Watchdog to criticise West Midlands police over Maccabi Tel Aviv ban

Policing inspectorate to say force made series of errors in how it gathered and handled intelligence

• UK politics live – latest updates

West Midlands police will be criticised in a report about their handling of intelligence used to justify banning Israeli fans from a football game in Birmingham, the Guardian understands.

The inquiry was ordered by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and carried out by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the policing inspectorate.

Denmark and Greenland prepare for US talks as Trump says territory’s PM has a ‘big problem’ – Europe live

US president says of Jens-Frederik Nielsen: ‘I don’t know anything about him, but this is going to be a big problem for him’

Meanwhile, a new poll shows that just 17% of Americans approve of president Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, and substantial majorities of Democrats and Republicans oppose using military force to annex the island.

47% of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll disapproved of US efforts to acquire Greenland, while 35% said they were unsure.

Iran’s judiciary vows fast trials for arrested protesters despite Trump threats – live

US president says ‘help is on its way’, as reported death toll rises into the thousands

For the first time in days, Iranians were able to make calls abroad from their mobiles on Tuesday, according to reporting by Associated Press. Texting services have not been restored, however, and nor has the internet.

Although Iranians were able to call abroad, they could not receive calls from outside the country, several people in the capital told Associated Press. The internet remained blocked, they said, though it is possible to access some government-approved websites.

Cloudfare - an internet infrastructure provider, and one of several companies and monitors tracking the status of internet traffic in Iran – said traffic volumes have remained “at a fraction of a percent of previous levels”. Its latest update as of 01:00 UTC (which is about three hours and 30 minutes ago), shows a continued widespread blackout. Iran has been under an internet shutdown since Thursday night.

Brief windows of connectivity were observed on Friday, but these did not last, according to Cloudfare.

Netblocks, an independent global internet monitor, also notes that while some phone calls from Iran are connecting, there is “no secure way to communicate” and the general public remain cut off from the outside world.

Why is Stephen A Smith blaming Renee Good for her own death?

The ESPN broadcaster’s comments about the ICE shooting in Minnesota moves him closer to the stance of another media figure he has long attacked

This past weekend there were hundreds of demonstrations across the United States after Renee Good, an American citizen and mother of three, was shot dead by Jonathan Ross, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, in Minnesota.

The anger has permeated throughout the NBA as well. Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers, the head coaches of the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks respectively, described Good’s death as “murder”. Kerr also attacked the Trump administration’s attempts to portray Good as a terrorist.

Accused US grave robber allegedly admits he sold human remains online

Jonathan Gerlach remains in custody after officials say they found skulls, bones and other remains in his car and home

The Pennsylvania man suspected of stealing more than 100 pieces of human remains from a historic cemetery has allegedly admitted to selling some of them online – while the graveyard solicits donations to upgrade its security.

Jonathan Gerlach’s purported admission, along with the most complete account yet of how he caught the attention of law enforcement, are contained in search warrants obtained by authorities investigating a case one government official called “a horror movie come to life”.

The Trump dynasty could run and run – but will Ivanka, Barron or Kai take the crown? | Arwa Mahdawi

This week, Trump’s granddaughter announced she definitely doesn’t want to go into politics. Expect a run for office very soon

Last week Kai Trump, Donald Trump Jr’s daughter and the president’s eldest grandchild, publicly declared she had no plans to run for office. The 18-year-old appeared on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, where she stated that “politics is such a dangerous thing … I think if both sides met in the middle, everyone would be so much more happier.” (Maybe tell that to your grandpa, kid.) “To be honest with you,” she said, “I stay out of politics completely … I don’t want anything to do with politics.”

Look, I know you’re still very young, Kai, so here’s a little advice from an old lady: maybe work just a teeny bit harder at keeping a safe distance from politics. It has not gone unobserved that the influencer and golfer has made a lot of content about life behind the scenes at the White House. She’s also launched an apparel collection, which she’s modelled on the White House lawn. And, notably, she spoke at the 2024 Republican national convention (RNC), where she insisted Trump was “just a normal grandpa”. I don’t know about that; my grandad didn’t invade Venezuela.

Kai, by the way, stressed to Logan Paul that she was the one who decided to speak at the RNC; it was “literally all my idea”. But the nasty media, she noted, spun it otherwise. “[They said] ‘Oh well, that’s like a political plan that was put in place, to like get more voters or anything like that’.” Well, yes, because it was a political convention. They tend to be, you know, political.

Rental Family review – Brendan Fraser seeks meaning in pointless Japanese role-play drama

Fraser plays a hapless Tokyo-based actor working for a firm that offers bespoke therapeutic role-play services in director Hikari’s silly and saccharine film

Brendan Fraser is a bland and ingratiating presence in this glib, silly and pointless film from Japanese actor turned director Hikari. It is bafflingly complacent in its sentimentality and its sheer, fatuous implausibility, which makes it valueless and meaningless as drama and comedy.

Fraser plays Phillip, a hapless unemployed actor from the US who a few years previously came to Tokyo to do a goofy TV ad for toothpaste and, having no friends or family back home, simply stayed on. He lucks into a weird new source of income: working for a “rental family”, based on firms in Japan which really do offer bespoke therapeutic role-play services, such as errant spouses, deceased loved ones or unsatisfactory co-workers – people who can be chatted with, or mourned, or yelled at for cathartic purposes.

‘Edge cases’ blamed for long VAR delay before City’s disallowed Semenyo goal

• Semi-automated offside technology was not available

• High number of bodies in the box prevented its use

The delay in ruling out a Manchester City goal for offside in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win at Newcastle was extended because semi-automated offside technology could not be used in the incident.

It took more than five minutes for a check to determine that Erling Haaland was offside and had interfered with play by holding the defender Malick Thiaw, with the referee Chris Kavanagh disallowing what would have been a second goal of the night for City’s new signing Antoine Semenyo.

Solar grazing: ‘triple-win’ for sheep farmers, renewables and society or just a PR exercise for energy companies?

For Hannah Thorogood, a first-generation Lincolnshire farmer, grazing her sheep on solar land gave her a leg-up in the industry

On a blustery Lincolnshire morning, Hannah Thorogood paused between two ranks of solar panels. Her sheep nosedived into the grass under their shelter and began to graze.

“When I first started out, 18 acres and 20 sheep was as much as I could afford,” said the first-generation farmer. “Now, because I can graze this land for free, I have 250 acres and over 200 sheep. Solar grazing has given me a massive leg-up.”

