More gen Z men live with parents in this city than anywhere in the US. How do they date?

In Vallejo, California, ‘trad sons’ report feeling trapped by family obligations, slim job prospects and the fear of violence – leaving little room for romance

Are boys becoming men later? In recent decades, the markers of adulthood have shifted for young American men: they are almost twice as likely to be single, less likely to go to college and more likely to be unemployed. Most significantly for their parents, they are also less likely to have fled the nest, with the term “trad son” springing into social media lexicon in recent months. In the 1970s, only 8% of Americans aged 25 to 34 were living with their parents, but by 2023, that figure had jumped to 18%, with men more likely to live at home than women, according to a Pew survey.

But not everywhere in the US has the same rates of adults living in their familial home. The living arrangement is least common in the midwest and most common in the north-east. Topping the list was Vallejo, where 33% of young adults live with their parents. How were they making it work?

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

The Trump doctrine exposes the US as a mafia state | Jan-Werner Müller

The Venezuela incursion is in line with this logic, made even plainer as the US eyes Greenland

When a bleary-eyed Trump explained the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro this past Saturday, he invoked the Monroe doctrine: while the US president sounded as if he were reading about it for the first time, historians of course recognized the idea of Washington as a kind of guardian of the western hemisphere. Together with the national security strategy published in December, the move on Venezuela can be understood as advancing a vision for carving up the world into what the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt called “great spaces”, with each in effect supervised by a great power (meaning, in today’s world, Washington, Moscow and Beijing). But more is happening than a return to such de facto imperialism: Trump’s promise to “run the country” for the sake of US oil companies signals the internationalization of one aspect of his regime – what has rightly been called the logic of the mafia state. That logic is even more obvious in his stated desire to grab Greenland.

The theory of the mafia state was first elaborated by the Hungarian sociologist Bálint Magyar in 2016. Such a state is less about corruption where envelopes change hands under the table. Instead, public procurement is rigged; large companies are brought under the control of regime-friendly oligarchs, who in turn acquire media to provide favorable coverage to the ruler. The beneficiaries are what Magyar calls the “extended political family” (which can include the ruler’s natural family). As with the mafia, unconditional loyalty is the price for being part of the system.

Jan-Werner Müller is a Guardian US columnist and a professor of politics at Princeton University

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

What’s to like? Why you can hate Timothée Chalamet’s character and still love Marty Supreme

Chalamet’s nogoodnik ping-pong hustler character is the latest in cinema’s rich history of protagonists with shabby morals. So why the backlash?

In the new hit movie Marty Supreme, the story is pushed forward by how lead character Marty Mauser keeps making messes then, rather than cleaning them up, manages to expand their scope beyond reason. Marty is attempting to prove himself as the world’s greatest table-tennis champion, to escape his meagre mid-century New York City circumstances and achieve a dream he’s locked on to, seemingly more out of desire to achieve it than a particular love for the sport.

And just as he’s presumably blown up some natural athleticism into a monomaniacal quest, all of Marty’s misdeeds across the film escalate. He cajoles, then lies. He quickly turns a pushy request to borrow money into petty theft, which then becomes armed robbery. At one point, a little ping-pong hustle at a New Jersey bowling alley literally blows up into a gas-station fire. Marty will not accept anything less than ultimate victory, which means he will especially not accept responsibility for his actions. And we, in the audience, are invited to like him anyway, at least in part because he is played by Timothée Chalamet.

Published: January 7, 2026, 9:47 am

Nicki Minaj’s Maga conversion is doing nothing for her career – or is it? | Arwa Mahdawi

The rapper’s recent cosying up to the Trump administration has upset a lot of her fans, but is she playing the long game?

Starships are meant to fly, but Nicki Minaj’s musical career is now doing a Maga-propelled nosedive. For the past few months, the rapper and former gay icon has been horrifying many of her fans by cosying up to the Trump administration.

In November, for example, Minaj shared a post by Donald Trump about the treatment of Christians in Nigeria and agreed to collaborate with the administration on awareness around the issue. Then, in December, the rapper made a surprise appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest convention, where she heaped praise on the late Charlie Kirk (who once said Minaj was not a good role model for “18-year-old Black girls”) and the vice-president, JD Vance. She also accidentally called Vance an “assassin” while talking to Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, but was quickly forgiven for her word choice. “I love this woman,” Erika Kirk proclaimed after the weird gaffe.

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: January 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Dolly, Dreamgirls and Daniel Radcliffe: the biggest Broadway shows of 2026

After a record-breaking season, big stars and big revivals hope to lure in New York audiences over the next 12 months

The year 2025 found Broadway at an inflection point – New York theater finally fully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, as the 2024-2025 season became the highest-grossing of all time, with $1.89bn in tickets sold thanks in part to a new generation of stars and fans. But with a record box office came record ticket prices, as Hollywood stars from Denzel Washington to George Clooney commanded sums pushing four figures for orchestra seating. This year feels relatively less Hollywood-y, though no less starry, with a healthy mix of revivals, new material and buzzy transfers on the calendar. Here are 12 of the most anticipated Broadway shows in 2026.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:03 am

The 2026 World Cup may transform US soccer. The 2030 World Cup could be even better

This summer’s tournament is seen as a culmination, but in truth it’s the next World Cup where the USMNT may have the most success

When the US was confirmed as a future World Cup co-host on the eve of the 2018 tournament in Russia, the USMNT were still stuck under the rubble of their shocking failure to qualify. Mauricio Pochettino was just establishing himself among European club soccer’s managerial elite, taking Tottenham to the Champions League final a year later.

Few could have imagined that he’d be leading the USMNT into the 2026 World Cup, and perhaps fewer believe he’ll stick around for the next cycle. Nevertheless, after a 2-1 win over Australia in Commerce City, Colorado to end the October window, Pochettino noted he’s building a team with 2030 in mind, too.

Published: January 7, 2026, 11:00 am

US seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker in Atlantic after two-week pursuit

US European Command says it boarded the Marinera over alleged sanctions violations, a move that risks confrontation with Moscow

• Europe live – latest updates

The US has seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean in a high-stakes operation that could risk confrontation with the Kremlin after Moscow reportedly dispatched a submarine to safeguard the vessel.

US European Command said on Wednesday that it had boarded the Marinera over alleged sanctions violations, bringing to an end a dramatic two-week pursuit that began in the Caribbean and concluded in the Atlantic.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:46 pm

US purchase of Greenland being ‘actively discussed’ by Trump and team, White House says – live

White House press secretary says US controlling Greenland would deter China and Russia in the Arctic

Miranda Bryant, the Guardian’s Nordic correspondent, also has written this handy explainer on why Donald Trump is renewing calls for a takeover of Greenland:

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:53 pm

ICE agent fatally shoots woman amid immigration crackdown in Minneapolis

Representative Ilhan Omar says victim was ‘a legal observer’, who was reportedly shot in the face multiple times

Federal agents shot and killed a woman during a large scale immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman, said the victim was “a legal observer” of action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which had sent a surge of agents into the city in recent days tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:42 pm

Trump administration releases updated dietary guidelines: ‘Eat real food’

New guidance presented by Robert F Kennedy Jr prioritizes protein, healthy fats and ‘declares war on added sugar’

The Trump administration has released updated dietary guidelines for Americans on Wednesday that emphasize eating whole and minimally processed foods, scaling back refined carbohydrates, and “declaring war” on added sugars.

The recommendations encourage “prioritizing high-quality protein, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains” while steering clear of highly processed foods. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health and human services (HHS) secretary, and Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, are presenting the new guidance at a White House briefing.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:02 pm

Nick Reiner arraignment postponed to February after lawyer withdraws from case

Son of director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner will now be represented by public defender in murder case

The arraignment of Nick Reiner, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, was delayed on Wednesday after his attorney asked to be replaced.

