Wonder Man to Take That: the seven best shows to stream this week

Move over, Wonder Woman! The latest MCU spin-off is an intriguing and surprisingly meta affair. Plus: a brilliant documentary about the boyband – and more regency raunch as Bridgerton returns

In terms of audience recognition, Wonder Man is no Wonder Woman. But, as this latest addition to the MCU shows, that can afford a certain freedom. This miniseries is a surprisingly meta affair; a superhero fantasy by way of the kind of behind-the-camera machinations familiar to fans of Seth Rogen’s The Studio. It tells the story of a pair of struggling actors, Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who are hustling hard to be cast in eccentric European director Von Kovak’s movie Wonder Man. But what seems like a simple Hollywood satire soon develops special powers as Simon finds he shares certain attributes with his fictional persona. Intriguing.
Disney+, from Wednesday 28 January

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry review – a dazzling puzzle-box of a debut

The plight of a reluctant medieval king is glimpsed through scattered pieces of the past, in an ingenious novel that asks how much we can really know about history

In a medieval palace an unnamed king chafes under the new and unsought burden of power. His uncertain fate plays out in the present-day imagination of an unnamed curator of unspecified gender, who has been employed by the palace to dress some of its rooms for public viewing in the wake of an undescribed personal tragedy.

It’s likely that you’ll either be utterly intrigued or deeply put off by that summary of poet Rebecca Perry’s debut novel, May We Feed the King, a highly wrought puzzle-box of a book which deliberately wrongfoots the reader at every turn. However, the intrigued will find that it richly rewards those who approach it with curiosity – just not in the ways we as readers (and as interpreters of stories in any form) have been trained to expect.

Thailand’s endangered ‘sea cows’ are washing ashore – pointing to a crisis in our seas

The Andaman Coast has one of the largest concentration of dugong in the world, so why are numbers falling dramatically and what can they tell us about a biodiversity warning cry

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Thailand’s Andaman Coast is home to one of the largest dugong populations in the world, with 273 of the plump marine mammals, sometimes called sea cows, estimated to be living there as of 2022. In recent years, though, more and more dead or stranded dugongs have been washing ashore. Now the Andaman Coast population may have fallen by more than half, experts say.

In late November, I travelled to Phuket, following in the footsteps of film-makers Mailee Osten-Tan and Nick Axelrod, who have been investigating Thailand’s dugong crisis over the past year for a new Guardian documentary.

The fate of the planet’s coastlines depends on how fast Antarctica’s ice sheets melt. We don’t know what’s coming

‘Every time I look at one, I smile!’: how axolotls took over the world

Labour’s warm homes plan is all carrot and no stick for UK households

Havergal Brian: The Gothic album review – Ole Schmidt tames a vast, eccentric score

LSO/Schmidt
(Heritage)
A 1980 live recording reveals the Danish conductor’s assured handling of a colossal symphony – a balance of architectural clarity and gothic extravagance

Havergal Brian has often been looked at askance, his vast gothic symphony approached like climbing Everest – merely because it’s there – rather than taken seriously as a milestone in 20th-century British music. For the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the Heritage label has brushed off this 1980 BBC live broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall under Danish conductor Ole Schmidt, the fourth recording of the complete work to enter the catalogue.

Written over eight years and completed in 1927, the work was inspired by the magnificence and eccentricities of the gothic age, Brian’s idiosyncratic response ranging from guileless melody to wickedly complex polyphony. The 35-minute part one is a persuasive three-movement symphony all on its own, but it’s the challenging, hour-long setting of the Te Deum that demands the listener’s concentrated attention. Influences include Bruckner, Berlioz and Sibelius.

Venezuela opens debate on an oil sector overhaul as Trump seeks role for US firms

Venezuela's legislature advanced a bill on Thursday to loosen state control over the country's vast oil sector, the first major overhaul since parts of the industry were nationalized in 2007.

Microsoft says outage affecting several services has been resolved

Microsoft services were down for thousands of users, according to tracking service Downdetector.

‘Molly never got to hear it’: fury as denials finally end on Glasgow hospital infections

Families accuse health board of ‘deceit and cowardice’ after years-long battle to prove contaminated water was linked

All Molly Cuddihy wanted was recognition of what she had gone through. That was what she told the Scottish hospitals inquiry in 2021, where she described the “frightening” fits and rigors she had suffered after contracting a bacterial infection at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth university hospital while undergoing chemotherapy. “I was made sicker by the environment,” the 19-year-old said in her evidence.

Molly had been 15 and revising for her National 5 exams when she was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer. She was treated at the Royal hospital for children and the adjacent QEUH, which are both part of a six-year public inquiry that reached its final stages and heard devastating new admissions this week.

Doomscrolling won’t bring order to the chaos. It’s OK to put the phone down and take a break | Gaby Hinsliff

Keep Calm and Carry On: that’s not how people felt as the second world war loomed. But maybe, as Trump stalks, that old slogan is finally making sense

It has become known as the “war of nerves”. An apt name for a jittery, jangling time in British history, consumed with fear of what may be coming, in which the sheer unpredictability of life became – as the historian Prof Julie Gottlieb writes – a form of psychological warfare. Contemporary reports describe “threats of mysterious weapons, gigantic bluff, and a cat-and-mouse game intended to stampede the civilian population of this island into terror”.

