Journalist Don Lemon appears in court following arrest over protest at Minnesota church

Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney said.

Senate voting on funding package with shutdown deadline hours away

Dozens of federal agencies are set to see their funding lapse at midnight as senators work to finalize a deal on a package of spending bills.

Jeffrey Epstein victims blast DOJ for 'incomplete' release of files

"We did not protect President Trump ... or anybody," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said as he revealed there would be no more release of Epstein files.

"Dances With Wolves" actor Nathan Chasing Horse convicted of sexual assault

A Nevada jury convicted "Dances With Wolves" actor Nathan Chasing Horse of multiple charges of sexually assaulting a minor.

Epstein files updates: justice department says files include ‘untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump’

One document in release includes uncorroborated tips about president made to FBI, which DoJ says are ‘unfounded and false’

• US justice department releases more than 3 million new pages of Epstein files

Among the files released by the US justice department today is a copy of Ghislaine Maxwell’s police booking intake form from July 2020.

It includes a picture of Maxwell in what looks like a prison orange jumpsuit, along with personal details including her full name and a redacted address in Bradford, New Hampshire.

files that contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files, and any similar files that, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy

any depiction of child sexual abuse material or child abuse images

anything that would jeopardize an active federal investigation

anything that depicts or contains images of death, physical abuse or injury

files covered by various privileges, including deliberative process privilege, work product privilege, and attorney client privilege

A new $45 fee for travelers without Real IDs goes into effect Feb. 1

Passengers without Real IDs can still fly if they pay a $45 fee, which covers the cost of additional identity verification screening.

Atlanta FBI boss reportedly ousted after questioning DoJ’s renewed interest in 2020 election

Paul W Brown reportedly voiced concerns about the FBI’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in Fulton county

The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office was reportedly removed from his post after questioning the Trump administration’s renewed interest in investigating the role of Fulton county, Georgia, in the 2020 election.

The agent, Paul W Brown, had expressed concerns around the unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in Fulton county, which have been perpetuated by Donald Trump since he was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, according to an MS NOW report on Friday. Citing sources, MS NOW also reported that Brown refused to carry out searches and seizures of records connected to the election that Trump lost four years before winning a second presidency in 2024.

Judge rules Luigi Mangione should not face death penalty

A federal judge dropped two of the charges against Luigi Mangione — the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — making his case no longer eligible for the death penalty.

Greg Biffle wasn't flying plane before crash that killed him and 6 others, NTSB says

Federal safety officials have concluded that retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle was not flying his jet when it crashed last month in North Carolina, killing him and six others.

Prosecutors in Luigi Mangione case can't seek death penalty, judge rules

Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHeathcare CEO Brian Thompson, will not face the death penalty if convicted on federal charges, a judge ruled Friday.

More than 200 killed in coltan mine collapse in eastern DRC, officials say

Rubaya mine produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, used in mobile phones

More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, told Reuters on Friday.

Rubaya produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum – a heat-resistant metal that is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. The site, where local people dig manually for a few dollars a day, has been under the control of the M23 rebel group since 2024.

Man accused of falsely confessing to killing Charlie Kirk faces up to 15-year sentence

George Zinn, 71, further admitted to possessing child sexual abuse material and pleaded no contest to allegations

A man accused of trying to thwart authorities investigating Charlie Kirk’s killing by falsely confessing to the deadly shooting faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to the allegation – and separately admitting to possessing child sexual abuse material.

The case centering on George Zinn, 71, all but concluded at a court hearing on Thursday in Provo, Utah, about 5 miles away from the college campus where the Turning Point USA executive director was fatally shot on 10 September 2025.

3 key questions for investors about Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh

Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, is in line to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell in May. Here's what Wall Street wants to know.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem review – remarkable Harlem Renaissance documentary

Sundance film festival: a once-in-a-lifetime dinner party from 1972 is transformed into a thrilling and inspiring hang-out movie

In August 1972, the experimental film-maker William Greaves convened a once-in-a-lifetime dinner party at Duke Ellington’s townhouse in Harlem. The occasion was a celebration and reconsideration of the Harlem Renaissance, the watershed African American cultural movement of the 1920s. The guest list included its still-living luminaries, some of the 20th century’s most influential – and still underappreciated – musicians, performers, artists, writers, historians and political leaders, all in their sunset years. Over four hours and untold glasses of wine, talk wheeled freely from vivid recollections to consternation, lively anecdotes to contemplations of ongoing struggle. Greaves, by then niche renowned for his innovatively meta documentary Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, lightly directed the conversation but otherwise let the energy flow. He considered it the most important footage he ever recorded.

You could probably release that remarkable footage in full, completely unedited and unstructured, and still have a good documentary; every piece is now, 50 years later – the same distance to us as the Harlem Renaissance was to them – a bridge to a time no living person can remember, each face and gesture informed by decades of aftermath no straightforward nonfiction film on the period could capture. But Once Upon a Time in Harlem, directed by Greaves’s son David, who was one of four cameramen that day, manages to seamlessly clip and contextualize the party into 100 mesmerizing minutes. It’s both a sublime hang-out of a film and a celebration of individual achievements, a fascinating map of a long-ago scene and a referendum on legacy.

Once Upon a Time in Harlem is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution

Eli Lilly CEO says Medicare coverage of obesity drugs could 'change the game' for upcoming pill launch

Lilly CEO Dave Ricks is confident in the ability of the company's pill to compete and is preparing for a "full launch" in the second quarter.

