Hawaii residents may get OK to kill wild chickens

Feral chickens, hens and roosters have been nuisances in Hawaii for years, but ways to deal with them, including proposals to let people kill them, are proving controversial.

Winter Olympics 2026: GB men advance to curling semis, ski mountaineering and more – live

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing

• Follow us over on Bluesky | And you can email Yara

The cross-country bit gets going at 1pm, and I’m looking forward to that. It’s a scientific fact that here’s no kind of race a human can devise that is uncompelling.

In the Nordic, teams of two both have a go at ski jumping, and Germany have just leapt into the lead; they’ll start the cross-country portion with no time penalty, because Austria have just completed this part of things, and only landed far enough for fifth. Norway are second, Japan third and Finland fourth.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested live: King Charles says ‘law must take its course’ and police have his full support

The police raided Andrew’s Norfolk home this morning

• Full report: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested

• What we know so far as King Charles III’s brother arrested

Before the arrest was announced, the prime minister told BBC Breakfast “nobody is above the law” when asked about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Keir Starmer added:

Anybody who has any information should testify.

So whether it’s Andrew or anybody else, anybody who has got relevant information should come forward to whatever the relevant body is, in this particular case we’re talking about Epstein, but there are plenty of other cases.

Virginia Giuffre's family responds to news of former Prince Andrew's arrest

The family of Virginia Giuffre​, who accused former Prince Andrew of assaulting her when she was a teenager, thanked police on Thursday after he was arrested.

‘There has to be glitter’: can the Rio carnival give up its love of beach-polluting microplastics?

A bill banning the sale and use of plastic and metallic glitter has yet to go through in Brazil as the capital’s sandy shores bear cost of carnival’s shine

Whether it is embellishing elaborate costumes, delicately applied as eye makeup, or smeared across bare skin, glitter is everywhere at Rio de Janeiro’s carnival in Brazil. The world’s largest party, which ended on Wednesday, leaves a trail of sparkles in its wake.

At one bloco last weekend, a huge sound truck and dancers in leopard print led thousands of revellers down the promenade at Flamengo beach. Among them was Bruno Fernandes, who had jazzed up an otherwise minimalist outfit of navy swimming briefs by smearing silver glitter over his body.

‘DEI is dead, equality isn’t’: experts chart path forward amid Trump’s culture war

Two law professors outline strategies for equality’s survival in a Trumpian post-DEI era in new book How Equality Wins

The Trump administration’s “war on woke” seems to have claimed its biggest victim in DEI. Not so long ago, diversity, equity and inclusion was the favorite term of Fortune 500 CEOs and the political elite. More recently, it has been blamed for everything from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and the deadly Los Angeles wildfires to the crash between a regional jet and a helicopter in Washington DC.

“DEI means people DIE,” Elon Musk wrote last year.

‘We’re no longer attracting top talent’: the brain drain killing American science

As Trump slashes science funding, young researchers flee abroad. Without solid innovation, the US could cease to have the largest biomedical ecosystem in the world

In April 2025, less than three months after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put out its latest public health alert on so-called “superbugs”, strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

These drug-resistant germs, the CDC warned, are responsible for more than 3m infections in the US each year, claiming the lives of up to 48,000 Americans.

Russia ‘not ready for peace’ with ‘no tangible signs’ of serious engagement, EU says - Europe live

Comments come after Zelenskyy accused Russia of using ‘delay tactics’ to stall peace talks with Ukraine

The EU sees “no tangible signs that Russia is engaging seriously” with the aim of securing peace in Ukraine, its spokesperson said, responding to the latest round of talks in Geneva.

Speaking at the European Commission’s midday briefing in Geneva, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said:

“We see that Russia continues its relentless attacks on Ukraine. This does reflect that Russia is not ready for peace. We still do not see tangible signs that Russia is engaging seriously on peace. …

Even this week, ahead of the peace talks, Ukraine experienced another massive missile and drone strike, according to Ukrainian authorities. …

Starmer appoints Antonia Romeo as Britain’s first female cabinet secretary – UK politics live

The appointment follows allegations she was previously spoken to about her management style

Alex Davies-Jones, a justice minister, has said the government wants to pass the legislation implementing the Chagos Islands deal as soon as it can – despite Presidient Trump’s lastest diatribe about it. (See 9.34am.)

Davies-Jones was giving interviews this morning and she told Times Radio:

This deal is essential and crucial for the national security of the United Kingdom and that is the first priority of any government.

We will be bringing the bill back as soon as parliamentary time allows, because this is about national security.

Australia beat India by 19 runs in second women’s T20 international – as it happened

Australia level the series with a strong win over India in Canberra.

3rd over: Australia 20-0 (Voll 13, Mooney 7)

Renuka resumes and immediately Voll finds the first boundary of the night, opening the face of the bat and working it to the boundary for four. A single next ball that she doesn’t quite middle, but it goes over the field and falls safely to bring Mooney back on strike. She gets in on the fun, coming down the pitch to meet the ball and driving it past long off for four. Next ball she pulls away aggressively, but there’s a fielder on the boundary to restrict her to a single. Voll flirts with the field again, but lifts it high enough to come away with two runs – a great over for Australia.

Russia's Putin slams U.S. oil blockade on Cuba: 'We do not accept anything like this'

His comments come as the Caribbean island nation grapples with a worsening economic crisis.