It all sounds uncannily like life under Donald Trump, who this week marched the world uphill to war, only to amble just as inexplicably back down again. But Gottlieb is actually describing the period between the Munich crisis of 1938 and the blitz beginning in earnest in September 1940. Her fascinating study of letters, diaries and newspapers from the period focuses not on the big geopolitical picture but on small domestic details, and what they reveal about the emotional impact of living suspended between peace and war: companies advertising “nerve tonics” for the anxious, reports of women buying hats to lift their spirits and darker accounts of nervous breakdowns. We did not, contrary to popular myth, all Keep Calm and Carry On. Suicide rates, she notes, rose slightly.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

ADHD waiting lists ‘clogged by patients returning from private care to NHS’

NHS trust warns that people with ADHD in England are facing gaps in care caused by difficulties with private assessments

Waiting lists for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in England are being clogged by patients returning to NHS care after difficulties with private assessments, a trust has warned.

The major NHS trust said people referred by GPs to private clinics using health service funding were increasingly asking to be transferred back after care stalled.

Body shop: what to wear with a black bodysuit

A neat alternative to messing around trying to get the perfect T-shirt tuck. Here a three outfits to get you started

Trump withdraws 'Board of Peace' invitation to Carney in widening rift with Canada

Trump said he has withdrawn the invitation to Canada to join the new Board of Peace, days after Carney warned against economic coercion by superpowers.

Victoria Mboko wins third-round tussle to set up Sabalenka showdown

• Canadian 19-year-old defeats Clara Tauson 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3

• World No 1 wins against Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7)

Victoria Mboko has given herself a shot at Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, in the fourth round of the Australian Open, after the 19-year-old prodigy held her nerve at the end of an incredibly tense tussle to close out a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 win over the 14th seed Clara Tauson.

Mboko, seeded 17th in Melbourne, showed her mental toughness at the end of a quality match between two young players by playing an authoritative final set after squandering match points. Mboko had served for the match at 7-6 (5), 5-3 before losing her service game to love. She then generated three match points at 5-4 but while Mboko was extremely tight, Tauson struck the ball with total freedom to retrieve the break.

Maps show where winter storm threatens to bring snow, brutal cold this weekend

Heavy snow, ice and brutal cold are expected to make this winter storm a potentially life-threatening weather event for 35 states.

Indonesia takes action against mining firms after floods devastate population of world’s rarest ape

Conservationists hail the ‘desperately needed’ measures and urge greater protection after up to 11% of endangered Tapanuli orangutans wiped out

The floods and landslides that tore through Indonesia’s fragile Batang Toru ecosystem in November 2024 – killing up to 11% of the world’s Tapanuli orangutan population – prompted widespread scrutiny of the extractive companies operating in the area at the time of the ecological catastrophe.

For weeks, investigators searched for evidence that the companies may have damaged the Batang Toru and Garoga watersheds before the disaster, which washed torrents of mud and logs into villages, claiming the lives of more than 1,100 people.

‘I can understand being brought to your knees’: Amanda Seyfried on obsession, devotion and the joy of socks

The Testament of Ann Lee is a bonkers musical fantasia about an obscure religious sect. Its star and writer-director Mona Fastvold talk fear, bonding – and not needing an Oscar

Not many actors take an interest in the audience’s aftercare. When it comes to The Testament of Ann Lee, however, Amanda Seyfried is hands-on. “Did you watch it with someone you could talk to?” she asks, tilting her head sympathetically, then dipping her full-beam headlight eyes and giving a worried look when I admit that I saw it alone. “It’s nice to process it with somebody else.”

Her concern is understandable. Whatever feelings the film provokes, indifference will not be among them. Heady and rapturous, this is an all-round odd duck of a movie, the sort of go-for-broke phantasmagoria – an 18th-century musical biopic complete with feverish visions and levitating – that was once typical of Lars von Trier or Bruno Dumont. I confess I didn’t know exactly what to make of it, but I knew I had been through a singular experience. Its director, Mona Fastvold, seated beside Seyfried on a sofa in a London hotel room, looks delighted. “That’s my favourite sort of feeling,” she says.

The pub that changed me: ‘As soon as I got behind the bar, I panicked’

What could be better than working at the Friendship Inn with my best friend, Ned? Almost anything else, as it turned out

I adored pubs. They were my natural home. And now, thanks to my best friend, Ned, I’d got a job at the Friendship Inn in Prestwich. It was the mid-1980s, and I was in my early 20s, preparing for the first shift. What could be better than working in a pub called the Friendship alongside my bezzy? And I understood drink – you left Guinness to stand, aimed for half an inch of head on a pint of bitter, and if someone asked for water with a whisky you didn’t fill the glass. Easy-peasy.