Judge Theresa McGonigle agreed to postpone the proceedings until February in response to a request from attorney Alan Jackson to withdraw from the case. The judge assigned a public defender to represent Nick Reiner, who had been expected to be arraigned and enter a plea in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:34 pm

Trump lawyer ordered to defend using US attorney title despite ruling it’s unlawful

Lindsey Halligan was installed in the position by the president to prosecute Letitia James and James Comey

A judge has ordered the Donald Trump-appointed lawyer who led failed prosecutions of two of his political opponents to explain why she is still representing herself as US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, after another judge ruled she was in the position unlawfully.

In an order filed in the district’s Richmond division on Tuesday, Lindsey Halligan was given seven days to explain why she had engaged in “professional misconduct” by continuing to sign indictments.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:21 pm

Indian police raid home of environmental activists over anti-fossil fuel campaign

Sarat Sampada founders Harjeet Singh and Jyoti Aswati say allegations are ‘baseless, biased and misleading’

Police have raided the home of one of India’s leading environmental activists over claims his campaigning for a treaty to cut the use of fossil fuels was undermining the national interest.

Investigators from India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) claim Harjeet Singh and his wife, Jyoti Awasthi, co-founders of Satat Sampada (Nature Forever), were paid almost £500,000 to advocate for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty (FFNPT).

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:52 pm

Warner Bros Discovery tells investors to reject ‘inadequate’ $108bn Paramount bid

Board unwilling to accept hostile takeover despite $40bn guarantee from billionaire Larry Ellison

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has again told its shareholders to reject an “inadequate” $108.4bn (£80bn) hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the media conglomerate.

Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, had sought to combat WBD’s criticism of its offer and claims it had “consistently misled” investors by saying it had a “full backstop” – a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds – from the Ellisons.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:52 pm

‘This might be too hot to touch’: Gwyneth Paltrow says conscious uncoupling cost her a movie role

Actor thinks derisive response to her description of divorcing Chris Martin led to her being dropped from film

The actor Gwyneth Paltrow has said she was fired from a film due to media interest in her divorce from Chris Martin in 2014.

Speaking on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang, Paltrow blamed negative headlines surrounding the separation – which the couple called “conscious uncoupling” in their announcement – for her losing a role she had been scheduled to play soon afterwards.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:42 pm

Three LA wildfire victims on surviving the horror – and what happened next

After their lives were upended last year, they’re finally regaining their footing – but memories of the fires still haunt them

Few among the nearly 10 million people who live in Los Angeles county were left untouched by last year’s disastrous firestorm. Driven by strong winds through parched vegetation, multiple fires exploded in quick succession last January, and devoured roughly 16,000 structures on all sides of LA.

Thirty-one lives were lost and thousands more were for ever changed. For many, a new chapter of the disaster began to unfold when the flames were extinguished, while the slow road to recovery started to take shape in the year that followed.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

US attack on Venezuela will decide direction of South America’s vast mineral wealth

Outcome of aggression will determine whether rare earths and other resources drive energy transition – or strengthen US military power and oil interests

The US’s first overt attack on an Amazon nation last weekend is a new phase in its extractivist rivalry with China. The outcome will decide whether the vast mineral wealth of South America is directed towards a 21st-century energy transition or a buildup of military power to defend 20th-century fossil fuel interests.

Although this onslaught was ostensibly aimed at one corrupt dictatorship in a miserably dysfunctional country, the ramifications are far wider.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:37 pm

‘Dirty’ and ‘infested with drugs’: the New York jail holding Maduro and Mangione

High-profile names have been housed in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan detention center, which is said to be unsafe and inhumane

After US military forces seized Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas during a controversial pre-dawn raid, they were ultimately spirited to one of this country’s most infamous jails: the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York.

The deposed Venezuelan president and Flores will almost certainly reside in the MDC until their federal trial on drugs and weapons charge – inducting them into a notorious group that counts Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried and Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” as either current or former members.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘How is it possible?’: Berliners demand answers after sabotage causes blackout

Arson attack that left parts of German capital in darkness for days stirs outrage over infrastructure insecurity

• Europe live – latest updates

When Silke Peters bought a crank radio and a camping stove just after the start of Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, her husband thought she was “a little crazy”. “He put me down, only half-jokingly, as a prepper,” she said, referring to the kind of person who stockpiles in case of catastrophe.

For almost four years, the items gathered dust in the cellar of the Peters’ two-room flat in Zehlendorf, a well-to-do district of Berlin. But in recent days the windup radio – with its inbuilt torch and charge point – has come into its own during Germany’s longest power cut since the second world war.

Published: January 7, 2026, 4:20 pm

‘Motion is lotion’: how to really look after your shoulders

As we age, we naturally lose mobility. But there are some steps we can take to keep these joints healthy for longer

• Read more summer essentials

You’re clinging to the overhead strap on a packed bus during rush hour when the driver suddenly slams on the brakes. As the crowd surges, your arm jerks back and your shoulder takes the full force of the momentum. It’s times like these, one is grateful for a strong and healthy shoulder.

“If you’ve got a strong and mobile shoulder, you have the control to reduce the risk of anything [bad] happening,” says Dr Josh Zadro, a physiotherapist and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.

Arm circles: Large, controlled circles in front of your body.

The wall slide: Face a wall and slide your hands up as high as possible.

The overhead reach: Stretch your arms to the ceiling to counteract the forward hunch of computer work.

Published: January 7, 2026, 7:00 pm

‘It was overwhelming’: Katie Leung on Harry Potter, sudden fame, insecurity – and starring in Bridgerton

As a teenager, the actor landed her first ever job in the blockbuster film series. The experience was fun – but also led to horrendous online abuse. Now she’s back, playing a tough and surprising matriarch in the Regency smash hit

Some actors might have been a little put out to audition for the role of the beautiful young romantic lead, and instead be cast as her mother, but not Katie Leung. “Absolutely not,” she says with a laugh. “I look young for my age – as most people in the west think Asians do – but I felt really seen to finally get to play the role of a mother.” She is a mother, she points out, and anyway, the role of Lady Araminta Gun, the steely aristo who is about to rock the new series of Netflix’s Regency behemoth Bridgerton, is so delicious, who could be insulted?

Araminta, widowed, has seen off two husbands, and now she’s trying to marry off her two teenage daughters, ideally to a Bridgerton, while keeping her stepdaughter, Sophie, in her place – as a Cinderella-style servant for the family. “The showrunners reassured me that it wasn’t going to be the archetypal evil stepmother role,” says Leung. “They wanted to find the humanity in Araminta. They wanted to ensure I knew her background, her struggles, why she makes these decisions, and why she’s so formidable.”

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:00 am

‘For a moment, only that story matters’: my plan to reignite the all-consuming love of books

Reading for pleasure rates are shockingly low in young people. So we should all get behind a new drive to turn them into avid readers. Why not start with books about art?

A girl on the cusp of adolescence gazes down at a book. Her left hand rests against her flushed pink cheeks, while her right clutches the pages, ready to turn to find out what happens next. She has porcelain-like skin and golden hair seemingly full of air, executed in textures that contrast with the scratchy, loose marks that make up her shirt and the book’s pages. When I look at this drawing, I am struck by how the artist, the American-born impressionist Mary Cassatt, has perfectly captured the all-consuming sensation of being submerged in a book – the feeling that the whole world is dissolving around you. For a moment, only that story matters.