‘Balding, rawhide-lean, just under six feet tall’: the real life soldier behind Robert Duvall’s Apocalypse Now role

‘Air cavalry’ commander John B Stockton was the inspiration behind Duvall’s napalm-sniffing Lt Col Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic

The actor Robert Duvall, who died this week, is known for many memorable movie roles, but none so much as his cameo as the Stetson-wearing Lt Col Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. In Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic Duvall plays the commander of a helicopter squadron who flies into battle with Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries blaring from loudspeakers and utters the immortal line: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”

Duvall’s scene-stealing portrayal earned him Bafta and Golden Globe awards for best supporting actor as well as an Oscar nomination in that category. What is less well known is that his character was based on a real officer who fought in Vietnam. Lt Col John B Stockton was hard to miss. Like Duvall in the movie, he wore a black Stetson and spurs on his boots. He carried his papers in leather saddlebags and even had his unit’s mascot, a mule called Maggie, smuggled into Vietnam despite a strict “no pets” policy. And he really did play Wagner from side-mounted speakers fixed to his helicopter when going into action.

Kyiv zoo braves blackouts and bombardment to keep animals warm

Staff are using stoves and generators to keep lions, camels and Ukraine’s lone gorilla safe from winter and war

• Europe live – latest updates

Kyiv zoo’s most famous resident lays on his back watching television. On screen: a nature documentary.

For a quarter of a century, Toni has been the zoo’s star attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. He is Ukraine’s only gorilla. At 52 – old by western gorilla standards – he needs warm conditions similar to the lowlands of central Africa.

U.S. says Tehran would be ‘very wise’ to make a deal as Russia, Iran hold naval drills

It comes shortly after Vice President JD Vance accused Iran of failing to address core U.S. demands during nuclear talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

Is the World Cup bump real? MLS is going to find out

MLS stakeholders want to turn the interest in this summer’s North American World Cup into ‘rocket fuel’ for the league. Are those realistic expectations?

In 1998, a full eight years before Major League Soccer debuted, it got its first “World Cup bump”.

Fifa had just awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States, but there was a stipulation. The US could host the tournament, but only if there was a competitive club league in place by the time it rolled around, something that hadn’t been true since the North American Soccer League collapsed in 1985. Tournament organisers missed that 1994 deadline, but two years later, MLS became a reality. Thirty years on, it is still here.

Trump’s bid to name Penn Station after himself looks like a presidential shakedown | Mohamad Bazzi

The US president’s relentless self-aggrandizement spree continues amid hypocrisy and shifting explanations

As a real estate developer, Donald Trump built his empire on ostentatious displays of wealth, substantial tax breaks – and lots of free publicity. As president, he has deployed the power of the state to expand his personal brand, adding his name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the US Institute of Peace, a class of new navy warships, and even investment accounts for millions of children.

Trump is now eyeing yet more grandiose targets in his self-aggrandizement spree. He wants Congress to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington Dulles international airport in his honor. But there’s a catch: Trump reportedly told Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, that he would unfreeze billions of dollars in federal funding for a major infrastructure project in the north-east – if Schumer supported renaming the two sites.

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

Democrats in Congress press National Park Service on Trump ballroom donors

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Robert Garcia's previous attempts to extract information about the White House ballroom's finances have so far yielded few answers.

That ain't perfume! Ancient bottle contained feces, likely used for medicine

Researchers found a tiny bottle from ancient Rome that contained fecal residue and traces of aromatics, offering evidence that poop was used medicinally more than two thousand years ago.

From Stranger Things to Killing Eve: why TV shows should only be one season long

Furious fans, bloated storylines and television seemingly made only to sell merch … it’s time to stop dragging series out. Most of them deserve no more than one outing

Though it aired almost two months ago, fans are still angry about the Stranger Things finale.

So disappointing was the wrap to the five-season sci-fi that its cast are still having to deny that there is an upcoming secret final episode. I was not remotely disappointed, however. I thought the show ended perfectly: when I stopped watching it after season one, episode eight.

Former Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office: reports

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, reports say.

Urban sketchers find the sublime in the city block

Sketchers say making art together in urban environments allows them to create a record of a moment and to notice a little bit more about the city they see every day.

How Epstein and Maxwell used an elite Midwest arts school to prey on girls

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell lavished money on the Interlochen Center for the Arts to gain access, documents show — even funding an on-campus lodge they stayed in. In the process, two teenagers were pulled into their orbit.

Alexander Isak should return from injury for Liverpool in April, says Arne Slot

• £125m summer signing broke a leg in December

• He should rejoin team training late March or early April

Arne Slot is expecting Alexander Isak to be available for a Liverpool return in April. The striker fractured his left leg and sustained an ankle injury against Tottenham in December and required surgery but is back in light training.

Isak started running this week as part of his rehabilitation and if he continues on the same path, he will join team training at the end of March. “It will be around that period of time – end of March, start of April – where he is hopefully back with the group,” the head coach said.

Thai police go undercover as lion dancers to catch thief

Officers devise unusual plan to arrest man suspected of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts

Thai police donned a lion costume during this week’s lunar new year festivities to arrest a man accused of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artefacts.

Dressed as a red-and-yellow lion, officers made the arrest on Wednesday evening after responding to a report this month of a home burglary in the suburbs of Bangkok.

‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics

Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?