As soon as I got behind the bar I panicked. There were perhaps half a dozen people waiting to order, but it looked like a sea of thousands. The bar was particularly tricky because it was shaped like the bow of a ship. Every time I went to one side, customers started calling from the other. I couldn’t remember the faces. Nor the drinks they ordered. I took a funny turn. The faces became twisted, distorted, ghoulish, cackling manically or cursing my incompetence. I felt like Mia Farrow confronting the neighbours’ coven in Rosemary’s Baby, only thankfully I didn’t have a knife.

I poured Guinness for people who had ordered a glass of red, Budweiser for those who wanted a Boddingtons. There wasn’t a thing I didn’t get wrong. And then I broke my first glass. The crowd staring at me got more Rosemary’s Baby by the second. My bitter was headless; my lager all head. I broke another glass. I was getting dizzy, struggling to breathe. My legs were collapsing.

Experience: my daughters were born conjoined at the head

Seeing them separated for the first time felt like a miracle

I was already a mother of three when I lay back for my 10-week ultrasound in 2019. At first, seeing the gel on my stomach and the flickering black and white image on screen was familiar and soothing. Then I saw the look on the sonographer’s face.

She dropped the probe and ran out of the room without a word. I tried not to panic, but by the time she sprinted back in with a doctor, who looked at the screen and said, “Oh my goodness”, I was terrified.

TikTok finalizes deal to form new American entity

TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years.

‘The sound of mayhem’: witness to New Zealand landslide describes ‘almighty cracking’

Alister McHardy was going out to fish at sunrise on Thursday, when he noticed a ‘mountain of soil’ at the north end of the beach at Mount Maunganui

It was the “almighty cracking” that they heard first, an unmistakable deep rumble before the mountain gave way, swallowing up caravans and cars as it collapsed at speed on the campsite below. Aerial images show the aftermath of the landslide that struck New Zealand’s North Island on Thursday – a massive piece of brown earth gouged out of the green slope, flattened roofs and a few trees sticking out an unnatural angles.

“It was almost like the air pressure changed. It was a real powerful event,” says local Alister McHardy. “It just came down, a lot of cracking and people screaming and car alarms going off … The sounds of mayhem.”

VP JD Vance says Minnesota officials need to "lower the chaos" during visit

Vice President JD Vance was in Minneapolis on Thursday for a roundtable with local leaders and community members amid the federal government's immigration crackdown in the state. Follow live updates on the ICE surge here.

1/18: CBS Weekend News

Active-duty soldiers put on standby as Minneapolis ICE protests continue; European leaders denounce Trump's tariff threat over Greenland.

Carousel review – Chris Pine and Jenny Slate are lost in static romance drama

Sundance film festival: an often lushly made yet frustratingly undercooked small town indie kicks off this year’s festival with disappointment

And so this year’s Sundance has officially begun, with grief over the loss of founder Robert Redford and its move from long-running home Park City likely to drown out the sounds of anyone talking about the first narrative premiere. It wouldn’t be the first time it has started with a whimper (unofficial opening day films have previously included misfires like After the Wedding, Freaky Tales, Netflix’s Taylor Swift doc and last year’s Jimpa) but there’s something specifically disappointing about a film such as Carousel showing at a festival such as Sundance.

It’s the sort of small, character-driven American indie that has served as the festival’s lifeblood for almost 50 years and, as the system has expanded in some ways and shrunk in others, the sort that has often struggled to make it far out of Park City. Back in 2023, a quiet, disarming and perfectly Sundance film called A Little Prayer premiered yet didn’t get released until late last summer and was seen by a precious few. The world is not kind to films like Carousel at this very moment and while I would love to see this particular subgenre flourish in the way it used to back in the 90s and 00s, it’s hard to muster up much in the way of strong feelings here.

Carousel is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution

Vance acknowledges Minnesota Department of Corrections cooperating with ICE

Vice President JD Vance's acknowledgement came after he implored state leaders to help deescalate the situation in Minneapolis.

US, Ukraine and Russia delegations head to Abu Dhabi for their first trilateral talks of the war

Friday’s meeting in Abu Dhabi comes after talks between Russian president Vladimir Putin, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner

Ukraine, Russia and the US are set to hold three-way talks in Abu Dhabi on Friday, marking the first time that the three countries have sat down together since Russia invaded in 2022.

The meeting was confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning after talks at the Kremlin between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters those talks were “useful in every respect”, adding that it was “agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi”.

TikTok forms U.S. joint venture, names Adam Presser CEO

TikTok said Thursday that it officially formed a joint venture that will keep the video-sharing app operating in the U.S.

OMB seeks list of federal funding for 14 blue states and D.C., documents show

The Office of Management and Budget is seeking data about federal funding to 14 states and localities led by Democrats, including information from universities, and nonprofits within those states.

Microsoft working to fix Outlook email issues

People reported issues with Outlook on social media, months after the app went down for over 21 hours.

TikTok announces it has finalized deal to establish US entity, sidestepping ban

Majority US-owned venture includes Larry Ellison’s Oracle, private-equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX

TikTok announced on Thursday that it had closed a deal to establish a new US entity, allowing it to sidestep a ban and ending a long legal battle.

