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

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

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

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

Greenland’s PM says territory ‘chooses Denmark over the US’ ahead of talks with JD Vance – Europe live

Danish PM adds that Greenland is ‘not for sale’ in joint briefing ahead of tomorrow’s talks with the US

Nordic correspondent
in Nuuk, Greenland

And here’s the latest from Nuuk, Greenland this morning, ahead of what looks like a few very busy days of political talks on Greenland.

Iran crisis live: Trump says ‘help is on its way’ as he urges Iranians to ‘keep protesting’ and to ‘take over’ their institutions

US president cancels meetings with Iranian officials ‘until senseless killing of protesters stops’

• Trump says countries doing business with Iran face 25% tariff on US trade

• People in Iran: share your views on the current situation

Non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Agence France-Presse. The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many people had departed. “The protection of our personnel and our citizens is a priority,” a French foreign ministry official told AFP.

Commenting on the protests, the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk said:

This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard.

Trump warns of ‘reckoning and retribution’ in Minnesota amid anti-ICE protests – US politics live

As protests over killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis continue, president uses Truth Social post to slam protesters and repeat baseless claims

Donald Trump is heading to Detroit, Michigan today, where he’ll tour a Ford factory in Dearborn.

The president will deliver remarks to the Detroit Economic Club at 2pm ET, to continue his “affordability” tour, where he’s expected to tout the administration’s commitment to revitalising manufacturing and keeping costs down.

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

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

As Iran's protests continue, Israelis and Palestinians watch closely

There is broad support for the protests among Israeli officials, but Palestinians say they hope the Iranian regime stays in place and the protests die down soon.

MoneyWatch price tracker shows how much food, utility, housing costs are rising

These charts track prices consumers pay for groceries and other goods now compared to five years ago.

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

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

Tories call for block on Chinese super-embassy amid claims of hidden chamber near sensitive cables – UK politics live

Shadow home office minister Alicia Kearns says unredacted plans show 208 secret rooms and approving plans would be ‘insanity’

Q: Why are the Liberal Democrats still using X?

Davey says he is not afraid to pick a fight with Elon Musk. He says Musk has interfered in British democracy “in the most outrageous way”. Musk has also incited violence, he says.

I’ve picked a few fights with Elon Musk because I think he has interfered in British democracy in the most outrageous way. He’s incited violence and I have called in the past for investigations into him.

The point about Grok – which is quite shocking – and what it is doing, and the danger that it poses to women in the UK, to our children, is quite shocking. We need to take it really seriously.

Listen Live: Supreme Court hears arguments over transgender athlete bans

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

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

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

Mother of one of Elon Musk's kids says AI chatbot Grok generated sexual deepfake images of her

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is facing intense criticism, accused of allowing X users to generate sexually explicit images of real women and children. One of the alleged victims is Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk's children. She said she discovered people used Grok to generate and publish sexualized deepfake images without her permission and share them on X. Musk has not responded to a request for comment.

US supreme court hearing trans athletes cases that could erode key protections

A ruling against two athletes in West Virginia and Idaho could have far-reaching implications for civil rights

Oral arguments have begun in the US supreme court hearing on state laws banning trans girls from girls sports teams.

Oral arguments center on two cases of trans students who sued over the Republican-backed laws in Idaho and West Virginia prohibiting them from participating in girls athletic programs. The cases could have far-reaching implications for civil rights, with a ruling against the athletes potentially eroding a range of protections for trans youth and LGBTQ+ people more broadly.

Actor Timothy Busfield remains at large days after facing child sexual abuse charges

New Mexico authorities obtained warrant to arrest Busfield and US marshals are reportedly helping search for him

Actor and director Timothy Busfield evidently remained at large Tuesday, four days after New Mexico authorities obtained a warrant to arrest him on child sexual abuse allegations and the US marshals are reportedly helping search for him.

Albuquerque police told outlets including Deadline and People that its officers were working with the marshals – who specialize in capturing fugitive criminal suspects – to get Busfield into custody. The agency did not offer a timeline for when the Emmy winner may be in custody.

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

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

‘We’re in a bit of a state’: Cornish villagers frustrated by lack of help after Storm Goretti

Trees still block roads and scores of people remain without power or water almost a week on from storm

Linda Williams, 86, has been without heating, lighting and a working phone for the best part of five days. She is trying to keep warm by layering up and she picks her way around her home in the remote Cornish village of New Mill with old battery lamps from her days of caravanning.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re in a bit of a state,” said Williams, a retired council accounts assistant. “But it can’t go on for ever … can it?”

Julio Iglesias accused of sexual assault by two female former employees

Spanish singer allegedly subjected women to ‘inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation’

The Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has been accused of sexual assault by two female former employees who say they were subjected “to inappropriate touching, insults and humiliation … in an atmosphere of control and constant harassment”.

The two women – a domestic worker and a physical therapist who were employed at Iglesias’s Caribbean mansions in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas – allege the assaults took place in 2021.

DOJ probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell draws bipartisan criticism

The Justice Department's criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is drawing backlash from both Democrats and Republicans. At least half a dozen Republicans were critical when asked about the probe, which has to do with cost overruns to renovate the Fed's century-old headquarters.

Boy planning terrorist acts wanted ‘white supremacist utopia’, Leeds court told

Northumberland teenager, who denies terrorism charges, amassed weapons and researched local synagogues, alleges prosecutor

A teenage boy alleged to hate Jews and black people gathered weapons and researched local synagogues as he prepared to commit acts of terrorism, a jury has heard.

The boy, now 16, from Northumberland, was proud of holding Nazi beliefs and became a member of a banned terror group which had the goal of creating a “white supremacist utopia”, prosecutors said.

