The scandals clouding ‘sinister’ French ice dancers who beat Chock and Bates for gold

Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron’s Olympic competition is set against backdrop of assault and abuse allegations involving their former partners

The American duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the reigning three-time world champions contentiously missed out on Olympic ice dance gold on Wednesday despite a flawless skate. But the controversy surrounding the event is not merely a debate over artistic and technical merits.

Gold went by a narrow margin to the French duo of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron. It was a stunning achievement for a partnership that is less than a year old. But the union was forged after the fallout from sexual assault allegations levelled at Fournier Beaudry’s boyfriend and former ice dance partner, while Cizeron is the subject of allegations of abusive conduct from his erstwhile skating partner.

Published: February 12, 2026, 6:50 pm

‘Deeply illogical’: this man’s life work could end homelessness – and Trump is doing all he can to stop it

After four decades of research and over a decade of federal support, Housing First’s Sam Tsemberis is ‘back to being an outlaw’ in the US

Now in his fourth decade of spreading the word across most of the world’s continents about “Housing First”, an approach to helping homeless people that has convinced governments and non-profits alike to see housing as a human right, Sam Tsemberis experienced a first.

He was censored by the US government.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:00 pm

‘The best I have owned’: 13 women’s winter jackets beloved by a dog walker, ski instructor and more

Stay toasty in the cold and comfortable when out and about – the best (and stylish) women’s coats for winter, including some on sale

• Eight winter clothing essentials Scandinavians swear by – from heated socks to ‘allværsjakke’

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

Last weekend, it felt like -15F (-26C) in New York City. If it weren’t for my Super Puff coat, I wouldn’t have mustered up the courage to leave my apartment.

Whether this year’s brutal winter has put you in the market for a warmer jacket or you’re stocking up for next year, we asked eight outdoorsy people to recommend their favorites.

Best affordable women’s jacket:
Michael Kors Faux Fur Trim Belted Puffer Jacket

Best women’s jacket for outdoors and activewear:
Lululemon Another Mile Jacket

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:15 pm

‘People like cheap energy’: the bagel shop saving money and emissions with plug-in batteries

A pilot scheme in Brooklyn is giving businesses batteries to form an electricity storage network – part of a growing number of innovative DIY energy ideas around the world

In the back of Black Seed Bagels in northern Brooklyn is a giant catering kitchen filled with industrial-size containers of condiments and freezers full of dough. A tall, silver electric oven named the Baconator stands in a far corner, cooking thousands of pounds of meat every week to accompany Black Seed’s hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels. The Baconator is connected to a battery the size of a carry-on suitcase, which is plugged into the wall.

While the morning rush is under way, the 2.8-kilowatt-hour battery can directly power the commercial oven to reduce the company’s reliance on the electric grid, Noah Bernamoff, Black Seed’s co-owner, explained recently at the company’s Bushwick shop. Two more batteries are paired with energy-intensive refrigerators in the front.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:19 pm

Why is the Washington Post cratering so spectacularly? | Margaret Sullivan

To understand the change in Washington Post’s fortunes, it is worth comparing its demise to the New York Times’s trajectory

Not so long ago – it’s been less than a decade – the New York Times and the Washington Post were almost neck and neck in the race for readers, reputation and scoops. The Times was always bigger, but the two were somewhat comparable.

These days, that’s far from reality. The Post has been declining in influence, newsroom staff and financial health – losing at least $100m a year – while the Times is on an astonishing upward trajectory, with operating profit approaching $200m annually.

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

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:00 am

‘I wasn’t acting: that was me’: how non-actors took over Oscar season

From One Battle to Another to Marty Supreme, supermarket magnates, professors and special agents have been stealing scenes on screen

Striving for realism, Timothée Chalamet knew what the scene required. “I’m really getting in the guy’s face and I’m really trying to get him angry with me,” the lead actor recalled recently about the making of Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme. “I was saying to Josh, ‘He’s not getting angry with me, he’s not getting angry with me.’”

But it turned out the unnamed extra had been paying attention. Chalamet added: “I did another take, and then the guy said, ‘I was just in jail for 30 years. You really don’t want to fuck with me. You don’t want to see me angry.’ I said to Josh, ‘Holy shit, who do you have me opposite, man?’”

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:03 am

Trump’s EPA repeals landmark climate finding in gift to ‘billionaire polluters’

Rollback of government’s ability to limit climate-heating pollution will make families ‘sicker and less safe’, environmental advocate says

• US politics live – latest updates

The Trump administration has revoked the bedrock scientific determination that gives the government the ability to regulate climate-heating pollution. The move was described as a gift to “billionaire polluters” at the expense of Americans’ health.

The endangerment finding, which states that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare, has since 2009 allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit heat-trapping pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:53 pm

Senate Democrats block DHS funding over immigration tactics

Though Department of Homeland Security almost certain to shutter at midnight Friday, ICE to be largely unaffected

• US politics live – latest updates

Democrats in the US Senate have blocked a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amid ongoing fury over the Trump administration’s crackdown and the deaths of two people in Minneapolis.

Thursday’s vote means that the department is almost certain to shut down at midnight on Friday evening, affecting a range of services yet largely leaving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) – the target of Democrats’ ire – unaffected because it is already the recipient of lavish federal funding.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:42 pm

Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January

Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts

Elon Musk’s longtime fixation on a white racial majority is intensifying. The richest man in the world posted about how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January, according to the Guardian’s analysis of his social media output. The posts, made on his platform X, reflect a renewed embrace of what extremism experts describe as white supremacist material.

“Whites are a rapidly dying minority,” Musk said on 22 January, a short time before taking the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, while reposting an Irish anti-immigrant influencer’s video about demographic change.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:24 pm

Trump nominates hospitality executive to lead National Park Service

Scott Socha, whose company sued to claim trademark rights to Yosemite name, criticized by conservation groups

Donald Trump has nominated the hospitality executive Scott Socha – whose company once sued to claim trademark rights to the name “Yosemite National Park” – to lead the National Park Service.

The nomination of an outsider with business ties to the agency he’d oversee comes at a pivotal moment for the service, which lost a quarter of its staff under Doge’s civil sector purge and which has been the subject of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to erase mention of historical events from NPS sites that portray Americans in an unfavorable light, such as slavery.

Published: February 13, 2026, 12:30 am

House members seek inquiry into DoJ’s tracking of their Epstein files research

US attorney general displayed records of Congress members’ searches into Epstein files during House hearing

Members of Congress are calling for investigations after discovering the Department of Justice created records of their research activities while they dug into files connected to Jeffrey Epstein.

Photographs taken by Reuters during a congressional hearing on Wednesday showed the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, holding a document titled “Jayapal Pramila Search History”, listing files that the Democratic US representative Pramila Jayapal had accessed during her review of the Epstein materials.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:26 pm

Chloe Kim thwarted in bid for Olympic halfpipe three-peat by South Korea’s Choi Gaon

• Choi wins snowboard halfpipe title with third run

• American star takes silver behind strong first round

The snowfall coming down on Livigno Snow Park on Thursday night helped produce one of the bigger Olympic upsets in snowboard history, as Chloe Kim’s bid to become the first rider to win three consecutive Olympic halfpipe gold medals fell just short.