The arrest of Don Lemon is blatant censorship. And he is not the only one | Seth Stern

Thursday’s arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort demonstrate the administration’s lawless crusade against routine journalism

Two federal courts reviewed the government’s evidence against journalist Don Lemon and declined to approve his arrest last week. But nevertheless, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, persisted, desperate to please her authoritarian boss no matter what the constitution and law say or what her ethical obligations as an attorney require.

Thursday’s arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort – like the recent raid on the Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson – demonstrate the administration’s lawless crusade against routine journalism. In normal times the expectation is that even when a journalist’s conduct might technically fit the legal elements of a crime – jaywalking to get footage of a protest, for example – prosecutors will exercise their discretion and judgment to not apply the law in a manner that chills the free press.

Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer

Nascar’s Greg Biffle wasn’t flying his plane before crash that killed him and six others

• NTSB says no qualified copilot was on board jet

• Instrument failures reported before fatal crash

• Flight data shows erratic climb and descent

Retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle was not flying his own jet when it crashed last month, killing him and six others, according to a Friday report from federal safety officials who also concluded that while an experienced pilot was at the controls, no one else on board was qualified to be the required copilot.

The preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board said that Biffle and the retired airline pilot at the controls, Dennis Dutton, and his son Jack, who were all licensed pilots, noticed problems with gauges malfunctioning on the Cessna C550 before it crashed while trying to return to the Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

Blue Origin pauses space tourism flights to focus on lunar lander

Blue Origin, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, says it's stopping human spaceflights for at least two years. The move will allow it to "shift resources" to the company's lunar landing capabilities.

Luigi Mangione won't face death penalty in CEO murder case, federal judge rules

Luigi Mangione is accusing of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street in December 2024.

Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show

Newly released files from DoJ show the pair making plans in 2012 and 2013 for the Tesla CEO to visit Epstein’s island

Elon Musk had more extensive – and more friendly – communications with the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than previously publicly known, according to documents released on Friday by the Department of Justice. Emails in the files appear to show the two cordially messaging each other on two separate occasions to make plans for Musk to visit Epstein’s island.

The documents include Musk and Epstein emailing in both 2012 and 2013 to determine when Musk should make the trip to Little St James. Neither exchanges appear to have resulted in Musk visiting the island, due to logistical issues.

Patients are being hit with this surprise fee just for seeing their doc

One patient reports getting stuck with a $2,418 "facility fee" after seeing her doctor. "I didn't even know such a thing existed," she said.

Partial government shutdown on track; Senate to vote on deal after Graham drops hold

The deal would address concerns Democrats have about funding the Department of Homeland Security because of enforcement actions in Minnesota.

Andrew went to intimate dinner with Epstein after his prison release, files suggest

Famous figures including Woody Allen were invited to party with disgraced financier and Mountbatten-Windsor, documents indicate

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor attended an intimate party with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein months after he was released from prison, files suggest.

The US justice department released another cache of documents relating to the disgraced financier on Friday.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

US justice department releases more than 3 million new pages of Epstein files

Batch includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images related to disgraced financier, Todd Blanche says

• Elon Musk had more extensive ties to Epstein than previously known, emails show

• Epstein files release – latest updates

The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, said on Friday that the justice department had released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically.

In a testy news conference, Blanche said that the release would include more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, which will have “extensive redactions”. He added that the Trump administration had produced roughly 3.5m pages in an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He said that they include large quantities of commercial pornography and images “that were seized from Epstein’s devices”.

Tim Walz says Trump administration wants to 'twist reality' in Minnesota

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in his state.

Lila Iké learned what "self-love" means with her Grammy-nominated album

Lila Iké's full-length debut album, Treasure Self Love, has been nominated for a Grammy. Iké spoke to All Things Considered about being one of the only women ever to receive a nomination for best reggae album.

Texas A&M University cancels programs in women's and gender studies

The university said it had also modified hundreds of courses and cancelled six in efforts to eliminate teaching related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

How American Katie Uhlaender was denied Olympic bid by Canadian coach's point scheme

Sports officials say a Canadian coach manipulated the point system used by athletes to qualify for the Olympics. His move cost American sled racer Katie Uhlaender her trip to the Milan Cortina Games.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested by feds over Minnesota church protest

Lemon's "constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done," his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said.

U.S. ultimatum to vaccine group: No more funds unless you stop using thimerosal

This mercury-containing compound, used as a vaccine preservative, is commonly used in lower-income countries — and deemed safe. The U.S. is now demanding that Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance stop using it.

Catherine O’Hara managed to make difficult characters utterly delightful

The death of the 71-year-old actor and comedian leaves behind a long line of unforgettably original comic creations, from Beetlejuice to Schitt’s Creek

• Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, dies aged 71

One of the later and less beloved Christopher Guest comedies featuring his troupe of peerless, often SCTV-related improvisers is For Your Consideration, a medium-funny savaging of Hollywood’s feverish awards-season prestige campaigning.

The film’s unquestionable highlight is Catherine O’Hara, playing an actor who gets a whisper of awards buzz for a schlocky, still-filming drama called Home for Purim, and slowly loses her mind with the knowledge that she could maybe, possibly be recognized by her peers. O’Hara, known for her distinctively brassy yet malleable trill of her voice and her frequently red hair, peels back her performer’s bravado to expose the frenzied need beneath it. She somehow plays the outsized beneath the regular-sized, as her Marilyn Hack goes from plugging-away workhorse to desperate striver. Unsurprisingly, O’Hara briefly generated awards buzz of her own for playing this part; even less surprisingly, an Oscar nomination was not forthcoming. It couldn’t be; otherwise, it might have marred O’Hara’s masterclass in how certain actors, especially those specializing in comedy, are destined to go under-recognized in their lifetimes.