Like many of us who are mindful of our plastic consumption, Beth Gardiner would take her own bags to the supermarket and be annoyed whenever she forgot to do so. Out without her refillable bottle, she would avoid buying bottled water. “Here I am, in my own little life, worrying about that and trying to use less plastic,” she says. Then she read an article in this newspaper, just over eight years ago, and discovered that fossil fuel companies had ploughed more than $180bn (£130bn) into plastic plants in the US since 2010. “It was a kick in the teeth,” says Gardiner. “You’re telling me that while I am beating myself up because I forgot to bring my water bottle, all these huge oil companies are pouring billions …” She looks appalled. “It was just such a shock.”

Two months before that piece was published, a photograph of a seahorse clinging to a plastic cotton bud had gone viral; two years before that England followed Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and introduced a charge for carrier bags. “I was one of so many people who were trying to use less plastic – and it just felt like such a moment of revelation: these companies are, on the contrary, increasing production and wanting to push [plastic use] up and up.” Then, says Gardiner, as she started researching her book Plastic Inc: Big Oil, Big Money and the Plan to Trash our Future, “it only becomes more shocking.”

Mario Tennis Fever review – serving up banana peel-laced multiplayer chaos

Nintendo Switch 2; Nintendo
This ruthlessly competitive game will have everyone from your granny to semi-pros trying to set fire to their opponent’s side of the court with powered-up ‘fever rackets’

Tennis has been a regular hobby of Mario’s for the past 30 years, beginning with the headache-inducing Mario’s Tennis on the Virtual Boy and most recently resurfacing as the surprisingly complex Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch. Now he’s back in his whites (and reds) with a charming new take on the sport that dials back the difficulty level and adds lots of fun modes and features, aiming to appease complete newcomers and Djokovic-esque veterans.

At first, the range of options is almost bewildering. You can opt to play in one-off matches with up to three other players or NPCs, or enter a more structured tournament of singles or doubles play. Then there’s the extremely fun Mix It Up, which offers a range of fun tennis derivatives. These include Forest Court where piranha plants appear and gobble any balls that get close, and Pinball where bumpers and barriers pop up as you play. Trial Towers, meanwhile, presents a tower of increasingly tough tennis challenges which all have to be completed to open the next two buildings; fail more than three times and you’re sent back to the beginning – yes, it’s Mario Tennis: The Roguelike.

Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show

Exclusive: approximately 350-acre compound planned as base for multinational force, according to records reviewed by the Guardian

The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza, sprawling more than 350 acres, according to Board of Peace contracting records reviewed by the Guardian.

The site is envisioned as a military operating base for a future International Stabilization Force (ISF), planned as a multinational military force composed of pledged troops. The ISF is part of the newly created Board of Peace which is meant to govern Gaza. The Board of Peace is chaired by Donald Trump and led in part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

How do Olympians like Eileen Gu earn $23 million? Here are all the ways

Most Olympians never win big money — or big fame. So how are athletes such as Eileen Gu or Chloe Kim able to earn millions of dollars? Here are some of the ways.

An unsung hero stepped in to help a newly widowed mom in a moment of need

Barbara Alvarez lost her husband in 2017, just before their daughter went off to college. Her unsung hero helped her find the strength to be a single mother to her child at a key moment in their lives.

Morning news brief

President Trump's Board of Peace to meet for the first time, latest round of talks to end war in Ukraine conclude with little progress, Meta CEO defends the platform in social media addiction trial.

Chinese tech companies progress 'remarkable,' OpenAI's Altman tells CNBC

Top tech executives gathered in India this week for the AI summit in New Delhi.

Reform UK plan to rip up Equality Act shocking and un-British, says Starmer

PM argues party wants to send women back to ‘old days’, as he also urges Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to speak to authorities

• UK politics live – latest updates

Reform UK’s plans to repeal the Equality Act are “shocking” and un-British, Keir Starmer has said, warning legislation that has provided decades of protection for women would be ripped up.

In a pre-recorded interview with BBC Breakfast, the prime minister said the legislation was British at its core and represented “basic values”, before arguing Reform wanted to send women back to the “old days” when they were not treated equally.

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol jailed for life for leading insurrection

Ex-leader sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour over failed martial law declaration in 2024

A South Korean court has sentenced the former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment with labour over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, finding him guilty of leading an insurrection and making him the first elected head of state in the country’s democratic era to receive the maximum custodial sentence.

The Seoul central district court found that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024 constituted insurrection, carried out with the intent to disrupt the constitutional order.

Inside the surge of threats against public officials fueling a rise in prosecutions

A CBS News analysis found 126 cases that were brought by federal prosecutors last year arising out of threats to public officials.

Ramadan around the world – in pictures

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, featuring celebrations, prayers, pre-dawn breakfasts and post-sundown meals, began at sunrise in the Middle East and a day later in much of Asia. In the Muslim lunar calendar, months begin only when the new moon is sighted, which can lead to variations of a day or two

Man on the Run review – archival delve into Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles era is a welcome revisit

After the Fab Four fell and Wings took flight, McCartney embodied a strange, stylised sense of uncool, which would become bestselling success. A new documentary of old material memorialises his second coming

Another hefty legacy project for Paul McCartney, who acts as off-camera interviewee and executive producer in this documentary by Morgan Neville. Man on the Run is comprised of archive film, photos and audio recordings of McCartney and his late wife, Linda, his children and others. Some of McCartney’s overlaid commentary seems to be new, and some pre-existing.