Mass resignations at DOJ Civil Rights Division, sources say

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

Drugs and gangs exist in Venezuela, but don’t be fooled. Trump arrested Nicolás Maduro to plunder our wealth | Andrés Antillano

The US president invokes the usual suspects – drugs, organised crime, illegal migration – but this is simply a grab for resources and power

In the early hours of 3 January, Caracas and other cities in Venezuela were bombed and the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, was kidnapped along with his wife by US military personnel. In addition to the 100 deaths recorded so far as a result of the attack, approximately 100 more were caused by US attacks on small boats in the previous months, under the pretext of combatting drug trafficking. Although it seems clear that the real intention of Donald Trump’s administration was to seize Venezuela’s wealth, the initial argument to justify the military deployment in the Caribbean was that it was to fight the illegal drugs trade and stop the flow of migrants that the Venezuelan government was allegedly causing by emptying prisons of criminals and sending them to the US.

As a criminology professor who has studied Venezuelan drug trafficking for 20 years, I find this far-fetched. To understand this, we have to consider Venezuela’s historical role in drug trafficking. As a typical Andean country neighbouring the world’s main coca producers, Venezuela has always played a significant role as a cocaine corridor. Since the turn of the century, its involvement in international drug trafficking has increased significantly as a result of growing European demand for cocaine, the effects of 2000’s Plan Colombia, which displaced illegal operations to border regions and neighbouring countries, and the breakdown of technical cooperation with Washington.

Andrés Antillano is a social psychologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela

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

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

Trump administration ending deportation protections for 2,500 Somalis

The U.S. government is revoking the legal status of several thousand immigrants from Somalia.

Trump may have to disclose details about assets as part of BBC lawsuit

US president is suing for defamation over documentary that joined two parts of speech he made on 6 January 2021

President Trump is expected to come under pressure to make rare disclosures about his properties and business interests as part of his $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, the Guardian understands.

Trump is suing the BBC for defamation over a Panorama documentary that spliced together two parts of the president’s address to a rally on 6 January 2021. The BBC has already apologised and said the edit was misleading, but has denied it defamed Trump.

With thousands dead, the Iranian regime may survive these protests – but not in its current form | Sanam Vakil

With fear, surveillance and brute force only set to increase, there are disturbing parallels with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq

• Sanam Vakil is director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme

Iran is once again convulsed by protests that are threatening the Islamic Republic’s stability and future. What began as demonstrations over a collapsing currency and rising inflation has rapidly evolved into one of the most destabilising episodes of unrest the regime has faced in years. The protests have exposed both the resilience of Iranian society and the growing brittleness of a political system stubbornly unwilling to reform.

It’s the scale, spread and momentum of the demonstrations that have been most alarming to the authorities. Protests have erupted across all provinces in the country, reaching more than 180 towns and cities, cutting across class, ethnic and regional lines. This time, the turn to openly anti-regime slogans has been rapid and widespread. Protesters are no longer demanding relief from within the system. They are rejecting it outright, directly challenging the authority of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei – and the wider establishment.

Sanam Vakil is the director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programme

Supreme Court to step into debate over transgender athlete bans

The Supreme Court hears arguments today on whether laws in Idaho and West Virginia banning transgender athletes from competing on girls' and women's sports teams violate the Constitution and Title IX.

Stephen Miller wants us to fear him | Arwa Mahdawi

Some of Trump’s aides refer to his deputy chief of staff as ‘the prime minister’, with many of the most shocking policies leading back to him. Worrying about his actions isn’t enough

If you want to understand what’s happening in the US right now, and what is likely to happen next, don’t just focus on Donald Trump. Rather, pay close attention to Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. It’s increasingly clear that Miller, a man who has said that “America is for Americans and Americans only” and who is on a mission to “save the west” is the driving force behind the Trump administration’s most extreme policies. Per a recent Bloomberg profile, some of Trump’s aides even privately call Miller “the prime minister”.

Miller’s influence stretches across both foreign and domestic policy. Those masked immigration agents pulling people off the street, and occasionally shooting unarmed citizens in the face? You can trace their aggressive tactics back to Miller. The plot to get rid of birthright citizenship? Miller’s hands are all over it. The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro? He helped plan it. The campaign to Maga-fy universities? Miller again! All right-leaning roads seem to lead back to Miller.

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

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

Trump national security team meeting as death toll surges in Iran protests

President Trump's national security team will meet on Tuesday to discuss the massive and deadly protests in Iran and how the U.S. may respond. U.S. officials told CBS News that Mr. Trump has been briefed on an array of options, including military strikes and cyber operations. Holly Williams reports.

Orthodox new year, fallen fighters and Larry the cat: photos of the day – Tuesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Quarter of developing countries poorer than in 2019, World Bank finds

Global growth ‘downshifted’ since Covid pandemic and sub-Saharan Africa particularly affected, report says

• Business live – latest updates

A quarter of countries in the developing world are poorer than they were in 2019 before the Covid pandemic, the World Bank has found.

The Washington-based organisation said a large group of low-income countries, many in sub-Saharan Africa, had suffered a negative shock in the six years to the end of last year.

German church’s televised ‘slime Jesus’ provokes fury on right

Christmas Eve live broadcast showed holy child portrayed by female performance artist writhing in sticky rice paper

A Roman Catholic diocese in Germany has expressed regret over a televised Christmas Eve mass featuring a portrayal of the newborn Christ by an adult woman covered in sticky rice paper that was described by some critics as “slime Jesus”.

The broadcast on ARD television from St Mary’s in Stuttgart showed a manger in which a female performance actor was huddled up in a foetal position and covered with sticky rice paper.

