‘The best movement is the next movement’: how to really look after your lower back

An estimated 80% of the population will suffer from lower back pain at some point. The good news is that preventing it is a lot easier than treating it

• Read more in The way you move series

Getting out of bed. Picking up a coffee mug. Waving at a friend. Bending down to pat a dog. Turning to flush the toilet.

Many who have experienced “doing their back in” have been baffled by the discrepancy between the mildness of the precipitating action and the severity of the resulting pain. How could such a small, innocent movement trigger such paralysing pain that lasts for weeks, months, years or, in some cases, decades?

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 pm

Melania Trump documentary opens to underwhelming reception: ‘It’s not a gripping film’

$75m Amazon-produced paean to the first lady saw empty seats and faint praise as it opened in New York City

At the beginning of her new documentary, Melania Trump tells the viewer that “everybody wants to know” how she spends her time.

“So here it is,” she says. “Twenty days in my life.”

Published: January 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

Jeffrey Epstein files: don’t be fooled. Millions of files are still unreleased | Moira Donegan

Federal prosecutors had identified 6 million files that were ‘potentially responsive’ to the law, but only released 3.5. Why?

The justice department released a trove of 3.5m files related to the dead financier and pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, with deputy attorney general Todd Blanche declaring that the release would likely be the last major declassification of files relating to Epstein. Federal prosecutors had identified 6 million files that were “potentially responsive” to the law, meaning that there are millions of files that have still not been released.

The release marked a belated and partial compliance with a bill passed by Congress late last year, which had mandated that all government documents pertaining to Epstein and the various law enforcement investigations into his sexual abuse of girls be made public by 19 December 2025.

Published: January 31, 2026, 4:30 pm

The moment I knew: as we sat on the veranda playing Scrabble, it hit me – I was in love

When Dion Padan met Ben Graetz and his drag queen persona, there was an undeniable energy. A weekend away deepened their connection

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

In 2015, I moved to Sydney from north Wales in the UK. Sydney had always been my dream destination, but then the Australian immigration rules changed, meaning that to get permanent residency with my skillset as a barber, I’d have to move to Tasmania or the Northern Territory. I decided on Darwin because I feared the weather in Tasmania was too much like British weather. So in 2018, I packed my bags and moved to Darwin without knowing anything about the city.

Ben and I first chatted on Grindr and he was very welcoming, offering to show me around town. He was also very interested in my story – how did this Welsh boy end up living here? He asked if I was going to Darwin Pride.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 pm

‘One of the greatest comic talents’: tributes paid to actor Catherine O’Hara

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and Schitt’s Creek co-creator Dan Levy lead tributes to award winning actor

• Catherine O’Hara, actor known for Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek, dies aged 71

Tributes have poured in from the world of showbiz and politics for Catherine O’Hara, with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, and Schitt’s Creek’s co-creator Dan Levy mourning the loss of a “legend” after the actor died at the age of 71.

O’Hara, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in the TV comedy series, died on Friday at her home in Los Angeles after a brief illness, according to her agency, CAA.

Published: January 31, 2026, 3:05 pm

What makes Finland the happiest place on Earth?

For the last eight years, Finland has topped the list of the world’s happiest countries. Our writer embarks on a tour to discover their secret

I’ve been visiting the happiest country on Earth every year since I was a baby. At first glance, Finland doesn’t seem like an obvious breeding ground for happiness. In midwinter the sun only appears for two to five hours a day and temperatures can plummet to below -20C. (It would seem a warm-year-round, sunny climate is not a prerequisite to happiness.)

The World Happiness Report is based on a survey in which people rate their satisfaction with life – and the Finns have been happiest with their lot for the last eight years. Not short of marketing savvy, Visit Finland latched on to this with a “Masterclass of Happiness” advertising campaign. And it’s probably no coincidence that Lonely Planet named Finland in its 2026 Best in Travel guide as a country “for finding happiness in wild places”.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Judge orders release of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and father from ICE detention

Same judge previously ordered pair not removed from US, after preschooler detained with father on 20 January

A US judge has ordered the release of a five-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center by Tuesday after they were taken into custody by immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Liam Conejo Ramos, an Ecuadorian boy, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis on 20 January after returning from school with his father. Images of the Minnesota preschooler wearing a bunny hat and a plaid coat went viral online, sparking outrage across the country after claims that the child, who was on the driveway of his home during the arrest, was used as bait to try to arrest his mother inside the house.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:28 pm

LA Olympics chief says he ‘deeply regrets’ emails with Ghislaine Maxwell

Latest Epstein file release shows 2003 emails between Casey Wasserman and the convicted sex trafficker

Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, said on Saturday that he “deeply regrets” emails from 2003 between him and Ghislaine Maxwell that appeared in the latest collection of government files released Friday on Jeffrey Epstein.

Among the exchanges included one from Wasserman telling Maxwell “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

Published: February 1, 2026, 1:01 am

More than 300 anti-ICE protests planned across US this weekend

‘ICE Out of Everywhere’ demonstrations, including vigils and marches, follow Friday’s national strike

More than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC, today, in what organizers are calling “ICE Out of Everywhere”.

Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say today’s protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Los Angeles.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Trump says Iran ‘talking to’ US and hints at deal to avoid military strikes

US president says Iran ‘negotiating’ as US naval battle group approaches, and says regional allies cannot be told plan

Donald Trump has said Iran is “talking to” the US and hinted at a deal to avoid the use of military strikes.

