‘I don’t have to create his legacy, I just have to protect it’: Chadwick Boseman’s widow Simone on grieving a global star – and guarding his secrets

Black Panther made him a megastar, but in private the actor and his wife Simone Ledward Boseman were dealing with his terminal cancer diagnosis. In a rare interview, she talks about the shock of losing him, and how a revival of one of his plays has helped her heal

Simone Ledward Boseman is reflecting on the five years that have passed since the death of her husband, actor and writer Chadwick Boseman. “The edges of grief get less sharp over time,” she says. “Five years definitely feels like a marker. I’ve had to gradually figure out how I talk about Chad. What do I want to share, and what do I feel comfortable sharing? Can I find something that I might want to share in the midst of something I don’t want to share?” We meet on a video call across time zones – it’s 9am in California, where she lives. “Except for my mom, I’m not talking to anybody before 10am,” she laughs. She’s made an exception to give a rare interview ahead of the UK premiere of her late husband’s play Deep Azure, which is currently in previews in London at Shakespeare’s Globe.

When Boseman’s death was announced at the end of August 2020, the shock reverberated across the globe. He was devastatingly young – only 43 – and the world was just getting to know him. The release of the movie Black Panther two years earlier, in which he played the eponymous character also known as T’Challa, had skyrocketed his fame. Before then, he had been a successful Hollywood actor. Now? He was a global megastar – the first Black superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The news was doubly shocking because the family had not previously revealed that he had been suffering with colorectal cancer.

Published: February 8, 2026, 6:00 am

Want to stop Trump bullying your country? Retaliate

Faced with economic coercion, Europe has trodden carefully. My experience tells me that’s not enough

In February of last year, Donald Trump convened the first full cabinet meeting of his second term in the White House. He proudly announced his intention to impose sweeping tariffs on the US’s closest allies in Europe. When asked by a reporter whether Europe might retaliate, Trump sounded confident. “They can’t,” he said. Pressed to explain, he continued: “We are the pot of gold. We’re the one that everybody wants. And they can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation.” As Trump saw it, Europe was weak and feckless – a minnow compared with the American economic juggernaut. When confronted with a US president prepared to throw his country’s weight around, Europe would certainly cave.

In the year since, Trump has repeatedly wielded America’s economic might against Europe, from coercing the EU and the UK to swallow lopsided trade deals to pressuring Denmark to sell him Greenland. And time and again, his assessment of European countries – that they would scurry to him, hat in hand, eager to make a deal – has been vindicated.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

We offered my friend a room to help her out, but four years later she’s still living with us

You need to check where you stand legally, but I fear you’re being taken advantage of and will have to ask her to leave

In spring 2022, my husband and I were lucky enough to sell our house for a profit and, with help from my parents, bought a much bigger home. At the time, my friend was going through a tough time, so I asked if she would like to move in with us and our two children. There was no written agreement, but the plan was that she would either quit her job and retrain, or save for her own place and move out in six months to a year. She pays us £350 a month, which goes towards energy bills, bar a three-month period when she wasn’t working. I also gave her money towards taking a course.

She hasn’t retrained, got a new job or saved for a new place. And she doesn’t have the money to move out. I feel trapped and resent all I have to do as a working mum while she’s here, but that’s compounded by guilt as I know I’m very privileged to have a big house and a well-paid job. I hate that she sees me at my worst (rowing with my husband/sorting out arguments between the kids) and I feel as if I’m constantly keeping my emotions in check around her. Our friendship feels warped into a parent-child dynamic.

Published: February 8, 2026, 6:00 am

‘I’ll marry this one’: the best (and worst) chocolate bars for Valentine’s Day, taste tested

Much like partners, there is a chocolate for everyone – from Hu’s vegan bar to a crowd-pleasing milk chocolate from Endangered Species

• Looking for Valentine’s Day gift ideas? Creative gift ideas for him, sentimental gifts for her and international gifts

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

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

No matter your preference, there is a chocolate (and a person) out there for everyone. And with Valentine’s Day around the corner, we’re looking for the very best – the unique brands that go beyond your basic Godiva, Dove or Hershey’s. No Dubai chocolate either.

Best milk chocolate bar:
Endangered Species 48% Cocoa

Best dark chocolate bar:
Theo 70% Cacao

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:15 pm

Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club

Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services

Pluck an email at random from the millions in the Department of Justice’s Epstein Library. It is a Saturday evening in February 2013, and Jeffrey Epstein is messaging Bill Gates’s assistant about guests for a dinner he wants to organise.

“People for Bill,” the email begins. Epstein starts listing possible candidates: the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, the film director Woody Allen, the prime minister of Qatar, a couple of Harvard academics, the billionaire CEO of Hyatt hotels, a White House communications director, a former US secretary of defence.

Published: February 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Billy Crudup: ‘My celebrity crush? I got to marry her’

The actor on a disastrous speech, his rules for how people should get around cities and an embarrassing encounter with a doorman

Born in New York state, Billy Crudup, 57, made his film debut in Sleepers in 1996. His subsequent movies include Almost Famous (2000), Big Fish (2003), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Spotlight (2015), Alien: Covenant (2017) and most recently Jay Kelly. On TV he has a long-running role in The Morning Show, for which he has won two Emmys. He stars in High Noon at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre until 6 March. He has a son and is married to Naomi Watts. He lives in New York City.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Flashes of hubris.

Published: February 7, 2026, 10:00 am

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis abruptly resigns amid criticism of staff cuts

Departure comes days after newspaper laid off nearly one-third of staff, including more than 300 journalists

Will Lewis, the Murdoch media veteran who took over as publisher and chief executive of the Washington Post in early 2024, announced abruptly on Saturday evening that he is leaving the company.

His departure comes just three days after the Post laid off nearly one-third of its entire staff, citing the need to cut costs and reposition the money-losing publication. Lewis, who did not appear on the all-staff meeting during which the cuts were announced, has faced criticism for his absence and leadership.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:27 pm

NSA detected foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump

Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff

Last spring, the National Security Agency (NSA) flagged an unusual phone call between two members of foreign intelligence, who discussed a person close to Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower’s attorney who was briefed on details of the call.

The highly sensitive communique, which has roiled Washington over the past week, was brought to the attention of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard.

Published: February 8, 2026, 4:54 am

Japan election: Sanae Takaichi’s ruling conservatives on course for landslide victory

Exit polls point to public endorsement of new prime minister, after day hit by blizzards and freezing conditions

Japan’s conservative governing party is on course to dramatically strengthen its grip on power after exit polls predicted a landslide victory in Sunday’s lower house elections.

The Liberal Democratic party (LDP) was projected to win between 274 and 328 seats out of a total of 465, according to an exit poll by the public broadcaster NHK, well above the 233 it needed to regain the majority it lost in 2024. Combined with seats secured by its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, the parties could win between 302 and 366 seats, NHK added.

Published: February 8, 2026, 11:35 am

Lindsey Vonn airlifted to hospital after crashing out of Olympic downhill race

• Skier’s bid for gold with ruptured ACL ends in agony

• Vonn’s US teammate Breezy Johnson tops podium

• Winter Olympics 2026: live news and updates

Lindsey Vonn’s fifth and final Olympics ended in the one way she dreaded most of all. Moments into her run in the women’s downhill, Vonn’s legs failed her as she came over a roll after passing the third gate.