Cassatt, who worked in Paris for most of her adult life when women were finally beginning to be accepted as artists (and deserving of state-funded art education), was hailed for her intimate portrayals of women and children. They are glimpses into their minds, their private worlds, yet they also emphasise intellect and ambition. Young Girl Reading is one such example. I often wonder if she is reading something like Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, published nearly three decades before, which tells the story of the four March sisters, who are figuring out their journey to womanhood themselves.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:06 pm

The place that stayed with me: I fled the Greek Islands to chase a letter home

As his 30th birthday loomed in Greece, Steve MinOn sent a letter to his parents in Australia. Then he waited.

• Read more summer essentials

While day-drinking ouzo in a spiderwebbed taverna on the Greek island of Paros, I decided to write a coming-out letter to my parents. I sealed it in a surface mail envelope, moistened a ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ (Hellenic Republic) stamp with my aniseed tongue and posted it.

It was the 1990s and I had only just relocated from Australia to London with Nick, my boyfriend at the time, and Julie, a good mate. We had gone across to Greece for a holiday, island-hopping, catching ferries on a whim, knowing nothing about the places we were visiting except that backpacking there was cheap.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

365 buttons: could the biggest meme of 2026 change your life?

It’s either a simple yet effective way to appreciate the passage of time – or a reminder to do your own thing without pausing for explanation

Name: 365 buttons.

Age: New. This is a 2026 thing.

Published: January 7, 2026, 3:50 pm

Nicola Jennings on Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland – cartoon

Continue reading...

Published: January 7, 2026, 4:45 pm

Democrats can win back the White House in 2028. Here’s how | Colin Seeberger

Democrats should go on the offense against Republicans, but they should also lay out a vision for renewing the promise of a middle-class life

By January 2029, Donald Trump will be capping off a nearly 14-year stretch at the helm of American politics. While he will no longer serve as president of the United States, his shadow over the future of American politics will continue to loom large across both sides of the aisle. Following Trump’s popular-vote victory in the 2024 election, the Democratic party has been forced to wrestle with what went wrong and how they can regain the support of an American majority to win back the White House. To win back Americans’ trust, Democrats have to prioritize affordability, broaden their cultural appeal, and reconnect with disaffected voters beyond their base.

Trump’s political success has long been defined by his willingness to take on elite institutions and buck convention, putting distance between himself and weaknesses in the Republican brand while simultaneously undermining advantages in the Democratic brand. He’s ignored the wrath of editorial boards and economists while offering policy ideas and messaging that speaks to what voters think.

Colin Seeberger is a senior adviser for communications at the Center for American Progress

Published: January 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

We live in a surveillance culture – but why would I want to track my son or husband | Polly Hudson

A campaign group of health professionals is urging parents to stop surveilling their children. I couldn’t agree more

News just in: the sky is blue, water is wet, and tracking our kids’ every move with phones or AirTags is causing a “deeply concerning” increase in anxiety among young people, according to more than 70 psychologists, doctors, nurses and health professionals who have come together to urge parents to “reconsider whether the surveillance childhood we are sleepwalking into is really benefiting our children”. They add: “We are implicitly telling them that the world is unsafe,” and warn that constant monitoring prevents kids learning the skills and developing the autonomy necessary to navigate real life.

“It’s so normal to want to keep our children safe,” says Clare Fernyhough, co-founder of campaign group Generation Focus. “But there is no evidence that tracking makes them any safer.”

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: January 7, 2026, 5:56 pm

Rosalía’s Lux is more than epic Catholic pop – it grapples with a world fraught with complexity and crisis | Carlos Delclós

Behind its lavish ‘nun-core’ aesthetic, the Spanish star’s hit album pushes us to think beyond good and evil – to see that we contain multitudes

I went into Lux primed not to like it. Not because I doubt Rosalía’s virtuosic talents or her intense intellectual curiosity, but because the album’s promotional campaign had already done too much work on my nerves. The rollout was relentless: thirsty reels teasing the album on social media, fashion-forward mysticism, even bringing Madrid’s city centre to a halt – everything about it felt designed to send the message that this is less a set of songs than a global event demanding reverence.

Over the past decade, Rosalía has become Spain’s biggest pop export, and Lux appears to inaugurate her imperial phase. The album debuted at No 1 in five countries, was voted the Guardian’s album of the year, broke streaming records on Spotify, and reached No 4 in the US and UK charts, where non-anglophone pop rarely thrives. Multilingual and stylistically expansive, Lux is saturated with Catholic iconography, with lyrics in no fewer than 13 languages, and circling themes of transcendence, suffering and grace.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:00 am

Fulham v Chelsea, Bournemouth v Tottenham, and more: Premier League – live

⚽ Premier League updates with games from 7.30pm GMT
⚽ Live scores | Table | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Niall

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Garner, Iroegbunam; McNeil, Armstrong, Grealish; Barry.
Subs: Travers, King, Patterson, Beto, Dibling, Rohl, Aznou, Welch, Campbell.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-5-2): Jose Sá, Mosquera, Santiago Bueno, Krejci; Tchatchoua, Arias, Joáo Gomes, Mané, Hugo Bueno; Arokodare, Hwang.
Subs: Johnstone, Doherty, Wolfe, Andre Trindade, Larsen, Pedro Lima, Chirewa, Lopez, Ojinnaka.

Published: January 7, 2026, 7:01 pm

Solskjær would be a huge risk for Manchester United’s beleaguered hierarchy | Jamie Jackson

There is no guarantee the Norwegian would restore a sense of positivity like he did first time round – and failure would be a nightmare

Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s prime candidacy to become Manchester United’s interim manager for a second time appears the latest faulty strategic move by Jason Wilcox, the club’s director of football, and the chief executive, Omar Berrada.

Solskjær, whose previous tenure at United seems to place him ahead of another favoured candidate in Michael Carrick, has to be a success. If not, Sir Jim Ratcliffe will surely file his hiring alongside the Ruben Amorim, Dan Ashworth and Erik ten Hag fiascos, for which Wilcox‑Berrada are fully or partly responsible.

Published: January 7, 2026, 4:46 pm

John Harbaugh fired by Baltimore Ravens after 18 seasons in charge

• Harbaugh was NFL’s second longest-tenured head coach

• Ravens went from Super Bowl favorites to 8-9 finish

The Baltimore Ravens have fired head coach John Harbaugh after 18 seasons in charge, the team announced on Tuesday.

Harbaugh is the most successful coach in the history of the franchise and was the second longest-tenured head coach in the NFL before his dismissal. Ironically, his final game with the Ravens came against the only name ahead of him in terms of tenure length – Mike Tomlin, who has been head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 19 seasons.

Published: January 6, 2026, 11:17 pm

Former Bengals and Texas receiver Jordan Shipley severely burned in ranch accident

• 40-year-old was flown to Austin after accident

• Shipley played three seasons in NFL

Former Texas star and NFL receiver Jordan Shipley is being treated in hospital after suffering severe burns in an accident on his ranch near his home town of Burnet, Texas.

According to a statement from his family, Shipley was operating a machine when it caught fire. Although the 40-year-old was able to free himself from the machine “it was not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process,” read the statement. “He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition.”

Published: January 7, 2026, 12:31 pm

Kansas City Current hire Chris Armas as head coach after MLS stints

• Former USMNT player last coached women in 2014

• Armas coached the Colorado Rapids from 2024-2025

Former New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC and Colorado Rapids manager Chris Armas has been appointed as the new head coach of the NWSL club Kansas City Current.

Armas replaces the former US women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who stepped away from his head coach role at the end of the 2025 campaign in order to focus solely on his job as Kansas City’s sporting director.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:46 pm

Nascar commissioner resigns after damaging text messages revealed

• Steve Phelps stepped down after 20 years at the circuit

• Antitrust trial was settled late last year

The fallout from Nascar’s federal antitrust trial continued into the new year as Nascar Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with the top racing series in the United States.

His resignation comes after last month’s trial in which inflammatory texts Phelps sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed. Phelps will leave the company at the end of the month, ahead of the start of the first exhibition race of the season on 1 February.

