Transfer news, Champions League and Europa League playoffs draw: football – live

⚽ News and previews heading into the weekend’s action
⚽ Premier League: 10 things to look out for | Mail Dominic

Mikel Arteta and Eddie Howe will be speaking soon. Two titans of management speak.

This was interesting from Slot. He was asked why Premier League teams are becoming so dominant in Europe, with Liverpool particularly impressive in the Champions League this season especially compared to many of their domestic showings. See also: Spurs.

Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner: Australian Open 2026 semi-final – live

Updates from the second semi-final in Melbourne
Alcaraz beats Zverev | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Katy

We’ll have a bit of a delay before the next semi-final as the spectators leave and the night session ticket holders come in.

So what does this mean for Sinner sorry Sinner or Djokovic in Sunday’s final? Well if either of them wins the title, they owe Zverev a huge favour for beating up Alcaraz tonight. “It’s one of the most demanding matches I have ever played,” says Alcaraz, whose brother then helps him carry his bags as he hobbles off court. Alcaraz looks like Djokovic did after his five-hour, 53-minute 2012 Australian Open final against Nadal; absolutely spent. But Alcaraz has somehow got to find a way to play another match in less than two days’ time.

Trump warns UK against doing business with China after Starmer visits Beijing – UK politics live

It comes after the US president threatened to impose tariffs on Canada if it went through with economic deals struck with China

We are expecting the Green party to announce its candidate for the byelection in the Greater Manchester constituency of Gorton and Denton this morning, at around 11am.

Labour won the seat with a 13,000 majority in the 2024 general election, but next month’s byelection is widely touted as a referendum on prime minister Keir Starmer, whose approval rating has tanked to unprecedented lows.

Ukraine will be ‘technically’ ready to join EU in 2027, Zelenskyy says – Europe live

Ukrainian president doubles down on target for accession despite pushback from some European leaders

Oh, we now have a confirmation from the Kremlin that Putin had received a “personal request” from Trump (10:37) to halt strikes on Kyiv until 1 February, this Sunday, “in order to create favourable conditions for negotiations.”

Asked about the request and Russia’s response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined further comment.

Maye v Stafford for MVP and Aaron Rodgers getting flattened: NFL end of season awards

With the Super Bowl on the horizon, we pick the outstanding players and moments from the season just gone

Drake Maye struggled through a blizzard as the New England Patriots dragged themselves past the Denver Broncos and into the Super Bowl. But he endured, holding on to execute in the critical moments, as he had done against the Houston Texans the week before.

Four people, including two children, found dead in Perth in suspected murder-suicide

WA police say both Mosman Park children had ‘significant health challenges’ and had been in contact with care services

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Two parents and their teenage children have been found dead in the affluent Perth suburb of Mosman Park in a suspected murder-suicide, Western Australian police say.

At 8.15am on Friday, emergency services received a distressed call from a person known to the family who had gone to the home on Mott Close, in the city’s south-west.

Reality winners: the rise and rise of the ‘verbatim’ movie

From Kaouther Ben Hania’s reconstruction of the killing of a five-year-old Gazan girl in The Voice of Hind Rajab to Ira Sachs use of a taped interview in Peter Hujar’s Day, real-life dialogue is being turned into drama

Alfred Hitchcock, the director behind some of the best films ever, supposedly said that just three essential ingredients are needed to make a great film: “The script, the script and the script.” For a film-maker, it might seem a godsend when a fully formed one lands in your lap. But behind a rising number of films is a simple hack: pinch all your dialogue from real people. An increasing number of film-makers are turning to transcripts and recordings to re-enact episodes on film, with the promise that they are as an exact a facsimile as possible. From Reality (2023), Tina Satter’s true-to-life portrayal of whistleblower Reality Winner, which progresses in real time from harmless small talk to a full-blown FBI grilling, to Radu Jude’s Uppercase Print (2020), in which a rebel teen is given the third degree in Ceaușescu-era Romania, the title-card proclamation “inspired by true events” is being taken to a wholly literal new level.

Within the space of a month, two more “verbatim” movies are in UK cinemas. Peter Hujar’s Day, Ira Sachs’ time capsule of 1974 New York and its colourful culturati, is based on candid conversation between Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) and her photographer pal Peter (Ben Whishaw), who would die from an Aids-related illness less than a decade later. Meanwhile, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab is set in January 2024 amid the evacuation of Gaza City, revisiting beat for beat an emergency call centre’s attempts to rescue the six-year-old girl of the title to harrowing effect.

Winter Olympics preview: one week to go until Milano Cortina 2026

In this newsletter: setting the scene before the final week of preparations in Italy for the Winter Games

Next week the Winter Olympic Games will return to Italy for the first time in two decades. From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games – the first to be co-hosted by two cities – will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition.

Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country. Alpine fans will once again orbit Mikaela Shiffrin, still redefining excellence across the technical disciplines, while Team GB’s Dave Ryding will hope to deliver one last Olympic moment. Figure skating returns with its familiar blend of artistry and pressure, led by the American phenomenon Ilia Malinin, whose boundary-pushing jumps continue to reshape the sport. Speed skating and its short-track form, where Italy’s Arianna Fontana remains a dominant force, offer drama measured in hundredths of a second. Ice hockey brings physicality and heated rivalries (if you know, you know), with Canada the perennial favourites, and curling – yes, still with the brooms – will remind casual viewers, under the guidance of Team GB’s Bruce Mouat, that precision can be just as gripping as power.

