Does it even need to be said? No, you don’t need to do a ‘parasite cleanse’

Pricey deworming remedies are being touted as cure-alls. Supermodel Heidi Klum gave it a go – experts roll their eyes

Last August, supermodel Heidi Klum revealed that she and her husband, Tom Kaulitz, were planning a worm and parasite cleanse.

“Everything on my Instagram feed at the moment is about worms and parasites,” she told the Wall Street Journal, ominously adding: “I don’t know what the heck is going to come out.”

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

Trump made 10 key pledges a year ago – here’s what happened since then

A review of Trump’s bold promises about immigration, the economy, the US’s standing in the world and much more

There was no debate about record crowd sizes this time. With the temperature plunging to 27F (-3C) and a wind chill making it feel far colder, Donald Trump’s second inauguration was held in the rotunda at the US Capitol in Washington on 20 January 2025.

The great and the good of the political elite were there, including former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama and outgoing president Joe Biden. So were tech oligarchs such as Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. At 12.10pm, they listened intently as Trump began a half-hour-long inaugural address.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:00 am

As Trump menaces Greenland, this much is clear: the free world needs a new plan – and inspired leadership | Gordon Brown

The idea that the liberal rules-based order can survive his presidency now seems complacent. This is a historic moment – and a time to act

A European-wide chorus of resistance, led this morning by Keir Starmer, has greeted Donald Trump’s plan to take over Greenland, by force if necessary, and to start a tariff war if any country stands in his way. Have no doubt, this is a moment: if pursued as a non-negotiable demand, Trump’s plan ends any lingering hope that the liberal rules-based order can stumble on through his remaining time in office. The real question now is whether the 2020s will be defined by the complete collapse of the order’s already crumbling pillars and the atrocities accompanying it, or whether an international coalition of the willing can come together to build a new global framework in its place.

For, in quick succession, the US has abandoned its longstanding championing of the rule of law, human rights, democracy and the territorial integrity of nation states. Gone is its erstwhile support for humanitarian aid and environmental stewardship. Gone, too, is the founding principle of the postwar settlement: that countries choose diplomacy and multilateral cooperation over aggression and unilateral action. We cannot doubt any longer that the president meant it when he said he doesn’t “need international law”, and that the only constraint on his exercise of power would be “my own morality, my own mind”.

Gordon Brown is the UN’s special envoy for global education and was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010

Published: January 20, 2026, 6:00 am

Hilary Duff review – first gig in 18 years for former teen icon is euphoric, escapist fun

Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
Despite never being a huge pop force after her years as Disney star Lizzie McGuire, fans come from Brazil and Saudi Arabia for Duff’s charming, self-deprecating return

It’s fair to say that US actor-singer-writer-entrepreneur Hilary Duff has never been a force to be reckoned with in pop music. Her songs and albums have neither been particularly critically acclaimed nor commercially dominant; many people would know her only as Lizzie McGuire, hero of the Disney Channel sitcom from the early 00s. But for the 38-year-old Duff’s first live performance in 18 years, she’s met with a sold-out crowd screaming back every word of her music like they are all universally adored hits. Duff seems overwhelmed by the rapturous reception. Fans have come from Brazil, Saudi Arabia and all over Europe, and they are often so loud you can’t hear the woman on stage.

But after the shock wears off, Duff shows no signs of rust and her fierce sincerity combined with girl next door charm infuses the night with euphoria and escapism. When she jumps up and down on the stage’s sofa singing Why Not, you get the sense that this is how everyone in the crowd once sang the song in their adolescence. She’s also not afraid to poke fun at herself and her past: she brings three fans on stage to recreate the low-energy dance choreography of her 2007 single With Love that went viral on TikTok in 2021.

The 17-song set expertly sprinkles five new numbers from forthcoming album Luck … Or Something in between fan favourites such as 2015’s criminally underrated Sparks and 2003’s So Yesterday to keep the mood elevated. Time has made Duff’s voice more textured and refined, adding new depth to songs like Fly and Come Clean, though the twee Someone’s Watching Over Me, a ballad about self-acceptance, is cloying.

The biggest noise of the night comes with the one-two encore of her new single Mature and the Lizzie McGuire classic What Dreams Are Made Of. A wild singalong ensues complete with pink butterfly confetti as a giddy Duff jumps for joy on stage. It’s an emotional conclusion that takes this devoted crowd to new levels of noisy rapture and proves that Duff could easily put music at the centre of her portfolio career.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:32 am

‘I’d give anything just to see her again’: owners’ grief for their beloved pets

As a study says a pet death can hurt as much as that of a relative, three people describe their emotions

Grief over the death of a pet could be as chronic as that for a human family member, according to research. The study, published in the academic journal PLOS One, suggests grieving pet owners can suffer from prolonged grief disorder (PGD).

PGD is a mental health condition that can last months or even years, and often involves intense longing and despair, and problems socialising and going about daily tasks. Currently, only those grieving the loss of a person can be diagnosed.

Published: January 20, 2026, 6:00 am

It’s a Brooklyn v Beckham Inc disaster: what happens when the elephant in the room goes rogue | Marina Hyde

Sir David and Victoria cornered the market in selling their family’s privacy for money – but there was a price to pay, and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham has just sent them the bill

The way 2026 has started, none of us wants to see the word “nuclear” in a headline, so on some level you have to feel glad that last night’s news alerts announcing in real time that someone “goes nuclear” and “launches nuclear attack” related to Brooklyn Peltz Beckham. At time of writing, the story about his Instagram broadside against his parents, David and Victoria Beckham, accusing them of treating him as a commercial prop all his life was by far, far and away the best read on the Guardian site, as well as the most deeply read. Again, I’m glad this blow-up wasn’t used as geopolitical cover, because if there was a time for Trump to invade Greenland largely unnoticed, maybe this was it.

Whoever wrote Brooklyn’s intercontinental ballistic Instagram – and it wasn’t the childlike authorial voice behind regular “I always choose you baby … me and you forever baby” posts to his wife – the sentiments will be his. Here’s a sample: “My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first. Family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp …”

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

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

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:35 am

Macron warns against ‘new colonial approach’ after Trump says ‘no going back’ on Greenland – Europe live

French president says ‘we prefer respect over bullies’ after leak of his text exchange with Trump

And Davos looks like the place to be this week, with Trump now declaring that after his call with Nato’s Rutte he will have “a meeting of the various parties” on Greenland – whatever that means and whoever is going to be involved.

Separately, it’s not clear if Macron’s offer of setting up a G7 meeting on the sidelines was accepted (although looking at timings it would risk clashing with the emergency EU summit on Thursday night), but his separate invitation to a dinner at the Élysée Palace might be gone after Trump’s very pointed and personal criticism of the French president.

Attacked the UK, mockingly calling it a “brilliant” ally, for “shocking” plan to hand over sovereignity of the Chagos islands to Mauritius (despite previous US support), saying it’s among a “long line” of reasons why Greenland “has to be acquired”

Leaked private text messages from France’s Emmanuel Macron and Nato’s Mark Rutte discussing his latest policy moves

Threatened France with 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over Macron’s refusal to join the Gaza “board of peace”, said of Macron that “nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon”

Reiterated his intention of taking over Greenland as “imperative for national and world security,” saying “there can be no going back”

Posted an AI generated visual of himself planting the US flag on Greenland, saying it’s “US territory, est. 2026,” days after the US delegation agreed with Danish foreign minister for talks to be conducted behind closed doors, and not through threatening messages on social media.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:46 pm

Economic blackout day planned in Minnesota to protest ICE surge

Unions, faith groups and local leaders urge residents not to work, shop or go to school after killing of Renee Good

Labor unions, community leaders and faith groups are calling for an economic blackout in Minnesota on Friday to protest the surge of federal immigration agents in the state and mourn Renee Good.

Organizers are urging Minnesotans not to work, shop or go to school. The Trump administration has dispatched some 3,000 federal agents to the state, in what it claims amounts to its largest enforcement operation thus far, amid a broader crackdown on immigration.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Huge amounts of extra land needed for RFK Jr’s meat-heavy diet guidelines

Even 25% increase in meat and dairy consumption would require 100m more acres of agricultural land, analysis says

The Trump administration’s new dietary guidelines urging Americans to eat far more meat and dairy products will, if followed, come at a major cost to the planet via huge swathes of habitat razed for farmland and millions of tons of extra planet-heating emissions.