Published: January 6, 2026, 5:34 pm

Simon Yates announces surprise retirement with ‘deep pride and sense of peace’

• British cyclist calls time aged 33 after a 13-year career

• ‘Now feels the right moment,’ says Giro d’Italia winner

Simon Yates, one of Britain’s most storied riders and the winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia, has stunned cycling by announcing his retirement at 33.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider said on Wednesday that he is quitting with “deep pride and a sense of peace” after a 13-year career that delivered wins in two Grand Tours, 11 elite stages and 36 professional races.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:46 pm

World Cup players to have lifelike ‘AI avatars’ for use in VAR offside decisions

• Innovation means every player being digitally scanned

• Infantino: Move will ensure more accurate decisions

Every player at the World Cup this summer will have his own physically accurate “AI avatar” that will be used in taking video assistant referee (VAR) decisions.

The innovation, which will involve every player being digitally scanned and leaves the possibility of size mattering in offside calls, was part of a package of ­technological ­measures announced by Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, as he made a keynote appearance at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.

Published: January 7, 2026, 3:32 pm

Trump claims Venezuela is set for an oil boom after US attack – history points to a bumpy road ahead

From Venezuela to Libya to Iraq, removal of dictators has not always guaranteed a surge in oil production, data shows

Hours after Nicolás Maduro was captured by US special forces in Venezuela and indicted on drugs, weapons and “narco-terrorism” charges, Donald Trump spoke extensively about his plans for something else entirely: oil.

Venezuela’s oil reserves – reputedly the world’s largest – are set to be pumped by a parade of powerful US oil companies, according to the US president, most of whom have not operated in the country in decades.

Published: January 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

US reportedly warns Maduro ally Diosdado Cabello he could be next

Interior minister told he must back acting president, while Marco Rubio lays out three-point plan for Venezuela

The Trump administration has reportedly put Venezuela’s hardline interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, on notice that he could be next to fall if he does not support the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has been in power since Nicolás Maduro was seized on Saturday.

Reuters reported that US officials were “especially concerned” that Cabello, long seen by many as the regime’s real No 2, could sabotage Washington’s plan to keep key figures from Maduro’s inner circle in place in the name of stability while pursuing a transition and unrestricted access to Venezuela’s oil.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:54 pm

Maga media stars back Trump on Venezuela … mostly: ‘It doesn’t make any sense’

Maga media used to hate US foreign intervention – now some are cheering it on

“I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars,” Donald Trump said after declaring victory on 6 November 2024. It wasn’t his first pledge to disengage the US from foreign conflicts, and Trump’s top allies in conservative media and the “Make America Great Again” (Maga) movement have all rallied to his pledge to “put America first”.

Now that the US president seems to have broken his pledge by launching an invasion of Venezuela, not to mention threatening future actions against Cuba and Colombia and potentially Greenland, some have reasonably wondered whether Trump’s supporters in Maga media would hammer him for that inconsistency.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:00 am

‘Astounding’ vaccine change puts US behind peer countries, experts warn

Scientists predict increased disease outbreaks after Trump officials no longer recommend third of childhood vaccines

The bombshell announcement that the Trump administration no longer fully recommends a third of childhood vaccines means the US moved from leading globally on vaccination to lagging behind other high-income nations in preventing disease, experts say.

The move is the latest and most significant escalation against vaccines from Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime vaccine skeptic and current secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Published: January 7, 2026, 11:00 am

‘The pressure is too much’: Lesotho’s garment workers on the frontline of Trump tariffs

Women gather outside factories hoping for work as the economy struggles under US export taxes

Every morning at 7am, women gather outside clothing factories in Maseru, the capital of the southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, hoping to be offered work. However, since Donald Trump imposed swingeing global tariffs in April 2025, those opportunities have been fewer and farther between.

Moleboheng Matsepe lost her full-time job sewing sports leggings for the California brand Fabletics in 2023. She was initially able to pick up three-month contracts, but has not had any work since September.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:25 pm

Brigitte Bardot laid to rest in funeral ceremony broadcast across Saint-Tropez

Service attended by singers, animal rights activists and public figures including far-right leader Marine Le Pen

Brigitte Bardot, the film star turned animal rights activist, has been laid to rest after a funeral service in Saint-Tropez attended by her favourite politician, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Bardot died aged 91 at her La Madrague villa on 28 December. Her funeral was held at the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church and broadcast on large screens across the town.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:09 pm

Chloé Zhao says ‘feminine consciousness’ incompatible with current Hollywood model

Responding to new reporting finding only nine of the directors behind 2025’s 100 top-grossing US films were women, Hamnet film-maker questions industry’s capacity for inclusivity

Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, has said that the US film industry is not set up to foster gender diversity.

Speaking at a Women in Motion talk at the Palm Springs film festival on Monday, Zhao was asked for her response to a recent study that found just nine of the 111 directors behind last year’s 100 top grossing films in the US were women.

Published: January 7, 2026, 4:31 pm

We study glaciers. ‘Artificial glaciers’ and other tech may halt their total collapse | Brent Minchew and Colin Meyer

How might we prevent sea-level rise? Satellite-based radar, solar-powered drones, robot submarines and lab-based ‘artificial glaciers’ could all play a role

Sea levels are rising faster than at any point in human history, and for every foot that waters rise, 100 million people lose their homes. At current projections, that means about 300 million people will be forced to move in the decades to come, along with the social and political conflict as people migrate inland. Despite this looming crisis, the world still lacks specific, reliable forecasts for when and where the seas will rise – and we have invested almost nothing in understanding whether and how we can slow it down.

Societies must continue to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it’s increasingly clear that the world needs to do more: we need to predict the future of the world’s ice with precision, and to explore safe, science-backed methods to keep it from melting away.

Published: January 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Revealed: how aviation emissions could be halved without cutting journeys

Exclusive: Getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using efficient aircraft could slash CO₂, analysis suggests

Climate-heating emissions from aviation could be slashed in half – without reducing passenger journeys – by getting rid of premium seats, ensuring flights are near full and using the most efficient aircraft, according to analysis.

These efficiency measures could be far more effective in tackling the fast-growing carbon footprint of flying than pledges to use “sustainable” fuels or controversial carbon offsets, the researchers said. They believe their study, which analysed more than 27m commercial flights out of approximately 35m in 2023, is the first to assess the variation in operational efficiency of flights across the globe.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:00 am

‘The soul of the city’: can Kinshasa’s last remaining baobab tree be saved?

Across Africa, baobabs have rich symbolic meaning, but the breakneck expansion of the DRC’s capital has reduced their number in the city centre to one

The older inhabitants of Kinshasa can remember when trees shaded its main avenues and thick-trunked baobabs stood in front of government offices.

Jean Mangalibi, 60, from his plant nursery tucked among grey tower blocks, says the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s frenzied expansion has all but erased its greenery. “We’re destroying the city,” he says, over the sound of drilling from a nearby building site.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:00 am

Pesticide industry ‘immunity shield’ stripped from US appropriations bill

Democrats and ‘make America healthy again’ movement pushed back on the rider in a funding bill led by Bayer

In a setback for the pesticide industry, Democrats have succeeded in removing a rider from a congressional appropriations bill that would have helped protect pesticide makers from being sued and could have hindered state efforts to warn about pesticide risks.

Chellie Pingree, a Democratic representative from Maine and ranking member of the House appropriations interior, environment, and related agencies subcommittee, said Monday that the controversial measure pushed by the agrochemical giant Bayer and industry allies has been stripped from the 2026 funding bill.

Published: January 6, 2026, 5:50 pm

Trump administration halts more than $10bn for childcare and family assistance

Democrats condemn move in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, calling it ‘vindictive’ and ‘cruel’

The Trump administration is freezing more than $10bn in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, citing what it called concerns about fraud and misuse.