Wall of Tears: 50ft Brooklyn mural pays tribute to children killed in Gaza

Installation remembers the names of over 18,000 children killed by Israel in Gaza between October 2023 and July 2025

First is وسام اياد محمد ابو فسيفس, or Wesam Iyad Mohammed Abu Fsaife, a 14-year-old boy. Last is صباح عمر سعد المصري, or Sabah Omar Saad al-Masri, an eight-year-old girl.

These names of these two children mark the beginning and end of the Wall of Tears, a massive art installation paying homage to the 18,457 children killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 19 July 2025. Created by artist Phil Buehler, it opened next to Pine Box Rock Shop bar at 12 Grattan Street in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday.

U.S. life expectancy is going up. Think how many more news quizzes you can do!

When the news gets too heavy, the quiz is forced to turn to pop culture questions — so there are a lot this week. Let's see how you do!

Kari Lake promotes Trump on Voice of America. Does that break the law?

Critics say U.S. Agency for Global Media's Kari Lake risks making Voice of America sound like a propaganda outlet in her remarks on the air praising President Trump.

Susan Choi: ‘For so long I associated Dickens with unbearable Christmas TV specials’

The Booker-shortlisted novelist on the seismic effect of Sigrid Nunez, and wanting to write like Virginia Woolf

My earliest reading memory
Asking my mom if she could stop reading my bedtime book to me and just let me read it on my own, since I felt she was going too slowly. The book was either Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, both by Roald Dahl.

My favourite book growing up
I loved Stuart Little, and all his small, clever things – his tiny canoe, his tiny sailboat. He had such a relaxed demeanor and was so dapper! I also loved Mary Norton’s The Borrowers series – tiny people living under the floorboards and improvising household goods out of “borrowed” safety pins and match boxes and so on. Clearly I had a thing for miniatures.

What the US TikTok takeover is already revealing about new forms of censorship | Paolo Gerbaudo

It’s not what we can or cannot say that matters – rather, it’s whether what we say can get any visibility at all under the US-specific algorithm

We tend to think of censorship as the direct suppression of speech. We conjure images of mouths taped shut, courts seizing books and films, and journalists or activists thrown in jail to silence their voices. But what if, in a digital era governed by invisible yet highly consequential algorithms, censorship no longer revolved around the ability to speak, but rather around the visibility of content, its effective “reach”?

The launch of TikTok’s new US-specific algorithm underscores the urgency of this risk. This week, control over the platform’s operations has shifted to the TikTok USDS joint venture led by a consortium of investors that includes US big tech firms such as cloud-computing company Oracle, with the Chinese parent company ByteDance retaining a 19.9% stake. This arrangement is presented as a means of complying with US legislation introduced under former president Joe Biden, with the aim of protecting user data and preventing political interference from China. Yet many of TikTok’s 200 million US-based users now fear that Donald Trump and his allies may use algorithmic control to do precisely what China was accused of doing: interfering with political discussion by suppressing voices critical of Trump and his international allies.

Paolo Gerbaudo is a senior researcher at the faculty of political science and sociology of Complutense University in Madrid and the author of The Great Recoil

Trump thinks a weaker dollar is great for America. Is he right?

The president said this week that the value of the dollar is "great" despite a sharp tumble since last year. That may be true for certain parts of the economy — but not others.

For U.S. figure skating, grief over the D.C. crash makes for a bittersweet Olympics

In the wake of the Jan. 2025 plane crash, some young skaters weren't sure they could continue. A year later, many have found that's the best way to honor those they lost.

For this married couple, romance wasn't always fun

Leslie and Alan Burger have been in love since they were kids. They reflect on their sometimes strange relationship.

Carlos Alcaraz breaks Zverev’s heart after surviving cramp to win five-set epic

• Zverev served to reach Australian Open final in fifth set

• Spaniard holds out in epic 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4) 7-5

• As it happened: look back at an epic semi-final clash

Murmurs around Melbourne Park had been building. That the men’s Australian Open draw had not met expectations in 2026. That matches had been one-sided, and lacking memorable moments. That so-called SinCaraz was a foregone conclusion. That tennis had lost its touch.

Murmur no more. In this year’s first match on Rod Laver Arena to go five sets, Carlos Alcaraz leapt off the canvas to outlast Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 over five hours and 27 minutes – the third longest match in Australian Open history.

‘Watching The Office recently, my heart just sank’ – Mackenzie Crook on comedy, cruelty and being TV royalty

After a very hard landing into fame in the 00s, he decided to take a softer approach – and hit on a winning formula for classic comedy. The star talks about his fantastical new show Small Prophets, his obsession with middle-age and being ‘weird-looking’

In Small Prophets, BBC Two’s new six-parter, Mackenzie Crook plays Gordon, the manager of a massive DIY store. Sometimes it feels as if we’re falling through time, because it’s like watching Gareth, Crook’s breakthrough part in The Office, a quarter of a century on. “Pedantic and jobsworthy, he could be Gareth grown up, just with more disappointment, without the West Country accent,” says Crook. “I wrote Gordon as a monster, but by the end, I was actually quite fond of him.”

In person, Crook has a jumpy, modest energy. When he was young, on screen it used to look like nerves, but now looks more like curiosity. He has a surprising number of tattoos, but maybe I should stop being surprised when people have those.

Severe cold persists as forecasters track another potential East Coast storm

Maps show where the next blast of Arctic air and a potential winter storm are expected to travel this weekend, according to the latest forecast models.

Football transfer rumours: Tottenham among seven clubs in for Raheem Sterling?

Today’s rumours are heavy on one side

The January transfer window is about to close (surely it cannot slam shut with the same melodrama as its summer counterpart) and, as always, certain clubs are getting a little twitchy as the deadline looms. A fine example is Raheem Sterling who has not kicked a competitive football in eight months yet somehow finds himself on more wishlists than a Tamagotchi in the late nineties.