The film tracks his tense, complicated, fruitful career from the endgame of the Beatles in 1969 to the definitive demise of his next band Wings in 1981, a few months after John Lennon’s death – although what exact psychological role Lennon’s life and death played in Wings’ beginning and end is not explicitly discussed. (The film does, once again, show us that startlingly strange and casual-seeming interview McCartney gave after Lennon’s shooting, his shock resulting in an apparently cold attitude – but what he may really have been thinking is something else not explored here in detail.)

Trip to the Moon by John Yorke review – a storytelling handbook in dire need of an edit

A producer shares his tips for tight storylines, but they’re marred by verbal incontinence and hyperbole

Creative writing handbooks are almost an industry in themselves: the fledgling author, dramatist or screenwriter can choose from hundreds of titles, all offering to unlock the secrets of storytelling. These books are of limited utility for literary fiction, where plot is secondary, but if you’re writing for the screen or stage, or working on genre fiction, they can be helpful. Commercial, plot-driven storytelling is, this is an inherently formulaic business, and a working knowledge of narrative structure is a crucial foundation for an aspiring writer.

In his bestselling 2014 treatise on the mechanics of narrative, Into the Woods, John Yorke demonstrated the uncanny prevalence of five-act structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement) in many popular movies, plays and television dramas. He reprises this theme in his new book, which starts with a lengthy disquisition on plot architecture. The five-act framework, Yorke explains, is elegantly conducive to an emotionally compelling journey, with the protagonist typically undergoing a transformative revelation at the story’s mid-point. He illustrates this with reference to hit TV programmes such as I May Destroy You, and films including Star Wars and Terminator 2.

Macron defends EU AI rules and vows crackdown on child ‘digital abuse’

French president rejects US criticism as António Guterres and Narendra Modi warn on child safety and AI monopolies

• Business live – latest updates

• Europe live – latest updates

Emmanuel Macron has hit back at US criticism of Europe’s efforts to regulate AI, vowing to protect children from “digital abuse” during France’s presidency of the G7.

Speaking at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, the French president called for tougher safeguards after global outrage over Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot being used to generate tens of thousands of sexualised images of children, and amid mounting concern about the concentration of AI power in a handful of companies.

Iran and the U.S. lean into gunboat diplomacy as nuclear talks hang in balance

Iran and the United States leaned into gunboat diplomacy Thursday, with Tehran holding drills with Russia and the Americans bringing another aircraft carrier closer to the Mideast.

'Do not give away Diego Garcia': Trump attacks the UK over Chagos Islands deal, again

Trump told the U.K. not to "give away" the Chagos Islands, which is where a joint U.S.-U.K. military base is located.

Winter Olympics briefing: Shiffrin’s sublime showing delivers release of emotion

After eight years of personal highs and lows, the American dominated the women’s slalom to put her greatness beyond question

High above the jagged peaks of the Italian Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin stood at the top of the podium once again. After eight long years without an Olympic medal, the American produced two sublime runs to win the women’s slalom by a commanding 1.50sec – the third-largest margin of victory in Olympic history for the event. In doing so, she became the first American skier to claim three Olympic alpine gold medals and further cemented her status as the greatest alpine skier of her generation.

The setting in the Dolomites was spectacular. The skiing was even better. Leading by 0.82sec after a blistering first run, Shiffrin held her nerve in the second, overcoming a brief wobble to deliver a performance no rival could touch. When she crossed the finish line, the release of emotion was immediate. The Swiss silver medallist Camille Rast and Sweden’s bronze medallist Anna Swenn Larsson embraced her before she shared a long, tearful hug with her mother and coach, Eileen.

You be the judge: should my best friend stop wearing the same perfume as me?

Marta wants her scent to be unique, but Elsa thinks copying her friend is just sharing the joy. Do you smell a rat?

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

My individuality is very important to me and I like to keep my style and my scent unique

I’m not trying to copy her whole identity. Friends having similar tastes is just sharing the joy

Sinners star Miles Caton: ‘I didn’t know how much I would be in the film … it might have scared me’

The actor and musician’s first film role was the musical prodigy in the surprise hit horror. Now he’s up for a Bafta and about to perform live at the Oscars – and it’s all still sinking in

It’s lunchtime in New York City, and Miles Caton is still in bed. That morning, the 20-year-old star of Sinners set his alarm for 8.30am so he could watch the Oscar nominations live. “As soon as I woke up, I went straight to YouTube,” he says, where he learned Sinners had been nominated for 16 Academy Awards, more than any other film in Oscars history. Unsurprisingly, his phone has been blowing up: he’s been so busy responding to messages, he’s yet to get out of bed.

A southern gothic horror musical set in the 1930s, about the bloodsucking of Black culture, Sinners was the unexpected box office smash of 2025, earning $368m in ticket sales globally. The film co-stars Michael B Jordan and comes from the imagination of Ryan Coogler, the writer-director behind Marvel’s Black Panther franchise and the Rocky reboot, Creed. “I watched Black Panther for the first time when I was 12 years old,” says Caton, who remembers going to the cinema to see the director’s Afrofuturist superhero movie with his whole family. “It was ‘Wakanda Forever!’ We was putting our fist up!” he says, motioning a Black power fist at the screen. “To me, a Ryan Coogler film was culture,” he says.