Circumcision kits found on sale on Amazon UK

Exclusive: Discovery comes amid growing concern over lax regulation and children being put at risk by rogue operators

Circumcision kits have been found on sale on Amazon UK, highlighting lax regulation as concerns grow about deaths and serious harms to baby boys.

In December, a UK coroner issued warnings about insufficient circumcision regulation after the death in 2023 of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection.

The Spin | Nimble or nervous 90s? Cricket maths show best approach to scoring a century

Stats tell us batters have less reason to be anxious in the 90s than common lore suggests, though the pain and fear of falling short is all too real

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to score a century you’ll know how seismic a moment it is when you finally get over the line. Some play the game for a lifetime and never make one, the three-figured kingdom for ever out of reach, a promised land they are destined never to enter. Yet cricket lures you back like a devilish lover. You just can’t quit it. Next time might be your time. It could be you. Why not?

In cricket the century is the hallmark of individual success for a batter, the team sport unique in the way that it lauds personal milestones. The Test Match Special statistician Andy Zaltzman says that a century “carves an immutable notch in a player’s history and, at the highest level, an eternal legacy in the annals of the game”.

The death toll from a crackdown on protests in Iran jumps to over 2,500, activists say

The number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early Wednesday, as reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days.

From Ralph Fiennes to Jeffrey Wright: the most overlooked performances this awards season

Jessie Buckley and Timothée Chalamet might be winning all of the awards but as Oscar voting begins, these actors also deserve inclusion

Every January, if not earlier, awards narratives leading up to the Oscars take shape. While the specifics of the Academy Award nominations are never known in advance, and can always be counted on for some surprises when they’re actually unveiled, critics and pundits and fans all enter into that final stretch with a pretty good idea of who won’t be nominated.

Some of this is because of the endless spitballing. But the “won’t” list is also easy to compile because it ultimately houses almost everyone who acted in a movie over the past year. Twenty performances are selected for the Oscars annually, and given the other high-profile awards bodies with additional preferences, category numbers and a never-complete overlap with the Academy, let’s say about 40 are in the broader competition of real possibilities. But there are so many more great performances every year than that, across all sizes, scopes and genres.

How have prices changed in a year? NPR checked 114 items at Walmart

We found the effects of tariffs and extreme weather, relief (finally!) in the egg cooler, plus one case of shrinkflation.

Sali Hughes on beauty: if you don’t like strong scents, layering could be the answer

Looking for something gentle and kind for a sensitive nose? The new gen Z brands have you covered

For someone who makes no secret of her obsession with fragrance, I’m always surprised by how frequently people ask me to recommend one for someone who hates the stuff.

Sometimes wearing more potent fragrances is impossible for those prone to allergies or migraines, but mostly it’s an instinctive aversion to being held captive all day by scent too pervasive for one’s liking. And in these instances, I invariably suggest the layering of two more subtly scented products with compatible aromas, to add depth and interest without the same strength as a power perfume.

Iran’s footballers face battle to be heard as regime brutally clamps down on protests

For Mehdi Taremi and others playing abroad, showing solidarity with their home nation can mean threats and possible detention

Mehdi Taremi did what he does best. On Saturday, the Iranian striker turned inside the area and scored for Olympiakos, a well-taken eighth goal of the season for the 33-year-old that clinched a 2-0 win at Atromitos and a place at the top of the Greek Super League. Usually, millions of people in Iran follow every step of Taremi’s European career, one that took off with Porto and has settled in Piraeus via Milan, but not this time.

The ruling regime in Tehran has cut the internet and all communications, which meant that residents of the football-loving nation also missed the non-celebration that followed. “It actually has to do with the conditions in my country,” Taremi said. “There are problems between the people and the government. The people are always with us, and that’s why we are with them. I couldn’t celebrate in solidarity with the Iranian people. I know that Olympiakos fans would like me to be happy, but I don’t celebrate the goals, in solidarity with what the Iranian people are going through.”

I am terrible at football – but love playing. Can I change my game completely in my mid-30s?

For fifteen years I have been devoted to the sport, but can still barely tackle or shoot. I decided to get a coach and give him the challenge of a lifetime

If I told you I have played football for 15 years, you’d probably assume that I’m decent. Unfortunately, I am not. I have three left feet and a not-very-convincing shot on goal. Despite how many years I have put into the sport, these things show little to no improvement.

I play football for the joy of it: the rush of the first whistle; the exhilaration of making a successful tackle or a clever pass; and the feeling of all fears and concerns melting away the moment the game starts. So until recently, the fact that I’m so bad at it occurred to me as, at worst, incidental. I grew up at a time when football was largely considered a men’s sport. In the 90s, there were about 80 girls’ football clubs in England (there are more than 12,000 now); there wasn’t a women’s premier league until 1994; and by the time I was in my 20s, boring jokes about women knowing the offside rule were wheeled out with disappointing regularity. As someone who still remembers the feeling of getting kicked off the pitch by the boys as soon as I entered year 3, I’ve always just felt blessed to play.

Demand for high-achiever visas fuels pay-to-play market for credentials

Demand has risen for the EB-1A visa, creating a cottage industry of services for vanity awards, ghostwritten research papers and "profile building" services. USCIS is investigating potential fraud.

How the feud between Trump and Minnesota is impacting the probe into the ICE shooting

The FBI is solely leading the inquiry into the killing of Renee Macklin Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross without help from Minnesota authorities. Legal experts explain why the move is unusual and why joint investigations are the norm.

NASA set to bring astronaut (and the rest) of Crew-11 home early for medical reasons

In an unprecedented move, NASA is bringing an astronaut crew home early from the International Space Station because one astronaut has an undisclosed medical condition.

‘I knew these photos wouldn’t be published for decades’: gay cruising in New York – in pictures

In 1969, Arthur Tress started making images at an overgrown corner of Central Park known as the Ramble – the beginning of an archive of a transitional period in queer culture

Football transfer rumours: Chelsea to swoop for West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá?

Today’s tell-all has got its ducks in a row

Liam Rosenior has been Chelsea manager for a whole week without making a signing. That is bound to be remedied soon enough, and one name that has been bandied about is that of Lucas Paquetá. The Brazilian midfielder is set to leave West Ham in this transfer window having has said he wants to leave the Premier League and join Flamengo because of his disillusionment with how he was treated over the spot-fixing allegations of which he was cleared. But the Brazilian journalist Renan Moura reports that people around Paquetá want to persuade him to stay in Europe, and Chelsea could move for him.