Mark Ruffalo’s howl of frustration was the Golden Globes’ finest hour

The actor’s sober note of sanity on Sunday night was the latest courageous move from a man who seems more invested in activism than acting

At times like these, when the world teeters on the brink of several terrifying calamities at once, awards seasons can be something of a tightrope.

This weekend’s Golden Globe awards were a perfect case in point. The main criticism levelled at the ceremony so far seems to be that it didn’t adequately reflect the moment. It was all a bit 1920s Berlin, with a shimmering array of beautiful millionaires busy congratulating themselves, oblivious to the fear and exhaustion of the rest of the world.

‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns “a bombshell”.

Studies claiming to have revealed micro and nanoplastics in the brain, testes, placentas, arteries and elsewhere were reported by media across the world, including the Guardian. There is no doubt that plastic pollution of the natural world is ubiquitous, and present in the food and drink we consume and the air we breathe. But the health damage potentially caused by microplastics and the chemicals they contain is unclear, and an explosion of research has taken off in this area in recent years.

Avalanche kills snowmobiler in Wyoming, 4th fatality this month

Nicholas Bringhurst, 31, was in the LaBarge Creek area of western Wyoming when he was caught in an avalanche, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Man confesses to starting fire at Mississippi synagogue

Investigators say Stephen Spencer Pittman admitted to starting a fire at Mississippi's largest synagogue. Newly obtained video shows a man dousing Jackson's Beth Israel Congregation with liquid from a gas container. Jason Allen reports.

Meet the merpeople: ‘Once I put the tail on, my life was changed forever’

Professional mermaids risk hypothermia, seasickness and the cling of skin-tight silicone, but the reward is becoming an ‘ocean ambassador’ – and a bit more colour in the world

Propelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but – a professional mermaid’s free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration.

Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in “pods” to practise their dolphin kicks. Makers create bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills for professional and hobbyist “seasters”. There is even a Netflix reality series called MerPeople, which documents the occasionally perilous journey of several aspiring professional merfolk. “No dead mermaids,” is the motto of one business featured.

The EPA is changing how it considers the costs and benefits of air pollution rules

The EPA won't consider the economic costs of harms to human health, at least for now. Legal and health experts are concerned that the change could make it easier for the agency to roll back rules.

Global central banks offer ‘full solidarity’ to US Fed’s Powell amid Trump threats

Nine governors including Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey and ECB’s Christine Lagarde say independence is critical

• Business live – latest updates

Global central banks have issued an extraordinary joint statement offering “full solidarity” to the US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, in the face of the latest threat to his independence from Donald Trump’s White House.

“The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability,” the statement said.

Spanish author lambasts linguistic academy over social media influence

Arturo Pérez-Reverte says ‘an illiterate pundit, YouTuber or influencer’ has more impact than a literary prize winner

One of Spain’s best-known novelists has launched a withering attack on the country’s leading linguistic authority, saying it ignores the opinions of writers when it comes to changes in language, and that its “anything goes Taliban” yields instead to social media, commentators and influencers.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte used a column in Monday’s El Mundo to accuse the Spanish Royal Academy (RAE) – of which he is a member – of failing to live up to the mission laid out in its celebrated motto of “cleaning, fixing and giving shine” to the Spanish language.

Minnesota sues Trump administration over immigration raids

The state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of "unlawful, aggressive tactics," creating a "culture of fear and unrest," straining local law enforcement's ability to keep the peace and violating regulations that govern use of force. Lana Zak reports.

Their 21 kids were taken by the state. They've since had more surrogate-born babies.

The couple had so many kids in their Los Angeles-area mansion a neighbor "thought it was a kindergarten." The investigation has only gotten stranger.

People feel like the 'Russians are trying to freeze them': Guardian reporter in Kyiv – video

The Guardian's Peter Beaumont is in Kyiv where temperatures are expected to fall to -20C during the night. Many residents are forced to use emergency shelters to warm up and use electricity after a large-scale Russian attack on the capital on 9 January damaged energy facilities. Hundreds of homes have been left without power or heating after the strikes

Ueli Kestenholz, Olympic snowboard medallist, dies after being trapped in Swiss avalanche

• 50-year-old was snowboarding in Switzerland on Sunday

• Kestenholz won bronze in giant slalom at Nagano 1998

Snowboarder Ueli Kestenholz, who won a bronze medal in the sport’s first Olympic race, has died after being trapped in an avalanche, the Swiss Ski federation said on Tuesday. He was 50.

Kestenholz was third in snowboard giant slalom at the 1998 Nagano Olympics – a debut event that became a story of the Games when Canadian gold medallist Ross Rebagliati fought to keep his title after a positive test for cannabis.

The trans youth athletes in the US fighting for their rights: ‘Playing is an act of resistance’

As the US supreme court weighs bans on trans athletes, five students speak about the joy of sports and toll of exclusion

• US supreme court considers trans school athletes case – live updates

The US supreme court on Tuesday is considering state laws banning transgender athletes from school sports.

The cases were brought by trans students who challenged bans in West Virginia and Idaho barring trans girls from girls teams. The outcome could have wide-ranging implications for LGBTQ+ rights. A total of 27 states have passed sports bans targeting trans youth while more than 20 states have maintained pro-LGBTQ+ policies.