She twisted and crashed sideways to the ground, and after a first stunned burst of shouts and screams, the atmosphere around the Olimpia delle Tofane course fell deadly quiet while the medical team gathered around her. Fifteen minutes later, Vonn was airlifted from the mountain to hospital for treatment.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:29 pm

‘A profound sense of being hunted’: with all eyes on Minneapolis, ICE arrests continue quietly across the US

Immigration operations are still stoking fear and disrupting the ability to go to work, school or doctor’s appointments

With the public’s outrage and attention focused on the deadly surge of federal agents in Minneapolis, immigration operations have quietly continued across the US – albeit in less noticeable but still troubling ways, advocates say.

In recent weeks there have been day laborers swept up at a Home Depot in San Diego. A taco truck vendor chased down outside a church in Los Angeles. Immigrants arrested at check-ins in North Carolina, and during traffic stops in the nation’s capital.

Published: February 7, 2026, 3:00 pm

'We will pay,' Savannah Guthrie says in desperate video plea to potential kidnappers of her mother

Today show host tells potential kidnappers of mother Nancy that family is prepared to pay for safe return

Savannah Guthrie told the potential kidnappers of her mother, Nancy Guthrie, on Saturday that the family is prepared to pay for her safe return, as the frantic search for the 84-year-old entered a seventh day.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted on social media, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:50 am

Trump shifts blame to aide as he refuses to apologize for racist video of Obamas

After first dismissing uproar over depiction of Obamas as apes, White House then said it was erroneously posted by staffer

Donald Trump said on Friday he made the call to post a now-deleted video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes but deflected blame for the move, causing new speculation in his orbit about whether the blame lay with the president or his aide Natalie Harp.

The brief clip, shared late Thursday night on Trump’s Truth Social account, appeared in a video pushing conspiracies about the 2020 election. Invoking racist tropes, the video depicted the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of cartoon apes dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:43 pm

Brad Arnold of Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down dies aged 47

Lead singer died on Saturday, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer

Brad Arnold, the lead singer of the Grammy-nominated rock band 3 Doors Down, has died, months after he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. He was 47.

The band said in a statement on Saturday that Arnold “passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, in his sleep after his courageous battle with cancer”.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:22 pm

Russia says man suspected of shooting general detained in Dubai

Man in his 60s ‘arrested and handed over to Russia’ after fleeing to UAE, according to media reports

Authorities in Dubai have arrested and handed over to Russia a man suspected of shooting and wounding a senior officer in Russia’s intelligence services, according to Moscow’s security service.

The announcement on Sunday came two days after a gunman shot Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev three times on the stairwell of his Moscow apartment, leaving him in a critical condition.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:04 pm

‘An unqualified insurrectionist’: outcry over Trump nominee in Wyoming

Darin Smith, who was outside Capitol on January 6, decried as Senate mulls nomination as state’s top federal prosecutor

A Republican former state lawmaker with no experience trying cases, a record of opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and who was outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the top federal prosecutor in Wyoming.

Donald Trump first nominated Darin Smith as Wyoming’s US attorney last year, and the judiciary committee advanced him in a party-line vote in January. Democrats have condemned Smith, saying he lacks the experience necessary for the job and threatens to impose a discriminatory approach to federal law enforcement in the state where gay college student Matthew Shepard’s 1998 murder galvanized the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Published: February 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

Alarm bells sound over Trump’s ‘take over the voting’ call

Democracy experts say there is little doubt about president’s desire to interfere in elections this November

Donald Trump set off alarm bells earlier this week with comments that his administration should “take over the voting” in some states in the run-up to the 2026 midterms, which followed an unprecedented FBI raid on an election office in Georgia. Although election experts say it’s clear the president doesn’t have authority over elections, they warn the president’s corrosive rhetoric leaves little doubt about his intent.

For months, the Trump administration has stoked doubts about the integrity of American elections largely through lawsuits designed to create the impression states aren’t doing enough to keep ineligible voters off the rolls. That effort escalated significantly last week when the FBI raided the election office in Fulton county, Georgia and seized ballots, along with other materials, related to the 2020 election. Shortly after the raid, Trump escalated his attack even further, saying the federal government should take over elections.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Federal judge reverses Trump’s freeze on $16bn for NY-NJ tunnel project

President reportedly wanted Dulles airport and Penn Station to be renamed after him in exchange for funding

A federal judge has reversed a freeze put on funds by Donald Trump for $16bn in enhanced rail links connecting New York and New Jersey amid reports that the US president wants major travel landmarks named after him in return for continued investment.

The Gateway Project will build a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River on the western side of New York City and repair a century-old tunnel used by more than 200,000 travelers and 425 trains daily.

Published: February 7, 2026, 3:27 pm

Trump housing policy is a mess and it won’t fix the US housing crisis

Deregulation alone can’t make homes affordable when rising inequality, not zoning, is what is driving prices up

Donald Trump has an interesting view of how housing plays in US politics. “I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes,” he said at a recent cabinet meeting. Unaffordable housing may be front and center of the “affordability crisis” pissing off voters. Still, he insists: “We’re not going to destroy the value of their homes so that somebody that didn’t work very hard can buy a home.”

It can be hard to square some things Trump says with other things Trump says, let alone with reality. One can’t help but remember his campaign “goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half” by eliminating pesky regulations that raise the cost of construction. Forget that cheap new entry-level homes will weigh on the price of the existing housing stock.

Published: February 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

Rightwing critics blame Mamdani as New York snow fails to melt

Murdoch tabloid leads charge as big freeze persists – could the mayor please do something about the weather?

It snowed two weeks ago in New York. Since then, the temperature has barely risen above freezing – a temperature science naturally dictates is necessary to melt snow and ice.

But science isn’t enough for some US political critics, however, who have instead blamed Zohran Mamdani, New York’s new socialist mayor, for the snow not having melted and still clogging up some of the city’s streets.

Published: February 8, 2026, 1:00 pm

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters

Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism

The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, a Guardian investigation has found.

The platform, which says it has about 50 million users worldwide, allows members of the public to self-publish articles and charge for premium content. Substack takes about 10% of the revenue the newsletters make. About 5 million people pay for access to newsletters on its platform.

Published: February 7, 2026, 5:00 pm

Battle of the chatbots: Anthropic and OpenAI go head-to-head over ads in their AI products

New Anthropic campaign suggests other AI platforms will incorporate targeted ads in their chatbot conversations

The Seahawks and the Patriots aren’t the only ones gearing up for a fight.

AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched a war of ads trying to court corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year.

Published: February 7, 2026, 4:00 pm

As goes the Washington Post: US democracy takes another hit under Trump

Jeff Bezos’s axing of more than 300 jobs at the storied newspaper has renewed fears about the resilience of America’s democracy to withstand Trump’s attacks

The email landed in Lizzie Johnson’s in-tray in Ukraine just before 4pm local time. It came at a tough time for the reporter: Russia had been repeatedly striking the country’s power grid, and just days before she had been forced to work out of her car without heat, power or running water, writing in pencil because pen ink freezes too readily.

“Difficult news,” was the subject line. The body text said: “Your position is eliminated as part of today’s organizational changes,” explaining that it was necessary to get rid of her to meet the “evolving needs of our business”.