The future of Marc Guéhi was always likely to be one of the main plotlines of this transfer window, with original suitors Liverpool tussling with Manchester City over the defender’s services as he enters the last six months of his Crystal Palace contract. Arsenal have also shown interest but now entering stage left are Bayern Munich, whose sporting director, Max Erbl, has been having cosy chats with Guéhi’s agent at the Bundesliga champions’ training ground, according to Sky Italia.

Economic conflicts are world’s greatest risk, WEF survey suggests

Extreme weather events and biodiversity loss identified as the biggest global threats over a 10-year timeframe

Economic conflicts between major powers are the greatest risk facing the world over the next two years, according to experts polled ahead of next week’s Davos summit.

Among 1,300 business leaders, academics and civil society figures surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF), “geoeconomic confrontation” was identified as the most pressing threat.

Netflix ‘plans to switch to all-cash offer to seal $83bn Warner Bros deal’

Aim is to speed up acquisition of WBD studio and streaming businesses and hold off rival Paramount bid

Netflix is reportedly preparing to switch to an all-cash offer to seal its takeover of the studios and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), as it tries to speed up the deal and fend off a rival hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.

The changes to Netflix’s $83bn (£62bn) offer, first reported by Bloomberg, are designed to accelerate the acquisition, which is expected to take months to conclude, and make it more palatable for WBD shareholders.

Bulk review – Ben Wheatley’s quirky sci-fi brings small-budget charm to big questions

Wheatley’s engaging tale sends Sam Riley’s tough-guy reporter to the home of a reclusive oligarch who has invented a ‘Brain Collider’

On a modest budget, director Ben Wheatley gives us a retro sci-fi with much tongue-in-cheek paranoia, questioning of reality and proliferation of multiverses, and featuring comic-book dialogue that’s been re-recorded, giving the whole thing a sheen of dreamlike unreality. There’s also a lot of quirky lo-fi special effects work with Airfix models.

Bulk is a movie indebted to a mountain of pop culture references listed in Wheatley’s own handwriting in block capitals over the closing credits. Space: 1999 is one – it is good to see it there, and see it reflected in the preceding film – and with the monochrome cinematography, Dutch angles and looming closeups there’s a bit of John Frankenheimer and a little of Chris Petit. The film is massively self-indulgent, often funny, rescued from its not infrequent longueurs by its stars, those very likable performers Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley, who are a real-life married couple.

The Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza Griffiths review – a powerful portrait of loss and violence

The death of a friend and the attempted murder of her husband Salman Rushdie loom large in the poet’s moving memoir

The night before her wedding to Salman Rushdie in 2021, the American poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths was fretting about her best friend. Kamilah Aisha Moon was due to read a poem at the ceremony, but no one had heard from her. Her phone was going straight to voicemail and staff at her hotel said she hadn’t checked in. “We’ll find her. She wouldn’t miss your wedding,” Griffiths’s sister, Melissa, assured her. But the next afternoon, in the middle of her wedding reception, Griffiths learned that Moon had died alone at home in Atlanta of unknown causes. On hearing the news she collapsed, hit her head on a table and blacked out. Paramedics pried open her eyes to shine a torch on them: “A particle of light that is so distant from the world I once knew.”

For Griffiths, 47, the death of her best friend and “chosen sister” was one in a series of upheavals stretching across a decade. It began with the death of her mother, who was her greatest cheerleader and fiercest critic. She had instilled in her daughter the importance of “independence above everything. I was raised not to lose myself in the stories of others, especially men.”

Greenland and Denmark prepare for a White House showdown

The high-stakes meeting comes shortly after Greenland and Denmark's leaders portrayed a united front against Trump's takeover threats.

1/13: CBS Evening News

Dokoupil interviews President Trump on Iran crackdown, Fed Chair Powell and more; Tony Dokoupil's final thoughts from Detroit

I'm taking eight months' paternity leave – and it's changing my relationship with my children | Ilyas Nagdee

I’ll never tire of witnessing many ‘firsts’ for my second-born, but this is a luxury that should be afforded to everyone, not just those who can pay for it

When I told people I was taking more than eight months of parental leave, the main reactions I got were: “What are you going to do with all that time?” and “won’t you get bored?” These questions came from every direction – including health professionals involved in my wife’s pregnancy and the arrival of our second child.

More than halfway through my leave, I’ve been reflecting on what good parental leave looks like: leave that allows families to take the time to adjust to the new rhythms of family life. Thanks to a new policy at my work that gives parents six months of paid parental leave, in addition to annual leave, I will be returning to work not when our newborn is still tiny, our toddler is adjusting to a sibling and their mum is recovering from birth, but when our son is eight months old. This is markedly different to when our first baby was born two years ago, after which I was able to take only three weeks of paternity leave – while my partner chose to take the full period of maternity leave and not to return to work.

Ilyas Nagdee is an author and researcher working in the areas of racial justice and human rights

Pole to Pole With Will Smith review – every single moment is gorgeous or thrilling

It may feel like a redemption tour, but the star’s epic jolly across seven continents is consistently funny, moving and quite frankly breathtaking

Hollywood stars – they’re just like us! Except that when we want to go on a massive jolly/rehabilitative journey for ourselves and/or our careers, we have to pay for it. And we generally cannot go on a 100-day adventure across seven continents, with experts on hand to introduce us to their indigenous inhabitants, talk us through world-changing research being done in the most isolated regions on Earth, show us new and fascinating species that can be found there that may hold the cure to all known diseases, and guide us through the breathtaking landscapes that make you want to throw yourself to the ground and weep at the beauty laid out before humanity’s largely uncaring eyes.

Not so for Willard Carroll Smith II, the Academy award, Bafta and Grammy-winning actor and rapper who enjoyed an uninterruptedly stellar career from the late 80s until 2022, when he put a crimp in things by lamping the Oscars’ host Chris Rock for insulting Smith’s wife. This was followed by a tour violinist suing him for alleged predatory behaviour, unlawful termination and retaliation, which is working its way through the California legal system now. Smith has categorically denied all allegations. He is getting away from it all in the meantime by doing all the adventuring noted above – a septet of episodes of Pole to Pole With Will Smith (the name by which of course he is known to us) in honour of his late mentor Dr Allen Counter. Counter was a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, the inaugural director of the university’s Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and – in his spare time, I guess? – a noted explorer. I cannot help but feel a biopic must be in the works, and I hope it comes soon.

A construction crane falls onto a moving train in Thailand, killing at least 29 people

The derailment, in northeastern Thailand, occurred on part of an ambitious planned high-speed rail project that will eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.

China's trade surplus surges 20% to a record $1.2 trillion, even with Trump's tariffs

China's trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs.

