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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:02 am

Why I’m not watching the State of the Union – and you shouldn’t either | Robert Reich

Trump doesn’t deserve our attention. And we already know the state of the union – it sucks

I’m not going to watch the State of the Union address on Tuesday night. I urge you not to, either.

I hope Neilsen (or whoever makes such estimates these days) will find that far fewer Americans watched Donald Trump’s State of the Union than have watched any other State of the Union in recent memory. It will drive Trump crazy.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:03 am

If you think politics shaped these Winter Olympics, just wait until LA 2028

In Milan, athletes showed that patriotism can be generous. In Los Angeles, that definition will be tested on the biggest, loudest stage sport can offer

The Milano Cortina Winter Games ended on Sunday night as the Olympics always do: in light, spectacle and speeches about unity. In Verona, the Olympic flag passed to the French Alps and the twin flames were extinguished. But unofficially, at least, a flame also flickered 6,000 miles west.

If these Games felt political, just wait until Los Angeles a little more than two years from now.

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:11 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:56 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:30 pm

Just 32% of Americans say Trump has right priorities, new poll finds, ahead of State of the Union speech – live

CNN poll reveals Trump’s approval among independents at 26%; White House press secretary says speech to focus on US’s 250th anniversary and affordability concerns

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

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

Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)

Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA)

Senator Tina Smith (D-MN)

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03)

Representative Becca Balint (D-VT)

Representative Greg Casar (TX-35)

Representative Lizzie Fletcher (TX-7)

Representative Maxwell Frost (FL-10)

Representative Robert Garcia (CA-42)

Representative Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07)

Representative Jim Himes (CT-04)

Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51)

Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)

Representative John B. Larson (CT-01)

Representative Summer Lee (PA-12)

Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03)

Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37)

Representative April McClain Delaney (MD-6)

Representative Christian Menefee (TX-18)

Representative Chellie Pingree (ME-01)

Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-7)

Representative Emily Randall (WA-6)

Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05)

Representative Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)

Representative Delia Ramirez (IL-03)

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12)

Published: February 24, 2026, 4:08 pm

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

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

• Europe live – latest updates

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:09 pm

Armed police flood Iran’s universities to crush student protests

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 4:06 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:39 pm

Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariff comes into effect

US president had said he would raise levy to 15% after last week’s supreme court ruling

• Business live – latest updates

Donald Trump’s new global tariffs have taken effect at 10%, even though he had threatened a higher rate of 15% last weekend, providing “some relief” for British businesses, according to a lobby group.

After the US president suffered a defeat at the hands of the supreme court on Friday, which struck down his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs imposed last year, he angrily reacted by announcing a 10% global tariff, which he raised to 15% on Saturday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:48 pm

US datacenters face slew of problems amid grassroots protests against AI

New constructions delayed or cancelled, raising questions about US’s ability to expand infrastructure to support boom

Cancellations and delays of new US datacenters have increased as the artificial intelligence boom runs up against a slate of issues, including supply chain snags, energy shortages and tariff-induced restraints.

Grassroots opposition from local communities has also derailed some plans, and some investors have grown wary of datacenters amid fears of an AI bubble.

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:00 pm

Russell Brand pleads not guilty to two more sexual offences

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:21 am

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

A source close to Warner Bros has said that executives were assured the slur would be removed before broadcast, while search engine remove AI-generated prompt

• Bafta judge quits over ‘utterly unforgivable’ handling of N-word incident
• The dust has not yet settled on the Baftas N-word row. This is why

Warner Bros reacted immediately after the N-word was yelled while two of the black stars of their film, Sinners, were on stage at the Baftas on Sunday night, yet saw their concerns ignored after the moment was not edited out of the TV broadcast.

A source close to the studio has told the Guardian that executives immediately raised the issue with Bafta after Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson’s verbal tic while Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for best visual effects.

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:29 pm

‘This girl was braver than I was’: Julia Kochetova’s astonishing photographs of war in Ukraine

From children’s funerals to underground shelters to the frontline, Kochetova has captured the conflict with power and humanity for the Guardian. ‘I have the same scars as the people I photograph,’ she says ahead of a major show

Julia Kochetova is unlike most of the people who cover Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the Guardian. The photographer lives in Kyiv; she is Ukrainian. It is her country that is being invaded, her friends who are being killed.

The war that began in 2014 and brutally escalated on 24 February in 2022 has infused every part of her existence. It is fundamental to her life choices, her relationships, her friendships, her career (when she was younger she had planned to go to art school in Germany, but photojournalism beckoned). She is at home on the frontline, and could give you battlefield first aid if you needed it. She is also a vegetarian who makes an exception for meat-based borsch; reads poetry when we’re on the road together; and can wash and brush out her waist-length hair in unusual locations and at surprising speed. Her driving style lies somewhere on the spectrum between chaotic and shrewd, and she can recommend you a good place for a manicure in Kyiv. She is 32 years old. She has organised more funerals than anyone should have to do in a lifetime.

Published: February 23, 2026, 4:51 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:00 pm

She’s raised almost $20m to help Minnesota – she thinks you can do it too

Ashley Fairbanks launched Stand with Minnesota as ICE raids rocked her home town – now donations are pouring in, and families’ rent is being paid

From thousands of miles away in San Antonio, Ashley Fairbanks watched the news pour out of her home town of Minneapolis– federal immigration authorities flooding the streets and regular people stepping up to defend and care for their communities. She knew she had to do something. So the 39-year-old writer, artist and digital strategist started a Google Doc.

Soon, the list of resources for residents grew so long it became unwieldy, and Fairbanks, who builds websites for a living, launched Stand With Minnesota.

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘An extension of his administration’: how Trump’s resorts became a proxy for access and power

Elected officials visited Trump properties 145 times since his inauguration, records show

Elected leaders from Israel to Iowa have visited Donald Trump’s various properties 145 times since his inauguration last year, according to a new report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), a political watchdog group.