Seven “Champions League level” clubs are said to be keen on Sterling – now a free agent after he and Chelsea went their separate ways – most notably Tottenham, whose manager Thomas Frank is ‘on board’ with the idea of signing the 31-year-old. Heaven knows Frank needs a boost from somewhere. Having represented Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in a frankly remarkable career to date, a move to Spurs would leave Raheem with just one more to complete the big six set. Old Trafford in 2028, here we come. Napoli, Juventus and Burnley are also linked with Sterling, Champions League level clubs all.

Julie Campiche: Unspoken review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month

(Ronin Rhythm)
The composer’s first unaccompanied album turns extended harp technique into music of intimacy, restraint and conviction – inspired by the women who shaped her world

When the London jazz festival ran online only in 2020, an enthralling livestreamed performance by Swiss harpist Julie Campiche’s avant-jazz ensemble was a startling highlight, introducing UK audiences to a virtuoso instrumentalist and composer who was already turning heads in Europe. Campiche plucked guitar, zither and east Asian-style sounds from the harp, mingled with vocal loops, classical music, Nordic ambient jazz and more. You might call her soundscape magical or otherworldly if it didn’t coexist with a campaigner’s political urgency on environmental and social issues. But Campiche is too much of a visionary to overwhelm the eloquence of pure sound with polemic, as her new album, the unaccompanied Unspoken, confirms more than ever.

Campiche’s extra-musical agenda here is a celebration of sisterhood, dedicated to women in public and private lives who have inspired her. The opening Anonymous is built around a Virginia Woolf quote – “for most of history, ‘anonymous’ was a woman” – repeated by a chorus of women’s voices in different languages building to a clamour. Grisélidis Réal is named after the Swiss artist and writer who took her physical and mental life to every precipice, including sex work, expressed in gently lyrical harp lines around the spooky sounds of footsteps clicking on pavements.

Trump gets a boost as Panama court voids Hong Kong firm’s canal contract

The ruling from Panama's top court is widely seen as a victory for the Trump administration, which is seeking to counter any Chinese influence in the region.

Leonkoro Quartet: Out of Vienna album review – a blazing exploration of Viennese modernism

Leonkoro Quartet
(Alpha)
The young quartet give a fiercely alert account of Berg, Webern and Schulhoff – beautifully capturing Vienna’s prewar musical fault lines

Founded in Berlin in 2019, the Leonkoro Quartet is no stranger to the UK having won first prize and nine special awards at the 2022 Wigmore Hall international string quartet competition. In their new disc they explore three composers who embody the musical cutting-edge that might have been encountered in the Austrian capital either side of the Great War.

Alban Berg and Anton Webern took Schoenberg’s theories of free atonality and the 12-tone system in rather different directions. Berg’s Lyric Suite was a fervent outpouring to his mistress, and the quartet aptly captures the moody sensuality of this intense, intricate music. The Andante Amoroso swoons; the Allegro Misterioso tiptoes on muted strings; the Presto Delirando is positively coital. The playing is unflinching and seethes with imaginative detail.

‘A very Italian problem’: inside the fight against the mafia and corruption at the Winter Olympics

Construction works for Milano Cortina have been a lightning rod for suspected infiltration by organised crime, but anti-mafia groups have adopted an approach that will help future hosts

Early on the morning of 8 October, the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri in Belluno put out a press release announcing three arrests, in the culmination of a year-long investigation they called “Operation Reset”. Two of the three were brothers, were both known members of the notorious SS Lazio Ultras, the Irriducibili, it was stated in the release, and had boasted of having personal ties to former boss Fabrizio Piscitelli, who was murdered in 2019. The crimes the brothers had been arrested on suspicion of had not been committed in Rome, but 400 miles north, in the small alpine ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, high in the Dolomites, and home, for the next three weeks, to the Winter Olympics.

The brothers are still awaiting trial, but the local public prosecutor’s office has alleged that they were running an operation in three phases. The first was taking control of the drug distribution network in Cortina, the second was to take control of three local nightclubs, and the third was to extort the local council into awarding the construction contracts for the works being done for the Games. Among the evidence the prosecutor says it possesses is a note on one of the brothers’ phones saying: “We want the cemetery area for the garages, the former pastry shop, the slip road and the new ring road, the construction of the tourist village.”

How liberals lost the internet | Robert Topinka

In the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attention

• Robert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London

There’s a strange tendency to describe social media as something other people use – those young people on TikTok, that conspiratorial uncle on Facebook, the rightwing trolls on X. In truth, we’re all online now. The number of global social media users surpassed 5 billion in 2024. To put that into perspective there are 8 billion people on the planet.

The internet has totally transformed the ways in which we communicate and share information. First the internet came for print. As free online content began outcompeting subscription newspapers, publishers briefly found new audiences on Facebook, only to see referral traffic plummet after the platform began suppressing posts with external links.

Robert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London

‘He used the trumpet as a songbird’: 100 years of Miles Davis, by jazz greats Sonny Rollins, Yazz Ahmed and more

Ahead of the centenary of Davis’s birth, musicians including Terence Blanchard and John Scofield analyse his brilliance: from his soft phrasing and spiritual feel to his raspy cussing and leather outfits

The architect of the bestselling jazz album of all time, 1959’s Kind of Blue, trumpeter Miles Davis is a towering figure in the history of the genre. Possessed of a piercing tone, innate melodic sensibility and a singularly uncompromising approach on the bandstand, Davis spent his five-decade career presiding over numerous stylistic shifts: bebop to “cool” jazz, modal jazz, electronic fusion, jazz funk and even hip-hop. Always honing his ear for fresh talent, he turned his bands into incubators for rising artists, providing early starts for the pianists Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, saxophonists Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, and drummers Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette.