Catherine O'Hara, who starred in 'Home Alone' and 'Schitt's Creek,' dies at 71

O'Hara enjoyed a six-decade career in TV and films playing sometimes over-the-top, but endearing characters. "I loved playing cocky untalented people," she told Fresh Air in 1992.

Trump nominates Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve chair to succeed Jerome Powell

President Trump named Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair, ending an odyssey that has seen unprecedented turmoil around the central bank.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

ICE in Minneapolis, Russian airstrikes in Kyiv, Alex Honnold climbing a Taipei skyscraper and Sabalenka at the Australian Open – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Harry Brook adds to England woes by admitting he lied about nightclub incident

• White-ball captain claims he was protecting teammates

• Bethell and Tongue investigated over drinking session

Harry Brook, the England white-ball captain, has admitted teammates were present on the night he clashed with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand last year.

Speaking at the start of England’s tour of Sri Lanka, Brook said that he was on his own when he was punched by a bouncer on the eve of the third one-day international against New Zealand in Wellington.

Wealth inequality and the 'K-shaped' economy are more striking than ever, data shows

The K-shaped economy is as apparent as ever and isn't going away anytime soon, economists say.

Anti-ICE protests being held across US as organizers urge national strike

Activists call for Friday ‘blackout’ in protest against administration’s violent immigration crackdown

Activists have called for a nationwide shutdown on Friday, advocating “no work, no school, no shopping” in a protest against the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdowns.

Organizers say Friday’s “blackout” – or general strike, as some are calling it – is part of a growing nonviolent movement to combat ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics, which have come under renewed scrutiny following a series of fatal shootings involving federal agents.

Arsenal’s terminally online Premier League title pursuit is a symbol of our times | Barney Ronay

A robotic team fuelled by data and scrutinised relentlessly in a climate of angst and rage feels like a digital-age metaphor

Like most people who have no talent for business ideas, I have a huge number of highly promising business ideas always on the go, ideas that are available for investment from any passing billionaire or Dragons’ Den rainmaker type.

Not one of the A-listers, obviously. I’m not insane. Not a Meaden or a Paphitis. But perhaps one of the minor ones, some strangely groomed South African retail magnate called Dork van Frotwangle who looks as if he keeps a bag of human fingers in his freezer and will mysteriously disappear mid-series and never be mentioned again.

Unmentioned but present, Trump is a common denominator in Asia-Europe ties

Trump was not the only factor behind the agreements, but his shaking up of the global order is worrying friends and foes and driving them closer.

Alex Pretti shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis prompts DOJ civil rights probe

Alex Pretti's shooting death by federal agents in Minneapolis has prompted a DOJ civil rights probe. Renee Macklin Good's death by federal agents has not.

Trump nominates Federal Reserve critic Kevin Warsh as its next chair

Pick of former Fed governor to replace Jerome Powell comes as White House seeks to tighten grip on central bank

Donald Trump has announced Kevin Warsh as his nomination for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, selecting a candidate who has been an outspoken critic of the US central bank.

The move ends months of speculation about who the president would pick to replace Jerome Powell, as he waged an extraordinary campaign to influence policymaking at the Fed by repeatedly calling for interest rate cuts. Powell’s second term as chair is due to end in May.

Ford to record $600 million pretax pension charge in fourth quarter

Ford will report a pretax charge of $600 million in its fourth-quarter results due to adjustments to employee pension plans and other postretirement benefits.

US DoJ opens federal civil rights investigation into killing of Alex Pretti

Deputy attorney general makes announcement over fatal shooting in Minneapolis as fierce protests there continue

The US deputy attorney general announced on Friday that the justice department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of the Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti last Saturday by immigration officers, as fierce protests continued on the streets there.

“We’re looking at everything that would shed light on that day,” Todd Blanche, deputy to the attorney general, Pam Bondi, said at a press conference on Friday morning in Washington DC.

Press freedom groups denounce arrests of two journalists including Don Lemon after Minnesota anti-ICE protest

Groups say arrests of ex-CNN anchor and Georgia Fort are ‘extremely alarming’ and an ‘attack on the first amendment’

Press freedom groups are warning that the arrests of two independent journalists, including the veteran former CNN anchor Don Lemon, signal a chilling new crackdown on US media by the Trump administration.

Lemon was taken into custody on Thursday night by federal agents in Los Angeles, despite a magistrate judge declining to sign off on charges against him a week ago in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church against violent government immigration enforcement actions.

Chess: Uzbek pair share narrow half-point lead as Wijk aan Zee reaches final weekend

Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov lead the 14-man field, but their closest rivals are all only half a point behind with two rounds to go

Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov are just half a point ahead of their closest three rivals as the “chess Wimbledon” at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee heads into its final two rounds this weekend. Abdusattorov was the clear leader, but he has drawn three and lost one of his last four games.

Leading scores after 11 of the 13 rounds are Abdusattorov and Sindarov 7, Matthias Blübaum (Germany), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) and Hans Niemann (US) 6.5, Vincent Keymer (Germany) 6, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Turkey), Gukesh Dommaraju (India), Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia) and Anish Giri (Netherlands) 5.5.

‘A place of two halves’: how Margate’s art-led renewal has left town ‘splintered’

Madonna labelled it ‘heaven’ on a recent visit, but the cost of living in the seaside resort is hitting many residents hard

Not many chefs working in small, family-run restaurants expect global megastars to turn up for dinner and to design them a menu from scratch.

But that’s what happened to Simona Di Dio last weekend, when she cooked dishes inspired by her Italian grandmother’s recipes for Madonna, who sat on the single wooden dining table in Di Dio’s cosy, candlelit Italian restaurant in Margate’s old town.