Published: February 8, 2026, 6:00 am

I spent years meeting strangers for masochistic hook-ups. Was I a sex addict?

After a sexually frustrating marriage led to divorce, I chased increasingly extreme BDSM encounters. But I never felt truly satisfied. Had I been looking for the wrong thing all along?

To everyone else, it probably looked like a regular summer’s evening. Couples and families enjoying the beer garden, people playing cricket on the green – and I was being handcuffed in the passenger seat of a 4x4 by a man I barely knew.

My name is Leesa, and I’m a recovered sex addict.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

Rage against the machine: a California community rallied against a datacenter – and won

Organizers in Monterey Park took inspiration from other US cities to fight against the construction of a giant datacenter

When a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter the size of four football fields last December, five residents vowed to stop it.

Through a frenetic word-of-mouth campaign, the small group raised awareness about the proposed facility in Monterey Park, a small city east of Los Angeles known affectionately as the country’s first suburban Chinatown.

Published: February 7, 2026, 4:00 pm

‘I’m the psychedelic confessor’: the man who turned a generation on to hallucinogens returns with a head-spinning book about consciousness

With the Omnivore’s Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan transformed our understanding of food and drugs. Can he do the same for our sense of self?

Several years ago, Michael Pollan had a disturbing encounter. The relentlessly curious journalist and author was at a conference on plant behaviour in Vancouver. There, he’d learned that when plants are damaged, they produce an anaesthetising chemical, ethylene. Was this a form of self-soothing, like the release of endorphins after an injury in humans? He asked František Baluška, a cell biologist, if it meant that plants might feel pain. Baluška paused, before answering: “Yes, they should feel pain. If you don’t feel pain, you ignore danger and you don’t survive.”

I imagine that Pollan gulped at that point. I certainly did when I read his account of the meeting in his latest book, A World Appears. Where does it leave our efforts at ethical consumption, if literally everybody hurts – including vegetables?

Published: February 8, 2026, 9:00 am

This is how we do it: ‘Having sex with other people brought us closer, but also exposed insecurities’

Amber feared having sex with other women had ruined the best thing in her life, but Todd says exploring together has ultimately strengthened their partnership
• How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

The first time we had sex with a couple, I didn’t anticipate how destabilising it would feel

Published: February 8, 2026, 11:00 am

In your face: Close-up Photographer of the Year Awards 2026 – in pictures

Animals, insects, flora and fauna – the world photographed in close-up in the annual competition dedicated to micro and macro photography. Cupoty 7 was won by underwater photographer Ross Gudgeon, triumphing over 12,000 entries from 63 countries

Published: February 8, 2026, 9:00 am

‘People keep reinventing the same damn movie’: cinematographer Roger Deakins on 50 years behind the camera and his fears for film’s future

This master craftsman’s work has lit up everything from Bond to Blade Runner 2049. But as he publishes his memoir, why does he believe the artform he made his name in is in such decline?

Roger Deakins – cinematographer to the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese and Sam Mendes, whose work has earned him 14 Oscar nominations and two wins, five Baftas, a knighthood and a reputation for being the greatest practitioner of his craft alive – is struggling to explain just exactly what he does. “Argh!” he exclaims, when confronted by the question: what is cinematography?

“Well, I started off trying to be a still photographer, someone like Don McCullin. And it’s been a whole arc through cinematography. Now what is cinematography? I don’t know. It’s very different from still photography. But the essentials are the same. You’re trying to tell a visual story.” It is “very much a collaboration”, he continues; working with “hundreds of people” on films can be a “wonderful experience … I suppose I’m not answering your question, because actually I’ve got no idea,” he says. “The cliche is visual storytelling, but it’s much more than that.”

Published: February 8, 2026, 10:00 am

The world heard JD Vance being booed at the Olympics. Except for viewers in the US | Bryan Armen Graham

The real risk for American broadcasters is not that dissent will be visible. It is that audiences will start assuming anything they do not show is being hidden

The modern Olympics sell themselves on a simple premise: the whole world, watching the same moment, at the same time. On Friday night in Milan, that illusion fractured in real time.

When Team USA entered the San Siro during the parade of nations, the speed skater Erin Jackson led the delegation into a wall of cheers. Moments later, when cameras cut to US vice-president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, large sections of the crowd responded with boos. Not subtle ones, but audible and sustained ones. Canadian viewers heard them. Journalists seated in the press tribunes in the upper deck, myself included, clearly heard them. But as I quickly realized from a groupchat with friends back home, American viewers watching NBC did not.

Published: February 8, 2026, 2:19 am

The women who saw Melania in theaters: ‘If you’re Republican, this is girls’ night’

The Amazon documentary brought in $7m its opening weekend – thanks to admirers eager for a glimpse of the first lady’s secretive life

The dress code for Lisa Copeland’s big night out: what would Melania wear?

The 60-year-old real estate entrepreneur and nine other friends were headed to Amazon’s new documentary Melania, which debuted in theaters nationwide last week. “We all brought our best power suit,” Copeland said, nodding to Melania Trump’s penchant for neat, tailored menswear-inspired looks. But since she lives in Austin, Texas, Copeland put her own country-glam spin on it: black leather pants and a pearl jacket with diamond and pearl beading.

Published: February 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

This Black History Month, the leaders of the past can teach real resistance | Eric Morrison-Smith

Movements are not born fully formed – they begin when ordinary people decide to act

Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr posed a question that still haunts us. In his final book, published just a year before his death, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, he argued that we were standing at a crossroads: one path leading toward chaos – deepening poverty, violence, and repression – while the other required us to collectively choose and build community.

Too few of us answered his call. At times, we chose distraction, comfort and complacency. At others, we turned away from the violence this country inflicted on the world, allowing the corruption of those in power to harden and accumulate. We can blame politicians and corporations, or those who remained neutral – but the truth is, we all carry some level of responsibility.

Eric Morrison-Smith is executive director of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color

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 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

Bad Bunny gives Super Bowl viewers two choices: crash out or tap in

The claim that music sung in Spanish will alienate viewers ignores the fact that many people would rather join the fun than risk being left out of it

The morning after the 3 January US military action in Venezuela, in which Nicolás Maduro was captured, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace in parts of the eastern Caribbean, and my stay in St Kitts stretched into an unexpected extra week. At the mercy of the systems that determine which corridors open and when, and who gets routed where, an overwhelmed customer service agent suggested I charter a boat to nearby St Maarten, fly to Amsterdam, and then stitch together a series of flights to avoid the affected airspace. I understood the Caribbean, then, less as a string of proximate islands and, instead, as a set of routes connected by powers elsewhere.

Power doesn’t just regulate airspace, it also governs cultural transmission – who gets broadcast, who gets heard, and on what terms. That’s why the handwringing over the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, and the characterization of his almost exclusive use of Spanish in his music as an intrusion, feel so disingenuous. The drama isn’t about understanding the lyrics. Rather it’s a claim about Bad Bunny and his music as fundamentally un-American, stemming from a fear of feeling left out, or the more colloquially known fear of missing out (Fomo).