A new inverted food pyramid recently released by Donald Trump’s health department emphasizes pictures of steak, poultry, ground beef and whole milk, alongside fruits and vegetables, as the most important foods to eat.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:30 pm

US supreme court set to release more rulings as Trump tariffs decision looms – live

Unclear if court will publish much-anticipated ruling on the legality of Trump’s tariffs as US president doubles down on Greenland threats

In other news, a federal judge has refused to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a new policy requiring a week’s notice before members of Congress can visit – and thereby inspect – immigration detention facilities.

Judge Jia M. Cobb of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t violate an earlier court order when it reimposed a seven-day notice requirement for congressional oversight visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities (you can read her judgment here).

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:31 pm

Davos: Ursula von der Leyen says tariffs over Greenland would be a mistake, and promises ‘unflinching’ response from Europe – business live

Rolling coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where European Commission president says Europe must respond to geopolitical shocks

• Full report: Trump tariffs over Greenland are an error, says Ursula von der Leyen

Scott Bessent then denies that European Union countries, and the UK, could exercise the “nuclear option” over the Greenland crisis, and dump their holdings of US Treasuries.

Asked how the Treasury Department, and the White House, would prepare for this, Bessent insists it is a “completely false narrative”, and claims the media are “hysterical” over the issue.

I would say this is the same kind of hysteria that we heard on April 2nd. There was a panic.

What I am urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out.

What president Trump is threatening on Greenland is very different than the other trade deals. So I would urge all countries to stick with their trade deals.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:48 pm

More than 100 vehicles involved in Michigan crash as snowstorm moves across US

Driver said he could barely see the cars in front of him and heard ‘bangs and booms’ behind him

More than 100 vehicles smashed into each other or slid off the interstate in Michigan on Monday as snow fueled by the Great Lakes blanketed the state.

The massive pileup prompted the Michigan state police to close both directions of Interstate 196 just south-west of Grand Rapids on Monday morning while officials worked to remove all the vehicles, including more than 30 semitrailer trucks. The state police said there were numerous injuries, but no deaths had been reported.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:52 pm

Netflix sweetens Warner Bros bid with all-cash offer to block Paramount

Streaming company says proposal speeds up completion and allows WBD investors to vote as soon as April

Netflix has sweetened its $82.7bn (£61.5bn) offer for the studios and streaming businesses of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) by making it an all-cash deal, streamlining its potential completion in the face of a hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.

The streaming company had originally secured the unanimous backing of the WBD board last month with a cash-and-shares proposal that valued the business at $27.75 a share.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:35 pm

Police search for suspect in the shooting of Indiana judge and his wife

Steven Meyer suffered an injury to his arm and Kimberly Meyer had a hip injury from the attack, authorities said

An Indiana state court judge and his wife were in stable condition Monday as authorities continued to search for suspects who shot the couple the day before at their Lafayette home.

Steven Meyer, a Tippecanoe superior court judge, suffered an injury to his arm and his wife – Kimberly Meyer – had a hip injury from the attack, authorities said.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:18 pm

‘Make America Go Away’: spoof Maga caps soar in popularity amid Greenland crisis

Red caps are becoming a symbol of protest in Denmark as Donald Trump ratchets up the pressure on Greenland

Red baseball caps spoofing Donald Trump’s Maga hats have become a symbol of Danish and Greenlandic defiance against the US president’s threat to seize the frozen territory.

The caps reading “Make America Go Away” – parodying Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – have gained popularity, along with several variants on social media and at public protests, including a weekend demonstration held in freezing weather in Copenhagen.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:16 am

How Trump has tried to undermine the powers of Congress: ‘Violation of norms’

Over his second term, Trump has taken aim at and circumvented the legislative branch – from mass firings to tariffs

Frigid January weather prompted Donald Trump’s second inauguration to be held in the rotunda of the US Capitol, an iconic room ringed by busts of former presidents that lies at the heart of Congress.

Almost immediately after departing the Capitol, Trump took aim at the legislative branch, moving to siphon from lawmakers the powers to control spending, agencies and declaring war, and take them for himself, experts say.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘2020 never ended’: Minneapolis organizes amid Trump’s ICE crackdown

From community watch to mutual aid, grassroots networks in the Twin Cities build on efforts spurred during the 2020 George Floyd protests

• People in Minneapolis and St Paul: what is life like in the Twin Cities right now?

Steps from a Minneapolis police department precinct that burned during 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, Jamie Schwesnedl climbed into his SUV and plugged his phone into the console. He was beginning his afternoon shift watching for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the neighborhood. Through his car’s speakers, community members gave updates about the location of federal agents nearby.

Schwesnedl is one of thousands of residents in the Twin Cities who have joined neighborhood-level rapid response groups in an attempt to disrupt ICE operations in the city. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis to carry out the Trump administration’s “largest operation to date” targeting immigrants.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

‘The scene was terrifying’: how the ‘quad hero of Adamuz’ led train crash victims to safety

Gonzalo Sánchez, armed with tools and a quad bike, ferried rescuers and victims after collision near Córdoba

A lottery ticket seller in southern Spain has been hailed as a hero after he spent some six hours ferrying rescuers and victims around on his quad bike after the train collision that killed at least 41 people and injured dozens of others.

Gonzalo Sánchez, 43, was at home in the small town of Adamuz when the town’s Whatsapp group alerted to reports of a train that had derailed nearby.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:36 pm

‘Just not monetizable’: humanities programs face existential crisis at US universities

Fears over the future of humanities spread amid layoffs and restructurings at scores of public and private universities

Last month, students at Montclair State University in New Jersey held a mock funeral outside the university’s college of humanities and social sciences building. Carrying bouquets of flowers, they stood by a tombstone inscribed with the names of the school’s 15 departments, including English, history and sociology.

“We are gathered here today, in front of the humble home of CHSS, Dickson Hall, to mourn the death of the social sciences and humanities at the hands of the MSU administration,” Miranda Kawiecki, a junior at the college and one of the protest’s organizers, read from a written eulogy. “I coordinated this demonstration because I have dreams that cannot be monetized. I have a problem with our society that cannot be solved with an algorithm. I have words to write and say that cannot be generated artificially.”

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:00 pm

Looking for Miracle: why have so many dugongs gone missing from Thailand’s shores?

The Andaman coast was one of very few places in the world with a viable population but then dead dugongs began washing up. Now half have gone

A solitary figure stands on the shore of Thailand’s Tang Khen Bay. The tide is slowly rising over the expanse of sandy beach, but the man does not seem to notice. His eyes are not fixed on the sea, but on the small screen clutched between his hands.

About 600 metres offshore, past the shadowy fringe of coral reef, his drone hovers over the murky sea, focused on a whirling grey shape: Miracle, the local dugong, is back.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:03 am

Out of the ruins: will Aleppo ever be rebuilt?

Years of civil war have turned whole areas of the city into rows of empty husks. But after the fall of Assad, Syrians have returned to their old homes determined to rebuild

The kebab stall stood in the shadow of a building whose three upper floors had been sheared in half, leaving behind concrete slabs that seemed to hang in mid-air. Under a tarpaulin, its edges weighted with cinder blocks, stood a thin man with a thick white beard. Smiling, he stoked the fire in a narrow grill. Walking back and forth to a table set atop a wheelbarrow, he tenderly inspected a dish laid out with tomatoes, greens and a few skewers of meat. A torn mat covered the floor, while a plastic ice box and a few more cinder blocks provided seating for the customers who were yet to appear.

The streets were largely deserted here in Amiriya, a dilapidated suburb of Aleppo that once formed the frontline between the rebel-held enclave and government-controlled areas. But there were a few signs of life: children hopping on and off a rusty motorcycle, a woman selling cigarettes and water from a shack, a young man digging through the rubble with his hands, pulling out pieces of limestone and stacking them in a neat pile to use later in rebuilding his own house. “They are much better than the new ones,” he told me.

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:00 am

Release the beast! How Iron Maiden and a naked Ralph Fiennes created the ultimate big-screen needle drop

The Number of the Beast lights up an unforgettable scene in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple thanks to director Nia DaCosta expertly blending ‘craziness and romance’

There were laughs of surprise around me in screen three of the Everyman in Muswell Hill, north London, as 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple drew to its conclusion. Without giving too much away for those who haven’t seen it, Ralph Fiennes dancing semi-naked among piles of human bones to Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast is not how you expect one of our greatest thespians to deport himself on screen.