The deal finalized by ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, sets up a majority American-owned venture, with investors including Larry Ellison’s Oracle, the private-equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX owning 80.1% of the new entity, while ByteDance will own 19.9%.

Trump withdraws invitation for Canada to join his global ‘board of peace’

While leaders of many liberal democracies declined to sign on, Mark Carney had, before Davos, accepted in principle

Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his “board of peace” initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post directed at the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney.

1/22: CBS Evening News

More than 200 million Americans brace for powerful winter storm; PETA suggests 3D hologram replace Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day

Airlines issue travel waivers ahead of winter storm

Airlines are waiving change fees, but passengers are limited in terms of when and where they can rebook travel.

TikTok finalizes deal with China to avoid U.S. ban, White House official says

A year ago, a law that effectively banned TikTok in the U.S. went into effect, though President Trump has not enforced it.

Jack Smith defends handling of Trump probes in first public testimony

Jack Smith, the former special counsel who oversaw two criminal investigations into President Trump during the Biden administration, testified publicly for the first time.

Elon Musk says Tesla taking safety supervisors out of some Robotaxi vehicles in Austin

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on X that his EV company has removed human safety monitors from some of its Robotaxi vehicles in Austin.

PETA suggests 3D hologram replace Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is just around the corner, and PETA is again trying to offer up an alternative to Punxsutawney Phil. "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil has the story.

Trinity Rodman stays in NWSL, signing record contract with Spirit

• US star will reportedly be world’s highest-paid women’s player

• Rodman turned down ‘compelling’ offers to leave

• Saga spurred debate around NWSL’s ability to keep talent

Trinity Rodman, the US national team forward, has signed a new three-year contract to stay with Washington Spirit and will reportedly be the world’s highest-paid women’s player.

The record deal, announced on Thursday, ends months of uncertainty around the 23-year-old’s future. Her previous contract – a $1.1m, four-year deal – expired in December and she was understood to have received lucrative offers from Europe, which the Spirit were unable to initially match under the NWSL’s salary cap rules.

What to know as U.S. and China sign off on TikTok deal

A year after a law that effectively banned TikTok from the U.S. went into effect, China and the U.S. have signed off on a deal, according to a White House official. Kelly O'Grady explains.

Japan pauses restart of world’s largest nuclear power plant one day after it went online

Operator says it does not know when the problem at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata province will be solved, after an alarm sounded during start-up

The restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant was suspended in Japan on Thursday just a day after it went online for the first time in about 14 years, with the operator saying it does not know when the problem will be solved.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata province had been closed since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but operations to relaunch it began on Wednesday after it received the final green light from the nuclear regulator.

Republican-led House blocks effort to limit President Trump's war powers in Venezuela

Two Republicans joined Democrats to vote for the war powers resolution, but the motion failed in a 215-215 vote.

More than 200 million Americans brace for powerful winter storm

More than 200 million people in 35 states are bracing for heavy snow, ice and bitter cold temperatures ahead of a powerful winter storm. Jason Allen, Kris Van Cleave and Ash-har Quraishi have more. Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

‘An environmental nuclear bomb’: documentary examines fight to save Great Salt Lake

Sundance film festival: A cautionary new film, executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, warns of the devastating consequences if the Utah lake continues to disappear

The Sundance film festival kicked off its final edition on Thursday in Park City, the Utah ski enclave that has housed the independent film hub for more than four decades. Beginning in 2027, the festival will move to Boulder, Colorado, after a multi-year selection process that many assumed would end in Salt Lake City.

Utah’s largest city, a mere 30 miles from the festival center, has long hosted extra Sundance events and served as its transit center. It’s a rapidly growing metropolitan area, a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, a major US city – and, according to a new documentary that opened this year’s festival, facing an imminent ecological crisis.

Magistrate judge rejects charges against Don Lemon over church protest

The Justice Dept. suggested independent journalist Don Lemon could be charged after he was seen in video of a protest inside a church in St. Paul on Sunday.

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Mateus Fernandes steels West Ham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin faces a homecoming and Manchester City need Marc Guéhi

• Top scorers: check out the latest standings

The absence of the wantaway Lucas Paquetá has given Mateus Fernandes a chance to take on more responsibility for West Ham. Paquetá, who is said to be nursing a minor back problem, was unavailable again for last week’s win against Spurs but Nuno Espírito Santo’s struggling side coped without the Flamengo target. They called on Fernandes to dictate the flow in midfield and the diligent Portuguese did not disappoint. Fernandes moved the ball cleverly, picked up an assist and looked like that rarest of things: a smart signing from West Ham. They will need the 21-year-old, who joined from Southampton for £38m last summer, to shine again with Paquetá looking unlikely to return against high-flying Sunderland at the London Stadium. Jacob Steinberg

West Ham v Sunderland, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Burnley v Tottenham, Saturday 3pm

Fulham v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Manchester City v Wolves, Saturday 3pm

Bournemouth v Liverpool, Saturday 5.30pm

Judge skeptical of Trump's arguments he has proper authority to build ballroom

A historic preservation nonprofit is trying to block ongoing construction of Trump's new White House ballroom.