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

After years spent documenting state terror, I know it when I see it. And I see it now in the US and Israel | Janine di Giovanni

It’s chilling to watch as Trump and Netanyahu adopt the methods of regimes their countries once condemned

• Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza

In Syria, where I worked during the years of Bashar al-Assad’s terror, people were often taken away to torture cells before dawn by masked men. The timing was deliberate. It disoriented them at their most vulnerable, ensuring the torture to come would be even more agonising. The testimonies I recorded from survivors almost always contained the same phrase: “The morning they came for me.” One young woman, shattered by rape and violence, later told me that her life had split in two – before and after the masked men came for her.

In Iraq, those who spoke against Saddam Hussein – even abroad, even casually – were punished in cruel ways by a vengeful leader determined to crush any hint of dissent.

Janine di Giovanni is a war correspondent and the executive director of The Reckoning Project, a war crimes unit in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza. She is the author of The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria.

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 8, 2026, 6:00 am

Why has food become another joyless way to self-optimise? | Emma Beddington

The age of ‘liquid salad’, fibremaxxing and recolonising your microbiome is here – but our meals should be about pleasure, too

The crisis point came with the sea moss. Or perhaps the hemp protein powder? Certainly, when I started adding goose-poo-coloured dust to my breakfast, the unease I have been feeling around food culture deepened. Turning an already drab meal (plain vegan yoghurt, enough seeds to kill a gerbil) into what looked, and tasted, like mud felt more like self-harm than self-care. But, no, what pushed me over the edge was the tiny £2 Marks & Spencer sea moss shot. Sorry, not just sea moss: “High-quality red algae sea moss … high in iodine, vitamins C, B1, B6 and B12.” It was blue and tasted awful, with hints of bubble bath. Of course it did – I’m not a limpet; I’m not supposed to consume sea moss!

When did food become medicine? There’s all the pseudoscientific supplementary stuff, but even normal food has started to feel functional, mere units of nutrition. A tally runs in my head of things I “need” to eat: am I getting enough oats, beans, leafy greens? What about nuts? I cut back on crisps to cram more nuts in and chuck tofu into everything, because neglecting protein is the worst crime a middle-aged woman can commit. I’m not sure I remember what I actually enjoy eating any more. I’m certain no one on earth enjoys eating flaxseeds – they have all the personality of polystyrene packaging chips – but I choke them down daily, for my cholesterol and gut health.

Published: February 8, 2026, 2:00 am

Trump posted something blatantly racist? What a surprise | Arwa Mahdawi

The Obama video should take a toll on the president’s political career – but of course it won’t

Despite Donald Trump’s war on woke, he hasn’t (yet) made Black History Month illegal. In fact, on Tuesday the president issued a proclamation declaring February 2026 to be a celebration of Black history and called “upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities”.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

Mum loved warm weather, I loved winter, and the space where we met was our veranda | Indigo Perry

Since my mum died, I’ve taken solace in recalling the times we could sit together and be content as mother and daughter

On the rainy morning last winter when Mum was dying, her medical condition brought on hallucinations, and in a sad, faraway voice she pleaded to be taken out on to the veranda so she could look at the light. It was one of the last things she said. The hospital had no veranda. Who knows which veranda she meant. She had lived in many different houses with verandas. After she died, I sat with her, stroking the skin of her right arm where it was savagely bruised from a fall the night before.

Mum loved warm weather. I love the crisp air and diffusive light of winter. We were different enough that it’s not a stretch to call her summer and me winter. We found it hard to get along and never truly resolved our differences. But at times, I think we created a place to meet and share a quiet mutual acceptance, an in-between space not unlike a veranda.

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

Cortina awakens to embrace competitive curling couples and Vonn’s valiant gold bid | Andy Bull

The well-dressed alpine town, all art deco and Prada, is watching Mouat and Dodds dominate before the focus turns to Vonn’s daredevil act

The sun rises late in Cortina d’Ampezzo, like everything else in this little alpine town. It’s gone eight o’clock in the morning by the time the daylight has made it over the high peaks to the east, and it’s another two hours from that before the Olympic day gets under way.

It’s slow out, as if everyone’s still sleeping off the night before, when the town was out cheering for the athletes as they made their parade around the square. The police are still packing away all the railings, and the street sweeps are brushing up the confetti. Non c’è fretta. No one’s in a rush. Maybe your bus will turn up, but no one’s making any promises.

Published: February 7, 2026, 9:00 pm

Winter Olympics organisers refuse to deny Mariah Carey lip-synced in opening ceremony

• Show director hails singer’s ‘extraordinary’ performance

• IOC plays down booing of US vice president JD Vance

The organisers of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony have refused to deny speculation that the US pop diva Mariah Carey lip-synced her part in the show. Carey took to the stage to sing Domenico Modugno’s Nel Blu, dipinto di Blu in Italian, followed by one of her own songs, Nothing Is Impossible, but many social media users quickly claimed that there were several times where her lip movements were out of time with the music.

When asked directly whether Carey was lip-synching, the director of the show, Maria Laura Iascone, confirmed that there had been a pre-recording – but refused to say whether it had been used or the American had sung live.

Published: February 7, 2026, 4:18 pm

Winter Olympics briefing: Italy’s golden moment and Sweden stick it to Norway

Francesca Lollobrigida brought the house down at the Milano Ice Park and then searched out her son to share her joy

Even before the final pairing of the women’s 3,000m speed skating had finished, two-year-old Tommaso was being hurried towards the middle of the track, where his mother had just broken the Olympic record and was on the verge of winning gold on her 35th birthday. When the final pairing of Joy Beune and Isabelle Weidemann had failed to beat Francesca Lollobrigida’s phenomenal time, the Italian sprinted through the bowels of the stadium to fetch her son.

Still basking in the glow of an excellent opening ceremony and the thrill of two medalists in the men’s downhill skiing earlier in the day, the hosts celebrated a new star. Lollobrigida, the silver medalist from Beijing in 2022, struck gold for the first time in her fourth Olympics. She brought the house down at the Milano Ice Park as she crossed the line in a time of 54.28sec, knocking two and a half seconds off Irene Schouten’s record from 2022.

Published: February 8, 2026, 8:00 am

Winter Olympics 2026: Vonn crashes out, Johnson wins downhill gold, snowboarding and more – live

• Latest news and updates | Vonn airlifted away after crash

• Schedule | Results | Medal table | Briefing | Email Yara

Alpine skiiing: Breezy Johnson goes top, for USA. Had a twist in the air off one of the early jumps, had to battle to land it, but then comes through with a sizzling run on the rest of the course, improving on her training run time by a second and a half.

Alpine skiing: It’s a gorgeous day out there, blue sky. We’ve had five skiers so far, Ariane Raedler of Austria is leading on 1:37:20, the Italian Brignone and three Swiss skiers following her. Janine Schmitt and Jasmine Flury both almost stacked, but recovered it, terrifying at that speed. Malorie Blanc went first and had a clean run, 1:38:77.