Kim finished with a best score of 88.00 from her opening run, settling for silver behind surprise winner Choi Gaon of South Korea, whose heroic third run after an early fall earned 90.25 and rewrote the Olympic record books. Japan’s Mitsuki Ono took bronze with 85.00.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:13 pm

Police visited home of Canada school shooting suspect multiple times over mental health concerns

Canadian authorities seized firearms from the residence approximately two years ago but later returned them

Police have said they were called on multiple occasions to the home of the teenage suspect behind one of Canada’s deadliest school shootings after concerns were raised regarding mental health problems and weapons.

Six people, including a teacher and five children, were killed in a school shooting on Tuesday in the western Canadian town of Tumbler Ridge. About 25 other people were injured and two of them remain in critical but stable condition.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:26 pm

FBI releases new details about masked suspect in Nancy Guthrie disappearance

Video of suspect in Arizona spurs a surge of calls as the desert search near Tucson yields little evidence

The FBI released new details about the masked perpetrator suspected in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, as investigators continue to review the more than 13,000 tips that have come in from the public.

The male suspect, who was pictured in video footage captured from the 84-year-old’s home the night of her abduction, has an average build and is approximately 5’9”–5’10” tall, according to an FBI forensic analysis. He was seen with a black, 25-liter Ozark Trail Hiker Pack backpack.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:46 pm

Katie Holmes pays tribute to James Van Der Beek: ‘The journey of a hero’

Actor pens emotional handwritten letter to remember late Dawson’s Creek co-star as show creator also shares his grief

• James Van Der Beek was so much more than just Dawson

• James Van Der Beek: a life in pictures

Katie Holmes has shared a handwritten letter to her late Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek.

The actor, who played Joey in the era-defining teen drama series, posted a tribute on Instagram addressed to Van Der Beek, who died this week at the age of 48.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:45 pm

US antitrust chief Gail Slater ousted from Trump justice department

Exclusive: Decision comes after Slater lost the support of JD Vance and Pam Bondi, the attorney general

Gail Slater, the head of the US justice department’s antitrust division, was forced out of the Trump administration on Thursday after a turbulent tenure and months of simmering tensions with senior cabinet officials, according to two people directly familiar with the matter.

“It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG [assistant attorney general] for Antitrust today,” Slater said in a post announcing her departure.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:57 pm

US judge blocks Hegseth’s bid to punish Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video

Judge reprimands defense secretary over attempt to reduce Arizona senator’s military rank and pension

A US judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon from reducing Senator Mark Kelly’s retired military rank and pension pay because he urged troops to reject unlawful orders.

The preliminary ruling by Richard Leon, a George W Bush appointee, is the latest setback for Donald Trump in his campaign of vengeance against perceived political enemies, which has drawn opposition from judges across the ideological spectrum.

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:04 pm

Pentagon policy chief tells European Nato members to step up combat capabilities

Elbridge Colby tells meeting in Brussels that US plans to reduce conventional forces in Europe but remains committed to Nato alliance

The Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, has told European Nato defence ministers in Brussels that they need to step up their combat capabilities and take the lead in protecting their continent from the Russian threat.

The influential undersecretary for war, sent by the White House in place of his boss, Pete Hegseth, said the US would reduce conventional forces in Europe but insisted Washington remained committed to the military alliance.

Published: February 12, 2026, 5:36 pm

‘Standing up for our workers’: US unions raise thousands for victims of ICE crackdown

Labor unions are fundraising and providing mutual aid for workers affected by ICE surges in Minnesota and across US

Labor unions are fundraising for workers affected by the surge of immigration enforcement across the US, providing legal and financial support to members affected by the brutal crackdown.

Nearly $20,000 was raised for a homecare worker, Maria, a member of Service Employees International Union Local 503 in Salem, Oregon, and a US citizen who was attacked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on 29 January.

Published: February 12, 2026, 4:51 pm

‘It’s happening here’: ICE turns quiet Minnesota suburbs into conflict zones

Activity of immigration agents has left no part of the state unscathed even as border czar says surge would be ending

In one suburb of Minneapolis, the superintendent spends each school day driving to her district’s schools to track federal agents. Across the metro, in another suburb, a Latino church organizes food donations to deliver to thousands of families staying at home out of fear of immigration agents.

In town after town around Minnesota, federal agents have picked up immigrants and taken them away from their communities.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:30 pm

Mahmoud Khalil is still fighting for others as he fights his own deportation: ‘It’s about raising the alarm’

The case of the Palestinian activist, the face of 2024’s US campus protests, could have repercussions for thousands

Despite his grim circumstances, Mahmoud Khalil can’t help but laugh.

Walking through Congress’s hallowed halls, the Palestinian student activist, who may be inching toward deportation, has a lightness to him. He is quick with a smile – and not yet ready to waver. He admits he’s in “the scary part” of his ordeal, but he has a new reason to like his odds.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

‘Another way to gamble money’: booming prediction markets prompt confusion and concern

Polymarket and Kalshi are less regulated than betting sites, but users can win or lose large sums on the platforms

Yadin Eldar, 21, has been betting on prediction markets since 2019. His friends think he’s “crazy”, he said. But the craze surrounding these platforms is rapidly gathering steam.

Users can bet on virtually anything, from the outcome of Sunday’s Super Bowl to whether the US will invade Greenland, every second of every day.

Published: February 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

Inside Will Lewis’s tumultuous two years as publisher of the Washington Post

Before the Post’s sweeping layoffs and Lewis’s abrupt resignation, his tenure was marked by controversy and clashes with staff

Standing on the seventh floor in the center of the Washington Post’s open newsroom on the morning of 3 June 2024, publisher Will Lewis decided to deliver some tough love to a news organization he had taken charge of five months earlier.

Lewis, a veteran of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, had replaced Fred Ryan, a former Ronald Reagan aide who had presided over some of the Post’s profitable years – during the first Trump administration – but lost the confidence of some staffers after clashing with employees during a late 2022 town hall.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:00 am

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die review – AI is the bad guy in lively yet overstuffed caper

There’s fun to be had in Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski’s satisfyingly tech-fearing adventure – but some restraint wouldn’t have gone amiss

Despite directing a phenomenally successful franchise starter (Pirates of the Caribbean), two of its sequels (Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End), a smash-hit horror remake (The Ring), an Oscar-winning animation (Rango), and films starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts (The Mexican) and Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine (The Weather Man), Gore Verbinski never quite broke through as a name the average cinemagoer would instantly recognise. There are some through-lines in his work – a dark sense of humour, an ease with pushing megastars past their limits – but he was mostly there in service of something or someone else, whether it be IP or an A-lister.

After both consumed him in 2013’s loathed flop The Lone Ranger, Verbinski went away and returned three years later with an extravagant “one for me”, the ambitious throwback horror A Cure for Wellness. I ultimately admired what he was trying to do (a gothic, exquisitely crafted original chiller with a real budget) more than what he actually achieved, and with another box-office disappointment under his belt, he disappeared again. A longer wait of almost a decade followed, and now he’s back with an even bigger swing, the sci-fi comedy adventure Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:44 pm

From Brontë to Ballard, Orwell to Okri: the best songs inspired by literature – ranked!

As Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights gets a boost from a new film adaptation, we survey the surprising, seditious and sensual ways in which prose has influenced pop

The oeuvre of Katy Perry occasionally has some profoundly unexpected inspirations: California Gurls is spelt in homage to Big Star’s September Gurls, while Firework was based on, wait for it, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, specifically the line about how his favourite people “burn like fabulous yellow roman candles”.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:00 pm

‘Not for ogling’: forget Titian, Botticelli and the male fantasists – only women can paint great female nudes

From Yoko Ono to Frida Kahlo, from Louise Bourgeois to Artemisia Gentileschi, women have long been capturing the unvarnished truth about their own bodies – and that’s why my novel Female, Nude weaves them into the plot

‘If you want to paint, put your clothes back on!” That was how Carolee Schneemann summarised the critical response to her 1975 performance piece Interior Scroll, which she had performed nude standing on a gallery table. After making a series of life model poses, she removed a scroll from her vagina and began to read her manifesto. In doing so, Schneemann asked an important question: “What does it mean for a female artist to be both the artist and the life model?” Or as she put it: “Both image and image-maker?”

The female nude, as depicted and objectified by the male artist, has dominated western art for centuries. Despite decades of feminist efforts, that interaction between the great male genius and his female model – sometimes muse – remains a subject of perennial fascination. To enter a gallery, or to open a university textbook, is to be confronted with a parade of idealised naked females by male artists from Rubens, Titian and Botticelli to Picasso and De Kooning.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:27 pm

Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong

For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?

As a seven-year-old, Francisco Estrada-Belli was afraid all of history would have been discovered by the time he was old enough to contribute. The year was 1970 and he and his parents had come from Rome to visit relatives in the Central American country of Guatemala. On the trip, they visited the ancient Maya ruins at Tikal. “I was completely mesmerised,” Estrada-Belli told me recently. “It was jungle everywhere, there were animals, and then these enormous, majestic temples. I asked questions but felt the answers were not good enough. I decided there and then that I wanted to be answering them.”

Fifty-five years later, Estrada-Belli is now one of the archaeologists helping to rewrite the history of the Maya peoples who built Tikal. Thanks to technological advances, we are entering a new age of discovery in the field of ancient history. Improved DNA analysis, advances in plant and climate science, soil and isotope chemistry, linguistics and other techniques such as a laser mapping technology called Lidar, are overturning long-held beliefs. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to Maya archaeology.

Published: February 12, 2026, 5:00 am

The Epstein scandal has punctured all the age-old myths about the French elite | Agnès Poirier

Suddenly, venerable figures presumed immune to sordid compromise have been exposed – although some have shown that moral courage is possible

In 2016, the French luxury fashion house Hermès decided to pull an item it had donated to a charity auction after it appeared to have been bought by Jeffrey Epstein. In an email made public in this month’s tranche of Epstein files, Epstein’s assistant says someone at the auction platform had relayed to them that Hermès was “not comfortable” with Epstein as a donor and that he would be refunded. It’s a reminder that institutions – and the people at their helms – can, when they wish, still recognise a line they will not cross. No sermon, no press release: just a quiet act of moral housekeeping that now reads like a lesson in basic civic hygiene.

France is discovering how rare that reflex proved to be at home. The latest cache of Epstein files – emails, memos and legal documents released by the US Department of Justice – does not reveal a hidden French paedophile ring. So far, the only confirmed French sexual connection to Epstein remains Jean‑Luc Brunel, the modelling agent who died in police custody in 2022 while being investigated on suspicion of trafficking women to Epstein. Instead, the new files trace how Epstein ingratiated himself into parts of the country’s political and cultural elite, providing private jets, introductions and offshore structures to people long accustomed to thinking of themselves as beyond reproach.

Agnès Poirier is a political commentator, writer and critic for the British, American and European press

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

Published: February 12, 2026, 9:00 am

Seven of my relatives were killed in Gaza. For me, Herzog’s visit was never an abstract debate | Shamikh Badra

Australia stands at a crossroads as it rolled out the red carpet for some, while greeting others with batons

Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia was not a routine diplomatic engagement. It was an ethical and political test of the Australian state. At the very moment a red carpet was rolled out for a man accused of inciting genocide, peaceful Australian citizens were met with batons while exercising their democratic right to protest.

For me, this was never an abstract political debate. Before the visit, I pursued the legal channels that are meant to protect citizens and lodged a formal complaint with the Australian government about the role Herzog played in rhetoric and policies that contributed to the destruction of my family in Gaza. Seven of my relatives were killed. My father died because of a lack of medicine, food and water. My brother, his wife, their four children and her father were also killed. Their bodies remain buried beneath the rubble. Despite the seriousness of this complaint, I have received no response from the government.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:58 pm

Fed up with self-help gurus? Try my Hiccup Method™ to revolutionise your life | Miski Omar

Much of the wellness economy thrives because it offers the illusion that if we just reframe, breathe, manifest and hydrate we can out-think the chaos

It was 8.37am and I was scrolling Instagram with one eye squinting, the other sealed shut in protest. The morning light was harsh; the algorithm harsher. Somewhere between a video of a dog doing taxes and a girl making her matcha, I stumbled upon Mel Robbins, motivational speaker and Ted Talk legend, telling me to high-five myself.

The video had pandemic energy. That quiet, echoey desperation of someone who’s spent too long indoors talking to objects. Mel explained that in her darkest days she looked at herself in the mirror and gave herself a high-five.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps | Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis

Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp

We have an urgent responsibility. Our existing economic system is incapable of addressing the social and ecological crises we face in the 21st century. When we look around we see an extraordinary paradox. On the one hand, we have access to remarkable new technologies and a collective capacity to produce more food, more stuff than we need or that the planet can afford. Yet at the same time, millions of people suffer in conditions of severe deprivation.

What explains this paradox? Capitalism. By capitalism we do not mean markets, trade and entrepreneurship, which have been around for thousands of years before the rise of capitalism. By capitalism we mean something very odd and very specific: an economic system that boils down to a dictatorship run by the tiny minority who control capital – the big banks, the major corporations and the 1% who own the majority of investible assets. Even if we live in a democracy and have a choice in our political system, our choices never seem to change the economic system. Capitalists are the ones who determine what to produce, how to use our labour and who gets to benefit. The rest of us – the people who are actually doing the production – do not get a say.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:00 pm

Here’s a key task for the new boss at the BBC: solve the mystery of all the disappearing women | Anne McElvoy

A report detailing how the careers of female presenters are curtailed should be a clarion call. The problem has endured for too long

As the BBC closes in on a new director general, the possibility again arises that it could be a woman. The talk is of the former BBC One controller Jay Hunt, the former Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon or the former BBC chief content officer Charlotte Moore.

At this point in the BBC’s history, almost everyone would applaud a woman at the top – but clearly the institution needs a lot more than a woman, however pioneering and accomplished, at the helm. We know from the excoriating report commissioned by the broadcaster itself that it has a grave problem with dwindling numbers of “older women” presenters. Trevor Phillips, 72, still shines at Sky, while David Aaronovitch, 71, is deservedly a fixture on Radio 4: they’re just older men, experienced journalists, doing their thing.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:41 am

The Guardian view on Israel and the West Bank: the other relentless assault upon Palestinians | Editorial

A campaign of ethnic cleansing and ‘tectonic’ new legal measures are killing the two-state solution to which other governments pay lip service

Protecting archaeological sites. Preventing water theft. The streamlining of land purchases. If anyone doubted the real purpose of the motley collection of new administrative and enforcement measures for the illegally occupied West Bank, Israel’s defence minister spelt it out: “We will continue to kill the idea of a Palestinian state,” Israel Katz said in a joint statement with the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

While the world’s attention was fixed upon the annihilation in Gaza, settlers in the West Bank intensified their campaign of ethnic cleansing. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed there since October 2023; a fifth of them were children. Many more have been driven from their homes by relentless harassment and the destruction of infrastructure, with entire Palestinian communities erased across vast swathes of land.