Former Des Moines superintendent pleads guilty to falsely claiming citizenship

Ian Roberts, the former Des Moines superintendent, has pleaded guilty in federal court to falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and illegally possessing firearms.

Intel stock plunges 13% on soft guidance, concerns about chip production

Intel reported fourth-quarter earnings Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations but offered soft guidance for the current quarter.

Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and Jamie Dimon for at least $5bn

US president alleges JP Morgan stopped offering him banking services in wake of January 6 attack

Donald Trump has sued JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5bn after accusing America’s largest bank of “debanking” him.

The US president alleged that the bank stopped offering him banking services in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6. Earlier this month, he claimed it had “incorrectly and inappropriately” discriminated against him.

House passes final funding bills 8 days before shutdown, Senate now will consider

The Senate will still have to pass the measures when it returns to Washington next week.

Six injured after knife attack at Kurdish demonstration in Antwerp

Incident outside Opera House that left two people in critical condition is not being investigated as terrorism, police say

Six people have been injured after a knife attack at a demonstration in Belgium on Thursday evening, police said.

Two of the victims were in a critical condition in hospital after the incident in the port city of Antwerp near the Operaplein (Opera Square), police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns said.

Trump sues Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase over debanking the suit calls 'political'

Chase Bank closed Trump's accounts on the heels of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot and the president exiting the White House later that same month.

NIH ends funding of research that uses human fetal tissue from abortions

Fetal tissue has been used to advance research into diabetes, Alzheimer’s, infertility and vaccines

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will no longer fund research that uses human fetal tissue obtained from “elective” abortions, the world’s biggest public funder of biomedical research announced on Thursday.

The ban marks the latest, and most dramatic, effort by the Trump administration to end research that uses fetal tissue from abortions – a goal that anti-abortion advocates, who oppose the research, have sought for years. In 2019, during Donald Trump’s first term in office, the NIH stopped funding internal research that involved the tissue and implemented a review committee to evaluate research proposals from scientists outside the government. Joe Biden ended that policy in 2021.

House approves spending bills despite many Democrats' objections to ICE funds

The House has approved the final set of spending bills to avoid a government shutdown, despite objections from Democrats to the funding levels set for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

White House posts digitally altered image of woman arrested after ICE protest

Guardian analysis shows images are the same, with Nekima Levy Armstrong looking composed in original but sobbing after alteration

The White House posted a digitally altered image of a woman who was arrested on Thursday in a case touted by the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to make it seem as if she was dramatically crying, a Guardian analysis of the image has found.

The woman, Nekima Levy Armstrong, also appears to have darker skin in the altered image. Armstrong was one of three people arrested on Thursday in connection to a demonstration that disrupted church services in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. Demonstrators alleged that one of the pastors, David Easterwood, was the acting field director of the St Paul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. Bondi announced the arrests on social media on Thursday morning.

House approves final funding measures, sending package to Senate

The House approved the final legislation needed to fund the government through September, sending a package of bills to the Senate.

Gibbs-White fails from the spot as Nottingham Forest pay for errors in Braga

Nottingham Forest’s first European adventure for almost 30 years was supposed to be a hoot but the mood music that accompanied a slender defeat in Braga felt rather alarming. The fact is Forest failed to perform and a stale display was typified by the chain of errors that culminated in the captain, Ryan Yates, scoring an own goal that proved sufficient to earn the hosts victory.

A swell of the 2,100 away fans who made the trip to northern Portugal relayed their feelings to Sean Dyche and his squad, jeering the players on several occasions. At full time the question on supporters’ lips was a slightly more direct version of: what on earth was that?

Most families don't earn nearly enough to afford child care, study finds

"Child care costs are just incredibly daunting for all but the wealthiest Americans," one financial expert said.

Waymo launches robotaxi service in Miami, extending U.S. lead

Miami represents the sixth market for Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet.

Greenland PM: Don't know details of Trump-NATO deal framework, but sovereignty is a 'red line'

Nielsen criticized Trump's aggression toward Greenland, saying the rhetoric is "unacceptable."

Starmer’s allies launch ‘Stop Andy Burnham’ campaign to block parliamentary return

Speculation has spread over whether Burnham will attempt to return to pursue a Labour leadership bid

Keir Starmer’s allies have launched a “Stop Andy Burnham” campaign to prevent the Labour mayor from returning to parliament after the resignation of a Manchester MP triggered a byelection.

Multiple members of the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) predicted it would be impossible for Burnham to make it through the selection process given the number of Starmer loyalists on the body desperate to avoid a leadership challenge.

1/21: CBS Evening News

Trump backs off tariff threats, rules out military force over Greenland; Kindergartener brings 100-year-old great grandpa to 100th day of school

Relations with US have taken ‘big blow’, says EU foreign policy chief

Kaja Kallas’s comments came at emergency EU meeting called after weeks of escalating threats from Donald Trump over Greenland

Transatlantic relations have “taken a big blow over the last week” the EU’s foreign policy chief said, as leaders from the bloc gathered for an emergency summit after weeks of escalating threats from Donald Trump over Greenland that were suddenly rescinded with a vague deal on Arctic security.