Nevada's first-in-the-nation primary bid gets boost from Latino Victory

Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are vying to be the first state to vote in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries.

Jeffrey Epstein sent money to Mandelson’s husband after prison release, emails suggest

Child sex offender sent thousands of pounds to Reinaldo Avila da Silva, according to documents published by US justice department

Jeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds in bank transfers after his release from prison in 2009 to Peter Mandelson’s husband, according to emails published by the US Department of Justice on Friday.

The latest documents raise fresh questions about Epstein’s relationship with Mandelson, who was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to Washington when details of his support for the disgraced financier emerged in September.

Novak Djokovic thanks doubters for giving him strength after Sinner success

• ‘There is a lot of experts that wanted to retire me’

• Serb won five-set epic to reach Australian Open final

Novak Djokovic thanked his doubters for helping to give him strength after he produced an incredible performance to defeat Jannik Sinner, the No 2 and two-time defending champion, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Australian Open final.

Djokovic, the fourth seed, will contest his 11th Australian Open final and 38th grand slam final overall on Sunday, his first losing the Wimbledon final in July 2024. At 38 years old, he is the oldest Australian Open men’s finalist in history.

Hassett praises Trump's pick of Warsh to lead Fed, says he has his 'dream job' already

The NEC director, once considered a clear frontrunner for the next Fed chair, said he is fine with his current role.

Trump says he believes Iran wants to make deal as he extols size of US ‘armada’

US president declines to say whether he plans Venezuela-like operation, after Tehran signalled it was ready for talks

• Killing Khamenei? Hitting military sites? It is unclear what a US attack on Iran would achieve

Donald Trump has said he believes Tehran wants to make a deal to head off a regional conflict, as he claimed the US “armada” near Iran was bigger than the task force deployed to topple Venezuela’s leader.

“We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela,” the US president told reporters on Friday.

Trump, two sons, Trump Org sue IRS, Treasury for $10 billion over tax records leak

The Miami federal court lawsuit says the IRS and Treasury failed to prevent the leak of Trump's tax records by former IRS employee Charles Littlejohn.

Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, dies aged 71

Actor, also known for Beetlejuice and her work with Christopher Guest, died after a brief illness

• Catherine O’Hara managed to make difficult characters utterly delightul

• Catherine O’Hara: a life in pictures

Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone and Best in Show, has died at the age of 71.

Her manager confirmed the news to Variety. She died after a brief illness.

Everything you need to know about Kevin Warsh, Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve

Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, has emerged as Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve. Here’s his background, views and why it matters.

Mexico president says Trump tariffs on Cuba’s oil suppliers could trigger humanitarian crisis

Island country only has oil enough to last 15-20 days, and 12-hour blackouts have become commonplace

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has warned that Donald Trump’s move to slap new tariffs on countries sending oil to Cuba could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island, which is already suffering from chronic fuel shortages and regular blackouts.

The US president signed an executive order on Thursday declaring a national emergency and laying the groundwork for such tariffs, ratcheting up the pressure to topple the communist government in Havana.

‘Isolation isn’t the way forward’: readers on their unusual living arrangements

We spoke with five people from Atlanta to rural Germany and the UK whose households range from grandparents to three couples who own a farmhouse

In Atlanta, Carolyn Martinez, 65, lives in a household spanning four generations – and a lifelong friendship. Her 90-year-old mother, who has lived with her for more than 40 years due to various disabilities, shares the house with Martinez, 65, her adult daughter, aged 25, and her granddaughter, aged three months. “My mum has lived with me literally all my adult life,” she says. “She just wasn’t able to live by herself.”

Melania review – Trump film is a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest

Dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing – there is a decent documentary to be made about the former model from Slovenia, but this one is unredeemable

• One adult for the 9.40am in Sittingbourne: a front row seat for Melania’s ominous UK opening
• Eggs, hats and unfettered ambition: what we learned about Melania Trump from her documentary

My audience with Melania is booked for Friday lunchtime at a retail park on the outskirts of Bristol, inside a large cinema which appears to have been swept and emptied in readiness. When Brett Ratner’s contentious, Amazon-backed documentary previewed at the White House last weekend, the guestlist included Mike Tyson, Queen Rania of Jordan and the president himself. Today it’s just me in the room and Melania on the screen. It makes for a more intimate and exclusive affair.

This mood of cosy conviviality extends all the way through the opening credits; at which point the chill descends and the novocaine kicks in, as the film’s star and executive producer proceeds to guide us – with agonising glacial slowness – through the preparations for her husband’s second presidential inauguration. She glides from the fashion fitting to the table setting, and from the “candlelit dinner” to the “starlight ball”, with a face like a fist and a voice of sheet metal. “Candlelight and black tie and my creative vision,” she says, as though listing the ingredients in a cauldron. “As first lady, children will always remain my priority,” she coos, and you can almost picture her coaxing them into her little gingerbread house.

Israel accepts health authorities’ Gaza death toll is broadly accurate, saying 70,000 have died

Israeli military’s U-turn in accepting official figures comes after years of attacking data as ‘Hamas propaganda’

Israel’s military has accepted the death toll compiled by health authorities in Gaza is broadly accurate, marking a U-turn after years of official attacks on the data.

A senior security official briefed Israeli journalists, saying about 70,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli attacks on the territory since October 2023, excluding those missing.

The unexpected stars of the Premier League season so far

Harry Wilson, Igor Thiago, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Grealish and Antoine Semenyo have shone for their clubs

By WhoScored

Harry Wilson was often a spectator rather than a player in his first three seasons at Fulham. He made 89 appearances in the league, but 48 of them were from the bench and he was taken off 34 times. Having scored just 12 league goals in three years, he was nearly shipped off to Leeds in the summer.