“Alex Garland chose that song,” says the film’s director, Nia DaCosta. “He wrote it into the script. And you can’t get better than that in a film about satanists.”

Published: January 20, 2026, 8:30 am

Valentino obituary

Italian fashion designer who dressed some of the world’s most photographed women in glamorous, show-stopping gowns

After Valentino Garavani retired in 2008 from a fashion world in which the meaning of luxury had changed, his half-century of couture creation was marked with exhibitions.

The one at Somerset House in London in 2012, Valentino: Master of Couture, displayed more than a hundred of his outfits within close peering range, each with a card bearing the name of the woman – royal, diva, star, social leader – for whom it had been created.

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

The truth about health patches: can they really treat stress, spots and lost libido?

For three weeks, I wore stickers on my skin supposed to address all sorts of conditions. Are they a panacea, problem or performance?

This morning, I woke up feeling a little groggy. My go-to remedy is usually a coffee and cold-water face plunge, followed by a compulsive phone scroll. But today called for something more, so I unpeeled a small, yellow “energy” patch the size of a walnut, popped it on to my upper arm and hoped for the best.

The patch (£12 for 30) contains – so the packaging says – vitamins B5, B3 and a “microdose” of caffeine. It is made by Kind Patches, which is one brand in an increasingly crowded market of wellness stickers that claim to treat everything from lack of sleep to period pains to pimples. They are coin-sized, and often come in TikTok-friendly shades of sunflower yellow and peachy orange: you may have seen a teenager sporting a star-shaped one on their face to treat spots, or influencers patting blue magnesium ones on their wrists before bed.

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:00 am

‘It felt celebratory’: Portrait of Britain winners – in pictures

From charity workers to synchronised swimmers via a young lad having tea with his nan, these people all inspired award-winning photographs

Published: January 20, 2026, 7:00 am

Afraid of dying alone? How a Chinese app exposed single people’s deepest, darkest fears

In China, marriage and birth rates have hit record lows and many people are living in isolation. Is the Are You Dead? app just a practical response to this – or something more troubling?

A few days before Christmas, after a short battle with illness, a woman in Shanghai called Jiang Ting died. For years, the 46-year-old had lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Hongkou, a residential neighbourhood that sits along the Huangpu River. Neighbours described her as quiet. “She rarely chats with people. We only see her when she goes to and from work, and occasionally when she comes out to pick up takeout,” said a local resident interviewed by a Chinese reporter. Her parents long deceased, Jiang had no partner or children to inherit her estate. Her lonely death sparked a debate in Chinese media about how society should handle the increasing number of people dying with no next of kin.

For Xiong Sisi, also a professional in her 40s living alone in Shanghai, the news triggered uncomfortable feelings. “I truly worry that, after I die, no one will collect my body. I don’t care how I’m buried, but if I rot there, it’s bad for the house,” she says.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:00 am

I am in Iran watching the protests and desperate for change. But I don’t believe the regime will fall | Anonymous

I wish I were wrong, but all I see is a paranoid state digging in

Iran is caught in yet another round of widespread civil unrest. These lines are written amid an internet blackout and I didn’t know if I’d be able to send them out. Ever since the 2009 post-election uprising, sporadic outbursts of public anger have become somewhat the order of the day, mostly silenced – brutally for a while – only to fester and uncork again on another occasion.

The street protest is not the sole medium through which opposition has tried to convey its dissent. Iranians have tried everything – be it the very narrow and funnelled channel of elections between the limited choices offered by the state, or on social media, in universities and at public events. The demand for meaningful change is repeated through different means, again and again, yet to no avail. Ever since the 2000s, the Iranian state heeds little in the way of democratic demands. And when there has been a narrow crack in the state bulwark, the likes of Donald Trump – by the reimposition of sanctions and violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – sabotaged and derailed civil attempts at reforming the Islamic republic.

The writer lives in Iran

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Published: January 20, 2026, 12:09 pm

Why are saunas suddenly everywhere? I think it’s to do with booze | Zoe Williams

People are serious about wanting to see each other without getting drunk – and they could be on to something

Obviously I’m familiar with the concept of the sauna, because I’ve been to Iceland, where most socialising seems to entail either being unbearably cold or way too hot, but never until 2026 have I been required to engage with it at the coal face, which is to say, go to one. I thought that if anyone went, it was because they had a medical condition. This turns out not to be true, and suddenly saunas are huge. One friend has a sauna club. Another friend has opened a sauna. Even though I’m still nowhere near understanding the point, I went along because what else could I do? I’m a joiner.

These are the rules: even though you’re sitting really close to people, motionless, with nothing to look at or read or do, nothing standing between you and your own thoughts, you are still not allowed to interrogate others about why they’re there or even the basics – how they know each other, if they’re in love, whether they had a nice day.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

Ice hockey and then some: Heated Rivalry is a worldwide hit – and no one is happier about it than us Canadians | Sue Carter

In a country plagued by underdog status and a sport fraught with a history of racism, misogyny and homophobia, this adaptation has reimagined what’s possible

I grew up in a hockey town where there was no escaping Canada’s beloved sport. Our suburban streets doubled as rinks; the choppy slap of tennis balls reverberating against hockey sticks a constant sound. As pre-teens, my friends and I would put on lip gloss and tight jeans to hang out at the Friday night junior hockey games. I still find comfort in the sound of skate blades slicing across ice and that sweaty, chemical odour of public arenas.

My experiences are not unique in a country with a 95-year-old broadcast institution called Hockey Night in Canada. Rachel Reid, the Nova Scotian author of the queer hockey romance Heated Rivalry, grew up a hockey fanatic, more interested in playing the game than ogling boys. Jacob Tierney, who wrote and directed the TV adaptation of Reid’s 2019 bestseller, was raised in Montreal, where the Canadiens (or the Habs, as the team is affectionately known) are considered sacred.

Sue Carter is a Toronto-based freelance writer and arts worker

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 20, 2026, 8:00 am

In Davos, the rich talk about ‘global threats’. Here’s why they’re silent about the biggest of them all | Ingrid Robeyns

Economic inequality is at the heart of all humanity’s major problems, but the wealthiest refuse to confront a system that benefits them

This week, hundreds of government leaders, heads of state, and business executives are gathering at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. They will be discussing solutions to the world’s biggest risks and problems.

But everything suggests that, once more, what will not be addressed at their meeting is the biggest threat to humanity and the planet: neoliberal capitalism.

Ingrid Robeyns is an economist and philosopher, and holds the chair in ethics of institutions at Utrecht University. Her most recent book is Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth

Published: January 19, 2026, 1:10 pm

Mendoza’s plunge helps seal first national football title for Indiana after perfect season

• Miami Hurricanes 21–27 Indiana Hoosiers

• Indiana go 16-0 for season to complete turnaround

• Heisman Trophy winner scores decisive touchdown

Fernando Mendoza bulldozed his way into the end zone and Indiana bullied their way into the history books on Monday night, toppling Miami 27-21 to put the finishing touch on a rags-to-riches story, an undefeated season and the national title.

The Heisman Trophy winner finished with 186 yards passing, but it was his tackle-breaking, sprawled-out 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-four with 9:18 left that defined this game – and the Hoosiers’ season.

Published: January 20, 2026, 4:36 am

Brahim Díaz’s nightmare miss shows dangers of trying to emulate Panenka

While the famous penalty technique is the ultimate act of showmanship, the cost of failure is too high to justify

Being too smart for your own good is usually drummed out of children before they leave school but sometimes people cannot help themselves. The Panenka penalty, successfully executed, offers the limited benefit of making a goalkeeper look silly and the taker a genius but Brahim Díaz is the latest to learn the cost of what happens when it goes wrong.

Díaz was given 15 minutes to consider what to do with his spot-kick after the ludicrous levels of drama in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Maybe this was his undoing: being able to ponder every option, from the rudimentary to the artistic, until deciding to replicate Antonin Panenka’s creation with what could, and should, have been the last kick of the tournament.