“For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:57 am

Michael Reagan, eldest son of Ronald Reagan, dies aged 80

Conservative commentator contributed to Newsmax and was known for eponymous talk radio show

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of Ronald Reagan and a conservative commentator, has died. He was 80.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute announced his death in a post on the social platform X on Tuesday, calling him “a steadfast guardian of his father’s legacy”.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:52 am

Aldrich Ames, CIA agent who spied for Soviet Union and Russia, dies aged 84

In damaging intelligence breach, Ames admitted to passing information to Moscow for nearly a decade

Aldrich Ames, the CIA agent who spied for the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history, has died in a Maryland prison. He was 84. His death on Monday was confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons.

Ames is best known as an ex-CIA agent who spied on the US on behalf of the Soviet Union. Ames, along with his wife, Rosario Ames, was arrested in February 1994 and pleaded guilty without a trial to espionage and tax evasion. Aldrich was charged with espionage, and his wife with aiding and abetting his activities.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:20 am

Accused Brown University shooter planned attack for years, video transcripts show

Justice department translated recordings made in Portuguese by man believed to be behind killings

The man accused of killing an MIT professor and two students at Brown University left behind video recordings in which he says he had planned the attack for years, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.

The shooter in the 13 and 15 December attacks was a former Brown student and Portuguese national, whom law enforcement found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility days after the shootings.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:14 am

Can Cuba’s bond with Venezuela survive Trump’s ousting of Maduro?

Havana’s long, fractious history with the US leaves it vulnerable if Caracas is forced to withdraw its support

On Havana’s Fifth Avenue, where the trees and lawns remain elegantly groomed even as the rest of Cuba wilts, a billboard outside the Venezuelan embassy reads: “Hasta Siempre Comandante” (Until For Ever, Commander) next to a vast picture of a smiling Hugo Chávez.

It is a staunch declaration that the two nations are bound together “for ever”. But this week, after the US operation to grab Chávez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro, those ties are in danger of unravelling.

Published: January 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Nigel Farage dismisses racist and antisemitic school bullying claims as ‘made-up fantasies’

Reform UK leader says accusations about his behaviour at Dulwich college were politically motivated

Nigel Farage has called allegations of racist and antisemitic bullying during his time at Dulwich college “complete made-up fantasies”, saying his accusers are “people with very obvious political motivation”.

More than 30 people have spoken to the Guardian as part of an investigation based on multiple accounts of racism, including Peter Ettedgui, 61, an Emmy- and Bafta-winning director, who recalled Farage growling repeatedly “Hitler was right” or “Gas them” at him when they were at school.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:23 pm

‘We were sitting with our calculator saying “we can afford that!”’ Joy for families as cystic fibrosis drug prices fall within reach

The cost of medication was too high for thousands of CF sufferers around the world. Now a Bangladeshi company is making a generic version that will change lives

Seven-year-old Grant Leitch had an important question for his mother. He asked if his little brother, Brett, who has cystic fibrosis (CF), was going to die.

The South African family, like tens of thousands around the world, have been priced out of access to modern cystic fibrosis therapies, and if Grant had asked at the start of 2025, he might have received a less optimistic answer.

Published: January 7, 2026, 12:00 pm

Yemen separatist leader to make last stand after rejecting Saudi ultimatum, supporters say

Saudi airstrikes hit Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s military camps after he defies a demand to travel to Riyadh for talks

The leader of Yemen’s routed southern separatist movement, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, has decided to make a defiant last stand in Aden, his supporters say, rejecting a Saudi ultimatum to travel to Riyadh for talks and – for now – a plan to flee the southern capital.

Al-Zubaidi, the president of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), has been gathering his remaining troops in Aden as rival Saudi-backed forces seek to take control of Aden. His supporters said his mood was to fight it out although he knew it was likely there would be an attempt to kill him.

Published: January 7, 2026, 12:47 pm

‘I’d never told the same joke twice!’: the explosive rise of Ayoade Bamgboye, Edinburgh’s best new comedian

The Londoner from Lagos wowed the fringe with a show about language, family and cross-cultural identity. She talks about dread, dreams and her bid for ‘controlled chaos’

Before her first Edinburgh fringe run last summer, Ayoade Bamgboye put a question to her comedy friends: “How do you debut?” She recalls their advice: “You introduce yourself, and there’s a point of view. There should also be a narrative arc. And you need to establish who you are as a comedian.” This was a lot to hear. “It filled me with dread,” says the 31-year-old. “There’s this recurring thought that you can only debut once. If it falls flat, then you’re just a shit debutante, forever.”

Reader, Bamgboye avoided this fate, and then some. A fringe first-timer with a very slender comedy CV behind her, the Londoner-via-Lagos arrived at the festival with a fresh-minted show, Swings and Roundabouts, and left clutching the prestigious best newcomer award, as formerly won by Harry Hill, Sarah Millican and Tim Minchin. (She was the first Black woman to win the award.) It’s a ticket to the big time and Bamgboye is still reeling. “These past months have been very difficult, getting out of my head and out of my own way. That question of: why me, why this, why now?” Sometimes, only a cliche will cover it. “It changed my life,” says Bamgboye flatly. “I hate to say stuff like that, but it did.”

Published: January 7, 2026, 9:28 am

Women behind the lens: six of our most striking images from 2025

A few of our favourite photographs taken by women from the global south and capturing moments of everyday life and art

Published: January 7, 2026, 7:00 am

‘They’re all bad – but some are worse than others’: every Harlan Coben show rated

From gaping plot holes to television so confusing it’s actually distressing to watch, here’s our ranking of the US author’s TV adaptations

The American novelist Harlan Coben is, by commercial fiction standards, one of the most successful writers working today. A No 1 New York Times bestseller author, he writes pulpy thrillers of the type you buy at the airport, consume feverishly poolside, and never take home.

Coben has written 35 novels, and is 11 adaptations (eight of them English language) into a nine-year, 14-book adaptation deal with Netflix. These series share a tone, style, and even actors – in multiple shows, Spooks heart-throb Richard Armitage pops up like a bad penny.

Published: January 6, 2026, 11:49 am

From Alan Carr to a revenge-hungry daughter: who is the Secret Traitor?

Here are the wildest theories about who is beneath the red cloak. Brace yourself for handwriting analysis, Jekyll and Hyde vibes and crucial slips of the tongue

It’s the question on everyone’s lips. No, not “Why am I half a stone heavier and in dire need of an afternoon nap?” but “Who is the Secret Traitor?” And thankfully, we’re about to find out.

The curveball new role has proved a gamechanging twist in BBC mega hit The Traitors. Swishing around Ardross Castle in a red cloak, as opposed to the Traitors’ familiar green, the Secret Traitor’s identity is unknown to contestants and viewers alike. It hasn’t just stoked paranoia in the Traitors’ turret but enabled the audience to play along at home, turning us all into armchair sleuths as we try to crack the case.

Published: January 6, 2026, 1:13 pm

Beast Games season two review – this mindless, vibeless reality show is like Squid Game meets Love Island

Is this big-money challenge cruel? Yes. But it’s mainly just tedious to watch these immature players and their teenage machinations as they battle for cash

The first season of Beast Games – the big-money reality challenge masterminded and hosted by internet personality Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast – prompted a lawsuit. Five anonymous contestants sued both the production companies behind the series and Donaldson himself, claiming that they had been kept “underfed and overtired”, and alleging an unsafe environment on the set of the Gladiators-ish, Squid Game-esque series (claims, of course, firmly denied by all parties). While the participants claimed they had been “shamelessly exploited” in the name of entertainment, this did little to impede the success of Beast Games, which went on to become Amazon’s most-watched unscripted series ever, garnering 50 million viewers in the month after its release.