“[Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, otherwise we’ll see what happens … We have a big fleet heading out there,” he told Fox News. “They are negotiating.”

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:28 pm

More than 120 dead after multiple suicide and gun attacks in Pakistan, officials say

Military says ‘terrorists’ carried out attacks in Balochistan province in what analysts described it as the deadliest day for militants in decades

Pakistan’s military said on Saturday that multiple suicide and gun attacks by “terrorists” across the restive south-western province of Balochistan killed 33 people, including civilians, while security forces responding to the violence killed 92 assailants.

Analysts described it as the deadliest single day for militants in decades.

Published: February 1, 2026, 2:12 am

Ukraine war briefing: US reports ’constructive’ peace talks with Russia as Zelenskyy pushes for ‘results’

Steve Witkoff encouraged ‘that Russia is working toward securing peace’ as Ukraine president looks to meetings ‘next week’. What we know on day 1,439

The US envoy Steve Witkoff has said he held constructive talks with a Russian envoy in Florida as part of Washington’s drive to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting on Saturday came just a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to halt the conflict.

“Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the US mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff posted on X. “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine.” He said the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks. Neither side released details of what was discussed.

The second round of peace talks in Abu Dhabi were set to start on Sunday, even if the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggested earlier this week that it might be postponed because of the US-Iran crisis. Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday his negotiators were also waiting to hear from the US on further meetings. “Ukraine is ready to work in all working formats,” Zelenskyy said. “It is important that there are results and that the meetings take place. We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them.”

Teams from Ukraine and Russia met last week in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations on a plan being pushed by Trump. The US says both sides are close to a deal, but they have so far been unable to find a compromise on the key issue of territory in a postwar settlement, according to Kyiv.

Emergency power cuts swept across several Ukrainian cities and neighbouring Moldova on Saturday, officials said, amid a commitment from Russia to pause strikes on Kyiv as Ukraine battles one of its bleakest winters in years. Donald Trump on Thursday claimed Vladimir Putin had agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Trump “made a personal request” to Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Sunday “in order to create favourable conditions for negotiations”. In a post on social media, Zelenskyy noted Russia has turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks.

Ukraine’s energy minister, Denys Shmyhal, said that the outages on Saturday had been caused by a technical malfunction affecting power lines linking Ukraine and Moldova. The failure “caused a cascading outage in Ukraine’s power grid”, triggering automatic protection systems, he said. Blackouts were reported in Kyiv, as well as Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions, in the centre and north-east of the country respectively.

The outage cut water supplies to the Ukrainian capital, officials said, while the city’s subway system was temporarily suspended because of low voltage on the network. The state emergency service said its teams led 500 stranded passengers out of metro stations.

Moldova also experienced major power outages, including in the capital Chisinau, officials said. “Due to the loss of power lines on the territory of Ukraine, the automatic protection system was triggered, which disconnected the electricity supply,” Moldova’s energy minister Dorin Junghietu said in a post on Facebook. “I encourage the population to stay calm until electricity is restored.”

The large-scale outage followed weeks of Russian strikes against Ukraine’s already struggling energy grid, which have triggered long stretches of severe power shortages. Moscow has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponising winter”.

Forecasters say Ukraine will experience a brutally cold period stretching into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, authorities said.

Published: February 1, 2026, 2:54 am

Search for survivors halted after Massachusetts fishing boat lost at sea

One dead and six missing as body and life boat from Lily Jean found after its disappearance from Gloucester port

The search for survivors of a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts with seven aboard has been suspended, the US Coast Guard said Saturday.

The coast guard had launched a search-and-rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72ft Lily Jean about 25 miles (40km) off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert had been sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the coast guard said.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:47 pm

Shooting at Mardi Gras parade in Louisiana leaves six people injured

One person taken into custody after a mass shooting in Clinton leaves six injured, including a child

Six people – including a child – were shot during a carnival parade in Louisiana on Saturday, leading authorities to take one person into custody, according to multiple reports.

The mass shooting occurred near a courthouse in Clinton, Louisiana, during the town’s “Mardi Gras in the Country” event, local news outlet WBRZ reported. The local sheriff told the local news outlet that the parade was immediately shut down.

Published: January 31, 2026, 9:10 pm

Trump news at a glance: president orders homeland security to avoid protests in Democratic-led cities

Kristi Noem’s department told to ‘under no circumstances’ get involved with protests in cities led by Democrats unless they ask for help – key US politics stories from 31 January at a glance

Donald Trump has instructed the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration’s immigration crackdown.

On his social media site, Trump posted that “under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help”.

Published: February 1, 2026, 1:21 am

Trump wants to build 250ft Washington DC arch that dwarfs Lincoln Memorial – report

US president reportedly eyes plot near Memorial Bridge for a large-scale structure named the Independence Arch

Donald Trump reportedly wants the arch he is planning to build in Washington DC to dwarf the Lincoln Memorial.

The US president envision the planned arch to be a height of 250ft, or significantly taller than the 100ft-tall Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. It would also be significantly taller than Paris’s 164ft-tall Arc de Triomphe – but less than half the height than the Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri, the world’s tallest arch.

Published: January 31, 2026, 5:28 pm

‘Justice is optional’: why Trump’s pardon of Honduran ex-president scares nature defenders

Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries for environmentalists – and the release of Juan Orlando Hernández has reinforced its ‘crisis of impunity’, say critics

When Donald Trump announced that he would pardon the former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, only the second world leader to be convicted of drug trafficking, Anna*, an environmental defender, was shocked.