Published: January 20, 2026, 8:00 am

Madison Keys’ Australian Open title defence nearly falters as Ukrainian steals the show

Oleksandra Oliynykova made life hard for the American with a vicious concoction of drop shots, slices and moonballs up to the roof

Fans seated in the upper bowls of the vast Rod Laver Arena are long accustomed to watching tennis from a considerable distance away, but on Tuesday afternoon they enjoyed the rare sight of the tennis ball frequently rising as high as their seats.

That is the magic of Oleksandra Oliynykova, who made life hell for Madison Keys in the first match of the American’s Australian Open title defence with a vicious concoction of drop shots, slices and, most notably, moonballs that seemed to graze the stadium roof. Despite facing two set points in the opener, Keys showed her mental fortitude as she advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory.

Published: January 20, 2026, 6:23 am

Luke Donald to hold talks with Ryder Cup executives as he eyes third tilt at captaincy

• Donald in Dubai and to discuss Adare Manor in 2027

• Potential captain Justin Rose expected still to play

Luke Donald will hold talks with senior officials at the European Tour Group this week in Dubai, as the Englishman edges closer to a third stint as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain. While no announcement is imminent, there is a rising sense Donald will seek to make history by leading Europe to three Ryder Cup successes in a row.

Donald, who is in the field for this weekend’s Dubai Desert Classic, has taken time to consider his position since Europe retained the trophy at Bethpage in September. The former world No 1 had already been the captain when Europe prevailed in Rome two years earlier. “I think it’s Luke’s if he wants it,” said Shane Lowry, a key member of the European team. The next Ryder Cup takes place at Adare Manor next year.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:27 am

Dolphins hire Packers DC Jeff Hafley as Titans reportedly get 49ers’ Saleh

• Hafley replaces fired Mike McDaniel

• 49ers defensive coordinator heads to Tennessee

The Miami Dolphins hired former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as their coach on Monday, ending a swift search and tasking him with turning around a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in 25 years. Meanwhile, another coaching source is reportedly over with the Tennessee Titans hiring San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

Hafley replaces Mike McDaniel, who was fired earlier this month after going 35-33 in four seasons. The Dolphins also fired longtime general manager Chris Grier during the season. Saleh spent this season as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, his second stint in that job after spending three-plus seasons as coach of the New York Jets. He did not have a winning season with the Jets and was fired after a 2-3 start in 2024, going 20-36 overall. But the 46-year-old still had a strong reputation around the league and was a sought-after candidate in this busy coaching cycle.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:36 pm

Trinity Rodman and the HIP rule: USWNT stars going abroad may not be the worst thing

The benefit of national team players honing skills abroad is balanced by concerns over a weakened NWSL

The dust has yet to settle on Trinity Rodman’s club status, but the star USA forward’s near future has ignited an emphatic revival of an old debate on this side of the Atlantic.

How does the National Women’s Soccer League stack up against its top competitor leagues? At what point should the league be worried, if top USWNT talent trickles across the Atlantic? And what, if anything, can be done to stop the flow?

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:14 am

Dominik Szoboszlai reveals ‘no decision’ reached over new Liverpool contract

• Midfielder in talks to extend deal beyond summer 2028

• He denies error against Barnsley was show of disrepesct

Dominik Szoboszlai has confirmed talks are progressing over a new contract at Liverpool but “no decision” has been reached over his future.

The Hungary captain has been Liverpool’s standout performer this season and is under contract at the club until the summer of 2028. The Premier League champions are keen to reward the midfielder’s progress since he arrived in a £60m deal from RB Leipzig in July 2023 and consider him a potential future captain. The 25-year-old insists he would be happy to stay at Anfield with the caveat that there is always uncertainty in football.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:36 am

LeBron James misses out as NBA All-Star starter for first time in 22 years

• World team will play US teams in mini-tournament

• James could still make team as a reserve

The first-ever World team for the NBA All-Star Game already looks loaded. And the fate of LeBron James’ record streak of All-Star selections will now be decided by coaches, or perhaps even Commissioner Adam Silver.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokić, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Dončić and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama were among those announced Monday as starters – an inexact term this year – for next month’s All-Star Game at the Los Angeles Clippers’ home arena in Inglewood, California. They’re likely heading to the World team, which will take on two teams of US players as part of yet another new format for the midseason showcase.

The NBA announced 10 starters, five from each conference. Golden State’s Stephen Curry, New York’s Jalen Brunson, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and Boston’s Jaylen Brown all are presumably headed to the US squads that will play in the three-team, round-robin tournament on 15 February – all 12-minute mini-games, with the top two teams advancing to a 12-minute championship game.

Published: January 19, 2026, 8:16 pm

Thomas Frank insists ‘everything normal’ despite turmoil at Tottenham

• Manager has ‘been feeling the trust’ from club hierarchy

• Spurs hampered by injury crisis before visit of Dortmund

Thomas Frank has insisted the Tottenham hierarchy are standing with him in the face of the storm gripping the club.

The manager’s job is in the balance, his situation precarious after the home defeat against West Ham on Saturday. The Spurs support were so incensed by the result and the continuation of the team’s terrible Premier League form – they have won twice in their past 13 league matches – that they demanded Frank be “sacked in the morning”.

Published: January 19, 2026, 7:58 pm

UK should consider expelling US forces from British bases, says Zack Polanski

Exclusive: Green party leader advocates leaving Nato and says Britain should wean itself off its reliance on the US

The UK should consider expelling the US from British military bases, the leader of the Green party has said, as he advocated leaving Nato and spending less on American weapons as part of a wider dismantling of the two countries’ defence alliance.

Zack Polanski told the Guardian he believed Britain should wean itself off its reliance on American military cooperation, though would not say whether he supported spending more money to replace that capability.

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:00 am

Colombian ex-paramilitary leader jailed for crimes against Indigenous groups

Salvatore Mancuso given 40-year sentence, which could be reduced after truth and reparation activities

A Colombian court has sentenced a former paramilitary leader to 40 years in prison for crimes committed against Indigenous communities in the province of La Guajira, including homicides, forced disappearances and the displacement of people from 2002 to 2006.

The special tribunal that hears cases from the country’s armed conflict said in its ruling that Salvatore Mancuso was responsible for 117 crimes committed by fighters under his command in La Guajira. However, it added that Mancuso’s time in prison could be reduced to eight years, if he collaborated with truth and reparation activities that benefited victims of his former paramilitary group.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:12 pm

Men charged with contract killing of Indigenous leader to go on trial in Peru

Prosecution over death of Quinto Inuma Alvarado seen as test of ability to curb attacks on environmental defenders

Five men are due to go on trial on Tuesday over the killing of an Amazonian Indigenous leader, in a legal case that could test whether Peru can hold perpetrators accountable for violence linked to illegal logging and drug trafficking in one of the world’s most dangerous regions for environmental defenders.

The Kichwa tribal leader Quinto Inuma Alvarado was killed on 29 November 2023, after repeatedly denouncing illegal activity within his community’s territory.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Kim Jong-un fires vice-premier and likens him to ‘a goat yoked to an ox cart’

North Korean leader reportedly blames Yang Sung-ho for ‘confusion’ at factory project as major congress looms

The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has dismissed a vice-premier over troubles in a factory modernisation project, in an apparent move to tighten discipline among officials and push them to deliver greater results before a major political conference.

The upcoming ruling Workers’ party congress, the first of its kind in five years, is one of North Korea’s biggest propaganda spectacles and is intended to review past projects, establish new political and economic priorities and reshuffle officials.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:46 am

I do not want to reconcile with my family, says Brooklyn Peltz Beckham

Son of David and Victoria Beckham takes to Instagram to open up about feud with parents

A very public spat on social media captured global attention and filled the front pages on Tuesday with its grave consequences for a once close relationship.

No, not the US president Donald Trump slamming the UK for its “extreme stupidity” but this was Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, son of David and Victoria Beckham, apparently permanently cutting ties with his family.

Published: January 20, 2026, 8:46 am

Antarctic penguins have radically shifted their breeding season – seemingly in response to climate change

Changing temperatures may be behind change in behaviour, which experts fear threatens three species’ survival

Penguins in Antarctica have radically shifted their breeding season, apparently as a response to climate change, research has found.

Dramatic shifts in behaviour were revealed by a decade-long study led by Penguin Watch at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, with some penguins’ breeding period moving forward by more than three weeks.

