Flights canceled, states of emergency declared as winter storm bears down

More than 200 million people are under winter storm threats as officials brace for power outages and travel difficulties.

Latest forecast maps show fresh predictions for winter storm

As millions of Americans hunker down for the winter storm, 19 states and Washington, D.C., have declared states of emergency.

Australian Open 2026: Sabalenka and Alcaraz in action as cooler day brings relief from heat

Aryna Sabalenka takes on Victoria Mboko; Carlos Alcaraz to face Tommy Paul
Updates from Sunday’s day session at Melbourne Park | Email Joey

This is the first-ever meeting between Sabalenka and 19-year-old rising star Mboko.

“I think it’s super cool,” Mboko said in the build-up. “I’ve never played a current number one in the world. That’s going to be a very different experience. I assume we’d be playing on Rod Laver, as well. I’ve never played on a Grand Slam centre court either. A lot of firsts. I’m just really excited. It’s something not many people get to experience. To be doing that on Sunday is, I think, really cool. Just to show what I got.”

What we know about latest shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis

A man is dead after a shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday involving federal immigration agents from Customs and Border Protection. Here's what we know so far.

Man killed by federal officer in Minnesota worked as ICU nurse, his parents say

The 37-year-old man killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis is identified by his family as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was "very upset with what was happening" in the ICE crackdown.

Minneapolis shooting latest: Alex Pretti’s parents say ‘please get the truth out’ after son fatally shot by federal agents

Minnesota governor decries ‘federal occupation’ after another deadly shooting less than three weeks after ICE officer killed Renee Good in city

• Man shot in Minneapolis by federal agents identified as nurse Alex Pretti

• ‘How many more Americans need to die?’: mayor lambastes Trump

In a statement sent to the Guardian, assistant secretary of homeland security Tricia McLaughlin said that at 9.05am local time, “as DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis” against a person they said was in the country illegally, who she said was “wanted for violent assault”, “an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”

McLaughlin said that “the officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted” and that “more details on the armed struggle are forthcoming.”

NTSB to rule on cause of midair collision that killed 67 people near D.C. airport

Thursday marks a year since an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair with an American Airlines plane. The NTSB is expected to rule on the probable cause.

A giant Kermit the Frog gets a new home in Atlanta

A 900-pound Kermit the Frog took a journey from Hollywood to Atlanta. Brian Unger has the story.

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv and Moscow set to hold more face-to-face talks as US hails ‘big step’ forward

First round of trilateral meetings shows ‘a lot of progress’ made towards peace, says US official, despite new Russian attacks. What we know on day 1,432

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to hold a second round of US-brokered direct peace talks next weekend after a two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi, despite Ukrainian complaints that negotiations were undermined by a barrage of deadly strikes. The trilateral talks in the UAE would resume on 1 February, a US official said on Saturday, adding: “I think getting everyone together was a big step. I think it’s a confirmation of the fact that, number one, a lot of progress has been made to date in really defining the details needed to get to a conclusion.” The talks were the first known direct contact between Ukrainian and Russian officials on a plan being pushed by Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “a lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive”.

Russia was criticised for launching drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv – Ukraine’s two largest cities – during peace talks in Abu Dhabi, reported Peter Beaumont. “Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror,” the country’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said after the latest Russian assault on critical infrastructure. With Kyiv and other cities in the midst of widespread outages of heat, water and power after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, officials in the capital said one person had been killed and at least 15 injured in the strikes that continued until morning.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff spoke to Russian president Vladimir Putin for four hours in Moscow ahead of the trilateral peace talks, a US official said. They “met for just about four hours, and again, [a] very, very productive discussion, speaking about the final issues that are open”, the official told a media call on Saturday.

The governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod said Ukrainian forces had launched a “massive” attack on the region’s main town, damaging energy infrastructure but causing no casualties. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram on Saturday that a building in the town – also called Belgorod – had been set on fire and an emergency crew was tackling the blaze. A downed drone had also damaged homes in a nearby village, he said.

The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday its forces had completed the takeover of the village of Starytsya in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region. The village is near the town of Vovchansk, close to the Ukraine-Russia border, where Russian forces launched an incursion in May 2024, and Moscow’s troops have been trying to extend their gains despite Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainian military’s general staff said late on Saturday that Russian forces had launched six attacks on an area including Starytsya. It made no acknowledgement that the village had changed hands. Ukraine’s DeepState military blog made no mention of the village in a report on Friday but said Russian forces “are continuing their pressure in the Vovchansk area”. The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

An intercepted oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet headed on Saturday to a port in southern France for police to inspect, French authorities said. The tanker, the Grinch, was intercepted on Thursday morning in international waters between Spain and North Africa, French president Emmanuel Macron said on X. French prosecutors suspect it of belonging to the network of vessels Moscow is accused of using to dodge sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. The tanker would be anchored at Fos-sur-Mere near Marseille and kept at the disposal of the Marseille public prosecutor as part of a preliminary investigation for failure to fly a flag, the regional maritime prefecture said.

Minneapolis business owners react to deadly shooting: "A neighbor was murdered"

Minneapolis business owners and community members were among the crowd of protesters in sub-zero temperatures following the deadly shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti​.

Senate Democrats will not provide votes to advance DHS funding bill, Schumer says

Sens. Chris Murphy and Alex Padilla have spent the past two days calling colleagues to whip opposition to the DHS funding bill, according to a source familiar with the process.

Myanmar election enters final stage amid airstrikes and exclusions

Third and final phase of voting taking place on Sunday in village just days after military airstrike killed 21 people

Polling stations open on Sunday for the final stage of Myanmar’s three-phase election, a one-sided vote that has been widely derided as a sham, with politicians jailed, the main opposition party banned and conflict raging across parts of the country.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has defended the vote as “free and fair”, presenting it as a return to democracy and stability. The election is happening almost five years after the military seized power in a coup, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggering a fierce conflict. The 80-year-old has been detained since she was ousted, and her party has been banned.

Trump walks back comments after insulting U.K., NATO allies about their veterans, fallen soldiers

President Trump shocked NATO partners in an interview with Fox News this week about U.K. veterans and fallen soldiers in Afghanistan. He walked back the comments on Truth Social. Haley Ott has more details.