January tips if you’re cooking for one | Kitchen aide

From one-pot meals to versatile dishes that last all week, our panel of experts serves up ideas for solo chefs

I really struggle with cooking for one, so what can I make in January that’s interesting but easy and, most importantly, warming?
Jane, via email
“There’s an art to the perfect solo meal,” says Bonnie Chung, author of Miso: From Japanese Classics to Everyday Umami, “and that’s balancing decadence with ease.” For Chung, that means good-quality ingredients (“tinned anchovies, jarred beans”), a dish that can be cooked in one pan (“a night alone must be maximised with minimal washing-up”) and eaten with a single piece of cutlery, “preferably in front of the telly and out of a bowl nestling in your lap”. Happily, she says, all of those requirements are met by miso udon carbonara: “It has all the rich and creamy nirvana of a cheesy pasta, but with a delicious, mochi-like chew that is incredibly satisfying.” Not only that, but you can knock it up in less than 10 minutes. “Melt cheese, milk and miso in a pan to make the sauce base, then add frozen udon that have been soaked in hot water.” Coat the noodles in the sauce, then serve with crisp bacon or perhaps a few anchovies for “pops of salty fat”. Crown with a golden egg yolk (preferably duck, but hen “will suffice”), which should then be broken: “Add a crack of black pepper, and your cosy night in has begun.”

“January feels like a time for fresh, bright flavours,” says the Guardian’s own Felicity Cloake, which for her often means pasta con le sarde made with tinned fish, fennel seeds and lots of lemon juice; “or with purple sprouting broccoli and a generous helping of garlic and chilli”. A jar of chickpeas, meanwhile, mixed, perhaps, with harissa, chopped herbs and crumbled feta, brings the possibility of a quick stew, Cloake adds, while it’s always a good shout to braise some beans, because cook-once, eat-all-week recipes are a godsend – so long as they’re versatile, that is.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

Charlie Hebdo tried to humiliate me. Instead it debased the freedom of speech it symbolises | Rokhaya Diallo

The satirical title targeted in an Islamist attack 10 years ago published a racist, sexist caricature of me that speaks volumes about its values

The day before Christmas Eve, just as France readied itself to slip into the holiday slowdown, something abruptly shook me out of any festive torpor. The satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, known globally and tragically for being the target of an Islamist attack in 2015 published a caricature – of me. And it was appallingly racist. A huge, toothy grin, an enormous mouth, the cartoon depicts me dancing on a stage before an audience of laughing white men, adorned with a banana belt on a largely exposed body. The headline: “The Rokhaya Diallo Show: Mocking secularism around the world.”

Stunned by the violence of this grotesque cartoon, I shared it on social media with a brief analysis: “In keeping with slave-era and colonial imagery, Charlie Hebdo once again shows itself incapable of engaging with the ideas of a Black woman without reducing her to a dancing body – exoticised, supposedly savage – adorned with the very bananas that are hurled at Black people who dare to step into the public sphere.”

Rokhaya Diallo is a French journalist, writer, film-maker and activist

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.

Mapped: how the world is losing its forests to wildfires

Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change

The world is losing forests to fire at an unsustainable rate, experts have warned.

Wildfires have always been part of nature’s cycle, but in recent decades their scale, frequency and intensity in carbon-rich forests have surged.

Salesforce releases updated Slackbot powered by Anthropic's AI model

Slack is upgrading Slackbot, its personal assistant, with generative AI.

Sex giggles! Nail clippings on the sofa! The new TV romance so realistic it’s close to perfect

Fans of Normal People and One Day will adore The New Years, which follows a relatable on-off couple in Madrid. It is the best relationship drama you haven’t seen yet

It is rare to watch a fictional romance and feel genuinely invested in the question of will-they-won’t-they – and even rarer for it to reflect familiar relationship turbulence. Many love stories on TV skip straight to wish-fulfilment, delivering instant chemistry, no challenges that can’t be overcome within the runtime and glib reassurance that Love Conquers All.

Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, for instance – based on a real couple, and ostensibly exploring whether a relationship can survive differences of faith – didn’t wait to resolve that question before bringing its leads together. In real life, promising connections fall at much lower hurdles, for such banal reasons as incompatible schedules.

Delta CEO sees record earnings in reach again thanks to high-end travel demand

The airline said bookings are strong from both leisure customers and corporate travelers in the first few days of the year.

Monkeys are on the loose in St. Louis and AI is complicating search

People have reported capturing the monkeys, even posting fake pictures online to bolster the claim. But the monkeys remain at large.

Frustrated Raducanu held up by rain with match suspended overnight in Hobart

• Top seed was leading Osorio 6-3, 2-4 when play called off

• Venus Williams lost 6-4, 6-3 to Tatjana Maria in Tasmania

Emma Raducanu cut a frustrated figure on Tuesday at the Hobart International as her first round match was suspended for the night due to rain with the Briton struggling to hold on to her precarious 6-3, 2-4 lead against Camila Osorio of Colombia.

Raducanu, the top seed in Hobart, will return to the court on Wednesday afternoon hoping to close out her first win of the season. She lost her only match of 2026 to Maria Sakkari at the United Cup mixed-team competition last week. Afterwards, Raducanu explained how her pre-season had been badly disrupted by the foot injury she had been struggling with since she prematurely ended her 2025 season in October. The 22-year-old only began to play points and move properly in her training sessions once she arrived in Australia at the end of December.

Minnesota sues over Trump's ICE enforcement. And, SCOTUS hears trans athlete cases

Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration over unconstitutional ICE conduct. And, SCOTUS hears two cases on whether states can bar transgender athletes from women's sports.

‘We are living in an age of cruelty’: George Clooney rebukes Tarantino for insulting Paul Dano

The Jay Kelly star says he would be honoured to work with Dano, Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard after all three actors were criticised by the director

George Clooney has said he would be “honoured” to work with three actors who were heavily criticised by Quentin Tarantino last month. Speaking at AARP’s Movies for Grownups awards on 10 January, Clooney said: “By the way, Paul Dano and Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, I would be honoured to work with those actors. Honoured.”