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:01 am

Is your body really full of microplastics? – podcast

Studies detecting microplastics throughout human bodies have made for alarming reading in recent years. But last week, the Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, reported on major doubts among a group of scientists about how some of this research has been conducted.

Damian tells Ian Sample how he first heard about the concerns, why the scientists think the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives, and where it leaves the field. He also reflects on how we should now think about our exposure to microplastics

Clips: Vox, Detroit Local 4

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:00 am

Bill Gates charity trust’s holdings in fossil fuel firms rise despite divestment claims

Trust had $254m invested in companies such as Chevron, BP and Shell in 2024, a nine-year record, analysis shows

The Gates Foundation Trust holds hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuel extractors despite Bill Gates’ claims of divestment made in 2019.

End-of-year filings reveal that in 2024 the trust invested $254m in companies that extract fossil fuels such as Chevron, BP and Shell. This was a nine-year record and up 21% from 2016, Guardian analysis found. Adjusting for inflation, it was the highest amount since 2019.

Published: January 19, 2026, 2:00 pm

Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide

Study links rapid growth of ocean macroalgae to global heating and nutrient pollution

Scientists have warned of a potential “regime shift” in the oceans, as the rapid growth of huge mats of seaweed appears to be driven by global heating and excessive enrichment of waters from farming runoff and other pollutants.

Over the past two decades, seaweed blooms have expanded by a staggering 13.4% a year in the tropical Atlantic and western Pacific, with the most dramatic increases occurring after 2008, according to researchers at the University of South Florida.

Published: January 19, 2026, 10:00 am

‘The struggle continues’: MLK Day celebrated amid tense political climate

Holiday marked with parades and services but tempered by anxieties over racial and social equality under Trump

Martin Luther King Jr Day was marked with parades and services across the US on Monday. But the celebration for the achievements of the slain 60s civil rights leader was tempered by contemporary anxieties over racial and social equality and Trump administration’s crackdown in Minneapolis.

At a rally in Harlem, the Rev Al Sharpton referred to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.

Published: January 20, 2026, 12:30 am

Second man dies at Texas ICE detention facility in two weeks

Victor Manuel Diaz was found unresponsive at Camp East Montana in what ICE officials claim is ‘presumed suicide’

• Who is on the frontline of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown?

A second man being held at a US immigration detention facility in Texas has died in two weeks, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said on Monday.

Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, originally from Nicaragua, was found “unconscious and unresponsive in his room” on 14 January at the Camp East Montana detention facility in El Paso, ICE said in a press release.

Published: January 19, 2026, 9:07 pm

Noem backtracks on ICE pepper spray denial amid tension in Minneapolis

US justice department announced it is investigating protesters in Minnesota who disrupted church services

Kristi Noem first denied that federal agents were using chemical agents against protesters, then after being shown video footage turned to blaming the protesters themselves, as tensions continued to run high amid the Trump administration’s surge of federal officers into Minneapolis.

The head of homeland security, who has acted as spearhead for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in the city – known as “Operation Metro Surge” – told the CBS show Face the Nation on Sunday that her department had not used pepper spray against crowds.

Published: January 19, 2026, 4:42 pm

‘Gestapo tactics’: Bruce Springsteen condemns Trump team’s ICE crackdown

New Jersey musician said during concert in home state that US core values ‘have never been as endangered’ as now

Bruce Springsteen used a Saturday concert to decry what he called the “Gestapo tactics” of the Trump administration’s surge of immigration officers and said the country’s founding values “have never been as endangered as they are right now”.

While performing in his home state of New Jersey, Springsteen dedicated his 1978 song The Promised Land to Renee Good, the 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by an ICE officer in Minnesota.

Published: January 19, 2026, 4:18 pm

What are the Chagos Islands – and why is the UK returning them to Mauritius?

Donald Trump has called the plan to transfer sovereignty ‘stupid’ and linked it to his own push to acquire Greenland

• UK politics live – latest updates

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump has described the UK’s plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as “an act of great stupidity”. He claimed that it had made it all the more important for him to take Greenland from Denmark. Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, while critical of Trump over his threats of tariffs on European countries who oppose his territorial land grab, have been quick to lend Conservative and Reform support to the US president in his criticism of the UK-Mauritius treaty, which is now making its way through parliament.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

World is short of nearly a million midwives, report warns

Shortage raises rates of maternity intervention, while improving access to care could potentially save 4.3m lives a year, say experts

A global shortage of nearly a million midwives is leaving pregnant women without the basic care needed to prevent harm, including the deaths of mothers and babies, according to new research.

Almost half the shortage was in Africa, where nine in 10 women lived in a country without enough midwives, the researchers said.

Published: January 20, 2026, 7:00 am

Chinese tourists shun Japan in wake of Taiwan invasion row

Number of high-spending Chinese tourists visiting Japan halved last month after PM said an invasion of Taiwan could spark Japanese military involvement

Chinese tourism to Japan almost halved in December amid a bitter diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo over the security of Taiwan.

The number of tourists from mainland China dropped by about 45% from the same month a year earlier to about 330,000, Japan’s transport ministry said on Tuesday.

Published: January 20, 2026, 4:58 am

After four shark attacks in 48 hours, NSW authorities urge beachgoers ‘just go to a pool’

Surfer taken to hospital with minor injuries after latest shark attack at Point Plomer beach on mid-north coast

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A surfer has been taken to hospital after being bitten by a shark off the coast of New South Wales’ Limeburners Creek national park, the state’s fourth incident in 48 hours.

The local health district said the man, 39, was in hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries. The attack took place near the Point Plomer campground, less than 20km north of Port Macquarie, on Tuesday morning.

Published: January 20, 2026, 7:42 am

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms review – this is the Game of Thrones we all need now

The real world is way worse than Westeros – so why not let this heartwarming underdog tale of a simple soul and his ethereal squire be your safe space

‘Bless their little cotton socks!” is not a response one expects to have to any of the inhabitants of Westeros, the land of the bloody, violent, incestuous and often depraved series of Game of Thrones. But the endearing protagonists of the latest spin-off of the franchise, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, invite it.

Their names, as in the George RR Martin novellas on which the series is based, are Dunk – short for Ser Duncan the Tall – and Egg. Dunk (Peter Claffey, a suitably tall former Irish rugby union player, last seen in Bad Sisters) was squire to a hedge – non-noble – knight, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), who took the boy under his wing but never quite got round to knighting the man before dying. We first meet Dunk burying his mentor under an old elm tree and taking up his arms against the sea of troubles that are about to engulf him. Dunk is a simple soul (very simple, some might say – he may look like a medieval Jack Reacher, but inside he is more of an eager but baffled labrador) and sets out to find a lord he can himself serve as a hedge knight.

Published: January 19, 2026, 9:50 pm

Aryan Papers review – Holocaust-themed thriller means well but turns out to be a shockingly poor effort

We are in 1942 Stuttgart – though the sight of modern wheelie bins says otherwise – as a woman at a facility dedicated to breeding Aryan babies tries to smuggle two Jewish children to safety

This second world war-set drama should not be confused with a famous unrealised film project of similar name. That one is the Holocaust-themed feature based on the novel Wartime Lies by Louis Begley that Stanley Kubrick tinkered with for years before finally abandoning; Suspiria director Luca Guadagnino is now rumoured to be trying to get it off the ground. Like the Kubrick/Guadagnino, this Aryan Papers, written and directed by ultra-low-budget film-maker Danny Patrick (The Film Festival, The Irish Connection), takes its name from the Nazi-issued certificate, also known as the Ariernachweis, which people were compelled to carry during those dark times to prove they weren’t Jews, Roma or from another persecuted minority.

Apparently, Kubrick abandoned his Aryan Papers in part because he feared it wouldn’t do as well at the box office if it came out after Schindler’s List – just as Full Metal Jacket appeared to have been eclipsed by Platoon. Fortunately for Guadagnino, no matter if and when his Aryan Papers comes out, he will have little to worry about with regards to Patrick’s film, a work that with any luck will be forgotten by next week. Like the embarrassingly bad comedy The Film Festival (AKA The Worst Film Festival Ever), this is a shockingly poor effort on just about every level, from the inept, back-of-a-beer-mat script, the lazy use of obviously not-German, non-period-proofed locations (a modern plastic wheelie bin is visible in several shots), to the frankly insultingly bad acting throughout.