Saks Global, century-old high-end department store chain, files for bankruptcy

The venerable retailer is seeking protection from its creditors after its $2.65 billion purchase of Nieman Marcus failed to spark growth.

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy – the follow-up to I’m Glad My Mom Died

Family trauma shapes a student’s affair with her teacher in this bleak and funny fiction debut from the American memoirist

When it was published in 2022, Jennette McCurdy’s memoir lit a touchpaper to a nascent cultural conversation. I’m Glad My Mom Died introduced her mother Debra’s narcissistic personality disorder into a world eager to discuss adult child and parent estrangement. McCurdy had also suffered sexual abuse, and claimed her mother had contributed to her developing an eating disorder. The memoir was a bestseller, walking readers through the realities of generational trauma; a step change for the former Disney child star who had been “the funny one” on obnoxious Nickelodeon kids’ shows.

In her debut work of fiction, Half His Age, McCurdy continues to shake open a Pandora’s box, shedding light on blurred parent-child boundaries and loss of identity due to over-enmeshment, with solid one-liners that feel straight out of a sitcom writers’ room.

A Gangster’s Life review – funny in parts, but not always deliberately

Despite some interesting visuals, not even Tony Cook and Jonny Weldon can lift this poorly produced tale of a pair of dodgy lads hiding in Greece from a gangster

Here is an odd film about a couple of dodgy lads who get on the wrong side of a bona fide gangster and have to hide out in Greece. It’s not thoughtless per se; rather, it lacks the resources to bring its vision successfully to screen. Its quirks are sometimes appealing and sometimes amateurish and, while a mixture of influences swirl about, from Bond to Kingsman to Guy Ritchie and even Mission: Impossible, the film-makers don’t have the necessary budget, meaning that it feels at times like a TikTok parody of more expensive films.

It is a shame, because there are some interesting visual ideas that go beyond route one filming. Example: a goon beating a man tied to a chair on a crispy manicured lawn is filmed in a lovely wide shot, with a guy in the far distance calmly clipping the hedge. But it’s the post-production that is the biggest letdown: the sound mix is poor, and it’s a real shame that the final image before the credits roll, which should be genuinely nasty, is derailed by risible FX.

A moment that changed me: the Brexit result came through – and my life in Britain fell apart

I had my first teaching job lined up and a mortgage application in process. Now it looked like I would have to return to Germany and start training again from scratch. There were just 72 hours to save my dream of living in the UK

In the early hours of Friday 24 June 2016, the result glowed on my phone: 52%. Barely a majority, but nonetheless a verdict. I lay in my rented bedroom in Devon, still in pyjamas, watching everything I’d planned dissolve. When I saw the headline “UK votes to leave EU”, my first thought wasn’t political. It was: “What does this mean for me?”

It was the final day of my second school placement, the culmination of my teacher training for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). I’d moved from Germany the year before to train as a Religious Education teacher, convinced I’d found a profession and a place to call home. In Germany, RE meant teaching Protestant children Protestantism or Catholic children Catholicism – separate lessons, separate truths. Here, I could teach all major faiths side by side, invite discussion and let curiosity lead the lesson. In a world pulling itself apart along religious and cultural lines, that felt like the better approach.

At least 22 killed as crane collapses on train in Thailand

Crane was working on a high-speed rail project when it collapsed and hit the passing train, causing it to derail and briefly catch fire

At least 22 people in Thailand have been killed and scores injured after a crane collapsed onto a passenger train, derailing it on Wednesday, officials said.

Footage from the scene verified by Agence France-Presse showed the crane’s broken structure resting on giant concrete pillars, with smoke rising from the wreckage of the train below.

Big Tech is poaching energy talent to fuel its AI ambitions

Hires of energy-related talent by Big Tech was 30% higher in 2025 than pre-AI levels.

‘The settlers brought the violence’: the ethnic cleansing of a West Bank village

Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja is a small community of about 135 families – and the only one remaining in this part of the Jordan valley

Five decades in the south Jordan valley were ending in a day, and Mahmoud Eshaq struggled to hold back his tears. The 55-year-old had not cried since he was a boy, but as he dismantled the family home and prepared to flee the village where his whole life had played out, he was overwhelmed by grief.

While Eshaq’s children loaded mattresses, a fridge, sacks of flour and suitcases of clothes into a truck, masked soldiers escorted a teenage Israeli shepherd down the main village road, where he posed for photos on his donkey, flashing a V sign.

Labour and the Tories are banking on a return to the ‘old normal’. That’s not what voters want | Rafael Behr

An economic recovery could still change the parties’ fortunes. But the days when only two parties were licensed to supply Britain with prime ministers are gone

Unpopular politicians take consolation in the thought that opinion polls are sometimes wrong and often describe the wrong thing. They capture the moment but don’t predict the future. A midterm poll measures how much voters like the government. A general election asks whether the opposition is trusted to take over. It isn’t the same question.

Labour’s hopes for recovery rest on that distinction. The plan is that economic growth and governing competence will boost general wellbeing in the coming years. That will dial up the risks associated with other parties, especially for Reform UK. Voters who lack enthusiasm for the prime minister may be persuaded to stick with him if the alternative is Nigel Farage.

Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist

Fish paté and mushroom tart: Portuguese recipes from Luso restaurant

An incredible smoked haddock paste for toast, crackers or crudités, and a moreish and indulgent multi-mushroom-topped pastry

Two key elements at the heart of Portuguese eating culture are couvert and pastry. A couvert, comprising bread, butter, pickled or garlic carrots, cheese and fish paté (often sardine), comes as standard at every Portuguese restaurant and family dinner table alike, as it does at our restaurant Luso, where our fish paste is an ode to this way of dining. The mushroom tart, meanwhile, celebrates the Portuguese love of pastry and is a take on a traditional savoury tart. While such tarts are unlikely to feature solely mushrooms (they’re much more likely to be mixed vegetable tarts), we like to focus on the incredible varietals of this single ingredient.

Europe must now tell Trump that enough is enough – and cut all ties with the US | Alexander Hurst

How do you retain a space of democracy in a world that is reverting to violent conquest? By building a protective moat of federalism around it

‘He keeps encouraging me … to choose between Europe and the US. That would be a strategic mistake for our country,” Keir Starmer said in response to Ed Davey’s question in the House of Commons last week, about whether a US move against Greenland would mean the end of Nato.

What about Europe, though? As Danish and Greenlandic ministers prepared to face JD Vance in the White House, the question was would Europe finally choose between Europe and the US? Will its leaders have the courage to tell the full truth – that the US isn’t simply abandoning its allies and destroying the international order but is now in the position of active and hostile predation by force – and more importantly, to act on it? To offer Denmark moral and material backing, and Greenland a future of self-determination and membership, rather than subservience to US resource plunder?

