Maduro is gone, but his regime is intact. The circumstances tell a story | Alejandro Velasco

In the early fray of foreign interventions, evidence is largely circumstantial. But here the circumstances tell a powerful story

As late as Saturday afternoon, fires continued to smolder in parts of Caracas. Residents throughout the city, stunned and anxious, filled grocery stores and gas stations, stocking up before a future unknown. Everywhere the question hung in the air like the smoke still clouding Venezuela’s capital: what next?

After months of military buildup, deadly strikes at sea and a looming ground war, the United States made good on its threats to attack Venezuela in a dramatic overnight raid that ended with Nicolás Maduro in a New York City jail cell. Yet 48 hours later, little else appeared different in Caracas: Maduro’s inner circle remained in place; state institutions remained in their control; streets were calm, if tense, while authorities called on people to return to their daily lives. In other words: move along, nothing to see here.

Alejandro Velasco is an associate professor of history at New York University

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:00 pm

Are you taking supplements correctly? Here’s a guide on their dosage limits

From vitamins C and D to calcium and magnesium, it’s critical to know whether you’re taking the correct dosage to avoid health problems

There are more than 100,000 supplements on the US market – capsules, powders, tablets and gummies sold to improve or maintain health. Supplements can contain vitamins, minerals, botanicals and amino acids on their own or in various combinations.

The consumption of these products is surging. But it’s a common misunderstanding that these products are entirely safe, says Dr Pieter Cohen, an internist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Excessive amounts of nutrients can cause health problems, so it’s critical to know whether you’re using the correct dosage of high-quality products.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:11 pm

What is Stranger Things’s Conformity Gate craze – and why did it crash Netflix?

An online conspiracy theory has left hysterical fans believing that the Netflix show’s finale was a fake. Could Vecna still come back with a secret episode?

In recent days, my 14-year-old daughter has been exhibiting signs of becoming a conspiracy theorist. But this isn’t your common or garden Twin-Towers-grassy-knoll-moon-landings business. She has fallen, entirely and joyfully, for a conjecture known as Conformity Gate – and she is not the only one.

For the non Gen-Zers out there, Conformity Gate is the theory that the much-vaunted finale of Netflix behemoth Stranger Things, released on 1 January in the UK, wasn’t the real finale at all.

Fuelled by energy drinks and pasty from lack of sunlight, fans of the show have been beavering away in basements around the world to produce a fantastical hypothesis that the finale’s rather soupy 40-minute epilogue was all an illusion created by the show’s mind-controlling villain Vecna. A secret final episode, showing what had really happened, would be released on 7 January, at 8pm US Eastern Time (1am in the UK).

Explaining the labyrinthine intricacies of the “evidence” cited by Conformiteers would take thousands of words. Essentially, it involves some people sitting with their hands in their lap wearing orange graduation gowns, too many people wearing glasses, a roll of dice totalling seven, a dial changing colour, a wonky milkshake-timeline, strategically positioned exit signs, a woman having short hair, a door handle switching sides, a character missing some scars, and one of the characters remarking that the town of Hawkins “feels different” – hardly surprising, as it’s no longer full of murderous monsters, cracks in the earth, and a psychopath made out of tree roots.

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:07 pm

Better hair, less waste: this durable British classic replaced my basic plastic combs

As a man in my 40s, I want to keep my hair healthy. Kent’s cellulose acetate combs are gentler on hair – and more sustainable – than disposable plastic ones

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

As a man in my 40s, my hair isn’t getting any thicker from here on out.

To keep the hair I do have healthy, I’ve become more conscious of small habits. I kept noticing that my cheap plastic comb pulled at my hair, and it struggled especially when I tried to comb my damp hair out after a shower. That’s what sent me down a hair-hygiene rabbit hole online.

​​My favorite men’s hair comb: Kent 16T Tortoise Fine Tooth and Wide Tooth Comb

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:15 pm

Kicking zones and a ban on losing teams: NFL playoff tweaks we’d like to see

The postseason consistently serves up enthralling football. But there are ways to make it even more compelling

No legitimate Super Bowl champion should have a losing record in the regular season. The Panthers, crowned NFC South champions at 8-9, are not an outlier. Since 2010, five teams with losing records have made the postseason. The 2022 Bucs were the first team to make the dance with a losing record since the league instituted a 17-game schedule. This season, the NFC South has done it again.

Published: January 8, 2026, 9:00 am

The Timberwolves should not play until ICE violence in Minneapolis is held to account | Lee Escobedo

A federal enforcement operation ended with a woman dead and the facts contested. The NBA cannot treat state violence in a residential neighborhood as background noise

The SUV sat motionless against a tree on a south Minneapolis street, its engine quiet, angled as if it had simply run out of gas. Except the windshield bore a small shattered star, delicate and sharp, like a snowflake pressed into glass. Cold Minnesota air leaked through the fracture, settling over the still body inside. The car became a sealed room, a thin shell holding death in place, surrounded by the stuffed animals of the woman’s children.

In the street, witnesses screamed. Not in words, but in sounds that come before language, as reality breaks faster than thought.

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:30 am

Two people shot by US federal agents in Portland, police say

Mayor urges ICE to pause operations as congresswoman says victims alive but extent of injuries unknown

• US politics live – latest updates

US federal agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, Portland police said.

“Two people are in the hospital following a shooting involving federal agents,” the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said in a statement, adding that their conditions were not known.

Published: January 9, 2026, 12:53 am

FBI takes over case of ICE agent killing US woman and cuts Minnesota’s access to evidence

Minneapolis remains on edge, with several protests planned after shooting of Renee Nicole Good

• US politics live – latest updates

The FBI has taken full control of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) officer in Minneapolis, it emerged on Thursday.

In a statement, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said it was initially called upon to help investigate the shooting before federal officials “reversed course” and said the case would be “solely led by the FBI”. With its access to the case materials, witnesses and evidence revoked, the BCA said it had to “reluctantly” withdraw from the investigation.

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:16 pm

‘I don’t need international law’: Trump says power constrained only by ‘my own morality’

President says morality ‘the only thing that can stop me’ in New York Times interview on limits to his authority

Donald Trump has said that he does not “need international law” and that his power is limited only by his “own morality”.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Trump said the only constraint to his power as president of the US is “my own morality, my own mind”.

Published: January 8, 2026, 9:19 pm

US congressmen ask judge to appoint official to force release of all Epstein files

Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie seek to compel justice department to release full set of files

Two US House of Representatives members have asked a federal judge to appoint a special master to compel the justice department to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

On Thursday, Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California and Republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky asked US district judge Paul Engelmayer to release the full Epstein files, as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:03 pm

Tennessee university reinstates professor fired for post criticizing Charlie Kirk

Austin Peay State University will also pay theater and dance professor Darren Michael $500,000 in settlement

Austin Peay State University has reinstated a professor who was fired for his social media post after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Tennessee school is also paying the teacher $500,000 in the settlement.

Austin Peay spokesperson Brian Dunn said Darren Michael returned to his position as a tenured faculty member at the public university in Clarksville effective 30 December. A copy of the settlement agreement obtained through a public records request includes a $500,000 payment and reimbursement of counseling, as reported earlier this week by WKRN-TV.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:29 pm

US House breaks with Trump to revive Affordable Care Act subsidies

Seventeen Republicans join Democrats to pass a three-year extension of tax credits cutting ACA premiums

The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation to re-establish tax credits that lowered premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans, after a small group of Republicans broke ranks and joined with Democrats to defy Donald Trump on a key healthcare issue that could sway voters ahead of the November midterm elections.