Published: January 20, 2026, 7:00 am

Cosmic Princess Kaguya! review – trippy anime adapted from Japanese folk dives into virtual reality popworld

Emojis explode all over the screen in this hyperactive adaptation of a Japanese folk tale about a princess who has run away from the moon

Never has a film been more deserving of an exclamation mark at the end of the title than this animation from Japan. Cosmic Princess Kaguya! is an adaptation of a Japanese folk tale, the story of a princess from the moon discovered inside a bamboo stalk in a poor rural village. A decade ago, Studio Ghibli adapted the tale into a gorgeously animated movie with a traditional, lovingly hand-painted feel. This film could not be more different, a trippy, high-energy, techno anime set in the near future, half of it in a virtual reality world – and TikTok-ifed with emojis and stickers exploding all over the screen.

It begins when a 17-year-old high school student called Iroha finds a baby girl inside a glowing lamppost (rather than the bamboo stalk of the original). Iroha (voiced by Dawn M Bennett in the English dub) is a sensible kid, a talented musician and grade-A student who has already moved out of the family home and is living alone, working all hours to pay the rent of her tiny studio flat. In any free time she does have, Iroha follows her idol, AI musical megastar Yachiyo, in a crazy, chaotic virtual reality world called Tsukuyomi.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

‘Kids referenced it as they asked for condoms’: the makers of cult hip-hop film House Party look back

‘I wanted Kid ’n Play but the studio said, “Who are these guys?” I replied, “They’ve got platinum records.” I had no idea if they did’

Black music videos weren’t played on MTV in the late 80s. So while I was still at Harvard, I’d make music videos in my head. One day, while listening to Bad Boy/Having a Party by Luther Vandross, I thought: “This could be a great music video or movie.” And I sat down that night and wrote a script for a short film that ended up not only being made but shown at festivals and becoming a big hit in the world of student films. Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It had piqued interest in up-and-coming black film-makers. New Line Cinema saw my short and brought me in for a meeting. I pitched an expanded version of my idea and they said: “Let’s do it.”

Published: January 19, 2026, 3:00 pm

‘Cinematic comfort food’: why Heat is my feelgood movie

The latest entry in our series of writers picking their most rewatched comfort films is a nostalgic trip back to 1995

I meet up at least once a year with a group of university friends. We pick a city, descend on it and then leave 48 hours later, often a little worse for wear. I would say about 60% of all communication on these trips is quotes from Michael Mann’s 1995 heist thriller, Heat. Screaming like Al Pacino’s coked-up Los Angeles police detective Vincent Hanna or calmly saying “I have a woman” like Robert De Niro’s robotic master thief Neil McCauley if any of my friends ask me about my wife.

The comedian and film-maker Stanley Sievers did a skit about a guy whose life is destroyed because his whole personality is the film Heat. I laughed along with that awkwardly, while considering just how many times I said “the action is the juice” the last time I met up with my friends.

Published: January 19, 2026, 10:00 am

Tim Travers and the Time Traveler’s Paradox review – space-hopping comedy asks the big question

Stimson Snead’s preposterous time-leaping indie starring multiple Samuel Dunnings is just about rescued by cameos from Keith David and Danny Trejo

For the sheer quantity of its gibbering, jabbering nonsense, this movie deserves some points. That, and the amusing cameo at the end from Keith David as the Simulator, AKA God, who explains to the awestruck mortals that God is an entirely free creator, rather like a self-published novelist, then grows irritated when the mortals think that being self-published is lame: “It’s not my fault if you don’t understand the industry!”

This is an exhausting indie romp on the subject of time travel, and sometimes plays like a funnier version of Shane Carruth’s time-travel classic Primer – well, slightly funnier. Samuel Dunning plays Tim Travers, a goateed scientist who has stolen nuclear materials from a terrorist group to power the time machine he has invented. He sends himself back one minute into the past with a gun to kill his younger self to investigate the time-traveller’s paradox: if he eliminates his one-minute younger self, then won’t he also disappear at that moment, popping like a soap bubble, because it means he can’t exist in the future? But given that he has to exist in the future to have set all this in motion, doesn’t it mean that this time-travelled self has to survive?

Published: January 19, 2026, 11:00 am

Is this man the future of music – or its executioner? AI evangelist Mikey Shulman says he’s making pop, not slop

Worth a staggering $2.45bn, Suno is an AI music company that can create a track with just a few prompts. Why is its CEO happy to see it called ‘the Ozempic of the music industry’?

‘The format of the future,” says Mikey Shulman, “is music you play with, not just play.” As the CEO and co-founder of the generative AI music company Suno, Shulman currently finds himself in the exhilarating if perhaps unenviable position of being simultaneously regarded as the architect of music’s future – and its executioner.

Suno, which was founded just over two years ago, allows users to create entire songs with just a few text prompts. At the moment, you can’t prompt it with the name of a specific pop star, but asking for “stadium-level confessional pop-country” that “references past relationships” or “public rivalries” might get you a Taylor Swift-style song or thereabouts.

Published: January 19, 2026, 4:30 pm

A novelty golf-ball finder that conned the military: best podcasts of the week

This unbelievable, Alice Levine-narrated true story sees governments fooled by a fake bomb detector. Plus, Peter Bradshaw’s darkly comic thriller about a charming nurse

Alice Levine narrates this scam story in customary wry fashion. We meet Steve, an ex-copper who helps his childhood best pal sell his cutting-edge bomb detector, only to end up with detectives arresting him. It’s a slickly produced tale of a con that fooled governments and militaries, with action flitting from questionable Hong Kong banks to the Iraqi airports in which it’s installed as a security measure – with potentially lethal consequences. Alexi Duggins
Widely available, episodes weekly

Published: January 19, 2026, 7:00 am

Cameo by Rob Doyle review – a fantasy of literary celebrity in the culture war era

In this larky autofiction, the ups and downs of creative life are cartoonishly dramatised as the writer becomes an action hero

Rob Doyle’s previous novel, Threshold, took the form of a blackly comic travelogue narrated by an Irish writer named Rob. In one episode before Rob becomes an author, we see him as a sexually pent-up teacher abroad, masturbating over an essay he’s marking. That the scene is an echo of one in Michel Houellebecq’s Atomised (once named by Doyle as the best book from the past 40 years) hardly lessens our discomfort, and it’s hard not to feel that our unease is precisely the point. “Frankly, a lot of my life has been disastrous,” he once told an interviewer – which might not be quite as self-deprecating as it sounds, given that Doyle has also argued that “great literature” is born of “abjection” not “glory”.

The autofictional game-playing continues in his new novel, Cameo, but instead of self-abasing display, we get a perky book-world send-up for the culture war era, cartoonishly dramatising the ups and downs of creative life. It takes the form of a vertiginous hall of mirrors centred on gazillion-selling Dublin novelist Ren Duka, renowned for a long novel cycle drawn on his own life, the summaries of which comprise the bulk of the book we’re reading. Duka’s work isn’t autofiction à la Knausgård: hardly deskbound, still less under the yoke of domesticity, he leads a jet-set life of peril, mixing with drug dealers, terrorists, spies, and eventually serving time for tax evasion before he develops a crack habit, a penchant for threesomes in Paris and – perhaps least likely of all – returns to his long-forsaken Catholicism.

Published: January 20, 2026, 9:00 am

Poem of the week: Now, Mother, What’s the Matter? by Richard W Halperin

An exploration of what constitutes the literary arts – plus all the ‘troubled hearts’ and demons that accompany it – through the lens of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Now, Mother, What’s the Matter?

Only the monsters do not have troubled hearts.
Life is for troubled hearts. Art is for troubled
hearts. For my whole life, Hamlet has been
a bridge between. Hamlet’s ‘Now, mother,
what’s the matter?’ is life on earth. Something
is always the matter, and not just for mothers.
(As I write this, the Angelus rings.) Every
character in Hamlet is troubled, there are
no monsters in it. I render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar’s — everything is
troubled there and, if I am lucky, Caesar
is troubled. I render unto God the things
that are God’s and feel — want to feel? Do feel —
that God is troubled. I also render unto art.
But I have no idea what art is. What
Edward Thomas’s ‘Adlestrop’ is. What
the luminous chaos of The Portrait of
a Lady is. What The Pilgrim’s Progress is.
My feet knew the way before I opened
the book: that just before the gate to heaven
is yet another hole to hell.