Trump insults Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, threatens new tariffs against country

President Trump insults the Canadian prime minister, calling him "Governor Mark Carney," as he threatens new tariffs against the country. Willie James Inman has the details.

Russian strikes knock out heat in freezing Kyiv as peace talks continue

Russian strikes left much of Kyiv without heat, water and power during freezing temperature, even as Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. held talks on ending the nearly four-year war.

Travel cancellations pile up amid winter storm

The winter storm's impact on travel grew by the hour on Saturday. Airlines have already canceled more than 10,000 flights this weekend and counting. Ali Bauman reports from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Extreme cold, freezing rain and ice begins in Southern Plains

The slow-moving monster storm hit the southern plains on Saturday, and in Oklahoma City, it arrived with extreme cold. Jason Allen has more on the storm.

Defence department chief Greg Moriarty to succeed Kevin Rudd as Australian ambassador to US

Career public servant and former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull to represent Australia’s interests with Trump administration from April, including progression of Aukus agreement

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The head of the department of defence, Greg Moriarty, will succeed Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced Moriarty’s appointment to the role on Sunday. A former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull and former Australian envoy to Iran and Indonesia, he has led the defence department since 2017. He will take up the posting in Washington from April.

U.S. citizen shot, killed by federal agents in Minneapolis for second time this month

Warning: Video might be disturbing. For the second time this month, a federal agent has shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. The moment was caught on video again, and the city's police chief is urging outraged citizens to keep the peace. Lana Zak reports.

Gov. Walz calls on Trump to halt ICE operations in Minnesota after another fatal shooting

"Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota," Walz said.

Protesters supporting Palestine Action hunger striker arrested outside prison

Police said group breached HMP Wormwood Scrubs grounds where Umer Khalid is being held

A group of protesters supporting a Palestine Action prisoner on hunger strike have been arrested after they breached prison grounds, the Metropolitan police has said.

The force said on Saturday evening that it had detained a group of protesters outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs, in west London, and was in the process of making a number of arrests.

Airlines cancel more than 13,000 weekend flights as massive winter storm sweeps across the U.S.

U.S. airlines canceled tens of thousands of flights and waived change fees for travelers as a massive winter storm swept across the country.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Jan. 25)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

European football: Augsburg fight back to end Bayern Munich’s unbeaten run

• Massengo and Chaves strike late in Bavarian derby

• Mbappé sends Real Madrid top; Nwaneri scores on debut

Strugglers Augsburg scored twice in six minutes late in the second half to come from a goal down and stun hosts Bayern Munich 2-1 in the Bavarian derby on Saturday, the league leaders’ first Bundesliga loss of the season.

The hosts, fresh from securing a Champions League knockout spot with Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, took a 23rd-minute lead thanks to Hiroki Ito’s header but lacked any spark up front as Augsburg struck in the 75th and 81st minutes through Arthur Chaves and Han-Noah Massengo to earn their first win in Munich for 11 years.

Photos: Massive winter storm sweeps across the U.S.

A look at the extreme winter storm impacting two-thirds of the U.S.

Snow, sleet and power outages: 140m Americans under warnings for major winter storm

Dangerous weather engulfing large area of country as 16 states plus DC declare states of emergency

A powerful winter storm with more than 140 million Americans in its crosshairs started sweeping across much of the US on Saturday, packing heavy snow and sleet as well as freezing rain and causing widespread power outages.

Snowfall was already being reported on Saturday morning across parts of the plains, the south and the midwest, including in areas of Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas and Missouri.

Appeals court declines to order judge to sign arrest warrants against Don Lemon, others

The ruling made public on Saturday did not identify the names of the five defendants​ for whom the Justice Department is seeking arrest warrants, but multiple sources confirmed to CBS that Lemon is one of them.

Leviticus review – queer desire is a deadly curse in haunting horror

Sundance film festival: Conversion therapy has gory results in a smart and surprisingly romantic debut feature from Australian writer-director Adrian Chiarella

Something rather nasty is unfolding in Sundance horror Leviticus. If you asked the god-fearing residents of the isolated Australian town at its centre, they would say it’s the curse of homosexuality, quietly infecting the youth. If you asked the gay teens themselves, they would say it’s something far more horrifying.

In writer-director Adrian Chiarella’s indelible debut feature, queer desire is not only a danger to one’s safety from the bigots that you live, work and pray with, but it’s also a supernatural affliction. We first see teens Naim (Joe Bird) and Ryan (Stacy Clausen) as they engage in a clandestine hang, that familiar dance of a play-fight leading into a kiss. For Naim, it’s a new world opening up, a reason to believe there might be something to be happy about in an otherwise dull new town with his warm yet clueless single mother (Mia Wasikowska). But when Naim sees Ryan engaging in a similar tryst with Hunter (Jeremy Blewitt), the son of the local preacher, he allows his heart to overrule his head and does something he’ll live to regret.

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

Airlines cancel over 12,000 weekend flights due to winter storm

Sunday is seeing the most cancellations for a single day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adli scrambles last-gasp winner as Bournemouth take down Liverpool

Where to start with this intoxicating Premier League white-knuckle ride? As second-half stoppage time ticked into a fifth minute, the Bournemouth defender James Hill hurled one last long throw into the box and, after Ryan Gravenberch inadvertently poked the ball against a post in a desperate attempt to clear and with Alisson slipping and sliding on the sodden surface, Amine Adli wellied in a winner from an acute angle with virtually the last kick to condemn Liverpool to defeat.

Fifteen minutes earlier Dominik Szoboszlai cannoned in a stunning free-kick to haul Arne Slot’s side level from two goals down. Where would Liverpool be this season without the Hungary midfielder? Slot clenched both fists and gave his assistant Giovanni van Bronckhorst a high 10, but it was Andoni Iraola, beaming from ear to ear, who departed the pitch high-fiving his staff, only a second win since October secured. “It is probably the best goal to score … 10 seconds before I asked the fourth official [how long was left] and he told me the game would be over after the throw.”

Trump threatens to impose 100% tariff if Canada makes deal with China

In his Truth Social post, Trump suggested that China would try to use Canada to try to avoid paying U.S. tariffs.