With 2026 marking the centenary of Davis’s birth, I asked several of his surviving collaborators to select his greatest recordings and discuss his enduring influence, including the 95-year-old Rollins, who played with Davis in the 1950s; the guitarist John Scofield and the saxophonist Bill Evans, who both played with Davis in his 80s fusion groups; and several contemporary jazz stars.

Passion, prospects and a thrilling title race: why Polish football is booming

Four points separate first from eighth in the Ekstraklasa and the aim is to establish Europe’s most interesting league as its sixth biggest

The temperature will be far below zero when Zaglebie Lubin and GKS Katowice restart Poland’s top flight on Friday evening. A bitter new wave of winter is about to hit central and eastern Europe, forecasts suggesting this is only the start. When the surprise Ekstraklasa leaders, Wisla Plock, play Rakow Czestochowa two days later the thermometer may plummet to -12C. It will take serious resolve to make these games happen but, after a break of almost two months, appetites to get back up and running are strong.

Why would they not be? The Polish league is in its best shape for at least 30 years, feeling the benefit of a booming economy that is outperforming most of its European Union peers. Attendances are soaring and its football infrastructure, whose transformation was catalysed by co-hosting Euro 2012, sets standards for much of the continent. Then there is the remarkable way in which this season’s competition is poised. The gap between first and eighth is only four points; even Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza, at the bottom, are only 11 points from the summit.

10 years of Photo Brussels, Belgium’s leading photography festival

Tenth edition showcases Belgian talent and introduces global themes and artists in a celebration of creativity

Where better to be in the midst of Belgium’s biting winter but in the warmth of Lee Shulman’s creation, The House. Cloaked in cosy mid-century nostalgia, the staging of this flagship exhibition at Hangar Gallery sets a fitting scene for Shulman’s collection of found photography, The Anonymous Project. The playful curation features all manner of family snaps from holidays to birthday parties, and sees characters peeping out of kitchen cupboards or lounging on the beach, photographed through the window of a caravan. The effect is a seductive step into the past, even if only the past of your dreams.

All the furniture used in the staging of The House has been sourced from online websites

Wise by Frank Tallis review – how to turn your midlife crisis into a hero’s journey

A psychologist’s gripping guide to surviving dark nights of the soul offers both comfort and insight

I’m proud of how mild-mannered my midlife crisis is. While the cliche involves the purchase of a Porsche or a frantic fling with a colleague, I’ve mainly fallen back into the geeky preoccupations of my youth, such as founding poetry clubs and playing niche racket sports. Nevertheless, on the cusp of turning 50, and having just been beaten by my 11-year-old at Scrabble, I’m thrilled to have found a book that addresses my small struggle: an elegant discourse on the deep wisdom that I’m hoping will characterise my remaining years.

First, the author, a clinical psychologist named Frank Tallis, diagnoses the problem. Following some of the arguments in Ernest Becker’s 1973 study The Denial of Death, he proposes that such crises are at least partly the result of the western reluctance to face mortality. In Britain, we eschew open coffins, for instance. When our relatives die, as my mother did two years ago, they die in a hospital rather than at home. We can hardly even bring ourselves to say “die”, preferring euphemisms such as “pass away”. In this Instagram age, our lives are dominated by filters and distractions. The crisis strikes when reality can’t be held at bay any longer. We lose our parents. Then we notice, inevitably, that we are now at the front of the queue.

Exploding trees: the winter phenomenon behind frost cracks

When temperatures drop suddenly, trapped water can freeze and expand, splitting trunks with a gunshot-like sound

During the recent cold spell in the northern US, meteorologists issued warnings about exploding trees.

A tree’s first line of defence against freezing is its bark, which provides efficient insulation. In cold conditions, trees also enter a form of hibernation, with changes at a cellular level: cells dehydrate, harden and shrink, increasing their sugar concentration. This is the botanical equivalent of adding antifreeze, helping to prevent the formation of ice crystals.

Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for citrus and almond cake | The sweet spot

A richly textured and zingy loaf cake to enjoy with a cuppa

Anything bright and zingy is particularly welcome in January, even more so when it’s in the form of cake. I always have an odd end of marzipan after the festive season, and this is a great way to use it up and bring that cosy almond flavour. The marzipan gets blitzed into the butter for a plush-textured loaf cake, and comes together in minutes thanks to simply putting everything in a food processor.

AI-generated news should carry ‘nutrition’ labels, thinktank says

The Institute for Public Policy Research also argues that tech companies must pay publishers for content they use

AI-generated news should carry “nutrition” labels and tech companies must pay publishers for the content they use, according to a left-of-centre thinktank, amid rising use of the technology as a source for current affairs.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said AI firms were rapidly emerging as the new “gatekeepers” of the internet and intervention was needed to create a healthy AI news environment.

What to wear with red statement trousers

Leather, lace and an unexpected accessory or two will perfectly complement bold trousers

Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges

More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs discovered near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline

Record numbers of eggs of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly have been found in south-west Wales after landowners stopped flailing hedges every year.

The butterfly lays its eggs on blackthorn every summer. But when land managers and farmers mechanically cut hedges every autumn, thousands of the eggs are unknowingly destroyed.

Calls for King Charles to formally apologise for slavery after research shows crown’s role

Book The Crown’s Silence details how crown profited from and protected trade in enslaved African people for centuries

MPs, experts and campaigners have called on King Charles to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery, after research highlighted how the British crown and Royal Navy extended and protected the trade in enslaved African people for hundreds of years.

The king has previously expressed “personal sorrow” at the suffering caused by slavery and has spoken of committing to “finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure”. However, the British crown has never issued a formal apology.