In 2022, Hernández, also known as JOH, was extradited to the US and later convicted, along with his brother, on drug trafficking and weapons charges. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison for conspiring to smuggle more than 400 tonnes of cocaine into the US, becoming the first Honduran head of state to be tried and sentenced abroad for running a narco state. He was also accused of grave human rights violations.

Published: January 31, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘Under pressure’: Greenland’s PM gains fans at home and abroad after his rebuke of Trump

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, impressed Danes with his handling of the crisis but he says many Greenlanders are ‘afraid and scared’

This time last year, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, was better known on the global stage for his sporting achievements than international politics. For years he dominated the territory’s badminton scene, winning the singles and doubles championships almost every year. He won several medals at the Island Games, earning himself a reputation for “very competitive” play on the court.

As it turned out, that was useful preparation for his time in office.

Published: January 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Backing down isn’t an option’: Minnesota ICE shootings mobilize Americans to join ICE observer groups

The killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti have inspired people across the US to document federal agents’ activities in their communities

On Monday night, nearly 80,000 people hopped on a video call to learn how to “observe ICE”, a non-violent and constitutionally protected practice of documenting federal immigration agents’ activities in public. Some wrote in the chat where they were from: Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, Florida and many other corners of the country. Others typed why this was important to them: calling for “ICE out” of their communities and demanding the abolition of the agency itself. “The fact we’re all here gives me hope we’ll come out the other side,” wrote one participant. Within 24 hours, another 200,000 people had watched the recording on YouTube.

The rising interest in ICE observing came two days after Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent and less than three weeks after an agent killed Renee Good.

Published: January 31, 2026, 5:00 pm

As US influence wanes, the Chinese trade surplus strangles manufacturing across the globe

Trump’s wounding of the US economy offers Beijing an unparalleled opportunity – if it dials back its overbearing trade tactics

When the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, took to the podium at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week to lament how “great economic powers” were dismantling the international order, it seemed clear that he was talking about the United States. He might have been talking about China as well.

Not a week earlier, Beijing had revealed that China’s trade surplus ballooned by 20% in 2025, to $1.2tn. Despite Donald Trump’s wall of tariffs that crashed Chinese sales to the US, its overall exports expanded more than 5%. Sales to the 11 countries in Asia’s Asean bloc increased more than 13%. Exports to the European Union rose over 8%. Chinese imports, by contrast, were flat.

Published: January 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Here we go again’: $75m Melania film embodies venal spirit of Trump 2.0

First lady’s big-screen documentary premieres with criticisms over $28m payday and questions over relevancy

Donald and Melania Trump were walking a charcoal-coloured carpet beneath a stark black-and-white “MELANIA” backdrop. “Do you believe you’d be the man you are today if you hadn’t met your wife?” a reporter asked the US president.

Trump smiled and said: “He’s asking me a very dangerous question!” He went on to praise his wife without answering. When the reporter put the same question to Melania, she ventured: “Well, we will all be in different places, I guess.” With a nervous laugh, she turned to look at Trump and asked, “Right?”

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:02 am

We have lost so much of ourselves to smartphones: can we get it back?

My use of mobile phones has been compulsive – has it been for better or for worse?

• From a priest to a pensioner, a teenager to a tech CEO: can you guess our screen time?

In 2003, the Stanford social scientist BJ Fogg published an extraordinarily prescient book. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do predicted a future in which a student “sits in a college library and removes an electronic device from her purse”. It serves as her “mobile phone, information portal, entertainment platform, and personal organiser. She takes this device almost everywhere and feels lost without it.”

Such devices, Fogg argued, would be “persuasive technology systems … the device can suggest, encourage, and reward.” Those rewards could have a powerful effect on our relationship with these devices, akin to gamblers pumping quarters into slot machines.

Published: January 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Will corporate America finally stand up to the Trump administration?

The brutal handling of immigration raids and the killing of Alex Pretti have tested the reticence of the corporate class

During Donald Trump’s first term, the US’s corporate titans were prepared to literally turn their backs on the president when they disagreed with them. Weeks of growing national anger over deadly immigration crackdowns in the US have highlighted how much has changed.

Publicly, the US’s top CEOs have stayed – mostly – quiet during Trump’s second term, even as his administration has undermined free trade policies, cracked down on the immigration that many businesses relied on, and attacked the Federal Reserve – a pillar of the US’s financial hegemony.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:00 am

‘I never imagined this!’ How KPop Demon Hunters could make history at the Grammys and the Oscars

As the film’s megahit song Golden looks likely to sweep everything in awards season, its singer Ejae explains why she’s ready to step out from behind her animated alter ego

‘The directors were crying, the producer was crying, and I thought: Oh my gosh, this is an incredible musical world.” It was February 2025, and Ian Eisendrath was conducting an orchestra through the final flourishes for the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. He knew that the team had built something special – “but I never thought it would be like this,” he laughs, marvelling at what came next.

Mere weeks after its release in June, the animated film – about Korean girl band Huntr/x who battle soul-hungry demons through song – became Netflix’s most-watched title ever. The film’s soundtrack, a fleet of emotionally charged, devilishly catchy hits crafted by real K-pop heavyweights, became a platinum-rated phenomenon all its own.