The Moment review – Charli xcx struggles through defanged Brat summer satire

Sundance film festival: There’s a smart idea at play here, with the star playing a hellish version of herself fighting against corporate forces, but there’s not a lot else

In April 2025, the pop singer Charli xcx posted a TikTok reflecting on nearly a year of her seminal album Brat: “It’s really hard to let go of Brat and let go of this thing that is so inherently me and become my entire life, you know?” she said. “I started thinking about culture, and the ebbs and flows and lifespan of things … ” She acknowledged that over-saturation is perilous, and that maybe she should stop, but “I’m also interested in the tension of staying too long. I find that quite fascinating.”

The frank, informal admission fit with Brat, a pop culture-shifting album that channeled, with stunning immediacy, the imperious ego and bristling insecurity of an artist keenly aware of her own precarious level of fame. Her ambivalence was understandable – Brat rapidly turned Charli, who spent over a decade as a fixture of pop’s so-called middle class, into a main pop girl, an artist played at midwest sorority weddings and used by a US presidential campaign. But her interest in “the tension of staying too long” also felt a little trite, the type of smart-sounding musing that dead-ends in self-awareness. Brat summer was heady, hedonistic, fun – a meme, an aesthetic, a vibe, a moment. That said moment passes? Well … yeah.

Pittsburgh Steelers line up Mike McCarthy as next head coach

• Steelers to turn to McCarthy after Tomlin exits role

• McCarthy won Super Bowl with Packers in 2010

• Hire rekindles link with former QB Aaron Rodgers

Mike McCarthy’s next job is set to bring him back to where it all began.

The Pittsburgh Steelers intend to hire the Super Bowl-winning coach as their next head coach, according to multiple reports, with ESPN first breaking the news. A person familiar with the discussions told the Associated Press the sides are moving toward an agreement, though a deal has not yet been finalized.

Man shot dead by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis

The incident, which was caught on video, marks the second deadly shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis in less than a month.

‘It’s such a complex little area’: how to really look after your wrists

The structure of wrists mean we have the capacity to do both handstands and neurosurgery. A lot can go wrong

• Read more summer essentials

It’s a bad time of year for wrists. Parents – and sometimes grandparents – full of enthusiasm and holiday cheer hop on their child’s new scooter or bike, keen to show said child how great the new toy is, and forget that gravity isn’t as kind to the body when we’re older. Falls happen, and wrists often take the brunt.

“It’s got its own name: ‘fall on an outstretched hand’,” says Brigette Evans, an occupational therapist at Bathurst Hand Therapy. As we fall, our instinct is to put our arms out in front of us to protect our body, face and head, and the wrist takes a lot of that force.

Could Sydney’s creaking sewerage system be linked to the spate of shark attacks?

Experts say dirty waters can attract more sharks – but there are many other factors at play

• Fatberg the size of four buses likely birthed poo balls that closed Sydney beaches – and it can’t be cleared

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

After four shark attacks in New South Wales in less than 48 hours, authorities on Tuesday urged beachgoers to “just go to a local pool instead”.

Sydneysiders have heard similar warnings before – in the past, they’ve been issued for beaches polluted with faecal matter after heavy rains.

Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus: ‘Bass players are just cool. We’re the one that brings it all together’

The bass player and singer on naming his chickens, selling his Banksy and surviving cancer

You used to keep chickens named after women from Blink-182 songs. Which was your favourite?

There was Wendy, Holly, Josie … I forget the others. We lived in London, but also had a 25-acre farm out in Somerset with a Georgian farmhouse that was built in 1750. A guy from the British Beekeeping Association, who worked at the local church, would come over and help me open up my hives and harvest the honey. It was crazy how much honey we got – up to 150 jars a season. It was the best honey I’ve ever tasted.

Trump’s ‘new normal’ leaves Australia marooned. We can no longer pretend otherwise | Zoe Daniel

The rules-based global order is rapidly disintegrating. It’s time for middle powers to stand together

The French president Emmanuel Macron borrowed some lines from Hugh Grant about bullies at the World Economic Forum in Davos. His target was Donald Trump, who had leaked a conciliatory text message from Macron who, evidently, was trying to get the US president to the table to shore up the rapidly disintegrating global order.

In the love-it-or-hate-it Christmas film, Love Actually, Grant – playing the foppish British prime minister of the day – confronts the US president, saying: “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend, and since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward, I will be prepared to be much stronger.”

Zoe Daniel is a three-time ABC foreign correspondent and the former independent member for Goldstein. She is the chair of Mental Health Victoria

Donald Trump will not attend Super Bowl because it’s ‘too far away’

• Trump tells New York Post he will skip Super Bowl

• NFL stands by Bad Bunny amid rightwing backlash

Donald Trump said he will not attend next month’s Super Bowl in northern California, citing the distance to the game, amid an ongoing culture-war backlash over the NFL’s choice of half-time and pre-game performers.

Trump told the New York Post he plans to skip the 8 February championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara because the trip is “just too far away”, adding that he would have considered attending if it were a shorter flight. The decision means Trump will not repeat his appearance at last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, where he became the first sitting US president to attend the NFL’s showcase event.

Chuck Klosterman's unique take on football

Author and essayist Chuck Klosterman shares his thoughts on football with "CBS Saturday Morning."

Thomas Frank calls for ‘calm heads’ as Tottenham fans renew calls for his exit

• Head coach targeted in draw at Burnley

• Frank: ‘You can’t say we didn’t do everything to win’

Thomas Frank has called for “calm heads” after Tottenham fans urged the club to dismiss him during their draw at relegation-threatened Burnley. The away end sang “You’re getting sacked in the morning” at full time, making their views clear to the hierarchy and head coach.

Cristian Romero salvaged a late point for Tottenham after Axel Tuanzebe and Lyle Foster had turned things around to counter Micky van de Ven’s opening goal. The draw leaves Tottenham with two wins in 14 and mired in mid-table.

Donald Trump walks back comments about UK soldiers in Afghanistan

After anger at claim that Nato troops ‘stayed off frontlines’, US president says UK forces were ‘great and very brave’

Donald Trump has said UK soldiers who fought in Afghanistan were “among the greatest of all warriors” after previously drawing criticism for his claims that Nato troops stayed away from the frontlines during the conflict.

In a post on social media on Saturday, the US president said: “The great and very brave soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America.

A man is fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis

Federal agents have shot and killed another person in Minneapolis, this time a 51-year-old man.