1/29: CBS Evening News

Border czar shifts tone in Minneapolis, announces "drawdown"; Buddhist monks' 2,300-mile walk for peace captures widespread attention

From Jon Snow to Buffy: the TV characters who just couldn’t stay dead

Be it The Night Manager’s Richard Roper or Blue Lights’s Gerry, classic TV characters are increasingly finding it hard to stay in the grave. Here are the 10 greatest televisual resurrections

On TV, you’re never really dead. When a beloved character is killed off on your favourite show, you can be forgiven some scepticism. Who’s to say they won’t be miraculously revived in future?

The BBC hit The Night Manager brought arms-dealing antagonist Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) back to life mid-series to face off against his old adversary, MI6 agent Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston). The action duly cranked up several gears, building temptingly towards Sunday’s finale. Will Roper be eliminated for good this time?

Lift with your legs — and label everything: 15 tips for moving house with minimum stress

Very few things are more daunting than a house move. But it doesn’t have to be hell. Here is how to transport everything without breakages – or injuries

Moving home can be incredibly stressful. How should you make sure you get everything from A to B without breakages or injuring yourself? Removal professionals share the secrets to a smash-free, smooth move.

Spain is rightly proud of its high-speed trains. But pride alone doesn’t ensure safety | María Ramírez

The Sánchez government is under fire after two crashes. But politicians of all stripes have prioritised opening new lines over maintaining existing ones

Spain has the most extensive high-speed rail network in Europe and the second-largest in the world after China. A source of immense national pride, the train system has grown and become more affordable thanks to a boom in rail passengers and competition among train companies. Every few minutes, a train departs from Madrid for Barcelona and vice versa, linking the country’s two most populous cities. This 600km journey takes less than three hours for an average fare of €65.

Thirty-four years after the first high-speed train between Madrid and Seville, the network now connects more than 50 cities in Spain. Along with being a badge of pride for the country, it even commands a rare political consensus. At least that was the case until this month’s calamities. In the first accident, one train derailed and collided with another near the town of Adamuz in Andalucía, killing 45 people and leaving dozens more injured. A second accident in Catalonia, caused by the collapse of a wall in bad weather, killed the driver of a commuter train in Barcelona. The local network, which has suffered delays and malfunctions for years, was completely halted for days as a result.

María Ramírez is a journalist and deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outlet in Spain

‘Women hold our power in our orifices’: Kristen Stewart on her audacious feature directing debut

The Chronology of Water is a ‘punk rock ayahuasca trip’ of a film that takes no prisoners. Stewart and her star, Imogen Poots, talk about the passion and pain that fuelled it

‘The movie is to be eaten alive and re-metabolised and shat out differently, from everyone’s perspective,” says Kristen Stewart, bracingly. The actor’s directorial debut, The Chronology of Water, has been doing the rounds at film festivals, and when we meet in London the reviews are coming in. Stewart knows that this impressionistic, arthouse collage of a film – adapted from an experimental memoir about a woman’s pain and loss, the elusive nature of memory and the reclamation of desire – is not going to be for everyone. “My favourite Letterboxd review is: ‘The Chronology of what the fuck did I just watch?’” But it matters to her that people respond to it. “Whether it’s your least favourite movie or your most favourite, it’s not lying, it’s genuine. And I’m so fucking proud of that.”

Stewart is sitting next to the film’s star, a slightly more sanguine Imogen Poots. Watching Stewart talk, her leg bouncing, her vocabulary ferocious, feels a bit like being sandblasted. It is invigorating and strangely galvanising, but you don’t go into a conversation with her half asleep. The same can be said for the film itself. “Language is a metaphor for experience,” writes the author Lidia Yuknavitch, at the beginning of the book on which it is based. “It’s as arbitrary as this mass of chaotic images we call memory.”

Experience: a bear moved into my house

I heard this huff, then a stomp. A growl that sounded like a death warning

Last November, I’d been out for the evening with friends who were visiting Los Angeles. Afterwards, I checked the notifications on my phone. There was a motion alert from one of the cameras around my house. It had captured a big black bear nosing around my bins.

We get wildlife here: raccoons, skunks. But I’d never had a bear rummaging through my trash. I watched as it turned things over, then wandered off. I assumed he had left.

For North Mississippi, a return to normal still weeks away after historic ice storm

The small Mississippi community of Gravestown has been without power and running water for five days following an ice storm the likes of which the state hasn't seen in more than 30 years.

Palau lawmakers vote to block controversial Trump deal to resettle migrants from US

A plan to resettle third-country nationals from the US to the Pacific nation faces an uncertain future amid unease over the deal

A controversial Trump administration deal to relocate deportees from the US to the small Pacific nation of Palau faces an uncertain future, after the senate voted to block the deal as concern about the agreement grows.

The deal, which allows up to 75 third-country migrants facing removal from the US to live and work in Palau, was signed by president Surangel Whipps Jr in December. Palau’s lower house now has to consider the deal, and the final decision rests with Whipps Jr.

1/25: CBS Weekend News

Winter storm impacts nearly 200 million Americans; Latest details after Border Patrol kills Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Trump says he will announce a replacement for Powell as Fed chair Friday morning

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will be naming his pick Friday for the new Federal Reserve chair.

Minneapolis citizens on protecting their neighbours from ICE – podcast

How does it feel when ICE agents swarm your city? Minneapolis residents on why they are rising up

Since the beginning of January, thousands of ICE agents have been deployed to the city. Confusion, violence and chaos followed. Two people have been killed, hundreds have disappeared – but that’s not the full story. Because thousands of residents in the city have been mobilising.