Published: January 31, 2026, 5:00 am

The rise of ‘beef days’: why even meat lovers are cutting back

Inspired by YouTube creators, some people are limiting beef to a handful of ‘feast days’ a year to cut their climate impact

“I love beef,” says Vlad Luca, 25. But unlike most other self-proclaimed steak lovers, Vlad eats it only four times a year, on designated “beef days”.

The “beef days” phenomenon has been popularised by the brothers John and Hank Green, known collectively as vlogbrothers on YouTube. John, 48, is better known for his YA fiction, including The Fault in Our Stars, while Hank, 45, is a self-described science communicator and entrepreneur.

Published: January 31, 2026, 9:00 am

Seann Walsh: ‘Who would play me in the film of my life? Jack Dee, because he would hate it’

The comedian on getting sacked from TK Maxx, looking permanently hungover, and his 90s crush

Born in London, Seann Walsh, 40, began doing standup in 2006. He was on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 and I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! in 2022. His podcast is Class Clown and he co-hosts Oh My Dog! (with Jack Dee) and What’s Upset You Now? His tour, This Is Torture, starts on 13 February. He lives in London with his partner and two children.

What is your earliest memory?
My dad had loads of friends round, all smoking heroin and singing me Happy Birthday. I was three or four.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:00 am

‘There’s no way my daughter would have jumped’: why are so many Turkish women falling to their deaths?

Every year in Turkey, hundreds of women are recorded as having taken their lives by ‘throwing themselves from a high place’. But many grieving families maintain that investigators are missing the full story

Almost nothing seemed to scare Şebnem Köker. With her hair dyed fire-engine red, the 29-year-old nurse lived life by her own rules. Friends say she was so headstrong, she’d be getting ready for a night out in their home town, the Turkish coastal city of İzmir, and suddenly suggest a change of plan to a last-minute trip away. Even a prospective move to Canada didn’t seem to daunt her. But there was one thing that had terrified Şebnem: heights. Her father, Abdullah, says she was afraid to even tiptoe on to the slim balcony that wraps around the third-floor apartment they shared in İzmir.

“She wouldn’t even have a cigarette or eat out there. She wouldn’t hang laundry on the balcony,” he says, sitting on the sofa in the darkened living room they once shared. A pouting portrait of Şebnem is tucked into the frame of a mirror on the opposite wall.

Published: January 31, 2026, 11:45 am

Blind date: ‘Numbers have been exchanged and dates have been suggested’

Ursula, 29, an events coordinator, meets Culann, 34, a charity worker

What were you hoping for?
To meet someone fun, maybe a bit of romance.

Published: January 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Can French Connection make FCUK fashionable again?

With a North American licensing deal under its belt, the reinvented high-street giant is growing again under new owners and a global strategy

French Connection is back on the trail of global expansion with the aid of its cheeky initials-based slogan that made it so popular in the late 1990s.

The label once known for clothes bearing FCUK is seeking to reinvent itself again under the ownership of a group of British entrepreneurs based in the north of England who rescued it in 2021.

Published: January 31, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘I was really surprised by the swimmers’ powerful energy’: Jorge Perez Ortiz’s best phone picture

After undergoing emergency surgery following an accident, the photographer discovered a newfound appreciation for the human body

Three years ago, Jorge Perez Ortiz was on a small wooden boat travelling from Cartagena in Colombia to a group of nearby islands when the sea became unexpectedly rough. As a strong wave hit, Ortiz, sitting at the bow, felt his body lift and come down sharply on his seat. The sudden impact fractured a vertebra. He was taken to hospital and underwent emergency surgery.

“I’ve always been captivated by the power of water and the sense of freedom and escape one feels when diving into it,” Ortiz says, “but until that point, I’d never considered the other side of this freedom and the risks it carries.”

Published: January 31, 2026, 11:00 am

Trump is pressuring Minnesota to make a deal with the devil. They should stand firm | Claire Finkelstein

Minnesota should not cave to Trump’s demands. The rights of 49 other states and their citizens are hanging in the balance

Donald Trump appears to be practicing his “art of the deal” on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: he is attempting to extract concessions from the North Star state in exchange for a “drawdown” of federal ICE agents. While the details of the contemplated agreement are not clear, border czar Tom Homan’s remarks on Thursday morning and reports of his negotiations with state and local leaders suggest dialing back Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is contingent on striking an agreement for increased cooperation between federal and local law enforcement: Minnesota must agree to participate in ICE roundups by turning over undocumented immigrants in its custody, ending various “sanctuary city” protections, and giving ICE agents more direct access to state penitentiaries to conduct their own roundups prior to the release of undocumented inmates. A letter from Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, sent earlier this week went even further and suggested the justice department’s civil rights division might be demanding access to state voter rolls in exchange for the ICE drawdown. Trump’s offhand remark Thursday evening denying plans to draw down ICE confused matters by contradicting Homan’s statement from earlier in the day – but perhaps that was just an indication that negotiations on Thursday did not go all that well for Team Trump.

That would not be surprising. If Walz were to agree to such terms – concessions literally extracted at gunpoint under threat of continued use of unlawful force by federal immigration agents – he would be abandoning critical domains of state autonomy for the fruitless attempt to appease a president that will accept no limits except those forced upon it by necessity or recommended to it by self-interest. As law firms, universities, foreign leaders, and even former partners in crime have discovered, it is perilous to negotiate with a rank opportunist who lives by no other rule than that of self-interest. For Trump, the alternative to getting handed what he wants voluntarily is taking it by force. The FBI raid on the Fulton county elections office in Georgia to seize about 700 boxes of ballots from the 2020 election sent a well-timed message to Minnesota as well as to any other swing state from which the Trump administration may demand such data: if you don’t give us what we asked for, we’ll take it anyway.

Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle professor of law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She is also the founder and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at The University of Pennsylvania

Published: January 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

This one weird trick could stop US women from voting | Arwa Mahdawi

The Save Act – which would do the opposite of its title – could have a huge impact on the midterm elections

If you are anything like me, then you are currently pickling in your own cortisol. As the US grows increasingly violent, increasingly cruel, every day brings a legion of new horrors. So I’m very sorry to say that I’m here to ruin your weekend by giving you yet another thing to worry about. That thing is called the Save Act and, if the Trump administration gets its way, it could have an oversized impact on the November midterms, particularly when it comes to minorities and married women being able to vote.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Published: January 31, 2026, 2:00 pm

Young Japanese voters adore their new conservative PM. But that doesn’t mean they are shifting to the right | Karin Kaneko

Sanae Takaichi may seemingly have old-fashioned values, but it’s her economic offering that has captured young people’s imaginations

Japan has rarely seen a prime minister as bold or as social media-savvy as Sanae Takaichi, the country’s first female leader.

Where previous prime ministers have gone viral for unflattering moments, such as the spectacle of one scoffing an onigiri in one messy gulp or another caught dozing off in the parliament during a key vote, Takaichi is being read by supporters as a symbol of a different era of leadership – one they feel Japan has lacked in recent years.

Karin Kaneko is a freelance journalist and a former reporter for the Japan Times

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:00 am

How the right won the internet | Robert Topinka

In the second part of our series on digital politics, we look at how online provocateurs have advanced extreme political ideas – and watched them seep into the mainstream

• Robert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London

• Part one: How liberals lost the internet

The internet has totally changed the way in which politics is conducted. As established in the first piece in our series, liberals have totally failed to grasp this fact. The right, however, are thriving in this new world. Future historians studying the role that fringe online ideas played in the US republic’s demise will be spoiled for choice. One episode in particular comes to mind: Tucker Carlson, a former primetime speaker at a Republican convention, inviting a white supremacist livestreamer, Nick Fuentes, on to his YouTube show in 2025 for a chat in which he talked about the influence of “organised Jewry” in the US.

Carlson spent years echoing white nationalist talking points on his Fox News show, but Fuentes’ style – combining Nazi salutes with cheeky grins – places him beyond the pale for broadcast television. However, under the logic of YouTube, the meeting of these two major influencers is almost inevitable. Platforms incentivise audience cross-pollination, which is why Fuentes routinely livestreams with figures such as Adin Ross and Andrew Tate, who are known more for their homophobia and misogyny than their thoughts on ethnostates.

Robert Topinka is a reader in digital media and rhetoric at Birkbeck, University of London

Published: January 31, 2026, 8:00 am

What could bring down extortionate ticket prices? Perhaps stars like Harry Styles taking a stand | Simon Price

The knock-on effect on the rest of the industry is immense. There are many factors at play, but the ones with the power here are the big artists

In October 2024, Heat magazine’s list of the UK’s 30 richest celebrities under 30 ranked Harry Styles at the very top, with an estimated wealth of £200m. (He’d doubtless have fared well in last year’s survey, too, but he’s 31 now.)

Whatever your views on the fabulous wealth accrued by a small elite of megastars, and regardless of your opinion of Styles’ musical merits, that figure doesn’t sit well next to the headlines he is now making.

Simon Price is a music journalist and author

Published: January 31, 2026, 12:00 pm

Teófimo López v Shakur Stevenson: WBO junior welterweight championship – live

• American stars clash at sold-out Madison Square Garden

• Stevenson rises to 140lb in bid for title in fourth division

• Teófimo López interview: ‘Always choose the hard route’

• Reach out to Bryan on Bluesky or by email

The second-to-last preliminary fight before the main event has just started. It’s an eagerly awaited one, with local favorite Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington facing Phoenix’s Carlos Castro for the vacant WBC featherweight title. The unbeaten Carrington, who hails from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, has a vocal cheering contingent in the building as he bids for his first world title in his 17th professional fight.

Meanwhile, one of the strangest moments of the night unfolded about in the previous bout when Kingsley Ibeh quite literally punched Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller’s hair loose during their heavyweight non-title scrap. Late in the second round, a flurry from Ibeh sent Miller’s toupee peeling back from the front, drawing gasps – and then laughter – from the Madison Square Garden crowd. Miller leaned into the chaos, ripping the hairpiece off completely and tossing it into the stands before the next round, grinning and sticking out his tongue as he resumed fighting.

Published: February 1, 2026, 2:56 am

Ekitiké and Wirtz sink Newcastle before Konaté seals welcome Liverpool win

You could say Hugo Ekitiké was the one who got away from Newcastle last summer, except there were so many. But with a certain inevitability and a devastating, gamechanging performance, the Liverpool striker haunted Eddie Howe and the club who coveted him all the same.

Pain came in various forms for Newcastle. Superior for 40 minutes and deservedly ahead through Anthony Gordon, the visitors trailed at the interval thanks to a quick-fire brace from the player they tried to sign from Eintracht Frankfurt. Liverpool swept in for Ekitiké instead and their initial £69m outlay, rising to £79m, is proving money very well spent.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:11 pm

‘I always believed’: Elena Rybakina relishes return to top table after Melbourne glory

• Champion plays down significance of trophy for coach

• Aryna Sabalenka frustrated after latest major final loss

Elena Rybakina never stopped believing she would collect a second grand slam title after holding her nerve to defeat Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1 and two-time champion, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and win the Australian Open.