The Guardian view on China’s military purge: the risks grow in an age of strongmen | Editorial

Xi Jinping’s ousting of the country’s top general underscores the concentration of power in the hands of a few – with dangers for us all

Sir Keir Starmer is only one of the middle power leaders trekking to Beijing to renew relations. No one has forgotten China’s increasing international forcefulness, its handling of the pandemic and its closer relations with Russia as war engulfed Ukraine. But the wildness of Donald Trump’s first year back in power is spurring Canada, France and others to hedge their bets. This, not whisky tariff cuts, is what the British prime minister sought. Mr Trump called the move “dangerous”, but threatens allies and describes Xi Jinping as a “friend”. Set beside this administration, Beijing looks no more benevolent but does appear relatively predictable.

Yet the important news from Beijing in recent days was not Sir Keir’s visit but the news that Xi Jinping had purged its top general, Zhang Youxia. No one is too mighty to be ousted in a system which, while stable, looks increasingly like a “party of one”. The Chinese leader’s campaign has whittled the Central Military Commission, the top military body, from seven figures to just Mr Xi himself and the armed forces’ anti-corruption chief. He had already toppled officials at all levels of the party, including potential heirs, brushed aside term limits and fostered a personality cult. Now he is completely overhauling the People’s Liberation Army.

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.

FBI now leading investigation into fatal shooting of Alex Pretti

The investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, known as Homeland Security Investigations, had been leading the investigation into the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Is it time to break up with US big tech? - The Latest

With Donald Trump tearing up the world order, governments across Europe are having to confront the fact that most of the technology they rely on comes from US companies. French officials have taken a step this week to reduce their dependence on US digital infrastructure, announcing they have stopped using Zoom, the US-owned video meeting software, in favour of a French-made program. But how viable is this? And what are the risks? The Guardian’s Michael Safi speaks to the tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker

DOJ releasing more than 3 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein records

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Justice Department is releasing millions more records related to its probe into Jeffrey Epstein.

Jayasree Kabir obituary

Actor who was a celebrated figure of Bangladeshi cinema after being discovered by the Indian director Satyajit Ray

Few performers’ careers have encompassed both discovery by Satyajit Ray and working opposite sometime Likely Lad James Bolam. Yet this was the distinction the actor Jayasree Kabir, who has died aged 73, achieved while shifting between the southern and northern hemispheres as work and family commitments required.

Launched while still a teenager in Ray’s 1970 film Pratidwandi (The Adversary), Kabir compiled a modest yet highly selective list of credits, including several key titles of Bangladeshi cinema, before making her final screen appearance in a 2004 episode of the BBC’s primetime ratings winner New Tricks, starring Bolam.

Lindsey Vonn airlifted from course after crash in final downhill before Olympics

• Vonn crashes into nets and clutches left knee

• Race in Crans-Montana abandoned after early falls

• ‘My Olympic dream is not over,’ insists US star

Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the final World Cup downhill before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, leaving the American skiing great limping and clutching her left knee as organizers abandoned the race amid worsening conditions.

The 41-year-old lost control after landing a jump on the upper section of the course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, skidding sideways into the safety netting as snow fell steadily and visibility deteriorated. Vonn’s airbag deployed on impact and she remained down for several moments while medical staff attended to her on the piste.

Eli Lilly plans $3.5 billion manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania to make next-generation obesity injections

The plant will help make Lilly's experimental drug called retatrutide, which has shown the highest weight loss seen to date in a late-stage trial. 

Labour accuses Reform candidate of ‘toxic politics’ after Tommy Robinson endorsement

Far-right activist tells X followers to vote for Reform’s Gorton and Denton candidate, Matthew Goodwin

Labour have accused the Reform UK candidate for the Gorton and Denton byelection, Matthew Goodwin, of representing “toxic politics” after he was endorsed by the far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.

The move will be uncomfortable for Nigel Farage, who has consistently kept the parties he leads separate from Robinson, an anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK’s leading far-right figures.

Displacement Film Fund review – Cate Blanchett masterminds short film collection that brims with life and intensity

Rotterdam film festival
A set of shorts by film-makers from Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Syria and Somalia are shocking, funny and mysterious in equal measure

With considerable chutzpah and elan, and in her capacity as producer and UNHCR Goodwill ambassador, Cate Blanchett has achieved a geopolitical film-making coup. In concert with festival authorities in Rotterdam, she has secured cash and commissioned short films on the subject of displacement from five directors – including Mohammad Rasoulof, now in exile from his native Iran due to his pro-democracy activism, in effect making his first public statement since the recent massacres and apparently expressing his fears that he may never go home again.

The films are far from solemnly earnest – this is an anthology of five brilliant miniature artworks. By turns shocking, funny, confessional and deeply mysterious, this is a tremendous collection; the constituent films of which benefit in some enigmatic way from being shown together. What Ealing Studios’s Dead of Night did for scariness, these films may have done for 21st-century exile.

It is beyond naive for Democrats – and Europe – to think Trump’s retreats are real. He never backs down for long | Jonathan Freedland

Whether it’s Minneapolis or Greenland, the US president will do just enough to get through a damaging news cycle, then carry on as before

Don’t be fooled. When it comes to Donald Trump, what might look like a full retreat is almost always a mere tactical withdrawal, designed to buy time. He’ll step back when he’s forced to, under pressure, but will then revert the instant the pressure lets up. Too often, his opponents, whether at home or abroad, allow themselves to be played, confusing a mere pause for a surrender – and the risk is strong that they’re making that same mistake all over again.

