; Changan; Chery; Geely; GWM?
15 Jack Broughton; London Prize Ring; Marquess of Queensberry?

The Guide #229: How an indie movie distributed by a lone gamer broke the US box office

​In this week’s newsletter: Iron Lung, a largely unheralded indie horror game adapted for the big screen by a YouTuber is a hit of a very modern kind, built on blood, sweat and parasocial relationships

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Two very unusual films were released last weekend. One you will have absolutely heard of: Melania, the soft-focus hagiocumentary of the US first lady, which was plonked into thousands and thousands of often entirely empty cinemas across the globe by Amazon and Jeff Bezos in what is widely perceived as a favour-currier to the White House. Melania’s $7m takings in the US were marginally better than forecasted (and far ahead of the risible numbers for the film elsewhere) but, given the documentary’s vast cost, still represents a dramatic loss (especially if the rumour that Amazon paid for the film to be in some cinemas is true). Then again, this was a rare multimillion dollar film where the primary marker of success was probably not financial.

The other unusual film released last weekend you are less likely to have heard of, even though it dwarfed Melania’s takings. Adapted from a video game of the same name, Iron Lung is a grimy post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror in which a convict has to pilot a rusty submarine through an ocean of human blood on a distant planet. That peculiar plotline isn’t the most unusual thing about the film, though. No, what’s really remarkable is that Iron Lung came close to topping the US box office, earning $17m in its opening weekend, despite being entirely self-financed by an American YouTuber.

How close have human beings come to the sun? The kids’ quiz

Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes

• ​Submit a question

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.

Six great reads: romance fraud, pie and mash, and a road sign design genius

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days

Bermuda snail thought to be extinct now thrives after a decade’s effort

Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails

A button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs.

The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago, until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Hamilton, the island capital, in 2014.

Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club

Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services

Pluck an email at random from the millions in the Department of Justice’s Epstein Library. It is a Saturday evening in February 2013, and Jeffrey Epstein is messaging Bill Gates’s assistant about guests for a dinner he wants to organise.

“People for Bill,” the email begins. Epstein starts listing possible candidates: the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the film director Woody Allen, the prime minister of Qatar, a couple of Harvard academics, the billionaire CEO of Hyatt hotels, a White House communications director, a former US secretary of defence.

Meera Sodha’s vegetarian recipe for haggis dan dan noodles | Meera Sodha recipes

The Burns supper centrepiece is too good to enjoy on only one night a year – especially when it pairs so well with Chinese flavours

I’d like to start a new campaign called Vegetarian Haggis Isn’t Just for Burns Night. Of course, the Scots know this. They know how fantastic this genius concoction of pulses, vegetables, oats and spices is; how meaty without being, well, meaty. I began eating it because I share a birthday with Robert Burns (see haggis kheema) but it deserves to be eaten all year round. Here, I’ve introduced the haggis to another favourite of mine, dan dan noodles, and I’m pleased to report they get on like a house on fire.

Blind date: ‘We didn’t kiss but we exchanged Instas, which among gay men is close to the same thing’

Alfie, 31, a playwright, meets Sam, 33, who works in tech

What were you hoping for?
To meet a silly softie with a penchant for the occasional deep chat.

Who says the over-40s don’t know how to have fun? The Becky Barnicoat cartoon

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