Trump’s luxury resorts have offered the chief executive an unusual political arena – and a source of profit. A Guardian analysis of campaign finance records found that US political campaigns and committees spent at least $1.3m at Trump properties since January 2025.

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:46 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:00 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:18 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:00 pm

Christ arises and waiters break – readers’ best photographs

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

Published: February 24, 2026, 4:00 pm

My maddening battle with chronic fatigue syndrome: ‘On my worst days, it feels almost demonic’

I suffered with my mystery illness for decades before gaining a diagnosis.
Could retraining my brain be the answer?

At the Croydon secondary school I attended in the late 1990s, the deputy headmistress was a stocky woman with a military haircut who patrolled the corridors in voluminous outfits patterned in shades of brown. The outfits were much discussed, not charitably, by the teenage girls in her charge – as was her voice, which made you think of a blunt knife being drawn across a rough surface. Thirty years later, I can still hear that terrible voice refer to my “mystery illness”. In truth, the deputy headmistress never actually spoke those words – they were included in a typed letter she sent to my parents concerning my prolonged absence from school. Still, the indicting force of five syllables is as distinct in my ear as if she were looming over me.

I was 11 and, after coming down with a normal-seeming virus, I simply hadn’t got better. Instead, my system seemed to have become stuck, sunk into some grey, unchanging state. I had a headache, a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes, body pains both dull and sharp, fatigue and weakness, plus something I later learned went by the name of “postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome”: a faintness and momentary blacking out upon sitting or standing up. When I list the symptoms in this way, as a collection of discrete and manageable items, it seems false. I wish things felt discrete and manageable. Instead, being ill felt – and still feels – more like a thick, obscuring cloud. When that cloud descends, my blood feels like old glue mixed with whatever you’d scrape off the bottom of a Swiffer. During bad episodes, I can’t quite locate my mind, or my personality. Reading is impossible. TV is abrasive. Breathing feels effortful, forming words is a strain.

Published: February 24, 2026, 5:00 am

Trump’s vicious attacks on judges fuel his bid for unchecked power | Steven Greenhouse

The president and his aides vilify the judiciary with brutal rhetoric, hoping to delegitimize a co-equal branch of government

When Donald Trump attacked several supreme court justices as “fools”, “lapdogs”, “disloyal to our constitution” and a “disgrace to our nation” after they ruled against his tariffs on Friday, it was probably the most vicious public tirade that a US president ever leveled against the country’s highest court. But as extraordinary – and extraordinarily ugly – as Trump’s rant was, everyone should realize that it was part of a systematic campaign in which Trump and his top aides have vehemently denounced and smeared judges as part of Trump’s quest for ever more power.

Whether it’s Trump, Stephen Miller, Pam Bondi or others, Trump and his lieutenants often pummel judges with brutal rhetoric. To many judges, these attacks no doubt spur fears that some Trump loyalists will threaten them or worse.

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:00 pm

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

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

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

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

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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 24, 2026, 1:18 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:00 am

In 2022, the world had moral clarity over Russia’s invasion. Now in Ukraine we ask: where has that gone? | Sasha Dovzhyk

We could never have imagined such tolerance of Putin’s criminal war. We normalise the horror just to survive

On a bright February day, over cups of coffee, my team gathers for a strategy meeting at our office in Lviv, 80km from the border with the EU. Our cultural and research institution – an NGO called Index – documents Ukrainians’ experiences of the war. The coffee is important: our charging station can power a coffee machine during electricity outages. A member of our board from Kyiv, which has suffered most from Russia’s destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this winter, delights in this luxury. She is used to climbing 14 flights of stairs with water canisters and boiling coffee on a portable stove in her frozen apartment.

As we speak, our screens flash with an alert: a Russian ballistic missile is heading our way. “What shall we do?” a colleague wants to know. I want to finish both the coffee and the discussion. In a minute, we hear the sound of an explosion not far away. The missile has been intercepted. We resume our pondering about how to ensure long-term justice by sharing individuals’ stories of wartime Ukraine.

Sasha Dovzhyk is a writer, editor and cultural manager. She is head of INDEX, a Lviv-based cultural and research institute that documents experiences of the war.

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 24, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:47 pm

US basketball player Jarred Shaw escaped execution in Indonesia, but his prison ordeal continues

The Texan made the mistake of his life when he ordered gummies to soothe symptoms of Crohn’s disease. Now his health is suffering in a foreign jail

Jarred Shaw is locked up in an Indonesian prison – but at least he isn’t facing execution, something that appeared a possibility less than a year ago.

The 35-year-old American was a key member of the Prawira Bandung team who won the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) in 2023, the latest highlight in a fascinating professional career that had taken him to countries as varied as Tunisia, Lebanon, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:00 am

‘Resilience is the biggest lesson’: Raducanu is ready for revival after setbacks

In Japan to announce her switch to Uniqlo, the British No 1 says frustrations only fuel the fire as she looks to Indian Wells and beyond

Emma Raducanu has no immediate plans to appoint a new coach as she attempts to kickstart a frustrating season in the US next month. The British No 1 will play at Indian Wells and in the Miami Open in March without a full-time replacement for Francisco Roig – her ninth coach since she turned professional – with whom she parted company after her second-round exit at the Australian Open in January.

“Right now I wouldn’t say I’m actively looking for a coach,” Raducanu says in Tokyo, where on Tuesday she was unveiled as a global brand ambassador for the Japanese clothes retailer Uniqlo after ending her association with Nike.

Published: February 24, 2026, 6:44 am

Lindsey Vonn says she almost had leg amputated after crash at Winter Olympics

• 41-year-old developed compartment syndrome

• Skier credits Team USA surgeon with saving leg

Lindsey Vonn says she came close to having her leg amputated in the aftermath of her crash during the Olympic downhill earlier this month.