‘I feel like I’ll never be cold again’: How tennis stars coped with Melbourne heat | Tumaini Carayol

Extreme heat wreaked havoc on Australian Open schedule but tennis has changed its ways of dealing with the sun

Even before the first set and first hour of his match elapsed, Tomas Machac had asked the umpire for the tournament doctor, trainer and pickle juice, the drink du jour for tackling cramps. Those preventive measures taken in the intense early stages of his third-round tussle with Lorenzo Musetti proved to be sensible, for the pair would spend a brutal four hours, 25 minutes on court.

Four hours of that took place inside an open John Cain Arena, a furnace in suffocating heat. “We knew today was going to be really, really hot,” Musetti said. “I think I managed well to finish the match without cramping.”

Manchester City get back on track against Wolves despite VAR handball rarity

After Pep Guardiola dropped Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, Manchester City enjoyed a first Premier League win in four games. It handed Wolves a first defeat in six and was notable for the referee, Farai Hallam, on his top-flight debut, daring to stick with his decision not to award a penalty after being sent by his video assistant for a pitchside review.

That was for a Yerson Mosquera handball and it infuriated Guardiola, though after City’s dire recent form a first three points since 27 December is what matters. The manager reiterated a long-held belief that City can receive unfair officiating and pointed to his 11 injured players as being needed to mitigate against this.

Google AI Overviews cite YouTube more than any medical site for health queries, study suggests

Exclusive: German research into responses to health queries raises fresh questions about summaries seen by 2bn people a month

• How the ‘confident authority’ of AI Overviews is putting public health at risk

Google’s search feature AI Overviews cites YouTube more than any medical website when answering queries about health conditions, according to research that raises fresh questions about a tool seen by 2 billion people each month.

The company has said its AI summaries, which appear at the top of search results and use generative AI to answer questions from users, are “reliable” and cite reputable medical sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic.

Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariffs over its new trade deal with China

The announcement is a reversal for Trump, who initially initially praised the agreement with China as something Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney "should be doing."

Root and Rashid steer England past Sri Lanka in second ODI to end barren run

• 2nd ODI: Sri Lanka 219; England 223-5. Eng win by five wkts

• Root hits 75 but says pitch not ‘great wicket for ODI cricket’

It’s been a rough few years for England’s 50-over side but the glow of their World Cup victory has not completely disappeared. Joe Root and Adil Rashid, both part of the 2019 class, were the headliners of the second one-day international against Sri Lanka, setting up a five-wicket victory to level the series.

Rashid led the England attack on a serious turner, taking two for 34 as Harry Brook used 40.3 overs of spin, limiting Sri Lanka to a total of 219. It was still a proper challenge, particularly in a must-win game for the tourists, their winless run away from home in ODIs having stretched to 11 on Thursday.

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

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

Here’s how Europe can file for divorce from Donald Trump | Phillip Inman

Amid the tumult of the WEF in Davos this week, some investors are leading the way by ditching US government bonds

There is a way to file for divorce from Donald Trump and Europe needs to grab the opportunity.

To the public it will look as if nothing has changed. But behind the scenes the EU and the UK could close the joint bank account and cut up the credit cards, or at least set in motion a form of financial separation that limits the power of a controlling former partner.

Trump deals with fallout over NATO comments

President Trump is facing backlash after making comments about NATO's participation in Afghanistan.

Trump threatens Canada with 100% tariff over possible deal with China

President also claims US refineries will process seized Venezuelan oil, saying ‘we take the oil’

Donald Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 100% tariff on all Canadian imports if the North American country makes a trade deal with China.

Beside that tariff threat, another Trump foreign policy maneuver to make news on Saturday involved the president announcing the US had taken the oil that was on recently seized Venezuelan tankers.

Russia launches ‘brutal’ attack on Ukraine as peace talks continue

Kyiv says Moscow used 396 drones and missiles in ‘another night of Russian terror’ on second day of talks in UAE

Russia launched a major drone and missile attack targeting Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, early on Saturday, as US, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators met in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of tripartite peace talks.

“Peace efforts? Trilateral meeting in the UAE? Diplomacy? For Ukrainians, this was another night of Russian terror,” the country’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said after the latest Russian assault on critical infrastructure.

ICE raids turn life into a daily terror for Minneapolis schoolkids: ‘This is a generational trauma’

As Trump-deployed agents pervade the region, students struggle to carry on with lessons while carrying grief and fear that they or their loved ones will be taken

In south Minneapolis, a special education student logged on for their online class from the basement. They were hiding because immigration agents were banging at the door.

A second grader started having a panic attack in the middle of art class because agents had arrested his dad. His teacher had to ask a colleague to watch the other students, bring him outside, and hold him for half an hour to help calm him.

UK expected to reduce amount of steel it allows in tariff-free

Change being considered amid global glut driven by supplies from China along with a rise in protectionism

The UK is expected to reduce the amount of foreign steel it allows in tariff-free, as the government looks to protect its domestic industry amid a global glut and a rise in protectionism.

Ministers are considering changing the quota system that allows a quantity of the metal to be imported before imposing a 25% levy on anything above that level.

Heavy snow and rainfall kill 61, injure 110 over 3 days in Afghanistan

Dozens were killed and hundreds homes destroyed, according to the country's disaster management authority, in storms impacting 15 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.

Six people injured after car crashes inside Detroit airport

Driver taken into custody after car crashes through airport entrance and strikes Delta ticket counter

A car crashed through the entrance of Detroit’s metropolitan Wayne county airport on Friday evening, striking a ticket counter and injuring six people, airport officials said.

The driver was taken into custody, the Wayne county airport authority (WCAA) said in a statement. The cause of the crash was not yet known, and airport police were investigating.

The taking of Liam Ramos reveals the sheer sadism of ICE | Moira Donegan

It has become difficult to feel shock at the actions of the Trump administration. But this useless cruelty is shameless

Liam Ramos is five. In photographs of his arrest on Tuesday, released by the school district where he is enrolled as a preschooler, he is wearing a large blue hat with a bunny face and ears. According to the superintendent, Liam had just arrived home from school with his father when ICE agents apprehended the two and arrested them. Allegedly, one of Liam’s relatives, who was outside at the time, begged for the little boy to be allowed to stay there in their care; instead, both father and son were captured by the federal agents and quickly transported to a detention camp in Dilley, Texas. Liam’s father has no apparent criminal record; he has a pending asylum case. Does it need to be said that the child does not have a criminal record, either? In one picture, a white man’s hand clutches, claw-like, on to the back of Liam’s Spider-Man backpack. In another, a masked man stands behind Liam, stooping slightly to reach the small child, as the boy stands at the front door of his home. According to school officials, the agent instructed Liam to knock on the door and ask to be let into the house “in order to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a five-year-old as bait”.