Annie Kelly spoke to five people living in Minneapolis about how they have been taking on ICE – and the consequences. Patty O’Keefe explains what it’s like to be a legal observer, and how ICE agents smashed her windows and detained her. Jenny talks about why her childhood experience of her father being detained by ICE has pushed her to stand up for others. A teacher explains how the city has changed and an organiser on why tactics have had to change as ICE strategies have developed. “We all grab a whistle before we leave. I know it’s a joke here. Make sure you’ve got your keys, phone, wallet, gloves, and now your whistle.”

Trump sues IRS and US treasury for $10bn over leak of tax returns

Agencies accused of failing to take precautions to stop former contractor leaking returns to ‘leftist media outlets’

Donald Trump on Thursday sued the US treasury department and Internal Revenue Service for $10bn over the disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.

In a complaint filed in Miami federal court, Trump, his adult sons, and his namesake company said the agencies failed to take “mandatory precautions” to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from leaking their tax returns to “leftist media outlets”, including the New York Times and ProPublica.

Dozens confirmed dead as extreme cold continues to grip much of U.S.

The death toll continues to rise from a massive winter storm that left an ongoing spell of freezing weather in its wake.

The No. 1 skill employers are looking for, according to a LinkedIn expert

Job seekers can raise their chances of landing a position by highlighting a particular kind of work experience, says LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher.

As Trump pressures Iran with "armada," Mideast allies urge him not to strike

Mideast allies including Turkey, Oman and Qatar are attempting to head off the possibility of U.S. strikes by brokering diplomatic talks.

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 Trumps tax records by former IRS employee Charles Littlejohn.

Prosecutors in Minneapolis say more could resign over handling of shootings

Prosecutors expressed concern to a U.S. attorney that they weren't allowed to probe the federal officers who shot and killed Renee Good or Alex Pretti, sources said.

Senators closing in on funding federal government less than two days from shutdown

Democrats are demanding changes to the way federal immigration agents work after the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens.

Senate Dems to Noem: Testify "without delay" after Minneapolis shootings

The Democrats' request comes days after Sen. Rand Paul announced that the heads of ICE, CBP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will testify before the panel on Feb. 12.

Apple can't secure enough chips as iPhone demand surges, memory prices rise

Apple on Thursday said iPhone sales in the March quarter could be even better than the company's forecast if it could secure enough chips to meet demand.

4 people shot, 2 killed in Mount Airy, North Carolina

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said the SBI and Surry County Sheriff's Office are investigating. Two of the four people who were shot have died. The condition of the other two people is unclear.

Democrats alarmed by FBI search of Fulton County election office

Fulton County confirmed the FBI executed a search warrant at its Elections Hub and Operations Center that sought "records related to 2020 elections."

Woman faints after being caned 140 times under Indonesian province’s sharia law

Woman and man accused of sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol faced what is likely to be one of the severest punishments since Aceh province adopted sharia law

Sharia police have caned a couple 140 times each in Indonesia’s Aceh province for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol, likely one of the severest such punishments since the deeply conservative region adopted Islamic law.

Sexual relations between an unmarried couple are strictly outlawed in Aceh, the only place in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, to impose sharia law.

Apple sales surge 16% on ‘staggering’ iPhone demand

Apple reported fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday that surpassed expectations, with revenue soaring 16% on an annual basis.  

Buddhist monks' 2,300-mile walk for peace captures widespread attention

In October of last year, a group of Buddhist monks gathered in Fort Worth, Texas, and started a 2,300-mile walk for peace. "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil has the story of what happened next.

Ex-IRS special agent accused of double murder, affair with live-in nanny

Former IRS special agent Brendan Banfield is accused of staging a double murder to kill his wife and frame a stranger -- all while having an affair with his family's live-in nanny. Elaine Quijano is following the case.

Sonya Massey's family reacts to ex-deputy's sentencing

Sean Grayson has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Sonya Massey in Sangamon County, Illinois, in 2024. Jericka Duncan has details and new reaction from Massey's family.

Border czar shifts tone in Minneapolis, announces "drawdown"

After weeks of violent clashes between federal agents and protesters across the Twin Cities and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, border czar Tom Homan delivered a new directive with a change in tone. Lilia Luciano reports.

NYC deploys "snow jacuzzis" to clear roads and sidewalks

A week of sub-freezing temperatures across the East Coast has left snow clinging to sidewalks and roads. Rob Marciano has more.

Venezuela approves bill to open oil sector to foreign investment after US pressure

Law will give private companies more control but experts unsure whether reforms go far enough for US

Venezuela’s congress has approved a bill making significant changes to the country’s oil sector after pressure from the US to open it up to foreign private investment.

The new hydrocarbons law promises to give private companies control over oil production and sales, ease taxes and allow for independent arbitration of disputes, while largely maintaining state control over oil production.

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Nico O’Reilly gives Manchester City options, Sunderland miss Granit Xhaka’s grit and West Ham find a way

Just when Brighton supporters were hoping their side was building some momentum after a run of five games undefeated in all competitions, Saturday’s stoppage-time loss at Fulham arrived. Fabian Hürzeler’s side led at half-time but their collapse was typical of performances on the road this season. Securing only two away wins – against Chelsea in September and Nottingham Forest in November – has undermined their challenge for Europe. Their next two games at the Amex, against Everton on Saturday and arch-rivals Crystal Palace next week, are an opportunity to make up some ground. Only seven points separate them from Chelsea in fifth place, but Brighton’s record against Everton at home is terrible, having failed to beat them since 2019 when a late Lucas Digne own goal sealed the points for Graham Potter’s hosts against a team managed by Marco Silva. Ed Aarons

Brighton v Everton, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Leeds v Arsenal, Saturday 3pm

Wolves v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

Chelsea v West Ham, Saturday 5.30pm

AI use in breast cancer screening cuts rate of later diagnosis by 12%, study finds

Swedish study of 100,000 women found higher rate of early detection, suggesting potential to support radiologists

The use of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening reduces the rate of a cancer diagnosis by 12% in subsequent years and leads to a higher rate of early detection, according to the first trial of its kind.