Clooney continued by describing his new film, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, as a movie “made by people who love actors – that’s an important part. People I’ve known most of my life … actually, most of them are actors. I have a great affinity [for them], and I don’t enjoy watching people be cruel.”

Punchdrunk’s new mission: inside ‘live action video game’ Lander 23 – in pictures

The celebrated immersive theatre company has launched a new multiplayer stealth game at its headquarters in Woolwich, south-east London. Photographer Tristram Kenton was granted special access

Red-state Republicans seek climate ‘liability shield’ for fossil fuel industry

If enacted, Utah and Oklahoma measures would restrict litigation against oil companies over role in climate crisis

US lawmakers in two red states are attempting to shield the fossil fuel industry from climate liability.

In Oklahoma, a newly introduced bill would bar most civil lawsuits against oil companies over their role in the climate crisis, unless plaintiffs allege violations of specific environmental or labor laws. A similar proposal in Utah would block lawsuits over climate-warming emissions, unless a court finds the defendant violated a statute or permit.

Keir Starmer tells MPs he is open to social media ban for young people

PM says he is alarmed at reports about children’s screen time and has shifted position on Australian-style policy

• UK politics live – latest updates

Keir Starmer has told MPs he is open to the idea of an Australian-style ban on social media for young people after becoming concerned about the amount of time children and teenagers are spending on their phones.

The prime minister told Labour MPs on Monday evening he had become alarmed at reports about five-year-olds spending hours in front of screens each day, as well as increasingly worried about the damage social media is doing to under-16s.

Afcon special: Morocco’s moment, Nigeria’s surge and more: Football Weekly – video

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Osasu Obayiuwana as the Africa Cup of Nations reaches its last four.

On today’s pod: it’s an Afcon special as the final four are decided. Hosts Morocco look increasingly like favourites after seeing off Cameroon; the panel asks whether Brahim Díaz’s remarkable form is a surprise, and questions how far long-term investment has taken them. Nigeria, meanwhile, remain perfect so far as they brush aside Algeria to set up a heavyweight semi-final clash.

Elsewhere, the panel discusses Egypt's chances as Mohamed Salah looks to enter African football folklore by winning the tournament, after Egypt beat Côte d’Ivoire. The panel ask if Senegal overthink their midfield after they squeezed through against Mali to tee up another chapter in the Salah v Mané rivalry.

Plus, a wider look at CAF’s decision to move Afcon back to a four-year cycle, the impact of winter scheduling, infrastructure in Morocco before the 2030 World Cup, and more

Mané v Salah: veteran superstars dominate buildup to Senegal v Egypt Afcon semi

Former Liverpool teammates meet for the fifth time in international football, with Salah still waiting for meaningful victory

The Olembe Stadium, Yaoundé, 6 February 2022, the Africa Cup of Nations final. Senegal and Egypt drew 0-0. Penalties followed. The first three kicks were scored, then Egypt’s Mohamed Abdelmonem hit the post. Mohamed Abou Gabal immediately saved from Bouna Sarr but Eduard Mendy saved the fourth Egyptian effort, from Mohanad Lasheen. After four penalties each, Senegal led 3-2; Sadio Mané had the chance to win it.

Mané had missed a fifth-minute penalty in the game. He’d missed a penalty against Cameroon in the shootout after the quarter-final in Franceville in 2017. “I can’t explain how tough it was for me,” Mané said. “I was sleeping four or five hours a night, five hours maximum. I had a big pressure in my head. I would go to bed and wake up maybe at 4am and I could not sleep any more … Everybody knew I was obsessed about this tournament and wanted to win it with my country … Thinking about this penalty I can say it was one of the hardest things in my life.”

Iran’s regime in its ‘final days and weeks' after mass protests, Germany’s Merz says

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said the embattled Iranian regime appears to be finished.

‘A clear injustice’: PSG Women rail over points deduction in season of pain

Club furious after being sanctioned for paperwork error regarding Canada international Florianne Jourde

Paris Saint-Germain have lost only one league game all season yet are still only fifth in the Première Ligue. How is that possible?

On Monday 22 December, just after the final league game of 2025, the French Football Federation issued a bombshell statement: three of PSG’s wins this season had been turned into defeats (0-3) because of a licensing issue regarding the Canada international Florianne Jourde.

The Jerome Powell investigation shows Trump’s need for limitless power | Austin Sarat

The inquiry into the Federal Reserve chair sends a message to anyone standing in Trump’s way – including the supreme court

News that Donald Trump’s justice department has launched an investigation of Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is the latest example of the president’s governing philosophy: do what I want, or I will crush you. The desire to make Powell’s life miserable is also a warning sign to anyone who thinks that they have an independent source of authority.

What is happening to Powell is a test, not just for him and the Fed, but for any other person or institution that dares to stand up to the president.

Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, is the author or editor of more than 100 books, including Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty

I am moving house – and being a lifelong hoarder has finally caught up with me | Zoe Williams

As I pack up for pastures new, I’m wondering why I still can’t tell the difference between a knick-knack and a mess

I’m trying to move house; so are more than one pair of friends. We spend a lot of time trying to get on the insurance for each others’ cars, because some can fit a sideboard, and others can’t fit a handbag. We swap recommendations for things like secondhand book exchangers, and avoid talking about fond memories of the home about to be departed, concentrating on all the brilliant things there are to be said about new pastures. The main thing we don’t talk about is that none of us know how to do anything and that all of us are hoarders.

There’s a reason not to know the big stuff – how to paint a skirting board, how to mend a bannister spindle – never doing a thing without landing in a place of pure ignorance. Probably if any of us were 25, we’d be no worse at painting than any other 25-year-old.