The chamber voted 230-196 to approve a bill that would extend for three years the credits, which were first created under Joe Biden but expired at the end of last year despite a concerted effort by the Democratic minority to continue them.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:32 pm

General Motors reports $7bn earnings loss after pulling back from EVs

GM says end of tax incentives and less stringent emissions regulations slowed consumer demand for EVs in 2025

General Motors said on Thursday it will record a one-time earnings hit of $7.1bn in its quarterly financial results, mostly due to its pullback from electric vehicles in light of shifting US policies.

The Detroit auto giant’s fourth-quarter results will be dented by $6bn in charges connected to reversals on EV investments, according to a securities filing. The remaining $1.1bn includes costs from the company’s restructuring of its China operations.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:12 pm

French president condemns US for ‘turning away from allies’

Emmanuel Macron’s comments come as Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warns against turning world into ‘robber’s den’

The presidents of France and Germany have sharply condemned US foreign policy under Donald Trump, saying respectively that Washington was “breaking free from international rules” and the world risked turning into a “robber’s den”.

In unusually strong and apparently uncoordinated remarks, Emmanuel Macron and Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned the postwar rules-based international order could soon disintegrate.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:10 pm

At least 13 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, including five children, civil defence agency says

Attacks bring total number of Palestinians killed by Israel to 425 since October ceasefire took effect

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks in the Palestinian territory on Thursday killed at least 13 people, including five children, despite a ceasefire that has largely halted the fighting.

Four people including three children were killed when a drone struck a tent sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza, agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:45 pm

Vance snarls and swipes in defence of Ice agent – was the boss impressed?

The vice-president went ballistic against the media and the left – a version of Trump with even more menace

It was James David Vance’s pitch to his boss: don’t forget me!

The vice-president was nowhere to be seen last weekend when US special forces swept into Venezuela and snatched its leader, Nicolás Maduro. Instead Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and a potential rival to Vance in the 2028 presidential election, grabbed all the Maga glory.

Published: January 8, 2026, 9:56 pm

US national parks staff say new $100 fee for non-residents risks ‘alienating visitors for decades’

Advocates suing to reverse administration’s surcharge system that has led to passport checks and angry visitors

A new $100 fee for foreign tourists entering US national parks has triggered chaos and frustrating waits, with staff reporting long entry lines as citizenship checks are made and irate visitors regularly ditching plans to patronize some of America’s most cherished landscapes.

The new fee system, introduced by the Trump administration from 1 January, has caught many visitors and National Park Service (NPS) staff off-guard, with checks now having to be undertaken to assess nationality and tourists often turning away from entrances rather than pay the surcharge. The Guardian heard accounts of problems from several NPS staff, speaking anonymously, who work at different parks across the country.

Published: January 8, 2026, 12:30 pm

Fema staff outraged by draft plans for deep cuts under Trump

Staff warn that the homeland security secretary’s proposed cuts could weaken Fema’s disaster response

• US politics live – latest updates

Current and former staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) expressed outraged over reports that the agency has drafted plans to eliminate thousands of staff in 2026 – part of a broader restructuring effort being overseen by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem.

“The Trump administration seems determined to continue weakening the agency’s efforts to help people before, during and after disasters,” said Jeremy Edwards, former spokesperson for Fema and the White House during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:28 pm

‘Catastrophic’: fears for families after Trump officials cut $10bn in social funds

Health department’s decision to freeze money for childcare and for families in need could lead to disaster, experts say

• US politics live – latest updates

The Trump administration’s sudden decision to freeze $10bn worth of federal funding for childcare and needy families has not only already thrown the US childcare system into mass confusion, but could also lead to disaster for hundreds of thousands of families within weeks, experts say.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced late on Tuesday it would block California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York from drawing down money from three major social safety programs over “serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in state-administered programs”. In order to access the funding, the Democratic-run states must provide the Trump administration with extensive documentation to allay the fears of fraud.

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:00 pm

‘This is not normal’: Minneapolis on edge and angry after ICE killing of woman amid federal surge

City targeted by Trump has seen swarm of immigration agents on the streets – and residents say the tension is palpable

Edwin Torres DeSantiago received a text message on Wednesday morning as he was tracking immigration enforcement across Minneapolis – a person was shot by ICE at 34th Street and Portland Avenue.

He jumped into his car to head to the scene. Torres DeSantiago manages the Immigrant Defense Network, a group that monitors ICE activity and responds to community needs after someone is taken. He has responded to dozens of scenes in the past few months, and even more in the last few days since the federal government surged its presence in the midwestern city.

Published: January 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

Then and now: one year on from the Los Angeles wildfires – in pictures

Images from the Eaton fire, which began on the evening of 7 January in the Altadena community of Los Angeles – and what remains a year later. The fire was one of several that tore through the county in a disaster that killed at least 31 people

• The LA victims still living in toxic homes

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:30 am

Primate review – pet chimp gone wild makes for giddy, gory good time

There’s a great deal of unpretentious B-movie fun to be had in this brief, brutal and slickly made creature feature

There’s a refreshing lack of subtext and pretension to this week’s gory creature feature Primate, a straight-to-the-point riposte to the glum, trauma-heavy horror films we’ve been enduring of late. Rather than following his genre peers who are busy aiming for the lofty heights of Don’t Look Now and Possession, British director Johannes Roberts is happy to give gen Z their very own Shakma, the goofy 1990 schlocker about a baboon driven wild by an experimental drug.

That film took a while to gain a cult following, ultimately accepted by the same drunk Bad Movie crowd who took in Troll 2, but Primate won’t take anywhere near as long. It’s a far better, slicker movie for one, a surgically well-made crowd-pleaser that swaps out baboon for chimp, cleverly turning him from test subject to domesticated pet. At 89-minutes and paced like a rollercoaster, there’s little room for life lessons, although the film does make for a stern, grisly reminder of why chimps should not be considered part of the family (something many still don’t seem to understand).

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:17 pm

Matt Damon’s best films – ranked!

Ahead of his reunion with Ben Affleck in thriller The Rip – as well as his starring role in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Imax epic The Odyssey – we run through the best work of one of Hollywood’s most reliable heroes

Matt Damon is essentially a bland dish that requires the right spice truly to zing, which means he is often at his best when playing beastly. His flagrantly nasty turn as one of the antisemitic bullies who makes prep school life hell for a secretly Jewish classmate (Brendan Fraser) offers an early indication that Damon realised this, too.

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:35 pm

Greenland 2: Migration review – disaster sequel is disastrously self-serious

Gerard Butler returns to keep his family safe from post-apocalyptic chaos in a glum and misjudged follow-up to the superior 2020 adventure

Gerard Butler has made his fair share of sequels, but few have held as much potential as Greenland 2: Migration. The original Greenland wasn’t even a traditional hit; it was released in theaters and on VOD at the end of 2020, when plenty of cinemas remained closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it garnered some attention for being an unusually sober and thoughtful apocalypse movie, especially given that Butler previously starred in the likes of Geostorm. Because Greenland was about surviving a global apocalypse rather than averting one, any sequel would have to venture into the unknown with a drastically different status quo.