The 41-year-old sustained a complex tibia fracture to her left leg in the crash and underwent multiple surgeries in Italy before being flown back to the US for further treatment last week. But in an Instagram post on Monday, the American said the crash also led to compartment syndrome in her leg. The condition occurs after traumatic injuries such as falls from heights and car crashes. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “compartment syndrome happens when there’s too much pressure around your muscles. The pressure restricts the flow of blood, fresh oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and nerves. Compartment syndrome is extremely painful.” The lack of blood flow can lead to permanent damage to patients.

Published: February 23, 2026, 3:51 pm

David Squires on … a dose of reality for Igor Tudor after Arsenal’s visit to Dr Tottenham

Our cartoonist on the north London derby and some uncomfortable truths for the interim Spurs manager

• Buy this cartoon | David’s favourite work of 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Published: February 24, 2026, 11:03 am

The US moved away from its heartland to set a Winter Olympics high in Italy

Other nations are catching up with the US in its traditional strengths such as snowboarding. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for Americans

In 2002, on home ice and snow in Utah, the USA obliterated its records for most gold medals (10, beating the previous high of six) and most overall medals (34, more than two times the previous high of 13) by the country in a single Winter Olympics.

In 2026, the USA broke that national record for gold medals with 12, and broke the 30-medal mark for the first time outside North America (Norway broke the overall record with 18 golds).

Published: February 23, 2026, 8:28 pm

Benjamin Sesko happy to be patient in wait for Manchester United starting spot

• Striker has been on bench for last six league games

• Branthwaite still hopeful of making World Cup squad

Benjamin Sesko is prepared to be patient in regards to becoming a first-choice pick for Manchester United, with the striker not telling himself “I have to start” every game.

Sesko struck United’s winner in their 1-0 victory at Everton on Monday after coming on as a 71st-minute substitute. It was the third time in four games that the 22-year-old has scored after emerging from the bench. He also scored a 96th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw at West Ham two weeks ago and a 93rd-minute winner in the 3-2 victory over Fulham on 1 February.

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:00 pm

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to fight in September rematch on Netflix

• 40-something fighters will meet in Las Vegas

• Mayweather won previous encounter in 2015

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face each other on 19 September in Las Vegas in a rematch of one of the biggest fights in boxing history.

Their first fight, in 2015, was generally seen as a tame affair with both fighters past their peaks. September’s bout, which will be streamed live on Netflix, is likely to be of an even lower quality. Mayweather and Pacquiao will be 49 and 47 respectively when they fight. Mayweather’s last professional fight, which preserved his unbeaten record, came in 2017, although that was a glorified exhibition against UFC star Conor McGregor. Pacquiao fought for the WBC welterweight championship last year, but is far from the force he was in his prime.

Published: February 23, 2026, 9:39 pm

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

Streets empty as residents shield from chaos of retaliatory attacks after death of ‘El Mencho’ in federal raid

Mexico is on alert after cartel gunmen went on a violent rampage of revenge in response to federal forces killing their leader, a notorious mob boss known as “El Mencho”.

Authorities had attempted to capture Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes in the western state of Jalisco on Sunday but the raid led to a firefight that fatally wounded the infamous leader and killed six of his accomplices, according to officials.

Published: February 23, 2026, 6:28 pm

Oil prices hit seven-month highs as tensions rise before US-Iran talks

Traders appear to be hedging against worst-case scenario of a conflict between the two nations, analyst says

• Business live – latest updates

Oil prices have reached seven-month highs, as traders reacted to heightened tensions between the US and Iran ahead of nuclear talks this week.

US crude futures rose to $67.28 a barrel on Monday, while Brent crude touched its highest level since 31 July at $72.50 a barrel. Prices fell back late in the session, but were up again on Tuesday morning, approaching Monday’s highs.

Published: February 24, 2026, 9:47 am

Trump Iran airstrikes decision to be guided by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff’s advice

Exclusive: Trump’s decision will be driven by envoys’ judgment on whether Iran is stalling on a nuclear deal

Donald Trump’s decision to order airstrikes against Iran will hinge in part on the judgment of Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, about whether Tehran is stalling over a deal to relinquish its capacity to produce nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the matter.

The president has not made a final determination on any strikes, as the administration prepares for Iran to send its latest proposal this week, ahead of what officials have described as a last-ditch round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.

Published: February 23, 2026, 9:08 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:13 pm

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

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

• Business live – latest updates

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:18 pm

Russia opens criminal case into Telegram founder Pavel Durov

Claim of ‘abetting terrorist activities’ comes as Kremlin attempts to steer users on to state-controlled app

Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, on suspicion of “abetting terrorist activities”, further escalating the Kremlin’s standoff with the widely used messaging app.

The state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday that a case had been opened “based on materials from Russia’s federal security service”, which accused the app of being compromised by western and Ukrainian intelligence.

Published: February 24, 2026, 12:49 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:12 pm

No business like snow business: blizzard shuts down the north-east US – in pictures

As another major storm brings to the area up to 2ft of snow, people brave the weather to commute and shovel

Published: February 23, 2026, 4:52 pm

Reform mayor courted US oil and gas executive about fracking in UK

Exclusive: Documents show Andrea Jenkyns asked how she could help firm after major gas find in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire’s Reform party mayor, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has courted the head of an American oil and gas dynasty in the hope of bringing fracking to the county, the Guardian can reveal.

Egdon Resources, a British subsidiary of the US fracker Heyco Energy, announced a major gas discovery in Lincolnshire’s Gainsborough Trough last year. Jenkyns, who became the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire in May, reached out personally to the company asking how she “could help with your recent gas find in my county”, according to records released by the mayoral authority in response to a freedom of information request.