Rybakina, the fifth seed, arrived here as the in-form player after her triumph at the WTA Finals last November. It is her second major title after her win at Wimbledon in 2022.

Published: January 31, 2026, 3:03 pm

Giants co-owner Steve Tisch says he never visited Epstein’s island and regrets associating with him

• Tisch denies visiting Epstein island after file release

• Giants co-owner says he regrets ties with Epstein

• US justice department files name Tisch over times

New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said he knew Jeffrey Epstein but denied going to his island after his name was mentioned more than 400 times in files released Friday by the US justice department.

“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” Tisch said in a statement provided by the NFL team. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

Published: January 31, 2026, 8:04 pm

Sixers’ Paul George suspended 25 games by NBA for anti-drug program violation

• NBA issues 25-game ban for anti-drug policy violation

• Suspension to cost 76ers star about $11.7m in lost salary

• Eligible to return in March with 10 games left in season

Paul George of the Philadelphia 76ers has been suspended 25 games for violating the terms of the NBA’s anti-drug program, the league announced on Saturday.

The NBA did not disclose the nature of the violation or the substance involved. George said in a statement to ESPN that he had taken something “improper” while seeking treatment for a personal issue.

Published: January 31, 2026, 5:01 pm

Milan protesters denounce ICE unit at Winter Olympics and ‘creeping fascism’ in US

• Protest targets ICE role at Milan Games

• Mayor says US agents ‘not welcome’

• Organizers link move to US politics

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday in Milan to protest the deployment of ICE agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, unbothered by the fact that agents would be stationed in a control room and not operating on the streets.

The protest in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named for the date of Italy’s liberation from Nazi fascism in 1945, drew people from the left-leaning Democratic Party, the CGIL trade union confederation and the ANPI organizations that protect the memory of Italy’s partisan resistance during World War II, along with many other people.

Published: January 31, 2026, 4:50 pm

Christian Horner targets F1 return as he breaks silence after Red Bull sacking

• Former team principal was dismissed last September

• ‘I feel like I have unfinished business in Formula One’
  

Christian Horner said he misses Formula One and has unfinished business in the sport as he spoke publicly for the first time since he was ousted by Red Bull but is prepared to wait for an opportunity to “win something”, adding: “I am not in a rush.”

The 52-year-old was dismissed as Red Bull team principal following July’s British Grand Prix before his official exit was agreed in September. He oversaw a period of extraordinary success during his 20-year career with Red Bull, winning eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles.

Published: January 31, 2026, 4:38 pm

Lindsey Vonn misses final super-G before Winter Olympics after downhill crash

• American still preparing for Milano Cortina Games

• ‘Thank you for the love and support I have received’

Lindsey Vonn sat out a World Cup super-G race on Saturday after crashing and injuring her left knee a day earlier, but remains on track for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, her coach said.

“No, she is not racing today but preparing for Cortina as usual,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s personal head coach, said in a text message. Vonn then posted on Instagram: “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to race today. Thank you for all of the love and support I have received. Means the world to me. Doing my best right now …”

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:07 am

Unrivaled sets women’s pro basketball attendance mark of 21,490 in Philly

• Record 21,490 fans pack Unrivaled Philly twin bill

• Cloud’s homecoming highlights women’s hoops revival

• Touring gamble lifts buzz despite TV ratings slide

Natasha Cloud rooted for the 76ers as a kid growing up in suburban Philadelphia and – like so many hoopsters back in the day – idolized Allen Iverson.

So when the former WNBA champion and current New York Liberty standout hit the same court where Iverson once dazzled, Cloud couldn’t help but look up to his retired No 3 jersey in the rafters and let the moment truly sink in; that women’s professional basketball was back in Philadelphia for the first time in nearly 30 years – and she was a key figure in the comeback.

Published: January 31, 2026, 6:18 am

‘Keep on dreaming’: could Europe really defend itself without the US?

Nato chief has glibly dismissed prospect of coping without US support, but in the age of Trump the case for autonomy is growing

The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, was typically blunt when he met members of the European parliament this week. From the dais of the blond-wood committee room in Brussels, he was clear: “If anyone thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t.”

And if Europe wanted to supplant the US nuclear deterrent, existing spending commitments would have to double, he added – “so hey, good luck!”

Published: January 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

Pho, handwarmers, grief and loss: a week on the block where Alex Pretti was killed

Residents line up to support businesses that became refuges from teargas, and refresh the memorial daily

Nothing is quite as it used to be along Nicollet Avenue.

The spot where Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents has been cordoned off by orange stakes and caution tape, appearing like a giant gash along the block between 26th and 27th streets.

Published: January 31, 2026, 3:00 pm

Democrats accuse DoJ of not releasing millions of Epstein files despite legal requirement

Justice department on Friday released 3m pages and lawmakers accuse it of not releasing roughly 50% of records

Survivors, lawmakers and watchdog groups accused Donald Trump’s justice department of withholding records it is legally required to release following the disclosure of millions of files from the investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The justice department on Friday released 3m pages of documents from its investigation into the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with wealthy and powerful figures, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton. The release was an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and, according to US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, all subject to “extensive redactions”.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:31 pm

Children and police officers among at least 30 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Deadly attacks launched day before border crossing due to open as part of ceasefire deal

Israel has carried out some of its deadliest airstrikes on Gaza in months, killing at least 30 Palestinians, some of whom were sheltering in tent cities for displaced people.