Published: January 19, 2026, 11:24 am

Departure(s) by Julian Barnes review – this final novel is a slippery affair

Memoir merges with fiction as the author reflects on failed love, ageing and the end of life in this last instalment to his writing career

Julian Barnes tells us that this is his final book, so that’s one departure accounted for – the last instalment of a writing career spanning 45 years, encompassing novels and short stories, memoirs and essays, biography, travel writing, translation and even a little pseudonymous detective fiction. Many of these works turn up here, whether obliquely or overtly, referred to through subject matter, style, tone or connotation; in the contemporary cultural argot, which Barnes is fond of examining, these writerly winks might be known as Easter eggs.

The other form of leave taking is the “departure without subsequent arrival”: death. It is, as Larkin had it, “no different whined at than withstood”, and the truth is that most of us are both whiners and withstanders, querulous until there’s nothing left to complain at, stoic until pushed too far. Barnes is perhaps the great interpreter of mundane grandiosity, or grandiose mundanity – understanding that even as we attempt to inhabit the heroic mode, or to reach an intellectual accommodation with both mortality and morality, we will slip on a banana skin (or in Barnes’s case, he tells us here, a wooden staircase approached with bath-damp feet in a rush to answer the doorbell).

Published: January 19, 2026, 7:00 am

‘He’s a little megalomaniac’: Stellan Skarsgård criticises Trump’s ‘criminal’ actions in Greenland

The Swedish actor said that ‘he’s trying to take the world’ and called the recent actions of the US president ‘absurd’

The actor Stellan Skarsgård has criticised the attempts of the US president to annex Greenland, calling him “a little man who got megalomania”.

Speaking at the European Film awards over the weekend, the actor – now frontrunner to win the supporting actor Oscar for his role in Sentimental Value – called the actions of Donald Trump “absurd”.

Published: January 19, 2026, 1:23 pm

Mary Nolan’s ‘extraordinary’ photos: evocative, nostalgic and overlooked – in pictures

Once the home of Australian artist Arthur Boyd and his wife Yvonne, Bundanon – set across 1,000 hectares on the NSW south coast – is now home to an art museum, where the latest exhibition celebrates the Boyd women whose artistic careers have been overlooked.

Among them is Arthur’s sister Lady Mary Nolan (nee Boyd), who had four children with her first husband, the artist John Perceval, before moving to London and marrying Sidney Nolan in 1978. A painter and a potter, Mary is less known for her photographs, 48 of which are now on show after being unearthed at the National Library of Australia. They showcase a family dedicated to art, travel, creativity and the outdoors

• The Hidden Line: Art of the Boyd Women is open at Bundanon gallery until 15 February

Published: January 19, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Payback will be severe’: Mickey Rourke vows revenge on those behind crowdfunder ‘scam’ in his name

Oscar-nominated actor says his lawyer was trying to reimburse those who had donated money to a GoFundMe appeal set up allegedly to raise funds for the star

The actor Mickey Rourke has again spoken out against the GoFundMe appeal set up in his name, purportedly to raise funds for the star, who is currently in financial hardship.

Earlier this month, the actor – who made his name in 1980s action and romance films before being Oscar nominated for his 2008 comeback, The Wrestler – declared he had nothing to do with the crowdfunder.

Published: January 19, 2026, 4:12 pm

‘I’ve had to fight tooth and nail’: Amber Davies on Strictly trolls, Love Island hunks – and her Legally Blonde no-brainer

She started out performing in her living room, charging £1.50 a ticket. Now, having blazed through Love Island and silenced her Strictly haters, the Welsh sensation is really hitting the big time

At the end of last year’s Strictly Come Dancing semi-final, pro dancer Nikita Kuzmin made a tearful appeal to camera, “I speak to the audience at home: guys, just please, please be kind!” His celebrity partner, Love Island winner, Dancing on Ice contestant and musical theatre actor Amber Davies, had been getting a lot of flak online. “You have had so much hate, every single day,” said Kuzmin.

Isn’t it crazy that we have to remind people to be nice to other humans who are just doing their job, I say to Davies, when we meet in a London hotel bar. “I genuinely think it’s getting worse,” says Davies, who has been in the public eye since 2017. “With TikTok, when people jump on a bandwagon, they go for it,” she adds. “But I feel like the nasty comments I was getting [on Strictly] weren’t actually coming from the younger audience, they came from the older audience.”

Published: January 19, 2026, 5:00 am

The pub that changed me: ‘I saw an Isle of Man that had been largely unknown to me’

‘The Woody’ was crammed and chaotic, and nobody could be rushed. There was always time for another pint and conversation

I felt eyes on me the second I stepped into the pub. It was as though we were interlopers in a sacred space – everyone turned to look. Self-consciously, I walked to a door labelled “BAR” and pushed it open, and was met by further stares at me and my female companion. Only once we had got our pints and sat down did we notice the “GENTS ONLY” sign on the wall.

Published: January 20, 2026, 11:00 am

There’s no gold medal in the stress Olympics – here’s how to start resting

What if the thing we needed more of was to do less? What if this was the year we finally learned to rest?

Every new year – after the holiday glut of travel, parties, shopping and baked goods – there can be pressure to do and be more: more active, more productive, more creative, more thrifty. Maybe this will be the year I finally start meal planning or doing morning pages. New year, new me!

But what if the thing we needed more of was to do less? What if this was the year we finally learned to rest?

Physical rest: making sure you get enough sleep; taking naps.

Mental rest: journaling; meditating; doing tasks that are not mentally taxing, like puzzles.

Emotional rest: talking through feelings and experiences with a friend or therapist.

Social rest: setting aside time alone to recharge; making sure you’re spending time with people who don’t leave you feeling drained.

Sensory rest: spending time outdoors; taking breaks from screens.

Creative rest: engaging in creative hobbies like drawing, reading or dancing.

Spiritual rest: connecting to a cause or tradition that feels meaningful to you.

Published: January 19, 2026, 5:00 pm

The pet I’ll never forget: Bosko the great flying cat inspired my art – and delivered me from grief

He had youth, energy, a tiny purr and could jump 7ft in the air. I always knew when he was about to do it, because he would stare at me intensely before launching himself towards the ceiling

My animals play a big, crazy role in my life. I grew up with cats when I was a little kid but my love of black cats began when I moved from New York to LA in 1996 and found four feral black cats in my back yard. Almost immediately, two female cats got knocked up and had two litters at the same time. Suddenly, we had 13 black cats, the most I’d ever cared for at once.

I’ve been an artist all my life and during the early 2000s my career really started to take off. I began creating a lot of merchandise toys and had my own TV series called Teacher’s Pet, which won five Emmys and a Bafta. My cat Blackie was the inspiration behind all my artwork at the time; he was a scholarly cat with a giant purr – I often drew him as my alter ego. When Blackie died from illness in 2020, I felt as though I’d lost a part of myself – he had been my companion for 15 years. It took me a year to grieve before I could finally consider another cat. That’s when Bosko came into my life.

Published: January 19, 2026, 10:00 am

‘I was bullied in school for being different. At 16, I hit a crashing point’: the awkward kid who became the world’s strongest man

As a boy, Tom Stoltman was diagnosed with autism and bullied at school. When he became depressed in his teens, his older brother, a bodybuilder, suggested a trip to the gym

• ‘I was told I wouldn’t walk again. I proved the doctors wrong’: the bike-obsessed pensioner who broke his neck and started afresh

Tom Stoltman was a skinny kid: 90kg, 6ft 8in, with glasses and sticking‑out teeth. Diagnosed with autism as a young child, he felt he didn’t fit in. “I was really shy,” he says. “I got bullied in school for being different.” Back then, the boy from Invergordon didn’t like what he saw in the mirror. He lived in baggy hoodies. “Hood up. That was my comfort.” He loved football but “I used to look at people on the pitch and think, ‘He’s tinier than me, but he’s pushing me off the ball.’”

By 16 he’d hit a “crashing point”. He went from football-obsessed to playing Xbox all day. He’d skip meals in favour of sweets. “Sometimes it was four or five, six bags.”