Published: February 24, 2026, 6:00 am

US supreme court takes up fossil fuel firms’ climate accountability case

Judgment in city of Boulder’s lawsuit against Suncor Energy USA and ExxonMobil could affect wave of climate litigation

The US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years.

“It’s not a good sign,” said Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Published: February 23, 2026, 4:04 pm

How an annual ‘wedding flight’ of 1,000 virgin queens is ensuring the revival of Europe’s dark bee

The Belgian ceremony attracts beekeepers from the Netherlands, France and Germany keen to boost dark bee numbers and stop the spread of the hybrid honeybee

Every summer, 1,000 virgin queens descend on the Belgian town of Chimay. During the “wedding flight”, a male attaches to the female. His endophallus (penis equivalent) is torn off and he falls to the ground and dies. Mission accomplished.

Beekeepers come and pick up their fertilised queens in small colourful hives, driving them back home, sometimes more than 300km away. They will use the genetic material gathered in south Belgium to build new colonies in the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Published: February 23, 2026, 5:00 am

France blocks US ambassador’s access to officials after he fails to attend meeting

Charles Kushner, father of president’s son-in-law Jared, had been summoned to explain US comments relating to death of far-right activist

Donald Trump’s envoy to Paris will not be permitted to carry out his diplomatic duties until he has explained his refusal to comply with a foreign ministry summons over US comments about the killing of a far-right activist, France’s top diplomat has said.

Charles Kushner “needs to be able to have this discussion with us, with [the foreign ministry], so that he can resume the normal exercise of his duties as ambassador in France”, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said on Tuesday.

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:44 pm

Robert Carradine, Revenge of the Nerds and Lizzie McGuire actor, dies aged 71

The actor killed himself, his family said in a statement that aimed to raise awareness of ‘his nearly two-decade battle with bipolar disorder’

Robert Carradine, a member of the famed acting family who was known for his roles in Revenge of the Nerds and Lizzie McGuire, has died aged 71.

Carradine killed himself after years of living with bipolar disorder, his family said in a statement which they said they hoped would raise awareness.

Published: February 24, 2026, 5:29 am

FedEx sues US government, seeking ‘full refund’ over Trump tariffs

Firm does not specify amount but seeks reimbursement after supreme court ruled against president last week

FedEx sued the US government on Monday, seeking a refund for the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump that were deemed illegal by the US supreme court last week.

The lawsuit marks the first attempt by a major company to receive reimbursement of their share of an estimated $175bn in levies after the highest court found Trump had overstepped his authority in issuing the tariffs. Other companies are expected to follow.

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:54 am

Peter Attia resigns from CBS News amid revelations about ties to Epstein

Controversial doctor steps down as contributor after Epstein files reveal communication between the two men

Controversial longevity expert Dr Peter Attia has resigned from his post as a CBS News contributor after correspondence between Attia and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was made public.

The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news of Attia’s departure.

Published: February 23, 2026, 9:10 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:03 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:40 am

Baby boy born to UK mother after womb transplant from dead donor

Grace Bell says she is ‘the happiest I’ve ever been in my life’ after giving birth to baby Hugo in UK first

A baby boy named Hugo is the first child to be born in the UK to a mother with a womb transplant from a dead donor.

Hugo Powell was delivered at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea hospital in London weighing 3.09kg (6lb 13oz), after his mother, Grace Bell, received a transplanted womb from someone who had died.

Published: February 24, 2026, 8:37 am

‘The optics are terrible’: wedding guest list in spotlight as violence grips swathes of Nigeria

As senior politicians gathered for a lavish celebration, mass killings underscored the country’s deepening security crisis

It has been described as Nigeria’s wedding of the year – and it is only February.

This month, five sons and five daughters of the junior defence minister Bello Matawalle married their spouses in an opulent six-day celebration in Abuja. The sheer scale of the extravaganza in the capital prompted one of the comperes to exclaim on Instagram: “First of its kind … @guinnessworldrecords check this out.”

Published: February 24, 2026, 5:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 2:42 pm

‘I like the challenge’: French animator Florence Miailhe on being nominated for an Oscar for the first time aged 70

The film-maker’s passionate and richly textured new short Papillon (Butterfly) tells the heartbreaking story of French-Jewish swimmer Alfred Nakache, who was stripped of his citizenship in Vichy France

“My father would’ve loved me to swim competitively. I was in a club when I was young, but I always set off a little bit late in races – and so I had no chance of winning.” French animation director Florence Miailhe chuckles about her swimming career being over before it began. Happily, the same isn’t true of film-making. At 70, she may have left it late for her first Oscar nomination, in the animated short category; but the work in question – the passionate and richly textured Papillon (Butterfly), about world-record-holding French-Jewish swimmer Alfred Nakache – gives her every chance of taking the prize.

Miailhe isn’t sure why Nakache – whom her parents met while they were in the resistance – came to mind again in the mid-2010s. “Frankly, I don’t know why my memory was working like that. Maybe because I was thinking of my father,” Miailhe says. Memory is what runs through Papillon, which is swept away on surging tides of reminiscences as Nakache bathes for the final time at Cerbère on the Spanish border (where he died of a heart attack in 1983).

Published: February 24, 2026, 7:00 am

God of Frogs review – less Kermit, more giant shapeshifting amphibian nightmare

Self-aware horror set across four time periods sees a woman impregnated by a human-sized pond-beast resulting in multigenerational havoc

There is a long discredited theory known as “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” which posits that an organism’s development in the womb or egg (ie, ontogeny) reenacts the development of its species (phylogeny). In other words, it is a theory developed to account for how creatures start out single-cell, then eventually look like newts, wombats or other genetic descendants and finally attain their final species form, be that platypus, snake or human.