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

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:05 pm

Guardian view on Sir Jim Ratcliffe: Britain does not need political lectures from a billionaire tax exile | Editorial

Comments on the ‘colonisation of the UK’ by the co-owner of Manchester United were erroneous, crass and a gift to divisive forces in British society

In 2020, the year Sir Jim Ratcliffe moved his huge fortune to Monaco, migrants in the United Kingdom made tax contributions estimated to be worth around £20bn. Sir Jim, by jetting off to a tax haven on the French Riviera, saved himself an estimated £4bn. It took some brass neck for the expat owner of Ineos and co-owner of Manchester United football club to lecture the country, using inflammatory and offensive language, on the perils of immigration.

Where to begin? The statistics used by Sir Jim to back his claim that Britain was being “colonised” by migrants, in an interview with Sky News, were flatly wrong. They were also astonishingly crass, coming from a man who presides over a sporting institution famous for and proud of its global fanbase and international connections.

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

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:07 pm

Heraskevych’s ‘helmet of memory’ forces IOC on to PR back foot at Winter Olympics | Sean Ingle

Skeleton racer sacrificed his dream of winning a medal and succeeded in putting the horrors of the war in Ukraine back on the agenda

To be an Olympic-class skeleton racer requires extraordinary guts and impeccable nerve, as the corners loom and then whoosh past at frightening speed. So did anybody really believe that Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych would lose his when the world’s eyes were upon him?

Not the International Olympic Committee, who flipped between threats of expulsion and sweet talk over the past fortnight, without coming close to changing his mind. And certainly not those of us who have spoken and messaged Heraskevych, and found a man utterly prepared to sacrifice his dream of winning a Winter Olympic medal for a higher purpose.

Published: February 12, 2026, 5:56 pm

Move over Pommel Horse Guy: USA’s Curling Rambo becomes cult hero of Winter Olympics

• Aidan Oldenburg is also a talented juggler

• 24-year-old draws comparisons to Stephen Nedoroscik

At Paris 2024, the US had Pommel Horse Guy. At these Winter Olympics, the Americans have a new cult hero: Curling Rambo.

Aidan Oldenburg, a member of the US men’s curling team, has attracted attention for his glasses, thick thatch of hair and red bandana. His appeal as an unlikely hero has drawn comparisons with Stephen Nedoroscik, USA’s bespectacled, Rubik’s Cube-solving gymnastics hero who won two bronze medals at the Paris Olympics.

Published: February 12, 2026, 4:55 pm

Olympic champion Breezy Johnson crashes out of super-G then gets engaged at end of course

• American clips gate but given welcome surprise

• US teammates witness event at end of course

Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson didn’t add to her medal haul during the women’s super-G on Thursday, but she left Tofane with something precious anyway: an engagement ring.

Johnson, who won gold on Sunday in the downhill, crashed out of the super-G after she clipped a gate with one of her poles, sending her tumbling into the safety fence. However, there was some consolation: her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed to her near the finish line. Surrounded by members of the US Ski Team, Johnson said “Yes!” and the two embraced.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:23 pm

Keane Lewis-Potter header earns Brentford point to deny leaders Arsenal

This was billed as a test of Arsenal’s mettle after Manchester City had picked themselves off the canvas against Liverpool at Anfield to reignite the title race. But having seen their lead at the top whittled down to three points since the weekend, Mikel Arteta’s side showed their fallibility as they were held by a dogged Brentford side who felt that they should have even claimed victory.

Just when they needed to put in a statement performance, Arsenal were edgy throughout and struggled to create anything of note until Noni Madueke opened the scoring. Keane Lewis-Potter’s equaliser that came from a Michael Kayode long throw was fully deserved as Keith Andrews’ side showed exactly why they are enjoying such a successful season since he stepped up to replace Thomas Frank last summer.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:06 pm

Football must reject Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cynical, self-serving electioneering | Barney Ronay

Tax exile has already proven himself a terrible club owner; now his ill-informed diatribe about immigration has poured fuel on wider flames

Well I, for one, am shocked. Shocked to learn that a tax-exiled English expat who made his billions squeezing chemical plants doesn’t have liberal, let alone accurate, views on immigration. Or at least, in public anyway.

It seems highly likely Sir Jim Ratcliffe knew what he was doing in the course of his now semi-recanted Sky News interview. And it is above all vital that at least one part of his empire of influence – football, sport, Manchester United – rejects it, as the club have done to some extent in their statement.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:30 pm

Footballer Thomas Partey charged with two further counts of rape

• Villarreal player charged in July with five counts of rape

• Former Arsenal midfielder denies all the charges

The footballer Thomas Partey has been charged with two new counts of rape relating to an additional woman who came forward to police with the allegations in August last year.

Partey will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 13 March in relation to the additional charges issued by the Crown Prosecution Service over allegations that date from 2020.

Published: February 12, 2026, 6:10 pm

Joey Porter Sr says former Steelers teammate Ben Roethlisberger is not ‘a good person’

• Former linebacker questions QB’s character

• Duo won Super Bowl together in 2005 season

Joey Porter Sr says Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback he won a Super Bowl with at the Pittsburgh Steelers, is not “a good person”.

Porter was speaking on a podcast during Super Bowl week when he made the comments. He and Roethlisberger won Super Bowl XL with Pittsburgh at the end of the 2005 season.

Published: February 12, 2026, 4:09 am

A Pochettino-Spurs reunion would need patience from an impatient club

Thomas Frank’s dismissal leaves a desperate Spurs looking to its recent past, among other places, for answers

Tottenham Hotspur have tried everything. After sacking Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 – five months after the club’s first Champions League final, with Spurs sitting 14th in the league and sleepwalking to second place in a weak UCL group – There came a pair of chronic (if cantankerous) title winners: José Mourinho and Antonio Conte. They gave a pragmatist (Nuno Espírito Santo) a Big Six test and moved on when performances instantly stagnated. Then arrived Ange Postecoglou; a staunch tactical ideologue whose principles excited at first before becoming a liability.

Thomas Frank, though, seemed like the appointment most reminiscent of Pochettino’s 2014 arrival. Both raised relatively unfancied clubs to prominence and established firm operational bedrocks. Both spoke about the importance of culture as much as on-field Xs and Os. Neither had been tested at a club of this caliber.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Pellegrino Matarazzo: the American manager revitalizing Real Sociedad

After just eight games, it’s fair to ask if the former Columbia University math major is having the best-ever season for a US coach in Europe

Pellegrino Matarazzo stood there, still and composed. Brown pants. Black sweater. Arms crossed, one hand to his chin and grey beard. The New Jerseyan looked less like the manager of Real Sociedad, a club that placed in La Liga’s top six for five straight seasons before last year, than a math professor. That’s what he well might have been, had his life taken only a slightly different turn; he graduated from Columbia University with a degree in applied mathematics, after all.

Instead, he was there on Saturday, at the Anoeta Stadium, calmly coaxing his side past Elche, 3-1, pumping a single fist when La Real scored, occasionally waving those arms to push his side further upfield. As if Matarazzo’s being there, as if his team taking yet another lead, was all just a matter of course. Just a big-time manager at a big-time club, doing big-time things.