Former South Korean President Yoon receives life sentence for imposing martial law

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

In the footsteps of a Welsh borderlands baddie: walking the Mortimer Trail

A trail named after a brutal marcher lord passes through tranquil countryside between Shropshire and Herefordshire but is rich in reminders of the area’s turbulent past

In the UK, there is a proud tradition of naming long-distance walking paths after talented reprobates. I mean the various opium fiends, international terrorists and child murderers who make up our colourful national tapestry (see the Coleridge Way, Drake’s Trail and the Richard III Trail). So perhaps a 30-mile weekend walk dedicated to the Mortimers, and their most notorious scion, Sir Roger, is an appropriate addition to the weave.

After all, this is the man who allegedly slept with a reigning queen (Isabella), probably killed her husband (Edward II), and certainly became de facto tyrant of the realm for three turbulent years in the 1320s, feathering his own nest relentlessly during that time. They don’t make world leaders like that any longer, do they?

Sardinia’s ancient masked rite of mamuthones and issohadores – in pictures

From mid-January until the end of carnival, mamuthones and issohadores take to the streets of Mamoiada, in the mountainous heartland of Sardinia. This is a time when herders and farmers across the Mediterranean turn to the power of masks to cast off winter and foster the coming of spring

The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara review – into Tibet’s ‘Forbidden Kingdom’

The follow-up to Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line explores the history of colonial exploration through a perilous 19th-century odyssey

With her peripatetic and philosophical second novel, Deepa Anappara travels into uncharted territory. Her dazzling 2020 debut, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, was part caper and part social satire, set in an Indian shantytown. In The Last of Earth, she points her writerly compass towards the mountains of mid-19th-century Tibet – a region then closed off to European imperialists – to meditate on the chequered history of colonial exploration, cartography and the impermanence of human existence.

“It’s in the nature of white men to believe they own the world, that no door should be shut to them.” For years, the British train, coax and bribe Indians to cross over, conducting surveying expeditions on their behalf; they also venture into the “Forbidden Kingdom of Tibet” in thinly veiled disguises. Intricately researched and meticulously plotted, this immersive novel is told through the alternating perspectives of two protagonists. Balram is an Indian schoolteacher and surveyor-spy who plays guide to an English captain, clumsily dressed as a monk and intent on being the first man to personally chart the route of the revered river Tsangpo and discover where it meets the sea. Meanwhile Katherine, of part Indian heritage, is on a mission to become the first European woman to reach Lhasa and set eyes on the Potala Palace after being denied membership of the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London.

The Last of Earth by Deepa Anappara is published by Oneworld (£14.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Bernie Sanders rails against billionaire ‘greed’ amid California tax battle

In a fiery speech in Los Angeles, the Vermont senator criticizes ‘grotesque’ levels of economic inequality

Billionaires are “treading on very, very thin ice,” Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in Los Angeles, imploring California voters to fight “grotesque” levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax on the state’s richest residents.

The Vermont senator railed against the “greed”, “arrogance” and “moral turpitude” of the nation’s “ruling class”, calling it “fairly disgusting” that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California – or are threatening to do so, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law.

Quantum's big leap puts data centers in the spotlight

Quantum is advancing rapidly, sparking discussions about how the powerful computers will integrate with industries like the already booming data center sector.

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for chocolate and rosemary panna cotta | A kitchen in Rome

A decadent, velvety and chocolatey set cream dessert infused with aromatic rosemary

The pungent and lingering aromas of familiar kitchen herbs – oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, bay, lavender, mint – seem purposely made to donate their landmark volatiles to our everyday lives and food. In fact, their design is not for domestic calm and onion basket or fridge drawer neglect, but for uncultivated wilds. In particular the limestone terrain of the Mediterranean, where their defining smells are hardcore chemical defences, with every small, tough leaf or needle loaded with enough volatiles to deter both predators and competitors.

Rosemary is particularly kick-arse in this respect, with those volatiles (mostly organic compounds called terpenoids) synthesised and stored in minuscule glands that project from the surface of each dark green needle, which breaks when brushed against or bitten, releasing an intense, hot, bitter shot. It’s the evergreen equivalent of carrying personal defence spray. The needles also mark territory. By leaking their volatiles into the nearby soil, they inhibit the seeds of other plants (maybe even their own) from taking root and, in turn, taking space, water and precious minerals in a challenging environment.

How extreme flooding in Somerset has created birdlife winners and losers

Wet fields drive away rodents, leaving barn owls without much prey, but gulls of all kinds are attracted by the water

The Somerset Levels flood regularly – but this year, after very heavy winter rains, the fields and moors are overflowing with water. So what effect does this have on wintering birds?

Like most extreme weather events, there are winners and losers. Huge flocks of gulls are gathering in the flooded fields to feed, with scarcer Mediterranean and little gulls joining the regular black-headed, herring and common varieties. These have attracted a white-tailed eagle from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project, although it does not appear to have caught any victims yet.

2/18: CBS Evening News

Deadliest American avalanche in over 40 years kills 8, 1 still missing; New, dramatic testimony in Colin Gray’s second-degree murder trial

Bill Gates cancels keynote speech in India amid questions over Epstein ties

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder pulls out of India’s AI Impact Summit to ‘ensure the focus’ remains on event’s ‘key priorities’

Bill Gates has pulled out of a keynote address at the AI Impact Summit in India as he continues to face questions over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The billionaire Microsoft co-founder travelled to India, where his foundation works with the government on delivering AI for social good, earlier this week and was advertised as speaking at the international summit shortly after the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.