Summing up the mood, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the EU was living through a lot of unpredictability: “One day, one way; the other day, again, everything could change.”

General Motors to move Buick Envision SUV production from China to U.S.

GM and other automakers have committed to expand their U.S. manufacturing since the Trump administration imposed tariffs on foreign-made vehicles.

Anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church leads to 3 arrests but no charges for a journalist

A prominent civil rights attorney and at least two other people involved in a protest that disrupted a church service have been arrested, Trump administration officials said, even as a judge rebuffed related charges against journalist Don Lemon.

Infantino jokes about British fans’ behaviour at World Cups and defends ticket prices

• Fifa chief says he has been ‘hammered’ for 2026 prices

• Fans’ group tells Infantino to focus on cheap tickets

Gianni Infantino made a joke about British football fans’ behaviour and defended ticket prices for this summer’s World Cup in North America during a speech to world leaders on Thursday.

Fifa’s president addressed concerns around the staging of this summer’s finals in the US amid rising domestic tensions there, telling the World Economic Forum in Switzerland how there had been “a lot of critics” before Qatar 2022.

What images of a detained five-year-old boy reveal about Trump’s draconian ICE crackdown

Liam Ramos, a preschooler, is just one of a number of kids caught up in dystopian ICE surges in Minnesota and beyond

As symbols of the indiscriminate disproportionality of the Trump administration’s militant anti-immigrant crusade in Minneapolis, the images are hard to surpass.

One recent image shows the innocent figure of Liam Ramos, a five-year-old preschooler wearing a blue bobbled winter hat, standing next to a black vehicle with a dark-clad adult figure standing behind him, whose hand is proprietorially placed on his backpack.

Flex office firm Industrious is seeing major growth. Here's what's driving it

In 2025, Industrious increased its global footprint by 58%, now with more than 250 units open in over 100 cities.

Elon Musk says at Davos that robots will one day outnumber people

The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, in his first appearance at Davos, said Tesla could start selling its Optimus robots next year.

Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5B over alleged 'debanking'

The lawsuit escalates a series of confrontations between the president and the leader of the country's biggest bank.

Heart disease deaths declined. And here's how to reduce your risk of the #1 killer

An annual report from the American Heart Association shows deaths from heart disease and stroke are down, encouraging news after the rate went up in the early years of the pandemic.

My rookie era: I once feared water and frizz, now I’m embracing my curls

I was surprised by the dormant ringlets springing to life as I hunched over the basin, squishing in conditioner to define each tendril

• Read more summer essentials

My housemate has a special phrase for some of my old photos: “Ima’s whiteface era” – hair seared straight down the middle with brassy blond highlights.

Where I grew up, in a regional coastal town, the gold standard was sandy blond beach babe.

Experts warn of threat to democracy from ‘AI bot swarms’ infesting social media

Misinformation technology could be deployed at scale to disrupt 2028 US presidential election, AI researchers say

Political leaders could soon launch swarms of human-imitating AI agents to reshape public opinion in a way that threatens to undermine democracy, a high profile group of experts in AI and online misinformation has warned.

The Nobel peace prize-winning free-speech activist Maria Ressa, and leading AI and social science researchers from Berkeley, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and Yale are among a global consortium flagging the new “disruptive threat” posed by hard-to-detect, malicious “AI swarms” infesting social media and messaging channels.

Fed's main gauge shows inflation at 2.8% in November, edging further away from target

Inflation drifted slightly further from the Federal Reserve's target in November though in line with expectations.

Procter & Gamble is selling diapers made with silk fibers in China as it leans into luxury

China's record-low birth rate means that P&G has to get creative to increase diaper sales, even if fewer babies are born.

Trump signs Board of Peace charter at Davos as allies split on Gaza plan

The signing ceremony marked the most concrete step yet in Trump's effort to establish the board, whose final composition has yet to be confirmed.

The Guardian view on Trump’s Board of Peace: an international body in service to one man’s ego | Editorial

It was supposed to give Gaza a future, but the US president is using it to attack the UN, international law and multilateralism

One glance at the logo of the Board of Peace tells you all you need to know. It is the globe and laurels of the UN – only gold, because this is Donald Trump’s initiative, and showing little of the world beyond North America.

The charter of the board, formally launched in Davos on Thursday, suggests that this is less America First than Trump Always. It is not “the US president” but Mr Trump himself who is named as chair, for as long as he wishes. He can pick his successor, decide the agenda and axe whomever he chooses – even if they have coughed up the $1bn demanded for permanent membership. It is the institutional expression of his belief that he is bound not by law but “my own morality, my own mind”.

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.

The Guardian view on toddlers and screens: more reasons to be fearful of big tech | Editorial

Growing concerns about the impact of smartphones on the youngest children must be addressed

The first UK government guidance on young children’s use of tablets, smartphones and other screens, expected in April, cannot come soon enough. The laissez-faire approach to the boom in social media, handheld devices and other digital technology was arguably nowhere less suitable than when such machines were placed in front of babies. The Department for Education’s ongoing Children of the 2020s study has found that 98% of two-year-olds watch screens on a typical day for more than two hours. Those who spent the most time had smaller vocabularies, and were twice as likely as other children to show signs of emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Correlation must not be mistaken for causation. This is still a relatively new area of research, and much remains uncertain. But the findings of a recent survey by the charity Kindred Squared, combined with observations by teachers, are highly concerning. Answers from 1,000 primary-school staff revealed that 37% of four-year-olds arrived without basic life skills such as dressing and eating in 2025 – up from 33% two years earlier.