You may well come to Beast Games with a sense that this is a slightly murky, mercenary endeavour, the $5m grand prize (“generational wealth!!!!” says Donaldson) distracting from potential ethical issues just below the surface. Weirdly, though, moral issues will probably be the least of viewers’ concerns. More than ever, in its second series Beast Games also happens to be mindless, vibeless television, flecked with Squiddy sadism but also borrowing heavily from the Love Island playbook. As they stay up into the wee hours building improbably high towers from foam blocks or playing convoluted games of dodgeball, the contestants couple up, crash out and even seek to avenge fallen players. Take Luisitin, playing to defend the honour of his wife from series one, by badmouthing her former nemesis, Karim, to anyone who will listen (“he and his brother gaslit my wife on television!”) People say things like “be careful who you trust!” and “he’s backpack boy … his girlfriend is carrying him over the finish line”. You don’t get this sort of feuding on Ninja Warrior, that’s for sure.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:00 am

Industry season four review – truly twisted, top-tier television

It may only be January, but you already know this banking drama is going to be one of the year’s best shows – a daring, debauched and jaw-dropping treat

Many dramas – especially good ones – don’t become major hits overnight. Think of the likes of Game of Thrones or Succession, which needed time to warm up, and some jaw-dropper episodes (namely the Red Wedding and Kendall bumping off a waiter, respectively) to really get going. Industry is one such show – the slow-burn HBO/BBC series that firmly hit its stride in season three. Good news: season four is even better, truly top-tier television that’s surely destined for end-of-year lists, a serious feat when we’re barely a week into January.

Industry is, of course, the one about young investment bankers, the drama that initially drew comparisons with This Life, and the show where our fresh-faced grads were as likely to be hooking up with one another as they were to be stabbing each other in the back. Fast forward to season four and it’s feeling decidedly more dark and debauched, while still held together with pitch-perfect dialogue. Kiernan Shipka – here, vastly closer to Don Draper than to his daughter, Sally, whom she played in Mad Men – Max Minghella, Kal Penn and Charlie Heaton are among the big names who have joined the cast this time around. They meld seamlessly with our existing leads – the mononymous Myha’la, Marisa Abela, Kit Harington – to make something more twisted and sophisticated than viewers may be expecting. Props, too, for Toheeb Jimoh of Ted Lasso for integrating flawlessly; his jaunt over the Atlantic with Miriam Petche as Sweetpea is a treat in particular.

Published: January 6, 2026, 3:00 pm

The Oak and the Larch by Sophie Pinkham review – are Russia’s forests the key to its identity?

How billions of trees left their mark on an empire’s psyche – shaping ideological and literal battles up to the present day

When Sophie Pinkham opens her fascinating book with the claim that “Russia has more trees than there are stars in our galaxy”, it might seem as though she is merely using a poetic turn of phrase. But the statistic is correct: while the Milky Way is estimated to have roughly 200bn stars, Russia has something in the region of 642bn trees. Stretching from the Arctic tundra to central Asia to the Pacific Ocean, the Russian forest is vast, mighty and inhospitable. Yet while it is a source of potential danger, it is also a place of great beauty and potential riches, providing furs, minerals and rivers overflowing with salmon.

Pinkham, a professor of comparative literature at Cornell University whose last book explored the intricacies of post-Soviet Ukraine, here charts the landscape’s influence on the Russian psyche, and its imprint on history, society and literature. The forest is deeply entwined with Russian national identity – the country is often symbolically represented as a bear – yet attitudes towards it have fluctuated. Different leaders have proposed different strategies for extracting value from the land, leading to cycles of deforestation and tree-planting depending on whether the priority was boosting agriculture, building Peter the Great’s imperial fleet, extracting minerals or constructing hydroelectric dams. Politically, it has been a place of resistance and of ultranationalist rhetoric glorifying the idea of Russian self-sufficiency.

Published: January 7, 2026, 9:00 am

Love, desire and community: the new generation of readers bonding over romance novels

Young women drawn to ‘morally grey characters’ are driving a boom sparked by TikTok, Instagram and online friendships

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In a packed room in Sydney, an excited crowd riffles through stacks of stickers and bookmarks searching for their favourite characters. Another group flicks through racks of clothing, pulling out T-shirts that say “romance readers club” and “probably reading about fairies”.

A poster on the wall, with tear-off tabs, invites visitors to take what they need: a love triangle, a love confession mid-dragon battle, a morally grey man or a cowboy.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Published: January 6, 2026, 2:00 pm

What we’re reading: Alan Hollinghurst, Samantha Harvey and Guardian readers on the books they enjoyed in December

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Ever since my father presented me with a copy of The Unicorn, beautifully translated into my mother tongue, I have been an ardent admirer of Iris Murdoch’s. I went on to read all of her novels, plays and poetry with great enthusiasm. Before Christmas, I returned to her penultimate novel, The Green Knight, having remembered very little of it. Yet from the very first page, I was reminded why I have always loved her work so deeply: the prose is rich, precise, disciplined and meticulously detailed; the many characters are so vividly rendered that none appears two-dimensional; each experiences and processes reality in a way that feels distinct and unmistakably individual; and the pacing of events feels perfectly judged. Although the novel is threaded with philosophical reflections on goodness and love, these never feel laboured or artificially imposed. Rather, they emerge naturally as an integral part of the novel’s dense and intricate tapestry.

Published: January 6, 2026, 2:33 pm

The Score by C Thi Nguyen review – a brilliant warning about the gamification of everyday life

From Duolingo to GDP, how an obsession with keeping score can subtly undermine human flourishing

Two years ago, I started learning Japanese on Duolingo. At first, the daily accrual of vocabulary was fun. Every lesson earned me experience points – a little reward that measured and reinforced my progress.

But something odd happened. Over time, my focus shifted. As I climbed the weekly leaderboards, I found myself favouring lessons that offered the most points for the least effort. Things came to a head when I passed an entire holiday glued to my phone, repeating the same 30-second Kanji lesson over and over like a pigeon pecking a lever, ignoring my family and learning nothing.

Published: January 6, 2026, 7:00 am

The 15 best Xbox Series S/X games to play in 2026

This now venerable hardware remains an ideal platform for classics such as Minecraft and daring experiments from the brightest new developers

Now surely approaching their twilight years, the Xbox Series S and X machines nevertheless still have plenty to offer both new and veteran owners. We have selected 15 titles that show the range of what’s on offer, from the biggest blockbusters to lesser known indie gems you may have missed. Whether you’re after tense psychological horror or wild escapism, it’s all here and more.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:00 am

The 15 best PS5 games to play in 2026

New mind-bending puzzlers, landmark RPGs and furry multiverse adventures await you as the PlayStation 5 enters its sixth year

Entering its sixth year, the PlayStation 5 has built up a formidable library of epic adventures, button-pummelling shooters and even the odd cutesy platformer. So whether you’ve owned the machine for years or only just entered the current console generation, here are 15 titles we think you should have in your PlayStation collection.

Published: January 6, 2026, 10:36 am

Kimmel on Trump’s whitewashing of January 6 anniversary: ‘Don’t give in to this revisionist history’

On the fifth anniversary of the January 6 riots, late-night hosts discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to rewrite history as ‘peaceful protests’

Late-night hosts observed the fifth anniversary of the January 6 insurrection and recapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s first day in a US court.

Published: January 7, 2026, 4:41 pm

UK and Ireland cinema takings on post-pandemic high as A Minecraft Movie tops 2025 box office

Video game spinoff was the highest-grossing film of the year at £56.88m as the sector continued its recovery after Covid

The UK and Irish box office has recorded its best annual performance since the Covid pandemic, with A Minecraft Movie ending 2025 as the highest-grossing film of the year.