Greenland 2 obliges for a little while, though it also walks back some of the hope that ended the first film. The story rejoins engineer John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his administrator wife Allison (Morena Baccarin) and their now-teenage son Nathan (recast as Roman Griffin Davis) as residents of a Greenland bunker. They’re lucky to have been government-selected for entry when the Earth was rendered largely uninhabitable by comet fragments five years earlier; they’re also chafing at the loss of freedom, tough decisions and overall claustrophobia that comes with cohabitating underground with hundreds of others. (Curiously, none of them seem to have made many friends despite the close quarters.)

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:04 pm

How do I build a sense of worth that isn’t constantly slipping through my fingers?

We often peg our self-esteem on short-term goals and generic standards, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes – but it’s what makes you you that others truly value

• Read more Leading questions

I keep waiting to feel that I’m finally enough. I’ve worked hard, am in the process of changing careers to be more of service to others, gone to therapy. I go to the gym, eat the right food, have built things I’m proud of. And yet nothing sticks. Every time I hit a goal, there’s this tiny burst of pride, then it’s gone.

Lately, I’ve noticed how tangled this has become with how I see my body. I’ve been training and eating well for ages, but I still feel ashamed when I look in the mirror, as though I’ve failed some invisible test. People tell me I look great but it doesn’t land. There’s this constant hum of “not good enough” running underneath everything, no matter what I do.

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:00 pm

Singer-songwriter Bill Callahan: ‘I’m not a craftsman – I’m more of a drunk professor who likes coincidence and mistakes’

Preceding the release of My Days of 58, the Americana legend once known as Smog discusses his Yorkshire youth, why Spotify is like the mafia and the bleak state of AI

We got married to [Smog’s] Our Anniversary. When you write songs, do you think about how listeners might carry them into their own lives, or do the songs stop being yours after they are done? Vanearle
When I wrote [2019’s] Watch Me Get Married, I thought maybe people would have that as their wedding song. But mostly it’s inconceivable what people are gonna do with a song. I don’t think about it too much because there are 100,000 places where it’s gonna live. Have I ever heard about any inappropriate uses of songs? I think having Our Anniversary as a wedding song is a little surprising, but maybe they’re realists.

As an appreciator of dub, if you could spend a week in a studio to collaborate with any dub artist at their peak, who would you go for? albertoayler
I’d have to say Lee “Scratch” Perry just because he was so crazy. He was like a little kid – just infectious excitement. I think that he would have been easy to hang out with. But also, King Tubby was such a minimalist and I’d be curious about how he determined when enough was enough – investing so much power in the fewest elements. Have Fun With God [the 2014 dub remix album of 2013’s Dream River] was very traditional – all the moves were taken from 70s Jamaican records. Maybe once is enough. But I do like the idea of recycling recorded things to make something else – that’s what initially attracted me to dub. If I did [a new remix album], I may do a chopped and screwed record.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:00 pm

Some US media are cheerleading Trump’s Venezuela raid. That’s not their job | Margaret Sullivan

An almost admiring feeling pervaded the early coverage – and not just among right-leaning outlets

If you believe the early public opinion polls, Americans are uncertain about last weekend’s raid on Venezuela and the seizure of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.

But many in the media seem to be trying to move that wavering needle to approval.

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:00 pm

ICE agents have killed – again. The Trump administration blames the victim | Moira Donegan

An agent shot a woman in Minneapolis, causing vast and needless grief. Our country is diseased – but that is not the only truth

A woman in Minneapolis has died as her neighbors fought Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation. On Wednesday morning, a group of local civilian protesters gathered around a site where several ICE agents were attempting to abduct migrants. The agents were part of a surge of roughly 2,000 deportation officers who have been sent to Minneapolis as part of Trump’s effort to persecute the Somali community there. In a disturbing incident caught on video by multiple onlookers, a woman driving in an SUV covered in bumper stickers blocked traffic on the residential road – perhaps as part of an effort to keep ICE vehicles from passing. In the videos, an ICE agent approaches the SUV, yelling: “Get out of the car. Get out of the fucking car.” He stands at the driver’s side, with his feet clear of the vehicle, and reaches into where the woman is driving. She begins to drive away, and an officer fires three shots, the last from behind the vehicle as the car pulls away from him. The SUV then crashes into a parked vehicle as onlookers scream in distress. “You did a murder, for what?” one of the protesters calls out to the agents.

The driver, a US citizen who was described by Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar as a “legal observer”, was declared dead. She died less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020. Her name was Renee Nicole Good, and she was 37.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:00 pm

Trump’s Venezuela incursion has nothing to do with its freedom | Judith Levine

Trump’s actions at home tell a different story – and they parallel many of Maduro’s own repressive moves

Whatever else the US attack on Venezuela is ostensibly about – oil, drugs, communism – it’s not about the freedom of the Venezuelan people.

If Trump cared about that, he would not have lifted the temporary protective status of the roughly 600,000 Venezuelan refugees in the US, the very people fleeing the tyranny and economic instability he is now supposedly liberating them from.

Judith Levine is a Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:00 pm

America’s most crucial political faultline is in New York City | John R MacArthur

In New York, it’s progressives versus the party machine – and the city’s queen of tabloids offers some unexpected insight

If, like me, you’re a faithful reader of the New York Post, the election of Zohran Mamdani as the new mayor of Gotham was the best thing to happen to my native city – and to journalism – in a very long time. All through the run up to “Zoh’s” remarkable victory, the queen of tabloids outdid itself in hysterical brilliance – to such an extent that I and apparently tens of thousands of other New Yorkers were left excitedly panting for more, unable to share in the mourning that overtook rightwing commentators and pro-Trump operatives all across the land. Moreover, whether or not you voted for the Ugandan-born Muslim progressive/socialist, his improbable triumph furnished a great political education for anyone who bothered to pay attention, even if you weren’t a Post reader. Now, with Mamdani inaugurated and the unofficial municipal host of Nicolás Maduro, the deposed Venezuelan president, and his wife – jailed in Brooklyn and arraigned in federal court just a stone’s throw from city hall in Manhattan – Donald Trump’s newspaper mouthpiece is also an excellent way to make sense of the growing fissure inside the Democratic party about everything Mamdani represents.

I didn’t say that the Post’s political reporting during the final month of the campaign was worth reading because it was accurate. Beginning with Miranda Devine’s 8 October column, whose headline proclaimed “The Dems are letting Antifa take over their cities”, the paper’s leading lights made analytical hash of what was really going on inside the Democratic party. “Portland and Chicago are emerging as the epicenter of anti-Trump resistance,” she warned. “[Governor JB Pritzker] and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are endangering the lives of ICE and Border Patrol personnel,” apparently taking their cue from the “antifa militants” of the first Trump term who “terrorized” the country during the riots that followed the killing of George Floyd. “It will be a relief,” wrote Devine, “to find out who has been funding these violent groups that appear for all the world to be Dem street militia. How else to explain years of Democrats gaslighting us and Democrat governors and mayors covering for Antifa.”

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:00 pm

As the Israeli bombs fell, my family committed an act of rebellion: we planted a garden in Gaza | Taqwa Ahmed al-Wai

Amid constant danger, each planted seed was a tiny act of resistance. As they grew, they offered us food – and a sense of achievement amid the devastation

My 12-year-old brother Mazen ran into the kitchen, shouting that the eggplants were sprouting. He held up the tiny green shoots, his hands shaking. My older brother Mohammed and I rushed outside, laughing despite the fear that had become our constant companion. Each sprout was a victory.