Published: February 8, 2026, 1:20 pm

Super Bowl 2026 predictions: Picks for Seahawks v Patriots, MVP, score and winners

Will Drake Maye lead New England into a new era of championships? Or will the Seahawks get revenge 11 years in the making? Our writers give their verdicts

Pressure Sam Darnold. Darnold was outstanding in the NFC championship game when forced to throw under duress. But that hasn’t been the case all season. The Seahawks rank sixth in EPA/dropback when there is no pressure, but drop to 22nd when there is pressure. Collapsing the pocket is New England’s best shot at success. Their interior pass-rushers, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, will need to overwhelm Darnold. OC

Published: February 8, 2026, 11:00 am

Controversial YouTuber Jack Doherty barred from PGA Tour events after Phoenix Open disruption

• Doherty removed over incident at golf tournament

• 22-year-old has subscriber count of nearly 30 million

• Source confirms streamer’s ban from future events

A controversial livestreamer has been barred from attending PGA Tour events indefinitely after being removed from the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a person familiar with the matter told the Guardian, though the tour has declined to publicly confirm any specific disciplinary action.

Security and law enforcement removed Jack Doherty from the tournament grounds on Friday after he appeared to pay a spectator to shout during a player’s pre-shot routine, according to videos circulating online and accounts of the incident.

Published: February 8, 2026, 5:59 am

‘It has changed my life’: Wrexham’s Hollywood takeover, five years on

When Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac became club guardians in 2021 the Premier League was a dream. Now it’s a target

Two Chewbaccas handed out flyers to passersby. No one making their way towards the Turf batted an eyelid, but then again, for five years now, a touch of Hollywood has become pretty much the norm in Wrexham.

Ninety minutes before kick-off the city’s most famous public house was heaving. Lying in the shadow of the Racecourse Ground, it is the watering hole of choice for locals, and, thanks to landlord Wayne Jones’s prominent role in Welcome to Wrexham, the hit documentary following the club’s many fortunes, a tourist attraction.

Published: February 8, 2026, 7:00 am

Liverpool v Manchester City buildup, Premier League reaction and WSL – matchday live

The latest news and reaction before Sunday’s fixtures including a huge Premier League game at Anfield

Former Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain signed for Celtic yesterday. Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said:

We are really pleased to bring Alex to Celtic. He still has so much to offer the game, and I am sure he can add another dimension to us with his great ability and wealth of experience in the game.

Published: February 8, 2026, 1:13 pm

‘A giving, giving man’: former MLB outfielder Terrance Gore dies at age of 34

• Gore played for three World Series champions

• Outfielder was known for speed and athleticism

Terrance Gore, a speedy outfielder who played for three World Series champions while spending parts of eight seasons in the major leagues, has died. He was 34.

Chad Funderburk, a family friend who also worked with Gore through his baseball academy, confirmed Gore died on Friday night. He said Gore’s family would provide further details when they feel ready.

Published: February 8, 2026, 2:39 am

Liverpool v City is no longer the Premier League’s big show: how have the mighty fallen? | Jonathan Wilson

Pep Guardiola has led the way with his tactics for a decade but he has changed course and Arsenal have taken advantage

Great rivalries are always more about feel than about numbers. There have been only four Premier League seasons in which Manchester City and Liverpool have finished in the top two positions in the table (and one of those occasions was 2013-14 when the managers were Manuel Pellegrini and Brendan Rodgers, which is not a duel anybody is writing books or making documentaries about).

Yet for most of the decade that Pep Guardiola has been at City, it has felt that English football was defined by his struggle with Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool, and by a form of the game that developed as each learned from the other.

Published: February 7, 2026, 8:00 pm

Gyökeres’ gifts of bundling and poaching suggest Arsenal have found the real thing | Barney Ronay

After a slow start, the Sweden striker is now appearing regularly on the scoresheet with six goals in eight games

At times during that difficult start to his first season at Arsenal Viktor Gyökeres looked more likely to fall over than score a Premier League goal. But why compromise? Why choose one over the other? Against Sunderland Gyökeres found a third way. He fell over while scoring. Maybe you can have it all.

It made for a deeply wholesome moment. Gyökeres couldn’t help smiling ruefully behind his peekaboo celebration, even as he was mobbed fondly by his teammates. The goal was also his first touch seven minutes after coming on, a goal to kill a game Arsenal had eased through in low gear, and which always felt like a matter of housekeeping, a question of exactly how and how many, from the moment they took the lead just before half-time.

Published: February 7, 2026, 8:12 pm

The Epstein files reveal that a vast global conspiracy actually exists – sort of

The documents confirm what many have long assumed: elites live by their own special rules and codes of immunity

The millions of Jeffrey Epstein files dumped last Friday by the US Department of Justice will provide journalists, conspiracy theorists and interested members of the public with months of reading. And what they will read is enraging.

What makes these files so infuriating, however, is not just Epstein’s horrific predatory behavior, which is well-known, but the more mundane examples of elite conduct that the documents continue to expose. They vividly illustrate a world whose existence many everyday people, whether fevered with visions of the Illuminati or just jaundiced by banal anti-establishment cynicism, already suspected exists: an informal global club of powerful, ultra-rich people who all seemingly know each other, help one another out, and protect each other from the consequences of their depravity.

Published: February 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

French police arrest five over crypto-linked magistrate kidnapping

Arrests follow discovery on Friday of magistrate and her mother in a garage in south-east of country

French authorities have arrested five suspects after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot, prosecutors said on Sunday.

The arrests of four men and one woman followed the discovery on Friday of the 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother, found injured in a garage in the south-eastern Drôme department, the Lyon public prosecutor’s office said.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:36 pm

Canada is no stranger to separatism but push for Alberta to join US is a new peril

While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by some

A separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada. Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition.

Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec’s independence movement made a string of provocative overtures to foreign governments, including a trip by the province’s premier to France. In a move that outraged anglophone Canada, the mayor of Paris gave Quebec’s Jacques Parizeau a welcome befitting a national leader.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

Mystery plaintiff challenges Karl Lagerfeld’s will – but pampered cat can rest easy

Relatives shut out of €200m fortune reportedly receive letters from executor saying will could be overturned

The late German-born Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld was famously precise, exacting and known to hold a grudge, but his final wishes concerning the beneficiaries of his vast fortune could now be overturned beyond the grave in a looming court battle.

Seven years after Lagerfeld’s death from cancer, an unnamed plaintiff has come forward to challenge the haute couture titan’s last will and testament.

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:45 pm

Thai voters head to the polls with three main parties vying to form government

The People’s party, which is pledging structural changes to Thailand’s political and economic system, is not expected to win outright majority

Polling stations opened in Thailand on Sunday for an election that pits a youthful pro-democracy party against rivals that are offering a mix of nationalism and populist policies.

The People’s party, which is pledging structural changes to Thailand’s political and economic system, has led opinion polls before Sunday’s vote, fuelled by support from younger voters. However, the party, led by 38-year-old former software engineer Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, is not expected to secure an outright majority, and may struggle to build a coalition. Its candidates are also facing a looming legal battle.

Published: February 8, 2026, 9:18 am

Centre-left candidate expected to see off far right as Portugal votes in presidential runoff

António José Seguro tipped to beat populist André Ventura with support of mainstream politicians on left and right

The centre-left Socialist candidate, António José Seguro, is heavily favoured to defeat the far-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election on Sunday, in a vote that will test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style of politics.

Recent opinion polls suggest Seguro will collect twice as many votes as Ventura in the head to head between the two top candidates in last month’s first round of voting, when none of the 11 runners captured the more than 50% of the vote required for victory.

Published: February 8, 2026, 10:28 am

Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman enters mayoral race

Raman, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, enters a crowded field that includes incumbent Karen Bass

Los Angeles city council member Nithya Raman formally entered the race for mayor on Saturday, unveiling her campaign during a press conference.