This may be an abstruse way of saying that this multipart film, essentially four stories all connected to a person-sized frog monster, recapitulates horror film phylogeny as it goes along the way. The first section, set in 1969, throws back to Rosemary’s Baby as commune member Lilith (Ali Chappell, also this section’s director) is impregnated by the Frog God while he assumes the form of her commune’s guru (James Gilbert). It’s all trippy pseudo psychedelics, with an actor dressed in a giant latex and slime costume copulating with Lilith, like the devil making the beast with two backs with Mia Farrow.

Published: February 24, 2026, 9:00 am

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has saved the Game of Thrones universe

The original show might have ended on a whimper and the first spin-off might have disappointed but this lighter, shorter series has been a genuine joy

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I first entered into A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms extremely gingerly. Game of Thrones (as we all know) all but cratered during its final season, to the point that watching it almost felt like a punishment. House of the Dragon was somehow even worse, for reasons we’ll come to shortly.

And so, presented with an opportunity to dip my toes back into Westeros, I hesitated. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me repeatedly due to a capitalist desire to permanently entrench all existing IP in order to minimise subscriber churn, shame on me.

Published: February 23, 2026, 4:03 pm

Crazy Old Lady review – Carmen Maura excels as a homicidal pensioner wielding a red hot poker

Mistaken identity, dementia, family dysfunction and a murky past entwine in this Spanish horror involving a sprightly octogenarian with a penchant for torture

Understandably, we tend to think of elderly women as among the most vulnerable in society, and so that means they make excellent nemeses in horror films because no one thinks that an old dear could do much damage. Unless, that is, she’s got a fire poker, a house full of useful clutter, dementia and a violent streak, as is the case with Alicia, played here by the wonderful Carmen Maura, once the lead in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Now 80 years old, still spry as a whippet and clearly up for movie mischief, Maura gives Alicia a dirty glint in her eye as she confuses her daughter’s ex-boyfriend Pedro (Daniel Hendler, showing great comic chops) with her late husband Cesar. He apparently turned Alicia on to some BDSM fun and games in their youth, and may have assisted Alicia in covering up a murder or two. Unless she’s just making that part up – it’s hard to tell what’s true or false given her murky memory.

On a dark and stormy night, Pedro arrives at the insistence of his ex Laura (Agustina Liendo) to check on Alicia in the decrepit mansion where she lives alone. Laura is on a road trip with her young daughter (Emma Cetrángolo), but she’s sensed that something’s up, especially since when she called Alicia’s carer, Alicia herself answered the phone. Pedro’s unfortunate resemblance to Cesar gets him lashed to an armchair in chains and duct tape while Alicia quizzes him on their history, with gory results.

Published: February 24, 2026, 7:00 am

‘Profoundly moving’: Netflix’s posthumous celebrity interview series is a marvel

Famous Last Words is a series of interviews conducted with notable names and only released after their death and it offers an incredible opportunity

Exactly one day after the death of actor Eric Dane, a new show appeared on Netflix. Entitled Famous Last Words, it consisted of an interview with none other than Eric Dane himself. While at first the timing of the release might have seemed coincidental at best and exploitative at worst, the reality of the interview was something else entirely.

Dane, it transpired, had recorded the interview in full knowledge that he was dying. What’s more, he conducted it on the understanding that it would only be released in the event of his death. Because this is the conceit behind Famous Last Words. It exists as a living obituary, as an opportunity to go on the record for the very last time to contextualise their life in a manner of their choosing.

Published: February 23, 2026, 4:38 pm

Willie Colón was an explosive energy source who took salsa into the stratosphere

With his gangster image, Colón ruffled the feathers of the musical establishment, but thrilled millions of fans as he displayed the raw rhythmic possibility of salsa

Willie Colón, who has died in New York at the age of 75, was many things: master blaster of Nuyorican salsa; Puerto Rican superstar; actor in Mexican soap operas; an activist and, later, a reactionary in New York politics. These are just a few of the myriad accomplishments of a musician who always seemed to be in a hurry to move on, make new music and get into a spat with a fellow salsero or political opponent. Colón was an energy source, a musician as loud and vibrant – and sometimes infuriating – as the city he lived and died in.

While to Nuyoricans – Puerto Ricans living in New York – Colón was a legend, to many Anglo New Yorkers he barely registered, perhaps noted by a few for playing with David Byrne during the singer’s adventures in Latin American music. He was nominated for 10 Grammys but never troubled the US Top 40, yet across much of Latin America he was arguably the most celebrated brass player of the past six decades, winning the Latin Grammys’ musical excellence award in 2004. Colón was to salsa what Elvis Presley was to rock’n’roll – the fearless teenager whose loose, fast, rough interpretation of the music he heard on the streets helped create a genre that grew into the dominant Latin dance music.

Published: February 23, 2026, 12:29 pm

The occult-tinged murder that rocked a quiet Welsh village: best podcasts of the week

BBC’s Crime Next Door examines how a 17-year-old vampire-obsessed student took the life of 90-year-old, Mabel Leyshon. Plus, people who have found a better way to approach life

The 2001 murder of 90-year-old Mabel Leyshon at her home on the Welsh island of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) by an assailant who drank her blood made once-friendly neighbours suddenly fearful of one another. Behind the slightly sensationalist title, this podcast from the BBC’s Crime Next Door strand sensitively retells the story, with host Meic Parry contextualising what a case like this meant in a close-knit Welsh community. Hannah J Davies
Widely available, episodes weekly

Published: February 23, 2026, 7:00 am

Suckerfish by Ashani Lewis review – the ordeals of having a difficult mother

This is a wry and likably feisty account of the destructive power an unstable parent can wield over her offspring

When it comes to attempting suicide, Kolia’s mother is a “repeat offender”. A human rights barrister on the verge of being disbarred, Lalita craves her now adult daughter’s attention with such ferocity that, when denied, she throws herself in the river, lies down in the middle of the road or drinks cleaning fluid. “She tells me that it’s my fault,” says Kolia, now in her 20s and tutoring posh kids in London while hoping to go to art college. “She only did it because I wasn’t talking to her.”