40 years on, did Proposition 48 protect US college sports – or punish Black athletes?

When the NCAA tied eligibility to standardized test scores in 1986, hundreds of recruits were barred from competition. But its legacy is still a subject of debate

Tony Rice noticed the looks and smirks during his first week of freshman classes in the fall of 1986 at Notre Dame.

He had accepted his fate a few months earlier when standardized test results led to the decision that he would not be eligible to participate in collegiate sports his freshman year. But nothing prepared him for this.

Michael Carrick adds Steve Holland and Woodgate to staff at Manchester United

• Carrick to be confirmed as interim manager on Tuesday

• Darren Fletcher returns to job with United’s under-18s

Michael Carrick has handed Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate roles on his staff at Manchester United. Carrick will be confirmed on Tuesday as the club’s interim manager until the end of the season and four spots on his backroom team have been filled.

Holland was the assistant to Gareth Southgate with England and more recently the manager of the Japanese club Yokohama F Marinos, who sacked him last April. Woodgate coached alongside Carrick at Middlesbrough and had a spell there and at Bournemouth as manager. Retained on the staff after working with Darren Fletcher are Travis Binnion, who was promoted from his role as under-21s lead coach, and Jonny Evans.

David Squires on … the magic of the Cup as Macclesfield dethrone Crystal Palace

Our cartoonist looks back on a glorious day for the non-league side as they knocked out the FA Cup holders

• Buy this cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

The Breakdown | Rugby is moving towards Moneyball-style data but value of flair remains

Numbers may point towards a more formulaic product but there is plenty of evidence that risk and style can win out

The Six Nations championship is fast approaching but, ahead of rugby union’s beloved annual fiesta, two recent away club victories are worth contemplating. The first was Northampton’s stunning win at Bath last month with a supposedly weakened team: the sharp attacking angles, deft handling and speed of thought were supremely good. Then there was Bristol’s 60-point altitude-defying romp in Pretoria at the weekend against a Bulls side containing 10 Springboks.

Both merit closer examination. Northampton, in particular, lost the overall territory battle to Bath and kicked out of hand only 15 times in 80 minutes. For every kick they attempted they threw a dozen passes, the aim being to shift the point of attack and chase space rather than follow the orthodox template of routine kicking, set-piece dominance, lineout drives and close-quarters power.

California fire victims say fighting with insurance companies has delayed rebuilding

Wildfires last January destroyed communities around Los Angeles. Homeowners say recovery has been slowed by fights with insurers to get their claims paid.

Biffy Clyro review – triumphant set marks a thunderous renewal

Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Coming off the back of a rough period, the Scottish band find reconnection, renewal and purpose in their singular mix of pop, rock and metal

‘With a little love, we can conquer all,” Simon Neil croons on Biffy Clyro’s opening song A Little Love, over its huge, infectious arena-rock chorus. It’s a line that feels like a mantra for the Scottish band 30 years and 10 albums in: they’re currently touring 2025’s Futique having come through a rough period. They experienced major burnout, band members fell out for the first time and founding member James Johnston pulled out of this tour due to mental health and addiction issues. But their new songs feel rooted in renewal, reconnection and newfound purpose. Neil pays tribute to his departed bandmate on the urgent and zippy Friendshipping, which is an ode to the importance of maintaining such relationships.

Futique was recorded in Berlin; the band said that the ghosts of Bowie, Iggy and Nick Cave’s the Birthday Party “bled into the songs”. No such art-pop apparitions feel present tonight. Instead there’s a rousing pop sensibility to these new tracks. Goodbye is a slow-burn ballad that explodes into an arms-aloft anthem, while Shot One embodies the band’s knack for merging sugary melodies and meaty riffs – existing in the blurred middle ground between rock, pop and metal that they comfortably own.

Orsted pops 5% after U.S. judge rules firm can resume wind project halted by Trump

The ruling is a legal setback for the pro-fossil fuel Trump administration, which moved to block the $5 billion Revolution Wind project.

'Fly, Wild Swans' is Jung Chang's painfully personal tribute to her mother

A historian of modern China, Jung Chang turns the lens back on herself in her newest book to understand how she sees the world and why she writes about China today.

‘Uncomfortably relatable’: writers on their favourite unlikable movie characters

With debate still swirling over the unlikable nature of Marty Supreme’s careless protagonist, Guardian writers have picked their all-time love-to-hate leads

Spoilers ahead

I can remember seeing As Good As It Gets in theaters as a teenager and being pleasantly startled by the sight of Jack Nicholson’s Melvin Udall, romcom super grouch. Here’s a bestselling romance author who disdains love, an OCD sufferer who weaponizes his affliction, a New Yorker who hates crowds (who can’t relate?). In one scene, an adoring fan asks Melvin his secret to writing women. “I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability,” he says, an epic burn forever seared in my brain. Of course Melvin’s anti-charm offensive only goes so far in a James L Brooks project. Before long, the rudeness erodes as Melvin is forced on to a journey of self-discovery with the nextdoor neighbor he can’t abide (Greg Kinnear) and the diner waitress he can’t live without (Helen Hunt). Melvin comes out a changed man in the end, but retains the essence of his super grouch-dom. That was the moment I fell in love with the writer’s life. Andrew Lawrence

‘I made the biggest mistake’: the young Yemeni men lured into the Russian army with empty promises

The offer of thousands of dollars a month was hard to refuse for those living in poverty in a war-torn country. But while some Yemenis have died on the frontline, others are now prisoners of war

The first time I heard Hussein’s mother’s voice, it wasn’t anger that came through the phone, it was exhaustion.

“There are rumours that he burned to death,” she said to me. “How do you think that makes me feel as a mother? Where are you, Hussein? I’m looking for you. Please my daughter, help me.”