Liam is the fourth child from his Minneapolis-area school district to be seized by ICE agents since the surge of federal immigration forces in the city. According to school officials, two 17-year olds were also taken – one snatched alone from their car, another captured at home with her mother. Another child, a 10-year-old girl in the fourth grade, was allegedly also taken by the federal forces – while on her way to school with her mother.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

‘A lot of fear’: the families bearing brunt of Sweden’s immigration crackdown

Many of those moved into an asylum return centre have held jobs for years and can speak the language

“Sweden did this for us,” said Sofiye*, making a supportive scooping up gesture with her hands. “And then, bam.” She dropped them to the ground.

Sofiye, who has three children, arrived in Sweden from Uzbekistan as an asylum seeker in 2008, and for much of that time she was able to build a life in the Scandinavian country. The family lived in a flat in a Stockholm suburb and Sofiye worked for the municipality in the home help department. She learned Swedish and her children went through the Swedish school system. Her youngest son was born in Sweden and her 18-year-old son, Hamza, who is studying in college to be a technician, doesn’t know life anywhere else.

Police Federation criticises plans for mandatory ‘licence to practise’ for officers

Crime minister says reforms will improve standards, but Federation says unsafe workloads must be tackled first

The government must stop burdening police officers with unsafe workloads and improve police pay and training if they want “professional” policing, the Police Federation has said, in response to sweeping Home Office changes to improve standards in the police.

Under the new plans, to be unveiled in a white paper on Monday, police officers in England and Wales will be required to hold and renew a “licence to practise” throughout their career in the future.

China's top general under investigation in latest military purge

Analysts believe these purges aim to reform the military and ensure loyalty to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Another commission member, Liu Zhenli, is also under investigation.

The 'ticking-bomb' Syrian prisons filled with IS suspects – video explainer

The Syrian government has taken control of several prison camps holding Islamic State (IS) suspects in the north-east of the country. The takeover took place after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which previously controlled the facilities, signed a ceasefire agreement with the government. Hundreds of prisoners reportedly fled the camps during fighting before the truce. Damascus claims to have recaptured most of the escapees, but the instability has reignited fears over the resurgence of IS in the region

• Concern over north-east Syria security amid fears IS militants could re-emerge

They survived conquistadors and settlers. Now the Arhuaco are facing an even greater threat

Colombia’s Sierra Nevada has become a strategic prize for drug traffickers and paramilitaries, leaving its Indigenous people threatened with ‘physical and cultural extinction’

Around a fire in a ceremonial hut in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Arhuaco people make a pledge. Tying traditional cotton threads around their wrists, they promise to guard the land beneath them – and then they ask for protection.

“Our culture has been preserved for thousands of years,” says Ati Quigua, an Indigenous leader. “We are a peaceful community, but now violence is coming to our land.”

What else can be done to force Trump’s DoJ to release all the Epstein files? Legal experts weigh in

The deadline for Trump’s justice department to release the files came and went, but experts say there are still options

For months, the 2025 news cycle was dominated by the disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Public outrage over the continued secrecy surrounding Epstein investigative files – which Donald Trump failed to release fully early in his second term, despite campaign promises – was growing.

‘The invisible man’: Joe Biden has disappeared in almost every way – except in Trump’s daily commentary

The 46th president largely exists as Trump’s foil, with his successor blaming him for the country’s woes

In bitter cold beneath the US Capitol dome, he walked to a marine helicopter and shared parting words with Donald Trump. Then, arriving at Joint Base Andrews, Joe Biden offered farewell remarks to his loyal staff. “We’re leaving office,” he said, “We’re not leaving the fight.”

But, one year later, Washington, and the world, have mostly moved on from the 46th president. Biden, 83, has been writing a lucrative memoir, planning a presidential library and fighting prostate cancer. He was once the most powerful man on the planet, but now Biden’s public appearances have been scarce and his influence has palpably diminished.

Opinion: Mark Carney's warning and its echoes from the past

When he spoke at Davos this week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney referenced a 1978 essay by Vaclav Havel, written when Czechoslovakia was under Soviet control.

Syrian and Kurdish forces agree to extend ceasefire as threat of war looms

Ceasefire to be extended for one month to allow transfer of suspected Islamic State members from Syria to Iraq

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces agreed to extend a ceasefire on Saturday, according to Syrian diplomatic sources, temporarily staving off a looming war between the two sides in the north-east of the country.

Sources told Agence France-Presse the ceasefire would be extended for “a period of up to one month at most”, citing the need to facilitate the transfer of suspected members of Islamic State from Syria to Iraq.

Why 3 Catholic cardinals released a statement critical of Trump's foreign policy

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago tells NPR's Scott Simon why he and two other Catholic cardinals released a statement critical of the Trump administration's foreign policy.

‘Calm down, you jerk’: Djokovic admits to losing cool in Australian Open battle

• Djokovic beats Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4)

• Serb apologises after wild shot almost hits ball girl

Novak Djokovic chalked up his 400th grand slam victory with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) defeat of Botic van de Zandschulp to reach the fourth round on Saturday, but the Serb was fortunate not to receive a code violation after losing his cool.

An incident in the second set might have proved very costly, with Djokovic carelessly sending a ball flying close to the head of a ball girl at the net.

High on ... mustard? Cannabis industry teams up with chefs in push to stand out

US legal cannabis industry seeks new ways to incorporate weed into meals after a tough year for business in 2025

Food and stoner culture have always gone together, but these days chefs and cannabis professionals are working together to find thoughtful, new ways to incorporate weed into meals.

For National Hot Pastrami Day on 14 January, a celebrated Jewish deli in Chicago teamed up with a local Illinois dispensary to give customers free pastrami sandwiches garnished with cannabis-infused mustard.

I heard the news on the radio: my parents and sister had died in a helicopter crash. How would I survive their sudden loss?