Kolia left her mother’s home long ago, “because there were often smashed plates … clothes being cut up or wrists being grabbed or pulled”. But Lalita’s two young sons from a second marriage are still at the mercy of their mother’s chaotic parenting, which is at best inappropriate, at worst abusive or downright cruel. As a young teen, Kolia once complained that her chest was too small; her mother showed her a photograph of a woman whose breasts had been cut off by soldiers.

Published: February 24, 2026, 9:00 am

Nonesuch by Francis Spufford review – a dazzling wartime fantasy

Dark magic, fascism and romance in blitz-stricken London: this exuberant novel is a popcorny delight

When I teach creative writing, I often find myself insisting upon the essential importance of fun: that while the process of writing can and should be challenging, there’s no benefit to be had in martyrdom, and actually a level of relish is neither an indulgence or a distraction, but pretty compelling evidence of an author having found her proper form and subject. It’s what keeps you coming back. If you aren’t bent gigglingly over your manuscript, like a stock photo model alone with her salad, then what’s the point of any of it? There’s a stable of classics I draw on to evidence this claim, great novels where a big part of the appeal is feeling as though you’ve stumbled into a very interesting person’s exact idea of a very good time: Woolf’s Orlando, Nabokov’s Pnin, Poor Things by Alasdair Gray, The Pisces by Melissa Broder. A lot of Austen, but maybe most of all Emma. And from now on, I’ll be adding Francis Spufford’s Nonesuch to the list.

His fourth work of fiction in a genre-spanning oeuvre, Nonesuch is a historical fantasy set during the second world war, every paragraph of which is packed with authorial zest. The novel opens in London, August 1939: war has been declared, but hasn’t yet made its reality felt in the city’s streets, and Iris Hawkins, an ambitious office clerk, makes her way through the sun-baked West End in a slinky dress. One half of a disastrous date later, she’s being whisked away to a DIY surrealist film club in bohemian Bloomsbury – not her scene at all – and two extremely fateful introductions: the first to Geoffrey Hale, a sweetly apprehensive BBC television engineer; and the second to the object of Geoffrey’s guileless infatuation, one Lady Lalage Cunningham, an icy aristocratic beauty with amazing hair and worrisome political sympathies. Cue chaos. Nonesuch follows the bolshy Iris from her seedy summer’s night through a regrettable Hampstead hook-up, and, eventually, neck-deep into a time-travelling plot by “magical fascist lunatics” to assassinate Winston Churchill. The novel is a pleasing pasticcio of romance, occultism, non-Euclidean geometry and airborne adventure across the blitz-stricken rooftops of London. It is difficult to imagine it would hold together quite so well in other hands than Spufford’s.

Published: February 24, 2026, 7:00 am

As If by Isabel Waidner review – surreal doppelganger story

Two uncannily similar men switch places in an existential farce that playfully explores the precarity of working life

In Isabel Waidner’s previous novel, 2023’s Corey Fah Does Social Mobility, a working-class writer wins a literary prize. As the trophy takes the form of an elusive UFO, Corey Fah – an outsider unfamiliar with the baffling inner workings of the system – is unable to collect or even confirm the award. Waidner has said that the novel was partly inspired by the experience of winning the Goldsmiths prize for their previous work Sterling Karat Gold, and by the ephemeral nature of success, with its “unfamiliar contexts of social power and opportunity”.

In Waidner-world the surreal is always lurking, gleefully waiting to trip the reader up. As If uses the acting profession and its inherent themes of performance and doubleness to explore the precarity of work. A Waiting for Godot transported to the housing estates and grotty sublets of Clerkenwell, London, the book opens with a gnomic Vladimir/Estragon-type exchange between two startlingly similar strangers in a flat. They are both in their late 40s, very tall, dark-haired, a mirror image of each other – “my unremarkable eyes, they were looking back at me”, Aubrey Lewis, who is subletting the flat, notices with some alarm. “Were we ever to be seen together, I thought, we would reflect badly on each other.” The other man, dressed in “a novelty T-shirt, the less said of it the better, and pyjama bottoms”, had “walked in through the door as if he owned the place”. He introduces himself as Lindsey Korine and announces he is cold. Rifling, with Pinteresque fuss and deliberation, among the “historic arrangement” of heavy coats left by the previous subtenant, he assumes a new guise for his next role in the narrative.

Published: February 23, 2026, 9:00 am

Politics Without Politicians by Hélène Landemore review – could we get rid of Farage, Truss and Trump?

A Yale lecturer’s radical proposal to replace elected leaders with ordinary people, chosen by lottery

No Donald Trump, Nigel Farage or Liz Truss; no Zack Polanski, Jacinda Ardern or Volodymyr Zelenskyy either. No political parties and no elections, but instead a random bunch of ordinary people chosen by lottery to run the country for two-year spells, like a sort of turbo-charged jury service except with the jurors holding an entire country’s fate in their hands.

If you think this idea sounds intriguing and refreshing, you might love Politics Without Politicians, Hélène Landemore’s argument for radically extending citizen power. If you think it sounds like maddening whimsy, ill-suited to the seriousness of the times we are living through – well, we’ll come to that later. But first, to the argument that politics is so broken as to be beyond repair, and that scrapping electoral representation is the best way of fixing it.

Published: February 23, 2026, 7:00 am

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:00 am

‘I like my footballers wispy – or monumental!’ Rebel artist Rose Wylie on still painting till 3am at 92

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

The Royal Academy is billing Rose Wylie as a “rebel artist” for her forthcoming show and at 92, she finds there’s still a lot to rebel against. An establishment that has long underrated women’s work, for one: astonishingly, hers is the first solo show by a British woman to occupy all the academy’s main galleries. Being pigeonholed is another: her giant canvases – with their bold colours, painted texts and wild juxtapositions (Nicole Kidman meets ancient Egypt at a Kent community centre) – have been compared to the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Philip Guston. But she does not identify with any one movement and dislikes art that is “up your arse”.