Leander Schaerlaeckens’ book on the United States men’s national soccer team, The Long Game, is out on 12 May. You can preorder it here. He teaches at Marist University.

Published: February 12, 2026, 12:30 pm

Finnish ski jump coach sent home from Winter Olympics over alcohol scandal

• Igor Medved sent home by country’s Olympic committee

• ‘Alcohol was consumed in violation of our team rules’

Finland’s ski jumping head coach, Igor Medved, has apologised after being sent home for violating team rules by drinking alcohol at the Winter Olympics.

The news was confirmed by the Finnish Olympic committee, who said that Medved had left Italy due to “alcohol-related issues”.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:23 am

Mexico sends aid to Cuba as Sheinbaum walks diplomatic tightrope with US

Much-needed supplies but no oil arrive on navy ships as Trump stokes island nation’s economic crisis

As the sun came up on a flat calm Florida Straits, two ships arrived off the port of Havana: the Isla Holbox, a squat logistics ship, followed by the more aggressive looking Papaloapan, whose bow ramp gave the appearance of a large beetle.

The two Mexican navy ships docked on Thursday laden with humanitarian aid as part of Mexico’s efforts to support Cuba amid a deepening crisis exacerbated by Donald Trump’s economic pressure campaign.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:09 pm

California to launch investigation over delayed response to wildfire in Altadena

Civil rights inquiry will assess whether LA county fire department discriminated while responding to 2025 fires

The California department of justice has launched a civil rights investigation into whether Los Angeles county discriminated against the predominantly Black community of west Altadena when responding to last year’s Eaton fire.

The investigation will assess whether the fire response resulted in a “disparate impact” on west Altadena based on race, age or disability.

Published: February 13, 2026, 12:42 am

‘Big step forwards’: emboldened activists take to the streets of Venezuela

Protesters are enjoying greater freedom of expression since Nicolás Maduro’s downfall despite lack of regime change

Protesters have taken to the streets of cities across Venezuela in the latest sign of an embryonic political shift after Nicolás Maduro’s recent downfall.

Student demonstrators gathered on the campus of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas on Thursday to demand the release of all of the country’s political prisoners, the return of exiled activists and a full transition to democracy. “Who are we? Venezuela! What do we want? Freedom!” they shouted.

Published: February 12, 2026, 5:05 pm

‘Unprecedented’ spate of toxic mushroom illnesses jar California

After state sees four deaths and 40 hospitalizations, public health officials and foraging experts urge caution

A wet winter in California has produced a surge of wild fungi – a shroom boom that would typically have foragers cheering. But among the chanterelles and porcinis, a much more dangerous fungus called the death cap – also known as the Amanita phalloides – is causing alarm.

The state health department reports that, between late November 2025 and early February 2026, there have been four deaths and 40 hospitalizations linked to consumption of dangerous mushrooms, an outbreak the department describes as “unprecedented”. That’s far above the average for the state, which typically sees fewer than five mushroom-poisoning cases annually.

Published: February 12, 2026, 12:00 pm

In a pickle: couple charged with felony battery after pickleball brawl at Florida country club

Dispute about rules elevates from insults to fisticuffs, with as many as 20 players becoming involved

A dispute over a rule led to a brawl during a pickleball game at a central Florida country club, authorities said, with one player hitting his opponent in the face with a paddle and punching him on the ground before others got involved.

A 63-year-old man was charged Sunday with two counts of felony battery on a person 65 or older, and his 51-year-old wife, who joined the fight in Port Orange, was charged with a single count of felony battery on a person 65 or older, according to an arrest affidavit.

Published: February 13, 2026, 1:00 am

São Paulo names new law after dog that stayed by owner’s grave for 10 years

The Bob Coveiro (the Gravedigger) Law ‘recognises the emotional bond between guardians and their pets’

A dog that remained beside his former owner’s grave for 10 years has now given his name to a new state law allowing pets to be buried alongside their loved ones in São Paulo.

The new law – already being informally referred to as the Bob Coveiro (the Gravedigger) Law, in tribute to its inspiration – was signed this week by the governor of Brazil’s most populous state, the conservative Tarcísio de Freitas.

Published: February 12, 2026, 4:50 pm

Kim close to naming teenage daughter as future North Korean leader, South believes

South Korea’s spy agency monitoring whether girl, believed to be 13, will appear at political conference this month

South Korea’s spy agency has told lawmakers it believes the teenage daughter of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, is close to being designated as the country’s future leader, as Kim moves to extend the family dynasty to a fourth generation.

The assessment by the national intelligence service (NIS) comes as North Korea is preparing to hold its biggest political conference later this month, where Kim is expected to outline his main policy goals for the next five years and take steps to tighten his authoritarian grip.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:32 pm

National security plans must adapt to avoid ‘new world disorder’, says UN climate chief

Simon Stiell tells audience in Cop31 host nation Turkey that climate extremes are fuelling famine, displacement and war

National security strategies that fail to take account of the climate crisis are “dangerously narrow”, and will leave countries open to “a new world disorder” threatening famine and conflict, the UN’s climate chief has warned.

The warnings came as a draft of a key agenda for the Cop31 climate conference omitted to mention fossil fuels, and skewed instead to the interests of the Turkish hosts, such as waste management and tourism.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:26 pm

Portugal urged to adapt to climate emergency after series of deadly storms

Continuing extreme weather has caused deaths of 16 people, evacuation of thousands and destruction of homes

• Europe live – latest updates

Portugal is under pressure to draw up plans to adapt to the climate emergency as the country continues to be lashed by an unprecedented series of storms that have killed at least 16 people and left tens of thousands without electricity.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated from the Coimbra area of central Portugal on Wednesday as the Mondego River reached critical levels, while part of the country’s main motorway, the A1, collapsed after a dyke on the Mondego gave way under the weight of flood water.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:40 pm

The race to save Wikie and Keijo: the mother and son orcas left in a shut-down aquarium

Marineland Antibes, the French government and animal welfare groups all agree on the need to rehome the listless killer whales but no one can agree where

In a sprawling aquarium complex in south-eastern France that once drew half a million visitors a year, only a few dozen people now move between pools that contain the last remaining marine mammals of Marineland Antibes. Weeds grow on walkways, the stands are empty and algae grows in the pools, giving the water a greenish hue.

It is here that Wikie and Keijo, a mother and son pair of orcas, are floating. They were born in these pools, and for decades they performed in shows for crowds. But since the park’s closure in January 2025, they no longer have an audience. When they are alone, they “log”, or float at the water’s surface, according to a court-ordered report released last April.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:00 am

Anthropic raises $30bn in latest round, valuing Claude bot maker at $380bn

Maker of chatbot boasting coding ability said annualized revenue grew tenfold in each of past three years, to $14bn

The artificial intelligence company Anthropic said on Thursday it raised $30bn in its latest funding round that values the Claude maker and OpenAI rival at $380bn, underscoring the breakneck pace of AI investments.

The round, led by the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and hedge fund Coatue Management, is among the largest private fundraising deals on record and comes just five months after Anthropic closed its previous round at a $183bn valuation – meaning the company has more than doubled in value since September.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:46 pm

Trump’s pick for top diplomatic role faces scrutiny over ‘white supremacist’ views

Jeremy Carl, assistant secretary of state nominee, has espoused ‘racist, antisemitic’ views, says non-profit leader

• US politics live – latest updates

Donald Trump’s pick for a top diplomatic post has championed “white supremacist, racist, antisemitic and homophobic views”, a former US state department official has warned.