Retailers in UK plan to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs

BRC survey finds finance bosses expect technology to improve productivity, with 69% pessimistic about the economy

UK retailers are planning to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs and pessimism about the economy.

Almost two-thirds (61%) of finance bosses at retail companies said they planned to reduce working hours or cut overtime, according to the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body that represents most big retailers. More than half (55%) said they would cut head office jobs and 42% said they would reduce jobs in stores.

Say goodbye to the sex drought! What the Danes can teach us about making more love

While other countries are deep in a sex recession, the Danish drive shows no signs of stalling. How do they stay so frisky?

Copenhagen on the Thursday before Valentine’s Day is intoxicatingly romantic. That’s not hyperbole – you could breathe in and be drunk on it. The canals have frozen over, which only happens about once every 13 years, and couples are skating on them. You can see cosy bars from miles away because they’re strung with fairy lights – apparently not just a Christmas thing here. Everyone is beautiful.

But none of that comes close to explaining why young Danes in Denmark, unlike gen Z across the developed world, are still having sex. Winter isn’t even their frisky season. “You feel the atmosphere in the springtime,” says Ben, 35, half-British, half Danish. His friend Anna, also 35, originally Hungarian, says: “Post-hibernation fever, you can feel the sexual energy. Everyone is on. Everyone swims in the canals, a lot of the women will be topless – they’re like herrings.” (Which is to say: they are typically Danish, they love the water and they don’t wear clothes … I think.) Ben and Anna are millennials, of course, rather than gen Z: they provide the outsiders’ perspective.

The US is dragging Europe back to the days of white supremacism. Our leaders are playing along | Shada Islam

People like me were targets of the Islamophobia that gripped the west after the US-led ‘war on terror’. Now I fear a chilling sequel is on the way

Twenty-five years ago, George W Bush persuaded European leaders to back his “war on terror”. That disastrous project cost millions of lives and caused mass displacement of people from across the Middle East. It normalised racism and hatred for Muslims, refugees and racialised minorities in the US and Europe. I fear Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, with its calls to defend white, western, Christian civilisation against supposedly contaminating racialised migrants – and the standing ovation he received from European elites – may mark a chilling sequel.

Rubio’s language of a shared and superior American and European civilisation differs from that of his bosses, Donald Trump and JD Vance. His tone is more emollient but his outreach is conspiratorial. Rubio talks of migration and identity and civilisational anxiety, rather than terrorism and hard security threats as Bush once did. In his Munich speech, Rubio flattered Europeans about the continent’s colonial past. He denied preaching a message of xenophobia or hate, and instead framed his call to defend national borders as entirely respectable, dutiful and a “fundamental act of sovereignty”.

Shada Islam is a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. She runs New Horizons Project, a strategy, analysis and advisory company

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US funding for global internet freedom ‘effectively gutted’

Programme that funds groups building tech to evade oppressive government controls under serious threat

For nearly two decades, the US quietly funded a global effort to keep the internet from splintering into fiefdoms run by authoritarian governments. Now that money is seriously threatened and a large part of it is already gone, putting into jeopardy internet freedoms around the world.

Managed by the US state department and the US Agency for Global Media, the programme – broadly called Internet Freedom – funds small groups all over the world, from Iran to China to the Philippines, who built grassroots technologies to evade internet controls imposed by governments. It has dispensed well over $500m (£370m) in the past decade, according to an analysis by the Guardian, including $94m in 2024.

Inside voice: what can our thoughts reveal about the nature of consciousness?

Scientists and philosophers studying the mind have discovered how little we know about our inner experiences

What was I thinking? This is not as easy or straightforward a question as I would have thought. As soon as you try to record and categorise the contents of your consciousness – the sense impressions, feelings, words, images, daydreams, mind-​wanderings, ruminations, deliberations, observations, opinions, intuitions and occasional insights – you encounter far more questions than answers, and more than a few surprises. I’d always assumed that my stream of consciousness consisted mainly of an interior monologue, maybe sometimes a dialogue, but was surely composed of words; I’m a writer, after all. But it turns out that a lot of my so-called thoughts – a flattering term for these gossamer traces of mental activity – are preverbal, often showing up as images, sensations, or concepts, with words trailing behind as a kind of afterthought, belated attempts to translate these elusive wisps of meaning into something more substantial and shareable.

I discovered this because I’ve been going around with a beeper wired to an earpiece that sends a sudden sharp note into my left ear at random times of the day. This is my cue to recall and jot down whatever was going on in my head immediately before I registered the beep. The idea is to capture a snapshot of the contents of consciousness at a specific moment in time by dipping a ladle into the onrushing stream.

Newark Airport reopens after aircraft emergency caused ground stop, FAA says

Newark Liberty International Airport reopened Wednesday evening after an aircraft emergency caused a ground stop.

‘It’s a catastrophe’: Wellington rages as millions of litres of raw sewage pour into ocean

Abandoned beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline in New Zealand

A tide of anger is rising in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city’s toilets continue to flush directly into the ocean more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant.

Millions of litres of raw and partially screened sewage have been pouring into pristine reefs and a marine reserve along the south coast daily since 4 February, prompting a national inquiry, as the authorities struggle to get the decimated plant operational.

Mark Zuckerberg said he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss 'wellbeing of teens and kids'

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand in a closely watched social media and safety trial that could reshape the industry.

