Newcastle v Qarabag, Inter v Bodø/Glimt: Champions League playoff second legs – live

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A short-corner routine by Atleti is pinged back down the left flank. Matteo Ruggeri crosses, the ball dropping onto the foot of Alexander Sørloth, who slots with a confident sidefoot from close range past the rooted Simon Mignolet. That’s a hat-trick for Sørloth, and Atleti will play either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16.

… so having said that, Atletico establish a two-goal lead, and are surely in the hat for Friday’s last-16 draw. Marcos Llorente plays a long ball down the inside-right channel for Alexander Sørloth, who should release Ademola Lookman into the box down the left. His pass across is poor, behind Lookman, but Antoine Griezmann comes over, offering himself as a wall for Lookman to ping the ball off. A one-two down the left, then Lookman crosses low. Sørloth can’t miss from six yards and that is surely that!

Harry Brook relieved to lead England into last four after ‘the hardest winter of my life’

• Century secures win against Pakistan in T20 World Cup

• Brook: ‘It’s nice to see some rewards for my hard work’

Sometimes Harry Brook makes everything look easy but some of his recent experiences have been anything but painless, and after scoring a sublime century to steer his team into the World Cup semi-finals England’s white-ball captain described his past few months as “probably the hardest of my life”.

Brook endured a disappointing Ashes, scoring just two half-centuries and averaging 39.77, his second-worst in a Test series in which he has played more than a single innings. It was towards the end of his time in Australia that it was revealed he had got in to a drunken altercation with a nightclub bouncer in Wellington on the eve of the final fixture of his first overseas tour as an international captain, a controversy which has dogged him since.

Spanish engineer reports flaw in ‘smart’ vacuums after gaining control of 7,000 devices

Sammy Azdoufal alerted New York-based outlet the Verge after he took control of DJI Romo devices around the world

A Spanish software engineer reportedly contacted a New York-based tech outlet recently to reveal he had remotely taken control of about 7,000 vacuums worldwide, in the process shedding light on a broad vulnerability with smart products, according to a cybersecurity expert.

The Verge reported that the situation came to light when Sammy Azdoufal was trying to reverse-engineer his new DJI Romo vacuum so that he could control it with his Playstation 5 gamepad.

World Cup host cities ‘running out of time’ with $625m in funding held up by shutdown

• Funds promised for security have not been received

• Officials warn of potential cancellations to fan festivals

Local and national officials expressed concern on Tuesday that the ongoing partial government shutdown in the United States could adversely affect planning and preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which is just over 100 days away.

In a hearing before the House committee on homeland security, representatives from Miami, Kansas City and New Jersey – three locations that will host a combined total of 21 matches in the tournament, including the final – said they are still waiting on federal funds to be released to their respective local agencies. Last July, lawmakers pledged $625m in federal assistance toward World Cup security via the Trump administration’s “big beautiful” policy bill.

Schumer predicts ‘long, painful and tedious’ Trump speech as dozens of Democrats plan to boycott – live

About 30 lawmakers have said they won’t attend Trump’s State of the Union address; top Senate Democrat predicts ‘tedious’ speech after president vows to give long remarks

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About 30 members of Congress are planning to attend a Democratic counter-program event tonight instead of the State of the Union, according to the organizers of the “People’s State of the Union,” led by liberal group MoveOn and progressive media outlet MeidasTouch.

Here are the lawmakers who are expected to attend the separate event and skip the Trump speech:

Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA)

Senator Tina Smith (D-MN)

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03)

Representative Becca Balint (D-VT)

Representative Greg Casar (TX-35)

Representative Lizzie Fletcher (TX-7)

Representative Maxwell Frost (FL-10)

Representative Robert Garcia (CA-42)

Representative Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07)

Representative Jim Himes (CT-04)

Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51)

Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)

Representative John B. Larson (CT-01)

Representative Summer Lee (PA-12)

Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03)

Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37)

Representative April McClain Delaney (MD-6)

Representative Christian Menefee (TX-18)

Representative Chellie Pingree (ME-01)

Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-7)

Representative Emily Randall (WA-6)

Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05)

Representative Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)

Representative Delia Ramirez (IL-03)

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)

Full interview: House Speaker Mike Johnson

House Speaker Mike Johnson discusses what to expect from President Trump's State of the Union address, and weighs in on the administration's trade policy, immigration crackdown, U.S. tensions with Iran and more in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.

U.S. men's hockey team coming to State of the Union, Johnson says

The U.S. men's hockey team also visited the White House on Tuesday following their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.

Swansea bow to co-owner Snoop Dogg with guard of honour before kick-off

• American rapper arrives to see game against Preston

• Snoop Dogg joined Swansea ownership group last July

The Swansea City co-owner Snoop Dogg was greeted with twirling towels and a guard of honour on his first visit to the Welsh club. The American rapper, who is a minority owner of the Championship club alongside the television host Martha Stewart and Croatia international Luka Modric, made his first appearance at the Swansea.com Stadium for Tuesday’s clash with Preston.

Snoop Dogg joined the Swansea ownership group last July and made his way to south-west Wales after being at the Winter Olympics, where he served as Team USA’s honorary coach as well as a special correspondent for broadcaster NBC.

Spirit Airlines plans to slash flights, fleet in bid to emerge from bankruptcy as early as spring

Spirit Airlines has reached an agreement with lenders to emerge from bankruptcy by late spring or early summer.

Éliane Radigue, French composer and musique concrète legend, dies aged 94

The Paris-born artist reinvented the synthesizer through meditative and feedback-drenched sonic explorations

The French composer and musique concrète pioneer Éliane Radigue has died at the age of 94.

“It is with immense sadness that we learn of the passing of Éliane Radigue at the age of 94,” the Paris-based experimental music center INA GRM posted on Instagram. “A major figure in musical creation has left us.”

Savannah Guthrie offers $1 million reward for missing mother Nancy Guthrie

Nancy Guthrie, whose daughter Savannah Guthrie is a co-anchor of the "Today" show on NBC, was last seen entering her Arizona home on Jan. 31.