Representing areas that stretch from the San Fernando valley to Silver Lake, Raman declared her candidacy just hours before the filing deadline. She now joins a field that includes former reality television personality Spencer Pratt, Housing Now California deputy director Rae Huang, veteran city engineer Asaad Alnajjar and the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass.

Published: February 7, 2026, 8:55 pm

Blood droplets, a white van, a ransom note: where is Savannah Guthrie’s mother?

The astonishing case of the missing Today morning show anchor’s mom is six days in so far and without resolution

A missing 84-year-old mother of a famous TV morning show anchor; droplets of blood and a mysterious white van; a ransom note sent to a celebrity news website; no suspects; a city surrounded by desert near the US-Mexico border; frustrated investigators; and a concerned US president.

It is for all these reasons that the astonishing case of the missing Nancy Guthrie has captivated US public attention in a six-day mystery that still has no resolution. It leads the US news and dominates the headlines, fusing crime and celebrity together in ways not seen since OJ Simpson or the Lindbergh baby.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Her father’s war grave in Gaza was bulldozed by Israel. Amid the grief and anger, she wants answers

Wilma Spence’s father was an Anzac buried in a part of the Gaza War Cemetery bulldozed by the IDF

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“Fighting for those who love him, our darling daddy died,” the inscription reads.

Just saying the words threatens to overwhelm Wilma Spence.

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

Chance of El Niño forming in Pacific Ocean may push global temperatures to record highs in 2027

One expert says 2027 could be even hotter than the last three years, which have been the top three warmest on record

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Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year – a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027.

Both the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology have said some climate models are forecasting an El Niño but both cautioned those results came with uncertainties.

Experts told the Guardian it was too early to be confident, but there were signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that suggested an El Niño could form in 2026.

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Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

Bermuda snail thought to be extinct now thrives after a decade’s effort

Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails

A button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs.

The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago, until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Hamilton, the island capital, in 2014.

Published: February 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Minneapolis protesters arrested during one-month anniversary of Renee Good’s death

Several demonstrators taken into custody Saturday after marking killing of Minnesota woman by immigration officer

Police arrested several demonstrators Saturday outside a federal building just south of Minneapolis, breaking up a protest marking the one-month anniversary of a Minnesota woman’s death at the hands of an immigration officer.

Renee Good was killed on 7 January as she was driving away from immigration officers in a Minneapolis neighborhood. Her death and the killing of another Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, just weeks later have stoked outrage nationwide over Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:55 pm

Outrage after US Congress votes to slash $125m in funding to replace toxic lead pipes

Move will hit Michigan, Illinois, New York and other states with highest levels of lead drinking water pipes the hardest

There is outrage among some politicians and activists after the US Congress voted to slash $125m for replacing toxic lead drinking water pipes that are particularly a threat to children.

The move will hit Michigan, Illinois, Texas, New York and other states with the highest levels of lead pipes the hardest. The cut was part of a broader government funding bill and particularly controversial in the context of the fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) funding.

Published: February 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

Deadly cold tests New York’s ability to protect its homeless communities

Outreach teams battle mistrust, mental illness and thin resources as subzero weather pushes the city to its limits

On the corner of 23rd Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan beneath the landmark Flatiron building, two workers from the Bridge, an outreach non-profit, were hoping to help a number of homeless men seek shelter from the dangerous, freezing temperatures gripping the city.

It is a matter of life and death as New York endures one of its longest stretches of subzero cold since 1960. Seventeen people have died, with at least 13 deaths linked to hypothermia. The city estimates that 800 homeless people have been moved inside, with Zohran Mamdani, the mayor, saying recently “we have been taking every possible measure to get New Yorkers inside. This has been a full all-hands-on-deck approach.”

Published: February 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

Colorado funeral home owner sentenced to 40 years for abusing 189 bodies

Jon Hallford, condemned in court as ‘monster’, stashed decaying bodies and gave grieving families fake ashes

A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed 189 decomposing bodies in a building over four years and gave grieving families fake ashes was sentenced to 40 years in state prison Friday.

During the sentencing hearing, family members told Judge Eric Bentley they have had recurring nightmares about decomposing flesh and maggots since learning what happened to their loved ones.

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:51 am

‘Can Mette-Marit be queen after this?’: Rape trial and Epstein files bring double crisis for Norway’s royals

Marius Borg Høiby pleads not guilty in court while pressure mounts against his crown princess mother over Epstein friendship

There will be little to celebrate when Norway’s King Harald, Europe’s oldest reigning monarch, turns 89 later this month.

Two multigenerational crises have rocked the institution, causing its popularity to dip in polls of Norwegians and bringing a public glare that far exceeds that of previous scandals.

Published: February 7, 2026, 5:00 am

RSF drone attack kills 24 people fleeing fighting in central Sudan, says doctors group

Eight children including two infants among dead in vehicle carrying displaced people, says Sudan Doctors Network

A drone attack by a paramilitary group has hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said on Saturday.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces took place close to the city of Er Rahad in North Kordofan province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s war. The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.

Published: February 7, 2026, 8:03 pm

Use of Irish airport for US deportation flights to Israel called ‘reprehensible’

Irish politicians condemn use of Shannon airport by private jet en route to Israel, owned by Trump donor Gil Dezer

• Revealed: Private jet owned by Trump friend used by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank

Politicians in Ireland have said the use of an airport in County Clare by planes deporting Palestinians from the US to Israel is “reprehensible”.

A private jet owned by the Donald Trump donor Gil Dezer was chartered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two separate flights that took detainees to Israel, a Guardian investigation revealed this week.

Published: February 7, 2026, 3:38 pm

No one owns our Arctic land, we share it, say Greenland’s Inuit

Greenland and its people were thrust into the global spotlight last year when Trump revived his demand that the US take control of the island for national security and to access its abundant mineral resources. For the Inuit people, who have lived here for centuries, no one owns the Arctic land

Published: February 8, 2026, 7:00 am

Never mind the lit-bros: Infinite Jest is a true classic at 30

Forget its reputation as a performative read for a certain breed of intense young man, thirty years after its publication, David Foster Wallace’s epic novel still delivers, says the Crying in H Mart author

I’m not what you might consider Infinite Jest’s target demographic. The novel’s reputation precedes it as a book infamously few ever finish, and those who do tend to belong to a particular breed of college-age guys who talk over you, a sect of pedantic, misunderstood young men for whom, over the course of 30 years, Infinite Jest has become a rite of passage, much as Little Women or Pride and Prejudice might function for aspiring literary young women.

Most readers come to the novel in their formative years, but I was a late bloomer. It wasn’t until the winter of 2023 that, at the age of 34, smoking outside a party in Brooklyn, I found myself suddenly motivated to embark on the two-pound tome. A boy I knew from high school brought it up, and as I happened at the time to have developed a casual interest in those works one might attribute to the “lit-bro” canon (Bret Easton Ellis, Hemingway, etc), it seemed the appropriate time to take it on.