Figures released by box-office analysts Comscore show that box office revenue in the UK and Ireland totalled £1.07bn, an increase of 1% on 2024’s total of £1.06bn. At the same time there was a slight decrease in the amount of films released: 1,092 in 2025, compared with 1,124 in 2024.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:46 pm

Putin as a Russian James Bond? Jude Law’s Vladimir film seems to have swallowed Kremlin myths | Natasha Kiseleva

In The Wizard of the Kremlin, Jude Law plays Russia’s president as a cool, reluctant leader, a strategist who got the job because he was young, athletic and a spy. This is a creation far removed from the man himself

Last year, speaking at the Venice film festival premiere of The Wizard of the Kremlin, based on a book about the rise of Vladimir Putin, actor Jude Law said he “didn’t fear any repercussions” over his portrayal of the Russian president. Law may be right, but not for the reason he thinks he is. The film aligns so closely with the mythologised version promoted by the Russian media that, domestically, it reads as a compliment rather than an affront.

The Kremlin and Russia’s pop-culture machine have long collaborated to craft a made-to-measure version of Putin that is far removed from the man himself: a political superhero without age or mistakes, a perfectly calculated strategist, a former spy reframed as a Russian James Bond who always knows more than he reveals.

Published: January 6, 2026, 3:26 pm

The strangest thing: is the future of cinema … not new movies?

Netflix’s big-screen release of the Stranger Things finale is estimated to have made over $25m at the US box office, the latest example of event cinema proving popular

It was a lucrative holiday period at the North American box office these past two weeks, with titles like Avatar: Fire and Ash, The Housemaid, Marty Supreme, Anaconda and Zootopia 2 bringing a welcome diversity of hit movies after an underwhelming fall. But during that period, the biggest single-day gross posted by any release wasn’t really a gross – or a movie. It was the series finale of the Netflix TV show Stranger Things.

Netflix made a deal to put the feature-length episode in theaters simultaneously with its streaming debut, and estimates put the numbers for the 24 hours’ worth of shows, beginning at 8pm on New Year’s Eve and continuing throughout New Year’s Day, around $25m. That’s bigger than any single day of Avatar: Fire and Ash after its opening weekend. In fact, if the Stranger Things release banked over $30m, as some estimated, that would make it the second-biggest 24 hours for any release in December, beaten only by Avatar 3’s opening day.

Published: January 6, 2026, 12:04 pm

Art could save your life! Five creative ways to make 2026 happier, healthier and more hopeful

Engaging in creativity can reduce depression, improve immunity and delay ageing – all while you’re having fun

For some reason, we have collectively agreed that new year is the time to reinvent ourselves. The problem, for many people, is that we’ve tried all the usual health kicks – running, yoga, meditation, the latest diets – even if we haven’t really enjoyed them, in a bid to improve our minds and bodies. But have any of us given as much thought to creativity? Allow me to suggest that this year be a time to embrace the arts.

Ever since our Paleolithic ancestors began painting caves, carving figurines, dancing and singing, engaging in the arts has been interwoven with health and healing. Look through the early writings of every major medical tradition around the world and you find the arts. What is much newer – and rapidly accelerating over the past two decades – is a blossoming scientific evidence-base identifying and quantifying exactly what the health benefits of the arts are.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:00 am

A moment that changed me: in the bombed-out ruins of an apartment block, I saw a book I’d translated

The sight of my work, torn and singed but still legible, made me realise the importance of translating and protecting stories – so they remain when everything else falls away

In the rubble of a collapsed apartment block, a single image stayed with me: a book I had translated from English to Persian, lying half-buried in dust and ash. Its cover was torn and smudged, its pages curled and singed, but it was still legible. Still speaking.

Two days earlier, on 13 June 2025, missiles from Israel began striking Tehran. There were no sirens, just sudden, violent blasts. The internet was completely cut off. I was in my apartment, translating Jhumpa Lahiri’s Translating Myself and Others – a book about what it means to transport words across languages, and the ethics and anxieties of inhabiting another’s voice. As buildings fell, I sat editing a text that argued, in its quiet way, for the endurance of meaning.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:55 am

I have frequent nosebleeds. What causes them and are they normal?

Though most nosebleeds are mild and benign, they shouldn’t happen. Experts weigh in on when to see a doctor

If you frequently experience nosebleeds, you might come to regard them as nothing more than a messy inconvenience.

Yet, even though most nosebleeds are mild and benign, they should not happen “if everything inside the nose is healthy”, says Dr Patricia Loftus, an otolaryngologist at the University of California, San Francisco.

Published: January 6, 2026, 5:00 pm

How to actually reduce your screen time this year: 15 expert tips

If you want to doomscroll less this year, try these realistic tips from screen-time coaches

• Simple daily rituals for building fun, calm and play into your days in 2026

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I wish time travel were real. If it were, I’d go back to 2006 – the year before the release of the first iPhone. A time when doomscrolling didn’t exist, and the thought of a phone call didn’t cause me a rush of anxiety.

Many Americans agree. On social media, some are already labeling 2026 “the age of analog”, swapping Spotify for a record player and a smartphone lens for a film camera.

Published: January 6, 2026, 8:46 pm

Full-blown agony: my battle against the mysterious pain of cluster headaches

They can hurt more than broken bones or pancreatitis. But with the right drugs and therapies, relief is possible from this debilitating and often misunderstood condition

It was a dreary Monday morning in September 2016, and I was working as a teacher, trying to settle a new year 7 class, when a sharp pain bloomed behind my right eye. It was followed by quick jolts, like electric shocks. As each class came and went, the pain eased and then returned with greater intensity. Four times that day I left a teaching assistant with worksheets and ran to the school bathroom to douse my face with cold water. I took ibuprofen, paracetamol, aspirin, but the pain remained unbearable.

The headaches appeared repeatedly that autumn, and again in spring, and soon formed an annual pattern. September and October were the worst, then February and March. I could predict the routine: aura in the shower, early twinges on the train, full-blown agony in class by 9.30am. In late 2019, a GP finally referred me to a neurologist and I was diagnosed with cluster headaches.

Published: January 6, 2026, 10:00 am

Share your health and fitness questions for Devi Sridhar, Mariella Frostrup, and Joel Snape

Whether your question is about exercise, eating, or general wellness, post it below and we’ll put a selection to our panel on the night

There’s no bad time to take a more active interest in your health, but the new year, for lots of us, feels like a fresh start. Maybe you’re planning to sign up for a 10k or finally have a go at bouldering, eat a bit better or learn to swing a kettlebell. Maybe you want to keep up with your grandkids — or just be a little bit more physically prepared for whatever life throws at you.

To help things along, Guardian Live invites you to a special event with public health expert Devi Sridhar, journalist and author Mariella Frostrup, and health and fitness columnist Joel Snape. They’ll be joining the Guardian’s Today in Focus presenter Annie Kelly to discuss simple, actionable ways to stay fit and healthy as you move through the second half of life: whether that means staying strong and mobile or stressing less and sleeping better.

Published: January 7, 2026, 11:35 am

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: like a superhero cloak, a white shirt gives you formidable power

They don’t have to be expensive, they go with everything and they boost confidence – if you get the styling right

The eternal appeal of the white shirt is not just that it goes with anything, although it does. And not only that it can take you anywhere, although it can. It is not even that it never goes out of style, or that good quality versions are accessible at real-world prices, although those are true also.

A white shirt is self-confidence. It stands for it, and it brings it, and that’s the real secret. It is a superhero cloak that bestows you with this formidable power. Self-confidence is not as snazzy as the ability to fly or live for ever, but arguably it’s more practical. I don’t know why or how it works, but it doesn’t matter, because if you feel confident then you are confident. Faking it and making it are one and the same here.