Despite a nominal ceasefire, the Israeli military struck a police station in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood west of Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 officers and detainees, the civil defence said. It indicated the death toll could rise as emergency responders searched for bodies.

Published: January 31, 2026, 2:28 pm

What to know about the jury trials of Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube

Hundreds of parents, teens and school districts have claimed social media is intentionally addictive and harmful

Social media companies will have to answer to a jury – for the first time – for allegations that their products are intentionally addictive and harmful to young users’ mental health. Hundreds of parents, teens and school districts sued Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, leading to a series of landmark trials that began this week. Jury selection in the first case started on Tuesday in Los Angeles court.

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is among the big tech CEOs who are expected to testify. Both sides are likely to bring in experts to hash out the science behind alleged addiction to social media.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:00 am

Snow and blizzards move into US east coast as 85 dead from last week’s storm

About 190,000 are still without power in the south-east as states scramble to prepare for more winter weather

Dozens of people have died in the teeth of a severe winter storm across the US south, with further freezing temperatures, snow and blizzards set to assail the east coast on Saturday.

At least 85 people have died across multiple states, according to an Associated Press tally, with frigid conditions and icy roads causing car crashes, hypothermia and other fatal incidents.

Published: January 31, 2026, 3:36 pm

US government partly shuts down over homeland security funding

Democratic senators refuse to vote for bill authorizing continued DHS spending after killings of two US citizens

Funding lapsed for several US government departments on Saturday, the result of a standoff in Congress over new restrictions on federal agents involved in Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign following the killings of two US citizens in Minneapolis.

The partial government shutdown is the result of Democratic senators refusing to vote for a bill authorizing continued spending by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after federal agents killed Alex Pretti in Minnesota’s largest city last week, and Renee Good earlier in January. The minority party’s blockade imperiled a push by Republicans for approval of larger package of legislation funding other departments, which needed to pass the Senate before the government’s spending authorization expired Friday.

Published: January 31, 2026, 5:01 am

French MPs demand explanation over tech firm’s contract to help ICE in US

Revelation that subsidiary of Capgemini is to help trace and expel migrants in US provokes outrage in France

French lawmakers have demanded an explanation after one of the country’s biggest tech companies signed a multimillion dollar contract to help the US enforcement agency ICE trace and expel migrants.

The revelation that a subsidiary of Capgemini, a multinational digital services firm listed on the Paris stock exchange, had agreed to provide “skip tracing” – a technique for locating targeted people – with big bonuses if successful, has provoked outrage in France.

Published: January 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Record harvest sparks mass giveaway of free potatoes across Berlin

From zoos to soup kitchens, people are hauling away tonnes of surplus spuds after the biggest crop in 25 years

Germans love their potatoes. They eat on average 63kg a person every year, according to official statistics.

But the exceptional glut of potatoes produced by farmers during the last harvest has overwhelmed even the hardiest of fans.

Published: January 31, 2026, 1:00 pm

‘Humanity’s favourite food’: how to end the livestock industry but keep eating meat

Bruce Friedrich argues the only way to tackle the world’s insatiable but damaging craving for meat is like-for-like replacements like cultivated and plant-based meat

For someone aiming to end the global livestock industry, Bruce Friedrich begins his new book – called Meat – in disarming fashion: “I’m not here to tell anyone what to eat. You won’t find vegetarian or vegan recipes in this book, and you won’t find a single sentence attempting to convince you to eat differently. This book isn’t about policing your plate.”

There’s more. Friedrich, a vegan for almost four decades, says meat is “humanity’s favourite food”.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Electric ​cars ​go ​mainstream as ​adoption ​surges ​across ​rich and ​developing ​nations

A wave of affordable Chinese-made EVs is accelerating the shift away from petrol cars, challenging long‑held assumptions about how transport decarbonisation unfolds

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Last year, almost every new car sold in Norway, the nature-loving country flush with oil wealth, was fully electric. In prosperous Denmark, which was all-in on petrol and diesel cars until just before Covid, sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) reached a share of 68%. In California, the share of zero-emissions vehicles hit 20%. And at least every third new car now bought by the Dutch, Finns, Belgians and Swedes burns no fuel.

These figures, which would have felt fanciful just five years ago, show the rich world leading the shift away from cars that pump out toxic gas and planet-heating pollutants. But a more startling trend is that electric car sales are also racing ahead in many developing countries. While China is known for its embrace of electric vehicles (EVs), demand has also soared in emerging markets from South America to south-east Asia. BEV sales in Turkey have caught up with the EU’s, data published this week shows.

The Fukushima towns frozen in time: nature has thrived since the nuclear disaster but what happens if humans return?

The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised

The 16-month battle to reveal the truth about Sydney Water’s poo balls

Powering up: how Ethiopia is becoming an unlikely leader in the electric vehicle revolution

‘My Tesla has become ordinary’: Turkey catches up with EU in electric car sales

The electric vehicle revolution is still on course – don’t let your loathing of Elon Musk stop you joining up

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Trump news at a glance: Epstein files release shows emails with Trump officials past and present

Democrats question redactions and whether Trump officials are holding back more documents – key US politics stories from 30 January at a glance

• Epstein files latest: updates as more files released

The US justice department has released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically.