Texts show Rep. Gonzales sent explicit messages to staffer who later died by suicide

A newly revealed text exchange appears to show Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales encouraging an aide who later died by setting herself on fire to send him an explicit photo.

The Louvre Museum's director has resigned in the wake of October's brazen jewel heist

French President Emmanuel Macron accepted Laurence des Cars' resignation as "an act of responsibility" at a moment when the Louvre needs security upgrades, modernization and other major projects.

Microsoft and SpaceX's Starlink partner on global community internet effort

The collaboration will help boost demand for Elon Musk's space company, which has contracts with the Defense Department and NASA.

U.S. women's hockey team declines State of the Union invitation

The U.S. women's ice hockey team said Monday they will not be attending President Trump's State of the Union address, citing scheduling conflicts.

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s tariffs: a nostalgia that misreads a changed world | Editorial

The US president fights 1970s battles in a financialised age. America faces not a payments crisis but a slow erosion of industrial and technological power

When the US supreme court voted 6-3 last Friday to strike down Donald Trump’s tariffs, he was incandescent. Two judges he had elevated – Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett – were suddenly recast as traitors to the cause. Both were, he insinuated, under the sway of foreign interests. The court ruled that the tariffs overstepped the powers the US Congress granted under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Mr Trump responded by reaching for a 1974 trade law, invoking “international payments problems” to slap on a 10% tariff for 150 days.

Mr Trump was moulded by the 1970s. His political DNA was formed in that era’s crises and he governs as if America were still in the Nixon era of shock politics. In some ways there are parallels. The political mobilisation around economic insecurity echoes that period, as does distrust in elite authority. This explains why many populist politicians on the right reach for the 1970s, which fits the mood of decline and rivalry and offers a narrative of “restoring strength”. Internationally, Mr Trump also sees the world through the 1970s lens of industrial rivalry and trade grievance. But the world today is in a far more financialised and interdependent state.

Passenger jet forced to turn around after battery pack catches fire

The passenger received medical attention after the plane returned to Wichita, Kansas, Alaska Airlines and the FAA said.

Utah judge in Charlie Kirk shooting case rejects bid to disqualify prosecutors

State District Judge Tony Graf decided in a Tuesday ruling to keep the Utah County Attorney's Office on the case against the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk.

Epstein’s victims ignored while UK’s interests take priority, former prosecutor says

Nazir Afzal says police moving at pace when files relate to state interests while alleged survivors of sexual abuse are neglected

Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse believe British police are failing them, a former top prosecutor has said.

Nazir Afzal, who prosecuted grooming gangs in northern England, said there has been quick action when state interests are involved while allegations of harm to women have been ignored.

Brazilian politicians accused of ordering murder of Rio councillor go on trial

Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão accused of ordering shooting of Marielle Franco and her driver in 2018

Brazil’s supreme court has opened the trial of politicians accused of ordering the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro councillor Marielle Franco, a case that exposed deep ties between politics and organised crime in the city.

Franco, an activist who grew up in a favela and became an outspoken critic of Rio’s powerful militia groups, was 38 when she was shot dead in the city centre alongside her driver, Anderson Gomes.

DNA from Guthrie's house may not provide enough evidence to help, sources say

According to sources close to the investigation, there are concerns that DNA recovered from Nancy Guthrie's home may not yield a usable profile for comparison.

Louvre president resigns as jewellery heist inquiry reveals ‘systemic failures’

Laurence des Cars steps down days after parliamentary inquiry called Paris museum a ‘state within a state’

The president of the Louvre in Paris has resigned, four months after a gang of thieves broke into the museum’s Apollo gallery and made off with €88m (£76m) of Napoleonic jewellery in France’s most dramatic heist in decades.

Laurence des Cars, who had offered to step down in the immediate aftermath of the burglary, tendered her resignation to Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday in what the French president called “an act of responsibility”, the Elysée Palace said.

Visitors flock to Yosemite for firefall light show despite heavy snow

Sunset phenomenon at national park’s Horsetail waterfall still drew large crowds even with freezing temperatures

Heavy snow did not deter visitors from flocking to Yosemite in recent days, in hopes of seeing the park’s spectacular natural light show.

Firefall occurs each year in February during sunset when the light hits Horsetail Fall in such a way that, for a brief period, the waterfall appears illuminated by lava. In recent years, the phenomenon has drawn large crowds – and lots of photographers.

BBC apologises to staff over N-word inclusion as Bafta announces comprehensive review

Chief content officer Kate Phillips tells staff she is ‘so sorry’ racial slur by Tourette campaigner was not edited from recorded broadcast

Peter Bradshaw: why the dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word row

A senior BBC executive has apologised to staff for the corporation’s failure to edit a racial slur from Sunday’s Bafta film awards telecast. In a note sent on Tuesday and seen by the Press Association, chief content officer Kate Phillips told staff she was “so sorry that a racial slur was not edited out of our broadcast” and that she understood “how distressing this was”.

Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson could be heard shouting the N-word as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the award for special visual effects at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

‘A slur would be deliberate’: people with Tourette syndrome on Baftas outburst

Those with the condition share varying views of John Davidson’s N-word tic during Sunday’s awards ceremony

It was an incident that sparked a furore: during Sunday’s Bafta ceremony Tourette syndrome (TS) activist John Davidson made several outbursts, including shouting the N-word as actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan were presenting a prize on stage.

Among others to comment on the incident were actors including Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Wendell Pierce, who starred alongside Jordan in The Wire.

Software stocks rebound as Anthropic announces new partnerships

Cybersecurity and software names have sold off heavily in recent weeks as investors fretted about potential disruption from artificial intelligence.

Mexico pledges safety for World Cup after violence erupts from cartel boss’s killing

Mexico’s president says there is ‘no risk’ for those visiting for Fifa games after military killed drug lord ‘El Mencho’

• Violence in Mexico after military kills notorious drug cartel boss – a visual guide

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has said that there is “no risk” for visitors coming to Fifa World Cup games scheduled to be held in the country, after the death of a top cartel boss triggered a wave of retaliatory violence from gunmen who blocked roads and attacked security forces across the country.

The Mexican military attempted to detain “El Mencho”, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a dawn raid on Sunday, leading to a firefight in which he was fatally wounded, before dying while being airlifted to hospital.

The accidental hacker: how one man gained control of 7,000 robots

When Sammy Azdoufal found he had access to data from robot vacuum cleaners around the world, he told a tech publication. But the implications could be mind-boggling

Name: The accidental hacker.

Age: It doesn’t matter how old Sammy Azdoufal is. What he did is what’s important here, and what he did is very much of the age.

Nancy Guthrie investigators turn to genetic genealogy. It's worked in big cases before.

Investigators in the Nancy Guthrie case have turned to genetic genealogy as they try to make the most of potential DNA evidence.

What we know about the evidence in the Nancy Guthrie search so far

Investigators searching for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" show co-host Savannah Guthrie, have uncovered several notable pieces of evidence as they try to identify a suspect.

Novo Nordisk to slash GLP-1 list prices by up to 50% in U.S. to cut costs for insured patients

The cuts aim to make the drugs more accessible to insured patients, particularly people with high-deductible health plans or coinsurance benefit designs.

Epstein files: DOJ may have withheld FBI interviews with Trump accuser, Rep. Garcia says

President Donald Trump last week said the files on Jeffrey Epstein released by the Department of Justice had "totally exonerated" him.

Maps show snow totals for one of the Northeast's biggest storms in years

New York City, New Jersey, southern New England and coastal communities along the East Coast faced blizzard warnings and some of the biggest snowfall totals in years.

British dual nationals risk imminent refusal of travel to UK, Home Office affirms

Government ignores pleas for a grace period before new rules come into force on Wednesday

British citizens with a second nationality risk being blocked from entering the UK from Wednesday, the Home Office has confirmed.

The government has decided to ignore pleas from families, the3million campaign group, the Liberal Democrats and the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis for a grace period to allow British dual nationals to adapt to the new rules they face.

Pirro drops effort to indict 6 lawmakers who posted video on illegal orders

A grand jury refused to return an indictment against the six Democratic lawmakers earlier this month.

Martin Rowson on the arrests of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson – cartoon

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Senate Democrats investigate CBS over blocked Colbert interview

Richard Blumenthal seeks records from FCC and Paramount Global amid claims of political censorship

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US Senate Democrats are launching an investigation into whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the CBS parent company, Paramount, prevented Stephen Colbert, the network’s talkshow host, from broadcasting an interview with the Texas Democratic candidate, James Talarico.

Richard Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations, has written to the FCC’s enforcement bureau and to the CEO of Paramount Skydance, David Ellison. The Democratic senator demands information and documents relating to the Colbert controversy, including any communications with Donald Trump’s White House.

Trump to deliver State of the Union address as voters sour on his economy

Dem Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia will deliver the official rebuttal for Democrats after romping to victory in 2025 on an affordability-focused agenda.

Armed police flood Iran’s universities to crush student protests

Campus clashes provide uneasy backdrop to third round of talks on nuclear programme in Geneva

Plainclothes police and security forces, many of them armed, have tried to flood Iran’s remaining open universities in an attempt to crush a fourth day of student protests against the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Running battles were reported on some campuses, with videos showing fistfights between the Basji state-backed militia and students at the University of Science and Technology in Tehran. Pick-up trucks with machine-guns were photographed parked outside the University of Tehran, with demonstrations also in Mashhad.

Football Daily | How CPR on a seagull helped restore moral goodness to Turkish football

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It’s not been the best time for Turkish football in recent months, what with the suspension of 149 match officials and more than 1,000 players relating to a betting scandal. Ouch. But events in a seventh-tier match at the weekend brought some much-needed moral goodness back to the game there when a player revived a seagull that had been struck down by a flying ball. Yep, you read that right. Let’s start at the beginning shall we. Istanbul Yurdum Spor goalkeeper Muhammed Uyanik picked the ball up in the 22nd minute of a fierce battle with Mevlanakapi Guzelhisar, with the winner taking home the league title. Seeing no short options available, he went route one, pinging the ball high into the air only to see his clearance thud against a low-flying gull that spiralled in the air like a downed fighter-jet before dropping to the floor with a sickening thud.

‘I like my footballers wispy – or monumental!’ Rebel artist Rose Wylie on still painting till 3am at 91

Underestimated for too long, Wylie is now wanted by galleries worldwide and her giant, wild, witty paintings – of Hollywood stars, soccer greats, black swans and flying bombs – fetch huge sums. We visit her relaxed studio in Kent

The Royal Academy is billing Rose Wylie as a “rebel artist” for her forthcoming show and at 91, she finds there’s still a lot to rebel against. An establishment that has long underrated women’s work, for one: astonishingly, hers is the first solo show by a British woman to occupy all the academy’s main galleries. Being pigeonholed is another: her giant canvases – with their bold colours, painted texts and wild juxtapositions (Nicole Kidman meets ancient Egypt at a Kent community centre) – have been compared to the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Philip Guston. But she does not identify with any one movement and dislikes art that is “up your arse”.

For more than 60 years now, Wylie has lived in her low-slung, 17th-century house in Sittingbourne, Kent, where she rebels against conventional domesticity. Jasmine grows in a tangle through the kitchen ceiling and bouquets of dead flowers crowd another room. A ceramic horse given to her by the actor James Norton, a collector, lies by the windowsill. Next to the sink, two plates of petrified cakes are fuzzy with cobwebs. “I bought that biscuit in Costa two years ago,” says Sara, who works at Wylie’s London gallery, pointing to one of them. She thinks there’s a Battenberg buried somewhere upstairs in the studio.

Nancy Guthrie's family offering $1 million reward for her whereabouts

Savannah Guthrie said in a new video that the family is offering an additional reward of up to $1 million for information about their mother Nancy Guthrie's whereabouts.

Fed's Goolsbee calls for a hold on cuts as current rate of inflation is 'not good enough'

The Chicago Fed president said Tuesday that cuts aren't appropriate until there's more evidence that inflation is on its way down.

Reddit fined £14.5m in UK over use of under-13s’ data

Information Commissioner’s Office imposes largest fine yet for a breach of children’s privacy

The UK information regulator has fined the social news service Reddit £14.5m for using the data of children under the age of 13 unlawfully and potentially exposing them to inappropriate and harmful content.

The hefty punishment from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the largest fine yet for a breach of children’s privacy and comes after the US-based company introduced age checks in July, including age verification to access mature content. Prior to this, the ICO said, there were “a large number of children under 13 on the platform and Reddit did not have a lawful basis for processing their personal information”.

US hockey was bathed in a golden Olympic glow. Then Donald Trump and Kash Patel stepped in | Beau Dure

The US men’s and women’s teams claimed titles at the Winter Games this past week. The warm fuzzy feelings didn’t last long

Keeping politics at arm’s length for the US men’s hockey team’s gold-medal matchup with Canada was always going to be difficult.

The game fell on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, when an underdog group of US college players upset the mighty Soviet Union team against the backdrop of the cold war. But the US team who took the ice on Sunday were no plucky band of amateurs making a stand for democracy against authoritarianism – a point underscored when the US and Canada met last year in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Canadian fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner and the US players, either unaware of, or unsympathetic to, Canadian desires to be neither the 51st US state nor the USA’s opponent in a scorched-earth trade war, dropped the gloves to fight their opponents as soon as the game commenced.

Savannah Guthrie offers $1m reward for return of her mother: ‘We still believe in a miracle’

Nancy Guthrie has been missing for three weeks and officials believe she was kidnapped from her Arizona home

Savannah Guthrie’s family has offered up to $1m for information leading to the return of her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, who has been missing since 1 February.

The NBC Today show host posted the offer in a video on Instagram Tuesday, more than three weeks after Nancy’s disappearance. “Someone out there knows something that can bring her home,” Guthrie says in the clip. “We are begging you to please come forward now.

Arbeloa and Courtois call on Uefa to take stand against racism after Vinícius incident

• Courtois: ‘This a moment for football to end these things’

• Real Madrid meet Benfica in second leg on Wednesday

Álvaro Arbeloa and Thibaut Courtois have called on Uefa to take a ­genuine stand against racism and change football following the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Gianluca ­Prestianni during Real Madrid’s Champions League playoff first leg at Benfica last week, with Arbeloa imploring the governing body to go beyond “just slogans” as the two teams prepare to meet again.

Courtois also expressed his disappointment with José Mourinho for linking the incident to Vinícius’s cele­bration of the only goal of the game in Lisbon and insisted suggestions that Prestianni’s defence might be that he instead used a homophobic slur would be “just as bad”.

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

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

FedEx sues for refund of Trump tariffs, days after Supreme Court ruling

The Trump administration has warned that it could take years for refunds to be paid out for tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled are illegal.

‘A feedback loop with no brake’: how an AI doomsday report shook US markets

Shares in Uber, Mastercard and American Express fall on back of apocalypse scenario posted on Substack

US stock markets have been hit by a further wave of AI jitters, this time from yet another viral – and completely speculative – warning about the impact of the technology on the world’s largest economy.

The latest foreboding is from Citrini Research, a little-known US firm that provides insights on “transformative ‘megatrends’”. Its post on Substack, which it called a “scenario, not a prediction”, rattled investors by portraying a near future in which autonomous AI systems – or agents – upend the entire US economy, from jobs to markets and mortgages.

Russia can keep fighting Ukraine war throughout 2026, says military thinktank

Little sign Moscow’s ability to continue waging war for a fifth year is diminished, analysis suggests

Russia will be able to sustain its invasion of Ukraine throughout 2026 even allowing for emerging economic and manpower pressures, while its missile and drone threat to Europe is growing, according to a leading military thinktank.

Bastian Giegerich, the director general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said there was “little indication” that “Russia’s ability to continue its war against Ukraine for a fifth year is diminished”.

Novo Nordisk to slash Wegovy and Ozempic prices starting in 2027

Starting in 2027, the Danish pharma firm will sell its weight-loss and diabetes drugs for $675 per month.

Gene therapy is transforming lives, but for many Americans it's hard to reach

Gene therapies have the potential to cure some diseases, but they are extraordinarily expensive. Location can also be a big hurdle for patients seeking this specialized care.

Number of plays attributed to 16th-century playwright Thomas Kyd double in new edition

Exclusive: Canon now includes domestic tragedy Arden of Faversham, which is attributed solely to Kyd and ‘not at all’ to Shakespeare

The number of plays attributed to the 16th-century playwright Thomas Kyd has more than doubled in a major new edition.

The forthcoming second volume of The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd makes a substantial case for his sole or part-authorship of plays previously attributed to William Shakespeare or Christopher Marlowe.

Teens use AI more frequently than parents know, survey finds

A Pew Research Center survey found that just 4 in 10 parents talk to their teens about AI usage.

Senate to vote on DHS funding as Congress returns without a deal

The Senate is set to take procedural vote on funding for the Department of Homeland Security as a partial government shutdown stretches into an 11th day.

Amused by that AI video of a dancing raccoon? This is how the misery starts | Polly Hudson

AI is already coming for our dignity – tricking us with amusing little online scenarios. How long before it comes for everything else?

Moan all you like about technology, there’s no denying it’s made friendship easier. In an ideal world you would spend quality time together, have deep meaningful chats on the phone and swap well thought out, insightful texts. But when you’re busy, tired, or just not in the mood, what a relief that you can send a meme, or a quick video, and know that fully counts as keeping in touch. Result.

My terrifying, omniscient algorithm served me an Instagram reel last week of an incredibly realistic 3D hole a street artist had painted on the sidewalk in New York. As people tried to pass by, they glanced down, saw the hole and panicked, feeling that they were falling, so dropping to the ground, even though of course the pavement was flat and solid. It was funny and, I thought, clever, so I pinged it to a friend, who I was sure would agree. Instead, he told me, in extremely certain terms, that there was no 3D hole, no street artist, and no passersby – because the clip was AI. Heck, New York might not even exist – at this point I can’t be sure of anything.

‘I considered starting over as a farmer’: Masao Adachi on political cinema, revolution and Japan today

The director and ex-Japanese Red Army militant discusses his new film Escape, about the anarchist fugitive Satoshi Kirishima, the frustrations of radical film-making and progressive politics

Last month, on the same day that Revolution+1 – a fictionalised account of the life of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who assassinated the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 – screened at London’s ICA, during a season on the radical film-maker Masao Adachi, a court in Japan sentenced Yamagami to life imprisonment.

Whether the programming was a result of foresight or sheer coincidence, the dismantling of boundaries that would otherwise keep movies hemmed inside a screen and removed from the world outside are characteristic of Adachi’s lifelong practice.

Senators tell CFTC to make clear ban on prediction market contracts involving deaths

A letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig cites three Polymarket contracts related to a NASA launch, Venezuela and Ukraine.

Witches, Nazi collaborators and banned books: International Booker prize announces 2026 longlist

Thirteen books make this year’s longlist for translated fiction, which awards a first prize of £50,000

Olga Ravn, Daniel Kehlmann, Ia Genberg, Mathias Énard and Gabriela Cabezón Cámara are among those longlisted for the International Booker prize, which recognises the best translated fiction and turns 10 this year.

A “Booker dozen” of 13 books were longlisted for this year’s prize. One author-translator pair will win £50,000, to be split equally.

Heavy snow and high winds blast Northeast in historic blizzard

A historic winter storm dumped more than 3 feet of snow in some cities in the Northeast while Massachusetts experienced over 80 mph winds. The storm also grounded another 2,000 flights on Tuesday. Rob Marciano and Jason Allen have the latest from New York and Boston.

Italian ministers accused of ‘serious blunder’ as police officer arrested for murder

Meloni government had claimed case showed why officers using weapons in self-defence needed more protection

The arrest of an Italian police officer on suspicion of murder over the fatal shooting of a Moroccan man has prompted a row after the opposition accused Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government of exploiting the case for political ends.

Abderrahim Mansouri, 28, was shot in the head by Carmelo Cinturrino, assistant chief of Mecenate police station, during a police drugs patrol in the Rogoredo area of Milan in late January. Cinturrino originally said he had acted in self-defence after Mansouri pulled a gun on him.

Warner Bros. Discovery reviewing sweetened bid from Paramount Skydance

Paramount Skydance is continuing its efforts to buy Warner Bros. Discovery by upping the ante on Netflix.

Down with Love: Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger’s perfectly offbeat 60s fantasy

This 2003 romcom seemed destined to be a hit. But it was too camp, too synthetic, too satirical: the exact qualities that make it a cult favourite today

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In May 2003, a romcom starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor seemed like a surefire recipe for success. Zellweger had just earned consecutive best actress Oscar nominations for Bridget Jones’ Diary and Chicago, and McGregor had leading roles in zeitgeist-defining hits including Moulin Rouge and Star Wars. But on release, Down with Love barely made a dent at the box office, and audiences and critics alike were baffled by its camp sensibility and embrace of artifice.

In the film, Zellweger plays writer Barbara Novak, who arrives in New York City in 1962 to publish her feminist manifesto, Down with Love. Novak’s book encourages women to reject romance, embrace sex and refute the rigid gender roles of 50s America, and with the help of her publisher, Vikki (Sarah Paulson), Down with Love becomes a worldwide phenomenon – much to the chagrin of “man’s-man-ladies’-man-man about town” Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor).

Should you sanitise your strawberries? Experts on the right way to wash fruit and vegetables

Online influencers are soaking and spraying their fresh produce, but experts say the ‘number one rule’ of food hygiene has nothing to do with special sanitisers

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You know the cost-of-living crisis is biting when videos of influencers unpacking their grocery “hauls” are viral on TikTok. Chewing through millions of views, fruit and vegetables are aesthetically plopped into a sink filled with water, piece by piece. “Sanitising” products are then added, ranging from the fizz of baking soda and vinegar to specialised vegetable soaps (“Amazon link in my bio!”). There are even expensive electronic purifiers, which shake, shimmy and bubble away in the basin, supposedly removing any nasties.

But is ASMR deep-cleaning your fresh produce really necessary? And is it all too late for those of us who can barely remember to rinse our pears?

Waymo opens robotaxi service to 'select riders' in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Orlando

Fresh off of a $16 billion funding round, Waymo is expanding its footprint in Texas and Florida.

2 Missouri deputies killed, 2 wounded as suspect opens fire

Two sheriff's deputies were killed and two more were wounded in southwestern Missouri, after a suspect opened fire during a traffic stop and fled.

Royal Artillery under fire after denying access to looted Asante treasure

‘Extraordinary’ golden lamb’s head pillaged in 1874 from what is now Ghana remains hidden in officers’ mess

The Royal Artillery is facing criticism after it emerged they are refusing public access to an “extraordinary object” looted by the British army in the 19th century from the Asante people in modern-day Ghana.

The glistening golden ram’s head would seemingly be worthy of any museum, but it remains hidden within the regiment’s mess at Larkhill in Wiltshire.

Temple of boom! Why Taiwan’s religious sites are becoming unlikely rave venues

Dance culture faces barriers in Taiwan, with frequent raids on nightclubs. But Temple Meltdown is trying a different tack, with sound systems overseen by gods

When Andrew Dawson brings a sound system to Puji Temple in Tainan, Taiwan, for lunar new year celebrations, its deities keep watch. Behind the plywood speaker stack hangs a circular plaque of Caishen, the Chinese god of prosperity. Around the corner from the dub and reggae street party, families burn long incense sticks for the site’s patron religious figure, the thousand-year-old Chifu Wangye, a prince who died sampling well water poisoned by the plague gods to save his own villagers.

To some, partying in a religious site like this might seem sacrilegious, or at least insensitive. But Dawson has been doing this for three years with his Temple Meltdown party series, inspired by religious sites and their role as vibrant centres of civic life: to him, the marriage of underground music to these spaces felt like a natural next step. “Every temple in Taiwan is very different because each of its founders has a unique vision or dream. But the interesting thing is that there is always a plaza area outside where people can gather, cook, hang out with their friends,” says Dawson, who is half American and half Taiwanese and also goes by 陳宣宇 or Chen Xuan Yu. The scene at his Lunar New Year party is no different, with people swaying, smoking, and some feeding each other skewered pieces of Taiwanese fried chicken on the dance floor.

Meta agrees $60bn deal with chipmaker AMD despite AI bubble fears

Facebook owner’s investment described by semiconductor company as ‘big bet’ on artificial intelligence

The owner of Facebook has agreed to buy $60bn (£44.5bn) of artificial intelligence chips from the US semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices despite fears over the vast sums being spent on the AI industry.

Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, has clinched the five-year deal in which it will also buy 10% of the chip company.

So Epstein buddies Andrew and Mandelson have been arrested in the UK. And in the US? Zero, zip, nada | Marina Hyde

At least the British gave us the perp-walk shots. But I fear that any Americans seeking real justice will have to wait, and wait, and wait

I can’t believe the cops didn’t max out the theatrics yesterday when taking Peter Mandelson to the police station to help with their inquiries. They didn’t even do that thing where they put their hand on top of the suspect’s head to ease him down into the back seat of the car. Absolutely no sense of occasion.

And you know, they really may as well have had one. Misconduct in a public office is such an archaic old law and so incredibly difficult to prove that it may well be that you have already seen the high-water mark of law-adjacent consequences for both Mandy and Andy. The perp walk is the punishment. No offence to the highly esteemed Metropolitan police and the various other forces who’ve found the rare grooming-gang scandal they can be arsed with, but it’s hard to get past the deep-rooted suspicion that they are just looking busy. But look, we got one iconic royal photo out of it and a clip of Mandelson over which you could wonder absentmindedly, “Is this honestly the first time he’s been arrested? I must be having a deja vu because it hasn’t happened before, yet it feels so weirdly familiar. For whatever reason.” Anyway, allow me to reiterate that both of the men mentioned in this paragraph deny any wrongdoing.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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Witness to immigration agent’s killing of friend last year dies in Texas car crash

Joshua Orta was passenger when Ruben Ray Martinez was fatally shot in his car by immigration agent in March 2025

The passenger in the car when Texas driver Ruben Ray Martinez was fatally shot in March 2025 by a federal immigration agent gave a lengthy statement to lawyers for the slain man’s family disputing the government’s version of events.

That witness died on Saturday in a fiery car crash in San Antonio, a lawyer for Martinez’s family said.

Ukraine war anniversary and snow in New York: photos of the day – Tuesday

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

Do you really need to chill cookie dough? | Kitchen Aide

What you plan to bake plays a big part in whether or not to chill a dough, and in terms of hydration, flavour and texture

Does chilling cookie dough really make for a better result?
Emily, by email
“It all depends on what kind of cookie it is,” says Guardian baker Helen Goh. “Let’s say it’s a cookie that you need to stamp out – the dough needs to be firm enough to roll it, but not so firm that you can’t.” That said, the question of whether to fridge or not to fridge is probably most prevalent in the chocolate chip cookie sphere. “There’s a perceived wisdom that chilling helps the dough develop the flavour and caramelisation,” Goh says, “but, to be honest, it also makes the dough a little easier to roll and ensures it bakes evenly, which is worth far more than that slight improvement in flavour.”

Recommended chilling times vary from 30 minutes to overnight, although Goh finds the latter results in a “cakey” cookie: “I’m a real Goldilocks, so I like crisp at the edges with a chewy centre.” On the flip side, if you don’t chill that dough enough and the butter is too soft, the cookies will end up “very thin and crisp. They might be greasy, too, because the dough melts before setting up its structure.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected]

‘If we see you again, we kill you’: how a Colombian wildlife hotspot turned into a death zone

Armed groups and a state-owned refinery’s oil leaks have displaced Barrancabermeja’s fishing community and poisoned a paradise once full of manatees and jaguars

Standing on her wooden canoe, a machete in her hand, Yuly Velásquez hacks away at reeds matted with blackened sludge. Close by, a burst oil pipe has released a slick of crude into the San Silvestre wetlands in Barrancabermeja, Colombia’s oil city, choking the water and its wildlife.

“The destruction is immense,” says Velásquez, president of Fedepesan, a sustainable fishing organisation. “For the fish, the animals and flora, it means immediate death.”

Nvidia earnings report collides with Wall Street skepticism over AI spending

Nvidia is the only megacap tech stock to notch gains this year as investors have turned cautious on the hefty amounts of spending on AI infrastructure.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi to face trial for alleged rape

• 27-year-old Morocco international denies allegation

• Defender says trial ‘will allow the truth to come out’

Achraf Hakimi is to face trial for rape, the Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender confirmed via a social media post on Tuesday, going on to deny the allegation.

“Today, a rape accusation is enough to justify a trial, even though I deny it and everything proves it’s false,” wrote Hakimi. “This is as unjust to the innocent as it is to the genuine victims. I calmly await this trial, which will allow the truth to come out publicly.”

How Trump’s big climate finding repeal could actually hurt big oil

Without federal climate regulation, fossil fuel industry may be more vulnerable to local lawsuits

The Trump administration’s repeal of a foundational climate determination could clear a path for new litigation and policies targeting big oil, legal experts say.

Earlier this month, Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule revoking the “endangerment finding”, a 2009 determination that established that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The move eliminated federal limits on climate-warming emissions from motor vehicles, and is expected to extend to all other pollution sources.

Power outages reported, thousands of flights canceled as storm slams Northeast

More than 40 million people were under blizzard warnings along 700 miles of the East Coast from Maryland to Maine.

DOJ hides Trump-related Epstein files. And, what to know for the State of the Union

An NPR investigation found that the DOJ withheld some Epstein files related to abuse allegations against Trump. And, what you need to know ahead of the president's State of the Union address tonight.

The dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word row. This is why | Peter Bradshaw

When John Davidson involuntarily shouted racial abuse at Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan it set off two sets of alarm bells that should have been heeded much quicker and better

• BBC apologises to staff over N-word inclusion as Bafta announces comprehensive review

• Sinners studio say they raised N-word use with Bafta immediately as Google ‘deeply sorry’ for offensive notification

• Bafta judge quits over ‘utterly unforgivable’ handling of Tourette N-word incident

• BBC producers say they ‘didn’t hear’ N-word slur as ‘working in a truck’

• With N-word incident, Bafta have shot themselves in the foot

If you wanted to write a scabrous, over-the-top satire on liberal attitudes, you could hardly do better than use this weekend’s Bafta ceremony. As the end result of progressive, sensitive intentions, a white man sat in the audience yelling the N-word at two highly respected performers of colour – who were then instantly burdened with expected forgiveness. It would make a great novel from Paul Beatty or film from Spike Lee. And yet, the problem was not just the N-word, but the S-word – sooorrr-eeee. Of which, more in a moment.

Of course, it is complicated. A case of competing sensitivities and the now livewire issue of omissions, snubs and complicity-through-silence.

Anthropic joins OpenAI in flagging 'industrial-scale' distillation campaigns by Chinese AI firms

Anthropic accused three Chinese artificial intelligence enterprises of engaging in coordinated distillation campaigns, the latest American tech firm to do so.

The Bluff review – Priyanka Chopra Jonas fights dirty in grisly pirate action flick

The Russo brothers produce a swashbuckling and often gory tale of 19th-century buccaneers in the Caribbean

In a recent interview to promote her new film The Bluff, Priyanka Chopra Jonas put her pivot to Hollywood down to feeling “limited” by the Bollywood industry that first made her a star. In the decade since she began focusing on American film roles, it’s been hard to work out exactly what Chopra Jonas was being held back from. Aside from an acclaimed turn in 2021’s Bafta-nominated The White Tiger, the actor and sometime Pitbull collaborator has generally favored mindless, straight-down-the middle entertainment such as the Céline Dion-centered romcom Love Again and the insipid spy series Citadel. I couldn’t get through the pilot of the latter, but it is Amazon Prime’s second most-watched show of all time.

The Bluff marks a return to Chopra Jonas in action heroine mode, 10 years after her western breakout TV show Quantico. The twist? This time, she is a 19th-century pirate. Her character Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden grew up sailing the seven seas, but when we meet her she has long left her swashbuckling ways behind her. She lives an idyllic life on Cayman Brac, settled in a town with conch shell-lined walkways and where her neighbors happily cook up turtle soup for their colonial masters. She can still jerryrig a machete in five seconds flat, but these days it is used to chop down coconuts for her young family. Ercell is anxiously waiting for her husband TH (The Rings of Power’s Ismael Cruz Córdova) to return from sea, not knowing that he has been kidnapped by captain Connor (Star Trek’s Karl Urban), her former mentor and one of the most fearsome pirates of them all.

‘We got hooked’: arrests on US army base spark fear of military coordination with ICE

The traffic stops on a rural California base appeared routine – until immigration agents showed up. Experts and lawmakers say the incidents could violate US law

Francisco Galicia paced his cell at Fort Hunter Liggett, a vast army base 160 miles south of San Francisco, on a Friday evening in January. His mind raced with thoughts of his five daughters waiting for him at home.

Over several hours, immigration agents brought six more men into the frigid, cement-walled cell. As the men shared eerily similar stories of their arrests, Galicia realized they had all driven straight into a trap.

Democrats tap Spanberger and Padilla to respond to State of the Union

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver Democrats' response on Tuesday following President Trump's State of the Union address.

Who sits where for the State of the Union? See the seating chart for the 2026 address

The highest-ranking officials in Washington will be present for President Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night — here's what to know about where they're sitting.

Is the YIMBY movement doomed?

For decades, rising home prices have been an engine for middle-class wealth. Now a growing movement wants to slow — or even reverse — that trend. Are the politics around new housing development inherently stacked against them?

Russell Brand pleads not guilty to two more sexual offences

Comedian denies one count of rape and one count of sexual assault related to two women

Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to two further sexual offences, including rape.

The 50-year-old comedian was charged in December with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in relation to two women. The two alleged offences took place in 2009.

The Breakdown | Six Nations half-term report: France are flying while England’s decline is steep

Les Bleus have variety and gifted youngsters but, by contrast, Steve Borthwick’s men are predictable and flawed

France (15 points) Three games played, three bonus-point victories banked and the title at their mercy. If they claim another four-try win at Murrayfield on Saturday week, they will secure the crown with a round to spare, setting up a rousing grand slam opportunity in Paris. Above all else, though, Les Bleus have illuminated this year’s championship with their pace and attacking grace, not least “King” Louis Bielle-Biarrey who has been spectacularly good. How many other sides in the world, aside from South Africa, can also interchange their second-row and midfield pairings without missing a beat? Or casually whistle up gifted youngsters such as Fabien Brau-Boirie, Émilien Gailleton and Gaël Dréan who all look instantly to the manner born. When you factor in the squad’s collective ability with and without the ball – to date France have scored the most tries, 18, and conceded the fewest, five – the future looks dazzlingly bright.

Scotland (11pts) The script has previously been a familiar one. Bask in the rosy glow of beating England, only to come crashing to earth in their next game. This time, finally, they have broken that pattern and still have their destiny in their own hands. France are due an off day and do not always prosper at Murrayfield while, before last Saturday afternoon, more than a few people would have backed them to cause problems in Dublin on the final weekend. The message will be simple: attack as smartly and accurately as they did in their Calcutta Cup fever dream and maintain the defensive organisation that has so far enabled them to concede just six tries in three games. And, of course, keep Finn Russell fit. The quick‑thinking restart that helped to bail his team out against Wales was merely the latest example of his whirring creative brain. A shoutout, too, for Kyle Steyn and Rory Darge who lead the way, respectively, for defenders beaten and turnovers won in this year’s championship.

No Time To Heal: the psychological rehabilitation of a Ukrainian soldier after Russian captivity

Ukrainian soldiers are sent to The Forest Glade – Ukraine’s first centre for the treatment of psychological trauma – before returning to the frontline. After spending over three years in Russian captivity following the battle for Mariupol, 25-year-old Kyrylo Chuvak spends three weeks at the centre, a brief opportunity for rehabilitation. Hidden in the pines near Kyiv, this modest building offers soldiers psychological therapy as well as tango, archery, guided breathing, medieval games and quiet conversations over tea. After four years of war, and with waning international attention, the battle is not only taking place on the frontline but in the mind

Intel partners with AI chip startup SambaNova after acquisition talks reportedly failed

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan first invested in SambaNova in 2017. Now the chipmaker he runs is putting more capital behind the startup.

A U.S. veteran adopted an orphan from Iran. Decades later, ICE is trying to deport her

The woman has no criminal record and is unsure what prompted the threat of removal. She fears being deported to Iran given her father's military service and her Christian faith.

I went to a place deep in the forest where Ukraine’s wounded soldiers go to heal. This is what they told me | Ksenia Savoskina

A former Soviet military facility offers an unlikely respite – before its patients return, too quickly, to the frontline

• Ksenia Savoskina directed the Guardian documentary No Time to Heal, which follows the psychological rehabilitation of a Ukrainian soldier after three years in Russian captivity

Imagine a place hidden deep in a pine forest, with small lakes and ponies. Far from the noisy city. In the middle of it there is a modernist Soviet building with marble walls. Walls that have heard so many stories of suffering, loss and death.

This place was built in 1974 as a secret sanatorium for the ministers of Soviet Ukraine. Later it hosted soldiers returning from the 1979-89 Afghan-Soviet war. Then, from 2014, those coming back from the war in eastern Ukraine. And now, soldiers from every part of the Ukrainian front.

Ksenia Savoskina is a Ukrainian film-maker and the director of No Time to Heal

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

The stranger secret: how to talk to anyone – and why you should

Forget fear of public speaking. A lot of people now shy away completely from speaking to anyone in public. But if we learn to do this it’s enriching, for ourselves and society

It started with two incidents on the same day. In a fairly empty train carriage, a stranger in her 70s approached me: “Do you mind if I sit here? Or did you want to be alone with your thoughts?” I weighed it up for a split second, conscious that I was, in effect, agreeing to a conversation: “No, of course I don’t mind. Sit down.”

She turned out to be an agreeable, kind woman who had had a difficult day. I didn’t have to say much: “I’m sorry to hear that.” “That’s tough for you.” She occasionally asked me questions about myself, which I dodged politely. I could tell she was only asking so the conversation would not be so one-sided. Some moments are for listening, not sharing. I sensed, without needing to know explicitly, that she was probably returning to an empty house and wanted to process the day out loud. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, as I knew I could duck out at any moment by saying I needed to get back to my phone messages. But instead we talked – or, rather, I listened – for most of the 50-minute journey. I registered that it was an unusual occurrence, this connection, but thought little more of it. A small part of me was glad this kind of thing still happens.

Epstein files: Longevity guru Peter Attia quits CBS News after email fallout

Peter Attia is the latest person on a growing list to leave high-profile posts as a result of their communications with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’

Not enough support for freed victims, say aid agencies, with growing numbers sleeping on the streets, unable to travel home without passports or money

Charities and aid workers have called for urgent international government support for victims of south-east Asia’s deadly scam compounds, following a damning report by Amnesty International.

The numbers of survivors of cyberscam “farms” left destitute and abandoned on the city streets of Cambodia and Myanmar is an “international crisis”, according to the research published in January.

'Fear of Flying Clinic' helps anxious travelers back into the skies

For 50 years, a San Francisco-based group has created a space where fearful flyers can get supported exposure to air travel.

‘We’re losing accessibility’: America says goodbye to the mass-market paperback

The so-called ‘pocket book’ sold in supermarkets is being phased out across the US, the latest sign of an ongoing shift in how people are choosing to read

Shelly Romero has early memories of going to her local supermarket and picking pulp fiction off the shelves. “We were very working class; my mom was working two jobs sometimes,” she recalls. “The appeal of books being cheaper and smaller and able to be carried around was definitely a thing.”

For generations of readers, the gateway to literature was not a hushed library or a polished hardback but a wire spinner rack in a supermarket, pharmacy or railway station. There, amid chewing gum and cigarettes, sat the mass-market paperback: squat, roughly 4in by 7in and cheap enough to be bought on a whim.

‘It’s more exciting than Tesco’: can traditional fishing lure Cornwall’s young people?

Taster days and training are offering teenagers an escape from a future of part-time, seasonal work – and giving a boost to a declining industry

It’s mid-morning on a rare calm day in Newlyn, Cornwall. Will Roberts is back at the quayside with a catch of mackerel to unload, having set off from the harbour before dawn. At 22, he is something of a rarity here, one of a handful of young fishers running his own small commercial boat from the port.

“It’s a magical feeling when you set out in the dark, with no one else around, and see the Milky Way in the sky above you,” he says. “I couldn’t imagine working in an office or somewhere indoors, and not be surrounded by all of this.”

Potential recruits learn more about career opportunities at sea at a taster day for young people in Newlyn

Anlife: what does an unusual evolution simulator have to say about AI?

We explore the strange food-obsessed world of a new game whose tech was once called ‘an insult to life itself’ by Hayao Miyazaki, the film-maker behind Spirited Away

A strange piece of software has recently landed on the PC gaming store Steam. And “software” feels like the cleanest way to describe it. Existing somewhere between a full-blown life sim, a science project and a kind of haunted fish tank, Anlife: Motion-learning Life Evolution probably would have disappeared without making much impact if it wasn’t for one unusual factor. Several years ago some of its creators were absolutely roasted on camera by one of the genuine legends of Japanese animation.

Back in 2016, Hayao Miyazaki, the director of movies such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, was shown new technology that used AI in order to animate models. Faced with a zombie that utilised its head to move by knocking its skull against the ground and wriggling its body like a fish, Miyazaki declared what he had seen was “an insult to life itself”. It’s hard not to watch the clip without feeling slightly seared – but now, a decade later, the ashen-faced developers from that room have sufficiently recovered to make their work widely available.