Researchers said the study was the largest to date looking at AI use in cancer screening. It involved 100,000 women in Sweden who were part of mammography screening and were randomly assigned to either AI-supported screening or to a standard reading by two radiologists between April 2021 and December 2022.

Trump signs order launching new initiative to address drug addiction

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday to coordinate a federal government response to drug addiction.

‘I was walking with giants’: Joshua pays emotional tribute to close friends Ghami and Latz

• Boxer fights back tears in first video since fatal car crash

• Joshua: ‘I am going to do what is right by them’

An emotional Anthony Joshua has insisted he knows what he has got to do after the death of close friends Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele last month, adding that their company was akin to “walking with giants”.

The two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria on 29 December which killed Ghami and Ayodele and shocked the boxing fraternity.

Man arrested for allegedly impersonating FBI agent to try to free Luigi Mangione

A man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating an FBI agent and trying to free Luigi Mangione, according to federal court filings and a law enforcement source.

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.

Man poses as FBI agent to try to free Luigi Mangione from jail, source says

Luigi Mangione is being held in the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, on charges of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Seized review – captivating documentary goes inside a shocking newspaper raid

Sundance film festival: the story of the Marion County Record and the forces that tried to destroy it is expanded for a charming, and concerning, look at freedom of the press

On 11 August 2023, police officers executed a search warrant on the offices of the Marion County Record, a small, family-owned paper in central Kansas. Local law enforcement seized the computers, cell phones and reporting materials from all staff, as well as from the homes of one city council member and paper co-owner Eric Meyer, without incident – though they met the impassioned resistance of Meyer’s 98-year-old mother Joan, the paper’s other co-owner, who threw her walker to the ground and declared the raid “Nazi stuff”.

“This is illegal,” Eric Meyers warns the officers, as seen in a new documentary on the episode. “You’re going to be on national news tonight.”

Sean Grayson sentenced to 20 years in prison for Sonya Massey shooting

Sean Grayson, the Illinois deputy convicted of second-degree murder in the Sonya Massey shooting, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday.

Family shelters newborn calf inside amid extreme cold: "She was just frozen"

A Kentucky family battling extreme cold temperatures on their farm over the weekend opened their home to a newborn calf that was struggling in the deep freeze.

Microsoft lost $357 billion in market cap as stock plunged most since 2020

As investors sold shares of Microsoft on Thursday, the $3.22 trillion company dragged down the software complex and the S&P 500 index.

Trade deficit soared 94% in November and was higher than a year ago, despite tariff efforts

The U.S. deficit with its global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the shortfall with the European Union swelled.

First Brands founder Patrick James, brother Edward indicted for fraud

The James brothers face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud.

Southwest shares jump most since 1978 as airline predicts profits could quadruple this year

Southwest Airlines said it expects profits to surge this year thanks to solid demand and new policies like assigned seating.

Uber looks to cash in on self-driving cars — but not by driving them

The rideshare company is getting into the business of providing real-world driving data to autonomous vehicle developers. Here's why.

Helena Bonham Carter joins Steve Coogan for The White Lotus season four

The Oscar-nominated star of The King’s Speech will check in for the new season of hit comedy drama set in France

Oscar-nominee Helena Bonham Carter has joined Steve Coogan for the fourth season of HBO’s comedy drama The White Lotus.

Bonham Carter is one of three new cast members officially announced today alongside Chris Messina and Marissa Long. Messina is known for roles in Sharp Objects, The Mindy Project and Julie & Julia, while Long is a model with only a short film to her name as an actor.

The U.S. dollar just fell to its lowest level in 4 years. Here's why.

The greenback has slumped as investors "Sell America." Several factors explain why the dollar is shedding value.

Senate panel passes crypto CFTC regulation bill

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted Thursday to advance its crypto market structure bill to create CFTC regulatory authority over cryptocurrencies.

Tesla sold $430 million worth of its Megapack backup batteries to Musk's xAI in 2025

In Tesla's annual financial filing, the company said that last year it sold $430 million worth of its energy storage products to xAI, Elon Musk's AI startup.

Justice department charges man accused of attacking Ilhan Omar at town hall

Anthony Kazmierczak faces federal assault charges after he appeared to spray the congresswoman with liquid from a syringe

The Department of Justice has filed federal charges against the man accused of attacking Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall in Minneapolis on Tuesday. In newly filed court documents, a “close associate” told investigators that the alleged attacker previously said that someone “should kill” the Minnesota lawmaker.

Local police arrested and booked Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, for third-degree assault after he appeared to spray Omar with an acidic-smelling liquid from a syringe as she addressed constituents from a lectern.

Greenland threats no laughing matter, says mayor after comic’s flag stunt

Avaaraq Olsen tells content creators to think before making jokes after German tried to raise Stars and Stripes in Nuuk

The mayor of Greenland’s capital has called on media professionals and content creators to act responsibly after a German comedian’s failed attempt to hoist the US flag.

Maxi Schafroth, 41, a Bavarian comic, tried to run up the Stars and Stripes on a flagpole near the cultural centre in Nuuk but was confronted by angry passersby.

Critics aghast as White House displays framed photo of Trump with Putin

Lawmaker from Estonia says photo celebrates ‘the greatest war criminal of the 21st century’

Donald Trump has apparently added a framed photo of himself standing with Vladimir Putin to the White House decor, prompting criticism from a senator, members of the media and beyond.