I was 16 when the course of my life changed, and for years I was unable to speak about about what had happened

I am lying in bed listening to the radio at my boarding school as my roommate is getting dressed. As she walks out of the door she says, “See you at breakfast – don’t be late.” I’m about to get up when the early morning news comes on the radio, and I hear the announcer saying my parents’ names.

By the time my roommate arrives at breakfast, everyone has heard. My friends run to be with me. The housemaster and his wife stand in the corridor outside my bedroom, not allowing anyone in. All they can hear are my screams and the smashing of furniture. It is beyond comprehension, but then everything from now on is beyond comprehension.

‘Disheartening’: US justice department slashes funding to programs combating child sex trafficking

Prosecutors say cuts to funding and training limits their ability to bring child predators to justice

The US Department of Justice has slashed funding and training resources for law enforcement working on investigations and prosecutions of sex crimes against children under the Trump administration, which limits their ability to carry out this work.

Major cuts include the cancelation of 2025 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation, due to be held in Washington DC in June. The conference is an annual event that provides technical training to prosecutors, state and federal law enforcement officers on investigating online crimes against children.

Meta's Reality Labs cuts sparked fears of a 'VR winter'

Meta's deprioritizing virtual reality in favor of artificial intelligence and Internet-connected smart glasses raised concerns about the future of the industry.

‘Displaying the cloth like this showed its true beauty’: Aung Chan Thar’s best phone picture

A beautiful lake, gorgeous fabric: how could the Myanmar photographer resist?

When Aung Chan Thar was 25, he was selected to represent Myanmar as part of Asean Centre for Biodiversity’s (ACB) Young Asean Storytellers programme. A cohort of 20 young artists and writers visited Asean Heritage Parks in their own countries to tell stories of biodiversity, nature and culture.

Aung first travelled to Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary, known for its floating gardens, in 2022. “The Intha people live around the lake and build floating houses: structures made from bamboo on stilts,” Aung says. “Fishing is a common occupation; they use their feet to paddle their boats. So is the production of colourful cloth.”

Madeline Horwath on not watching Heated Rivalry with your parents – cartoon

‘I wish I had the power to ease his suffering’: Gaza’s cancer patients trapped by war and blockade

Thousands of Palestinian cancer patients are living without treatment as they await medical evacuation

When the Gaza war began, Ismail Abu Naji was just 18 months old, his small body covered in swollen, bleeding lesions. Months earlier, doctors had diagnosed him with a rare blood cancer, one that, if untreated, is often a death sentence.

In the weeks before the war, Ismail’s family had arranged for him to be transferred to Al-Makassed hospital in Jerusalem, a charitable institution for Palestinians, for specialised care. But the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that triggered the conflict meant Ismail could not leave the territory.

As the winter storm rages, here's what to know in your state

Reporters across the NPR Network are covering the impact of the storm and how officials are responding. We've also got tips for staying safe once bad weather hits.

Fake weight-loss medication in tablet form could flood Britain, experts warn

Better regulation and enforcement urged before launch of oral treatments, which criminals are likely to try to exploit

Experts are warning that fake weight-loss treatments could become more prevalent as tablet forms of the medications, currently available only via injections in the UK, are launched.

They say stronger regulation and enforcement are needed to prevent fraudsters from cashing in on tablets which will be easier to counterfeit.

Ryan Wedding’s journey from Olympic snowboarder to alleged cocaine kingpin

The native of Thunder Bay, Canada, has been compared to Pablo Escobar and El Chapo – but is he really as big a figure as US prosecutors have claimed?

To compete at the highest levels of snowboarding, racers must master carving, edging and balance at speeds stretching the limits of imagination. They can fluently read the nuances of snow and fine-tune their bodies to cross the finish line faster than anyone else.

The Canadian snowboarder Ryan Wedding had these skills – but also the quality that catapults amateurs to an elite level: a highly competitive instinct to succeed that can at times manifest in a desire to crush fellow competitors.

Where to watch UFC 324 live tonight to see Paddy Pimblett vs. Justin Gaethje and more fighters show down

UFC 324 features a stacked fight card. Here's the schedule, time and information on where to watch the UFC event.

The hill I will die on: Bum gun, bidet or shattaf – whatever you call it, install one now | Mona Eltahawy

Really, why wouldn’t you wash yourself after using the toilet? If you won’t listen to me, then listen to Zohran Mamdani – and get your straddle on

The first time I heard a bidet mentioned in the US – or at least what it’s used for – was at the start of an off-Broadway play I saw in 2015 called Threesome. An Egyptian-American couple are in bed waiting for a white man they’ve invited to join them for the tryst of the title. He bounds on to the stage after using the bathroom, and the couple yell at him, “Go back and wash your ass!”

Like that couple, and Threesome’s playwright, Yussef El Guindi, I’m Egyptian. In Egypt, bathrooms in every home, as well as those in public buildings, are fitted with some kind of contraption for washing after using the toilet: a bidet, a standalone low oval basin next to the toilet that one straddles – or, more popularly, a shattaf, a fixture in the toilet itself through which water streams out. Sometimes, the shattaf is a small showerhead attached to the wall next to the toilet. I’ve recently learned that its name in English is a bum gun. It’s my favourite kind of shattaf, because you can control the water pressure.

Mona Eltahawy writes the FEMINIST GIANT newsletter. She is the author of The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, and Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution

‘To say I was the favourite would imply I was liked’: Mark Haddon on a loveless childhood

As a bookish child with a distant father and a disapproving mother, the Curious Incident author retreated into a world of his own. Looking back, he asks what it means to lose parents who never showed you love

When I see washed-out photographs of English life in the 60s and 70s – cardiganed grandmothers eating roadside picnics beside Morris Minors, pale men sunbathing in shoes and socks on stripy deckchairs, Raleigh Choppers and caged budgerigars and faux leather pouffes – I feel a wave of what can’t properly be called nostalgia, because the last thing I’d want is to return to that age and those places where I was often profoundly unhappy and from which I’d have been desperate to escape if escape had been a possibility. Why then this longing, this echo of some remembered comfort?