While an analysis is still under way, the release exposes previously unknown financial ties and social connections between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK – including some in the president’s orbit.

Published: January 31, 2026, 2:20 am

Mass grave in Jordan sheds new light on world’s earliest recorded pandemic

Researchers tell ‘human story’ about crisis during plague of Justinian, which killed millions in Byzantine empire

A US-led research team has verified the first Mediterranean mass grave of the world’s earliest recorded pandemic, providing stark new details about the plague of Justinian that killed millions of people in the Byzantine empire between the sixth and eighth centuries.

The findings, published in February’s Journal of Archaeological Science, offer what researchers say is a rare empirical window into the mobility, urban life and vulnerability of citizens affected by the pestilence.

Published: January 31, 2026, 11:00 am

South African artist sues minister for blocking her Venice Biennale Gaza entry

Gabrielle Goliath says Gayton McKenzie violating freedom of expression after ‘highly divisive’ artwork Elergy banned from SA pavilion

A South African artist is suing the arts minister after he blocked her from representing the country at the Venice Biennale, having called her work addressing Israel’s killing of Palestinians in Gaza “highly divisive”.

Gabrielle Goliath filed the lawsuit last week, with Ingrid Masondo, who would have curated the pavilion, and the studio manager, James Macdonald. It accuses Gayton McKenzie of acting unlawfully and violating the right to freedom of expression and demands the high court reinstates her participation by 18 February, the deadline for confirming installations with biennale organisers.

Published: January 31, 2026, 10:00 am

UK and EU to explore renewed talks on defence cooperation

Keir Starmer says he wants to ‘go further’ in relations with Brussels as ministers look to restart stalled negotiations

The UK and the EU are exploring the prospect of new talks on closer defence cooperation, as Keir Starmer stressed on Friday that he wanted to “go further” in the UK’s relationship with Brussels.

Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, is due in London for talks next week, with trade, energy and fisheries on the agenda. But diplomatic sources said the UK is keen to discuss restarting negotiations on defence as soon as it can.

Talks for the UK to join the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) Security Action for Europe (Safe) defence fund collapsed in November 2025 amid claims that the EU had set too high a price on entry to the programme.

Published: January 31, 2026, 7:00 am

Protesters to demand resignation of Hungarian politician for anti-Roma remark

Thousands set to gather in Budapest after János Lázár’s remarks captured on video

Thousands of people are set to gather in Budapest to demand the resignation of a senior Hungarian politician, for making a racist remark against Roma people earlier this month.

János Lázár told attendees at a political forum that migration was not the solution to the country’s labour shortage. “Since there are no migrants, and someone has to clean the bathrooms on the InterCity trains,” Lázár said Roma people would do the job, using an offensive slur in his speech.

Published: January 31, 2026, 8:00 am

Tom Gauld on the rewards of enhanced reading – cartoon

Published: January 31, 2026, 3:00 pm

Fatima Bhutto on her abusive relationship: ‘I thought it could never happen to me’

Fifteen years after her explosive memoir of growing up in Pakistan’s ruling political dynasty, the author has written a devastating account of the abuse she has since endured. She talks about a life on the run and finally settling down

Had Fatima Bhutto been left to her own devices, her devastating forthcoming memoir would have been almost entirely about her relationship with her dog, Coco. “I know it sounds nuts,” she laughs. And it’s true that being dog-crazy doesn’t quite track with the public perception of Bhutto as a writer, journalist, activist and member of Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty. But the pandemic had forced something of a creative unravelling and when Bhutto took stock, she found herself only really able to write about Coco. Her agent politely suggested her memoir might need something more. A second draft was written, then abandoned.

“Until I thought, what if I just tell the truth? And then it fell out of me – it didn’t even pour, it fell.” In around three weeks Bhutto had reworked her draft and, in the process, revealed a shocking chapter of her life that she’d kept secret from everyone around her.

Published: January 31, 2026, 9:00 am

The hard lessons of ignoring storm warnings: Becky Barnicoat on millennial life

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Published: January 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Meera Sodha’s vegetarian recipe for patates yahni

Sometimes, all that’s required for supper is simply stewed Mediterranean vegetables and potatoes with a dollop of yoghurt on top …

The world over, you’ll find home cooks trying to turn bags of potatoes into dinner, myself included. Sometimes, my answer is a Sri Lankan potato curry, or a Gujarati one. Perhaps a slow-cooked Spanish omelette if it’s a date night with Hugh at the kitchen island (like this Friday) but today, the solution is Greek. Yahni is the Greek word for a style of cooking: vegetables braised in plenty of olive oil and tomatoes, until tender. It’s a way of being, a vote for the simple and the slow and the good (but it is also dinner, if you wish).

Published: January 31, 2026, 6:00 am

Trump has tapped a new Federal Reserve chair. Has he finally found his yes-man?

Trump nominated Kevin Warsh, an ex-Fed governor, for the role as the White House continues to attack Jerome Powell

The US Federal Reserve requires “strong, sound and steady leadership”, according to Donald Trump. The president found a man to lead the central bank who would “provide exactly that type of leadership”, he declared.“He’s strong, he’s committed and he’s smart.”

This is not how Trump described Kevin Warsh, the former Fed governor whom he unveiled as his new nominee to chair the central bank on Friday – but how he hailed Jerome Powell, the current Fed chair, when nominating him for the job about eight years ago.

Published: January 31, 2026, 8:00 am