Jeremy Carl is set to go before the Senate foreign relations committee on Thursday as the president’s nominee for assistant secretary of state for international organisations, a role that involves managing relationships with and policies toward the United Nations and its agencies.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:18 pm

‘Utterly evil’: Louisiana pastor sentenced to seven years’ prison for molesting teen girl

Milton Otto Martin III received maximum sentence for indecent behavior inflicted on teenager 15 years ago

The Louisiana Pentecostal pastor who repeatedly molested a teenage girl told her that her “world would turn upside down” if she ever reported his crimes, she said in a statement on Wednesday in a suburban New Orleans court.

Milton Otto Martin III would blame her for his crimes, saying he couldn’t resist the temptation that she presented, the survivor’s statement added.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:00 am

Monks bring balm for America’s wounds as Washington cheers peace odyssey

Buddhist monks had walked 2,300 miles from Texas, braving snow and often barefoot – their arrival in the capital was greeted by thousands

Bhante Saranapala gazed down at more than a hundred Buddhist monks wearing burnt-orange, saffron and maroon robes, most sporting woolly hats, a few clutching flowers.

“These monks are awesome!” roared Saranapala, who is known as the “Urban Buddhist Monk”, prompting a cheer from the big crowd. “Their determination should be greatly appreciated. Walking from Texas to Washington DC, 2,300 miles; it requires strong determination!”

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:37 am

Share values of property services firms tumble over fears of AI disruption

But, after second day of Wall Street falls, analysts say sell-off ‘may overstate AI’s immediate risk to complex deal-making’

Shares in commercial property services companies have tumbled, in the latest sell-off driven by fears over disruption from artificial intelligence.

After steep declines on Wall Street, European stocks in the sector were hit on Thursday.

Published: February 12, 2026, 6:01 pm

Billions in funding wrongly released to Hungary, says EU court’s top adviser

Advocate general questions decision, saying reforms needed to unfreeze about €10bn have not been carried out

• Europe live – latest updates

The top adviser to the EU’s highest court has said it should annul a decision by the European Commission to unfreeze billions of euros of payments to Hungary that had been suspended because of serious concerns over corruption and the rule of law.

Tamara Ćapeta, the advocate general of the European court of justice, said on Thursday the commission should not have paid out the funds because Hungary had not actually carried out the judicial reforms that were a condition for their release.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:11 pm

Celine Cremer: Grisly discovery brings new answers in mystery of Belgian tourist’s disappearance in Australian wilderness

Searchers hope that finding missing Belgian women Celine Cremer’s car key as well as human remains in Tasmania’s north-west will help them solve what happened to her

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

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The Belgian tourist Celine Cremer disappeared in an ancient rainforest during a brutal Tasmanian winter, while it is likely her remains were unearthed during this mild summer.

The 31-year-old backpacker had packed lightly to walk a relatively easy trail through the wilderness of the Tarkine in June 2023. Days later, her family reported her missing.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

Declines in health and education in poor countries ‘harming earning potential’

World Bank says children born today could earn 51% more over lifetime if their country’s human capital improved

Deteriorating health, education and training in many developing countries is dramatically depressing the future earnings of children born today, the World Bank has said.

In a report, the World Bank urges policymakers to focus on improving outcomes in three settings: homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:06 pm

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast review – if you see nothing else this year, watch this

When old school friends reunite at a funeral, they suspect foul play. Cue this frenetic, witty caper from Derry Girls’ Lisa McGee – complete with a sensational performance from Saoirse-Monica Jackson

Three middle-aged women may be all you need for anything. To run a business, raise a village, end a war, retool a civilisation, empty the loft. Even more usefully, you can make a great murder-mystery caper with them, as Lisa McGee (a fourth woman! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it) has done with her new series How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.

McGee made her name, of course, with Derry Girls – a nigh-on perfect sitcom that followed the trials and tribulations of a group of Northern Irish Catholic schoolgirls (and a beleaguered English cousin) as they went about the chaotic business of growing up in the mid-90s at the tail end of the Troubles. The main characters of the new offering don’t map precisely on to the previous one but the DNA of Derry Girls as an entity remains gloriously alive (is DNA alive? I feel a curious urge to consult Sister Michael). How to Get to Heaven has all of the verve, acuity and havoc dancing on top of the immaculate plotting that you find in McGee’s masterwork. The only difference is that one of the schoolgirls is dead. Probably. Maybe. Perhaps not.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:00 am

Ugly tears and floppy-haired heartthrobs: Dawson’s Creek’s 10 best moments

As fans mourn the death of James Van Der Beek, we look back at the show he made a teen sensation

• James Van Der Beek was so much more than just Dawson | Stuart Heritage

• James Van Der Beek: a life in pictures

James Van Der Beek has died at 48, leaving a Dawson-shaped hole in the heart of many a millennial TV fanatic. A role model to all of a certain age, Dawson Leery taught us how to break and enter, how to be a bad friend and, most importantly, how to yearn. His years-long pursuit of the girl next door is still, for some of us, the reason we keep sending late-night texts to people who absolutely do not want to hear from us.

So, as we grieve the floppy-haired man who became the less-hot lead as the series went on, let’s look back at some of the most iconic moments spent in Capeside.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:56 am

‘People ought to know’: Blue Boy Trial brings Japan’s trans history up to date

Kasho Iizuka’s feature casts trans actors to revisit a notorious 1965 trial that made gender reassignment illegal for more than 30 years. He explains why the history remains unfinished

The so-called “Blue Boy trial” in 1965 was a landmark moment for trans visibility in Japan. Now it has become a landmark film, directed by Kasho Iizuka, a transgender man and one of very few queer film-makers working in the commercial Japanese film industry.

The original legal case concerned a doctor who was prosecuted for performing gender reassignment surgery on transgender women, amid law enforcement frustrations that female-presenting transgender sex workers could not be prosecuted for their profession due to their being legally male. The doctor was found guilty of violating Japan’s eugenics laws, which prohibited surgeries resulting in sterilisation if they were deemed inessential. “Blue Boy”was a slang term for transgender individuals assigned male at birth, and the verdict effectively outlawed gender reassignment surgery in Japan until 1998. Despite this, the case raised the domestic profile of transgender people.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:10 am

‘A love letter to all the good men I know’: Shahrbanoo Sadat on making Afghanistan’s first romcom

Opening the Berlin film festival, No Good Men blends romance and rebellion, capturing love, humour and female agency in Kabul on the eve of the Taliban’s return

‘Afghanistan’s first romantic comedy” was not the easiest of sales pitches, director Shahrbanoo Sadat admits. But her long shot of a movie landed her the opening slot at the Berlin film festival starting Thursday, sending her in the red-carpet footsteps of the likes of Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.

Sadat, 35, wrote, directed and stars in the daring, genre-bending film No Good Men, about a budding love affair in a Kabul newsroom on the eve of the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and the west’s chaotic withdrawal.