Donald Trump has already set the tone by saying the US will seize Greenland “one way or the other”, and no part of the triumvirate around him is trying to hide their imperial intentions any more. Not the nepotists and grifters amassing ever greater private fortunes. Not the white supremacist ideologues drawing inspiration from Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer! to post “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage”, via official US government social media accounts. Not the techno-nihilists salivating to mine every bit of Greenland’s mineral resources and rule their own neofeudal city states on its coast.

When Trump says that the only constraint on his exercise of power is “my own morality”, that means there is no constraint. Like Vladimir Putin, he will keep grabbing until someone imposes a limit on him.

Alexander Hurst writes for Guardian Europe from Paris. His memoir, Generation Desperation, is published this month

Justice for Jeyasre: how a brutal murder led to a better deal for garment workers in India

After a 21-year-old employee was raped and killed by her supervisor in 2021, campaigners ensured conditions at the factory were overhauled. But its order book never recovered

Ask the women working at Natchi Apparels in the historic city of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu and many will describe the turnaround in their working conditions in the garment factory over the past five years as extraordinary.

On 5 January 2021 the decomposing body of Jeyasre Kathiravel, a 21-year-old Dalit woman who was an employee of Natchi, then an H&M Group supplier, was found on a strip of farmland a few miles from her village after she failed to return home following a shift on New Year’s Day.

Hijack season two review – Idris Elba is back with the most effortlessly bingeable show of them all

Sam Nelson is ready to beat some more bad guys – and this time he’s on the Berlin metro. Shenanigans will ensue!

Do you remember the lazy, hazy days of summer 2023, when Idris Elba got on a plane and it was hijacked? It was in a programme called Hijack. For seven effortlessly bingeable hours supposedly showing the adventure in real time, our man on the pressurised inside deduced complex situations from misplaced washbags, sent coded messages via fruit cartons and dying men’s phones, saved lives, averted disasters, and got Kingdom Flight 29 landed safely by Holly Aird so that he could return to his family, even though viewers agreed the scenes with them in between the plane bits were very boring indeed.

And he wasn’t even a policeman like Bruce Willis in Die Hard or a counter-terrorist federal agent like Kiefer Sutherland in 24! Or a pilot, which might also have been useful. He was Sam Nelson, a business negotiator. He had extreme business negotiating skills and he beat the bad guys. Who turned out not to be terrorists but a crime syndicate that wanted to short shares in the airline. Which was a bit weird, but never mind. And one of the bad guys escaped, but the point is Sam was a hero and Elba was the only man who could have played him and made it work. He was a mighty, implacable force. The rock on which this fragile, teetering edifice of nonsense was built.

The woman who made her family disappear: how Karen Palmer escaped her abusive husband

He had threatened her, locked her up and absconded with one of their daughters. Palmer knew she and her girls needed to escape – but it would involve huge risk and total reinvention

In the summer of 1989, Karen Palmer bought a used car for cash, filled it with belongings – some clothes, toys, one pot, one pan and a shoebox of photos – and “disappeared” with her new husband and two young daughters. She didn’t tell her mother, her friends or her neighbours where she was going. She gave no notice to her employers and landlord, leaving items out on her apartment balcony as a sign she still lived there.

“I have such a clear memory of the day we left Los Angeles,” says Palmer. “It was this weird combination of fear and exhilaration, heart pounding, driving into the unknown.” Palmer was fleeing her ex-husband, Gil, the man she feared, and the father of her two daughters, Erin and Amy, then seven and three.

‘I fell in love with him on the spot’: Alan Rickman remembered, 10 years after his death

On the anniversary of his death aged 69, stars from Sigourney Weaver to Sharleen Spiteri, Tom Felton to Harriet Walter, remember the wit, charm and endless generosity of one of Britain’s best-loved actors

Ruby Wax

China reports record trillion-dollar trade surplus despite Trump tariffs

Results for 2025 risk further unsettling economies about China’s trade practices and overcapacity, and their own over-reliance on Chinese products

China has reported a strong export run in 2025 with a record trillion-dollar surplus, as its producers brace for three more years of a Trump administration set on slowing the manufacturing powerhouse by shifting US orders to other markets.

Beijing’s resilience to renewed tariff tensions since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency last January has emboldened Chinese firms to shift their focus to south-east Asia, Africa and Latin America to offset US duties.

Cymbal of unity? South Korea and Japan leaders bash out K-pop hits after summit talks

South Korean president Lee Jae Myung had his work cut out, picking up his drumsticks alongside Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi, a former heavy metal drummer

If international diplomacy is as much about tone as substance, the leaders of South Korea and Japan seem to have nailed it.

In a scene few anticipated, South Korean president Lee Jae Myung and Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi spent the last moments of a crucial summit seated behind matching drum kits in matching blue uniforms as they bashed out hit song Golden from Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters and BTS’s Dynamite.

Lindsey Halligan argues she should still be U.S. attorney, accuses judge of abuse of power

Judge David Novak had given Lindsey Halligan a week to explain why she is using the title of U.S. attorney after another federal judge found her appointment to the position invalid.

Trump says Renee Good probably a ‘wonderful person – but her actions were pretty tough’

President speaks to CBS News about killing of woman by ICE agent and defends immigration crackdown

Donald Trump has defended his administration’s increasingly violent immigration crackdown, describing the 37-year-old woman killed by federal agents as likely a “wonderful person” whose “tough” actions justified a lethal response.

Trump’s comments, made during an interview with CBS News after touring a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, came as tensions continue to rise in Minneapolis days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good at the wheel of her SUV on a residential street last week.

Claudette Colvin, US civil rights pioneer arrested for not giving up bus seat, dies aged 86

Colvin refused to give up seat to white woman in Alabama in 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks’ act of defiance

US civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, arrested at age 15 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks’ similar but more famous act of defiance, died on Tuesday at age 86.

Although she remained a largely unsung figure in the civil rights movement for decades, Colvin’s 1955 act of rebellion inspired Parks and others and helped form the basis for the federal lawsuit that outlawed racial segregation in US public transportation.

Australian 16-year-old Antonio Arena scores with first touch on debut for Italian giants Roma

• Sydney-born striker heads equaliser in Coppa Italia tie

• Teenager comes off bench to level score before Torino hit late winner

Australian football has a dazzling new star to follow, with teenager Antonio Arena making a stunning – and immediate – impact for Italian side Roma.