This week, the US president won praise in some quarters for moving to “de-escalate” the war he has been waging on the people of Minneapolis. Following the killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who posed no threat and yet was shot at least 10 times by masked agents of Customs and Border Protection or CBP, Trump signalled that he wanted to calm things down.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Thierno Barry ‘dreams big’ after finding goalscoring touch at Everton

Striker strives for long stay in the Premier League, years on from ‘losing love to play football’ during poor run with Basel

‘Are you a professional footballer?” was a question Thierno Barry had dreamed about answering in the affirmative, but on this occasion modesty was the best policy. The Frenchman was on a Zanzibar beach, surrounded by a group of 10-year-old boys he had schooled in a kickabout that helped him rediscover his love of the game after a difficult start in Basel.

Switzerland was next on Barry’s path after he had proven his talent in the Belgian second division at Beveren but it was not a smooth trajectory. “Two stupid red cards” in his first two appearances and failing to score in 16 Swiss league games left Barry needing to get away, so he headed to Africa and switched off his phone to enjoy the tranquillity of the Indian Ocean, a world away from football.

New York nurses hold candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti amid strike – in pictures

Nurses gathered outside a Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan to mourn Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis

Jack Kerouac’s 37 metre-long, first draft scroll of On the Road to be auctioned

The draft – one of the Beat Generation’s defining artefacts – will be part of a wider sale of pieces from the Jim Irsay Collection at Christie’s in March

Jack Kerouac’s original typescript scroll for On the Road – the 37 metre (121ft) long roll of paper on which he typed his defining Beat novel in a three-week burst – will go under the hammer at Christie’s in March, with a sale estimate of £1.8m to £2.9m ($2.5m to $4m).

The scroll is one of the centrepieces of the Jim Irsay Collection, one of the most extensive private collections of music, literary, film and sports memorabilia ever assembled.

Another blast of freezing weather moves into the US south-east

Arctic air will freeze Tennessee and Florida, as 230,000 households in region remain without power in area

Freezing weather that will reach deep into Florida was moving across the south-eastern US on Friday as millions braced for another weekend blast of winter storms following last week’s deadly assault that killed at least 85 people.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in southern states were without power for a sixth day on Friday as the next onslaught of blizzards, ice and biting cold winds approached.

Martin Rowson on Keir Starmer, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping – cartoon

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Groundbreaking director Reginald Hudlin: ‘It’s taken a lot of effort but the reward is always worth it’

The man who created House Party, wrote for the Black Panther comics, produced Django Unchained and briefly ran BET talks his illustrious career

Reginald Hudlin’s home office is a monument to an audacious American dream – the Black scion who grew up far from Hollywood glamour and rose to become one of the industry’s most adaptable storytellers. On the walls, a framed Black Panther comic page he penned glints under glass near a portrait of Jamie Foxx – a souvenir from Hudlin’s stint producing Django Unchained – and a piece of the Martin Luther King memorial that he was gifted while shooting the Disney sports drama Safety. “Look, I’m pleased with my life,” he tells me with a wry smile. “But honestly it’s taken a lot of trickery to get people to let me do these crazy things. It’s taken a lot of effort, but the reward is always worth it.”

Hudlin may be the nearest thing in Hollywood to a real-life Forrest Gump, given the things he’s done, the folks he’s worked with and the history he’s made. On Marvel Comics’ Black Panther graphic novel, Hudlin was the writer who repositioned the franchise as an explicit Black empowerment allegory, laying the foundation for Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster feature films. On the big screen, Hudlin has directed Eddie Murphy in Boomerang, Samuel L Jackson in The Great White Hope and Chadwick Boseman in Marshall.

Sen. Tillis will oppose Trump Fed chair pick Warsh until Powell probe resolved

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said the DOJ's criminal investigation of him stems from frustration by President Trump over interest rate decisions.

Prediction markets allow trading on Super Bowl commercials, prompting insider trading questions

Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket are offering trades on which companies will air Super Bowl ads, prompting concerns about potential insider trading.

Saks to shutter most Saks Off 5th stores as bankrupt retailer cuts costs

Saks, which declared bankruptcy on Jan. 14, is set to hold going-out-of-business sales as it closes dozens of retail outlets.

Judge rules Luigi Mangione will not face death penalty in healthcare CEO case

Capital punishment taken off table but Mangione will still face federal charges over killing of Brian Thompson

The death penalty is off the table for Luigi Mangione after a New York federal judge dismissed the charges that were eligible for capital punishment in the case accusing him of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December 2024.

In a written court order on Friday, US district judge Margaret Garnett dismissed counts three and four against Mangione, including murder through use of a firearm, which carried a potential death sentence, and a weapons charge.

Chinese car firm Chery to open European base in Liverpool

Launch of R&D centre could pave way for deal for UK’s Jaguar Land Rover to build cars for Omoda and Jaecoo owner

Chinese carmaker Chery is to open a research and development headquarters in Liverpool, in a move that could pave the way for a deal for the British manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover to build its cars.

State-owned Chery’s commercial vehicle arm will base the headquarters for its European operations on Merseyside, including research, engineering, and commercial functions.

Islamic State claims attack on international airport and airbase in Niger

Motorcycle-riding militants launch strikes using heavy weaponry and drones, damaging planes belonging to Ivorian carrier and Togolese airline

Islamic State in the Sahel has claimed responsibility for an audacious assault at the international airport and adjacent air force base in Niamey, the capital of Niger, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist activity and communications worldwide.

The attack, which began shortly after midnight on Thursday, reportedly involved motorcycle-riding militants who launched a “surprise and coordinated” strike using heavy weaponry and drones, according to statements released via IS in the Sahel’s propaganda arm, Amaq news agency.