Is it that, as children, we live inside a bubble of focused attention that gives everything inside a memorable fierceness? The way one could lie, for example, on a lawn and look down into the jungle of the grass to see earwigs and woodlice lumbering between the pale green trunks like brontosauri lumbering between the ferns and gingkos of the Late Jurassic. The way a rucked bedspread could become a mountain range stretched below the wings of a badly painted Airfix Spitfire. Or do objects, in their constancy, provide consolation in a world where adults are unpredictable and distant and unloving?

‘Repatriate the gold’: German economists advise withdrawal from US vaults

Shift in relations and unpredictability of Donald Trump make it ‘risky to store so much gold in the US’, say experts

Germany is facing calls to withdraw its billions of euros’ worth of gold from US vaults, spurred on by the shift in transatlantic relations and the unpredictability of Donald Trump.

Germany holds the world’s second biggest national gold reserves after the US, of which approximately €164bn (£122bn) worth – 1,236 tonnes – is stored in New York.

‘A long time coming’: table tennis world hails Marty Supreme-fueled boom

Once dismissed as a basement game, table tennis is enjoying an unlikely US revival as the Oscar-tipped biopic Marty Supreme collides with a wave of new players

For decades in the US, table tennis has lived a double life: one of the most widely played sports in the country, yet still dismissed by many as a basement pursuit. Now, unexpectedly, it is having a cultural moment.

The release of Marty Supreme, a film steeped in obsession and myth, and loosely based on postwar American table tennis champion Marty Reisman, has pushed ping-pong into the pop-culture mainstream – just as US Major League Table Tennis sells out matches, clubs report growing interest, and younger players pick up paddles for the first time.

What links Wendy’s burgers and Mercedes-Benz cars? The Saturday quiz

From Blue Monday and Candy Girl to ‘Violet, you’re turning violet’, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Lydia of Thyatira is claimed to be the first person in Europe to do what?
2 In what country do mountain lions eat penguins?
3 Single pot still is a style of what drink?
4 “Violet, you’re turning violet” is a line in what book?
5 Whose Easter Sonata was originally attributed to her brother?
6 Which two small UK cities share a name?
7 Who spoke the pitmatic dialect?
8 Which football team won five NASL titles?
What links:
9 Mercedes-Benz cars; MySQL database; Tootsie Roll sweet; Wendy’s burgers?
10 Michael Henchard; John Loveday; Elfride Swancourt; Clym Yeobright?
11 Beg, Steal or Borrow; Blue Monday; Candy Girl; Hangin’ Tough?
12 1 (1st); 55 (10th); 75,025 (25th); 12,586,269,025 (50th)?
13 First Consul for Life; Co-Prince of Andorra; King of Italy; Sovereign of Elba?
14 Women’s 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, long jump, discus, shot put and heptathlon?
15 Chicago; Buenos Aires; Marktl, Bavaria; Wadowice, Poland?

Could a surfing retreat in Morocco conquer my fear of the sea?

The process of learning to catch a wave is an all-consuming activity that can prove to be a powerful therapeutic tool

I can’t remember when my terror of waves began in earnest. Maybe it was a singular incident that triggered it, like that monster wave in Biarritz, France, almost 20 years ago that body-slammed me on to the seabed, taking all the skin off my chin.

More likely is that my transition from fearless to frightened had been more of a slow creep, and a perfectly rational one when you consider the danger of riptides, hidden rocks, sharks and concussion. But for me, I feel it goes deeper. Almost inevitably my job will have had something to do with this. Nearly two decades of working as a journalist reporting on the very worst things that human beings can do to other human beings in a wide array of contexts has definitely eroded my sense that I can keep myself – and others – safe from harm in a dangerous world.

Red meat, no lettuce: Nigel Farage and Liz Truss attend private lunch after week of Tory defections

Meal at Mayfair club took place on day Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick criticised former PM’s mini-budget

If it was on the menu, a side helping of lettuce never made it to the table. Over blood-red steak and chips, Nigel Farage and Liz Truss came together on Monday for a discreet lunch at a swish Mayfair club, organised by a climate-denying US thinktank.

Lois Perry, a former leader of the far-right Ukip party who is now Europe director of the Heartland Institute, posted photographs, now deleted, on X of Farage addressing others, including Truss, at the meal.

Everybody Loves Our Dollars by Oliver Bullough review – a jaw-dropping exposé of money laundering

From handbags to drug gangs to central banks – one of Britain’s finest investigative reporters reveals the surprising links in a global chain of crime

Question: why, if almost half of us now use cash only a few times a year, are high-denomination banknotes being printed in increasingly large numbers? In April 2024, the value of all the dollar bills in circulation reached an all-time high of $2.345tn, and may well be even more than that by now. The total value of dollars in the world has doubled every decade since the 1970s. Similarly, there are 1.552tn euro notes in circulation, while most other currencies – the British pound, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and so on – are all at something like their highest levels in history. This at a time when so many of us have pretty much stopped using cash altogether, and even the people who sell the Big Issue in our streets are equipped with card readers.

When I talk about “us”, I mean those who don’t have to worry about hiding huge cash profits from drug dealing, people-smuggling and so on. And that of course provides the answer to the question: while law-abiding citizens like you and I have to jump through hoops when we move even relatively small sums around for entirely legitimate reasons – buying a fridge or a secondhand car, say – drug dealers just shove bundles of the stuff into their coat pockets or suitcases and whisk them round the world in order to keep their business going. The number of dogs trained to sniff out cash at international airports is growing, but nothing like as fast as the rate at which big-denomination notes are being pumped out by the world’s central banks. And the ways in which money is laundered are growing in complexity and sophistication.

Tim Dowling: the dung men are here. The tortoise is out. Surely it’s not spring already …

I see the manure sellers as part of some lost and deeply English tradition, which is why I prefer my wife to deal with them

I am in the kitchen watching the dog and the cat fight when the tortoise suddenly appears. Or to put it another way: I watched the dog and the cat fight for a while, until it became tiresome; the next time I looked up – possibly 15 minutes later – the tortoise was also there. That’s what I mean by suddenly. In real terms, the tortoise doesn’t do anything suddenly.

“Where have you been?” I say, even though I know the answer. I haven’t seen the tortoise in six weeks, but I’m certain he’s been butted up against the left rear leg of the sofa for that whole period.

From scorpions to peacocks: the species thriving in London’s hidden microclimates

An extraordinary mosaic of wildlife has made Britain’s urban jungle its home

London is the only place in the UK where you can find scorpions, snakes, turtles, seals, peacocks, falcons all in one city – and not London zoo. Step outside and you will encounter a patchwork of writhing, buzzing, bubbling urban microclimates.