Newly surfaced photos from the Palm Room, which connects the West Wing to the executive residence, show a framed image of the US president and the Russian president at their summit in Alaska last August. Notably, that event marked the first in-person meeting between US and Russian leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. The meeting drew complaints from Democrats who accused him of “cozying up” to Putin, and rolling out “the red carpet” for the Russian leader “instead of “standing with Ukraine and our allies”.

Elusive carnivore, once thought to be extinct, captured on camera

The coastal marten is about the size of a ferret and lives in heavily wooded forests.

The Guardian view on Trump’s Iran threats: military strikes won’t help civilians facing state brutality | Editorial

Protesters need support following the bloody crackdown by a ‘zombie’ regime – not wild threats or worse from the US president

The brutality of Iran’s crackdown on protesters is almost unfathomable. Despite the authorities cutting off communications and destroying evidence, it is clear that a regime never reluctant to shed its citizens’ blood has done so with unprecedented zeal, sensing an unprecedented threat from unrest across the country, challenging not only its policies but its very existence.

Officials have reported 3,000 deaths, but human rights groups have tallied many more, and a network of medical professionals has estimated that 30,000 could have been killed. Security forces shot people dead as they fled a fire and are arresting doctors for helping the wounded.

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 secret to long life? It could be in the genes after all, say scientists

New study into ‘heritability’ shows that 50% of the variation in human lifespan could be down to genetics

Some people who live to a great age put it down to an evening tot of whisky, others to staying out of trouble. Now scientists think they may have unlocked a key secret to long life – quite simply, genetics.

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers described how previous studies that had attempted to unpick the genetic component of human lifespan had not taken into account that some lives were cut short by accidents, murders, infectious diseases or other factors arising outside the body. Such “extrinsic mortality” increases with age, as people often become more frail.

Starbucks plots the next phase of its turnaround with new drinks, loyalty program tweaks

Starbucks released a long-term forecast and shared more details about how it plans to hit those financial targets at an investor presentation.

Apartment rents just dropped to the lowest level in 4 years

Apartment rents are falling sharply due to weaker economic conditions and growing job losses.

Apple acquires Israeli startup Q.ai

Q.ai was led by Aviad Maizels, who previously sold a startup called PrimeSense to Apple in 2013.

Canada separatists accused of ‘treason’ after secret talks with US state department

Alberta activists’ covert meetings with US officials revealed, outlining group’s increasingly emboldened efforts

Covert meetings between separatist activists in the Canadian province of Alberta and members of Donald Trump’s administration amount to “treason”, the premier of British Columbia said on Thursday.

“To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there’s an old-fashioned word for that – and that word is treason,” David Eby told reporters.

Undertone review – disappointing podcast horror is mostly skippable

Sundance film festival: there are some effective early moments in this ultra low-budget, audio-first horror but deja vu soon replaces intrigue

There’s a swirl of creepy noises in A24’s new hyped-up horror Undertone – screaming, gargling, singing, banging – but nothing is quite loud enough to drown out the swirl of films it’s cribbing from. The debut feature from writer-director Ian Tuason, about horror podcasters who receive a set of mysterious recordings, has elements of Paranormal Activity, Session 9, Hereditary, The Ring, The Blair Witch Project and The Exorcist, enough sighs of familiarity to give horror fans a scary case of deja vu. It’s not that total originality is expected at this particular moment (this weekend’s Send Help has been touted as Misery meets Castaway), but given the genre’s overcrowd, it’s hard to see what pushes Undertone above the noise.

What it does do is make for an impressively resourceful use of a low budget, the whole thing costing about $500,000. It’s all shot in one house (Tuason’s actual home) and for the most part, any sinister goings on are restricted to audio footage, heard through the headphones of our lead Eva (Nina Kiri, who reminds me of a young Alice Eve). She’s living back home with her terminally ill mother, fending calls from a thoughtless boyfriend and patiently awaiting those from her friend, and maybe one that got away, Justin (the voice of White Lotus breakout Adam DiMarco, replacing the original voice after the A24 acquisition). The pair co-host a podcast that analyses creepy tales, Eva as the skeptic and Justin as the believer, the pair’s flirtatious pitter-patter positioning them as the Mulder and Scully of the audio world.

Is Trump about to attack Iran? - The Latest

Donald Trump says ‘time is running out’ for Iran as the threat of war appears to loom closer. A huge US armada is being moved towards the country and is seen as the starkest indication yet that Trump intends to strike. The US president had called on the Iranian regime to negotiate a deal on the future of its nuclear programme, only weeks after he promised Iranian protesters ‘help was on the way’ before backtracking days later. Nosheen Iqbal talks to the Guardian’s deputy head of international news, Devika Bhat, about what Trump could do next

Trump holds Cabinet meeting at White House

President Donald Trump's Cabinet meeting comes as administration officials seek to de-escalate tensions over immigration enforcement activities in Minnesota.

What is behind the extraordinary rise in investment into silver and gold?

Experts say factors including Trump’s aggressive policies and pressure on the dollar are pushing investors toward ‘safe haven’ of precious metals

Last year’s extraordinary run in precious metals has only intensified in 2026, as Donald Trump has continued to rip up the rules of the global economy.

Gold has been on a tear since last summer, repeatedly breaking records. It has risen by more than a quarter this month and hit a new high of just under $5,595 (£4,060) an ounce on Thursday.

Rebecca Hendin on policing protest in the US and Iran – cartoon

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A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school. The NHTSA is investigating

U.S. regulators are investigating the behavior of Waymo driverless vehicles around schools and school buses