The 16-year-old was brought off the bench to make his club debut in the 80th minute of Roma’s Italian Cup clash against Torino, and scored with his first touch for the Serie A side.

Ukraine war briefing: Estonia leads with entry ban on Russians who fought in Ukraine

‘We call on other countries to do the same’ says foreign minister; major fires after Ukraine targets Russian drone plant at Taganrog. What we know on day 1,421

The Estonian government has banned 261 Russians who fought in Ukraine from entering Estonia. “This is only the beginning,” said Markus Tsahkna, Estonia’s foreign minister. “We call on other countries to do the same.” Estonia, which borders Russia, has called for a Europe-wide visa ban on Russian veterans of the Ukraine war, and has gained support from Baltic and Nordic countries. Its interior ministry estimates as many as 1.5 million Russians have taken part in the invasion, about half of them having served on the frontline.

Estonia’s interior minister, Igor Taro, said the threat posed was “not theoretical”, adding that the Russians had “combat experience and military training, and may often have a criminal background”. The interior ministry said those who had committed atrocities in Ukraine had “no place in the free world”. The move was praised the Ukrainian foreign minister, Andrij Sybiga, who called entry bans a “necessary security measure” and “a clear signal that impunity will not be tolerated”.

Ukraine said its forces struck a drone manufacturing plant in the western Rostov region of Russia where the governor reported a local state of emergency there after two “enterprises” were hit. Various reports identified the target as the Atlant Aero plant at Taganrog making Russia’s Molniya strike and surveillance drones as well as parts for Orion drones. Video footage and photographs showed buildings well ablaze.

Two Greek-owned oil tankers were hit in the Black Sea on Tuesday, one of which was scheduled to load Kazakh oil on Russia’s coast, officials said. The Maltese-flagged Matilda and Liberian-flagged Delta Harmony did not sustain major damage and there were no injuries, Greece’s maritime ministry told Agence France-Presse. The Matilda was headed to load Kazakh oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk when it was attacked, Kazakh state energy firm Kazmunaygas said. Ukraine has previously targeted the shared CPC terminal as it seeks to deprive Russia of oil revenue.

Russia struck cities across Ukraine overnight into Tuesday in one of its biggest attacks of the new year so far, killing at least four people and knocking out heat and power, exposing millions to dangerous winter cold.

Winter storms kill five in Gaza amid desperate conditions in makeshift camps

At least four displaced Palestinians killed when strong winds caused walls to collapse onto their tents and a one-year-old boy died of hypothermia

Strong winter winds collapsed walls onto flimsy tents for Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing at least four people, as dangerous living conditions persist after more than two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and aid shortfalls.

A ceasefire has been in effect since October, but aid groups say that Palestinians broadly lack the shelter necessary to withstand frequent winter storms.

Meta's VR layoffs, studio closures underscore Zuckerberg's massive pivot to AI

Meta began laying off employees in its Reality Labs division focused on virtual reality and shut down several VR studios as it pushes resources towards AI.

South Korean prosecutors demand death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol

Yoon is on trial for insurrection charges, after trying to declare martial law in late 2024

South Korean prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, in the first insurrection trial of a Korean head of state in three decades.

Prosecutors characterised the case as the “serious destruction of constitutional order by anti-state forces”, telling Seoul central district court that Yoon had “directly and fundamentally infringed upon the safety of the state and the survival and freedom of the people”.

BTS announces return with new world tour in 2026 and 2027

K-pop band to start tour in April after nearly four-year hiatus due to all seven members needing to complete South Korea’s mandatory military service

The BTS comeback is upon us: the K-pop septet has announced a 2026-2027 world tour, kicking off in South Korea in April and running through to March 2027 with more than 70 dates across Asia, North America, South America, Australia and Europe.

The tour marks the group’s first headline performances since their 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour.

9 April and 11-12 April – Goyang, South Korea

17-18 April – Tokyo

25-26 April – Tampa, Florida

2-3 May – El Paso, Texas

7 May and 9-10 May – Mexico City

16-17 May – Stanford, California

23-24 and 27 May – Las Vegas

12-13 June – Busan, South Korea

26-27 June – Madrid

1-2 July – Brussels

6-7 July – London

11-12 July – Munich

17-18 July – Paris

1-2 Aug – East Rutherford, New Jersey

5-6 Aug – Foxborough, Massachusetts

10-11 Aug – Baltimore

15-16 Aug – Arlington, Texas

22-23 Aug – Toronto

27-28 Aug – Chicago

1-2 Sept and 5-6 Sept – Los Angeles

2-3 Oct – Bogotá, Colombia

9-10 Oct – Lima, Peru

16-17 Oct – Santiago, Chile

23-24 Oct – Buenos Aires, Argentina

28 Oct and 30-31 Oct – São Paulo

19 Nov and 21-22 Nov – Kaohsiung, Taiwan

3 Dec and 5-6 Dec – Bangkok

12-13 Dec – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

17 Dec, 19-20 Dec and 22 Dec – Singapore

26-27 Dec – Jakarta

12-13 Feb – Melbourne, Australia

20-21 Feb – Sydney

4 March and 6-7 March – Hong Kong

13-14 March – Manila, Philippines

Tony Dokoupil's final thoughts from Detroit

"CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil shares his final thoughts after interviewing President Trump and General Motors CEO Mary Barra in Detroit.

General Motors "still committed" to electric vehicles amid U.S. sales slump, CEO says

In an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil, General Motors CEO Mary Barra discusses tariffs, electric vehicles and the outlook ahead for the automaker.

Trump administration ending deportation protections for Somalis

The U.S. government is revoking the legal status of immigrants from Somalia who had Temporary Protected Status.

GM CEO Mary Barra on electric vehicles, tariffs and competing with China

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the Trump administration's tariffs caused a "few-billion-dollar impact," but also praised them for "leveling the playing field."

Extended interview: General Motors CEO Mary Barra

Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors since 2014, speaks with CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil about the future of electric vehicles amid slowing U.S. sales, affordability, manufacturing shifts and more.

CPI rose at 2.7% annual rate in December as inflation remains sticky

Although there are signs that inflation is starting to ease, consumers still face pressures from high food prices and other costs.

Ford expands Bronco SUV performance lineup with 'more attainable' RTR model

Ford Motor is expanding its Bronco SUV lineup to include a new model that the automaker is touting as a mix of off-road capabilities and street performance.

Actor Timothy Busfield turns himself in following child sex abuse allegations

In a video provided to TMZ on Tuesday​, Timothy Busfield said the allegations "are all lies."