Elon Musk's $20 billion spending plan signals 'Tesla of yesterday is gone'

Tesla expects to more than double capital spending in 2026 as it invests heavily in robotics and driverless technology.

Former Illinois deputy convicted in killing of Sonya Massey sentenced to 20 years in prison

Sean Grayson, a former Illinois deputy, was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison after a jury convicted him last year of second degree murder in the killing of Sonya Massey. Massey was shot and killed inside her home after calling police to check on a suspected prowler.

Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as next Federal Reserve Board chair

President Trump says he is nominating Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, filling a powerful economic policy role as the president pushes for lower interest rates.

Eggs, hats and unfettered ambition: what we learned about Melania Trump from her documentary

The first lady’s political goals, high-stakes clothes fittings and hints that she and Donald still have sex are just some of the highlights from Brett Ratner’s documentary

• Review: Melania is a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest
• News: a front-row seat on Melania’s ominous UK opening

Melania’s appears an entirely airless existence, in which she glides solo about gilt corridors in silence, David Lynch-style, observed by tight-lipped heavies. All her staff dress in deference to her, mostly in black, but sometimes – as in the case of her interior designer – in a matching camel-coloured three-piece suit. Candidates interviewing for assistant roles have also got the memo, lining up in a sea of monochrome, with buttery hair and prominent cross necklaces.

Antifa used to unmask neo-Nazis, now it’s exposing ICE: ‘Predators don’t get anonymity’

Following in a long American tradition of identifying fascists, a network of leftists has set out to name and shame Trump’s immigration agents

Last week a photographer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune filmed a border patrol agent approach a protester, lying prone in the street, and aim a canister of pepper spray at his eyes. The protester was already detained, three other agents pressing his body into the pavement, but the agent can nevertheless be seen spraying the orange chemical irritant, which causes excruciating pain, at point-blank range.

The agent probably thought he would enjoy anonymity for this bit of brutality. The federal police terrorizing Minneapolis remain largely nameless as they dole out horrifying – and in two cases, fatal – violence against anyone opposing Operation Metro Surge. But within two hours of the Star Tribune posting the footage to social media, a group called Pacific Antifascist Research Collective claimed to have identified him.

‘They’re taught that showing feelings is shameful’: eight reasons men don’t go to therapy – and why they should

A clinical psychologist on why men still don’t seek help for their mental health

When Jake, a businessman in his 50s, first arrives at my therapy practice, it’s obvious that he has some misgivings. Jake’s marriage to Louise is in trouble, and she has insisted he come and see me. “If not for Louise, you wouldn’t be here, would you?” I enquire tentatively. He looks sheepish at first; then emboldened, he gives an emphatic “No.” As is almost always the case, Jake’s wife has registered a problem that has passed him by, and prompted his visit. Over the next few weeks, we sift through a maze of obstacles, and in the end, Jake is full of emotion: “I’m alone in the world, everyone leans on me, there’s no one for me,” he says. “There’s no one to turn to.”

It’s a common pattern, one I’ve seen throughout my 35 years as a psychologist specialising in male mental health. Men make up only 33% of referrals to NHS talking therapies. They don’t come easily, and when they do seek help in a crisis, they can disappear as suddenly as they arrive. Yet male vulnerability is clear – men report lower levels of life satisfaction than women and make up three-quarters of suicides and problems with addiction. But despite the increase in awareness around male mental health, men still tend to think there’s a stigma to speaking with a professional, even though most of those who have tried therapy have a positive experience.

Syrian government and Kurdish forces reach deal on permanent truce

Milestone appears to resolve escalating tensions over the question of Kurdish autonomy in north-east Syria

The Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces have reached an agreement to extend a fragile ceasefire into a permanent truce, laying a framework for integrating Kurdish forces into the state and ending nearly a month of fighting.

The agreement on Friday appeared to resolve escalating tensions between the two sides over the question of Kurdish autonomy in north-east Syria and paved a way for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to join Syria’s new army through negotiations, rather than battle.

You'll soon have to pay a fee while traveling if you don't have a Real ID or passport

Starting on Sunday, if you don't have a Real ID driver's license or a passport, the Transportation Security Administration will begin charging non-compliant flyers to access security, which could cost you an extra $45. Kris Van Cleave reports.

From ICE to Melania’s black carpet, are Trump’s techlords getting pangs of buyer’s remorse? | Marina Hyde

The first lady’s premiere was marked by conspicuous absences. It turns out chumminess with the president might just come at a cost

Who wasn’t on the red carpet at the official Melania documentary premiere in Washington DC was so much more intriguing than who was. No offence to defence secretary Pete Hegseth, but if I wanted to see formalwear struggling to contain Crusades tattoos, I’d hang around outside the Spartak Moscow Christmas party. Not that it was a red carpet, because the carpet at the “Trump-Kennedy” Center was black. No one bothers hiding the grift any more, with the movie’s own producer openly explaining that this aesthetic was “all about supporting this luxury brand that [Melania’s] creating”. They should have dressed the event like a colon, since Donald’s is effectively where it was being held.

Anyway: arrivals. There was Melania and Donald Trump – she finally got him out of hair and makeup – who were holding hands, a coincidentally convenient way to cover his skin if his glam squad didn’t truck in enough concealer. In recent months, Trump has had terrible bruises on the tops of his hands and even more terrible excuses for why they keep appearing. Aspirin, Swiss furniture, shaking lots of hands – the list of things that aren’t cannula sites grows longer every week.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Hilltop hijinks: White Lotus to take over luxury chateau on French Riviera

Mike White’s show will begin production in April at five-star Saint-Tropez resort known for old-world opulence

Will it be a fatal attack with a pétanque boule under the parasol palms? Some skulduggery in the swimming pool of a €21,000-a-night private villa? Perhaps a poisoned cocktail on the terrace overlooking the luxury yachts in the Mediterranean?