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:00 pm

Sali Hughes on beauty: why lactic acid is your ultimate skincare hero

Exfoliating, plumping and hydrating, the best products will leave your skin glowing without costing a fortune

Lactic acid – always the bridesmaid for the more hyped glycolic acid – is my first choice of alpha hydroxy acid for all manner of reasons. It exfoliates without stripping or stinging (its bigger molecule size makes it particularly well tolerated by even sensitive skins), can stimulate collagen and ceramide production to firm, plump and protect mature skins, has antibacterial properties for more problematic ones, and binds with water to keep every type more hydrated. Lactic also imparts an unmistakable glow to the complexion and deflakes rough areas brilliantly.

I’ve always loved it, but have rarely been so spoilt for choice. Beauty Pie’s new Youthbomb Extreme Retinal Triple Renewal Serum (£49 to members) is their best formula in some time, which goes some way to justify its high (for Beauty Pie) price point.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:00 am

How to turn excess hard veg into fridge-raid sauerkraut – recipe | Waste not

An easy and ingenious way to use up odd bits and pieces of root veg

The dry-salting fermentation method used to make sauerkraut works brilliantly on almost any firm vegetable, so you can happily explore beyond the traditional cabbage. I had a couple of carrots and a piece of squash that needed saving, so I turned them into a golden kraut with ginger, turmeric and a little orange zest for brightness. Use whatever you have to hand and let the ingredients lead your creativity.

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:00 pm

Chickpea stew and lentil soup: Imad Alarnab’s recipes for Syrian comfort food

A warm, silky soup and a nourishing and flavourful stew to help get you through the colder weather

bowl of creamy red lentil soup feels like pure comfort – warm, silky and deeply satisfying. The lentils cook down into a smooth, golden blend, their gentle sweetness enriched by sauteed onions, garlic and a touch of spice. A drizzle of dukkah oil brightens things up, making it perfect for January. Then, a Levantine chickpea stew with aubergine and tahini, which is so nourishing and full of flavour. Tender chickpeas simmer slowly in a rich tomato base until they absorb the sweetness of onions, garlic, and the gentle warmth of cumin. Fried aubergine melts into the stew, and its smoky softness gives each spoonful a lush texture.

Published: January 7, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Yamagata is ramen’: Japan’s city of noodle fiends revels in ‘capital’ status

Noodle dish is nation’s favourite comfort food and source of civic pride – but it has health risks

The road to ramen paradise ends in the unlikeliest of places. At Men Endo, located in a suburban street, next to a school and a low-rise apartment block, bowls of noodles disappear in a flurry of slurps, gulps and hurried but heartfelt exchanges of appreciation between customer and chef.

On a cold afternoon in Yamagata, a city in Japan’s northeast, the wait for a seat at Men Endo’s counter is mercifully short. Inside the door, a ticket dispenser lists myriad options, from regular shoyu (soy sauce) ramen – in small, medium or large portions – to maji soba, a soupless symphony of toppings, sauce and noodles that diners are invited to mix together with their chopsticks, along with a spoonful of spicy miso.

Published: January 7, 2026, 5:00 am

What can I use in vegetarian curries instead of coconut milk? | Kitchen aide

Top tips from a roster of experienced curry-makers, from adding a dollop of yoghurt to experimenting with pastes

I want to make more vegetarian curries, but most call for a tin of coconut milk and I’m trying to cut down on saturated fats. What can I use instead?
Jill, via email
Coconut milk brings silkiness and sweet richness to curries, and also mellows spices, so any substitute will likely change the nature of the dish. That said, if you really want to avoid the white stuff, Karan Gokani, author of Indian 101, would simply replace it with vegetable stock. Another easy swap (if you’re not averse to dairy) is yoghurt, says John Chantarasak, chef and co-owner of AngloThai in London, which is handy, because “that’s normally hanging about in the fridge”.

Not all curries involve coconut milk, however, and it’s these that perhaps offer a better solution to Jill’s conundrum. “Once you get past that idea, you go into two realms,” says Sirichai Kularbwong of Thai restaurant Singburi in London, by which he means wet and dry curries. The latter involve frying curry paste (“usually containing dried chillies”) and seasoning with fish sauce (“in Jill’s case, a vegan fish sauce”), tamarind and sugar. “The consistency of the sauce is never thin, and you pair it with root vegetables and flat beans, and eat alongside rice,” he adds. Meanwhile, a favourite wet curry that doesn’t call for coconut milk is gaeng om, made with “a simple curry paste of garlic, chillies and lemongrass boiled with good veg stock and seasoned with vegan fish sauce”. Veg-wise, to that base you’d typically add pumpkin, mushrooms, maybe pak choi.

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Published: January 6, 2026, 1:00 pm

January 6, five years on: sustained effort by Trump to rewrite history

President and Republican allies have tried to make sure the deadly attack on the Capitol has been erased from memory

Five years after the deadly attack on the US Capitol, Donald Trump and other Republicans have engaged in a near-complete effort to rewrite the history of the day and erase it from the collective American memory.

On his first day in office, Trump pardoned anyone involved in the attack, a move that affected about 1,500 people. His administration has paid $5m to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to breach doors near the House floor. Hundreds of other rioters are also seeking millions of dollars in compensation.

Published: January 6, 2026, 11:00 am

How a US takeover of Greenland would undermine Nato from within

The alliance has no provision for the previously unthinkable: one of its members turning on another

The idea that one Nato country could attack another – a US invasion of Greenland – is so alien that the most famous article in Nato’s founding treaty does not distinguish clearly what would happen if two of its members were at war.

Article 5, the cornerstone of mutual protection, dictates that “an armed attack against one or more” in Europe or North America shall be considered “an attack against them all”. Simple enough if the military threat comes from Russia, but more complicated when it comes from easily the alliance’s most powerful member.

Published: January 6, 2026, 4:44 pm

‘She was the brains, Maduro was the brawn’: Cilia Flores’s role in Venezuela

Flores, Nicolás Maduro’s wife, wielded far more power than just being a first lady and played a front line role in politics

Before pleading “not guilty” at her first court hearing after she and her husband, Nicolás Maduro, were captured by US special forces, Cilia Flores made a point of adding, in Spanish: “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”

But Maduro himself and others close to the couple agree that she was always far more than that. Before her rendition to New York, Flores wielded power comparable with – and at times greater than – that of other figures from the regime, including Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice-president who is now the country’s acting leader.

Published: January 6, 2026, 2:06 pm

People living in the US: what do you think about Donald Trump’s threat to take control of Greenland?

What is your reaction to Trump’s territorial ambitions?

Donald Trump has renewed his calls for the US to take control of Greenland. It comes after the removal of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday.

We would like to hear what people in the United States think about Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and his latest threat to take control of Greenland. We’re particularly interested to hear from people who voted for or previously supported the Trump administration. What is your reaction to his territorial ambitions?

Published: January 7, 2026, 2:57 pm

People from Venezuela and neighbouring countries: share your reaction to US raid

We’d like to hear from people in Venezuela, as well as from neighbouring countries mentioned by the Trump administration, about how they are responding to recent US actions

As Donald Trump prepares to make his first public appearance since Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in a US court and pleaded not guilty to all charges, there is growing international concern over the shock US military operation in Venezuela, which the UN human rights office has said undermined a fundamental principle of international law.

We would like to hear from Venezuelans, both in the country and abroad, about how you are feeling in the wake of these events – either positively or negatively – and what concerns or hopes you have for Venezuela’s future. You might want to share how this is affecting you personally, your family, or people you know on the ground.

Published: January 7, 2026, 10:22 am

Elvis fans, carnival and Orthodox Christmas: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Published: January 7, 2026, 1:46 pm