Sam Davenport, the director of nature recovery at the London Wildlife Trust, emphasises the sheer variation in habitats that you find in UK cities, which creates an amazing “mosaic” of wildlife.

How a kitten eased our existential angst: the Becky Barnicoat cartoon

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How we draw the age of Trump and turmoil: two cartoonists go head-to-head | Martin Rowson and Ella Baron

Martin Rowson has been drawing for the Guardian since the 1980s; Ella Baron since 2022. In paint and pixels, each is tasked with capturing the chaos and absurdity of our political moment

Photographs and video by David Levene

• Gallery: cartoonists Martin Rowson and Ella Baron at work – in pictures

Martin Rowson and Ella Baron are both regular contributors to the Guardian’s daily political cartoon. Martin has been with the Guardian for decades; Ella has been contributing since 2022. This week, we challenged the pair to draw on the same subject (Trump and a world in turmoil), on the same day, to see what each – with their different styles, tools and perspectives – would come up with. Martin landed on a Shakespearean scene, with a warped “King Leer” flanked by snickering world leaders. Ella proposed him squatting in a dystopian nest, surrounded by his spoils. Below, each reflects on their process, the challenges and joys of political cartoons, and what they have learned from one another.

Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for leek and tempeh manis | The new vegan

Soft leeks and crisped tempeh drizzled in a sticky, spicy sweet soy sauce and liberally sprinkled with salted peanuts

Tempeh is a gift to all home cooks from Indonesia. Made from fermented compressed soy beans, it’s an intelligent ingredient equivalent to meat in terms of protein, subtle and nutty in flavour and chewy in texture. Happily, it is also now widely available in most large UK supermarkets. Here, the tempeh is cooked in a typical Indonesian way – that is, fried until crisp, then coated in a sticky, spicy sweet soy sauce and liberally sprinkled with salted peanuts. In fact, the only anomaly is the leeks, making this dish mostly Indonesian but via a field in Lincolnshire.

Lajuana is 89, with the body and mind of someone decades younger. What are the secrets of the superagers?

Why do some people age better than others? Five extraordinary individuals – who scientists are studying – share their tips

Lajuana Weathers is determined to be the healthiest version of herself. She starts each day with a celery juice, is always trying to increase her step count, and meditates daily. Weathers is also 89 years old. And she has no plans to slow down. “I wake up in the morning and feel blessed that I have another chance at a day of life,” says the grandmother of six, and great‑grandmother of six more, who lives in Illinois in an independent living facility for seniors. “I look at my life as a holistic entity, and in that life is my physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. I have to take care of all of those. That’s what I like about the ageing process. All the clutter of raising children is out and I can concentrate on the wellness of me.”

Weathers is a superager. This isn’t a self-proclaimed label, but one backed up by science – she is part of the SuperAging Research Initiative at the University of Chicago. To qualify for the study, you have to be over 80 years old and have memory performance that’s at least as good as the average 50- to 60-year-old. There are about 400 superagers enrolled across North America.

‘We cannot say for sure these wolves come from Russia’: Finns try to fathom cause of record reindeer deaths

Wolves killed more than 2,100 reindeer in Finland last year, and herders are blaming the Ukraine war

Juha Kujala no longer knows how many reindeer will return to his farm from the forest each December. The 54-year-old herder releases his animals into the wilderness on the 830-mile Finnish-Russian border each spring to grow fat on lichens, grass and mushrooms, just as his ancestors have done for generations.

But since 2022, grisly discoveries of reindeer skeletons on the forest floor have disrupted this ancient way of life. The culprits, according to Kujala: wolves from Russia.

Epstein's inner circle subpoenaed to testify before House Oversight Committee

Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, accountant and billionaire benefactor were issued subpoenas to testify before the committee in February and March.

Extra Geography review – a sweet and spiky coming-of-age debut

Sundance film festival: two teenage girls find their friendship put to the test in a witty and charmingly odd British comedy

If you know, you know that first best friendship is a world unto itself – lush, rugged and expansive, nutritive and intoxicating, vulnerable to freak changes in the weather. Its specific terrain stays invisible to outsiders; only the two within it know, and they themselves are likely to lose it in time. So goes the perilous trekking in Extra Geography, Molly Manners’ nimble and frequently funny debut film, which astutely maps the peaks and valleys of one charged friendship between two adolescent girls at an English boarding school.

Minna and Flic, played by remarkable newcomers Galaxie Clear (coming for Chase Infiniti’s name game) and Marni Duggan, begin year 10 sometime in the early 2000s, in a sunny meadow of boundless, heady entanglement. They move in playful unison, share beds and mannerisms, hold common goals (Oxbridge) and disdain (for boys, and those who covet them). Manners, a Bafta nominee for her work on the better-than-it-should-be Netflix series One Day, is particularly attuned to the energizing rhythm of platonic-ish intimacy; the first third of this brisk, 94-minute film is a mesmerizing symphony of female mind-meld, the girls slamming lockers, opening notebooks, flopping on the floor and hatching plans to a swift, synchronous beat.

Nvidia director Persis Drell resigns with $26 million worth of stock after decade on board

Nvidia's board now has 10 directors, including CEO Jensen Huang,

Black and white and sent back over: end of panda diplomacy as Japan returns bears to China

The departure of pandas will leave legions of Japanese admirers bereft, but it is also symptomatic of a dramatic deterioration in China-Japan relations

The panda house at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo is not due to open for several hours, but visitors are already milling around its entrance, pausing to pose for photographs in front of murals of the facility’s most beloved residents. A short walk away the gift shop is doing a roaring trade in themed souvenirs – from cuddly toys and stationery to T-shirts and biscuits.

The visitors are here to say goodbye to Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei. Early next week, the twin pandas, born at the zoo in 2021 but technically on loan from China, will be flown out of Tokyo’s Narita airport to China, where they will undergo quarantine and be reunited with their sister, Xiang Xiang, at a conservation and research centre in Sichuan province.

Winter storm doesn't disprove climate change, despite Trump's claim

President Trump cited a major winter storm​ as evidence to suggest that global warming does not exist — a misleading claim that has been consistently debunked by climate experts.