US military ready for possible Iran strikes but Trump yet to make decision, reports say

Reports say move could come this weekend as White House urges Iran to ‘make a deal’ with Trump on nuclear program

The US military is ready for possible strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday citing unnamed sources.

However, the reports said, Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision on whether to carry out an attack. Trump has repeatedly demanded Iran cease its nuclear program, and has warned he intends to use force if no deal is reached.

Year of the fire horse - explained: the Chinese zodiac sign that’s all about intensity

Lunar new year has ushered in a rare zodiac symbol with a reputation for energy and independence

As the lunar new year begins, the focus has turned to the Chinese zodiac and the arrival of the year of the fire horse – a rare pairing in the 60-year lunar cycle.

Drawing on Chinese metaphysics, the fire horse blends the horse’s reputation for energy and independence with the intensity of the fire element, giving it a distinct place in the zodiac tradition.

CBS News Things That Matter: A Town Hall with Governor Wes Moore

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a rising star in the Democratic Party, sits down with CBS News senior correspondent Norah O'Donnell to discuss issues impacting the nation, including the critical 2026 midterm elections and his vision for the future of the Democratic Party.

Trump order pushes glyphosate production; Roundup chemical hated by MAHA

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement is largely opposed to glyphosate.

Les Wexner, longtime Epstein benefactor, tells Congress he was "duped"

Billionaire retail tycoon Les Wexner testified before a House committee Wednesday as part of the panel's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

CNBC Daily Open: Iran-U.S. talks and Ukraine-Russia negotiations in focus — progress in sight?

Geopolitics will be the main theme of the day, with markets watching the high-stakes talks between the U.S. and Iran, as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Sen. Warren tells Fed and Treasury: No bailout for crypto billionaires

Sen. Warren said that a bailout for cryptocurrency investors could "directly enrich" President Donald Trump and his family's company, World Liberty Financial.

"Fire devils" swirl in Oklahoma amid dangerous weather threats around U.S.

Dangerous weather threatened much of the U.S. on Wednesday. Rob Marciano reports on avalanche, fire, tornado and storm threats around the country.

New, dramatic testimony in Colin Gray's second-degree murder trial

There was new dramatic testimony in the trial of Colin Gray, the father accused of purchasing the rifle his son used to kill four people at his Georgia high school in 2024. Skyler Henry has more.

Zuckerberg questioned on under-13 Instagram users in social media trial

The Meta CEO defended his company's efforts to keep kids under 13 off of Instagram, but noted that there are "people who lie" about their ages.

Mark Zuckerberg faces intense questioning in social media addiction trial

Mark Zuckerberg took the stand on Wednesday to fight off allegations that Instagram was intentionally designed to be addictive, especially to kids. Jo Ling Kent was in the courtroom and has more on the landmark trial.

Dangerous conditions hinder search teams after deadly avalanche

Eight backcountry skiers have been found dead and one remains missing after an avalanche near Lake Tahoe in California, officials said.

Mass departures from DOJ are boon for law firms, legal groups

More than 5,000 employees have resigned, retired or been fired​ from the Justice Department in the first year of Mr. Trump's second administration.

Delta flight turns around after pilots say passenger became violent, tried to enter cockpit

A Delta Air Lines flight took off, then had to turn around because of concern that a violent passenger would try to enter the cockpit. Kris Van Cleave reports.

A timeline of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as search stretches on

Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing Feb. 1.

Accomplice not ruled out in Nancy Guthrie disappearance, Arizona sheriff says

Authorities haven't named a suspect or person of interest in Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as the search continued for a third week.

U.S. military strike on Iran could happen as soon as Saturday, officials say

A potential military strike on Iran could happen as soon as Saturday, according to top national security officials. President Trump has been putting military pressure on Iran to work out a nuclear deal by sending U.S. warships and fighter jets to the region. Ed O'Keefe reports.

Nancy Guthrie case investigators have not ruled out an accomplice, sheriff says

More than two weeks into the search for Nancy Guthrie, investigators say the only video they've recovered from the scene is the one already shared with the public. Plus, the Pima County Sheriff told CBS News that investigators have not ruled out an accomplice who may have entered Guthrie's home. Jonathan Vigliotti has more details.

Deadliest American avalanche in over 40 years kills 8, 1 still missing

A wall of snow the size of a football field collapsed suddenly on Tuesday over a group of 15 skiers, killing eight, with one still missing on Wednesday night. The rescue mission for the missing person has been called off for now and has become a recovery mission. Matt Gutman reports.

Environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion says FBI is investigating it for terrorism

Extinction Rebellion says some members have been visited by agents claiming to be FBI amid Trump’s threats toward liberal groups

Environmental group Extinction Rebellion said on Wednesday it was under federal US investigation and that some of its members had been visited by FBI agents, including from the agency’s taskforce on extremism, in the last year.

Asked for comment, the FBI said it could neither confirm nor deny conducting specific investigations, citing justice department policy.

Gaza death toll in early part of war far higher than reported, says Lancet study

Research suggests more than 75,000 killed in the first 16 months of conflict, 25,000 more than announced at the time

More than 75,000 people were killed in the first 16 months of the two-year war in Gaza, at least 25,000 more than the death toll announced by local authorities at the time, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal.

The research also found that reporting by the Gaza health ministry about the proportion of women, children and elderly people among those killed was accurate.