Published: January 19, 2026, 7:00 am

Nine easy swaps to reduce ultra-processed foods in your diet: it’s not an ‘all-or-nothing approach’

Modern western diets are full of ultra-processed foods, but experts say we need to reduce our intake. Here they offer achievable alternatives

• My week avoiding ultra-processed foods

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“It’s not poor willpower,” says Mark Lawrence. The ecological nutrition professor from Deakin University is a global expert in ultra-processed foods, a beacon of knowledge in the proliferation of UPFs. “It’s really difficult to avoid them.”

Australia, alongside the US and UK, has one of the world’s highest consumption rates of ultra-processed foods which have been linked to “multiple diet-related chronic diseases”, according to a global report of which Lawrence was a co-author.

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Published: January 19, 2026, 2:00 pm

Is it true that … you lose most body heat from your head?

This 1970s notion is a bit of a myth – but it’s still a good idea to wear a hat if it’s cold out

‘Always keep your head covered. You can lose 40–45% of body heat from an unprotected head.” That’s the advice in a 1970s US Army Survival Manual, which is probably where this myth originated, says John Tregoning, a professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London.

The reality is that there is nothing special about your head. When you go out in the cold, you lose more body heat from any area you leave exposed than from those parts protected by clothing. Out in a snowsuit but no hat? You’re going to lose heat quickly from your face and head, while the suit slows down the cooling of your body.

Published: January 19, 2026, 8:00 am

Italian fashion designer Valentino dies aged 93

His eponymous label is renowned for its opulent, elegant take on women’s fashion and has a legion of famous fans

Valentino Garavani, the designer central to pioneering Italian glamour with his eponymous fashion house, has died aged 93.

“Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones,” his foundation said on Instagram on Monday. “Valentino Garavani was not only a constant guide and inspiration for all of us, but a true source of light, creativity and vision,” it added.

Published: January 19, 2026, 6:05 pm

Fashion world gets first glimpse of Armani’s post-Giorgio direction

New menswear director Leo Dell’Orco appears to have ditched the ‘greige’ while embracing the brand’s history

What exactly Giorgio Armani looks like without its eponymous founder at the helm has been the burning question in the fashion industry since the designer’s death in September.

In Milan on Monday afternoon, it got its answer as the designer’s collaborator and right-hand man of four decades, Leo Dell’Orco, made his debut at the Italian fashion house where he will oversee menswear for the foreseeable future. It was the first Armani collection in which the late designer had no involvement.

Published: January 19, 2026, 4:31 pm

He never warms the jars, so why doesn’t my son’s marmalade go mouldy?

Our preserving pundits dive into the bittersweet dilemmas surrounding baking paper circles, wax seals and the judicious application of heat

When my son makes marmalade, he never warms the jars or uses circles of baking paper and cellophane – he just puts the lids on. It never goes mouldy, so am I wasting my time doing it the “proper” way?
Dagna, Berkhamsted, Herts
You can’t get much sweeter than marmalade, and this is most likely the reason for both Dagna and her son’s success, despite their differing strategies. “The chance of mould developing is low because there’s so much sugar to balance the bitterness of the orange peel,” says Camilla Wynne, preserver and author of All That Crumbs Allow. “Mould needs water to do its thing, and sugar binds to water.” She recalls a former student who, like Dagna’s son, simply ladled her marmalade into jars and closed the lids. All was fine until one day the student’s latest batch of marmalade was covered in mould: “She’d been reducing the sugar in her recipe over the years, so her method no longer worked because there was available water for mould to grow.”

But back to the particulars of the family dispute. “He’s more right than she is,” says Pam Corbin, author of Pam the Jam: The Book of Preserves. “Nowadays, we have fantastic food-grade lids, which have a wax seal inside and keep preserves safer than a wax disc and cellophane would.” Some people put a wax disc under the twist-on lid, too, but for Corbin that’s a hard no: “As the marmalade cools, condensation forms on top of the paper, so you’re more likely to get mould.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:00 pm

Houseplant hacks: can you really use banana water as a fertiliser?

Bananas contain nutrients, but rotting peel smells and attracts fruit flies

The problem
Do you ever finish your smoothie, look at the peel and think: “Surely this could feed something?” You are not alone: social media is full of claims that soaking banana skins in water makes a fertiliser that will give you bigger leaves and better blooms.

The hack
Put banana peels in a jar of water, leave them to sit, then pour the liquid on your plants. Bananas do contain potassium and small amounts of other nutrients. The snag is you have no idea how strong it is or what’s missing.

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:00 am

Kenji Morimoto’s recipe for miso leek custard tart with fennel slaw

Jammy leeks, savoury sweet chawanmushi and toasted sesame seeds make this flaky pastry dish feel decadent and special

This savoury custard tart celebrates some of my favourite flavours (and dishes): jammy miso leeks, savoury-sweet chawanmushi (a Japanese steamed custard flavoured with dashi) and toasty sesame seeds, all enveloped in flaky pastry. It feels decadent, so it’s best served with a simple fennel salad, zingy with apple cider vinegar and mustard. It’s excellent eaten while still warm from the oven (be patient!), but even better as leftovers, because I have a soft spot for cold eggy tarts.

Ferment: Simple Ferments and Pickles, and How to Eat Them, by Kenji Morimoto, is published by Pan Macmillan at £22. To order a copy for £19.80, visit the guardianbookshop.com

Published: January 20, 2026, 6:00 am

The pub that changed me: ‘It had some nefarious characters – but with lovely shoes’

The Glory was a haven for outlandish self-expression and the early stomping ground for many of the UK’s most infamous drag queens. It made me ready for life

In a packed pub, revellers chat, sip lager and look at their phones. Suddenly a side door crashes open, and in walks drag sensation John Sizzle, dressed as a hair-raisingly accurate Diana, Princess of Wales. She saunters demurely to a halo, fashioned from tinsel and coat hangers and stuck to the wall, stands under it, and starts lip-syncing to Beyoncé’s Halo. The crowd erupts.

Published: January 20, 2026, 5:00 am

The influencer racing to save Thailand’s most endangered sea mammal

Amateur conservationist and social media influencer Theerasak 'Pop' Saksritawee has a rare bond with Thailand’s critically endangered dugongs. With dugong fatalities increasing, Pop works alongside scientists at Phuket Marine Biological Centre to track the mammals with his drone and restore their disappearing seagrass habitat. Translating complex science for thousands online, Pop raises an urgent alarm about climate change, pollution and habitat loss — before Thailand’s dugongs vanish forever

Published: January 20, 2026, 10:58 am

At nine, I disappeared into home schooling. No one came looking

Mom insisted I needed a ‘free-form education’ outside public school. After four years of loneliness, I gave up hope that someone would get me out

“Every mother in the world wishes her kid wouldn’t grow up so fast.”

Mom laughs as she holds me close.

Published: January 19, 2026, 2:00 pm

Never-before-seen home video is earliest footage of Martin Luther King: ‘What a gift!’

In a brief scene, the seminarian known as ML stands with his then girlfriend, a white woman named Betty Moitz

Several years ago, near Chester, Pennsylvania, Jason Ipock’s aunt was looking to downsize now that she had retired. In her possession was a collection of old family home videos that took up too much room.

Some of the films were in worn-out film canisters, and Ipock worried they’d soon be unplayable. “I decided that I should have the family films digitized, so that we’ll always have a copy in the event of a catastrophe,” he said.

Published: January 19, 2026, 10:43 am

Who is on the frontline of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown?

These are the federal agencies detaining people across the US – mostly, but not all, under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security

When the Trump administration ordered a surge of armed federal immigration enforcement personnel on to the streets of Minneapolis, the Department of Homeland Security declared it the largest operation in its history and the liberal midwestern city became Donald Trump’s latest chosen hotspot.

Such escalations mark the US president’s agenda of mass arrests and deportations from the US interior. The highest-profile efforts involve officers from multiple agencies rushing to prominent Democratic-led US cities, against local leaders’ wishes. But coast to coast, federal officers have been raiding homes, businesses, commercial parking lots – even schools, hospitals and courthouses. The efforts have delighted the president’s hardcore Make America Great Again voter base, but are also tearing families apart and spreading fear and even death on the streets and in detention.

Published: January 19, 2026, 12:00 pm

A hovering helicopter and a winter whiteout: photos of the day – Tuesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select some of the most powerful photos from around the world

Published: January 20, 2026, 1:21 pm