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.

Sen. Klobuchar takes first step in run for Minn. governor, source says

Sen. Amy Klobuchar​ has made the first steps in a Minnesota gubernatorial campaign, a source close to the senator tells WCCO.

A vast Syrian camp for ISIS families faces an uncertain fate after a security handover

The huge al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria for years has posed an intractable problem — a destitute and increasingly dangerous detention site where ISIS ideology lives on.

Rieder odds rising for Fed chair after Trump calls BlackRock executive 'very impressive'

Traders on the Kalshi predictions market raised the odds for Rieder getting the nomination to 33%

Ben Jennings on Donald Trump and his ‘board of peace’ – cartoon

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GM to move production of China-built Buick SUV to U.S. plant

General Motors plans to move production of a Buick compact SUV from China to the U.S. for domestic sales, the company confirmed Thursday.

Trump says he’s expanding defamation suit against New York Times after unfavorable poll

US president says his qualms over the opinion poll would be added to existing defamation lawsuit against the paper

Donald Trump has said he is expanding his defamation suit against the New York Times after an unfavorable opinion poll.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said his qualms about the Times Siena poll would be added to his existing defamation lawsuit against the newspaper.

Can the prescription drug leucovorin treat autism? History says, probably not

Parents of autistic children are clamoring for a prescription vitamin promoted by federal health officials. But there's little evidence the drug will help.

Trump has defused a bomb of his own making. For now | Mohamad Bazzi

After a bombastic speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump backed away from his threat to impose tariffs on European countries

In the past few days, Donald Trump turned the US presidency into a tool for his personal glory and vengeance. On Saturday, he threatened to impose tariffs of up to 25% on a bloc of European countries until Denmark agrees to sell Greenland to the US. The next day, Trump texted Norway’s prime minister, saying his failure to win the Nobel peace prize was one of the reasons he’s intent on seizing control of Greenland. After being snubbed for last year’s award, Trump said he no longer felt the need “to think purely of peace”.

By Tuesday morning, as European leaders continued to absorb the shock of Trump’s threats and insults, the president posted an AI-generated meme that showed him planting a US flag on the island, flanked by his vice-president and secretary of state. “Greenland. US Territory. Est. 2026,” the image said. (Trump shared another image, also apparently edited by AI, that showed him sitting alongside a map of the US that includes Canada, Greenland and Venezuela, as he spoke with European leaders assembled at the White House.) Later on Tuesday, when he was asked at a press conference how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland, Trump responded tersely: “You’ll find out.”

Mohamad Bazzi is director of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, and a journalism professor, at New York University

Why did Trump chicken out in Greenland row? | The Latest

The US president has backed down in the row over Greenland after threatening Europe with tariffs and the potential use of military force. After talks with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Donald Trump said the 'framework of a future deal' had been agreed for the territory to allow the US to build its military presence there. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian's Europe correspondent Jon Henley 

French navy intercepts suspected Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker in Mediterranean

Emmanuel Macron says the oil tanker was boarded and searched ‘subject to international sanctions’

The French navy has intercepted a Russian tanker in the Mediterranean suspected to be part of the “shadow fleet” that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions.

“This morning, the French navy boarded and searched an oil tanker from Russia, subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X.

Beryl Cook: Pride and Joy review – a saucy parade of bouncing bosoms, smirky smokers and a spot of BDSM

The Box, Plymouth
Roof-felters, bawdy boozers, off-duty sailors, whip-wielding dominatrixes … this 100th birthday show in Cook’s home town is an exuberant celebration of working-class frivolity

Generally, you get two versions of England in art: it’s either bucolic vistas, rolling hills, babbling brooks and gambolling sheep – or it’s downtrodden, browbeaten, grim poverty and misery. But Beryl Cook saw something else in all the drizzle and grey of this damp old country: she saw joy.

The thing is, joy doesn’t carry the same critical, conceptual heft in art circles as more serious subjects, so Cook has always been a bit brushed off by the art crowd. They saw her as postcards and posters for the unwashed, uncultured masses, not high art for the high-minded. But she didn’t care: she succeeded as a self-taught documenter of English life despite any disdain she might have encountered. And now, on what would have been her 100th birthday, her home town of Plymouth is throwing her a big celebratory bash.

Ubisoft cancels projects and announces restructure in fight to stay competitive

Video game publisher to cancel Prince of Persia remake and close studios after several difficult years

The video game publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed series has cancelled six projects including a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as it fights to stay competitive in the global gaming market.

Ubisoft announced a sweeping reorganisation and said it would cancel six games, sending its shares to their lowest level in more than a decade on Thursday.