Before Gaza’s skies darkened with smoke and the ground shook with bombs, our garden was a lush tapestry of trees and plants, each leaf and branch woven into our family memory. Birds danced above the branches. Five ancient trees stood tall, twisted trunks weathered by sun and wind, branches heavy with black and green olives. Fruit trees filled the air with sweetness – orange, lemon, a broad-leaved fig and a small clementine.

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:00 pm

Brooklyn Peltz Beckham set an important trend. Will other men follow? | Polly Hudson

Women have been double barrelling their names since the 15th century – and now men including Adam Ramsay Peaty are finally joining them

After attempting to make his mark as a footballer, photographer and chef, at last Brooklyn Peltz Beckham appears to have secured his legacy. He will no longer be remembered as simply the nepo-baby son of David and Victoria; he’ll also go down in history as a somewhat unlikely/possibly accidental feminist activist.

It was when Brooklyn married Nicola Peltz in 2022 that he became Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, an ally who turbo-boosted a quietly growing trend. Rather than a heterosexual bride surrendering her name and adopting her husband’s as default, or double-barrelling alone, both partners take both names. It’s modern, equal and refreshing, as opposed to proper Handmaid’s Tale vibes.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:00 am

Want to scare a Hollywood star? Just set up a fundraiser in their name | Emma Brockes

More horrifying to a celebrity than any scandal is having the public believe they’re down on their luck. Just ask Mickey Rourke

It’s a tough time to be famous in Hollywood, what with dwindling respect levels for movie stars and the inability of anyone under 35 to recognise that George Clooney’s lips weren’t always that thin or that Brad Pitt, at one time, was a thing. Add to this a painful new pitfall for celebrities; not defending their unremarkable offspring from accusations of nepotism or explaining how big a role Ozempic has played in their new look, but rather the small, horrifying possibility that in the event of a bad year, some enterprising fan or assistant will whip up a GoFundMe for them.

Most of us know instinctively that there’s nothing worse for business than admitting that business is bad. Unless you’re a parent soliciting donations to fund your Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, or have just committed an act of heroism and are rightfully in line for a reward, being the beneficiary of a whip-round by strangers is not a good thing at all. With this in mind, one can only sympathise with Mickey Rourke, the latest dwindling star to fall victim to an act of public charity, who this week was forced to issue an extremely Rourkian statement denying all knowledge of a fundraising appeal set up in his name by one of his manager’s enterprising young assistants.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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Published: January 8, 2026, 8:00 am

Arsenal fail to take advantage of City slip as Liverpool hold leaders to draw

Point proven? Well, not exactly. Just when Arsenal looked ready to lay down a real marker for their title aspirations, a rejuvenated Liverpool side that has been through the wringer since they were crowned champions last season showed the Gunners remain fallible.

It could have been even worse for Mikel Arteta’s side if Liverpool had been awarded one of two potential penalties or if Conor Bradley’s brilliant chip had not struck the crossbar in the first half.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:05 pm

Chloe Kim’s Olympic three-peat bid in doubt after dislocated shoulder

• Kim, 25, injured shoulder during training in Laax

• MRI will determine Olympic availability for US star

• Two-time champion chasing historic third gold

Chloe Kim’s pursuit of an unprecedented third straight Olympic gold medal has been thrown into uncertainty after the American snowboard star dislocated her shoulder during a training session in Switzerland.

Kim, the dominant force in women’s halfpipe snowboarding for nearly a decade, revealed the injury on Thursday, sharing video of the fall that caused the scare. The injury occured while Kim was training in Laax, a regular World Cup venue and a key pre-Olympic stop on the circuit. The 25-year-old landed a maneuver cleanly but lost her edge shortly afterward, sliding awkwardly across the pipe and into the wall.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:05 pm

FA Cup third round: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Macclesfield and Weston-super-Mare carry the non-league hopes while fringe players need to seize their chances

Silly goals conceded, chances missed, a lead surrendered and points squandered against relegation fodder. On the face of things, Manchester United have changed manager but nothing else. The reality is different. They started slowly at Burnley, settling into a 4-2-3-1 formation that suits them – and pretty much every other team – far better than Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 before, midway through the first half, they started to play. The deployment of Bruno Fernandes close to the opposition goal, along with a wide player, Patrick Dorgu, playing on his natural side, meant Benjamin Sesko was, for the first time, provided with decent service. Then, following Jaidon Anthony’s equaliser, Darren Fletcher’s side risked defeat by going all out for the win – one nearly achieved through the timely introduction of Shea Lacey, a richly talented 18-year-old. Brighton will present far stiffer opposition but, for the first time in a long time, United are doing what United are meant to do. Daniel Harris

Manchester United v Brighton, Sunday 4.30pm (all GMT)

Macclesfield v Crystal Palace, Saturday 12.15pm

Grimsby v Weston-super-Mare, Saturday 5.45pm

Manchester City v Exeter, Saturday 3pm

Published: January 9, 2026, 12:00 am

Dolphins fire Mike McDaniel after missing playoffs for second season in row

• 42-year-old failed to win playoff game during tenure

• Miami’s offense has struggled in recent seasons

The Miami Dolphins have fired head coach Mike McDaniel after the team missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

“After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement on Thursday.

Published: January 8, 2026, 4:26 pm

Tennis Kenya admits to wildcard error after player’s heavy defeat goes viral

• Hajar Abdelkader won just three points in 6-0, 6-0 loss

• ‘Wildcard should not have been granted’ to Egyptian

Tennis Kenya said a controversial wildcard granted to Hajar Abdelkader should not have happened after the young Egyptian’s performance at a professional tournament in Nairobi went viral.

The 21-year-old won three points and served 20 double faults on her way to a 6-0, 6-0 defeat against German world No 1,026, Lorena Schaedel. Videos shared on social media showed the Egyptian struggling to serve and position herself on the court.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:51 pm

USA midfielder Sam Coffey in talks to join Manchester City from Portland Thorns

• Midfielder given permission to fly to England

• Transfer talks behind her omission from USA squad

Manchester City are in advanced talks to sign the United States midfielder Sam Coffey from Portland Thorns, the Guardian understands.

The 27-year-old has been granted permission to fly to Manchester to try to finalise the move, which multiple sources have said is close to completion, and could give City a big boost in their quest to win a first Women’s Super League title since 2016.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:19 pm

Amber Glenn sets US short program record to edge Alysa Liu at nationals

• Glenn reclaims short program record at nationals

• Liu close behind as Olympic spots near decision

• Efimova, Mitrofanov lead pairs amid eligibility wait

Two-time defending champion Amber Glenn set the record for a women’s short program at the US Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday night, giving her a narrow lead over world champion Alysa Liu heading into the free skate.

Liu had broken the record mere minutes earlier with a score of 81.11 points, earning a standing ovation from a crowd packed into the home of the St Louis Blues. But then Glenn took the ice and was flawless from an opening triple axel to a finishing combination spin, earning 83.05 points, a hug from coach Damon Allen and a standing ovation of her own.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:35 am

Iran plunged into internet blackout as protests over economy spread nationwide

Security forces reported to have killed at least 45 people since protests began 12 days ago, as pressure on regime increases

Iran was plunged into a complete internet blackout on Thursday night as protests over economic conditions spread nationwide, increasing pressure on the country’s leadership.