Read the full transcript of Tony Dokoupil's interview with President Trump here

President Trump shared a warning for Iran, called Jerome Powell a "lousy Fed chairman" and defended the ICE agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. Read the full transcript of their conversation.

Trump: Jerome Powell has "been a lousy Fed chairman"

President Trump brushed off a question about whether the Justice Department probe amounts to political retribution.

The three ages of Michael Carrick … and what they say about Manchester United

From his competitive debut to his first spell as interim, the former midfielder has seen much at Old Trafford over the past two decades

23 August 2006, Charlton 0-3 Manchester United The 25‑year‑old new signing was eased into United’s midfield as a second-half substitute in the second game of the season, having picked up a small injury on the pre‑season tour. With Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes suspended, Sir Alex Ferguson started with John O’Shea and Darren Fletcher in central midfield, with the Scot (sporting a mullet) opening the scoring after Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo had hit the woodwork. Carrick was one of four future United managers in the side, alongside Fletcher, Giggs and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who rounded off the win with a late goal after Louis Saha had doubled United’s lead. Solskjær’s goal was his first in the league in three injury-hit years, and the Norwegian, also a substitute, should have had another when Carrick squared a perfect pass to the striker, only for Charlton’s Scott Carson to make an outstanding save. With Carrick an instant success at United that season, the club roared to the title in May 2007, their first in four years.

6 Minn. federal prosecutors resign amid Renee Good investigation pressures

At least six career prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney's office have resigned as the office continues to face pressure to treat the investigation of the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer​ as an assault on a federal officer case.

Full interview: Trump on Iran crackdown, Fed Chair Powell and more

President Trump shared a warning for Iran, called Jerome Powell a "lousy Fed chairman," and defended the ICE agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis during an exclusive interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.

Five minutes more exercise and 30 minutes less sitting could help millions live longer

Research finds minor changes in physical activity could hugely reduce number of premature deaths

Just five extra minutes of exercise and half an hour less sitting time each day could help millions of people live longer, according to research highlighting the potentially huge population benefits of making even tiny lifestyle changes.

Until now, evidence about reducing the number of premature deaths assumed that everyone must meet specific targets, overlooking the positives of even minor increases in physical activity.

Claudette Colvin, civil rights icon arrested for not giving up bus seat, dies at 86

In 1955, at the age of 15, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks' act of defiance.

Looking to kickstart your career? These are the best jobs for 2026.

Focusing on these sectors could give your job search a boost, according to a new ranking of the best jobs for 2026.

What Trump's 10% credit card rate cap would mean for consumers

Capping credit card interest rates at 10% could save consumers billions of dollars, but potentially hurt lower-income Americans, experts said.

Mass exodus at DOJ Civil Rights Division, sources say

At least six prosecutors, most of whom are supervisors in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section, will be leaving their jobs.

Supreme Court seems likely to uphold state transgender athlete bans

The Supreme Court heard two cases involving laws from Idaho and West Virginia that ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports.

A major development in Trump's Fed feud is set to happen next week in the Supreme Court

Supreme Court arguments on Jan. 21 will likely be the next big development for the central bank's quest to maintain independence.

Trump has a plan to make housing more affordable. Will it work?

Economists say high home prices and a shortage of available properties may limit how much federal action can lower U.S. housing costs.

Actor Timothy Busfield surrenders to face child sexual abuse charges in New Mexico

Actor denies allegations of abuse centering on two preteen boys in video statement: ‘I’m going to confront these lies’

The actor and director Timothy Busfield surrendered on Tuesday to New Mexico authorities, four days after they obtained a warrant to arrest him on child sexual abuse allegations, according to officials.

The Albuquerque police department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos confirmed Busfield turned himself over to officers after it was widely reported that the agency was working with US marshals to search for the Emmy winner.

US carbon pollution rose in 2025 in reversal of previous years’ reductions

Study from research firm finds that US greenhouse gas emissions grew faster than economic activity last year

In a reversal from previous years’ pollution reductions, the United States spewed 2.4% more heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels in 2025 than in the year before, researchers calculated in a study released on Tuesday.

The increase in greenhouse gas emissions is attributable to a combination of a cool winter, the explosive growth of datacenters and cryptocurrency mining, and higher natural gas prices, according to the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. Environmental policy rollbacks by Donald Trump’s administration were not significant factors in the increase because they were only put in place this year, the study authors said. Heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas are the major cause of worsening global warming, scientists say.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple review – Ralph Fiennes is phenomenal in best chapter yet of zombie horror

A murderous Clockwork-Orangey gang take on the zombies in this gruesome and energised fourquel. It’s the finest of the 28 franchise by a blood-curdling mile

It’s very rare for a fourquel to be the best film in a franchise, but that’s how things stand with the chequered 28 Days Later series. In this one, which follows immediately on from the previous episode, 28 Years Later, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell bring pure death-metal craziness. There is real energy and drama in this latest iteration of the post-apocalyptic zombie horror-thriller saga, created by director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland back in 2003, with Nia DaCosta taking over directing duties for this film. Fiennes’s dance to Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast is basically one of the most extraordinary moments of his career. At the screening I attended, we were on our feet, looking for a speaker bin to headbang into. The band surely has to rerelease this track with Fiennes’s performance as a new official video. His Voldemort was never so freaky.

It is just so exhilarating to see this intergenerational face-off between such superb actors as Fiennes and O’Connell. That brings us to the point of my agnosticism about this whole franchise; Bone Temple is the best for an interesting reason – because the zombies are almost entirely irrelevant and are at a minimum. The always slightly dull business of zombieism is de-emphasised, and what counts is the conflict between sentient human beings. Even the one important zombie here is interesting because he is being transformed into something else.

The hidden hierarchy of tennis practice courts: ‘I was back in the park, smelling the weed’

The unwritten rule in professional tournaments? Do not hog the practice court. But as leading players testify – the reality is very different

On a cool Wednesday afternoon before the US Open last year, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev were busy fine-tuning their games in an intense practice set at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, semi-finalists in the mixed doubles tournament, were scheduled to take their place at the hour and the American pair duly arrived a couple of minutes before their allotted slot.

An amusing scene soon unfolded. Medvedev and Zverev were clearly desperate to continue playing for a little longer, but their court time had run out. The pair began to sheepishly deliberate over whether to attempt to play another game, even lining up on the baseline again, and they still occupied the court past the hour. Finally, they admitted defeat, allowing Collins and Harrison, who had been standing quietly on the sidelines, to begin.