Published: February 12, 2026, 6:00 am

Handel: Sosarme album review – Marco Angioloni makes the case for this little-known work

Opéra Royal de Versailles/Angioloni
(Château de Versailles Spectacles)
Doubling as vocalist and conductor, Angiolini is joined by fine singers in this rarely recorded late work. Giacomo Nanni’s sonorous ‘Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori’ is a particular highlight

Premiered in 1732, Sosarme is a bit of a sleeper among Handel’s mature operas, with only Anthony Lewis’s 1954 recording in the current catalogue. That’s a shame, as it possesses emotional depth as well as a swag of memorable arias. Contemporary audiences gave it a warm welcome, though the composer’s last-minute attempt to avoid a diplomatic faux pas by switching settings from medieval Portugal to mythical Lydia hasn’t helped its reputation.

This lightly sprung performance from Opéra Royal de Versailles under conductor Marco Angioloni goes some way to rehabilitating the work, even if the engineered sound and edgy string tone are a little in-your-face. Rémy Brès-Feuillet is honey-toned in the title role, originally a vehicle for the great contralto castrato Senesino, with Sarah Charles suitably soubrettish as his beloved Elmira.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

The Uncool by Cameron Crowe audiobook review – memoir of an awestruck insider

The film-maker and author narrates this vivid account of his wide-eyed adventures as a young music journalist in 70s America, hanging out with heroes from David Bowie to Led Zeppelin

The title of The Uncool refers to rock critic Lester Bangs’s assessment of Cameron Crowe, whose adventures as a music journalist were loosely depicted in his 2000 movie, Almost Famous. Long before he became a film-maker, the teenage Crowe travelled around the US interviewing some of the biggest rocks acts of the era, among them Gram Parsons, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Eagles and the Allman Brothers Band. Crowe’s memoir reveals him as the perennial outsider who, unlike his interviewees, cared little about sex, booze and drugs and who lacked a certain savoir-faire. Yet rock stars liked having him around, enjoying his sincerity and the fact that he was more admiring fan than dispassionate reporter.

Crowe is the reader, delivering a warm and vivacious narration that conveys the wide-eyed astonishment of his youthful self as he is thrust into the orbit of his heroes. He also paints a vivid picture of an era in which bands weren’t protected by gaggles of PR representatives and a writer could spend 18 months with an artist – as Crowe did with Bowie in the mid-1970s – to write a single profile.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:00 pm

Super Nintendo by Keza MacDonald review – a joyful celebration of the gaming giant

A portrait of the company whose ‘toymaker philosophy’ stands in contrast to the tech giants that rule our lives

What is the highest-grossing entertainment franchise of all time? You might be tempted to think of Star Wars, or perhaps the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe even Harry Potter? But no: it’s Pokémon – the others don’t come close. The Japanese “pocket monsters”, which star in video games, TV series and tradable playing cards, have made an estimated $115bn since 1996. Is this a sign of the lamentable infantilisation of postmodern society?

Not a bit of it, argues Keza MacDonald, the Guardian’s video games editor, in her winsomely enthusiastic biography of Nintendo, the company that had become an eponym for electronic entertainment long before anyone had heard the words “PlayStation” or “Xbox”. Yes, Pokémon is mostly a children’s pursuit, but a sophisticated one: “Like Harry Potter, the Famous Five and Narnia,” she observes, “it offers a powerful fantasy of self-determination, set in a world almost totally free of adult supervision.” And in its complicated scoring system, “it got millions of kids voluntarily doing a kind of algebra”.

Published: February 12, 2026, 9:00 am

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine review – drag fabulousness in war-torn Beirut

Spanning eras of conflict and Covid in Lebanon, this irresistible queer coming-of-age tale explores what it means to be truly free

Meet Raja, the narrator of Rabih Alameddine’s new novel. A 63-year-old gay philosophy teacher and drag entertainer, he is a stickler for rules and boundaries, living in a tiny Beirut flat with his octogenarian mother, the nosy and unfettered Zalfa. Invited to a writing residency in the US, Raja will use the occasion to relate his life – that is, if you don’t mind him taking the scenic route. “A tale has many tails, and many heads, particularly if it’s true,” Raja tells us. “Like life, it is a river with many branches, rivulets, creeks and distributaries.”

Winner of the 2025 US National Book Award for fiction, Alameddine’s seventh novel opens and closes in 2023, but the bulk of its action takes place earlier: encompassing the lead-up to and aftermath of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Covid pandemic, Lebanon’s 2019 banking crisis, and the Beirut port explosion in 2020. If this timeline makes the book sound like a punishing tour of Lebanese history, I promise it isn’t. More than a war chronicle or national exposé, it is a queer coming-of-age tale, an exploration of the bond between a mother and a son, and a meditation on storytelling, memory, survival and what it means to be truly free. Told in a voice as irresistibly buoyant as it is unapologetically camp, this rule-breaking spin on the trauma plot holds on to its cheer in the face of sobering material. Poignant but never cynical, often dark but never dour, wise without being showy and always eager to crack a joke, this is a novel that insists that the pain of the past need overwhelm neither present nor narrative, identity nor personality. With Sartre as his guide, and a drag fabulousness all his own, Raja shows us how.

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:00 am

What is Pokopia? Inside the calming Pokémon game that ditches battles for gardening

We explore the cosy world-building spin-off with Game Freak’s Shigeru Ohmori and his fellow developers – and learn how it began with a Pokémon-hunting dream

Pokémon is celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, and everybody knows what to expect from these games by now. The concept is simple: head into a cartoonish paradise full of whimsical creatures, capture them in red-and-white balls and assemble a team of warriors from them, before battling other aspiring Pokémon masters. But the latest entry in the series is different – a game that’s more about building than battling.

In Pokopia, a refreshingly pacific twist on the series, players are dropped into a virtual world where Pokémon are freed from their spherical prisons and happily roam their natural habitats. There’s one minor caveat – you have to create those habitats by hand, building them from what you can find.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:35 pm

Jimmy Kimmel on the US justice department’s handling of the Epstein files: ‘A brazen cover-up’

Late-night hosts discussed Pam Bondi’s heated hearing and an embarrassing post-race Winter Olympics interview

Late-night hosts recapped US attorney general Pam Bondi’s contentious congressional hearing as she faced tough questions over the justice department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Published: February 12, 2026, 3:39 pm

Wuthering Heights set to ravish Valentine’s weekend box office

Early projections suggest Emerald Fennell’s adaptation could recoup its $80m production budget in its opening three days – with strong US and overseas takings expected

The titillating trailers and method-dressed promotional tour appear to have paid off: early indications are that Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights will earn back its $80m (£59m) production budget on the first weekend of release.

Projections estimate the three-day frame, which falls on Valentine’s weekend, should recoup around $50m (£37m) at the US box office – where it opens across 3,600 screens – and a further $40m (£29m) overseas.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:34 pm

‘Movies can change the world but not in a political way’ says Wim Wenders

At a press conference to open the 76th edition of the Berlin film festival, the jury president said ‘cinema has an incredible power’ but little influence on political decision-makers

Veteran director Wim Wenders has hailed the power of cinema to help heal a broken planet as he takes up the jury presidency of the Berlinale, the most politically charged of Europe’s big three international film festivals.

Asked about the role of movies in the current climate of war and social upheaval, the auteur behind Wings of Desire and the Oscar-nominated Perfect Days said he saw film-making as an act of bridge-building and generating empathy.