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 4:00 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 3:00 pm

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

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

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:23 pm

‘Beauty in the everyday’: A butterfly’s-eye view of the world – in pictures

US photographer Jeff Mermelstein has been likened to the winged insect due to his passion for flitting from one attractive subject to the next, as shown in his new book of work

Published: February 24, 2026, 7:00 am

José Pizarro’s recipe for roast carrot, saffron and chickpea stew with spinach

A fuss-free, comforting supper to see you through the last days of winter

This is everyday cooking, the kind that comes naturally in winter. Carrots are always around and often forgotten, but they give a lot when you treat them properly. The saffron brings warmth and colour, and always makes me think of home. February can feel quiet and grey, and this stew suits that mood. It is comforting without being heavy, made for evenings when you want something ready on the stove and bread on the table, eaten calmly and enjoyed without any fuss.

Published: February 24, 2026, 6:00 am

A rush of blood to the penis – and vaginal tenting: what happens to our bodies when we get turned on

Arousal may be spontaneous, or arise in response to sensory stimulation, memory, fantasy or emotional connection. Here’s how to understand the differences

What turns you on? Depending on the person, the answer to that question will vary wildly. But what is really going on under the, ahem, hood when we start to get in the mood?

The first scientists to really take the physiology of sex seriously – or at least break the taboos around talking about it – were William Masters and Virginia Johnson, sexologists who began their studies in the 1950s (and got married in 1971). “They came up with what’s known as the four-stage model, which was that the body gets aroused, you hit a plateau, you have an orgasm, you go back down to baseline,” says Dr Angela Wright, a GP and clinical sexologist based in Yorkshire.

Published: February 23, 2026, 10:00 am

A better bath towel, a cleaner water filter: six underrated – and affordable – shower upgrades

You don’t need to spend four hours on an ‘everything shower’ for an elevated experience. Try these effortless additions – all $150 and under

• The best bath towels of 2026 in the US, from fluffy to quick drying – tested

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

When did showering get so complicated?

Dark showers, four-hour everything showers, shower oranges and icy cold showers are just a few of the bathing trends that’ve flooded my social media feeds over the years.

A luxurious bath towel upgrade:
Parachute Organic Plush Towel

A plastic-free shower curtain upgrade:
Quince European Linen Shower Curtain

Published: February 23, 2026, 8:15 pm

‘Truly accessible to everyone’: how to start yoga

Some think yoga isn’t for them – but there’s ‘something for everybody’. Experts share what to know about the mindful practice that can improve strength and sleep

Countless articles and studies tout the benefits of yoga. It can improve balance, strength, flexibility, digestion and sleep. It can also reduce stress and support mental wellbeing. And yet many people feel like yoga isn’t for them because their bodies don’t look or move a certain way.

“That is how I felt before I started practicing yoga,” says Jessamyn Stanley, who has written two books about yoga and co-founded the yoga app The Underbelly. “I always thought yoga was just for thin, white women,” she says.

Published: February 23, 2026, 5:00 pm

The pet I’ll never forget: Stevie, the chicken who joined my dog pack

Affectionate, ballsy, she thought she was a dog, and taught me how social and intelligent chickens can be

Stevie and her siblings were the first batch of chickens I ever owned. I fostered them from a nearby animal shelter in 2021. Stevie was the most vocal of the three so I named her after one of my favourite musicians, Stevie Nicks.

I live on a huge plot of land in Malibu which I treat like an animal sanctuary – any animal that I can rescue and help, I will. I’ve been that way since I was a little kid. When my parents gave me a small allowance I would run to the pet store and bring a new animal home. Sometimes, I would find animals on the street and take them in.

Published: February 23, 2026, 11:00 am

Is it true that … men need to consume more calories than women?

Men tend to burn more energy at rest, but other factors also carry weight

‘Generally speaking, yes,” says Bethan Crouse, a performance nutritionist from Loughborough University, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all rule. Humans burn calories to fuel everything from movement to sleeping. For the general adult population aged from about 19 to 64, guidance puts daily energy needs at about 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men (the requirements are very different in children and adolescents, and tend to fall with age: they decline between 65 and 74, and drop again after 75). But averages hide a lot of variation.

One of the main reasons men typically need more calories is that they usually have a higher resting (or basal) metabolic rate, meaning they burn more energy at rest. This is largely explained by differences in body composition – on average, men have more lean muscle mass, while women tend to have a higher proportion of body fat – and muscle burns more calories than fat.

Published: February 23, 2026, 8:00 am

Burberry is back on brand as a purveyor of the classic British coat

Designer Daniel Lee’s trenchcoats and bomber jackets fizz with urban energy in collection that embraces bad weather

In a winter of record-breaking rain, Burberry – purveyor of the stalwart British coat – is back in the zeitgeist. A season of downpours has provided an apt backdrop for a return to form, as the brand re-entered the FTSE 100 last autumn after an ignominious year out of the charts.

The classic check scarf was ranked the fourth hottest fashion item in the last quarter of 2025 on the search, sales and social media metrics of the Lyst index, with overall demand for the brand up 239% year on year.

Published: February 23, 2026, 10:14 pm

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

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

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

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

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:00 pm

Houseplant hacks: will my plants be healthier if I use Leca balls instead of soil?

This method can help deter pests and promote growth, but it won’t work for every plant

The problem
Enter any deep plant nerd space such as the Reddit threads, and you’ll find Leca. Hardcore followers cite positives to growing plants in these clay balls, such as fewer pests and watering mistakes, and faster growth. Switching from soil to semi-hydro is tempting, but does it actually make life easier?