Houseplant hacks: do moisture meters prevent overwatering?

Given how easy it is to kill plants by overwatering, these devices are tempting – but can they beat simply sticking your finger in the soil?

The problem
Houseplants often die from too much water, not neglect. Might a moisture meter help?

The hack
For around £10, a probe promises to tell you exactly when to water.

Trump administration to shutter an immigration court, adding to judges' backlog

The planned closure of the San Francisco Immigration Court comes as immigration judges spent the last year facing pressure to move through their caseloads faster and streamline deportations.

A conservative Supreme Court tackles the question of trans women in school sports

The first case involves an Idaho student barred by state law from trying out for the track team; the second was brought by a West Virginia middle schooler barred by state law from competing.

Workers at Chinese factory that produces Labubu toys are being exploited, says NGO

Exclusive: China Labor Watch says people aged 16-18 employed without required special protections

A labour rights NGO says it has found evidence of worker exploitation in the supply chain of Labubus, the furry toys that took the world by storm last year and which are expected to continue to grow in popularity in 2026.

Labubus, toothy gremlins made by the Chinese toy company Pop Mart, have become one of China’s hottest cultural exports. In the first half of 2025 alone, “the Monsters” line of toys, which includes Labubus, generated 4.8bn yuan (£511m) in sales for the Hong Kong-listed company. In August, Pop Mart’s chief executive, Wang Ning, said the company was on track to reach 20bn yuan in revenues in 2025.

Can X be banned under UK law and what are the other options?

UK media regulator is investigating whether X has breached the Online Safety Act – what could happen next?

The UK government is threatening Elon Musk’s X with the nuclear option under the country’s online safety laws: a ban. The social media platform is under pressure from ministers after it allowed the Grok AI tool, which is integrated within the app, to generate indecent images of unsuspecting women and children.

The government has said it will support the media regulator Ofcom, which has launched an investigation into X, if it decides to push ahead with a ban. But is such a move likely?

Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank

Road project, part of blueprint for new illegal settlement in E1 area east of Jerusalem, is considered a tool of annexation

Israel plans to start work next month on a bypass road that will close off the heart of the occupied West Bank to Palestinians and cement the de facto annexation of an area critical for the viability of a future Palestinian state.

The road is a key part of the blueprint for a vast illegal new settlement in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which would fragment the occupied West Bank. The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the plans were intended to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.

Former U.S. Navy sailor gets more than 16 years for selling secrets to China

Patrick Wei, a former U.S. Navy sailor who sold manuals for ships and operating systems to an operative working for China, was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Trump warns of ‘complete mess’ if supreme court rejects tariffs

US president speaks after saying that any country that does business with Iran will face 25% levy on trade with US

• Business live – latest updates

Donald Trump has said “it would be a complete mess” if the US supreme court were to strike down his global trade tariffs.

In a lengthy post on social media, the US president said “WE’RE SCREWED” if the supreme court rules against the tariffs. The decision is expected as soon as Wednesday. It is a crucial legal test of his controversial economic strategy and his power.

The Knife review – audaciously taut film about police encounter is intense drama of mutual suspicion

A crime committed in the home of a regular black American family results in paranoia on all sides in this 81-minute film from Nnamdi Asomugha

Here is a compact drama that twists itself like a tourniquet over 81 minutes, as a bad situation turns into a catastrophe for an ordinary American family.

Late one night in an unnamed city, construction worker Chris (Nnamdi Asomugha, also the film’s director and co-writer) finishes a DIY project in his own home and sinks a beer or two. He takes a couple of pills before checking on his two young daughters Kendra (Amari Alexis Price) and Ryley (Aiden Gabrielle Price), who have been sneakily pretending to be asleep. Then he gets into bed with wife Alex (Aja Naomi King) for a chat and a soon-abandoned attempt to have exhausted marital sex while their infant baby sleeps next door.

An Australian writers’ festival cut a Palestinian author in the wake of a terror attack. Then it fell apart

Randa Abdel-Fattah, who is Palestinian Australian, has faced criticism for controversial comments on Israel, including alleging Zionists had ‘no claim or right to cultural safety’

When the board of a South Australian festival cut a prominent Palestinian Australian author from its lineup, citing her “past statements” in the context of the deadly Bondi terror attack, it no doubt braced itself for controversy.

What it may not have foreseen, however, is an implosion.

People in Iran describe heavy security and some damage in first calls to outside world

Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days Tuesday after authorities severed communications during a crackdown on nationwide protests that activists say killed at least 646 people.

‘We’re a hot button topic’: is intimacy coordination the most misunderstood job in film-making?

Specialists in choreographing sex scenes have come under fire from the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Mikey Madison – is there any weight to their complaints?

When intimacy coordinator Adelaide Waldrop gets asked about her job at parties, she contemplates lying. “I’ve considered saying I’m an accountant,” she says. When she reveals the truth, the response is almost always seedy. There are questions about erections, merkins, and inappropriate celebrities. “Or it’s a lot of, ‘Oh we could use one of you at home with me and the missus’, and questions about my sex life,” Waldrop adds. “We’re a hot button topic.”

Lately, the heat has been on high. To some, intimacy coordinators are an auspicious part of a post-#MeToo industry, one that protects cast and crew while providing crucial creative input – Michelle Williams, Alexander Skarsgård, and Emma Stone are among those to have gushed about their experiences. To others, they’re the sex police, impeding artistry for the sake of avoiding an HR headache. Mikey Madison didn’t want an intimacy coordinator for her Oscar-winning sex worker film Anora. Gwyneth Paltrow asked hers to “step back a little bit” while making Marty Supreme. Jennifer Lawrence couldn’t even remember if she had one while filming Die My Love (she did), but said it wouldn’t have been necessary because her co-star, Robert Pattinson, “is not pervy”.