FBI, St. Paul police probing ICE arrest that resulted in skull fractures

Minnesota and federal authorities are investigating claims that immigration officers shattered a Mexican man's skull while taking him into custody last month.

Arteta accepts Arsenal ‘have to blame ourselves’ after blowing lead at Wolves

• League leaders squander 2-0 lead at bottom side

• Arteta: ‘We didn’t perform at the level required’

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal “have to blame ourselves” after they surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Wolves. A 94th-minute equaliser cost the Premier League leaders two points as they allowed their rock-bottom opponents back into the game, further calling into question their title credentials.

Arsenal are five points clear of Manchester City but have played a game more. The Gunners looked on their way to victory after goals from Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié, only to be pegged back by Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie.

Trump fans flames of election access as Republican support grows for national voter ID mandate

President Donald Trump wants a national voter ID requirement, a mandate he wants to impose via executive order.

Figma stock jumps 15% as company sees AI monetization accelerating growth

The design software company maintained its gross margin even as more people adopted the Figma Make artificial intelligence tool.

Trump family says U.S. dollar needs an upgrade, and they are the ones to do it

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Liberty Forum to explain why they think the U.S. needs an alternative to the dollar.

Judge: Lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings has "no meat on its bones"

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by an Illinois man who alleged that Buffalo Wild Wings' use of the term "boneless wings" was deceptive.

NIH's Jay Bhattacharya will also serve as acting CDC director

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't had a Senate confirmed director since last summer, and that official was in the job for less than a month.

Winter Olympics: USA and Canada narrowly avoid shocks in men’s ice-hockey quarter-finals

• Americans rely on Quinn Hughes’s OT winner

• Mitch Marner seals Canada’s 4-3 overtime win

• Canadians lose star Sidney Crosby to injury

With NHL players returning to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, these Games were expected to be a relative stroll for Canada and USA. However, both star-packed teams struggled in Wednesday’s men’s ice hockey quarter-finals.

Quinn Hughes scored in overtime to put the US past Sweden 2-1 after giving up the tying goal to Mika Zibanejad with 91 seconds left in the third period. Dylan Larkin deflected Jack Hughes’ shot in for the only US goal in regulation.

Study finds global increase in hot, dry days ideal for wildfires

Dangerous days have nearly tripled in past 45 years – and increase largely driven by human-made warming

The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy – ideal to spark extreme wildfires – has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.

And more than half of that increase is caused by human-caused climate change, researchers calculated.

Tech firms must remove ‘revenge porn’ in 48 hours or risk being blocked, says Starmer

PM says measure, also applied to deepfake nudes, is needed owing to a ‘national emergency’ of online misogyny

Deepfake nudes and “revenge porn” must be removed from the internet within 48 hours or technology firms risk being blocked in the UK, Keir Starmer has said, calling it a “national emergency” that the government must confront.

Companies could be fined millions or even blocked altogether if they allow the images to spread or be reposted after victims give notice.

FDA chief warns U.S. is losing ground to China in early drug development, calls for faster trial approvals

Makary pointed to three bottlenecks: hospital contracting; ethical reviews and approvals; and the Investigational New Drug applications process

Arsenal set up Chelsea showdown in Women’s Champions League with win over Leuven

A hard-fought victory over OH Leuven at Meadow Park sent Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Chelsea next month. The visitors tested Renée Slegers’s side when Sára Pusztai cancelled out Alessia Russo’s goal but a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and second from Russo secured the win, earning them a comfortable 7-1 aggregate score.

This was a disjointed performance from the hosts but it will have done little to dampen the high spirits in north London.

Trump administration releases $127 million in overdue funds for New York-New Jersey Gateway tunnel project president called a 'future boondoggle'

President Donald Trump asserted that the federal government will not be responsible for any cost overruns associated with the $16 billion tunnel project.

Les Wexner says 'diabolical' Jeffrey Epstein 'duped' him, denies wrongdoing

Wexner, the retired founder of Victoria's Secret ex-parent L Brands, has long faced scrutiny over his personal and financial relationships with Epstein.

Australia's Danielle Scott lands aerials silver as family sacrifice pays off at Winter Olympics

• Australian finishes second behind China gold medallist Xu Mengtao

• Skier makes ‘heartbreaking’ call for loved ones not to join her in Livigno

Australian freestyle skier Danielle Scott told her family and friends last month to cancel their plans to watch her compete at the Olympics because she was feeling so low about her form.

That meant the aerials veteran’s loved ones, husband Clark aside, weren’t in Livigno to watch the four-time Olympian achieve a lifelong dream when she finally clinched a medal on Wednesday.

Reese's family member criticizes Hershey for "quietly replacing" ingredients

Brad Reese claims Hershey is cutting costs by relying on cheaper ingredients, risking the Reese's brand.

Trump tells Starmer handing Chagos Islands to Mauritius is a ‘big mistake’

US president had recently said the plan was the best deal Starmer could make

Donald Trump has urged Keir Starmer not to hand the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, warning he was “making a big mistake”.

Under the deal agreed last year, Britain would cede control over the British Indian Ocean Territory but lease the largest island, Diego Garcia, for 99 years to continue operating a joint US-UK military base there.

Cadence Design Systems shares pop on earnings beat, custom chip optimism

CEO Anirudh Devgan said he expects the trend of companies making their own custom chips to accelerate.