While it was unclear what caused the internet cut, first reported by the internet freedom monitor NetBlocks, Iranian authorities have shut down the internet in response to protests in the past.

Published: January 8, 2026, 7:42 pm

Three people missing and multiple properties destroyed as bushfire hits Victorian town ‘like a bomb’

Authorities warn lives could be lost amid catastrophic conditions as firefighters fears there is ‘nothing left’ of town in Strathbogie Ranges

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An out-of-control bushfire in central Victoria has destroyed multiple properties and three people remain unaccounted for, as authorities warn lives could be lost due to the catastrophic fire conditions.

The Emergency Management Commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, on Friday confirmed the Longwood bushfire was burning out of control and had destroyed both community and residential property in the town of Ruffy, about 175km north of Melbourne.

Published: January 9, 2026, 1:17 am

Human eggs ‘rejuvenated’ in advance that could boost IVF success rates

Exclusive: research suggests supplementing eggs with a key protein reduces age-related defects, raising hopes of improved IVF for older women

Scientists claim to have “rejuvenated” human eggs for the first time in an advance that they predict could revolutionise IVF success rates for older women.

The groundbreaking research suggests that an age-related defect that causes genetic errors in embryos could be reversed by supplementing eggs with a crucial protein. When eggs donated by fertility patients were given microinjections of the protein, they were almost half as likely to show the defect compared with untreated eggs.

Published: January 9, 2026, 12:01 am

Nasa postpones spacewalk due to medical issue with astronaut

Space agency says US-Japanese-Russian crew of four will return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned

Nasa is cutting short a mission aboard the International Space Station after an astronaut had a medical issue.

The space agency said Thursday the US-Japanese-Russian crew of four will return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:44 pm

US serial killer confesses to 1965 murder of 18-year-old woman in New Jersey

Police close murder case of Alys Eberhardt after confession from Richard Cottingham, known as the ‘Torso Killer’

Richard Cottingham, a US serial killer widely known as the “Torso Killer”, has confessed to the 1965 killing of an 18-year-old woman in New Jersey.

On Tuesday, New Jersey police announced the closure of the murder case of Alys Eberhardt after Cottingham, 79, admitted to killing her nearly six decades ago. Eberhardt, then a nursing student, was found brutally beaten and dead in her family home in Fair Lawn.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:02 pm

Hundreds of nonconsensual AI images being created by Grok on X, data shows

Sample of roughly 500 posts shows how frequently people are creating sexualized images with Elon Musk’s AI chatbot

New research that samples X users prompting Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok demonstrates how frequently people are creating sexualized images with it. Nearly three-quarters of posts collected and analyzed by a PhD researcher at Dublin’s Trinity College were requests for nonconsensual images of real women or minors with items of clothing removed or added.

The posts offer a new level of detail on how the images are generated and shared on X, with users coaching one another on prompts; suggesting iterations on Grok’s presentations of women in lingerie or swimsuits, or with areas of their body covered in semen; and asking Grok to remove outer clothing in replies to posts containing self-portraits by female users.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:00 pm

On the lamb: 50 sheep break away from flock and storm German supermarket

Ewes and lambs coaxed out of store in Burgsinn after about 20 minutes, leaving trail of destruction in drinks section

About 50 wayward sheep broke off from their flock and stormed a discount supermarket in a German town, startling and delighting customers as the animals rushed to explore the aisles before being escorted from the premises.

The woolly incursion occurred on Monday during a routine seasonal migration of the sheep in the Bavarian municipality of Burgsinn. A few dozen of the sheep had other ideas about the route and made their way into a store of the Penny retail chain.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:37 pm

Harvey Weinstein weighing guilty plea to resolve third-degree rape charge

Disgraced former movie mogul would avoid a third trial in New York on charges that came to define the #MeToo era

Disgraced former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is weighing a potential guilty plea to resolve an undecided third-degree rape charge and avoid a third trial in New York on charges that came to define the #MeToo era.

Weinstein, in a wheelchair and looking noticeably paler than he did when he was last in court in June, was brought to Judge Curtis Farber’s court on Thursday, seeking to have his latest sex crime conviction thrown out over claims of juror intimidation.

Published: January 8, 2026, 7:25 pm

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reveals her one-year-old son has died after a short illness

The Nigerian novelist has said that she is ‘devastated’ after the death of Nkanu Nnamdi, who was one of twin boys

One of the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s one-year-old twin sons has died after a brief illness.

“We’re deeply saddened to confirm the passing of one of Ms Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr Ivara Esege’s twin boys, Nkanu Nnamdi, who passed on Wednesday,” read a statement made by Adichie’s communications team.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:32 pm

If geoengineering is ever deployed in a climate emergency, transparency is key | Ines Camilloni

We must not let geoengineering be shaped behind closed doors. Climate justice demands an inclusive approach

As the world faces the challenges of the climate crisis and critical threshold levels or tipping points may be reached soon, a disputable idea is gaining momentum as a potential solution: solar geoengineering – the deliberate reflection of sunlight to cool the planet. Advocates argue it could buy us time. Critics warn of unknown risks. Some see it as a possible emergency break if temperatures spiral out of control. Others call it a dangerous distraction that undermines meaningful climate action.

Research into solar geoengineering is advancing, including exploration of techniques such as stratospheric aerosol injection, which would involve spraying tiny reflective particles into the upper atmosphere to mimic the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions, and marine cloud brightening, which aims to enhance the reflectivity of low-lying marine clouds. While stratospheric aerosol injection is not being conducted, these technologies are being studied with increasing urgency in the global north. In the global south, however, they remain largely invisible to public discourse and policymaking.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:00 am

Household burning of plastic waste in developing world is hidden health threat, study shows

The practice is ‘much more widespread’ than previously realised, researchers say, with serious environmental impact

The household burning of plastic for heating and cooking is widespread in developing countries, suggests a global study that raises concerns about its health and environmental impacts.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, surveyed more than 1,000 respondents across 26 countries.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:01 am

Germany’s dying forests are losing their ability to absorb CO2. Can a new way of planting save them?

Vast swathes of the country’s trees have been killed off by droughts and infestations, in a trend sweeping across Europe. A shift towards more biodiverse cultivation could offer answers

Even the intense green of late spring cannot mask the dead trees in the Harz mountains. Standing upright across the gentle peaks in northern Germany, thousands of skeletal trunks mark the remnants of a once great spruce forest.

Since 2018, the region has been ravaged by a tree-killing bark beetle outbreak, made possible by successive droughts and heatwaves. It has transformed a landscape known for its verdant beauty into one dominated by a sickly grey.

Published: January 8, 2026, 9:00 am

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro announces re-election bid

Democrat sets stage for what many view as audition for future White House run

• US politics live – latest updates

Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor once considered a frontrunner to be Kamala Harris’s running mate, announced he will seek a second term in office, setting the stage for what many Democrats view as an audition for a future White House run.

The 52-year-old Democrat, who has governed the crucial swing state since January 2023, made the announcement on Thursday with planned events in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:35 pm

Google and AI startup to settle lawsuits alleging chatbots led to teen suicide

Lawsuit accuses AI chatbots of harming minors and includes case of Sewell Setzer III, who killed himself in 2024

Google and Character.AI, a startup, have settled lawsuits filed by families accusing artificial intelligence chatbots of harming minors, including contributing to a Florida teenager’s suicide, according to court filings on Wednesday.