Love Machines by James Muldoon review – inside the uncanny world of AI relationships

A sociologist talks to the people putting their faith – and their hearts – in the hands of robots

If much of the discussion of AI risk conjures doomsday scenarios of hyper-intelligent bots brandishing nuclear codes, perhaps we should be thinking closer to home. In his urgent, humane book, sociologist James Muldoon urges us to pay more attention to our deepening emotional entanglements with AI, and how profit-hungry tech companies might exploit them. A research associate at the Oxford Internet Institute who has previously written about the exploited workers whose labour makes AI possible, Muldoon now takes us into the uncanny terrain of human-AI relationships, meeting the people for whom chatbots aren’t merely assistants, but friends, romantic partners, therapists, even avatars of the dead.

To some, the idea of falling in love with an AI chatbot, or confiding your deepest secrets to one, might seem mystifying and more than a little creepy. But Muldoon refuses to belittle those seeking intimacy in “synthetic personas”.

Monochrome marvels: LensCulture’s best black-and-white photography – in pictures

A brutal nomadic sport, quiet childhood reveries and stark human endurance define the photographs that wowed this year’s judges

Cheesy celeriac souffle and citrus salad: Thomasina Miers’ recipes to brighten a dark winter’s day

A light but filling no-bechamel souffle with a zingy citrus salad to add a sharp burst of flavour and colour

There is a skill in not wasting food and it’s all about good, old-fashioned housekeeping. If you learn how to store ingredients properly (cool, dark places are handy for spuds, for example) and keep tabs on what’s in your fridge/freezer, you can use everything up before it goes off – and make delicious things in the process. This golden, cheese-crusted souffle uses up the celeriac and spuds left after the festive season, plus any odds and ends of cheeses. It is spectacularly good, especially paired with a sparkling citrus salad.

Colorado Gov. Polis on "pro-freedom" vaccine stance, fraud claims from Trump

"We have rights. Fundamental rights," Polis said. "When you're minding your business and doing your own thing, really, the government shouldn't interfere."

1/5: Face the Nation

This week on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Senate Majority Leader John Thune joins to discuss the GOP's priorities with President-elect Donald Trump coming into the White House, while House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi discusses the legacy of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack with the House set to count the electoral votes again.

Death on the inside: as a prison officer, I saw how the system perpetuates violence

A rise of murders is traumatising inmates and staff, and making life harder for staff. But even in prison, violence isn’t inevitable

There are hotspots for violence in prison. The exercise yard, the showers. There are peak times, too. Mealtimes and association periods are particularly volatile.

But first thing in the morning is not when you expect to hear an alarm bell. I certainly didn’t, at 6am in my office on the residential wing of a high-security prison in late 2018. All prisoners were locked up at that time. But overcrowding has long been a problem in UK prisons, and keeping three men in cells designed for one can be a recipe for disaster.

He invented mini saunas for frogs – now this biologist has big plans to save hundreds of species

A deadly fungus has already wiped out 90 species and threatens 500 more but Anthony Waddle is hoping gene replacement could be their salvation

Standing ankle-deep in water between two bare cottonwood trees on a hot spring day, eight-year-old Anthony Waddle was in his element. His attention was entirely absorbed by the attempt to net tadpoles swimming in a reservoir in the vast Mojave desert.

It was “one of the perfect moments in my childhood”, he says.

The pulmonaut: how James Nestor turned breathing into a 3m copy bestseller

It is the most essential thing we do - yet many of us arguably breathe badly. The author of Breath explains how that can be changed

In the last stages of writing his book, Breath, James Nestor was stressed. “Which was ironic when writing a book about breathing patterns and mellowing out,” he says. The book was late; he’d spent his advance and was haemorrhaging even more money on extra research that was taking him off in new, potentially interesting, directions – was it really necessary, he wondered, to go to Paris to look at old skulls buried in catacombs beneath the city? (It was.)

Then a couple of months before the book’s May 2020 publication date, the Covid pandemic hit, and Nestor was advised to wait it out. He couldn’t afford to. “One of the main motivations for releasing it at that time was to get that [on-publication] advance,” he says. “But I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to release it. I said: ‘How are you going to promote a book that can’t be sold in stores, that I can’t tour for?’” He expected, he says, “absolutely zero to happen”.

Russia working to circumvent sanctions to ensure India oil imports continue

Delhi is world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude, which is now cheaper than oil from Middle East

Russia is already working to circumvent the latest US sanctions to ensure India can continue to import high levels of cheap Russian crude oil, according to industry analysts.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, India has become the world’s second largest purchaser of Russian crude oil, which has been heavily discounted due to the impact of western sanctions.

Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ’s endangered kākāpō

After a four-year wait, the abundant fruiting of the rimu tree could inspire the world’s heaviest parrots to boost their population

It has been four long years, but the world’s heaviest parrots, the kākāpō, are finally about to get it on again. The mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree has triggered breeding season – a rare event conservationists hope will lead to a record number of chicks for the critically endangered bird.

Kākāpō, the world’s only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats, and by the 1900s they were nearly extinct.

FBI says it hasn't found video of Border Patrol shooting in Portland

None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

Jack Smith to testify publicly before House panel this month

Former special counsel Jack Smith is expected to testify publicly in front of the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks.

Synagogue arson suspect said "he finally got them" after starting blaze, FBI says

The suspect, Stephen Spencer Pittman, told law enforcement in an interview that Beth Israel Congregation was "the synagogue of Satan," an FBI affidavit said.