Published: February 7, 2026, 9:00 am

Lord of the Flies: the castaway classic is such excellent, surreal horror that you will feel sick throughout

Jack Thorne takes on William Golding – and you’ll never have felt so grateful to live under the rule of law, that ultimate dweeb’s charter

Castaway stories, from Cast Away to The Martian, often make for feelgood classics. They are tales about an ingenious individual overcoming huge odds, a triumphant metaphor for the human spirit. Here’s a funny thing: castaway stories featuring large groups of people lead to the exact opposite. Forced to self-organise, they end up eating each other. The exception is Lost; I don’t know what that was about. Polar bears?

Needless to say, I like them all. So it’s exciting to see a new kid on the block – or rather an old boy. William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, about a group of British schoolboys who crash-land on a desert island, has been part of the UK curriculum for more than 60 years. I wonder if we forget the books we’re forced to study, and are obliged to rediscover them in later life. I know this story well, but am not sure I can say I fully experienced it until this striking new BBC version (Sunday, 9pm, BBC One).

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 am

The ’Burbs review – Keke Palmer takes over from Tom Hanks for frothy TV remake

A new take on the 1989 horror comedy is a mostly engaging, Only Murders in the Building-adjacent mystery series buoyed by the charisma of its lead

We’re a little bit past the very worst of a mostly awful trend, where studio-owned streamers desperately rifle through back catalogues to find much-seen films they can needlessly contort into barely watched TV shows. Paramount did it with Fatal Attraction, American Gigolo and, shudder, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies; Warner gave us animated Gremlins and Aquaman shows, and Universal has tried with Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin and a pickup of Lionsgate’s The Continental: From the World of John Wick. It was all boringly inevitable and predictably pointless, but mercifully, that pipeline has now slowed.

Instead, there have been more recent examples of it actually working, film-to-TV extensions with slightly more thought attached. Shows such as The Penguin, Alien: Earth, It: Welcome to Derry, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Ted have found ways to move beyond their source material and focus on the why rather than the just-because. Peacock’s gentle new take on The ’Burbs, a 1989 Tom Hanks comedy horror that slowly found cult classic status, isn’t exactly a necessary next step, but it’s a mostly harmless, decently engaging one that only really reveals its limitations at the very end.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:11 am

The Guide #229: How an indie movie distributed by a lone gamer broke the US box office

​In this week’s newsletter: Iron Lung, a largely unheralded indie horror game adapted for the big screen by a YouTuber is a hit of a very modern kind, built on blood, sweat and parasocial relationships

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Two very unusual films were released last weekend. One you will have absolutely heard of: Melania, the soft-focus hagiocumentary of the US first lady, which was plonked into thousands and thousands of often entirely empty cinemas across the globe by Amazon and Jeff Bezos in what is widely perceived as a favour-currier to the White House. Melania’s $7m takings in the US were marginally better than forecasted (and far ahead of the risible numbers for the film elsewhere) but, given the documentary’s vast cost, still represents a dramatic loss (especially if the rumour that Amazon paid for the film to be in some cinemas is true). Then again, this was a rare multimillion dollar film where the primary marker of success was probably not financial.

The other unusual film released last weekend you are less likely to have heard of, even though it dwarfed Melania’s takings. Adapted from a video game of the same name, Iron Lung is a grimy post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror in which a convict has to pilot a rusty submarine through an ocean of human blood on a distant planet. That peculiar plotline isn’t the most unusual thing about the film, though. No, what’s really remarkable is that Iron Lung came close to topping the US box office, earning $17m in its opening weekend, despite being entirely self-financed by an American YouTuber.

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 am

Porky Pig and Daffy Duck: ‘Jacob Elordi! That hair! Those dreamboat eyes!’

Ahead of the Looney Tunes’ first fully animated feature, the pair discuss keeping young, their Hollywood crushes and why they don’t like CGI

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Ducks typically live between five and 10 years, and pigs 10 to 20. You first appeared on screen in 1935 and 1937, which makes you 91 and 89, respectively. What’s your secret to your eternally youthful looks?

Daffy Duck: Firtht of all, it’s very rude to comment on a duck’s age. Thecond of all, thank you for noticing how youthful I look. My thecret is very thimple – moisturise daily, stay hydrated and tell the artist who draws you to take out any wrinkles.

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

Anthems, agency and arias: baritone Davóne Tines on rewriting his role – and the rules

The acclaimed US opera singer refuses to restrict himself or his audience. His current Barbican residency sees him range across genres. Always ask questions, always engage, he says. He talks ‘capital O opera’ and big ideas

In performance, Davóne Tines is electrifying. In the first concert of the US bass-baritone’s 2025-26 residency at London’s Barbican Centre, he appeared at the back of the auditorium and then slowly descended towards the stage, spotlit and subtly miked. His unaccompanied voice fractured into stentorian booms, spat-out consonants and the violent crackle of mouth noises. This, unmistakably, was the musician whom the New Yorker announced back in 2021 was “changing what it means to be a classical singer”.

Since then, Tines has been named Musical America’s vocalist of the year, he has won a 2024 Chanel next prize for “international contemporary artists who are redefining their disciplines”. And he was awarded the 2025 Harvard arts medal for distinguished alumni of the Ivy League university who have demonstrated achievement in the arts. Recent winners of the latter include architect Frank Gehry and novelist Margaret Atwood. Unlike those cultural figureheads, Tines is not yet 40.

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

My cultural awakening: Bach helped me survive sexual abuse as a child

For pianist James Rhodes, the composer’s music expressed feelings that he could not put into words – and kept helping him as his mental health suffered in adulthood

When I found a cassette tape of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne, aged seven, it’s how I imagine a kid would feel seeing Messi play football and thinking: I have to do that with my life. By then, I had already been sexually abused by a teacher for two years, and despite showing all the signs of trauma – night terrors, twitching, wetting the bed, constant stomach aches – I obediently kept his secret. To me, the world was a war zone of pain. I was a shy, awkward, lonely kid, but alone in my bedroom with that piece of music, I found a little bit of light that was just for me. Hearing it for the first time was almost a religious experience.

People think classical music is dry, but Bach was anything but. Half of his 20 children died in infancy: there was no way to get rid of that grief other than through his music. Bach composed the Chaconne when his wife died suddenly, and he didn’t get to say goodbye or even go to the funeral. Even if you don’t know any of that, listening to it, on some level you will know. When you think it’s the end, it just carries on, like having one more thing to say to a person after they die. There’s so much truth and so much emotion hidden inside those 16 minutes of music.

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 am

AI analysis casts doubt on Van Eyck paintings in Italian and US museums

Tests on both versions of Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata were unable to detect brushstrokes of 15th-century master

An analysis of two paintings in museums in the US and Italy by the 15th-century Flemish artist Jan van Eyck has raised a profound question: what if neither were by Van Eyck?

Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, the name given to near-identical unsigned paintings hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Turin, represent two of the small number of surviving works by one of western art’s greatest masters, revered for his naturalistic portraits and religious subjects.

Published: February 7, 2026, 8:00 am

Dining across the divide: ‘Tariffs are the one thing I agree with Donald Trump on’

Two Cornishmen agreed on the problems facing their home county. Would they see eye to eye on the solutions?

John, 41, St Austell

Occupation Automotive engineer

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Green time over screen time’: how to really look after your eyes

About 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated. So what can you to do avoid eye damage, and what are just the inevitable ravages of age?

• Read more in The way you move series

The eyes are “the lamp of the body” according to the Bible; if they are healthy, the body is full of light, and if they are not, there is darkness.