The settlements cover lawsuits filed in Florida, Colorado, New York and Texas, according to the legal filings, though they still require finalization and court approval.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:14 pm

Senators claim UnitedHealth is withholding internal documents from inquiry

UnitedHealth says it will ‘continue to engage’ with lawmakers who began investigating their involvement in nursing home care after Guardian investigation

UnitedHealth has refused to hand over key internal records to lawmakers investigating the company’s efforts to reduce hospital transfers for nursing home residents, according to a letter sent to the company by the US senators Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren.

The veteran lawmakers, both members of the powerful Senate finance committee, launched their inquiry last summer following a Guardian investigation into bonuses that UnitedHealth pays to nursing homes that reduce hospital transfers for their residents. Those are hospitalizations the insurance giant would otherwise have to pay for.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:16 pm

Musk lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion can go to trial, US judge says

Judge says there is plenty of evidence to suggest OpenAI’s leaders made assurances nonprofit structure would be kept

• Business live – latest updates

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI is to go to trial after a US judge said there is plenty of evidence to support the billionaire’s case.

The world’s richest man, who co-founded OpenAI, is suing the ChatGPT developer and its chief executive, Sam Altman, over claims its leaders violated the organisation’s founding mission by shifting to a for-profit model.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:56 am

David Bowie’s childhood home to open to public after 1960s restoration

South London house to feature never-before-seen archival items and creative workshops for young people

On the evening of 6 July 1972, thousands of young people across the UK had their lives changed when the sight of David Bowie performing Starman on Top of the Pops was beamed into their living rooms.

Come the end of 2027, Bowie fans will be able to walk the very floorboards where the young David Jones had his own Damascene cultural conversion, when his childhood home in south London, is opened to the public for the first time.

Published: January 8, 2026, 7:00 pm

Brazilian president vetoes bill reducing Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejects bill passed by congress as he marks anniversary of 2023 Brasília riots

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has vetoed a bill that would dramatically reduce the prison sentence of the country’s far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted last year of plotting a coup.

Lula vetoed the bill, which was passed by congress in December, on the third anniversary of riots by Bolsonaro supporters in the capital, Brasília, over his defeat by Lula in the 2022 general election.

Published: January 8, 2026, 6:03 pm

Syrian army orders Aleppo evacuations amid fighting with Kurdish forces

People told to leave three areas as fears grow of wider conflict between government and Kurdish authorities

The Syrian army ordered civilians to evacuate neighbourhoods of Aleppo on Thursday after fighting with Kurdish forces entered its third day, deepening the rift between the Syrian government and the US-backed Kurdish authorities in Syria.

The Syrian government urged people to leave the three contested neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid by early afternoon, opening humanitarian corridors and displacement shelters to facilitate their exit. The Syrian army said it would begin military operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the deadline, and issued maps showing specific areas that needed to be evacuated.

Published: January 8, 2026, 4:16 pm

Saudi Arabia says UAE helped Yemeni separatist leader flee as crisis deepens

Riyadh says Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, was helped to flee Yemen

Saudi Arabia has accused the United Arab Emirates of smuggling a UAE-backed separatist leader out of Yemen after he failed to turn up for crisis talks in Riyadh on Wednesday.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Aidarous al-Zubaidi had fled the port city of Aden for Abu Dhabi under Emirati supervision, deepening a diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Published: January 8, 2026, 4:40 pm

His & Hers review – this glossy thriller is ideal new year TV

This six-part adaptation of the bestselling 2020 novel about a murder investigation is twisty, absurd and bingeable. It’s great January viewing

A woman lies bloodied and twitching her last on the bonnet of a car parked deep in a wood. Another woman arrives home bloodied, gasping with fear and for wine, and starts scrubbing her hands before clearing her flat of – well, everything.

A female voiceover intones that there are two sides to every story. “Which means someone is always lying.” Absolute nonsense, obviously, but it sounds great and more importantly it confirms what we were hoping: that we are in the presence of a glossy, efficient adaptation of a bestselling thriller and it is time to switch off our brains and enjoy (unless you are the type who likes to try to solve the mystery before the characters do, in which case, Godspeed and let me know where you get the energy from).

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:01 am

Sébastien Tellier: ‘I thought I’d be famous after Eurovision - but nobody noticed’

The musician’s elegant electropop marked him out as one of the ‘cool French dudes’, before an attempt to literally crash the Song Contest fell badly flat. Now back with an adventurous new album, he talks about the man who stole his identity and why he doesn’t care for ‘good taste’

A few years ago, a stranger stole Sébastien Tellier’s identity. The impostor – sporting the musician’s trademark sunglasses and beard – posed as the Frenchman at fancy parties, nabbed free clothes from Chanel (Tellier used to be an ambassador for the brand), and even held meetings with bosses from Hollywood studios (Tellier has dabbled in soundtrack work). “He [also] took a lot of drugs like ketamine in front of a lot of people,” Tellier continues with perfect nonchalance from his Paris home, sunglasses and beard present and correct. The crime was only rumbled when a confused woman got in touch to tell him she’d been partying with “Sébastien Tellier” in France only to see on Instagram that the real Tellier was playing a gig in Belgium.

This experience has been alchemised into pop gold via Copycat, a sparkly synthpop workout on his upcoming eighth album, Kiss the Beast. “My name you steal it / Hat and success,” Tellier croons for the song’s chorus over a chunky bassline, disco strings and synths that crackle and spark like fireworks. It’s typical Tellier, mixing the serious – things got so bad with the impostor that Tellier was briefly forced to show his passport at the school gates when collecting his two small children – with the playfully naive.

Published: January 8, 2026, 8:00 am

Girl Taken review – Alfie Allen is incredible in this twisty tale of teen abduction

This tale of a family dealing with a kidnapped daughter is a deeply engaging, psychologically complex thriller that is a cut above the rest

A summary of Girl Taken is disheartening; a teenage girl is abducted by a man she trusted and kept for his own grim purposes in a remote secret location, and must use her wits to survive the depravities and maybe one day escape. But in full, Girl Taken, like the 2016 book Baby Doll by Hollie Overton on which it is based, is something much better. It takes the neglected parts of such stories – the sadder, quieter, far less titillating and voyeuristic aspects of what it means to take a person out of her home, her world and her life, and away from those of the people who love her – and fleshes all that out instead. It makes for a slower burn, but a much more deeply engaging and psychologically complex thriller than we customarily expect from such a setup, and – in asking what it really means to survive an act of profound violence – harrowing in a more valuable way.

Lily and Abby (played with depth and delicacy by Tallulah and Delphi Evans) are twin 17-year-olds, on the cusp of – well, everything really, as you are when you are happy teenage girls. We meet them on the last day of the summer term. Lily is set to enjoy the summer with her lovely boyfriend Wes (Levi Brown, who was so extraordinary in 2024’s This Town) and partying, and Abby is laying plans to go to university. She is the star pupil in Mr Hansen’s English class (“You can start calling me Rick now” he says as the final school bell goes) and the popular young teacher has always encouraged her ambitions.