Canada aquarium that threatened to kill its whales wants to sell them to US

Marineland seeks approval to sell belugas to United States after its China export proposal was rejected

• ‘It’s heartbreaking’: how 30 captive beluga whales have become pawns in row over animal cruelty

Marineland, the Canadian amusement park and aquarium which has threatened to kill its captive whales, wants government approval to sell the belugas to the United States after its China export proposal was rejected, according to an official and a former trainer.

The former tourist attraction near the famed Niagara Falls has been mired in controversy for years. Twenty animals, including 19 belugas, have died at the park since 2019, according to a tally by the Canadian Press.

US chess star Daniel Naroditsky’s death was accidental, medical examiner says

• Report cites cardiac arrhythmia tied to sarcoidosis

• Drug use contributory but not fatal, examiner says

American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky died last year after suffering a sudden heart rhythm disturbance, with an underlying heart condition identified as the primary cause, according to a report released by North Carolina medical authorities.

The 29-year-old was found dead at his townhome in Charlotte in October 2025. At the time, police said his death was being investigated as a possible overdose or suicide, and no cause had been made public.

‘Open the gates’: riots, fires and escape attempts as Syrian army takes over IS camp

Director of al-Hawl camp describes chaotic scenes as Kurdish guards fled and government fighters arrived. Will Christou reports from al-Hawl

The children crowded the wire fence, waiting for the guard to turn his back, and made a break for it. They pumped their little legs furiously but did not make it far in the squelching mud, and were quickly chased back inside, grinning and joking to their friends in Bosnian as another guard scolded them, his rifle swinging by his side while he wagged his finger.

Their mothers, foreigners who travelled to Syria to allegedly join Islamic State (IS) and its blood-soaked caliphate, stood silently behind them. Each had their belongings packed in a bag beside them, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

Spirit Airlines is in deal talks with investment firm Castlelake as struggling carrier seeks path forward

Spirit Airlines is in talks with investment firm Castlelake for a potential takeover of the discount airline, which is in bankruptcy, CNBC has learned.

House votes to repeal law allowing senators to sue for $500k, jamming Senate

The House approved an amendment to a must-pass funding package that would repeal a controversial provision that allows senators to sue for $500,000.

Feel your feelings and reconnect with past passions: how to recover from burnout

Recognizing the physical and psychological tells is half the battle, says author Emma Gannon

• How to start … anything: expert tips for trying something new

What do you do when you come to a hard stop? When work has got too much, even friendships feel like a drain and you feel like you simply can’t keep going with your life as it currently is?

For Emma Gannon, the answer was extreme but non-negotiable: an entire year of nothing – or close to it. Gannon, the London-based author of fiction, nonfiction and the Hyphen newsletter, burned out with a bang in late 2022. While on a spa weekend with a friend, she had a panic attack, her first ever.

Heated Rivalry star duo named torchbearers for 2026 Winter Olympics

• Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie to join torch relay

• Opening ceremony set mainly for San Siro stadium

• Williams already in Milan via fashion week appearances

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, the stars of the hit television series Heated Rivalry, have been named official torchbearers for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The actors will carry the Olympic flame during the torch relay that concludes in Milan on 6 February, the day of the opening ceremony that will be centered in the city’s San Siro football stadium. Organizers have not yet announced when or where Williams and Storrie will take part.

Barron Trump told police he was ‘very close’ to alleged rape victim, court hears

Donald Trump’s son was on video call with woman when he saw a man repeatedly punch her, court told

Donald Trump’s youngest son said he was “very close” to an alleged rape victim after raising the alarm about a suspected assault against her, a court has heard.

Barron Trump was on a FaceTime video call a year ago with the woman, who cannot be named, when he saw a man repeatedly punch her, Snaresbrook crown court in Greater London was told on Wednesday.

Arkansas resident claims $1.8 billion jackpot, opts for cash payout

The winner chose to remain anonymous, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery said, and sought legal and financial advice before coming forward.

‘It’s like they’re hunting’: US citizens and legal residents report increase in racial profiling by ICE

Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has led some people to take drastic measures to ensure their safety

It was a normal Tuesday morning for Mohamed when he left his San Diego, California, house for his daily exercise in mid-January. But as he walked around the Colina del Sol park, four US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents approached and encircled the middle-aged father, who is using a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation from federal agents. The officers, Mohamed said, who wore jackets with ICE emblazoned on them and balaclavas that obscured their faces, asked for his green card before they began drilling him with questions about what he was doing in the park.

“I was terrified,” Mohamed, a lawful permanent resident from Somalia, said through a translator. The ordeal ended shortly thereafter, but the experience has left a lasting impact on him. “I have high blood pressure,” Mohamed said about the encounter he believes was based on racial profiling. “I used to do my daily exercises; now I don’t even do that any more because I’m scared.”

Trump officials predict a 2026 economic boom. Here's what experts say.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicts that first-quarter economic growth will heat up to 5%. But sustaining that pace won't be easy, economists say.

Meta’s $2 billion Manus deal pushes away some of startup’s customers, who are 'sad that this has happened’

Following Meta's purchase Manus at the end of December, some customers of the AI startup jumped ship due to concerns about the new parent company.