Bienvenue to season four of The White Lotus on the Côte d’Azur; judging by past series, someone is not making it out of the French Riviera alive.

Man allegedly impersonates FBI agent in attempt to break Luigi Mangione out of jail

Police say they foiled a plot to break Luigi Mangione out of a federal jail in New York City. A man allegedly claimed he was an FBI agent and had "signed by a judge authorizing the release of a specific inmate," which sources say was Mangione.

Homan says some agents in Minnesota may be withdrawn, but demands access to jails and prisons

Border czar Tom Homan said some of the 3,000 federal agents currently deployed to Minnesota could be withdrawn if state leaders allow federal authorities expanded access to undocumented immigrants being held in state prisons and county jails. Lilia Luciano reports.

This isn’t the film you are looking for: the Star Wars franchise is hamstrung by a massive identity crisis

The space opera to end them all once blasted everything in its path. But a muddled approach has led to indecision and paralysis

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was an actual movie that people watched. It drew people to cinemas in huge numbers, largely because it was completely unembarrassed about being a pulpy space adventure about comic wizards and laser swords. Nowadays, it is something else entirely. A TV show about a likable space dad and his cute, cheeky, telekinetically powered adopted alien son, or perhaps a divisive culture-war bellwether that vacillates between trying to destroy itself in a blaze of operatic self-importance and hamfistedly rebuilding itself.

These days Star Wars also seems mainly to be press releases and announcements, throwaway comments in interviews that gesture mournfully towards what once was and what might, one day, be again. Which brings us to Taika Waititi, the Oscar-winning director from New Zealand, who has been giving fresh updates on his episode in the long-running space saga. “I’m just trying to sort of go back and harness a little bit more of the fun from the original films,” he told Variety, adding of George Lucas’ original trilogy: “The stakes were very high [and] there were serious things going on but also there was a lot fun to be had in those films. That’s what I was trying to bring back.”

What's in the Senate deal to fund the government?

Senate Democrats have reached a deal with the Trump administration to partially fund the federal government while debate over immigration funding continues. The Senate agreed to vote on five bills to ensure most of the federal government is funded through September and they're voting for a two-week extension for Department of Homeland Security funding while they negotiate new rules for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

South Africa expels top Israeli diplomat over ‘insulting attacks’ on president

Ariel Seidman declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave country after remarks on social media

South Africa and Israel have engaged in a tit-for-tat expulsion of senior diplomats, after South Africa ordered Israel’s chargé d’affaires to leave within 72 hours, citing “insulting attacks” on South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on social media.

Ariel Seidman, the chargé d’affaires at Israel’s embassy in Pretoria, was declared persona non grata by South Africa’s department for international relations and cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement on its website on Friday afternoon.

My family motto? It’s amazing how lucky you get if you work really hard

Work, duty and responsibility are not always seen to yield joy and delight, but there is a deep satisfaction in achievement

• Read more in the Home truths series

It’s amazing how lucky you get if you work really hard.

It’s the family motto. My father, one of five children, left school after grade 9 and immediately started work. In his early 20s, Dad went back to night school and then served in the public service for more than 40 years. Mum had a career as a secretary too, and together they worked hard to ensure we had the best education they could offer us.

Sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife to be published this autumn

Audrey Niffenegger’s follow-up to her global bestseller focuses on Alba, the daughter of Henry and Clare, as she negotiates two marriages and various modern-era dystopias

A follow-up to the 2003 blockbuster novel The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is set to be published this autumn.

Life Out of Order, which Niffenegger worked on for 13 years, is set in the same world as the original novel. The Time Traveler’s Wife has sold more than 9m copies globally since its publication, and was adapted into a 2009 film starring Rachel McAdams, as well as an HBO series and a musical.

Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù: ’If the west doesn’t say a film is good, that doesn’t mean it’s no good’

While it’s a love letter to a Lagos he has never actually lived in, the Gangs of London actor says his Cannes-conquering new film My Father’s Shadow has themes that will touch audiences all over the world, from Nigeria to Korea

When Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù becomes animated during conversation, his speaking voice – ordinarily a sort of polished inner-city London dialect – dances into a smooth Nigerian accent. As it happens, his shoulders ease, his eyes smile, he is totally relaxed. If it is true that we become the most distilled versions of ourselves when we are at our most comfortable, then it is clear here that the very essence of Dìrísù’s personhood is a Nigerian man.

The opportunity to nurture his Nigerian identity was a significant factor in Dìrísù’s decision to take on his latest film, the Bafta-nominated My Father’s Shadow. The entire project – on which he serves both as lead actor and executive producer – was shot on location in Lagos, the country’s former capital city, over an eight-week period in early 2024. “I’d have said yes if the script was half as good,” Dìrísù says. “When I first got it I was excited to just be working in Nigeria: it was so important for me not only to work there, but also to be in the country independently as an adult. And to get to see my grandma more than once in a year! On top of this, not a lot of actors get to tell a story as tender, beautiful and considered as this one.”

Panama supreme court cancels Hong Kong company’s canal contracts

Panama’s president says strategic waterway will operate as normal after ruling that advances US policy aims

Panama’s president said ports at each end of the Panama canal would operate as usual after the country’s supreme court ruled the concession held by a subsidiary of a Chinese company was unconstitutional.

The court’s decision on Thursday, which helps US attempts to block any Chinese influence over the strategic waterway, immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing.