Alysa Liu released the pressure, reclaimed her joy and turned it into Olympic gold | Bryan Armen Graham

After stepping away from figure skating, the US star climbed back on her own terms. Her journey culminated in a medal, but it was about much more than that

Alysa Liu made her way through a mixed zone teeming with hundreds of reporters at a quarter past midnight early Friday morning, an Olympic gold medal draped around her neck, the sequins in her color-coordinated dress glimmering beneath the klieg lights and crush of television cameras. The 20-year-old from West Oakland had just become the first American woman to win figure skating’s biggest prize in 24 years, drilling seven clean triples to leapfrog a pair of Japanese rivals from third place after Tuesday’s short program and gatecrash her sport’s most rarefied air. But to hear Liu tell it, her second gold in 12 days was merely a passing footnote in a Milan fortnight she doesn’t want to end.

Liu’s carefree mindset should and will be studied in the weeks, months and years after these Olympics – especially these Olympics – as a counterpoint to the results-obsessed mindsets that have shattered the mental wellbeing of so many athletes thrust into the pressure-cooker of the world’s biggest sporting event. She spoke candidly and insightfully on how her unique journey from child prodigy to burnout case to second-act skater gave rise to an indifference to scores or placements. All she wanted in the end was a chance to make the US team and share her artistry on the world stage.

Published: February 20, 2026, 3:35 pm

‘Andrew’s aghast eyes echo The Scream’: is this photo the ultimate royal portrait?

This image of Mountbatten-Windsor is full of shock, pain and horror, bringing to mind dark works by Munch, Goya and Courbet. Will this portrait of power rotting away in real time be how history remembers the royals?

They say the camera adds 10 pounds. Does it also add a sudden, terrifying understanding of the abject horror of existence? Phil Noble’s apparently does. The Reuters photographer’s shot of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaving Aylsham police station in the back of his Range Rover is an image filled with shock, pain and horror. Noble’s harsh, blinding flash paints Andrew in pink, red and white – his skin is sickly, his eyes are hollow and red like a rat’s. His hands are steepled as if in prayer, like he’s pleading with a higher power for absolution.

Much like the eerily similar 2019 picture of his father, Prince Philip, in a car, this photograph’s composition is one of pure luck. Noble took shots as Mountbatten-Windsor rushed past. Two were blank, two were of the police, one was out of focus. Only this one came out right. Only this one gave us a private glimpse of power crumbling and rotting away in real time.

Published: February 20, 2026, 2:37 pm

Trouble in paradise? Seven surprising signs you’re heading for divorce

From never arguing to knowing exactly what the other thinks, the signs your relationship is in trouble aren’t always obvious. Experts reveal what to watch for – and how to get the spark back

You would think this is a sign of perfect harmony. Not so if you have stopped arguing completely. “Stopping disagreeing isn’t a sign of peace, it points to emotional withdrawal,” explains Simone Bose, a relationship therapist at Relate. It happens, says Bose, because couples are “likely protecting themselves from feeling disappointed or from conflict itself, but are becoming emotionally numb”. Clinical psychologist and Couples Therapy star Dr Orna Guralnik agrees, noting that “some people don’t argue because they’ve come to a state of acceptance of who each other are, but some don’t argue because they’ve given up. It’s a cold, detached form of not arguing – a resignation.” For Oona Metz, a social worker, psychotherapist and the author of Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women, “Couples who stop arguing even when they have major disagreements are on a collision course towards either an unhappy marriage or a divorce.” This is because “unresolved issues get swept under the rug and eventually come out in some other way”.

Published: February 20, 2026, 3:00 pm

The best milk frothers in the US for everything from lattes to hot chocolate

You don’t need a $4,000 espresso machine for velvety cafe-quality microfoam

• The best instant coffees: we tested 24 US varieties from powders to pastes

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At your local cafe, your barista probably whips up your morning brew using a double boiler espresso machine that includes a very capable steam wand for those perfect cappuccinos, cortados and lattes. But not every coffee enthusiast is an espresso enthusiast or wants to devote the counter space to a contraption to make it, and all of the myriad other ways of preparation have one thing in common – they don’t include a device capable of steaming milk.

If you’re using a moka pot, Aeropress or even instant coffee, a stand-alone milk frother can get barista-quality microfoam, and then some. Unlike a steam wand, the right stand-alone frother can churn out hot foam for tea and cold foam for iced drinks, and it can even whip egg whites, emulsify dressings, mix protein powders into shakes and whip cream, and up your hot chocolate game. It’s a tool you might want to add to your kitchen, even if you already have an espresso machine.

Published: February 20, 2026, 3:15 pm

‘The trick is not being so annoying that people hate you’: is awards-show hosting the toughest gig out there?

From the dire Hathaway and Franco double act to the charming Fey and Poehler combo, the choice of MC is vital to a show’s success. With Alan Cumming set to helm the Baftas on Sunday, here’s what he needs to know

No modern film awards show is complete without a wisecracking host, who has the tricky job of compering the evening, bringing people on and off stage in rapid succession, keeping a restless audience entertained, and coming up with a decent comedy routine themselves. Hence the attention that is paid to the annual announcement of the Baftas, Golden Globes and Oscars hosts; they are gigs that can flourish in the cultural memory, such as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s multiple turns at the Golden Globes, or become infamous, such as Anne Hathaway and James Franco’s double act at the Academy Awards in 2011, which saw them castigated as “children” and “spectacularly unwatchable” by the media.

In December, the Baftas announced that Scottish actor Alan Cumming was to host of the 79th edition of the event, which takes place on Sunday; he takes over from fellow actor and Scot David Tennant, who occupied the berth in 2024 and 2025. Tennant was given a middling review for his efforts last year by the Guardian’s Gwilym Mumford, who called him “a game host, a willing song and dance man, but he definitely needs more help from whoever’s writing his gags” – but that was glowing compared with the notices that arrived for Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley after her turn in 2019; in an article headlined “Is Joanna Lumley the worst Baftas host of all time?” the Guardian said: “Watching it on TV was excruciating. Not only were the jokes bad, but the Bafta audience responded with a total, ominous silence.” Following the Lumley debacle, Bafta managed to claw back some credibility by hiring Graham Norton in 2020 (“a safe pair of hands”) and a well-reviewed Rebel Wilson in 2022 (“rescues Baftas”).

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:15 pm

A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them

Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Trump threatens 10% global tariffs and rails against supreme court justices

President called justices who blocked his tariffs a ‘disgrace to the nation’ while praising three justices who dissented

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump on Friday railed against the supreme court justices who blocked his use of tariffs, calling the decision a “disgrace to the nation” and claiming he planned to impose even more tariffs under other statutory authorities.

“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” the president said during remarks from the White House. He cast that influence as social and cultural. “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country.”

Published: February 20, 2026, 7:23 pm

Why the supreme court’s tariffs ruling is a win for world trade – but also tricky

The decision adds to economic uncertainty, as deals Donald Trump struck with other countries are upended

It is refreshing to witness the US supreme court recover its spine and stand up to Donald Trump’s most extreme caprices. The 6-3 decision on Friday to strike down his barrage of tariffs on imports from virtually everywhere based on the preposterous argument that they addressed national emergencies will reassure the world that the US’s system of government – based on the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the rule of law – has not collapsed entirely.

But let’s hold the (imported) champagne. The court’s ruling will not restore the United States to its former place as a reasonable, trustworthy player in the world economy. The rules-based economic architecture that underpinned the integration of the world economy over the decades that followed the second world war remains fractured. Trump is still intent on its disintegration. And he retains power to do so.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:52 pm

Trump tariff court ruling does little to end uncertainty for global business

British Chambers of Commerce official says US supreme court decision ‘does little to clear the murky waters’

• US politics – live updates

The US supreme court just declared Donald Trump’s boldest tariffs illegal, but international businesses and governments are still uncertain over what’s to come.

After the court said the president cannot enact tariffs in peacetime using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the White House said it will quickly replace the levies by other – but potentially more cumbersome – means.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:04 pm

What will happen to Trump’s tariffs after supreme court verdict?

6-3 ruling against unilateral imposition of tariffs without congressional approval labelled a ‘disgrace’ by Trump

• Trump illegally used executive power to impose global tariffs, supreme court rules

• US politics live – latest updates

The US supreme court has struck down Donald Trump’s flagship policy of imposing tariffs on foreign imports in his bid to revitalise American manufacturing. The US president has reportedly called the decision a “disgrace”. Here’s what it means, and what could happen next.

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:05 pm

Democrats revel in supreme court decision curbing Trump’s tariff spree

Schumer says ‘overreach failed’ after court rules president cannot bypass Congress’s power to tax

• US politics – follow live

Democratic lawmakers are rejoicing after the supreme court ruled that Donald Trump overstepped his authority by imposing steep tariffs on global imports, toppling one of the president’s most aggressive assertions of executive power.

The 6-3 ruling found that a 1977 emergency powers law did not provide legal justification for most of the administration’s sweeping tariffs, a ruling the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, framed as a win for “American consumers” and an example of how Trump’s “overreach failed”.

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:49 pm

New Mexico to reopen inquiry into Epstein’s ranch amid pressure campaign

Criminal investigation into possible sex trafficking at Zorro Ranch follows Guardian report on lack of federal action

New Mexico will reopen its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro ranch in the state after a public pressure campaign for a fuller accounting of the role the location it played in the late financier’s sex-trafficking conspiracy.

The New Mexico department of justice’s announcement came less than two weeks after the Guardian reported that federal agents did not appear to have ever searched Zorro Ranch.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:14 pm

Ministers to consider removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from line of succession

Move would follow any police investigation after former prince questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office

The government will consider passing legislation to strip Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his right to inherit the throne once any police investigation has concluded, it is understood.

Several politicians have called for the former prince to be removed from the line of succession after he was arrested and questioned by detectives on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:04 pm

US envoy Mike Huckabee says it would be ‘fine’ if Israel took all Middle East land

Rightwing Trump ally tells Tucker Carlson Israel has biblical right to land from ‘wadi of Egypt to the great river’

The US’s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has contended to the podcaster Tucker Carlson that Israel has a biblical right to take over the entire Middle East – or at least the lion’s share of it.

“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said to Carlson during an interview posted on Friday. The Trump administration appointee and former Arkansas governor discussed with Carlson interpretations of Old Testament scripture within the US Christian nationalist movement.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:29 pm

California bill would ban ICE agents from being near polling sites

Legislation responds to concerns that immigration officers could interfere with voting during November midterms

A bill introduced this week by California lawmakers would ban federal immigration agents from being stationed outside polling places, responding to concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers could interfere with voting during the November midterm elections.

The legislation was introduced on Thursday by state senator Tom Umberg and co-authored by state senator Sabrina Cervantes. Umberg said the measure aimed to safeguard voters from “ruthless intimidation” near polling locations.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:39 pm

Officials investigate deadly California avalanche for possible criminal negligence

Nevada county sheriff said investigation includes learning why the ski trip was not cancelled by the guide company

Authorities are investigating whether any criminal negligence was involved in the deadly avalanche that swept California’s Lake Tahoe this week, which killed at least eight skiers and their guides while returning from a three-day backcountry skiing trip.

The Nevada county sheriff’s office said on Friday said that they notified the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha), which regulates workplace safety, of the active investigation.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:24 pm

‘A joyful day’: final piece of Sagrada Familia’s central tower put in place

Completion of glass cross brings Antoni Gaudí’s church to maximum final height of 172.5m, 144 years after work began

The final piece of the central tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia has been laid in place, bringing the church to its maximum final height 144 years after work began.

After several days when it has been too windy to work, the upper section of the 17 metre-high four-sided steel and glass cross was winched into position at 11am on Friday, completing the tower dedicated to Jesus Christ. At 172.5 metres, the Sagrada Familia, to which the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí devoted the later part of his life, is Barcelona’s tallest building and the world’s tallest church.

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:09 pm

Anna Murdoch-Mann, author and ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch, dies aged 81

Philanthropist and mother of Elisabeth, James and Lachlan Murdoch died at home in Palm Beach, Florida

The author and philanthropist Anna Murdoch-Mann, the ex-wife of the Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. She was 81.

Murdoch-Mann’s death was reported Friday by the New York Post, one of her ex-husband’s media properties.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:54 pm

US judge expresses concern about government’s role in Washington Post raid

Federal judge said reporter Hannah Natanson ‘has basically been deprived of her life’s work’ after January raid

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday declined to immediately rule on the Washington Post’s request for the government to return devices seized from reporter Hannah Natanson in a January raid of her home.

But the judge, William B Porter of the eastern district of Virginia, acknowledged the enormity and significance of the seizure during the afternoon hearing. “Ms Natanson has basically been deprived of her life’s work,” he said.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:24 pm

USA and Canada to meet in Olympic men’s ice hockey gold medal game

• Hughes and Eichel spark US rout of Slovakia

• MacKinnon scores late to send Canada through

• Border rivals to meet for men’s hockey gold

The United States and Canada men’s ice hockey teams will play for the gold medal on Sunday’s final day of the Milano Cortina Games after both teams came through their semi-final contests on Friday evening, setting up a blockbuster final in the first Olympic tournament to feature National Hockey League players in 12 years.

Canada left things late in the first game, fighting back from two goals down to win 3-2 over Finland on Nathan MacKinnon’s winner with 35.2 seconds remaining. The US took a more straightforward tack in the nightcap to set up the heavyweight clash, roaring past Slovakia 6-2 after Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored in a 19-second span during the second period to blow things open, ensuring the Americans no worse than silver and their first men’s hockey medal in 16 years.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:41 pm

Federal judge accuses White House of ‘terror’ against immigrants in US

Sunshine Sykes says Trump administration poses threats and is recklessly violating law with its mass deportations

A federal judge has accused the Trump administration of terrorizing immigrants and recklessly violating the law in its efforts to deport millions of people.

The judge said that the White House had also “extended its violence on its own citizens”, citing the killings of Renee Good in January by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and Alex Pretti in the same month by border patrol, both US citizens and both protesting in Minneapolis.

Published: February 20, 2026, 2:44 pm

Florida Republicans pass bill renaming West Palm Beach airport after Trump

Democrats cry foul at change to airport closest to Mar-a-Lago days after president’s lawyers trademarked new name

Democrats in Florida have condemned Republican colleagues in the state legislature who approved renaming the airport in West Palm Beach to the “President Donald J Trump International Airport”, less than a week after lawyers for Trump sought to trademark the name.

Only the signature of Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, now stands before a renaming ceremony at the airport less than six miles from the president’s waterfront Mar-a-Lago mansion and private resort club in Palm Beach.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:41 pm

Congress restores funding to cultural institutions once on Trump’s chopping block

Breaking from the president, Congress voted to fund institutions including the Institute of American Indian Arts

In a break with Donald Trump, the Republican-controlled Congress approved a funding bill for multiple key government agencies and institutions in January. Some of those groups included the cultural institutions whose federal funds the president had sought to severely decrease or totally eliminate.

Last year, Trump issued “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”, an executive order that specifically cited the Smithsonian Institution as having “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology”. The executive order called for an overhaul of the museums and called out the American Women’s History Museum, which now exists only as an online exhibition, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:56 pm

Anger as Trump FDA retreats from plan to ban artificial colors in food

Experts say new labeling could deceive consumers as dangerous substances still allowed under new rules

In a further retreat from its pledge to ban artificial dyes from food, Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would loosen labeling requirements to allow companies to state “no artificial colors”, even though products may contain some dangerous substances such as titanium dioxide.

The FDA in early February announced it would allow food makers to claim “no artificial colors” as long as the dyes are not petroleum-based, but health experts say even some naturally based additives present health risks, and the labeling would deceive consumers.

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

Nascent tech, real fear: how AI anxiety is upending career ambitions

AI has convinced computer science students to shift majors and white-collar workers to change careers, while some are embracing it

Matthew Ramirez started at Western Governors University as a computer science major in 2025, drawn by the promise of a high-paying, flexible career as a programmer. But as headlines mounted about tech layoffs and AI’s potential to replace entry-level coders, he began to question whether that path would actually lead to a job.

When the 20-year-old interviewed for a datacenter technician role that June and never heard back, his doubts deepened. In December, Ramirez decided on what he thought was a safer bet: turning away from computer science entirely. He dropped his planned major to instead apply to nursing school. He comes from a family of nurses, and sees the field as more stable and harder to automate than coding.

Published: February 20, 2026, 2:00 pm

Andrew under investigation: what's next for the former prince? - The Latest

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been released under investigation after police questioned the former prince in relation to allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein. Officers searched Mountbatten-Windsor’s Sandringham residence as well as his former home at the Royal Lodge in Great Windsor Park after arresting him on Thursday. The former prince has denied any wrongdoing. But what were the police searching for and what could happen next? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s police and crime correspondent, Vikram Dodd

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:29 pm

Amid Trump crackdown on Chinese students, one US university appears to block them altogether

Purdue says no ban on Chinese students exists, but reportedly rescinded dozens of offers after warnings from legislators

Several universities have scrapped partnerships with Chinese institutions in recent months as a direct result of pressure from US legislators. But no university appears to have gone as far as Purdue University in Indiana.

Students and faculty at the public university say that an unofficial policy is in effect to automatically reject students from China and a number of other countries altogether.

Published: February 20, 2026, 2:00 pm

More than just McSteamy: Eric Dane was masterful in Grey’s Anatomy – the real man of everyone’s dreams | Anna Spargo-Ryan

Dane was initially only contracted to appear in one episode of series. He starred in a further 138, revolutionising the show along the way

• Eric Dane, Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria star, dies aged 53

Eric Dane, one of the most handsome men DNA has ever fabricated, has died at 53, just a year after announcing his ALS diagnosis. We just lost Dawson Leery, and now this. It’s a tough time to be a millennial.

It goes without saying: Dane was very good looking. Even in the 2000s, which treated us to a glut of ridiculously handsome TV stars (Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padalecki, Milo Ventimiglia), he was breathtaking. The voice. The eyes. The soul patch. Oof.

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:18 am

‘An incredible human being’: readers on their memories of Robert Duvall

Fans celebrate unmatched talent on screen, while those who met the actor in person remember his kindness

Another one of the greats has passed. What a career. I sincerely believe Duvall was the best actor in a generation of best actors: De Niro, Pacino, Hoffman, Nicholson and more. What made Robert stand above these other figures was how he disappeared into a part. There was no Duvall persona. He was invisible. There were just the characters he played. He could do loud and angry – see his sublime turns in The Great Santini or his seminal Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. Yet I loved his quieter performances more, which would slowly sneak up on you, pull you close and then blow you away with the brilliance of his choices and the risks he took.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:00 pm

In the age of the ‘rough sex defence’, Emerald Fennell’s treatment of Wuthering Heights’ Isabella Linton is grotesque | Emma Flint

By portraying the young woman Heathcliff abuses as a sexily willing participant in her own degradation, Fennell’s adaptation betrays the book, and her audience

Tragedy is the beating heart of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights; it’s a gothic novel that takes place in a society built on hierarchy and oppression, and exposes the fragility of love and how easily it is distorted into dangerous obsession. Unsurprisingly, there is no happy ending.

Although every character in the novel is stalked by tragedy, few suffer as much as Isabella Linton. Unaware of Heathcliff’s vindictive motives, she becomes trapped in an intensely abusive marriage, one she is only freed from by fleeing to London. While she is undoubtedly a victim, in the end the character also has agency; Isabella is able to escape her abuser, though not without considerable scars. It’s a pivotal moment for her character, and one that she’s been stripped of in Emerald Fennell’s quote-unquote “adaptation”.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:57 am

These atrocities in Sudan were entirely predictable. So why did the rest of the world fail to stop them? | Husam Mahjoub

Western governments have put elite bargains before civilian lives. If El Fasher is to mean anything, this approach must change

The latest report from the UN independent fact-finding mission on the fall of El Fasher in Sudan reads like a postmortem of a preventable tragedy. The report details what it calls the “hallmarks of genocide”: mass killings, systematic sexual violence and ethnic cleansing targeting non-Arab communities by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The atrocities in El Fasher should have surprised no one in the international community. Western governments were warned repeatedly by civil society, humanitarian organisations, investigative journalists and their own agencies. In Britain, a whistleblower last year accused the Foreign Office of censoring internal warnings about imminent genocide. The US state department and members of the UN security council received continuous reporting from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab documenting the RSF’s military buildup and preparations to overrun the city. Senior US officials warned the Biden administration that El Fasher was at imminent risk. A security council resolution in 2024 called for an end to the siege. None of this prevented the city from being strangled.

Husam Mahjoub is co-founder of Sudan Bukra, an independent non-profit Sudanese TV channel

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Published: February 20, 2026, 1:45 pm

Why are so many academics in the Epstein files? It’s not just about money | Christopher Marquis

In a university ecosystem that breeds hunger for status, Epstein made scholars feel like celebrities

The Jeffrey Epstein story is often told as the intersection of two obsessions: sexual abuse and money. The recently released emails certainly contain significant evidence of both. But after more than two decades as a professor at Harvard, Cornell and Cambridge, I am most struck by the limitation of that frame – in part because it fails to explain why academics show up so consistently in these files.

Certainly, money played a role in Epstein’s university connections. A rich man using donations and access to burnish his ego and legitimacy is a well-worn script, from Andrew Carnegie’s libraries more than a century ago to Bill Gates’s more recent global health philanthropy. As a college drop-out, Epstein clearly craved “respect” from high-profile academics. Universities, meanwhile, are perpetually fundraising and institutions that rely on donations often avoid asking hard questions about where the money came from. As the Bard College president, Leon Botstein, put it when defending his Epstein connections: “Among the very rich is a higher percentage of unpleasant and not very attractive people.” Institutions sometimes learn to stop asking hard questions about where the money came from.

Christopher Marquis is the Sinyi professor of management at the University of Cambridge and author of The Profiteers: How Business Privatizes Profits and Socializes Costs

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

Martin Rowson on the impact of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on the royal family – cartoon

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Published: February 20, 2026, 5:08 pm

There are problems with a geoengineering techno-fix for the climate crisis | Mike Hulme

Geoengineering does little to defuse most of the risks that really matter for people – and it runs the risk of making some harms worse

Planetary-scale solar geoengineering interventions involve the deliberate injection of either natural or artificial particulates into the stratosphere – stratospheric aerosol injection, or SAI – with a view to offset some of the global heating caused by greenhouse gases. If implemented, the technology would create a metaphorical thermostat for the planet. Such a thermostat is advocated on the grounds that controlling global temperature reduces the harms associated with the climate crisis.

I wish to challenge this assertion.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:00 am

From handsome prince to a ghost behind glass, Andrew’s face tells the story of his decline | Fay Bound-Alberti

Royals have always prized their images as ways to assert their lineage and authority. Now this pathetic photograph will define the former prince

You will have seen the photograph by now: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly a prince, slumped in the back of a car outside Aylsham police station in Norfolk. His face is corpse-like – his lips tight, stare fixed, eyes turned red by the camera flash. It’s a far cry from Randy Andy, the handsome prince with the big teeth and the easy grin, whose face was once plastered on china cups and plates and commemorative tins, pressed into the soft metal of national affection.

Never the heir, but less of a spare than Harry somehow, Andrew’s face was once memorialised in the way that only royalty, Jesus and the saints were: endlessly reproduced as public property. Andrew’s face was part of his – and the royal family’s – brand; he was the warrior prince, the helicopter pilot, the man who had served. He had sweated for us, so much in fact, that he could never sweat again.

Dr Fay Bound-Alberti is a writer and professor of modern history at King’s College London. Her book The Face: A Cultural History is published by Allen Lane on 26 February

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Published: February 20, 2026, 3:58 pm

Can Europe survive without US defence? Surprisingly, the Baltic sea nations are showing the way | Elisabeth Braw

Joint patrols are being mounted to protect undersea cables from Russian sabotage: localised cooperation is our best hope for now

• Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council thinktank

When European countries in the Baltic Sea region joined Nato for protection against Russia, they were not anticipating their most powerful Nato ally would be the one threatening to seize territory from them. The shock of the Greenland crisis may have faded from the headlines, but Donald Trump’s US has also suggested it may decide not to defend Europe. And Russia continues to be a nuisance in the Baltic Sea.

Luckily, the vulnerable Baltic nations have launched an impressive string of initiatives to keep their mini-ocean safe. As the US sheds responsibility for Europe’s defence, these efforts could provide a model for the future of Nato itself.

Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council thinktank. She is the author of Goodbye, Globalization: The Return of a Divided World and The Defender’s Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-Zone Aggression

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Published: February 20, 2026, 5:00 am

The Guardian view on Trump’s Board of Peace: serving private interests more than public good | Editorial

As aid trickles into Gaza, Washington channels $10bn into a body chaired by the president. Peace in the region rests on law and sovereignty, not ego and brinkmanship

In Gaza, aid still trickles in at levels relief agencies say are far below what is required. Temporary shelters are scarce. Reconstruction materials are restricted by Israel’s controls on goods entering the territory. Conditions, say the UN, remain “dire”. The violence has not stopped: Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed about 600 people since the ceasefire began. The announcement that the US would transfer $10bn to President Donald Trump’s newly convened Board of Peace is hard to reconcile with the reality on the ground. Even worse is that Washington has paid only a fraction of its UN arrears – $160m against more than $4bn owed.

This raises the obvious question: why is a private initiative being capitalised so heavily while existing UN mechanisms remain severely cash-strapped? Funnelling state funds into a body chaired by Mr Trump suggests foreign policy is serving private interests, not the public good. The board has ambitious plans. Rafah is to be rebuilt within three years with skyscrapers. Gaza is to become self-governing within a decade. An International Stabilisation Force is expected to begin deployment, eventually numbering 20,000 troops. These are dramatic claims. But their delivery is largely notional.

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.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:52 pm

Winter Olympics: USA’s Alex Ferreira completes medal set with freeski halfpipe gold

• 31-year-old adds to his 2018 silver and 2022 bronze

• Estonia’s Sildaru, Canada’s Mackay round out podium

American freeskier Alex Ferreira won the men’s halfpipe final at the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Friday to complete his collection of Olympic medals.

The 31-year-old Ferreira won with a third and final run worth 93.75 points, adding the gold medal to his silver from Pyeongchang in 2018 and bronze from Beijing in 2022.

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:49 pm

US skier Hess describes ‘hardest weeks of my life’ after Trump’s ‘real loser’ comment

• American halfpipe competitor says he has no regrets

• Britain’s Gus Kenworthy just misses out on medal

At the start of the Winter Olympics, Donald Trump called Hunter Hess a “real loser” after the US freeskier dared to admit that he had mixed feelings about representing his country.

As he swooped down the halfpipe on Friday morning, Hess delivered a neat riposte, flashing a L-sign with his hand before insisting his row with Trump was something “I definitely wear with pride”.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:58 pm

Winter Olympics showcase golden oldies, fourth-place pain and sliding-doors moments | Lizzy Yarnold

Bravery on display has been inspirational, but behind the glamour and the glory it’s the humanity that captivates us

Milano Cortina has been the first Games where I’ve been around town, not just being whisked from the sliding centre to the athletes’ village. It has given me the chance to really be present and feel the excitement and anticipation that sport brings, not to mention the importance it has in giving us something else to focus on in difficult times.

As a TV pundit, it was hard to keep my emotions in check watching Great Britain’s skeleton success because I knew what it meant to Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker to become Olympic champions – Matt twice, of course. Their achievements are not only historic but the day-to-day impact will be so meaningful to both of them. I remember seeing kids’ drawings of me and people dressing up as “Lizzy” and now I’m seeing it from a different perspective. I’m incredibly proud of them.

Published: February 20, 2026, 7:00 pm

Olympic speed skater Sellier in hospital after taking blade to the face

• Opponent’s blade slices above Kamila Sellier’s eye

• Polish skater was given stitches at arena

• Collision occurred during 1500m quarter-finals

Short-track speed skater Kamila Sellier of Poland was immobilized on a stretcher and wheeled out of the Milano Ice Skating Arena on Friday night after a competitor’s blade sliced her above her left eye during the women’s 1500m at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

Sellier went down along with 14-time Olympic medalist Arianna Fontana of Italy and American skater Kristen Santos-Griswold, who was penalized for an illegal lane pass that contributed to the accident. That kept Santos-Griswold from advancing through the quarter-final round.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:17 pm

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Tottenham’s Tudor age begins with a north London derby, Guardiola ponders Haaland’s role and Wirtz has a chance to flummox Forest

Aston Villa, third in the Premier League, chasing Champions League qualification and the Europa League title, will be expected to beat Leeds on home soil. But Unai Emery’s side have struggled of late in games where the pressure is on and the onus is upon them to be the aggressor. After exiting the FA Cup to Newcastle, Marco Bizot’s moment of madness all but ending their hopes of reaching the fifth round, it is back to league duty. They eked out an ugly win over Brighton, just the kind of result they would be happy with this weekend, but recently they also lost at home to 10-man Brentford and to Everton. Before that they drew at lowly Crystal Palace, though Oliver Glasner’s side have been a bogey team for Villa. This week Bizot apologised for his rush of blood. Which Villa will turn up against Leeds? Ben Fisher

Aston Villa v Leeds, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Brentford v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

Chelsea v Burnley, Saturday 3pm

West Ham v Bournemouth, Saturday 5.30pm

Published: February 20, 2026, 12:01 am

Charles Leclerc clocks quickest time at final F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain

• Lando Norris second fastest; Max Verstappen third

• Aston Martin completed just six laps after problems

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the bragging rights with the quickest time at the final Formula One test before the season proper begins in Australia in just two weeks, while Aston Martin endured a horror show.

At the end of the final day of the third test, some of the cars were let off the leash to put in some runs on soft tyres with lower fuel loads and Leclerc looked very much at home as he hurled his Ferrari around the circuit in Bahrain. He set a time of 1min 31.992sec, eight-tenths clear of the second-placed McLaren of Lando Norris and a second up on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:18 pm

‘Flattered. Thanks, JD!’: Eileen Gu claps back at Vance after criticism for representing China

• Olympic freeski star was born in San Francisco

• VP suggested US-born athletes should compete for US

Olympic freeskier Eileen Gu has responded after vice-president JD Vance appeared to criticise her choice to represent China on the international stage instead of the United States.

With five medals, the 22-year-old Gu is the most decorated female freeskier in Olympic history. She won two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Games and has claimed two silvers at the Milano Cortina Games, with one more medal event set for Saturday in the halfpipe.

Published: February 20, 2026, 2:58 pm

German soccer club cancel US trip amid concerns over ICE actions in Minnesota

• Werder Bremen scrap plans to play in Minnesota, Detroit

• Club cites unrest after ICE killings, US visa restrictions

German soccer club Werder Bremen have canceled a trip to the United States due to concerns over unrest in Minnesota after the actions of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as economic risks, a club spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.

The top-flight team were planning to visit Minnesota and Detroit in May and play two friendly matches, according to media reports in the US and Germany. No opponents for the matches had been confirmed.

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:20 pm

Clapping skis to the pulpy thrash of poles: the Winter Olympics are an ASMR wonderland

The TV screen’s jazz of drags, snaps, pops, and stops during the Milano Cortina Games have shown sport at its most powder-light and loveable

The mountains always promise escape from the squalor of existence at sea level, if not a kind of purification. The fortifying ruggedness of the terrain, the apple-crisp air, the high-albedo dazzle of sunlit snow: at altitude, it seems, everything is thinned to its essence. The Winter Olympics frequently play on this mythology of purity, but rarely has culture’s quadrennial ascent up the switchbacks felt as clarifying as it has this year. Propelling us into heights untroubled by the compromises and tradeoffs that blight sport’s lower zones, Milano Cortina has delivered images so brilliant and sharp they’ve also served to expose how ugly – and morally murky – most non-Olympic team sports have become over the past four years.

As a TV spectacle, the excellence of this Olympiad has been defined as much by absence as presence. No gambling ads, no live betting odds gunking up the screen, no win percentage trackers, no janky little segments in which the hosts joke about what the prediction markets are doing: these Games have brought delight and relief to a tired public’s eyes in equal measure. Cleaned of clutter and slop, sport, it turns out, can still be a thing of wonder and mystery, agony and beauty. Who would have thought?

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:00 am

MLS 2026 predictions: Messi v Son, a Timo Werner rebirth and are Inter Miami inevitable?

The 2026 MLS season kicks off on Saturday. Our writers discuss the teams, players and story lines they’re watching this year

Messi v Son. The two best players in the league play for the two “glamour” teams on opposite coasts, and each have large and dedicated fanbases. If both stay relatively healthy and perform up to capabilities, there’s no way the race between them for some honor (Golden Boot? MVP? Both?) won’t be fascinating to see unfold. AA

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Mikel Arteta rules out ‘bottlers’ jibe but accepts Arsenal must take title criticism

• ‘It’s not part of my vocabulary. I wouldn’t use that word’

• Arsenal visit Tottenham in Premier League on Sunday

Mikel Arteta has insisted the word “bottlers” is not in his vocabulary and that Arsenal must take criticism “on the chin” after surrendering a 2-0 lead against the bottom side, Wolves, in midweek.

With Manchester City facing Newcastle on Saturday night, the Premier League leaders could have their advantage over Pep Guardiola’s side cut to two points by the time they play at Tottenham on Sunday.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:30 pm

Hamas reportedly holds leadership vote at critical moment for militant group

New head will face decisions crucial to movement’s future, such as how far to cooperate with Trump’s Gaza plan

Hamas has reportedly begun holding leadership elections among its members at a time when the militant Palestinian movement faces imminent decisions which will be critical to its own continued existence and the potential for peace in Gaza.

According to the BBC and press reports in the Gulf, Hamas members in Gaza have already voted. Those in the West Bank, in Israeli prisons and the diaspora are also expected to cast ballots for delegates to the movement’s 50-member general Shura council, which ultimately chooses its politburo and a new interim leader. The process could last weeks.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:09 pm

A bar, kitchen and flat-screen TVs: the $70m jet DHS is eyeing for deportations

The department is reportedly considering buying a Boeing plane for deportation flights and for use by Trump officials

A $70m aircraft the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering for deportation flights has a luxurious interior and will be used to transport Trump administration officials to engagements in comfort, according to a report published Friday.

NBC News obtained images of the Boeing 737-8 Max plane showing a bedroom with a queen bed, showers, a kitchen, four large flat-screen TVs and a bar.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:09 pm

FBI and Las Vegas police investigate suspected case of terrorism

A man, 23, drove a car full of weapons through gate of power facility before shooting himself in the head, officials said

A 23-year-old man drove from New York to a Las Vegas suburb and crashed a rented Nissan Sentra through a gate and into a pile of heavy wire reels at a power substation before shooting himself in the head, local police said on Friday, describing the incident as a suspected act of terrorism.

The suspect, Dawson Noah Maloney, died of the self-inflicted shotgun wound, the Las Vegas sheriff, Kevin McMahill, said at a press conference on Friday. He was wearing soft body armor when police discovered him.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:56 pm

Nasa to launch historic Artemis II moon mission on 6 March after delays

Administrator Jared Isaacman cites ‘major progress’ since earlier discovery of liquid hydrogen leaking from rocket

Nasa said on Friday it was planning to launch its delayed Artemis II moon mission on 6 March after successfully completing a fueling test that had caused it to stand down earlier this month.

Jared Isaacman, the space agency’s newly confirmed administrator, cited “major progress” since the original so-called wet dress rehearsal in which engineers discovered liquid hydrogen leaking from the space launch system (SLS) rocket on its Florida launchpad at Cape Canaveral.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:53 pm

Floreana giant tortoise reintroduced to Galápagos island after almost 200 years

Subspecies driven to extinction by hungry whalers returns after ‘back breeding’ programme using partial descendants

Giant tortoises, the life-giving engineers of remote small island ecosystems, are plodding over the Galápagos island of Floreana for the first time in more than 180 years.

The Floreana giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger), a subspecies of the giant tortoise once found across the Galápagos, was driven to extinction in the 1840s by whalers who removed thousands from the volcanic island to provide a living larder during their hunting voyages.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:00 pm

Ohio mayor arrested on voyeurism charges after allegedly sniffing girl’s underwear

Claims against Wesley Dingus came from teen who had been staying at his residence and hid camera in bedroom

A Republican mayor in Ohio is facing criminal allegations after authorities say he was recorded on a concealed camera smelling an underage girl’s underwear.

An incident report from the Richland county sheriff’s Office details the accusations against Wesley Dingus, 48, who serves as mayor of Butler. The claims came from a juvenile who had been staying at his residence.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:12 pm

UK clinical trial into puberty blockers on hold after medicines regulator steps in

Recruitment of children for study delayed after MHRA warns that participants should be no younger than 14

A clinical trial into puberty blockers for children has been paused after the medicines regulator warned it should have a minimum age limit of 14 because of the “unquantified risk” of “long-term biological harms”.

Discussions between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the trial sponsor, King’s College London, will begin next week to discuss the wellbeing concerns, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said on Friday evening.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:26 pm

Trump’s EPA to roll back rule limiting hazardous mercury from coal plants

Environmental groups warn that weakening air toxics and mercury standards will lead to higher health-related costs

The Trump administration announced on Friday it would roll back air regulations for power plants limiting mercury and hazardous air toxics at an event in Kentucky, a move it says will boost baseload energy but that public health groups say will harm public health for the most vulnerable groups in the US.

Donald Trump’s EPA has said that easing the pollution standards for coal plants would alleviate costs for utilities that run older coal plants at a time when demand for power is soaring amid the expansion of datacenters used for artificial intelligence.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:01 pm

How ‘smog capital of Poland’ saved 6,000 lives by cutting soot levels

Kraków’s ban on burning solid fuels plus subsidies for cleaner heating has led to clearer air and better health

As a child, Marcel Mazur had to hold his breath in parts of Kraków thick with “so much smoke you could see and smell it”. Now, as an allergy specialist at Jagiellonian University Medical College who treats patients struggling to breathe, he knows all too well the damage those toxic gases do inside the human body.

“It’s not that we have this feeling that nothing can be done. But it’s difficult,” Mazur said.

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:00 am

History redressed: Melania makes her mark, in a fashion, with Smithsonian gown

First lady is first in more than 100 years to have two inaugural gowns in museum’s popular collection

Her husband has described it as “OUT OF CONTROL”, a place where “everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been”.

But Melania Trump, the wife of US president Donald Trump, declared a temporary ceasefire in hostilities with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington on Friday – with the help of a silk gown, diamond brooch and headless mannequin.

Published: February 20, 2026, 7:20 pm

Former New Haven police chief charged with stealing $85,000 in agency funds

Karl Jacobson, city’s police chief for three years, is accused of pilfering money from fund meant to pay informants

An official who recently resigned as police chief of one of Connecticut’s largest cities was arrested on Friday on larceny charges after allegations that he stole more than $85,000 from two department accounts – money that was meant to pay for certain informants as well as a youth extracurricular program.

Karl Jacobson, who abruptly retired from the New Haven police department in January, turned himself in on an arrest warrant. He was later released on a court-set bond of $150,000, a state prosecutor said in a news release. Jacobson faces two counts of larceny related to defrauding a public community.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:29 pm

Texas congressional candidate with extremist views backed by hard-right donors

After tech billionaire Peter Thiel and others donated to Jace Yarbrough’s campaign, Donald Trump endorsed him

A rookie congressional candidate in a nine-way Texas primary has received the imprimatur of wealthy hard-right donors including tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Claremont Institute board chair Thomas Klingenstein and Charles Haywood, who once expressed a desire to be a “warlord”, according to new Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings showing early donations to his campaign.

In a recent candidate forum, Jace Yarbrough unapologetically staked out a series of extremist positions, saying that critics may call his approach to politics “bigoted and backward and oppressive and Nazi-ish”, but that he is “past trying to placate that in any way, shape or form”.

Published: February 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

Renowned scientist who studied distant planets fatally shot at his home near LA

Authorities suspect Carl Grillmair was shot by man arrested for carjacking, as friends mourn him as ‘irreplaceable’

A renowned California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientist who studied distant planets and other areas of astronomy for decades was recently shot to death at his home in a rural community outside Los Angeles, authorities said.

Carl Grillmair, 67, died from a bullet wound to the torso on Monday in Llano, an unincorporated community in the Antelope Valley, according to information from the LA county medical examiner’s office. The county sheriff’s department said it had arrested a suspect in Grillmair’s slaying, identifying him as 29-year-old Freddy Snyder.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:24 pm

‘The costs could rise’: Austria manslaughter ruling could alter climbing in Europe

Amateur climber’s conviction over girlfriend’s death could put people off activity, say experts

• Climber convicted of manslaughter after leaving girlfriend on Austria’s highest peak to seek help

The decision of an Austrian court to convict an amateur climber of manslaughter after he had left his girlfriend behind to die on an Alpine peak in winter is certain to be examined closely throughout Europe.

In his decision in Innsbruck, the judge, Norbert Hofer – a climber, and an expert in Austrian law relating to the mountains – ruled that the “galaxies-wide” disparity in experience and skills between Thomas P and his late girlfriend Kerstin G meant he had been de facto acting as her mountain guide “as a favour” despite no financial arrangement having been involved.

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:23 pm

Amazon’s cloud ‘hit by two outages caused by AI tools last year’

Reported issues at Amazon Web Services raise questions about firm’s use of artificial intelligence as it cuts staff

Amazon’s huge cloud computing arm reportedly experienced at least two outages caused by its own artificial intelligence tools, raising questions about the company’s embrace of AI as it lays off human employees.

A 13-hour interruption to Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) operations in December was caused by an AI agent, Kiro, autonomously choosing to “delete and then recreate” a part of its environment, the Financial Times reported.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:24 pm

AI hit: India hungry to harness US tech giants’ technology at Delhi summit

Narendra Modi’s thirst to supercharge economic growth is matched by US desire to inject AI into world’s biggest democracy

India celebrates 80 years of independence from the UK in August 2027. At about that same moment, “early versions of true super intelligence” could emerge, Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, said this week.

It’s a looming coincidence that raised a charged question at the AI Impact summit in Delhi, hosted by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi: can India avoid returning to the status of a vassal state when it imports AI to raise the prospects of its 1.4 billion people?

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:25 pm

The week around the world in 20 pictures

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Ramadan in Gaza, Russian airstrikes in Odesa and flooding in France – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

Published: February 20, 2026, 6:44 pm

Psycho Killer review – delayed satanic serial slasher is devilishly dull

The writer of Seven commits the sin of boring us with this bland horror which should have stayed in development hell where it belongs

When a script has passed through multiple hands over an almost 20-year period, one assumes it must have something magnetic enough to keep it within the Hollywood ecosystem and out of the trash. Of course, it’s also assumed that there’s probably something a little cursed about it too but when it finally does get made, the curiosity factor is sky high. Psycho Killer, written in the mid-2000s by Seven’s Andrew Kevin Walker, has had its share of almosts over the years. In 2009, Fred Durst was set to direct. In 2010, Eli Roth was set to produce. In 2011, production was set to begin. In 2015, it was supposed to get German funding. But each iteration found a snag, and it took until 2023 for the film to finally get made.

Three years later, it’s now finally getting released by 20th, AKA Disney, with longtime producer Gavin Polone making his directorial debut, an answer to the question of “Why this?’ quietly arriving in 1,000-plus cinemas.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:00 pm

The Hunt for Gollum looks like a step too far for the endless Lord of the Rings franchise

As the film-makers behind the seemingly neverending river of Tolkien adaptations seek to wring every last drop of story from Middle-earth, it risks running the whole thing into the ground

Now in his 80s, Ian McKellen appears to have taken a strategically sedentary route for his appearance as Gandalf the Grey in the next year’s Lord of the Rings weird-quel The Hunt for Gollum. You’ve probably heard about this thing: it’s the new movie that’s based on bits and pieces of JRR Tolkien’s esteemed high-fantasy epic that were only mentioned in passing during the three original three-hour movies, and didn’t get much more of a mention in the extended cuts that came out later.

In the original novels, Gandalf reveals to hobbit Frodo Baggins that he and Aragorn, AKA Strider, AKA the future King of Gondor and Arnor, searched for decades for the creature Gollum in an effort to find out what might have happened to the ring he once held. In the new movie, though, things will be different. According to McKellen, Aragorn will take charge of the quest to find Gollum, while Gandalf will operate more like a wizardly mission controller. “The script is designed to appeal to people who like Lord of the Rings,” McKellen told the Times. “It’s an adventure story, Aragorn trying to find Gollum with Gandalf directing operations from the sidelines.”

“Before the Fellowship, one creature’s obsession holds the key to Middle-earth’s survival – or its demise. In The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, we meet young Sméagol – an outsider drawn to trinkets and mischief – long before The One Ring consumed him and began his tragic descent into the tortured, deceitful creature Gollum. With the ring lost and carried away by Bilbo Baggins, Gollum finds himself compelled to leave his cave in search of it.

Gandalf the Grey calls upon Aragorn, still known as the ranger Strider, to track the elusive creature whose knowledge of the whereabouts of the ring could tip the balance toward the Dark Lord Sauron. Set in the shadowed time between Bilbo’s birthday disappearance and the Fellowship’s formation, this perilous journey through Middle-earth’s darkest corners reveals untold truths, tests the resolve of its future king, and explores the fractured soul and backstory of Gollum, one of Tolkien’s most enigmatic characters.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:44 am

Stephen Colbert on Andrew’s arrest: ‘Let’s hear it for British justice’

Late-night host expressed glee over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest and also showed confusion over Trump’s Board of Peace

Stephen Colbert discussed the arrest of the former prince Andrew and Donald Trump’s confusing new Board of Peace.

The Late Show host told the audience of Epstein pal Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest to a sea of cheers. “Yes, finally, someone, anyone!” he said.

Published: February 20, 2026, 3:05 pm

We Are All Strangers review – two weddings and a baby in marvellously addictive family drama

Anthony Chen offers up a forthright but warm film that navigates romantic crises and Singapore’s infatuation with the rich

The warmth, richness and approachability of this lovely film from Singaporean director Anthony Chen, a graduate of Britain’s National Film and Television School, returns him to the family drama style of his 2013 debut Ilo Ilo; with care and connoisseurship, he again draws on the influences of Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang, but Chen’s instincts are less oblique. He dots the I’s and crosses the T’s; the film-making is forthright and wholehearted though not unsubtle.

The film is set in Singapore, criticising the city-state’s conformism and infatuation with the rich and western prestige, and satirically showing the high-wire dangers of its entrepreneurialism, as attempted by the poor. Koh Jia Ler plays Junyang, a goofy, good-natured but shiftless twentysomething guy who lives with his widowed father Boon Kiat (Andi Lim) in a cramped rented flat. Junyang is about to finish his military service and now needs to figure out what to do with his life – but he certainly doesn’t to work on his dad’s noodle stall, that humble business that puts food on their table. His girlfriend Lydia (Regene Lim) is far more aspirational, a gifted pianist with her sights set on university. Lydia’s stern, churchgoing single mother – hardened by her own husband walking out on them both – does not approve of Junyang one bit.

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:00 am

Spanish-speaking Bad Bunny stirs lost Latin identity among Brazil’s music fans

Puerto Rican singer sells out concerts in Portuguese-speaking Brazil with breakthrough ‘anti-American agenda of emancipation’

There is a saying in Brazil that Brazilians realise they are Latin only when they travel to the US or Europe.

Among the many reasons for this is that the largest country in Latin America is also the only one in the region where Portuguese is spoken rather than Spanish.

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:00 am

Add to playlist: the seance-worthy dancefloor music of Miles J Paralysis and the week’s best new tracks

The enigmatic Bradford producer is moving into eerie new territory informed by folklore and delivered with a tangibly menacing low end

From Bradford, UK
Recommended if you like Adrian Sherwood, Kris Baha, Guerilla Welfare
Up next New EP Don’t Forget the Ritual released on 28 February

Miles J Paralysis maintains a low profile, with just a handful of releases available on Bandcamp and a sparse, faceless Instagram presence. The enigma suits the music he has been making and sharing under the alias since early last year: dark, dubby and complete with obscure vocal samples and titles such as Always Liked Scarecrows and Cursed Moor.

Published: February 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

Hedera: Hedera review | Jude Rogers' folk album of the month

(Cuculi)
The Bristol-based folk ensemble travel widely on their first album, exploring global influences with sparkling, springlike warmth

Hedera are a band of five tightly knit friends – violinist Lulu Austin, violin/viola player Maisie Brett, violinist/double bassist Beth Roberts, accordionist/harpist Tamsin Elliott, and clarinettist Isis Wolf-Light – named after the Latin botanical term for ivy. The group’s debut album combines influences from Bulgaria to Bali, Ireland to Georgia, and establishes its mood of knotted, hypnotic locked groove from its opening track, Sterretjie (named after an Afrikaans word for the coastal tern bird, which also means “little stars”). Brett’s violin passes the track’s melody to Wolf-Light’s clarinet and Elliott’s accordion with a bright, sparkling swiftness.

Many other moments of joy, lithe and spring-like, lift these 12 tracks. Roberts’ waltz about a Cornish meadow, Mayflies in June, travels from minor key to major and back again, buoyed along by Elliott’s harp-playing. (Elliott similarly impressed on 2023’s So Far We Have Come, her Anglo-Egyptian album with oud player Tarek Elazhary.) Sekar Jagat (Balinese for “flower of the universe”) twitches sweetly into life on prepared harp and plucked strings, then makes hay with a melody originally written for gamelan; on Shen Khar Venakhi, a 1,000-year-old Georgian hymn that survived Soviet purges, all five women’s voices join together in a dense, glowing mass.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:00 am

Hen Ogledd: Discombobulated review – a manifesto for collective action from Richard Dawson’s folk-rockers

(Domino)
Featuring taunts in Welsh, ‘bard rap’ and spirited jigs, the British quartet’s ragged, rich music underpins their vision for change

What do you do when the world’s falling apart? Take to the streets? Run to the hills? The latest album by this British folk-rock quartet suggests that a blend of fantasy and realism can provide a better way of living.

Their best-known member, Richard Dawson, addresses Facebook-dwelling flag-fiends on Dead in a Post-Truth World – “the mythical country you claim allegiance of is gone / It was never here” – his grave tone offset by Rhodri Dawson’s Welsh taunts in a nursery-rhyme melody. Between the euphoric singalong choruses of Scales Will Fall, Dawn Bothwell delivers what she calls “bard rap” – a steady vocal flow somewhere between spoken word and hip-hop – to decry capitalism and celebrate grassroots resistance. Another stunning, whirling chorus led by Sally Pilkington sits at the heart of End of the Rhythm, a spirited jig that lays out a manifesto for collective action. That collectivism is in the music itself: ragged yet richly populated arrangements of guitars, sax, trumpet and more, with plenty of guests (including children on flute and vocals).

Published: February 20, 2026, 8:30 am

Georgi Gospodinov: ‘Jorge Luis Borges gave me an exhilarating sense of freedom’

The Bulgarian Booker winner on the letter he wrote to JD Salinger, the allure of Homer’s Odyssey and the magic of Thomas Mann

My earliest reading memory
I was taught to read quite early, at five or six, probably so that I would sit quietly and not be a nuisance to the adults. And it worked. Once I’d entered a book, I didn’t want to come out. I remember how Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Match Girl turned my heart upside down. I was living with my grandmother at the time, and I cried under the blanket, terrified that one day she, too, would die.

My favourite book growing up
I read greedily and indiscriminately, picking books at random from my parents’ library. Thomas Mayne Reid’s adventure novels were favourites, especially The Headless Horseman. Jack London’s Martin Eden, too. Clearly, the idea of being both a hero and a writer appealed to me. Writers were not usually heroes. I also loved a textbook on criminology, which explained how to make invisible ink, what traces criminals leave behind, and so on – matters of extraordinary importance to any 10-year-old boy.

Published: February 20, 2026, 10:00 am

I’ll Be the Monster by Sean Gilbert review – are they fantasists or psychopaths?

The dark past of a seemingly perfect couple is gradually revealed in this observant debut of obsession and control

Glimpse them chatting in a restaurant or posing on Instagram, and you might think they have it all. The pair live in London but often travel, drawing the eyes of other guests, their skin glowing, their limbs artfully at ease. She writes affirmations on hotel stationery; he claims to taste notes of bark and tobacco in his chianti. As Sean Gilbert’s dark, observant debut opens in Istanbul, this apparently perfect couple bicker and sweat, for secrets lurk behind their facade – and one of them might be murder.

An unexpected reunion gets their sightseeing off to a shaky start. The unnamed narrator and his wife, Elle, have not seen Benny for 15 years when they cross paths outside the Hagia Sophia. An irksome university acquaintance who has become a second-rate rapper, Benny has the grip of a limpet. As the trio browse stalls and pull on saliva-slicked shishas, talk turns to the past.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:00 am

The QuickShot II joystick review – 80s clicks and waggles lovingly recreated

The updated QuickShot II brings retro gameplay into the modern era while preserving the no-frills button smashing and endearing flaws that fans loved

Nostalgia is big in the modern games industry. It’s ironic that the most technologically obsessed art form on the planet is just as watery-eyed about the past as cinema and music. And to prove it here is the new version of the legendary QuickShot II, a plasticky joystick from the early 1980s that wasn’t even that good the first time round. It was, however, cheap and it resembled an actual fighter plane control stick with its multiple fire buttons and ergonomic shaft. If you wanted a rugged and precise controller you’d go for the Competition Pro, but that one didn’t let you pretend to be in Star Wars or Airwolf. Plus, the QuickShot II had suckers on its base so you could stick it to your cockpit control panel – sorry, I mean MDF computer table.

The new QuickShot II from Retro Games and Plaion Replai is almost an exact replica in terms of its dimensions. You can grasp it in your fist and wrap your thumb and forefinger around its large red buttons. Yes, you can stick it to your table; the designers have even included the original auto-fire switch at the rear for players who weren’t prepared to hit the fire button repeatedly while playing Green Beret.

Published: February 20, 2026, 11:30 am

An Unknown Woman: how I discovered a hidden tragedy tied to Russia’s most famous painting

It caused a scandal in imperial Russia, then became a staple of popular art in the USSR. But when I spied a copy of Ivan Kramsky’s portrait in the film Sentimental Value, it opened a door to an untold case of life imitating art

Sentimental Value is one of those films you have to watch very closely. In the Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s latest work, which swept the board at the European film awards and is nominated for eight Baftas and nine Oscars, stories are hidden in closeups, half-tones and peripheral objects. Some of these stories are so well hidden, in fact, that they aren’t even apparent to the people who made the film.

In one scene, roughly an hour in, the camera glides down a corridor, and suddenly there she is: a woman’s portrait on the wall. Anyone who grew up in the Soviet Union and later Russia between the 1950s and 2000s, like me, would recognise her instantly. She has been endlessly reproduced: as prints, embroideries, portrait medallions, even on boxes of chocolates. In Britain, people may have encountered her on the covers of various editions of Anna Karenina.

Published: February 20, 2026, 7:00 am

‘He loved showing his bum. Loved it’: the subversive genius of Kenneth Williams

The actor, comedian and raconteur, who would have turned 100 on Sunday, could play humble or haughty, cheeky or Chekhov – but always stole the show

When standup comic Tom Allen received Attitude magazine’s comedy award last year, he used his acceptance speech to salute the subversive wits who paved the way for freedoms now enjoyed by queer people in Britain. Joining Oscar Wilde and Noël Coward on the list was an actor and raconteur singled out by Allen as “a big hero of mine”, and feted by everyone from Orson Welles to Judy Garland, Maggie Smith to Morrissey.

“I wanted to mention Kenneth Williams because he was so profound,” Allen tells me. “And yet, because he was also funny, that profundity hasn’t been acknowledged. As a child, I connected with his outsiderness. Rather than trying to fit in, he went in the opposite direction. Not only did he not apologise for being different, but he was queer in every sense, truly at odds with the world in which he found himself.”

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:00 am

Fabric of memory: the artists turning secondhand clothes into monumental art

Yin Xiuzhen builds cities from donated clothing while Chiharu Shiota weaves found objects into vast webs of thread. Now the two are exhibiting their massive, moving installations in two parallel exhibitions

These clothes are not “secondhand”, says Yin Xiuzhen, the Beijing-born artist known for creating large-scale installations out of found garments and keepsakes. “I prefer to call them ‘used’ or ‘worn’,” she explains. “Clothes that have been ‘worn’ carry a lot of information … like a second skin, imprinted with social meaning.” In some of Yin’s works the clothes are her own, telling a personal story. In others, the clothes are collected, stained and stretched across towering steel frames resembling planes, trains or organic forms.

Yin is showing a selection of these works in Heart to Heart, an exhibition occupying the lower floor of London’s Hayward Gallery. “Worn clothing acts as a narrator in my work … the lived experience is embedded in the fabric,” she says.

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

Chatshow magic isn’t easy. Can Claudia Winkleman conjure a sparkling interview show?

She might have the same producer as Graham Norton, but will Claudia Winkleman’s new series succeed? Seasoned pros from Esther Rantzen to Kirsty Wark reveal their tips and tricks for creating interview gold

Claudia Winkleman’s new chatshow will land next month, and its enthusiast army are already excited. Winkleman herself, who doesn’t come off at all breathy, said: “I can’t quite believe it and I’m incredibly grateful to the BBC for this amazing opportunity.” Kalpna Patel-Knight, who commissioned The Claudia Winkleman Show, observed: “Claudia is a true national treasure – warm, witty and endlessly entertaining.” Graham Stuart, long-term producer/buddy of Graham Norton, who runs So Television, which produces both, said of his new venture: “How can you possibly follow [Graham Norton]? By booking a host equally as brilliant. So we have.”

And if anything proves how hard it is to create great chat, it’s those quotes. If anyone was ever that bland and blow-hard on one of their chatshow sofas, most TV people would punch themselves in the head. No wonder so many chatshows struggle when they first come out – it’s not that the expectation is too high, exactly, so much as the fanfare is too boasty. Brilliant as she is, then, the success of Claudia’s new series is far from given. But how exactly do you go about creating chatshow magic?

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

Experience: I’m the last traditional clog maker in England

I cut small trees around Offa’s Dyke, then shape the wood by hand

I never wanted to be part of an unsustainable society. I’ve always tried to live as peaceful a life as I can, outside the big cities. Now I am the last person left in England making clogs by hand. I spend most days in my studio in Kington, Herefordshire, carving green sycamore wood that I collect myself, hand-dyeing the leather and making sure the soles are as near perfect a match to someone’s foot as possible. I don’t think you can have a more peaceful life than that.

I grew up in Ceredigion, surrounded by sheep. There were no jobs in the area and in 1976 I had to go on benefits. I developed extreme anxiety after breaking up with my first girlfriend. Convent schooling and boys’ boarding schools weren’t the best places to learn to develop relationships and I needed to find something therapeutic to do.

Published: February 20, 2026, 5:00 am

More polish, less panto: brands push ‘real clothes’ at London fashion week

British labels move focus from innovation to style as names drop off show schedule owing to financial pressure

“London fashion has leant too much into being theatrical. Drama is great, but style is a huge piece of why we buy fashion,” said Mario Arena, the creative director of Joseph, at its first catwalk show in eight years.

Arena has a subversive idea to re-energise London fashion week. More polish, less pantomime: clothes that sell, rather than clothes that scream.

Published: February 20, 2026, 3:07 pm

‘Tastes like Play-Doh’: the best (and worst) chocolate bars, tasted and ranked

We held a blind taste test of the best chocolate bars in the US – from Hu’s vegan bar to a crowd-pleasing dark chocolate from Theo

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Finding the perfect chocolate bar is a bit like dating. Some bars are an acquired taste, while others are love at first sight.

Luckily, and perhaps overwhelmingly, good chocolate only seems to be getting better. One in six new chocolates now claim to be “premium”, according to some recent research. Grocery shelves across the country carry artisanal, fair trade, organic, bean to bar, handcrafted, single origin, you-name-the-buzzword chocolate.

Best milk chocolate bar:
Endangered Species 48% Cocoa

Best dark chocolate bar:
Theo 70% Cacao

Published: February 20, 2026, 4:21 pm

Meet the colour of the moment: apple green

The increasingly popular shade has appeared on fashion week catwalks and award season red carpets

On the fashion colour wheel, green has long carried a reputation for being “tricky” – a shade that clashes with others and flatters only certain skin tones. Yet this year, a particular apple green has been steadily gaining popularity. It has appeared on catwalks and even on the red carpet, defying the old adage that red and green should never be seen.

Arriving at the Berlin film festival, Pamela Anderson wore an apple-green wrap by Carolina Herrera over a dress in tonal pinks and greens. Amal Clooney chose a green gown by Versace for a Golden Globes afterparty, while Rose Byrne wore green Chanel for the ceremony itself. With award season in full swing, there is speculation the shade could make a strong showing at the Baftas this Sunday.

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:15 pm

Flip it and reverse it: what JFK Jr’s backwards cap signals today

​T​he backwards cap, a 90s accessory once dismissed as juvenile​, is emerging as the latest shorthand for laid‑back confidence

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Within the first 20 minutes of Love Story, Ryan Murphy’s new take on the often tumultuous relationship between John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette, the youngest son of the former US president is depicted wearing five different caps. They include a Kangol flat cap as he cycles to a newspaper kiosk in uptown NYC to read the latest headlines about himself, a Yankees cap as he runs topless on a treadmill and a navy baseball cap as he joins his mother, Jacqueline, for dinner, where she promptly reminds him “no hats at the table, please”.

For Kennedy Jr, hounded by the paparazzi and tabloid press who nicknamed him “The Hunk” and more often than not “The Hunk Who Flunked”, you might think this penchant for peaked caps was thanks to the fact that they let him go somewhat incognito. But he preferred to wear his backwards, pulling the cap downwards over his signature flop of lush black hair, and leaving his full face on view.

Published: February 20, 2026, 7:00 am

‘Al-Aqsa is a detonator’: six-decade agreement on prayer at Jerusalem holy site collapses

Israeli police raid compound, arrest staff and curb Muslims’ access as Ramadan begins

A six-decade agreement governing Muslim and Jewish prayer at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site has “collapsed” under pressure from Jewish extremists backed by the Israeli government, experts have warned.

A series of arrests of Muslim caretaker staff, bans on access for hundreds of Muslims, and escalating incursions by radical Jewish groups culminated this week in the arrest of an imam of al-Aqsa mosque and an Israeli police raid during evening prayers on the first night of Ramadan.

Published: February 20, 2026, 9:32 am

Whistles are a symbol of resistance amid Trump’s ICE crackdown. Some say they hurt more than they help

The instrument has strengthened community ties, but some organizers say whistles can create panic or confusion

Over the past year, whistles have become a symbol of the collective resistance of ordinary people standing up to federal immigration enforcement. As the Trump administration expands its immigration crackdown to cities and towns across the US, people are relying on whistles to warn their neighbors about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

But not all activists agree on their efficacy. Some organizers, including those in rural areas of the US, say that whistles can heighten panic in the communities they serve. Others say they can create unnecessary confusion for children, the elderly and those with disabilities.

When a few grassroots organizations across the country, from Washington state to Maryland, posted on social media about their decision to keep whistles out of their activism, a debate exploded online. But scholars of social movements say that tactical adaptability is a healthy part of organizing, as coalitions emerge, coalesce and continue to transform to meet the needs on the ground.

Published: February 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

Tell us your highlights from the Winter Olympic Games 2026

As the Winter Olympic Games enter their final weekend, we would like to hear your favourite moments

As the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics enter their final weekend, we would like to hear about the moment will stay with you. Wherever you are, what was your favourite moment and why?

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Published: February 20, 2026, 2:16 pm

Changing of the guard and Ramadan prayers: photos of the day – Friday

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

Published: February 20, 2026, 1:21 pm