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:00 am

Eric Lu: Schubert Impromptus album review – mature and mesmerising

(Warner)
In this recording of the eight Impromptus, some of Schubert’s most profound music, Lu cements his place as a serious talent

Eric Lu was a worthy if controversial winner of the Chopin international piano competition in October, having won the Leeds event seven years ago: how many springboards should one pianist seek? What is certain is that this latest Schubert recording, following on from his release of the late sonatas late in 2022, reveals a rewardingly mature, un-egotistical approach to the eight Impromptus, some of the composer’s most profound music.

Lu is very much attuned to the way in which Schubert creates overarching structures, conjuring a mesmerising feeling of stasis with music that’s alive with detail under the surface – in his performances of several of them, time really does seem to stand still. Right from the lonely opening of Op 90 No 1, he draws the ear in with the scope of his phrasing: even though his playing can be weightier than some, his lines go on and on into the distance and corners are smoothly turned, with the dramatic passages growing out of what has come before. Perhaps these performances aren’t yet quite distinctive enough to make this recording top choice in a crowded field, but they certainly back up the Chopin judges’ decision: Lu is a serious talent.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:00 pm

The Cribs: Selling a Vibe review | Alexis Petridis’s album of the week

(PIAS)
The Jarman brothers’ ninth album adds a little 80s pop sheen to their distorted guitars and confident songwriting, while always sounding exactly like the indie stalwarts

Last summer, the BBC broadcast an eight-part podcast called The Rise and Fall of Indie Sleaze. Its third episode heavily featured the Cribs’ bassist and vocalist Gary Jarman talking about his band’s first flush of mid-00s fame. It centred on their 2005 single Hey Scenesters!, from which the episode also took its name. It was a curious choice: on close examination, Hey Scenesters! wasn’t a celebration of what some people unfortunately dubbed the New Rock Revolution so much as the sound of Jarman and his bandmate brothers poking fun at it.

There was the peculiar dichotomy of the Cribs in a nutshell. They were a band so of the mid-00s moment that they were nearly signed to a record label founded by Myspace. But they always seemed slightly apart from the scene. They were certainly less voracious in the pursuit of mainstream success than contemporaries Razorlight or Kaiser Chiefs: “A cash injection, a nasty infection – don’t regret it,” offers a song from their ninth album, Selling a Vibe, with the pointed title Self Respect. They were more in tune with what their sometime-producer Edwyn Collins called “proper indie” from a pre-Britpop age, when “indie” indicated not a predilection for skinny jeans and trilby hats, but something set apart from the mainstream that viewed the attentions of Top of the Pops and the tabloid press with deep suspicion and balanced limited commercial ambitions against artistic freedom. It was a point underlined by the kind of artists who gave them co-signs. Quite aside from the former frontman of Orange Juice, there was Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Johnny Marr – who briefly joined the Cribs, co-writing 2009’s Ignore the Ignorant – and the late producer/engineer Steve Albini.

Published: January 8, 2026, 12:39 pm

Add to playlist: the mysterious chillout milieu of False Aralia and the week’s best new tracks

Somewhere between record label and artist project, False Aralia harks back to microhouse and dub techno with its deep, detailed productions

From San Francisco
Recommended if you like Rhythm and Sound, Ricardo Villalobos, Vladislav Delay
Up next Double LP from Topdown Dialectic released in spring

False Aralia disappears into a misty gulch somewhere between record label and artist project. It’s ostensibly a label, where each EP has a different named artist, and each sleeve, designed by Nick Almquist, features a different abstract expressionist monochrome doodle. But all the tracks are numbered, not named, and each EP is actually the work of just one producer, Izaak Schlossman (credited as IS), joined by a changing cast of collaborators.

Published: January 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer audiobook review – typically quirky cosy crime

Surreal humour and sharp performances from Diane Morgan and Arabella Weir alongside the comedian himself bring his tale of an unemployed bathroom salesman to life

Matt Giles, the thirtysomething protagonist of The Long Shoe, is having a run of bad luck. Shortly after losing his job as a bathroom salesman, he learns that he and his girlfriend Harriet are being evicted from their flat. Can life get any worse? Apparently, it can. Matt finds a note from Harriet saying she has left him and that he shouldn’t contact her. But then he receives a call from a stranger offering him a job that comes with a luxury apartment, leading him to wonder if his fortunes are turning.

Perhaps Harriet will come back if she knows they have a fancy new home. The third mystery novel from comedian Bob Mortimer comes with his trademark quirky touches including a talking animal in the form of Matt’s cat, Goodmonson, and whimsical metaphors; for Matt, trying to place a familiar face is akin to “trying to find a mouse’s handbag in a builder’s skip”.

Published: January 8, 2026, 3:00 pm

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review – remastered 1997 classic is even more politically resonant now

PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, Xbox, PC; Square-Enix
This landmark role-playing game remains a revolutionary tour de force

At first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, first released in 1997 and now available in newly remastered guise, does little to separate itself from other boilerplate fantasy fiction. There is a hero, Ramza – an idealistic nobleman with luscious blond hair who cavorts about the medieval-inspired realm of Ivalice in search of high adventure. But quickly, and with narrative elegance, the picture complicates: peasant revolutionaries duke it out with gilded monarchists; machiavellian plots plunge the kingdom into chaos. Ramza must navigate this knotty political matrix, all while experiencing his own ideological awakening.

There is a strong case to be made that Final Fantasy Tactics tells a better story than the landmark Final Fantasy VII (which saw Cloud Strife and a ragtag bunch of eco-terrorist pals taking on the shady megacorporation Shinra). And with our real-world political focus shifting from the looming threat of the climate crisis to the more pressing rise of fascism (though the two are inextricably linked), one can make the argument that Tactics is now also the more timely game.

Published: January 8, 2026, 10:00 am

Seth Meyers on Trump officials justifying Venezuela assault: ‘Lamest dorks on the planet’

Late-night hosts discussed the Trump administration’s posturing over Greenland amid widespread condemnation of its actions in Venezuela

Late-night hosts mocked the Trump administration’s bullish rhetoric on Greenland after the surprise takeover of Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.

Published: January 8, 2026, 4:19 pm

Béla Tarr’s quest for cinematic perfection made him my ideal, impossible mentor | László Nemes

The Son of Saul director recalls how getting his first job as assistant to the austere master was a hard but inspiring lesson in the most ambitious kind of movie-making

News: Hungarian director Béla Tarr dies aged 70

The last time I saw Béla Tarr was a few years ago at the Nexus conference in Amsterdam. We were invited to speak about the state of the world and of the arts. We both thought light and darkness existed in the world, even if our perception about them differed. Béla was already weakened in his body, but the spirit was still ferocious, rebellious, furious. We sat down to talk. It seemed fairly obvious this would be our ultimate, and most heartfelt, conversation. As the former apprentice, I was able to see the master one last time, with all his rage, sorrow, love and hate.

I first met Béla in 2004 when he was preparing The Man from London. I wanted to learn film-making and applied to become an assistant on the film. He gave me my first real job: as an assistant, I had to find a boy for one of the main parts. I spent months in the casting process, for a part that eventually was cut from the shooting script. But for Béla, every effort put into a given movie was never lost – it was integrated into the energy field of the enterprise. The final outcome had to be the product of difficult processes. The harder the task, the better quality one could expect. He wanted to film life, and its constant dance. The choreography was a revelation for me: 10-minute, uninterrupted takes, unifying space, characters and time. All in black and white.