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:51 pm

‘Utterly hilarious’: Simon McBurney on how the great clown Philippe Gaulier changed his life

The Complicité founder remembers his teacher’s wicked laughter, provocative demands and infinite generosity

• Philippe Gaulier dies aged 82

Many speak of a teacher in their childhood who changed them, someone who reveals knowledge about the world they carry with them for the rest of their lives. I didn’t have one of those. It wasn’t until I was 24 and living in Paris, where I stumbled into Philippe’s class almost by accident, that this happened. Provocative, demanding, deliberately inappropriate and utterly hilarious, Philippe taught me not to carry anything. No baggage, no ideas; knowing nothing is all you need. Because we are all ridiculous.

His mother was Spanish, and we would eat her meals with relish when she came to cook for him, or rather with him, in his appartement lined with his writings, many of which had “rêves” inscribed on the spine. He would refer to his father as “ce salaud bourgeois” (that bourgeois arsehole) and he delighted in telling me the story of being thrown out of school aged eight because he punched the gymnastics teacher who was trying to instil discipline into young boys by turning them into military martinets.

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:48 am

Can being codependent in a relationship actually be a good thing?

Being codependent is often seen as a bad thing. But a new book makes the case for ‘healthy dependency’

Many of us desire deeper relationships. What we don’t always agree on is how close is too close. Dating advice often casts intimacy as a tightrope – pull back too much, or push for more. Either move is read as a red flag. Between discussions of incompatible attachment styles, the importance of boundaries and the dangers of love-bombing, it’s easy to get the impression there’s a correct level of closeness to aim for.

In truth, intimacy isn’t one-size-fits-all and comfort levels vary – not just between individuals, but across their relationships.

Published: February 12, 2026, 11:00 am

I’m finding it difficult to live up to my morals. How do I know when it’s OK to compromise?

It can feel overwhelming, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. But ask yourself what sacrifices make the biggest proportionate impact

• Read more Leading questions

I’m finding it difficult living up to my morals – where is the line between compromising a little, versus becoming complicit in what I don’t agree with?

I’m one of those people who believes we can each take a role in solving big problems, and that we should try to make things better where we can. For this reason, I’ve ended up working in public service and try to reduce how much meat I eat. I’m vegetarian 60% of the time, which is not perfect, but I believe doing something is better than doing nothing.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:00 pm

You be the judge: should my wife stop leaving piles of clothes all over the bedroom?

Kevin thinks wardrobes are there for a reason, but Mabel says hangers are a hassle for a woman in a rush. You decide who deserves a dressing down
• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

Mabel’s clothes mountain gets in the way and sets a bad example for our sons. I call it the ‘Monster’

Kevin is exaggerating the size of the pile. I like living in organised chaos and he should accept that

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:00 am

‘Not blind optimism’: why Coach’s designer is not giving up on sustainable fashion

Stuart Vevers wants the luxury brand to keep championing upcycled materials and reduce landfill waste

Stuart Vevers, the British designer of the American mass luxury brand Coach, is working to keep sustainability in the spotlight at New York fashion week. Not an easy task, when environmental concerns are slipping down the global agenda and fashion, perennially a mirror to the world we live in, has reverted to putting profits first.

“I’m an optimist, but it’s not a blind optimism. There’s a lot of tension in optimism, because the world is challenging and I am not ignoring that. My optimism comes from believing that the young people of today are going to make this world better,” he said before Wednesday’s show, held in the historic Cunard building in downtown New York.

Published: February 12, 2026, 2:50 pm

​My love letter to Brittany’s best exports

Along with its crisp, earthy galettes – suitable for Pancake Day and, really, any time of the year – this French region has so many delicious things to eat

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Every February – or occasionally March – I get together with two friends to gorge on pancakes; I provide the pan, Caro does the cocktails and poor old Harry is invariably the chef because she never fails, even three ciders in. With two half-Frenchies in the room, we always start with buckwheat galettes, usually served complète with gruyère, ham and a fried egg (though the more we eat, the more adventurous the combinations become). Then we move on to softer, thicker British sweet pancakes with lemon juice and crunchy demerara sugar to finish. We rarely manage to meet on Shrove Tuesday itself, but apart from the year I went vegan for Lent, that’s no problem. After all, any cold, dark evening is improved by a pancake party.

I suspect we’re not alone in sticking with the classics, so I’m not going to suggest too many alternatives, but, given that pancakes are not just for the 47th day before Easter, I do like the sound of Nigel Slater’s ones stuffed with cheese and caramelised onion, I know I’d love Yotam Ottolenghi’s Austrian kaiserschmarrn and, though they’re as flat as they sound, Jimi Famurewa’s Nigerian-Dutch puff puff pancakes look incredible. Oh, and there’s Meera Sodha’s Indonesian-style salted peanut and chocolate pancakes, while Claire Ptak’s fluffy cardamom pancakes with thyme-spiked figs certainly aren’t just for Christmas.

Published: February 12, 2026, 12:40 pm

‘The intimate and the epic’: the best way to understand India is to travel by train

Being a passenger in this vast country is ‘a full-blooded immersion in the local’, says the novelist whose latest protagonist is lured by the romance of the rails

I carry my train journeys in my bones, the juddering song of the Indian rail. Our first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, famously likened India to a palimpsest, no layer quite effacing the one that went before. That’s how I think of Indian railway journeys. They inscribe on the mind our fellow travellers, our ways, our thousand languages, our landscapes, our climate.

I think of a rail journey I made in 1998 – that brutal summer of nuclear testing – setting out from Mumbai, in an ordinary three-tier sleeper, for Dehradun, 1,000 miles (1,600km) north. The frazzled train fell off any semblance of a schedule. The voyage grew longer, past 50 hours; hotter, past 50C. I remember the metallic burn on the window grilles; the hot, killing wind that blew through them; the sizzle of water drops splashed on the face when theyhit the uncovered platforms in the heart of the country; the melt of my rubber soles. A fortnight later, having trekked to the mouth of a tributary of the Ganges, completing my expedition from the Arabian Sea to a Himalayan glacier, it was possible to look back on the rail ordeal with affection.

Published: February 12, 2026, 7:00 am

‘I lived the life I’ve always dreamed of’: the man who cycled around the world for four years

Andreas Graf lived without screens and no idea of the date or time. The conditions were often brutal – but he found kindness and friendship as he rode

In April 2022, Andreas Graf set off on his bike from his home in Norway. His dream was to cycle to India. A week later, having reached Sweden, it was already becoming more of a nightmare. “It was pouring with rain and I was lying in my tent in my half-wet sleeping bag and I was like, I could be in my very cosy Oslo apartment,” he says. “I had this good life, a career, a partner, and I had left everything behind.”

He was 31. Friends were settling down. Graf had a well-paid job in industrial engineering, but was still renting in a houseshare. “I had started to think about whether to make a financially reasonable and sensible decision, or do something else. I went for option two.”

Published: February 12, 2026, 10:00 am

Economics has failed on the climate crisis. This complexity scientist has a mind-blowing plan to fix that

Doyne Farmer says a super-simulator of the global economy would accelerate the transition to a green, clean world

It’s a mind-blowing idea: an economic model of the world in which every company is individually represented, making realistic decisions that change as the economy changes. From this astonishing complexity would emerge forecasts of unprecedented clarity. These would be transformative: no more flying blind into global financial crashes, no more climate policies that fail to shift the dial.

This super simulator could be built for what Prof Doyne Farmer calls the bargain price of $100m, thanks to advances in complexity science and computing power.

Published: February 12, 2026, 8:00 am

A collapsed highway and robot police dogs: photos of the day – Thursday

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

Published: February 12, 2026, 1:05 pm