Literally and metaphorically, it’s on the money. Our eyesight is one of the most important ways with which we interact with the world, and it interacts with us. We take our eyesight for granted, which is why it comes as such a shock when it starts to let us down.

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Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

Avocados are a Super Bowl staple – but are they truly a miracle food?

Americans are expected to devour nearly 280m pounds of avocados during Super Bowl weekend. Are they actually healthy?

Most American adults today didn’t grow up with avocados, but we’ve certainly developed a hearty appetite for them. In 1990, the United States imported 38m pounds of avocados; by 2023, that number was 2,789m, mostly from Mexico.

On average, each of us eats about 20 avocados, or 9lbs of the fruit, a year – a sixfold increase from 1998. Super Bowl guacamole alone fuels a staggering demand for the fruit; in the lead-up to this Sunday’s game, Americans are expected to devour nearly 280m pounds of avocados, a historical record.

Published: February 7, 2026, 3:00 pm

Blind date: ‘We didn’t kiss but we exchanged Instas, which among gay men is close to the same thing’

Alfie, 31, a playwright, meets Sam, 33, who works in tech

What were you hoping for?
To meet a silly softie with a penchant for the occasional deep chat.

Published: February 7, 2026, 6:00 am

The sneeze secret: how much should you worry about this explosive reflex?

It is one of the most powerful involuntary actions the human body can perform. But is a big sneeze a sign of illness, pollution or something else entirely?

How worried should we be about a sneeze? It depends who you ask. In the Odyssey, Telemachus sneezes after Penelope’s prayer that her husband will soon be home to sort out her house-sitting suitors – which she sees as a good omen for team Odysseus, and very bad news for the suitors. In the Anabasis, Xenophon takes a sneeze from a soldier as godly confirmation that his army can fight their way back to their own territory – great news for them – while St Augustine notes, somewhat disapprovingly, that people of his era tend to go back to bed if they sneeze while putting on their slippers. But is a sneeze an omen of anything apart from pathogens, pollen or – possibly – air pollution?

“It’s a physical response to get rid of something that’s irritating your body,” says Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist and professor at the University of Manchester. “Alongside the obvious nasal hairs that a few people choose to trim, all of us have cilia, or microscopic hairs in our noses that can move and sense things of their own accord. And so if anything gets trapped by the cilia, that triggers a reaction to your nerve endings that says: ‘Right, let’s get rid of this.’ And that triggers a sneeze.”

Published: February 8, 2026, 10:00 am

In the decade since my sons left home, walking has brought us together

The exodus of grown children mostly happens without fanfare. For Lisa Walker, hiking the Camino turned into both a goodbye and a glimpse at the future

• Read more summer essentials

Don’t let them push you around, my youngest son said halfway through the Camino de Santiago. You don’t have to get up early if you don’t want to.

I didn’t know that was an option, replied his brother from his bunk.

Published: February 8, 2026, 1:00 am

The best women’s lingerie: 22 favourites for every mood and budget

Whether you want everyday comfort or a special set for Valentine’s Day, our fashion writer rounds up the styles that’ll have you hooked – from skimpy to supportive, recycled to racy

• The best Valentine’s Day gifts for 2026

Lingerie isn’t about dressing for someone else. The best lingerie will feel comfortable, supportive and genuinely good to wear, whether that’s an everyday staple or an investment piece.

The design of lingerie has never been better, with a wide variety of brands focusing on comfortable materials, breathability and support, as well as style. From ultra-soft lace that moves with the body to wireless bras that actually stay up, sometimes the best lingerie is all about subtle design details rather than extra frills.

Published: February 8, 2026, 7:00 am

Why western Sicily is Italy’s emerging arts hub

Art is helping to revitalise Sicily’s ghost towns and deserted urban spaces, with the earthquake-hit town of Gibellina becoming Italy’s first Capital of Contemporary Art

From the ostentatious baroque square of Quattro Canti all the way up to the Teatro Massimo, Palermo’s Via Maqueda is thick with tourists. Pomegranate juice sellers are setting up pyramids of fruit on their carts at gaps in the crowd and waiters are trying to reel in passersby with happy hour prices for Aperol spritzes. Amid the noise and movement, it’s easy to walk straight past number 206, whose arched doorway features a stone cross stained black with dirt – a clue to the building’s former use.

Convento dei Crociferi was abandoned for 30 years, until Sicilian power couple Andrea Bartoli and Florinda Saievi took over and transformed it into Palermo’s newest arts space, the Museum of World Cities, due to open at the end of February. Inside, a cloister with high, scalloped porticoes frames a verdant courtyard filled with palms and banana trees. Bartoli comes to meet me and enthusiastically pumps my hand before leading me up to the grand, marble-floored rooms on the first floor, which have been given over to a rather self-referential exhibition on urban change.

Published: February 8, 2026, 7:00 am

What links Derek Malcolm, Roger Ebert and Philip French? The Saturday quiz

From arctos and americanus to North America’s ‘other’ US, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Who is the only British female singer with seven No 1 singles (including as a featured artist)?
2 What was the alias of 15th-century criminal chaplain Robert Stafford?
3 What became the world’s first $5tn company in 2025?
4 Which hat was banned in Turkey in 1925?
5 D.G.REX.F.D is written on what everyday items?
6 Slightly Included and Very Slightly Included are grades of what?
7 What is North America’s “other” US?
8 Which watersport is usually added to make a quadrathlon?
What links:
9 Arctos (lay down); americanus (fight back); maritimus (goodnight)?
10 Dunkery Beacon; High Willhays; Urra Moor?
11 Fools and Mortals; Hamnet; King of Shadows; Nothing Like the Sun?
12 Roger Ebert; Philip French; Pauline Kael; Derek Malcolm; David Thomson?
13 Harmondsworth Barn, Hillingdon; Mathematical Bridge, Cambridge; Greensted church, Essex?
14 BYD; Changan; Chery; Geely; GWM?
15 Jack Broughton; London Prize Ring; Marquess of Queensberry?

Published: February 7, 2026, 7:00 am

Why has Elon Musk merged his rocket company with his AI startup?

SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI creates business worth $1.25tn but whether premise behind deal will work is questioned

The acquisition of xAI by SpaceX is a typical Elon Musk deal: big numbers backed by big ambition.

As well as extending “the light of consciousness to the stars”, as Musk described it, the transaction creates a business worth $1.25tn (£920bn) by combining Musk’s rocket company with his artificial intelligence startup. It values SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn, with a stock market flotation expected in June to time with Musk’s birthday and a planetary alignment.

Published: February 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

Where’s Evo? Missing Morales mystery as Bolivia’s ex-president goes to ground

Once a highly visible figure despite being wanted on human trafficking charges, the former leader has not been seen since shortly after the US kidnapped Venezuela’s president

For more than a year, he stayed hidden in plain sight: despite an arrest warrant for human trafficking charges, former president Evo Morales moved freely in at least one region of Bolivia, attended rallies, received foreign journalists and went to the polls to cast his vote in the 2025 presidential election.

But shortly after the United States attack onVenezuela – and the detention of Nicolás Maduro – Morales disappeared from view; a month later his whereabouts remain a mystery.

Published: February 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Resting seals and floating Marilyns: photos of the weekend

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

Published: February 8, 2026, 12:57 pm