Tired of the wellness industrial complex? Six rules to ditch – and what to do instead

Dr Ezekiel J Emanuel, a former Obamacare adviser, has deceptively simple advice for living a healthy life

Being healthy shouldn’t feel this complicated. Yet every week brings a new wellness fixation, from “fibermaxxing” to “zone 2 training”, creatine and cortisol-hacking.

Between prescriptive plans, complex science and often contradictory advice, it can seem like being healthy is a full-time job – or a hopeless cause.

Microsoft says communities won't see energy price hikes near data centers as utility costs rise

Microsoft is asking Wisconsin's Public Service Commission to raise the electric rate the company pays for a data center in the state.

Scott Adams, "Dilbert" comic strip creator, dies at age 68

Scott Adams, the cartoonist who created the "Dilbert" comic strip, has died at the age of 68, his first ex-wife revealed on Tuesday.

Mom confronts daughter's suspected killer, is charged with assault

Darci Bass was in a convenience store when in walked Matthew Edgar, out on bail while charged with the murder of Bass' daughter Livye Lewis.

The death of Livye Lewis: A party, a murder, and a man on the run

After a party in Hemphill, Texas, Livye Lewis is discovered dead and her ex-boyfriend Matthew Edgar is found bloodied on the ground nearby. What happened along the side of the road where they were discovered?

Woman says AI chatbot Grok generated sexual deepfake images of her

Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, alleges Grok generated and published sexual deepfake images of her without permission.

Trump is taking aim at borrowing costs. Will it work — or backfire?

President Trump's plans to ease the financial pressures on Americans are bold but could backfire, experts said.

The Guardian view on Trump’s assault on the Fed: it is part of an affordability blame game | Editorial

Attacking Jerome Powell distracts from Republicans’ thin legislative record and policies that continue to squeeze American household incomes

The US government’s authoritarian and vexatious attack on Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, should be seen in the light of America’s affordability crisis, which Donald Trump once dismissed, but is now scrambling to claim as his cause. The cost of living is eroding his support ahead of the congressional midterms. By launching a legal assault on the Fed, Mr Trump is trying to shift blame for borrowing costs.

Yet despite controlling the presidency, Senate and the House, Republicans have passed little beyond a large tax-cutting bill that benefits the rich. They have not legislated on housing supply, childcare, healthcare costs or wages. Indeed most of their actions are worsening affordability, notably deferring action even though millions face a sharp rise in their health insurance bills. Mr Trump’s sudden enthusiasm for credit card caps and housing interventions is pure opportunism.

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.

‘They want to break us’: Russian energy grid strikes give freezing Kyiv some of its darkest days

Impact of raid on infrastructure rivals early weeks of war when tanks tried to force their way into Ukrainian capital

On the night of 9 January, amid warnings from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of massive and imminent Russian airstrikes, Tetiana Shkred began cooking for her children at midnight.

Concerned that the power was once again about to be knocked out in her apartment block on Kyiv’s left bank – the side of the city that has been most affected by Moscow’s attacks on energy infrastructure – she cooked until 3am, when her flat was plunged into freezing darkness.

Clintons won't testify in Epstein probe as House Oversight GOP threatens contempt

Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee's chairman, said the panel will move next week on holding them in contempt.

Competency porn: is there any greater escapism than watching a capable person on TV?

In 2026, when it feels as though the world is moments away from any number of disasters, there is nothing hotter than watching someone do their job really, really well

Name: Competency porn.

Age: Relatively new.

Boeing outsold Airbus last year for first time since 2018, deliveries rise to 600

Boeing delivered 600 jetliners in 2025 with 63 in December alone, while net orders rose to 1,173 planes.

Greenland's PM has a blunt message for Trump: 'We choose Denmark' over the U.S.

U.S., Danish and Greenlandic officials are set to hold crunch talks at the White House on Wednesday.

Joseph Beuys review – the grotesque bathtub containing all the horrors of modern history

Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, London
There’s no escape from the torments of the past in this show, which celebrates the German artist at his most Wagnerian, enchanting and sickening you simultaneously

Born in 1921, Joseph Beuys was the “perfect” age to fight for Hitler and he did, with the wounds to prove it. The Andy Warhol portraits that complement this exhibition, without actually being part of it, brutally catch his gaunt, ravaged face in the glare of a photo flash under the hat he wore to hide burns sustained in a plane crash while serving in the Luftwaffe. The most haunting portrait turns Beuys into a spectral negative image, all darkness and shadow, his eyes wounded, guilty, lost. This was in the 1970s when Beuys was a charismatic one-man artistic revolution, inspiring young Germans to plant trees, lecturing about flows of ecological and human energy – and, in breathtaking performances, speaking to a dead hare or spending a week locked in a cage with a coyote.

All that remains today of those actions, protests and performances are posters, preserved scrawls on blackboards and mesmerising videos. Yet the moment Beuys disappeared – he died in 1986 – his solid, material sculptures took over. He believed passionately in flow and flux, promoting an animist vision of humanity and the cosmos. When he stopped talking and acting, entropy gripped his art, making it a static, slumped set of dead objects. And all the greater for it.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis vows to block Trump's Fed nominees following Powell probe

Trump will face an important obstacle — from within his own party — as he seeks to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Xabi Alonso failed to control Real Madrid’s egos in brief and bitter reign

Hired as a systems coach, the manager was undermined at a club where players – and Florentino Pérez – call the shots

Pep Guardiola sat in the press room at the Santiago Bernabéu and told Xabi Alonso to do it his way but around here, he knows, it tends not to work out like that, which is precisely why he said so. Saying it is one thing, doing it another, doing it successfully something else entirely and a month and day after being offered that advice, handed that defence, Alonso was gone. On Monday afternoon, not long after landing from Saudi Arabia, a meeting was held at Valdebebas and then came the statement, short and unsentimental. He was a “legend” as a player, but no longer coach at Real Madrid.

Alonso is the 11th manager to last less than a year in two decades under the president, Florentino Pérez. He had begun work only seven months before, and that was earlier than he intended. It had started with the Club World Cup in the US, his first big decision to accept the demand to take over sooner than he wanted, and it ended with the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, where it was an open secret that final judgment awaited. For a month it had been impossible to avoid the feeling of a manager on borrowed time, especially for the manager himself, exposed and undermined, and you cannot go on like that. There will be hurt pride, regret, but release too.

December core consumer prices rose at a 2.6% annual rate, less than expected

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the consumer price index showed a seasonally adjusted 0.2% gain on a monthly basis and 2.6% annually.

Data center REIT CEO says real estate ‘not in an oversupply state’

Andy Power, CEO of Digital Realty says data center real estate is not oversupplied as hyperscalers like Nvidia, Amazon, Google and Meta announce more projects.