The hack
Leca stands for lightweight expanded clay aggregate. Unlike soil, it is inert and doesn’t feed the plant. Its job is to hold moisture and air around the roots, while you provide everything else via a diluted fertiliser solution. Water sits at the bottom of the pot, and the clay wicks it upwards, keeping the root zone evenly damp.

Published: February 24, 2026, 10:00 am

My rookie era: I wasn’t immediately good at oil painting, but it taught me to find pleasure in struggle

One week I spent three miserable hours trying to paint a satin ribbon, and went home in a filthy mood

• Read more summer essentials

As a five-year-old, I loved fairies, Spice Girls and Vincent van Gogh. It wasn’t the famous ear incident or the existential despair that I found fascinating, but a picture book. For the Love of Vincent, by Brenda V Northeast, told the story of Van Gogh’s life but with one minor change: Vincent was a teddy bear, not a depressed Dutchman. It was this book that lead me to the real Van Gogh and to his art, which was vibrant and alive and made complete sense to a small child who mainly painted with her fingers. I loved Vincent, man and bear; I even went as Vincent Van Bear to Book Week and confused the hell out of everyone.

I was a happy painter for years, until I reached high school and I started getting marked for it. When art went from something I simply did to something I could be judged for, that made it terrifying. And as I learned more about artists like Vincent (man, not bear), I began to suspect that an artist’s life was for other people, who seemed to experience life a lot more vibrantly than I did, good and bad. Taking solace in the fact that I would never have been exceptional made it easier to just stop.

Published: February 23, 2026, 2:00 pm

A new start after 60: I baked a pie every day for a year – and it changed my life

Vickie Hardin Woods was worried she would lose her identity when she retired. Instead, she came up with a plan that made her feel more creative, connected and valued than ever

When Vickie Hardin Woods retired, she knew she needed a plan. “I was worried about losing my carefully crafted identity as a professional. I was looking for something to carry me through that time … What else can I be?”

She decided to do – rather than be – something new. Hardin Woods would bake a pie every day for a year, using fresh ingredients local to her home in Salem, Oregon – and she would give each pie away.

Published: February 23, 2026, 7:00 am

‘We’ve been paying for happy endings for Andrew for years’: the inside story of a royal disgrace, by his biographer

Andrew Lownie spent years investigating the greed and excesses of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson for his book Entitled. Here, the writer reveals the barriers he faced in getting to the truth

The Saturday morning I meet Andrew Lownie, the author of “the most devastating royal biography ever written” (according to the Daily Mail), the front page of every newspaper carries the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Some have aerial shots of the police arriving to search his home, most including the now infamous photograph of his face in the back of his car. He looks hunted, because he literally has been, but his expression is curiously blank, its most legible emotion grievance. One journalist, Lownie says, reported late on the night of Friday’s arrest that: “Andrew still can’t see what the problem is. He thinks he’s been hard done by. He’s obsessed with other details – whether he can take his horses up to Norfolk, who’s going to get the dogs, where he’s going to park his car. It’s a sort of disassociation.”

Lownie’s office, in his home a stone’s throw from parliament, is a monument to the success of his book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York (along with his other books: one on the Mountbattens, one on Guy Burgess, one to come on Prince Philip). One desk is piled high with books about Andrew and Sarah, some of them by Ferguson herself, others warts-and-all, kiss-and-tell accounts from confidants and clairvoyants. Lownie has stacks of rejected freedom of information requests, from UK Trade and Investment; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; the Information Commissioner – “They sometimes took so long to respond that they haven’t even downloaded the request before it expires.” He approached 3,000 people from all the way through Mountbatten-Windsor’s life; only a tenth of them would speak to him, which to me feels quite unsurprising, and yet Lownie is indignant. “I wrote to ambassadors, and they said ‘not interested’. This was a matter of public interest. Others, very cheerily when I wrote to them a third time, said ‘nice try’, as if it was some sort of joke. These are the guys I want in the dock, in parliament, on oath. This is the thing that makes me upset. I, perhaps naively, expect standards in public life.”

Published: February 24, 2026, 5:00 am

Mexico faces uphill battle to appease kingpin Trump after cartel boss’s killing

Trump tells Mexico to ‘step up’ effort to combat cartels even after military operation kills drug lord known as ‘El Mencho’

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

With schools still closed, flights cancelled and the charred carcasses of buses smouldering on streets across the country, Mexico was still reeling from the cartel backlash prompted by the killing of cartel kingpin Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho”.

Defense minister, Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, was moved almost to tears on Monday as he offered his condolences to the families of soldiers felled in the operation to kill the country’s most-wanted drug lord. Mexican military personnel, he said, “fulfilled their mission”.

Published: February 23, 2026, 8:08 pm

If AI makes human labor obsolete, who decides who gets to eat?

Amid talk of artificial intelligence taking our jobs, the big unasked question is: how will we be fed?

How will we be fed? That’s the biggest question not seriously being addressed amid all this talk about whether or not artificial intelligence will end up taking over all of our jobs.

Formidable though the technology appears, similar fears have popped up repeatedly since the Industrial Revolution, and most working-age adults remain employed. Still, what is sorely missing is a serious debate about what to do if this future in fact materializes.

Published: February 23, 2026, 11:00 am

Tell us your experience living with Tourette syndrome

We would like to hear from people who are affected by Tourette’s and in particular those who have vocal tics involving swearing (coprolalia)

Controversy erupted at the Baftas award ceremony after the BBC initially failed to edit out the N-word spoken involuntarily by John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome (TS).

In a statement Davidson said he was “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning”. He added: “I have spent my life trying to support and empower the Tourette’s community and to teach empathy, kindness and understanding from others and I will continue to do so. I chose to leave the auditorium early into the ceremony as I was aware of the distress my tics were causing.”

Published: February 24, 2026, 9:27 am

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

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

Published: February 24, 2026, 1:11 pm