Published: January 8, 2026, 4:31 pm

Fungi: Anarchist Designers review – a perverse plunge into mushroom mayhem, from stinkhorns to zombie-makers

Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
They have poisoned emperors, taken over insect brains and survived atomic bombs. This Dantean journey through fungal hell is riveting – though frogs may disagree

Sylvia Plath’s poem Mushrooms is a sinister paean to the natural world. Her observations on fungi are freighted with foreboding, noting how “very / Whitely, discreetly, / Very quietly” they “Take hold on the loam, / Acquire the air”. The poem ends: “We shall by morning, / Inherit the earth. / Our foot’s in the door.”

Plath’s ominous ode from 1959 forms the opening salvo in an exhibition dedicated to fungi’s creepy omniscience. Far from merely getting a foot in the door, the door has been blasted off its hinges by fungi’s preternatural capacity to reproduce, spread, evolve – and annihilate. How they thrive with a perverse intensity on discarded, dead and dying things, impelling the cycle of decay and regrowth. As coprophiliacs, necrophiliacs and silent assassins, they are legion, and have been around for over a billion years.

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:03 pm

With Venezuela, Trump has achieved his dream of making his own 80s action movie

Given his rise during the ego joyride of the 1980s, it’s no shock that Trump’s foreign policy is to emulate that decade’s belligerent cinema

The box office barnstormer of 2026 arrived early this year. A sleazy banana-republic dictator flooding the American streets with blow. The over-the-border Delta Force extraction squad sent to pluck this schmo out of his impregnable fortress. The bronzed tough-talker who’s firing an RPG up the tailpipe of the international rules-based order – but who gets the job done. Call it: Caracas Thunder.

Sounds like a bit of a throwback, you might be thinking. But, judging by his press conference after the US military’s abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump seemed to have finally achieved his dream of directing his own 80s action movie.

Published: January 8, 2026, 11:30 am

My favourite family photo: ‘My mother stares dreamily into the distance, looking like an extra from Mad Men’

I found solace in looking through my father’s slides after he died. They made me gasp – and my childhood turned from monotonous monochrome to glorious Technicolor

When my sister handed me a box of old Kodachrome slides last summer, I almost didn’t bother looking through them. Unusually for pre-smartphone times, my camera-crazy father had extensively documented our lives, filling dozens of photo albums. What could the transparencies possibly reveal that we hadn’t already seen countless times? I dimly remembered him ambushing us to watch slideshows, until we were old enough to rebel.

My father died in 2012. Not long before, I had developed an interest in photography myself and, after he was gone, I found solace in my viewfinder. It was, and still is, a way of feeling connected to him. What prompted me to set up my iPad as a makeshift lightbox to view the slides was technical interest.

Published: January 8, 2026, 12:00 pm

My rookie era: I used to be too timid to change a tyre. Now I build my own bikes

Figuring out how to diagnose and fix a problem myself generated a sense of satisfaction powerful enough to get me up a medium-sized hill

It wasn’t until Covid lockdowns that I became a regular bike rider, but it has become one of the joys of my life. Nothing melts away a stressful day like whizzing down a hill; not having to think about petrol prices, one-way streets or parking spots does wonders for my mood.

When it came to maintenance, though, my attitude was decidedly timid. If something worked, that was good enough for me – how it did so was simply none of my business. Strange noises and glitches were things I figured would either go away on their own or deteriorate into something I’d hand off to an expert. I’m not proud to admit I’ve walked my bike half an hour to a bike shop to fix a puncture more than once; my chain was perpetually caked in gunk because I thought even looking at it the wrong way might break something.

Published: January 8, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Brilliant for work-life balance’: how Britain is embracing the ‘workation’

Research finds growing trend of employers letting employees work remotely to free up more holiday time

Katherine first caught the bug when she visited Australia a couple of years ago. The flights were expensive, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so she asked her manager if she could extend the trip by two weeks, and work remotely from her friend’s house.

That was her first taste of a “workation” – combining working with a holiday – and she loved it. She now regularly arranges petsitting in different places so she can visit family, friends and new cities for long weekends without spending extra.

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:00 pm

How a TV interior designer is helping revive a remote Scottish island

On Ulva, in the Inner Hebrides, Banjo Beale and his husband are transforming a rundown mansion into their dream hotel, while another adventurous couple have created a charming bothy for hardier folk

Ulva House is a building site. There are workmen up ladders, hammering, plastering, but I leave my muddy walking boots by the door. There’s no central heating or hot water and Banjo Beale and his husband, Ro, have been camping out here for weeks, but he greets me, dazzlingly debonair, in a burnt orange beanie and fabulous Moroccan rug coat.

The 2022 winner of the BBC’s Interior Design Masters, who went on to front his own makeover show Designing the Hebrides, Banjo’s vibe is more exuberant Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen than quizzical Kevin McCloud. His latest project with Ro, the transformation of a derelict mansion on the small Hebridean island of Ulva into a boutique hotel, is the subject of a new six-part series, airing on BBC Scotland. I’m here for a preview of the finished rooms.

Published: January 8, 2026, 7:00 am

My favourite family photo: ‘I bucketed 30 years of tears that day – then smiled my smiliest smile’

After more than three decades together, Simon Hattenstone and his partner Diane Taylor decided to have a civil partnership. It was a beautiful celebration before the shock of the pandemic

Diane and I had been living together for more than 30 years, and our children were 28 and 26 when we got civilled. We’d never wanted to get married. It seemed a bit too pipe and slippers. It also felt like tempting fate. We were really happy without being married, so why change things? And you can’t have more of a commitment than children. But we always said if they introduced civil partnerships for heterosexual couples, we’d get civilled.

I think friends assumed we did it primarily for tax reasons – to ensure that if one of us died, the other wasn’t left in the shit. There was an element of that. But more importantly, we actively wanted to get civilled. It actually felt really romantic – tying the civil knot as an expression of love after all this time together. It was such a beautiful day, in every way. 3 January 2020, just after civil partnerships had been legalised for opposite-sex couples, and we almost made history. We were only the fourth heterosexual couple to be civilled in Haringey. Get in!

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:00 am

Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian: ‘The goal is to reframe the entire culture of the US’

The president has vowed to kill off ‘woke’ in his second term in office, and the venerable cultural institution a few blocks from the White House is in his sights

On 30 May last year, Kim Sajet was working in her office in the grandly porticoed National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. The gallery is one of the most important branches of the Smithsonian Institution, the complex of national museums that, for almost 200 years, has told the story of the nation. The director’s suite, large enough to host a small party, has a grandeur befitting the museum’s role as the keeper of portraits of the United States’ most significant historical figures. Sajet was working beneath the gaze of artworks from the collection, including a striking 1952 painting of Mary Mills, a military-uniformed, African American nurse, and a bronze head of jazz and blues singer Ethel Waters.

It seemed like an ordinary Friday. Until, that is, an anxious colleague came in to tell Sajet that the president of the United States had personally denounced her on social media. “Upon the request and recommendation of many people I am herby [sic] terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery,” Donald Trump had posted on Truth Social. According to the post, Sajet was “a highly partisan person” and a “strong supporter” of diversity and inclusion programmes, which by an executive order on his inauguration day, 20 January, he had eradicated from federal agencies. “Her replacement will be named shortly,” continued the message. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Published: January 8, 2026, 5:00 am

Stranded whales and an anti-drone gun: photos of the day - Thursday

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

Published: January 8, 2026, 1:43 pm