Alexander Katiraie

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Alexander Katiraie

Medical NGO that slammed Israel’s anti-terror raid now quits Gaza hospital over armed operatives

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Commentator says Israeli forces vindicated as MSF admits finding armed fighters at Gaza hospital. The medical charity's revelation contradicts previous condemnation against Jewish state.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:38 pm

Ukraine's Zelenskyy says he met with Democratic senators, thanked US for support

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he thanked America for its support while meeting with U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse.

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:14 pm

Paris police raid Arab World Institute in connection with Epstein investigation

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French authorities searched the headquarters for the Arab World Institute in relation to a Jeffrey Epstein investigation on Monday.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:38 pm

UK, German defense officials defend military buildup under Russian threats

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The defense chiefs of the U.K. and Germany made the case for strengthening the continent's military power to protect against any Russian aggression.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:51 pm

Australia Hanukkah terror attack suspect seen for first time in prison

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Naveed Akram appeared via video link in a Sydney court as a suppression order protecting the names of some victims was extended.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:40 pm

Taiwan 'will not escalate, but will not yield' to Chinese intimidation, foreign minister warns

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Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung warns China's military expansion threatens global stability and semiconductor supply chains, with 90% of advanced chips produced in Taiwan.

Published: February 16, 2026, 11:15 am

Iran says US must 'prove they want to do a deal' on nuclear talks in Geneva

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U.S. sanctions discussions key to Iran nuclear agreement as Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi says ball is "in America's court"

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:12 am

Man who burned Quran in London may get US asylum as case draws Trump administration attention

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Free speech controversy erupts as the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service appeals the overturned conviction of Hamit Coskun, who burned a Quran outside the Turkish Consulate in London.

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:00 am

2 skiers killed in avalanche on popular Mont Blanc skiing route near French-Swiss border

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Two skiers were killed in an off-trail avalanche on Mont Blanc's Italian side, as dangerous conditions plague the Alps during record week of skiing deaths.

Published: February 15, 2026, 11:00 pm

Zelenskyy ally arrested trying to flee Ukraine as massive corruption probe deepens

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Ukrainian authorities detained former energy minister Herman Halushchenko in the Operation Midas probe investigating alleged $100 million kickbacks.

Published: February 15, 2026, 9:49 pm

Doctors Without Borders reduces operations at Gaza hospital over security concerns

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Doctors Without Borders halted noncritical operations at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, citing security concerns.

Published: February 15, 2026, 5:58 pm

Israeli intelligence sources reject claims Jeffrey Epstein was Mossad operative following document releases

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Israeli officials deny alleged Jeffrey Epstein-Mossad conspiracy theories as Israeli PM Netanyahu and ex-leader Ehud Barak clash over newly released court documents.

Published: February 15, 2026, 5:13 pm

US forces board sanctioned oil tanker after vessel tried to evade Trump quarantine, Department of War says

U.S. forces interdicted and boarded the sanctioned tanker Veronica III in the Indo-Pacific after officials said it defied a Trump administration quarantine.

Published: February 15, 2026, 3:21 pm

Waltz calls UN a 'cesspool for antisemitism' as Trump administration pushes major reforms

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President Donald Trump's U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz calls antisemitism fight central to sweeping U.N. reforms, demanding the world body return to core peace mission.

Published: February 15, 2026, 2:51 pm

Global protests call for Iran regime change in major cities worldwide after bloody crackdown

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Over 250,000 anti-Iran regime protesters rally in Munich as Global Day of Action demonstrations span major cities worldwide calling for leadership change.

Published: February 15, 2026, 12:46 am

Syrian Army Crosses New Threshold With Advances in Kurdish Regions

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The advance of the Syrian Army into Kurdish regions could put nearly all the country under one authority. But it ends a dream of autonomy for ethnic Kurds.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:41 pm

A Russian ‘Village of Military Valor’ Waits for Its Reward

Sedanka has only 250 residents, but dozens of its men left for the front. It is wondering whether recognition that the government promised will ever arrive.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:36 pm

Rage. Grief. Anxiety. The New Mood in Iran.

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In the aftermath of another wave of antigovernment unrest, Iran is gripped by a mood of collective grief and uncertainty about the future.

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:35 pm

In Hungary, Marco Rubio Stresses Trump’s Support for Viktor Orban

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The U.S. secretary of state said in Budapest that the president was “deeply committed” to the success of Viktor Orban, who has boasted of creating an “illiberal state.”

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:29 pm

Iran Holds Exercises in Strait of Hormuz After Trump Threatens Military Action

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The day before nuclear talks were set to resume, Iran conducted live drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil and gas shipments.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:03 pm

Prices Jump as Venezuelans Abroad Consider Buying Property Back Home

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Nicolás Maduro’s capture and talk of oil investment have pushed prices higher, even as brokers say enthusiasm is outpacing demand in a weak economy.

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

In Xi Jinping’s Purge of the Military, a Search for Absolute Loyalty

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By reaching back to Maoist tactics of “rectification,” the Chinese leader is signaling that control over the gun requires a state of perpetual cleansing.

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:33 pm

Ticket Scam Cost the Louvre $12 Million, Investigators Say

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The Paris prosecutor’s office said a network involving museum employees and tour guides had been operating for a decade.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:36 pm

How Spain Is Carving a Different Path on Immigration

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The country is hoping its new amnesty for undocumented immigrants will avoid a public backlash.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:57 pm

Cortina’s 70-Year-Old Curling Stadium Is a Star at the Winter Olympics

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It hosted the 1956 Olympics and had a role in a James Bond movie. Now Cortina’s beloved stadium is packed with raucous fans, and the occasional cheating scandal, in curling.

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:57 am

Three American Speeches at Munich, and Plenty of Confusion

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As the U.S. message veered from shared heritage and values to shared interests and back again, Europeans wondered what kind of alliance they were left with.

Published: February 15, 2026, 9:01 pm

Canada Gives U.S. Arms Makers the Cold Shoulder on Military Spending

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Canada plans to unveil a new strategy that will shift its current reliance on American companies to Canadian military suppliers.

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:34 pm

Trump’s Stinging Attack on Israel’s President Touches a Nerve

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President Trump called President Isaac Herzog of Israel “disgraceful” because he has not yet pardoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial.

Published: February 15, 2026, 4:04 pm

‘Tina’ and ‘Milo’ Olympic Mascot Toys Are Almost as Tough to Get as a Medal

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Fans have fallen hard for plush dolls representing Tina and Milo, the mascots of Italy’s Winter Games.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:08 pm

User Issues With X Appear to Have Resolved

The social media site was the subject of user complaints early Monday.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:30 pm

Dana Eden, Co-Creator of ‘Tehran,’ Dies During Filming of Fourth Season

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Ms. Eden, 52, who was also an executive producer of the Emmy-winning show, was found in a hotel room in Athens. Greek police said they did not suspect foul play.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:27 pm

Who’s Pulling the Strings on the World Stage? Ask the Puppets.

Eurasia Group, the geopolitical risk consultancy run by Ian Bremmer, gets into the political satire game with its Instagram show “Puppet Regime.”

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Gisèle Pelicot Speaks

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She was repeatedly drugged by her husband and raped in a series of crimes that shocked the world. Pelicot talked to us about her new memoir.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 am

Europe Today Looks Different From the One Trump’s Team Describes

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio appealed to European leaders in Munich by stressing Christian and cultural bonds that are no longer universal.

Published: February 15, 2026, 9:54 pm

How Italy’s Federica Brignone Won Gold in Giant Slalom.

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At 35, Federica Brignone of Italy became the oldest Olympic Alpine gold medalist. Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. finished a disappointing 11th.

Published: February 15, 2026, 6:11 pm

Islamist Party’s Rise Overshadows Student Revolution in Bangladesh

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The party is dedicated to running the country under Islamic law, but ran on a more moderate platform. It gained far more seats in last week’s election than it ever had before.

Published: February 15, 2026, 4:59 pm

Iran Protester Dies in Custody, Raising Fears of Execution

Rights groups are investigating the death of Ali Rahbar as a potential extrajudicial killing. Iran denies executions have taken place.

Published: February 15, 2026, 11:22 pm

You’d Be Surprised to See Where Many Olympians Keep Their Medals

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Athletes train and sweat for years in pursuit of the glittering prizes. Many store them in the least glamorous places.

Published: February 15, 2026, 4:27 pm

How $40-a-Pack Cigarettes Pushed Australians to the Black Market

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Tax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.

Published: February 15, 2026, 5:01 am

Will A.I. Kill Translation Jobs?

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Popular paperbacks are being translated with the help of machines, raising anxiety among professionals in the field.

Published: February 15, 2026, 6:47 am

U.S. Deports Nine Migrants in Secret, Ignoring Legal Protections

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Most had court orders protecting them from removal to their home countries, so they were sent to detention in Cameroon.

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:58 pm

French Prosecutors to Investigate Diplomat as Part of Epstein Probe

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The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was looking into three new complaints with links to the files and revisiting an earlier investigation into an Epstein associate who died in 2022.

Published: February 15, 2026, 3:43 pm

No miracle, but Denmark hockey team gives U.S. a good fight.

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The Americans trailed Denmark after one period, but fought back to cruise to a 6-3 victory.

Published: February 15, 2026, 3:00 pm

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil and Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan Win Olympic Gold Medals

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A Brazilian skier secured South America’s maiden medal at a Winter Games the day after a Kazakh figure skater won his nation’s first winter gold in 32 years.

Published: February 15, 2026, 1:09 pm

Milo Rau’s ‘Hate Radio,’ ‘Pelicot Trial’ and More Theater of the Real

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Milo Rau’s examination of the infamous broadcast that preceded the Rwandan genocide is onstage now. Two other works, including “The Pelicot Trial,” arrive in March.

Published: February 15, 2026, 1:20 pm

Navalny Was Poisoned With Frog Toxin, European Governments Say

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The toxin was found in the body of the Russian dissident Aleksei A. Navalny, who died in prison two years ago, five governments said, challenging Russia’s official account.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:26 pm

Europe’s Reaction to Rubio: Relief, Up to a Point

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The secretary of state was much less caustic in Munich than Vice President JD Vance was a year ago. But European officials said his core message was much the same.

Published: February 15, 2026, 2:01 pm

In Munich, Rubio Stresses Shared History to Europeans but Warns of ‘Civilizational Erasure’

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In his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced some far-right ideas, but his diplomatic tone came as a relief to the audience.

Published: February 15, 2026, 3:16 am

New Research Absolves the Woman Blamed for a Dynasty’s Ruin

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A Chinese king’s infatuation with a woman was seen as the reason that a golden age collapsed. Evidence suggests climate change and internal strife played bigger roles.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:01 am

How Bangladesh Went From Revolution to Elections

Bangladesh held the first national elections since a student revolution in the summer of 2024. Standing outside the Dhaka university, the epicenter of the student movement, New York Times correspondent Anupreeta Das explains what the recent elections mean for the country’s future.

Published: February 15, 2026, 7:54 pm

Multiple people shot at Rhode Island ice rink, suspect dead: report

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Multiple people reportedly shot at Rhode Island ice skating rink in Pawtucket. Suspect dead after shooting at Dennis M Lynch Arena, local reports say.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:26 pm

Agitator arrested on battery charge outside Trump's West Palm Beach golf course

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Police arrested a man he allegedly struck a protester outside Trump's West Palm Beach golf course during the weekend.

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:00 pm

Pennsylvania man accused of stabbing 3-month-old baby after talking 'sacrifice'

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A 44-year-old man in Pennsylvania allegedly spoke about needing to sacrifice his 3-month-old child before stabbing the infant, according to an affidavit.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:45 pm

Nancy Guthrie case: Ret. FBI agent says bureau preparing for 'parallel realities' while awaiting DNA results

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Retired FBI agent reveals three possible outcomes as Nancy Guthrie investigators await crucial DNA results from glove found near scene in ongoing case.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:15 pm

Los Angeles beaches could become national parks, NPS seeking input

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The Los Angeles coastline could become a national park. Public input needed by April 6 on proposal covering Santa Monica to Torrance Beach.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:09 pm

Florida deputy rescues unconscious woman from house fire, carries her to safety

Florida deputy Austin Graham rescued an unconscious woman from a burning house on Sunday, his body camera footage shows.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:32 pm

California surfer murdered in apparent robbery at his home in Costa Rica: reports

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An expat hotel owner was killed at his home in Costa Rica over the weekend. Local reports say that two suspects fled after reportedly stealing valuables.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:28 pm

Nancy Guthrie case: 5 key evidence pieces so far

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Nancy Guthrie, 84-year-old mother of "TODAY" host Savannah Guthrie, missing from Tucson home since Feb. 1. FBI offers $100,000 reward for information.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:52 pm

Illinois district where faculty celebrated Charlie Kirk's death exposed over racial 'segregation' plan

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Illinois school district accused of celebrating Charlie Kirk's death exposed for controversial DEI plan, including racial segregation of students.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:25 pm

Hiker dies near summit of New York's tallest peak after slipping off trail

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A 21-year-old hiker from New Jersey called 911 after slipping near Mount Marcy's summit, but was later found dead by rangers.

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:54 pm

Savannah Guthrie releases video marking two weeks since mom’s disappearance and more top headlines

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Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:22 pm

Shipwreck hunter finds luxury steamer that sank in Lake Michigan in 1872

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After 57 years of searching, shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn discovered the luxury steamer Lac La Belle that sank in Lake Michigan in 1872 during a gale.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:06 pm

Ken Paxton sues Dallas over alleged failure to fund police as required by Proposition U

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing officials in Dallas over a lack of funding for its police department, arguing that it violates a voter-approved public safety measure.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:00 am

Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case 'ridiculously rare' says law enforcement source

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Nancy Guthrie case DNA evidence emerges as FBI confirms black glove found two miles from her Tucson home appears to match glove worn by suspect in surveillance video.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:00 am

New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth

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A New Mexico woman faces felony charges after she allegedly gave birth in a portable toilet before drowning the newborn in the holding tank.

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:25 am

California mom convicted after son dies in hot car while mother got lip fillers: 'Defendant chose her looks'

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California mom Maya Hernandez pleads guilty in hot car death of 1-year-old son after reportedly leaving children for cosmetic procedure in lethal heat.

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:04 pm

Woman allegedly steals bus from elementary school parking lot, goes on late night ride

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Georgia authorities are searching for a woman accused of stealing a school bus and driving it 40 miles before abandoning it in another county.

Published: February 15, 2026, 6:27 pm

Columbia pulls promotion for DHS career expo after faculty claims university is aiding 'authoritarianism'

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Columbia University withdrew promotion of a DHS-affiliated CBP virtual career expo after faculty criticized the listing as aiding "authoritarianism."

Published: February 15, 2026, 2:25 pm

Hundreds of women pledge loyalty to 'Deadpool Killer' despite brutal double murder confession

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The "Deadpool Killer" Wade Wilson murdered two women yet gained a twisted cult-like following. New true crime documentary reveals the shocking phenomenon.

Published: February 15, 2026, 1:00 pm

DNA breakthrough closes 30-year-old cold case in brutal 1993 rape and murder

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DNA evidence solves 30-year Indianapolis cold case, sending Dana Shepherd to prison for 45 years after he admitted to the murder of Carmen Van Huss.

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:39 am

AG Pam Bondi announces 'all' Epstein files have been released, listing over 300 high-profile names

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Attorney General Pam Bondi announces complete release of all Epstein files with no redactions for embarrassment or political sensitivity concerns.

Published: February 15, 2026, 5:17 am

Police Respond to Shooting at a Rhode Island Hockey Arena

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The authorities said they were responding on Monday to a shooting at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, where a high school hockey game was scheduled.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:59 pm

Senators Meet Zelensky With Hopeful Message on Sanctions

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During their visit, a pair of Democratic senators made the case for Congress to impose harsh penalties on Moscow for its continuing offensive.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:26 pm

Progress in Guthrie Case Is Fitful as Search Enters Its Third Week

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Late-night bursts of activity have yielded few visible results as investigators hunt for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of a “Today” show host.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:22 pm

As Guthrie Case Grips Nation, One Police Chief Reflects on His Time in the Spotlight

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“It’s probably something that no one ever expects to happen in their career,” said James Fry, who was the police chief in Moscow, Idaho, when four students were killed there in 2022.

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:38 pm

Richard Ottinger, 97, Dies; Fought for the Environment in Congress

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A New York Democrat, he spent 16 years in the House over two stretches, beginning in 1965, championing the health of the Hudson River and opposing the Vietnam War.

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:30 pm

How the H-1B Visa Debate Is Driving a Wave of Racism Against South Asians

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A dispute over the impact of H-1B visas on U.S. workers has been overshadowed by racist rhetoric, with troubling echoes of the great replacement conspiracy theory.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:09 pm

In First Months as Governor, Abigail Spanberger Kicks Up Heat From the Right

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The new governor of Virginia, who ran as a centrist Democrat and a former intelligence officer, says the attacks are a sign of her success.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:49 pm

Despite Epstein’s Toxicity, Steve Bannon Stood by Him, Texts Indicate

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Mr. Bannon, a MAGA podcaster, developed a seemingly chummy relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking. He said it was in the name of getting Mr. Epstein to open up.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:08 pm

Indonesia Says It’s Preparing Thousands of Peacekeeping Troops for Trump’s Gaza Plan

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President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia will be among those meeting with President Trump in Washington this week to discuss his Board of Peace initiative to oversee a cease-fire in Gaza.

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:30 pm

‘A Superstar Is From Here’: Pride of Cleveland Suburb Soars for U.S. Hockey

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The Olympic journey of Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to play for the U.S. hockey team, has captivated her hometown, Cleveland Heights.

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:55 pm

Epstein’s Ties With Academics Show the Seedy Side of College Fund-Raising

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Professors and presidents are often eager to raise outside cash. Some are now facing blowback after connecting with Jeffrey Epstein.

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:02 am

Trial Begins for Father of Teen Charged in Georgia School Shooting

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Prosecutors say Colin Gray is criminally culpable after his teenage son killed two students and two teachers with a rifle that had been a Christmas gift.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:29 pm

We Tracked All the Lawsuits Against the Second Trump Administration

The Supreme Court and appeals courts have been much more likely to rule in President Trump’s favor than the district courts have been. Why? Our reporter Mattathias Schwartz describes what’s going on.

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Kansas Town Supports Mayor Charged With Voting Illegally

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The Mexican-born mayor of Coldwater was accused of voting illegally as a noncitizen. Many of his neighbors want state and federal officials to back off.

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

What to Know About the Homeland Security Shutdown

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Funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapsed on Saturday amid a standoff over restrictions that Democrats have demanded for federal immigration agents. But much of its work continues.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:47 am

Kennedy Promises Action, Though Not Regulation, on Ultraprocessed Foods

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The health secretary said the Food and Drug Administration would “act on” a request from a former F.D.A. commissioner to close a loophole on food safety.

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:17 am

Useful Camera Footage in Guthrie Case Proves Elusive

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The lack of helpful video footage in Nancy Guthrie’s community may be hindered by several factors, experts say.

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:28 am

Pat Tillman’s Brother Pleads Guilty to Setting Post Office Fire

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Richard Tillman, brother of the N.F.L. star turned Army Ranger who died in a case of friendly fire in Afghanistan, drove a vehicle into a California post office while it was closed.

Published: February 15, 2026, 8:32 pm

In Munich, Lawmakers Concede Scars Remain After Trump’s Greenland Threat

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Congress members said that President Trump’s coveting of Greenland had left a mark, even as they expressed hope for a less bellicose approach to foreign relations.

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:48 pm

In First Public Comments Since Trump’s Racist Video, Obama Laments Lost Decorum

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In a podcast interview, former President Barack Obama did not directly address the video posted by Mr. Trump but denounced a “clown show” on social media.

Published: February 15, 2026, 2:04 pm

FBI refuses to share evidence about Alex Pretti’s killing at hands of fed agents with Minnesota investigators

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Officials warn against Justice Department’s ‘concerning and unprecedented’ refusal to support local authorities

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:57 pm

Mass shooting at Rhode Island ice rink leaves one dead and multiple people injured

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The suspected shooter also died during the incident at Dennis M Lynch Arena in Pawtucket

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:56 pm

Mother shot dead cheerleader daughter, 11, before turning gun on herself in Las Vegas hotel room, police say

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Police found a note at the crime scene but have yet to confirm what the letter contained

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:02 pm

Trump pal MyPillow pal Lindell is grilled after campaign spent $187K to buy his own book: ‘Got them for a very good price’

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Lindell said his campaign planned to spend more money on his book in the future

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:34 pm

Wes Moore won’t call Trump racist over Obama apes post but doesn’t say he’s not: ‘I know his actions hit Black folks’

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Democratic Maryland governor says president’s ‘actions’ speak for themselves, even amid Trump’s denials of racist intentions

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:30 pm

US military airlifts a nuclear reactor across three states after Trump pushes for more of the energy source

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The ‘next-generation’ reactor could potentially power up to 5,000 homes, the Pentagon announced

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:03 pm

YouTuber facing federal charges after taking drone footage of top-secret ‘underground Pentagon’, FBI claims

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Stuart Dale Bennett accused of violating airspace above the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, a secure facility where top US officials will be whisked in the event of nuclear war

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:47 pm

Remains of legendary ‘guerrilla priest’ identified decades later

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The search unit used public and classified records to locate his remains

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:03 pm

Washington, Lincoln and Trump: Hegseth’s ‘War Department‘ and others post Presidents Day tributes

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The Trump administration frequently suggests the 47th president should be venerated as much as the 1st

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:54 pm

Famous Lovers’ Arch falls into sea during Valentine’s Day storm

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The town’s mayor called the collapse ‘a very hard blow’ for the area's tourism

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:47 pm

Greece aims to obtain Nazi execution photos listed online on eBay

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Shortly after the photos were posted for sale, a memorial at the site to those killed was vandalised

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:46 pm

Fourth letter sent to TMZ about Nancy Guthrie disappearance - as media boss makes direct plea

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TMZ’s founder, Harvey Levin, told the letter’s author to send him what he knew about Nancy Guthrie and he would work with the FBI to get them payment

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:45 pm

Taylor Swift Eras Tour attack plot leads to terrorism charges against 21-year-old

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Prosecutors also say that the defendant had made ‘several attempts’ to buy weapons illegally outside the country and to bring them to Austria

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:42 pm

Man accused of selling sex with his wife to at least 120 men

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If convicted, the man could face between two and 10 years in jail

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:36 pm

Two female Israeli soldiers rescued after they are chased by huge crowd of ultra-Orthodox men during riot

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Rioters in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, turned over an Israeli police car and set fire to a motorcycle amid anger over conscription

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:31 pm

Judge quotes Orwell’s 1984 as she orders Trump to restore slavery exhibits in Philadelphia

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Judge compares president’s attempts to erase history to the dystopian Ministry of Truth

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:21 pm

Charcoal smugglers stage fake funeral procession through town

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Around 30 large bags of charcoal were found following a tip-off

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:21 pm

Wife of Trump-ally congressman accidentally revealed too much info about their marriage, internet sleuths claim

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‘What a beautiful love story, besides him being married at the time of course,’ one user wrote

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:14 pm

Founding father myths: Did George Washington really have wooden teeth?

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On this day 250 years ago, Washington would have been nearing the culmination of an almost year-long siege that effectively trapped an estimated 11,000 British troops and hundreds of loyalists

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:02 pm

Deadliest January on record for migrants after 699 killed while fleeing homes

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The spike in deaths has been driven by hundreds of deaths on the Central Mediterranean route, which rights groups say are preventable

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:29 pm

Son’s of Imran Khan demand to see him in jail amid deteriorating health

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Khan’s sons say that during a call with their father, he claimed he had "been denied treatment” for a few months

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:03 pm

Wheelchair user with panic disorder says Southwest ‘abandoned’ her in airport restroom

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Exclusive: Mary Lynn Ellison, 64, says the incident touched off an ‘immediate and severe’ mental health crisis that continues to persist some two years later, according to a federal lawsuit reviewed by The Independent

Published: February 15, 2026, 5:55 pm

Thousands likely exposed to black mold on classic Disney World ride

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Black mold can cause respiratory issues and allergic reactions, especially with long-term exposure

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:53 pm

Winter to show ‘it’s not quite done’ as Californians brace for huge winter storm

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‘It has seemed ‘spring-like’ for a large part of 2026, but winter is set to show it’s not quite done yet,’ a sheriff’s office said

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:52 pm

Trump ally confronted over why his campaign spent $187,000 on copies of own book

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A Donald Trump ally was challenged on why he decided to spend $187,000 of campaign donations on copies of his own book.

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:51 pm

Six dead and 45 injured after bus crash in Brazil

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The incident occurred early on the BR-153 federal highway, near the city of Marilia in Sao Paulo state

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:50 pm

Trump threatens death penalty for Nancy Guthrie kidnappers after Savannah’s desperate plea

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Trump said that Nancy Guthrie’s abductors would receive ‘the most severe’ consequences, according to a report

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:47 pm

A staggering number of local police are now working for ICE’s immigration roundup surge

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As many as 15,800 local law enforcement officers have been deputized to enforce immigration law, report finds

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:43 pm

Trump’s DOJ released only 2% of Epstein files despite flagging Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, study claims

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Over the weekend, the DOJ sent a letter to Congress naming hundreds of high-profile people included in the files

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:35 pm

The original Epstein? FBI is holding thousands of files on Detroit millionaire and his sinister island

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Before Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes shocked the world, another wealthy bachelor built his own secret operation on a remote, private island in Lake Michigan. One podcaster tells Andrea Cavallier how he has picked up the cold case - and is trying to expose what authorities failed to do

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:35 pm

Lawmakers accuse Pam Bondi of ‘mudding’ Epstein files release with names of long-dead Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe

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In a six-page letter to members of Congress, the DOJ said it has released ‘all’ documents related to the required disclosures and listed a series of high-profile names – including those of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Monroe and Janis Joplin

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:34 pm

Couples are flocking to White Castle and Waffle House for Valentine’s Day: ‘A beacon of love’

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Every February 14, these two beloved — but also widely mocked — budget fast food chains lay out the tablecloths and take reservations. Io Dodds meets the married parents, wild young lovers and small-town retirees who take the leap

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:16 pm

Is there such a thing as bad publicity? At the Olympics, curling is finding out ... probably not

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Curling is hoping to take advantage of its moment in the Olympic spotlight

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:15 pm

‘Where is the floor for Donald Trump?’ CNN data guru reveals new low in 4 polls ... and doing worse than Biden

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Trump’s approval rating sinks as continued fears about the economy and concerns about ICE chaos dominate

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:12 pm

Suspect claiming to be Jesus after allegedly stealing a cop car is referred to mental health court

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Giontae Dixon faces multiple felony charges over an alleged crime spree through the suburbs of Milwaukee during which he claimed to be Jesus, but whether he actually stands trial will depend on a doctor’s report next month

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:08 pm

Spending just two hours a day on social media is linked to increased loneliness in college students

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Students who spent more than 30 hours on social media per week were nearly 40 percent more likely to report feeling lonely

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:02 pm

Child protective services called after parents express concerns about high school’s Turning Point USA event

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A parent named Nancy said that she was concerned that teenagers could be ‘susceptible to influence’ at the TPUSA event

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:54 pm

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin responds to Navalny poisoning claims while Kyiv launches ‘powerful’ attack

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Another round of US-brokered peace talks will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:50 pm

Trump ‘committed’ to Hungarian PM Orban’s success, says Rubio during Central Europe tour

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Orban is considered by many on the American hard right as a model for Trump’s tough immigration policies and support for Christian conservatism

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:43 pm

Why a Brazilian carnival float has triggered backlash

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‘Lula deserves a tribute like this, just like any other Brazilian who does a lot for our people,’ the parade’s chief organizer said

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:29 pm

CBP commander arrested for harboring his undocumented migrant girlfriend

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Andres Wilkinson, a 25-year border protection veteran, was "aware of her unlawful immigration status yet maintained a romantic relationship with her,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:26 pm

UK foreign aid cuts set to be deeper than Trump’s slashing of US funds

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New analysis says Britain will see a larger cut thanks to Congress softening the impact of the US president’s measures

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:12 pm

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Feb. 22-28 includes Dakota Fanning and Drew Barrymore

Celebrities having birthdays during the week of Feb. 22-28 include actor Dakota Fanning, singer James Blunt and comedian Chelsea Handler

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:12 pm

Lindsey Graham’s Senate race rival accuses him of trying to replace Pam Bondi with Fox News host

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South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch accuses veteran incumbent of seeking to install a ‘globalist, swamp-monster Beltway RINO’ as next U.S. attorney general

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:09 pm

Trump’s ambassadors are begging companies across the globe to fund ‘America 250’ celebrations: report

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‘I need your money,’ the US ambassador to Singapore reportedly told executives at a dinner earlier this month

Published: February 16, 2026, 4:06 pm

MAGA podcasters are turning on Pam Bondi over her Epstein testimony: ‘They’re all unprepared’

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Right-wing podcaster Tim Dillon did not hold back after Pam Bondi yelled about the stock market in the hearing about the Epstein files

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:54 pm

Ukraine’s civilian casualties have surged 26 per cent in the last year as Trump talked about peace

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US-backed peace talks with Kyiv and Moscow have made little progress – and Vladimir Putin has ramped up his deadly attacks

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:53 pm

World’s top cocoa producer sees crops flourish amid unseasonal rain

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Farmers across key cocoa-growing regions welcomed last week's rains

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:33 pm

Imran Khan’s physician says report of ‘improvement’ in ex-PM’s eyesight cannot be verified

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A team of doctors treating Pakistan’s imprisoned former premier Imran Khan has reported “improvement” in his eyesight, his personal physician said, but added he could neither confirm nor deny the assessment as he had no access to the former premier

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:18 pm

Starmer to deploy UK warships to Arctic following Trump’s Greenland threats

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The prime minister also used his speech at the Munich Security Conference to underline the UK’s commitment to Nato as he spelt out the ‘urgency’ of forging a closer UK defence relationship with Europe

Published: February 16, 2026, 3:13 pm

Epstein was invited to gatherings with a dozen members of Congress years after his initial arrest, documents reveal

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There was a congressman’s birthday gala, a senator’s fundraiser at a billionaire’s home and a breakfast to discuss ‘homeland security’

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:47 pm

Pennsylvania Girl Scout smashes records as she sells a whopping 100,000 boxes of cookies nationwide

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Pim Neill hit the milestone this weekend after using TikTok to help sell her cookies

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:47 pm

Epstein’s global reach: The countries that have launched investigations into paedophile’s connections so far

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Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to global figures have prompted multiple probes far beyond the United States. James C. Reynolds reports

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:46 pm

Woman denied legal abortion sent to maximum-security prison after illegally terminating pregnancy

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A young woman in Zambia was sent to a maximum-security prison after she was denied a legal abortion

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:45 pm

Hungary and Slovakia ask neighbouring country to help deliver Russian oil

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Hungary and Slovakia rely on Russian oil and gas despite sanctions from the European Union

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:43 pm

At least 59 dead and thousands displaced as Cyclone Gezani rips through island nation

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Gezani came just ten days after Tropical Cyclone Fytia killed 14 and displaced over 31,000 people

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:37 pm

Inside Iran’s hospitals where injured protesters taken to morgues while they still had vital signs

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Doctors in Iran tell Independent Persian’s Amirhossein Miresmaeili they were prevented from treating wounded protesters and forced to log gunshot wounds as tumours or car accidents

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:33 pm

Hillary Clinton hits out at panelist as he mocks anti-Trump stance

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Hillary Clinton clashed with Czech deputy prime minister Petr Macinka over Donald Trump during a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (14 February).

Published: February 16, 2026, 2:18 pm

High school secretary accused of sexual relationship with student, after cops respond to battery claim

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Alicia Hughes has been arrested on five counts of child seduction and is being held on a $25,000 bond

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:48 pm

MAGA candidate in Texas is identified as owner of one of Epstein’s properties

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Don Huffines, a self-described ’MAGA Trump Republican’ running for comptroller, revealed as owner of Jeffrey Epstein’s infamous former Zorro Ranch in New Mexico

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:41 pm

Swiss train derailed by avalanche with multiple casualties feared

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Five of the 29 passengers on board were injured after the train derailed following an avalanche

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:39 pm

Bondi Beach attack suspect gives single-word answers in first court appearance

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Naveed Akram appears via video link from supermax facility, wearing a green prison jumper

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:21 pm

Ukraine’s ex-energy minister arrested while attempting to leave country

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Ukraine's previous two energy ministers resigned amid fallout from the so-called ‘Midas’ case

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:13 pm

Sydney police plead for safe return of 85-year-old who was kidnapped by mistake

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Chris Baghsarian was abducted from his North Ryde home before dawn on Friday in what detectives say was a case of mistaken identity

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:15 pm

Sheriff pushes back on report Nancy Guthrie abduction was linked to botched burglary

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The top cop for Pima County poured cold water on the suggestion, saying “it did not come from us.” Meanwhile, a new line of inquiry has seen investigators focused on local Walmart stores

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:12 pm

Distraught family say they were forced to pay for the bullet that killed their son

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Hooman, 37, was among the thousands of Iranians killed in a brutal crackdown on protests against the regime

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:06 pm

Poison, a plane crash and falling from a window: How Putin’s critics and rivals have met mysterious ends

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Alexei Navalny is latest in long line of Vladimir Putin’s critics who have died in recent years. James C. Reynolds, Gustaf Kilander and Alexander Butler report

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

Epstein survivor thought she was ‘going to die’ while being assaulted on pedophile’s private jet

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Juliette Bryant said she had ‘no way of getting away’ once she arrived on Epstein’s island

Published: February 16, 2026, 11:30 am

‘You’re not lost or alone’: Savannah Guthrie shares striking new plea to her mother’s suspected kidnapper

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Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her Arizona home two weeks ago

Published: February 16, 2026, 11:01 am

Britain strengthens ties with California as new clean energy and climate agreement signed

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Miliband and Newsom signed the agreement at the Munich Security Conference on Monday

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:47 am

Former Trump ally MTG sounds the alarm to MAGA over midterms: ‘Good luck trying to get women to vote for you’

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Marjorie Taylor Greene tells conservatives they sound like ‘cult fools’ when they stand up for Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and seek to discredit the pedophile’s victims

Published: February 16, 2026, 10:11 am

Ukrainian refugee, 21, and military boyfriend shot dead by ex-lover in North Carolina on Valentine’s Day, cops say

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The pair were asleep in bed when her former lover broke in and shot them both; it’s the second time in six months that a Ukrainian refugee has been violently killed in North Carolina

Published: February 16, 2026, 9:55 am

Former NFL All-Pro Tre’ Johnson dies ‘suddenly and unexpectedly’ aged 54

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Tre’ Johnson’s wife confirmed that he passed away during a brief family trip

Published: February 16, 2026, 9:00 am

Clean-up in Area 51: Obama forced to clarify his claim that aliens exist

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‘Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,’ Obama said, as he explained his theory

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:59 am

Mardi Gras makes changes to it’s famous beads a year after bringing in ban

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Beads are back, but not the cheap plastic ones

Published: February 16, 2026, 8:52 am

The answer to attacks on the UN is to revitalise it – not sideline it

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Donald Trump has consistently railed against the irrelevance of the UN has justification for his actions, Heba Aly and David McNair write. But there is a clear path to creating a brighter future

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:57 am

Liz Truss shares photo with Donald Trump: ‘Right about everything’

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Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister blames end of premiership on ‘deep state’

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:52 am

Supermarket giant Coles planned to deceive customers with ‘utterly misleading’ discounts, court hears

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Regulator claims Down Down promotions created ‘illusory’ discounts

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:43 am

What is dart frog toxin, the poison linked to Alexei Navalny’s death?

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The toxin is reportedly 100 times more powerful than morphine

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:01 am

Flights cancelled and 30,000 without power as freak storm brings 193kmph winds to New Zealand

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‘Extremely unusual’ wind gust of 193kmph recorded in Wellington overnight

Published: February 16, 2026, 7:00 am

Indonesia says 8,000 troops ready for possible peacekeeping mission in Gaza

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Indonesia’s military says it has up to 8,000 troops ready for a possible humanitarian and peace mission in Gaza

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:54 am

Kim Jong un opens new housing district for families of North Koreans killed in Ukraine war

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North Korea says it completed a new housing district in Pyongyang for families of soldiers killed while fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:52 am

Teen daughter who campaigned for Chicago man detained by ICE dies from rare cancer

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‘Ofelia was heroic and brave in the face of ICE’s detention and threatened deportation of her father’

Published: February 16, 2026, 6:38 am

Millions of Canadians avoid US Disney parks in favour of Paris amid Trump travel boycott

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Many travellers ‘prefer to avoid supporting US-based parks at this time’

Published: February 16, 2026, 5:52 am

Jeanine Pirro’s inability to secure indictments against Democratic lawmakers seen as a ‘stunning’ failure, report says

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US Attorney’s office reportedly tried and failed to indict a group of Democratic lawmakers

Published: February 16, 2026, 1:42 am

Dogwalker dies after falling through ice in Cape Cod, as search for her husband is suspended

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Police believe a husband and wife fell through the ice of Bee’s River in Eastham, Massachusetts

Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 am

Democrats prepare to spend millions in Virginia redistricting effort, top lawmaker says

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This aggressive push for new voting maps is part of an increasingly partisan approach to redistricting

Published: February 15, 2026, 11:41 pm

Republican senator calls Trump ‘irresponsible’ over Greenland threats

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President’s threats to occupy Greenland sparked wave of condemnations from European allies, and drew exasperation from Congress

Published: February 15, 2026, 11:22 pm

Instructor at scuba class where 12-year-old drowned had ‘been awake straight’ for 29 hours, report says

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Dylan Harrison, 12, drowned during a scuba diving class in August 2025

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:55 pm

Obama responds to Trump’s video of him and Michelle as apes and says MAGA lacks a sense of ‘shame’

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A White House official claimed a staffer ‘erroneously made the post’ on Trump’s Truth Social account

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:31 pm

Kristi Noem snaps back amid anger over her claim she’ll ensure the ‘right people’ elect the ‘right leaders’ in midterms

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Homeland Security Secretary brushed off concerns about her assertion, claiming critics ‘manufactured outrage’

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:25 pm

Severe storm triggers tornado warnings across the South

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The most intense storms were reported near Lake Charles, Louisiana

Published: February 15, 2026, 10:08 pm

DNA pulled from glove found near Nancy Guthrie’s home as FBI believe it may belong to suspect seen in doorbell cam

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Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her Arizona home on January 31

Published: February 15, 2026, 9:16 pm

Robert Duvall: a life in pictures

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The Godfather and Apocalypse Now star Robert Duvall has died at the age of 95. As well as having one of the most famous lines in cinema history – ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning’ – he featured in many other classic films. Here we look back at his career

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:55 pm

Why did Obama say aliens are real? | The Latest

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Barack Obama has caused a frenzy after saying he thinks aliens are real during a podcast interview. The former US president was forced to release a statement clarifying he had not seen any evidence of extraterrestrials. There is a long-running conspiracy theory claiming the US government is hiding extraterrestrials at Area 51, a highly classified air force site in Nevada.
Lucy Hough speaks to the host of the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast, Madeleine Finlay

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:33 pm

Why Marco Rubio’s ‘reassuring’ speech to Europe was nothing of the kind | Nathalie Tocci

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After JD Vance’s frontal attack in Munich last year, the US secretary of state’s tone seemed almost soothing. That’s just a new Maga trap

The good news from the Munich Security Conference is that there was no dramatic deterioration in the transatlantic relationship. After the shock of last year’s event, when JD Vance stunned the audience with a frontal US attack on Europe’s liberal democracies, the seemingly more conciliatory tone struck by Marco Rubio was greeted by many present, including Wolfgang Ischinger, a veteran German diplomat and the conference chair, as “reassuring”. Indeed, the US secretary of state got a standing ovation in the room – a gesture perhaps more of relief than of adulation. But is the Trump administration’s message to Europe really any different now from that contained in Vance’s assault 12 months ago? What traps are being laid and what lessons should Europeans draw?

A year ago, Vance accused Europe of succumbing to the alleged tyranny and censorship of woke liberals and losing sight of the cultural bonds that link the two shores of the Atlantic. His attack baffled European leaders, who, while often prone to navel-gazing about their internal struggles, do not consider restrictions on free speech a primary concern. The US vice-president shocked Munich by insisting that Europe’s biggest threat was the woke “threat from within”, even as he endorsed far-right nationalists including Germany’s AfD. The insult was so deep that this year the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, used his opening address to issue a blunt warning about American unilateralist values, declaring that “the culture war of the Maga movement is not ours”.

Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe 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.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 10:41 am

‘Unintentionally among the queerest releases of its time’: why Calamity Jane is my feelgood movie

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The latest in our ongoing series of writers picking their comfort watches is an appreciation of Doris Day’s rule-defying heroine

There was a real vogue for gunslinging heroines back in mid-20th century American cinema. Gene Tierney wrangled civil war rebels in Belle Starr. Betty Hutton pranced around with a shotgun in a sparkly red cowgirl get-up, alongside a cowhide-wearing Howard Keel, in Annie Get Your Gun. But cinemagoers were thrown a curveball three years later when they got Doris Day – again with baritone sidekick Keel in tow – dressed, wise-cracking and swaggering exactly like a man.

Admittedly, when I first saw Calamity Jane aged nine, I was also not immediately sold. Not because of Day’s gender non-conformity, which had me hooked, but because of the bizarreness of the pseudo-biopic’s synopsis and its grating musical numbers. The New York Times had a point when they deemed it “shrill and preposterous”. Then there was the fact that on first look it appeared to be a western. Part crooning romcom, part frontier drama, it’s a strange beast of a film, but I was soon won over.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Musk changes course on Mars quest and shoots for moon – again

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Moon was a distraction and Mars the goal for billionaire SpaceX chief – could Trump have influenced his U-turn?

Barely a year ago, the moon was “a distraction” to Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX then fixated on his ludicrously ambitious project to build a self-sustaining city on Mars within 20 years.

Why bother returning to the orbiting chunk of rock humanity conquered half a century ago, he reasoned, when the greater prize of the red planet lay tantalizingly in reach for his company’s mighty Starship rockets?

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:00 pm

Floating cities of logs: can the ‘lungs of Africa’ survive its exploitation?

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The Congo River basin is one of the planet’s most biodiverse ecosystems. But it is also home to a growing population and relentless trade in timber and charcoal

“You can’t be scared of the storms,” says Jean de Dieu Mokuma as the sun sets on the Congo River behind him. “With the current, once your voyage has begun, there is no turning back.” Mokuma, along with his wife Marie-Therese and their two young children, is piloting a cargo of timber downstream lashed on to a precarious raft and tied to a canoe.

Families wake up at dawn on rafts of logs and merchandise that are being transported down the Congo River by boat to Kinshasa, the DRC capital

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

FBI won’t share Alex Pretti shooting evidence, Minnesota authorities say

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State’s governor had demanded impartial inquiry into the shooting of the VA nurse by federal immigration agents

Minnesota law enforcement authorities have said the FBI is refusing to share any evidence on its investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal immigration authorities in late January.

Pretti was shot on 24 January by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials in Minneapolis during the Trump administration’s surge of immigration enforcement operations in the city. His killing came just two weeks after an immigration official shot and killed Renee Good and 10 days after the shooting of Julio C Sosa-Celis.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:19 pm

Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now and Godfather star, dies aged 95

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From the classic To Kill a Mockingbird to blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, the Oscar-winning actor’s films spanned a remarkable range

Robert Duvall, the veteran actor who had a string of roles in classic American films including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 95.

“Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” wrote his wife, Luciana Duvall, in a message on Facebook.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:14 pm

Trump lashes out at California governor’s green energy deal with UK

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President says it is inappropriate for UK to be dealing with Gavin Newsom after Ed Miliband meets governor in London

Donald Trump has vented his fury against a green energy deal between the British government and California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, a likely future Democratic presidential candidate.

“The UK’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum,” Trump said in an interview with Politico, using the derogatory nickname he reserves for Newsom. “Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:23 pm

Shooting at Rhode Island ice rink leaves at least two people dead

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Police confirm suspect is one of dead in incident at boys’ hockey game that injured four in Pawtucket

At least two people are dead in an apparent mass shooting at an indoor ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday afternoon, officials told the WPRI local news outlet.

Police confirmed to the outlet that the suspect is dead. A local sports reporter, Branden Mello, said that one of the shooting victims also died.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:45 pm

Savannah Guthrie makes new appeal for missing mother: ‘It’s never too late to do the right thing’

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In Instagram post, TV host whose mother disappeared 15 days ago in Arizona says ‘you’re not lost or alone’

The TV news anchor Savannah Guthrie issued a fresh appeal to anyone who knows the whereabouts of her missing mother, saying that “you’re not lost or alone” and “it is never too late to do the right thing”.

The Today anchor, who is stepping away from NBC’s morning broadcast, urged “whoever has her or knows where she is” to come forward, but did not make reference to any ransom demands or communication with any abductor.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 4:06 pm

Epstein sympathized with Kavanaugh during supreme court confirmation, emails show

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Files show convicted sex abuser messaged with Ken Starr and others about Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford

Jeffrey Epstein sympathized with Brett Kavanaugh during the then-supreme court nominee’s contentious 2018 confirmation and even suggested Republicans should have been harder on Christine Blasey Ford, who had accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Emails and text messages released by the Department of Justice show Epstein was closely monitoring the confirmation and seemed to believe that Ford’s allegation of sexual assault could derail the process.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

Producer of Israeli spy thriller found dead in Athens hotel room

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Dana Eden, 52, co-creator of hit TV series Tehran, reported by Greek police to have taken her own life on Sunday

The co-creator of an Israeli hit TV series has been found dead in a hotel room in Athens where the fourth season of the spy thriller is being filmed.

Dana Eden, 52, was discovered by her brother late on Sunday, Greek police said, attributing her death to suicide.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:43 pm

Far-right character’s monologue prompts violent scenes at German theatre

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Actor shouted down and pelted with fruit during Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists

An actor at a theatre in Germany was at the weekend shouted down, pelted with fruit and subjected to an attempted stage invasion as he delivered a final monologue in character as a far-right activist.

The violent scenes came on Saturday during the German premiere of the Portuguese playwright Tiago Rodrigues’s work Catarina, or the Beauty of Killing Fascists in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:42 pm

Winter Olympics 2026: Canada’s Oldham beats Gu to freeski big air gold with Muir fourth for GB – live

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Solberg of Norway looks like he’s going nicely, but he’s still well off the lad at every checkpoint. Increasingly, it looks like getting out first was a big advantage, Atle Lie McGrath still in front, as Sala of Italy joins the growing list of those who didn’t finish.

Visibility isn’t great as Dave “The Rocket” Ryding” sets off for his penultimate Olympic run. The GB veteran isn’t likely to trouble the podium, but he’ll want to make the second run, and he finishes 13th, 3.74 off the lead.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:52 pm

Trump donor who criticized offshoring to close Ohio plant and move work to China

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Workers decried John Paulson’s plan after billionaire painted himself as advocate for domestic manufacturing

John Paulson, a hedge fund billionaire and one of Donald Trump’s earliest Wall Street backers, is planning to offshore an Ohio manufacturing plant to China despite heavy pushback from employees.

Workers at the plant call the move “a slap in our face”, after Paulson vocally defended domestic manufacturing, and are fighting to keep the plant open.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:00 pm

UK bank bosses plan to set up Visa and Mastercard alternative amid Trump fears

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Exclusive: First meeting to be held over domestic payments system aimed at reducing reliance on US networks

UK bank bosses will hold their first meeting to establish a national alternative to Visa and Mastercard, amid growing fears over Donald Trump’s ability to turn off US-owned payment systems.

The meeting, chaired by Barclays’ UK chief executive, Vim Maru, will take place this Thursday and bring together a group of City funders that will front the costs of a new payments company to keep the UK economy running if problems were to occur.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:16 pm

Civil rights groups sue to protect voter data FBI seized from Georgia office

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Fulton county office was raided in January amid Donald Trump’s claims that 2020 election was fraudulent

Rights groups have sued to protect voter information that was seized by the FBI in a controversial raid in Georgia at the behest of Donald Trump in his renewed push to invalidate the 2020 election.

The NAACP and other civil rights organizations filed a motion on 15 February to “prohibit the Trump administration from misusing the voter information” taken from an elections warehouse in Fulton county, Georgia, late last month.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:27 pm

Republicans and Democrats unite to condemn Trump’s attacks on allies

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US politicians break rank at Munich Security Conference to hit out at ‘destructive’ president and urge Europe to stand up to Trump

Donald Trump’s most unbridled critics at this weekend’s Munich Security Conference have not been Europeans but Americans – and not just Democrats.

A few Republicans, out of earshot of the US president’s favoured Fox News, have had the courage to challenge Trump’s diet of tariffs and unpredictability.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:00 am

The patience and the poker face: Iran’s wily diplomat set to face the US in nuclear talks

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Abbas Araghchi is steeped in more than a decade of nuclear dealmaking with a book on the art of negotiations

If the US and Iran are to avoid a regional war, both sides need to start to make concessions at talks in Geneva on Tuesday, and also to accommodate one another’s very different bargaining styles.

The Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, steeped in almost 15 years of Iranian nuclear talks, is a near lifelong diplomat who has written a book on the art of negotiations that reveals the secrets of the Iranian diplomatic trade – the feints, the patience, the poker faces.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:10 pm

Was Navalny poisoning by frog toxin meant to send a message?

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Yvette Cooper may think so, and use of epibatidine may seem exotic, but experts say situation is more ambiguous

It was a very particular choice of weapon, but experts say it remains unclear whether the dart frog toxin used to kill the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was intended to convey a message.

Known as epibatidine, the poison is produced by wild dart frogs native to parts of South America – meaning Navalny could not have accidentally taken the poison.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:06 pm

Robert Duvall was a vigorous and subtle actor who always performed with passion and conviction

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From his steely self-effacing consigliere in The Godfather to his surf-crazed Wagner enthusiast in Apocalypse Now, just to see him on screen made me smile

Robert Duvall was a foghorn-voiced bull of pure American virility, and he put energy and heart into the movies for more than 60 years. Just to see him on screen was enough to make me smile. That handsome face and head gave him the look of a Roman emperor from Waxahachie, Texas or a three-star general playing the country music circuit. Duvall was famously bald (the rare roles needing hairpieces always looked artificial on him) and so he looked the same age almost all his acting life: forever in his vigorous fortysomething prime – though often playing figures complicated with tenderness and woundedness.

Duvall had a long, rich career, starting out with notable roles in To Kill a Mockingbird, M*A*S*H, The Conversation and Network, but it was destiny to be chiefly known for two sensational and very different roles given to him by Francis Ford Coppola at either end of the 1970s. One was Tom Hagen, the quiet, self-effacing consigliere to the Corleone crime family in The Godfather (1972), with a complex relationship both with the Don himself, played by Marlon Brando, and his youngest son and heir, the coldly imperious Michael, played by Al Pacino. And the second was his extraordinary turn as the surf-crazed Wagner enthusiast Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979), who with his “Air Mobile” division of helicopters leads a gigantic attack on a Vietnamese village in broad daylight, with speakers blaring The Ride of the Valkyries – in theory to airlift Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, and his boatful of men into the river’s strategic entry point. But all too clearly, it’s because he just wants an excuse for a whooping and hollering cavalry attack.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:25 pm

The 11 best men’s winter boots, according to stylists, Antarctic workers and a dog musher

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Tested in cold climates and wet conditions, these are the boots professionals swear by during the winter

With six weeks left of winter, there is still ample time for another snowstorm to derail our weekend brunch plans or outdoor running routine. Unless you have the right footwear.

A good pair of boots lets you venture out while the rest of your neighbors are hibernating indoors, rewatching Friends for the hundredth time. And the best pairs make stomping through slush and snow look stylish.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:15 pm

Do plans for a new Mummy film signal the end for the multiverse blockbuster franchise?

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With audiences fatigued by endlessly interconnected mashups, studios are reverting to movies with one storyline that ends in a natural conclusion – what a radical idea

The news this week that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are to return in a new Mummy film for the first time in a quarter of a century feels a bit like Hollywood stumbling out of a very long house party it doesn’t entirely remember attending. The last time the pair appeared together was 2001, when The Mummy Returns (itself an insipid sequel to 1999’s much better The Mummy) hit multiplexes. Since then we’ve had a spin-off (2002’s The Scorpion King, featuring an early turn from Dwayne Johnson) and a second sequel that didn’t feature Weisz, 2008’s forgettable The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

And then, of course, there was the ill-fated “Dark Universe”, forever immortalised by that solemn publicity photograph of Russell Crowe (Dr Jekyll), Javier Bardem (Frankenstein’s Monster), Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp (The Invisible Man) staring into the middle distance like an ageing goth supergroup. The plan was to launch an interconnected saga in which Jekyll would act as a sort of monster-movie Nick Fury, corralling Dracula, Frankenstein and assorted undead assets into a synergised Marvel-style cinematic ecosystem. Fortunately it rapidly fell apart: 2017’s Cruise-led The Mummy landed with all the grace of a cursed sarcophagus dropped down a lift shaft. And that, as far as the Dark Universe was concerned, was that. Universal pivoted to smaller films such as Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, while Bardem’s Monster and Depp’s Invisible Man never materialised at all.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:05 pm

‘It was spooky’: folk singer Olivia Chaney on how a song reflecting her own Brontë-ish love triangle wound up in Wuthering Heights

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Offsetting Charli xcx, Chaney’s take on 19th-century ballad Dark Eyed Sailor accompanies Margot Robbie on the moors – but it’s just a tiny part of her culture-crossing, history-vaulting musical catalogue

An hour into Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, Margot Robbie is in a gauzy wedding dress, gliding forlornly across the moors towards the man her character feels she has to marry. A lone female English voice appears to accompany her, high and pure against the buzzing drone of a harmonium, singing about a woman roaming alone, and a man who, for “seven years, left the land”, before his eventual return.

Long before Emerald Fennell found Olivia Chaney’s version of 19th-century ballad the Dark Eyed Sailor online, Chaney was preparing to sing it for a 2013 live session on Mark Radcliffe’s BBC Radio 2 folk show, in the midst of her own Brontë-esque love triangle. “I was at the beginning of my relationship with the man who is now my husband and the father of my two children – he nearly married someone else, and I nearly had kids with someone else.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 3:33 pm

The one change that worked: When good things happen, I write them down – and it’s made me more optimistic

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Growing up in a turbulent household taught me to expect the worst. Then one day I found £20 in the street and shifted my thinking

Growing up, I was envious of one type of person. It was never the kids who were smarter, sportier or more popular. My awe was reserved for a rarer breed of people: optimists. I was hypersensitive to the ease with which they sailed through exams, social gatherings or teenage milestones with a sunny conviction that things would more or less work out. To me, they were the chosen people. “It’ll be fine,” one such friend would reassure me. “Or you could embarrass yourself,” my mind would purr like a villain. “Be rejected. Fail.”

I was a chronic worrier. A negative Nancy. I couldn’t fathom that people’s brains weren’t hardwired to compulsively fear things might go wrong. I grew up as the eldest daughter in a turbulent household where my father’s moods would plummet quickly and I walked on a knife-edge. Every morning, the second my eyes opened, I would force myself to accept it was going to be a bad day – an act of self-preservation so the rug could never get pulled from under my feet hoping for better. My thinking was that if you always expected the worst, things had a tendency to turn out better than you imagined.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:00 am

The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

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Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role

From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role.

Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the classic Huppert opaque gaze – part dreamy, part coldly assessing – and the politely bemused half-smile of concealed distaste, merging into a pout, at the absurdity or ill manners of someone to whom she cannot avoid being introduced. Unlike the other mere mortals in this film, Huppert’s face is lit like that of a Golden Age Hollywood star, giving her impeccable maquillage a ghostly sheen of profane sainthood.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:45 pm

Trump’s Obama and Bad Bunny posts crystallize his political philosophy | Sidney Blumenthal

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Maga is a recapitulation of the dark side of American history that cohered into nativist nationalism a century ago

Donald Trump’s posting of a video depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes was the most overtly racist act of a president since Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal civil service – or since Trump’s previous racist gesture. The racist imagery Trump posted was so egregious that the video’s misogyny representing Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as animals was overlooked. Trump’s denigration of women is implicitly assumed as business-as-usual and not newsworthy: “Quiet, piggy!” And down the memory hole are the 3m long-suppressed documents from the Epstein files in which he is mentioned in its unredacted pages “more than a million times”, according to the Democratic representative Jamie Raskin, who was permitted access.

The only Black Republican US senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, said of the Obama portrayal: “It’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” though Scott did not disclose any list, which could have been drawn from an encyclopedia of offenses beginning decades before Trump’s birther campaign. During Trump’s first administration, in 2020, Scott chose to call out one incident as “indefensible”: Trump’s tweet of a video of a supporter chanting “white power”. Trump’s latest racist post was preceded on 11 January by his predictable vandalism of Black History Month in an interview with the New York Times with a remark about the Civil Rights Act of 1964: “White people were very badly treated.”

Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man, Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth. He is a Guardian US columnist

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:00 am

International humanitarian law is at risk – but it still carries weight | Kenneth Roth

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A study says IHL is at ‘critical breaking point’ amid horrendous violations in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere. But to declare its demise would be premature

Is international humanitarian law (IHL), the law designed to spare civilians as much as possible the hazards of warfare, at risk of imploding? That is the conclusion of a new compendious study of current armed conflicts around the world, citing the killing of civilians and other atrocities in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere. “While the threat to IHL is not yet existential,” it warns, “it is at a critical breaking point.”

There is no doubt that the disregard for civilian life in these conflicts has been horrendous. In Gaza and Sudan, it has risen to the level of genocide. But do these represent serious violations of the law or its demise?

Kenneth Roth is a Guardian US columnist, visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, and former executive director of Human Rights Watch. He is the author of Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:00 pm

Every generation gets the Wuthering Heights it deserves. And Emerald Fennell’s is for the always-online | Nadia Khomami

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Packed cinemas testify to the allure of Emily Brontë’s tale, even if this latest retelling is not to everyone’s taste

It’s hard to think of any book with a stronger hold on its admirers than Wuthering Heights. Almost 200 years after publication, Emily Brontë’s tale of forbidden love and ruthless revenge inspires a devotion that makes any reinterpretation feel like a personal and proprietary affront.

Into this sea of sensitivities has plunged the director Emerald Fennell, whose new adaptation has become one of the year’s most debated films. Dubbed “50 shades of Brontë”, everything about it has been scrutinised: from the casting of Aussies Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Cathy and Heathcliff to the anachronistic costumes and music, and the overt sexualisation of the plot.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:57 am

The hill I will die on: ‘Being a DJ’ isn’t a proper job | Phil Mongredien

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In what other field is a couple of hours’ work taking the credit for somebody else’s brilliance so venerated?

Who earns the easiest money in showbiz? And when I say “earns”, what I actually mean is “gets paid”. If David Guetta and Calvin Harris can make up to $1m for a festival-headlining set – a couple of hours’ work – there can only be one answer: DJs. Because boil it down and all they’re doing for such vast sums of money is quite competently playing music that somebody else actually created. They are proficient labourers rather than artists. In what other field is taking the credit for somebody else’s brilliance so venerated?

Ah, but they get people dancing, you say. Yet how difficult is it to get people to dance when they have come out with the specific intention of dancing, and a reasonable proportion of them are on another planet? These people have invested heavily in having a good time, so it invariably becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Given the sheer number of floor-filling tunes made during the past six or seven decades, it’s hardly a great feat to choose a few that other people will tolerate or even like.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:00 am

I was told my inability to conceive a second child was a ‘mystery’. In fact, I was simply ignored

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Women’s pain is routinely minimised, normalised, or psychologised. In fertility medicine, this dismissal is compounded by an industry structured around efficiency rather than care

“The female body is such a mystery.”

The fertility specialist said it lightly, almost kindly, from behind his desk. I was there because my partner and I had been trying for a second child without success. At the time, our son was two. We had conceived him naturally and relatively quickly, so after months of negative pregnancy tests I knew that something was off.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:00 pm

The Guardian view on Palestine Action: banning the group was a step too far | Editorial

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The high court was right to rule that ministers overstretched terror laws in proscribing direct action. Protest should be policed by criminal law

The high court ruled last week that the British government’s proscription of Palestine Action is unlawful and disproportionate. Its judgment, however, is hardly one in praise of militant protest. That makes it all the more awkward for ministers. The bench rejected Palestine Action’s claim that it was engaged in Gandhian civil disobedience. The judges also accepted that a number of incidents involved serious property damage that technically satisfied the statutory definition of terrorism.

But they were clear and correct: the existing criminal law “is available to prosecute those concerned”. This judicial distinction between terror and crime matters – and is devastating for the government. Ministers, the bench reasoned, can’t ban every organisation that meets the legal terror threshold just because it brings “significant disruptive benefits” to do so.

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.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:30 pm

Ilia Malinin writes about ‘inevitable crash’ after Olympic figure skating shock

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  • American was favourite for gold but finished eighth

  • Video hints that experience may be used in routine

Ilia Malinin has written about “an inevitable crash” after he missed the podium at the Winter Olympics in one of the biggest shocks in the history of figure skating.

The 21-year-old was the overwhelming favourite entering the men’s free skate on Friday in Milan, but he fell twice during his routine. Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov won gold and Malinin finished 15th out of 24th in the free skate and eighth overall.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:02 pm

Winter Olympics: USA reach women’s ice hockey final with rout of Sweden

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  • Ruthless Americans reel off 5-0 victory

  • Switzerland or Canada await in Thursday’s final

A United States women’s hockey team already being hailed as one of the best ever assembled is right where they expected to be: playing for Olympic gold. The Americans brushed aside Sweden 5-0 in the first of Monday’s semi-finals, setting the stage for a potential seventh gold-medal showdown with Canada.

Twenty years ago, almost to the day, the USA women absorbed one of the great Olympic shocks when Sweden stunned them in a shootout just down the A4 autostrada in Torino, ending a streak of 25 straight losses to the Americans during which they’d been outscored 187-29. There would be no such ambush this time, even if Sweden coach Ulf Lundberg had suggested the US team were “just human beings” and might not have been overly keen on facing his team in the semi-finals.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:44 pm

‘I just needed some time for myself’: Norwegian skier hides in woods after slalom gold heartache

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  • Meillard takes title after McGrath crashes out

  • GB’s Dave Ryding finishes 17th in his final race

For more than a century of Winter Olympic sport, athletes have dealt with defeat in almost every possible way: tears, tantrums, breaking things, breaking down. On Monday afternoon in Bormio, the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath processed his grief in a novel way after the men’s slalom gold medal had slipped away. First, he threw his ski poles as far as he could and then he hid in the woods.

“I just needed to get away from everything,” he said. “I thought I would get some peace and quiet, which I didn’t because photographers and police found me out in the woods. I just needed some time for myself.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 4:30 pm

‘That’s hockey’: Canada’s Wilson shuns Olympic tradition and brawls during win over France

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  • Wilson and Pierre Crinon ejected after brawl

  • Fighting is rare at Winter Games

Canada’s Tom Wilson shunned tradition on Sunday, deciding to fight during his team’s victory over France in their Olympic ice hockey game.

While fighting is a regular – and tacitly accepted – part of professional ice hockey, it rarely occurs on the Olympic stage. But Wilson dropped the gloves late in Canada’s 10-2 rout of France on Sunday, tangling with Pierre Crinon, who had delivered a forearm to the head of teammate Nathan MacKinnon minutes earlier.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 9:31 pm

Italian biathlete returns to Olympic squad after blaming doping positive on Nutella

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  • Rebecca Passler may feature in women’s relay

  • 24-year-old tested positive for letrozole in January

The Italian biathlete Rebecca Passler rejoined her team at the Winter Olympics on Monday after a successful appeal against a suspension handed out before the Milano Cortina Games for an alleged doping violation.

Passler began training in the bright sunshine at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena on Monday afternoon, firing off shots in bunches of five on the range as her coaches watched intently.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:14 pm

Dolphins cut star receiver Tyreek Hill to free up $23m in salary cap space

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  • Five-time All-Pro suffered season-ending ACL injury

  • Miami had signed Hill to $120m extension in 2022

  • Pass rusher Bradley Chubb also cut in flurry of moves

The Miami Dolphins are releasing star wide receiver Tyreek Hill in a cost-cutting move, multiple outlets reported Monday.

Releasing Hill, an eight-time Pro Bowl wide receiver who turns 32 on 1 March, will save the Dolphins $22.8m against the 2026 salary cap, per ESPN.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:02 pm

Did the USA v World format revive the NBA’s struggling All-Star Game?

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Critics say what was once a showpiece for the league has turned into a glorified practice session. But there are signs an updated version may have worked

Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady flashed a look of disdain when recalling last year’s NBA All-Star Game.

“The All-Star Game that we witnessed last year was not an All-Star game,” McGrady told the Guardian. “I don’t know what that was.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:38 pm

Macclesfield v Brentford: FA Cup fourth round – live

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⚽ FA Cup fourth-round news from the 7.30pm GMT kick-off
Live scores | FA Cup fifth round draw | And mail Xaymaca

Here we go!

Former Rochdale defender Luke Matheson actually scored against Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 2019. After playing for a number of clubs, including Wolves, Matheson finds himself at Macclesfield. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:

To give back to the fans of this town is the proudest thing you can do as a footballer. For us to be able to give them moments like the Palace game and then another against Brentford brings us such joy as players.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 9:01 pm

Coco Gauff: ‘I don’t think people should be dying in the streets just for existing’

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The world No 5 says she has been disturbed by events back home, and is not afraid to speak up about issues in the United States

While getting treatment and preparing for this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Coco Gauff has had the news on in the background almost every day.

Gauff could be forgiven if she’s not up-to-date on everything that’s been happening back in the United States: she is on the road for nearly 11 months a year, often thousands of miles away from her home in Delray Beach, Florida.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Serie A referee La Penna told to stay at home by police after dozens of death threats

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  • La Penna wrongly sent off Juve’s Kalulu against Inter

  • Official could face one-month ban following incident

The referee Federico La Penna has received dozens of death threats after wrongly sending off a Juventus player at Inter on Saturday. Italian police have reportedly advised him not to leave his home.

La Penna sparked fury among Juventus fans after dismissing Pierre Kalulu, showing the defender a second yellow card for a challenge on Alessandro Bastoni. Replays showed Bastoni had clearly simulated the fall. Juventus officials and fans argued that the decision heavily influenced the game, which Inter won 3-2, despite the Bianconeri having fought back to level the score with 10 men.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:25 pm

Investigation into top Philadelphia Union executive still ongoing as new season looms

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Guardian sources say MLS’s inquiry into Ernst Tanner has been held up by concerns over non-disclosure agreements

Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner continues to be under investigation by Major League Soccer and remains on administrative leave with no resolution expected to come soon, multiple sources told the Guardian last week.

Tanner was the subject of wide-ranging allegations of misconduct raised by a Guardian investigation late last year, including a complaint made by the MLS Players Association to the league alleging multiple instances of racist, sexist and homophobic behavior. After the Guardian published its story, the Union placed Tanner on administrative leave and MLS reopened an investigation into his behavior that had been closed early in 2025 due to lack of corroboration. Tanner has denied the allegations throughout, saying he will cooperate fully with the league as he “[works] to clear my good name and reputation”.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 3:25 pm

Tyson Fury says death of Anthony Joshua’s friends prompted his return to the ring

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  • Fury set to step back into the ring after 15 months out

  • Joshua involved in fatal Nigeria car crash in December

Tyson Fury has revealed the deaths of two of long-time rival Anthony Joshua’s friends in a car crash in December was the catalyst for his return to boxing.

Fury will step back into the ring on 11 April after a 15-month absence to face the Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov in a bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which will be broadcast live on Netflix.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:47 pm

Are we all Evangelos Marinakis? Why there has never been less patience with managers | Jonathan Wilson

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In an age in which every gripe is highlighted and performative fury is good business, there is an argument that long-termism has become impossible

Last week, Thomas Frank was sacked as manager of Tottenham and Sean Dyche was sacked as manager of Nottingham Forest. Both decisions were entirely explicable in their own terms. Frank had won only two of his previous 17 league games and Dyche only two of his previous 10. Both saw the improvement of West Ham under Nuno Espírito Santo and felt the drag of potential relegation. When fear sets in and something has to change, football tends to sacrifice the manager.

Excluding caretakers and interims, their departures take the number of Premier League managers to leave their jobs this season to eight, with Oliver Glasner to come at the end of the season, when Marco Silva and Andoni Iraola are also out of contract. Last season there were 10 departures, in 2023-24 nine, in 2022-23 an absurd 18. To give a little context, in the first season of the Premier League, 1992-93, there were only four changes (five if you include Dave Webb at Chelsea, who was effectively an interim, although he did not officially have that title). The average life span of a Premier League manager has dropped from about four seasons to about a season and a half.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 3:34 pm

Ukraine and Russia to meet for second round of talks as fourth anniversary of war looms

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Hopes of success remain low after Trump points finger at Zelenskyy and as Russia keeps up hardline demands

Senior Ukrainian and Russian officials are to meet this week in Switzerland for a second round of talks brokered by the Trump administration, days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The two-day meeting, kicking off on Tuesday, is expected to mirror negotiations held earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, with representatives from Washington, Kyiv and Moscow in attendance. Despite renewed US efforts to revive diplomacy, hopes for any sudden breakthrough remain low, with Russia continuing to press maximalist demands on Ukraine.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:56 pm

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts – video

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The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupted on Sunday, sending lava fountains, ash and smoke into the air. The US Geological Survey said it was the 42nd episode of lava fountains since the current series of intermittent eruptions began in December 2024. The plume from the latest eruption reached more than 10,000 metres (35,000 feet), according to the National Weather Service

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:22 pm

Fertility treatment given special emphasis as Trump Rx site goes live

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Experts say discounts on IVF procedures an attempt to fulfil campaign promise but savings only a fraction of total cost

TrumpRx, the US president’s much-anticipated drug discount program, went live earlier this month with coupons available for just 43 medications, including four required for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, and experts say this is probably a half-measure to fulfill Trump’s 2024 campaign promise to make IVF treatment universally accessible.

“We’ve been hearing about TrumpRx for a long time,” said Dr Richard Paulson, a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Southern California. “TrumpRx was supposed to fix all of the problems in terms of prescription drug costs and so on, and it has not done that. The only two classes of drugs that are actually cheaper on Trump RX are the GLP-1 agonists – those are the obesity medications – and fertility drugs.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

What is happening to Syria’s IS camps and their former residents?

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Experts say the detention centres were a breeding ground for extremism and a new generation of IS members

Humanitarians warned for years that the camps in north-east Syria holding tens of thousands of family members of suspected Islamic State (IS) fighters would have to be dealt with. Calling them a “ticking time bomb”, relief groups said the women and children could not just be left to rot in squalid desert camps indefinitely, because eventually they would come home.

Despite the warnings, most states ignored the problem, refusing to repatriate their citizens. At least 8,000 women and children from more than 40 countries have been stranded in the camps of north-east Syria since 2019.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:49 pm

‘Life requires cash’: Gaza’s jobs crisis leaves people struggling to afford basics

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Fresh fruit and other items now available but at high prices in territory where unemployment is estimated at 80%

Every morning, Mansour Mohammad Bakr sets out from the small rented room in Gaza City he shares with his pregnant wife and two very young daughters. The 23-year-old walks past the port and the breaking waves of the Mediterranean where he once earned his living.

Before the two-year war that devastated Gaza, Bakr was a fisher, sharing tackle and a boat with his father and brothers. Now his brothers are dead, his father is too old, and his equipment was destroyed during the conflict. Like hundreds of thousands of others across Gaza, Bakr needs a job.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:00 am

French police launch murder inquiry after far-right activist’s death in Lyon

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Quentin Deranque, 23, who was on sidelines of a protest, died from a brain injury after attack that has fuelled political tensions

French police have launched a murder inquiry after a far-right activist died in hospital having been beaten up in an attack that has fuelled political tensions in France.

Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old mathematics student, died from a severe brain injury at the weekend. The Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran, said Deranque was assaulted by at least six masked individuals. Police were working to identify suspects and no arrests had been made, Dran said.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:02 pm

Cyprus appeals to residents to cut water use by two minutes a day amid drought

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Island’s reservoirs hit record lows even before tourist season starts as Cypriots are warned ‘every drop counts’

Authorities in Cyprus have urged residents to reduce their water intake by 10% – the equivalent of two minutes’ use of running water each day – as Europe’s most south-easterly nation grapples with a once-in-a century drought.

The appeal, announced alongside a €31m (£27m) package of emergency measures, comes as reservoirs hit record lows with little prospect of replenishment before the tourist season starts.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:49 pm

Trump touts climate savings but new rule set to push up US prices

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Critics accuse administration of ‘cooking the books’ by claiming US would save $1.3tn from climate finding reversal

The Trump administration claims its latest move to gut climate regulations and end all greenhouse gas standards for vehicles will save Americans money. But its own analysis indicates that the new rule will push up gas prices, and that the benefits of the rollback are unlikely to outweigh the costs.

On Thursday, the president and his environmental secretary, Lee Zeldin, announced the finalized repeal of the endangerment finding, a legal determination which underpins virtually all federal climate regulations. He claimed the rollback would save the US $1.3tn by 2055.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 1:00 pm

Country diary: An anxious buzzard has me mirroring its movements | Derek Niemann

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Frome, Somerset: As the large raptor squirms and uses its wings to try to balance on a precarious perch, I find my own arms lifting in solidarity

Six, seven, eight, nine long‑tailed tits are on a foraging flit through hawthorn bushes, and the straggler drops obligingly on to a berry‑stacked twig before my eyes. Its tail works like the hand of a clock as the clinging bird jiggle‑jumps through a full 360-degree rotation, beak pecking for who knows what. The twig is unmoved by such exertions, for the bird weighs the equivalent of seven paperclips. What must it be like to inhabit the insubstantial ghost‑world of a long‑tailed tit, where you can leap and land all you like with no discernible impact?

Ahead and above, a bird 100 times its weight is weightless in the sky. The soaring buzzard masters gravity with its “fingertips” – the deeply separated primary feather tips on the wings. I cannot see the little flicks and tilts that enable it to descend in controlled steps; drop and hold, drop and hold.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:30 am

The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies

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Some districts are adding programs in clean energy and sustainability, while one state is infusing environmental lessons into culinary education and construction

On one end of the classroom, high school juniors examined little green sprouts – future baby carrots, sprigs of romaine lettuce – poking out of the soil of a drip irrigation system they built a few weeks prior.

On the opposite end of the room, a model of a hydropower plant showed students how the movement of water can stimulate electrical currents. In this class in South Carolina’s Greenville county school district, students primarily learn about one topic: renewable energy.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 1:00 pm

Warner Bros Discovery weighs new sale talks after fresh Paramount offer

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Board considering whether to re-engage in move that could prompt a second bidding war with Netflix

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is reportedly weighing reopening sales talks with Paramount Skydance, in a move that could spark a fresh bidding war with Netflix for the Hollywood film and TV company.

Members of the board of WBD are discussing whether to re-engage with Paramount, which is pursuing a hostile $108.4bn (£76.8bn) cash takeover directly with shareholders in a bid to derail an agreed deal with Netflix, according to Bloomberg.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 9:57 am

US teen who pushed for her father’s release from ICE custody dies of cancer

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Ofelia Torres, 16, spotlighted her dad Ruben’s illegal detention last fall during Trump’s crackdown in Chicago

A Chicago teenager, whose father was detained by immigration authorities while she navigated cancer, died on Friday, a family spokesperson said.

Ofelia Torres, a 16-year-old in Chicago, had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive and rare form of cancer since late 2024. As she and her family struggled with the medical procedures, her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was detained by immigration authorities while at a Home Depot in October, leading to a contentious and public case that highlighted the human effects of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 6:24 pm

Progressive Texas organizers hail shock win as far-right Republicans left reeling

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Elation as anti-extremists fight back against influence of billionaire megadonors through grassroots organizing

Chris Tackett started tracking extremism in Texas politics about a decade ago, whenever his schedule as a Little League coach and school board member would allow. At the time, he lived in Granbury, 40 minutes west of Fort Worth. He had noticed that a local member of the state legislature, Mike Lang, had become a vocal advocate for using public money for private schools – despite the fact that Lang campaigned as a supporter of public education.

With a little research, Tackett found that Lang had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the Wilks brothers and Tim Dunn, billionaire mega-donors whose deep pockets and Christian nationalist views have consumed the Texas GOP. Tackett published his findings on social media, and soon enough, people started asking him to create pie charts of their representatives’ campaign funds. These charts evolved into the organisation See It. Name It. Fight It.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 3:00 pm

Searchers find missing ship in Lake Michigan, over 150 years after it sank

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Shipwreck hunter found Lac La Belle steamer, one of ‘most sought-after missing ships’, after nearly 60-year search

Searchers recently discovered the wreck of one of the “most sought-after missing ships” in Lake Michigan, that had sunk to the bottom of the lake over 150 years ago.

A shipwreck hunter and scuba diver named Paul Ehorn made the discovery after having searched for the Lac La Belle passenger steamer for nearly 60 years. Shipwreck World, a group that works to locate shipwrecks around the globe, announced on Friday that the team led by Ehorn found the wreck about 20 miles (32km) offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 10:49 pm

Italy’s famous Lovers’ Arch collapses into the sea on Valentine’s Day

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Rock structure which served as backdrop to countless proposals disappears into the Adriatic after storm

The famous arch of the sea stacks at Sant’Andrea in Melendugno, Puglia, Italy, popularly known as Lovers’ Arch, collapsed on Valentine’s Day after strong storm surges and heavy rain swept across southern Italy.

The rocky arch, one of the best-known natural landmarks on the Adriatic coast, got its name as it served as a backdrop for wedding proposals, selfies and postcards, and was one of the most recognisable symbols of the Salento, one of Italy’s most heavily visited tourist areas.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 9:48 am

Disappearances in Mexico surge by 200% over 10 years

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More than 130,000 people considered missing or disappeared in Mexico as drug cartels expand

It was a bright morning in August 2022 when Ángel Montenegro was taken. A 31-year-old construction worker, Montenegro had been out all night drinking with some work buddies in the city of Cuautla and was waiting for a bus back to nearby Cuernavaca, where he lived.

At about 10am, a white van pulled up: several men jumped out and dragged Montenegro and a co-worker inside before speeding off. Montenegro’s co-worker was released a few hundred meters down the street, but Montenegro was driven away.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:00 pm

Train derails in Switzerland amid fatal avalanches across the Alps

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Swiss police say derailment near Goppenstein injured five as large areas of western Alps remain under category 5 avalanche risk

Avalanches from heavy snowfall in the European Alps claimed more lives over the weekend, as a train was derailed by a snow slide in Switzerland on Monday and roads and villages around Mont Blanc were closed or placed under evacuation orders.

As large areas of the western Alps remained under a high risk of avalanche – following a week in which alerts reached category 5, the highest level – Swiss police said a train derailment caused by an avalanche injured five people near the town of Goppenstein.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 1:15 pm

‘Bring it back’: Sicilians say Antonello da Messina’s Ecce Homo belongs with them

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Much of Messina’s cultural memory was destroyed in a 1908 earthquake, but the Italian government has secured a masterpiece by the port city’s greatest son

On 28 December 1908, the city of Messina was struck by what is still considered the deadliest natural catastrophe in modern European history. In just 37 seconds, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed half its population and levelled much of the city.

Along with homes, churches and monuments, invaluable historical sources and documents were lost, including works by Messina’s greatest son, Antonello da Messina, the artist widely credited with transforming the course of Renaissance art.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:00 am

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model review – Tyra Banks comes across terribly in this exposé

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This three-part documentary has remarkable access to people involved with this 00s TV hit. It’s an awful tale of body-shaming, humiliation and toxic treatment

If you’re a millennial woman, America’s Next Top Model may have been your first experience of appointment TV. The show, which ran for 10 years from 2003, was an early reality juggernaut and made a household name of the supermodel Tyra Banks, its creator and host. At its peak, Top Model drew more than 100 million viewers globally, and left a niche but indelible impact on culture. “Smize”, meaning to “smile with your eyes”, is in the Collins dictionary, while Banks’ infamous tirade (“We were all rooting for you!”) at an unruly model still circulates as a meme.

With its high-concept photoshoots and extreme makeovers, Top Model was ahead of its time in manufacturing viral moments. Today, however, the exacting critiques and body-shaming makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing, as gen Zers bingeing the show through the pandemic have pointed out. This latter-day reckoning is the peg for Netflix’s three-part docuseries, Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.

Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is on Netflix

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:01 am

At the Sea review – Amy Adams plays it overly straight in insufferable upper-middle-class drama

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Shame, healing and personal growth are the order of the day in this humourless, self-adoring and vapid exploration of an artistic and narcissistic Cape Cod family

Here is a quite unbearable curation of first-world problems starring Amy Adams from screenwriter Kata Wéber and her husband, director Kornél Mundruczó. They are film-makers who have given us challenging and interesting material in the past; now they pivot to a solemn, narcissistic tale, couched in self-forgiving, self-adoring rhetoric, all about upper-middle-class artistic folk in the US, yearning for wellness and recovery in their lovely Cape Cod home. It’s a movie which invites its audience to believe in the alleged talent and importance of its artistic characters, and also extend submissive empathy to their inter-generational psychic wounds.

Adams plays Laura, the grownup daughter of a supposedly brilliant dance company director, now dead and remembered in epiphanic childhood memory-glimpses, a genius who had close-cropped grey hair, a black polo neck and functioning alcoholism. Laura inherited his dance passion and his boozing, and now runs his world-renowned company with an uncertain hand; she has just returned from rehab after drunk-driving and crashing while her young son Felix (Redding Munsell) was in the car. Thank heavens they weren’t hurt! You can spend the entire film expecting a flashback to this dramatic event which might show Laura in a bad light – or an interesting one. But no.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 6:15 pm

Rose review – Sandra Hüller is outstanding in grimy examination of gender stereotypes

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Austrian director Markus Schleinzer’s captivating film follows a woman passing herself off a man in 17th-century rural Germany

Austrian director Markus Schleinzer brings a chill to his eerie new movie, a stark monochrome period drama set in rural southern Germany in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ war. It is a film which, for all its grimness, is beautifully shot and as engrossing as a lurid soap opera. It’s a story of gender stereotypes, satirising the central mythic tenet of patriarchal Christianity and depicting humanity’s self-invention through violence and stealth. The chief influence is clearly Michael Haneke’s icy black-and-white film The White Ribbon from 2009, on which Schleinzer worked as casting director; Schleinzer shares with Haneke an interest in leaving the audience with an intractable, insoluble mystery: a problem that won’t tie up.

The drama effectively conflates real-life cases of women passing themselves off as men in early modern Europe with the well-known case history of the French false claimant Martin Guerre. Sandra Hüller gives a superb performance as Rose, a young woman who has been posing as a man all her life and has been a soldier in this guise. She wears dour shapeless clothes, and has the brisk, brusque, economical physical movements of an old soldier; a livid scar that has transformed her face into a worldly and conveniently unfeminine grimace. She says it is the result of a bullet that she now wears around her neck on a cord, a kind of unlucky charm, a reminder of her survival.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:08 pm

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is big movie with a very small mind | Adrian Horton

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The maximalist adaptation of the gothic romance shows great interest in production design but very little in character

It does not take long into Wuthering Heights, Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s English lit classic, for one to detect the film-maker’s true faith. It is not to the challenging and beloved gothic novel of emotional repression and inheritance; as with many other cinematic adaptations, Fennell dispenses with the unruly latter half of the book, along with most of its conventions. In Fennell’s emphatically maximalist vision – she has explained that the quotation marks in the film’s marketing are a note of humility, to her singular and limited interpretation – the tortuously connected Cathy (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) swoon about the Yorkshire moors in extravagant, anachronistic formalwear, flagrantly unbound by period decorum.

Over three features, the English writer-director has demonstrated a penchant for sticky visuals; arguably the most-discussed scene from 2023’s Saltburn, her discourse-driving sophomore feature, involved the licking of cummy bathwater from the drain. Wuthering Heights is not to be controversially out-soaked. In closeup, sweat beads and drips down a spine; snail slime indolently streaks a window; freshly poured pig blood mucks Cathy’s dress. Desire, less suggested than enforced, stains everything. Early in the film, just after the abrupt ageing of Cathy and Heathcliff from boundless children (played by Charlotte Mellington and Adolescence’s Owen Cooper) to unspecific adults, Elordi’s brooding, beastly Heathcliff catches Robbie’s blonde Cathy, furiously horny after a bit of light voyeurism, pleasuring herself against the windswept rocks. She tries to hide her hand in her dress; he picks her up by the bodice strings, and licks her fingers clean.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:11 am

‘Heath Ledger knocked my tooth out jousting with a broom’: how we made A Knight’s Tale

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‘The lances were made of balsa wood and filled with uncooked spaghetti – so that when they broke, there’d be an explosion of what looked like splinters’

I wrote and directed the Mel Gibson film Payback but got fired during post-production. It was my first film as director and I thought my career was over. It was during this downtime that I wrote A Knight’s Tale. I loved the idea that jousting tournaments were medieval sports, but I had never figured out what to do with it. I thought about the ideas underpinning it: a peasant who wants to be a noble was like a screenwriter wanting to be a director. It’s a guy trying to be something he has no right to be.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 3:00 pm

‘I love you twenty-sixty times’: how lyrics written by a three-year-old became tear-inducing viral hits

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When Stephen Spencer began setting his daughter’s surreal stories to music, he had 36 followers. Now his banging pop miniatures have been streamed nearly 30m times – and are making parents cry

I’m listening to the latest Stephen Spencer song when suddenly I burst into tears. Was it the falsetto vocals? The swirling harmonies? No, it was the lyrics: “What did Apple-the-Stoola say? He said ‘I love you’ twenty-sixty times.”

Spencer, you see, has a unique lyrical collaborator: his three-year-old daughter. Over the last four months, he has been posting short songs online based on her stream-of-consciousness stories. There’s a smooth soul number about “a regular rabbit, who has regular ponytails just like me”. A song called Funchy the Snow-woman that could fit easily on to a 1975 album, but for its lyrical message about using a litter tray in the forest. And a festive tune about a Christmas cat called Harda Tarda, who hopes that Taja (“a funny way to say Santa”) will bring her “a doggy, a puppy and a ninja-bread man”.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:00 am

More heartache than Hamnet?: Maggie O’Farrell’s best books – ranked!

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As her Women’s prize-winning novel heads to the Oscars, we rate the author’s best work – from tales of new motherhood to a life-affirming memoir of mortality

The ghost of a previous lover is always a challenge, particularly if you (mistakenly) believe that she’s actually dead. This is the unenviable situation for Lily, the protagonist of O’Farrell’s second novel, who is swept off her feet by dashing architect Marcus and in short order moves in with him. Lily takes his assurances that her predecessor Sinead is “no longer with us” to mark a more permanent absence; in fact, Sinead has simply been thrown over, and it is in the details of the collapse of her relationship with Marcus that the novel most engages. Hints of the gothic ghost story deepen one of the main takeaways, which is that Marcus consists almost entirely of red flags.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 12:00 pm

Frogs for Watchdogs by Seán Farrell review – about a boy

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A charming child’s-eye view of rural Ireland

There’s a particular energy to novels written from the point of view of small children. Humour, of course, in the things the child misinterprets; pathos in the things they feel they must keep hidden; jeopardy in the dangers we can see, and they cannot. As any relative or babysitter can attest, even the sweetest child can become mind-numbingly dull when they’re all the company one has, so there’s a skill to charm without boring. The other skill is to find ways of enabling the reader to read over the child’s shoulder, as it were, to piece together for themselves the adult dramas to which a child’s natural egotism, or simple innocence, blinds them.

In 1988, the longsuffering mother in Seán Farrell’s first novel, Frogs for Watchdogs, is stranded. This Englishwoman has had a boy and a girl with a handsome rogue of an Irish actor, but he has walked out on them. Asked to leave a commune unsuited to children, skint, too proud, perhaps, to return to the protection of well-heeled parents in England, she rents a farmhouse on the cheap in the deep countryside of County Meath, where she can grow vegetables, raise hens and a few sheep, and attempt to scrabble a living as a healer. (From the multiple dilutions her boy witnesses her perform, her fairly batty practice would seem to be some form of homeopathy with new age elements thrown in.) While her doubtless appalled parents insist on sending the oldest child, a forthright girl called B, to an English boarding school, B’s younger brother spends months running happily feral. Once he is eight, he will be old enough to follow her and be tamed and anglicised.

Frogs for Watchdogs by Seán Farrell is published by John Murray (£14.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 9:00 am

Poem of the week – from plastic: A Poem by Matthew Rice

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Two time-stamped poems are taken from a book-length sequence tracking the human moments of a factory night shift

01.29

When we look up at stars on break
we see only stars behind
the exhaled Milky Way
of Bobby’s Golden Virginia,
ways to navigate shift patterns,
nothing seismic or anything approaching
truth; for us stars mean only night shift,
insanity of depth,
the slow individual seconds
during which the dotted starlight
doesn’t burn fast enough.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 10:13 am

A World Appears by Michael Pollan review – a kaleidoscopic exploration of consciousness

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The journalist and polymath probes the mysteries of the mind in this unsettling yet life-affirming investigation

The brain, wrote Charles Scott Sherrington, is an “enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern”. The British neuroscientist created this striking image more than 80 years ago, a time when mechanised looms, not computers, embodied the idea of technology. Even so, the symbolism feels relevant. We struggle to talk of our brains or minds without recourse to the machine metaphor: once it was clocks, then looms, and now computers. We say that our brains are hardwired; we talk of our ability to process information.

The quote appears as merely a footnote in Michael Pollan’s new book, A World Appears, a fabulous and mind-expanding exploration of consciousness: how and why we are self-aware. But the whole thing can be read as a lucid and impassioned riposte to Sherrington’s conception of the mind as a machine. In Pollan’s view, we have become imprisoned by such narratives, which have obscured the richness and complexity of human and non-human consciousness. Bridging both science and the humanities, Pollan mines neuroscientific research, philosophy, literature and his own mind, searching for different ways to think about being, and what it feels like.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:00 am

‘This shouldn’t be normal’: developers speak out about bigotry on Steam, the world’s biggest PC gaming storefront

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Multiple game creators describe ineffective moderation on the platform, resulting in unchecked hatred in forums and targeted campaigns of negative ‘anti-woke’ reviews

For years, the gaming storefront Steam has let abuse and bigotry pass through its moderation, according to players and developers who use it. The platform is now host to reams of content that violate its own guidelines.

According to developers who spoke with the Guardian, abuse – particularly directed towards transgender creators – is a fact of life on the platform. “Everyone is at one another’s throats all the time in reviews, discussions, forums, anywhere you can possibly find it on Steam,” says content creator and Steam curator Bri “BlondePizza” Moore. “It ensures no one is safe on the platform; developers and consumers alike.”

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Published: February 16, 2026, 10:00 am

Is this the world’s most eye-popping restaurant? The architectural marvel – in a Leipzig industrial estate

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This extraordinary diner is the final wonder of the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who dreamt it up at the age of 103. And it’s a fine place for a sunset kombucha and gin

Perched among old brick buildings in an industrial neighbourhood of Leipzig in eastern Germany, a giant white sphere appears to hover over the corner of a former boiler house. Is it a giant’s golf ball? An alien spacecraft? A fallen planet?

Twelve metres in diameter, the Niemeyer Sphere is the final design of world-famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and probably the most surprising creation by a visionary who valued the sensation of newness in art above all else, the result being mesmerising buildings that seem both space age and out of this world. The Sphere is like a vision from the future, dropped among used-car dealerships and construction equipment rental outlets, in a working-class neighbourhood that few tourists would ever pass through by design.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:00 am

‘The goal has been to demystify’: how a colonial Nairobi library was restored and given back to the people

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Once a whites-only enclave, the grand McMillan Memorial library is one of three in the Kenyan capital that have been transformed for the community

Down a steep, narrow staircase, the basement of the McMillan Memorial Library in Nairobi holds more than 100 enormous, dust-covered bound volumes of newspapers. Here too are the minutes of council meetings and photographic negatives going back more than a century.

“Here lie some of the minute-by-minute recorded debates from the time British colonial powers ruled Nairobi, when it was a segregated city,” says Angela Wachuka, a publisher. Seconds later, a power cut plunges the room into darkness. “We still have a great deal of work to do,” she adds.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 5:00 am

‘A permanent civil war in the body’: how fighting cancer helped an artist understand his Soviet youth

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A rare lymphoma diagnosis meant Giorgi Gagoshidze had to abandon a film project on the economic factors behind the USSR’s collapse – until he found new meaning in medical terminology

In autumn 2022, Giorgi Gagoshidze was in the middle of making a documentary film about the unravelling of the Soviet Union when he experienced his own personal system collapse. After returning from filming in Tbilisi to Berlin, where the 42-year-old Georgian artist lives, he was suffering from shortness of breath. An X-ray revealed that both his lungs had filled with water. He was told to get a taxi to the German capital’s Charité hospital straight away if he wanted to live.

Gagoshidze was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, a rare, aggressive and fast-growing form of blood cancer in an advanced but curable stage. A brutal cocktail of chemotherapy followed by an eight-month hospital stay in isolation was his only shot at survival.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:00 am

Wuthering Heights rakes in $77m at global box office on opening weekend

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Emerald Fennell’s divisive film is the year’s biggest opening so far, having recouped its entire estimated production budget over the opening weekend

Wuthering Heights has ravished the global box office in its opening weekend, with the new Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie adaptation taking US$76.8m (£56m, A$108m).

Emerald Fennell’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s novel made US$34.8m in the North American box office from 3,682 locations, making it the year’s biggest opening so far.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 3:21 am

The pet I’ll never forget: Otto, the wild, people-loving golden retriever who had 20 volunteer dog walkers

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His charm and excitement helped us see the world as he did – full of kindness and joy

When we bought Otto, a golden retriever, a year after the death of our previous dog Bertie, we were sceptical that he could live up to our high expectations. What quickly became apparent, during the routine humiliation of our puppy training classes, was that Otto was a law unto himself.

“He’s not normal” quickly became a stock family phrase, as Otto demonstrated a series of wild, mischievous and outlandish behaviours. During classes, I remember being told euphemistically that he was “wilful” and shamefully resorted to hiding cocktail sausages in my pockets during the final exam to encourage a modicum of civility in him. It just about worked.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 11:00 am

Is it true that ... central heating is bad for your skin?

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Dry air indoors can cause an inflammatory reaction, yet so can cold, windy outdoor conditions – but turning down the heating and using a moisturising cream can help

‘This is kind of true,” says consultant dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne. Human skin has evolved to retain water, thanks to a protective barrier on its surface. But that barrier isn’t totally watertight. Water is constantly moving across it, depending on the humidity of the surrounding air.

Skin tends to be most comfortable at a relative humidity of about 40%. When the air around us is drier than that, water is more likely to leave the skin. That matters because the process of water escaping across the skin barrier is mildly inflammatory.

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Published: February 16, 2026, 8:00 am

The 9 best winter boots for women to buy for life, vetted by pros who work outdoors

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Expert picks for comfortable and durable shoes that have maintained the pep in their step – even in the biting cold

I have a confession to make: I don’t own a pair of snow boots. And after New York City’s latest snowstorm, my daily commute to the office left my socks soaked and my toes frozen.

To help you avoid my fate, I asked for recommendations for comfy, long-lasting boots from people who spend far more time outdoors than I do. They include a ski instructor, a dog sled musher and a former National Geographic “Adventurer of the Year.”

Best affordable women’s boots:
Sorel Whitney III Waterproof Winter Booties

Best women’s boots for outdoor activities:
Merrell Thermo Chill 2 Mid Waterproof Boots

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Published: February 15, 2026, 3:15 pm

The kindness of strangers: my new couch was stranded outside – then a burly gym guy helped move it upstairs

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I was frantic – I had to get the couch inside before my parents arrived. Out of desperation, I drove to a nearby gym

I’d bought a nice new couch after my labrador chewed through the first one. But I didn’t put it in my apartment straight away. My plan was to swap the old couch for the new one right before my parents came to visit from overseas, so the dog wouldn’t have a chance to destroy it before their arrival.

My apartment was upstairs and the new couch was in storage on the ground floor, so I hired removalists to swap the two couches the day my parents arrived. They took the tattered old couch down – but didn’t carry the new one up. Instead, they left it on the street for anyone to grab, and were gone before I had the chance to correct them.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 2:00 pm

This is how we do it: ‘Whether it’s kinky sex in a dungeon or shopping at Costco, it’s all about our bond’

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Dan and Zoe met on a train and connected instantly. Twenty years and three kids later, they’re still trying out new things
How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

We have a cup of tea and a chat with the receptionist then go on to a leather-clad room

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Published: February 15, 2026, 11:00 am

My husband has started a friendship with a woman he used to work with. Am I right to be worried? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

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It’s possible this is a platonic relationship, but your concerns are valid and your husband isn’t providing any reassurance

My husband and I are in our 60s. We have been married for 40 years, some of it happily, some not so much. Our children are grown up and gone, and we have recently retired. Some of our tensions over the years have been around my husband’s tendency to be undermining and belittling. He claims not to understand why I might find certain things upsetting, yet refuses to engage with couples counselling (apparently I would tell lies). We have muddled through and mostly get on well now, though he dislikes most of my friends and siblings, and won’t socialise with them. To be fair, he is self-contained and doesn’t seem to need friends in the way I do – he has one friend.

A few months ago, an ex-colleague got in touch with my husband and asked to meet for coffee. They met, had a long lunch, and my husband mentioned a few weeks later that they were arranging to meet again as he had enjoyed the catchup. I was a bit thrown. I found it odd that she couldn’t confide in her partner or friends, but my husband exploded and we had one of our worst, most vicious arguments in years. He accused me of not wanting him to have friends (the opposite is true) and threw up the fact that I have platonic male friends; true, but my male friends and I go back 30-plus years and we don’t meet one-to-one. This just feels a bit out of character and potentially inappropriate.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 6:00 am

No swiping involved: the AI dating apps promising to find your soulmate

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Agentic AI apps first interview you and then give you limited matches selected for ‘similarity and reciprocity of personality’

Dating apps exploit you, dating profiles lie to you, and sex is basically something old people used to do. You might as well consider it: can AI help you find love?

For a handful of tech entrepreneurs and a few brave Londoners, the answer is “maybe”.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 7:00 am

Facing meltdown? Over 75% of people suffer from burnout - here’s what you need to know

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Does it only affect weak people? Is work always the cause? Burnout myths, busted by the experts

Once, after surviving yet another round of redundancies in a former job, I did something very odd. I turned off the lights in my room and lay face-down on the bed, unable to move. Rather than feeling relief at having escaped the axe, I was exhausted and numb. I’m not the only one. Fatigue, apathy and hopelessness are all textbook signs of burnout, a bleak phenomenon that has come to define many of our working lives. In 2025, a report from Moodle found that 66% of US workers had experienced some kind of burnout, while a Mental Health UK survey found that one in three adults came under high levels of pressure or stress in the previous year. Despite the prevalence of burnout, plenty of misconceptions around it persist. “Everybody thinks it’s some sort of disease or medical condition,” says Christina Maslach, the psychology professor who was the first to study the syndrome in the 1970s. “But it’s actually a response to chronic job stressors – a stress response.” Here we separate the facts from the myths.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 6:00 am

‘You think: Do I really need anyone?’ – the hidden burden of being a hyper-independent person

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Self-reliance is often encouraged over asking others for help in the modern world. But doing everything yourself can be a sign that you are scared of intimacy

When a relative was seriously ill and in intensive care for more than a month, Cianne Jones stepped in. “I took it upon myself to be that person in the hospital every single day – chasing doctors, taking notes, making sure I understood why they were doing things.” It was so stressful, she says, that at one point her hair started falling out, but she ploughed on.

It was Jones’s therapist who gently questioned whether she was going to ask for help. Jones laughs. “The hair falling out didn’t suggest to me that I needed help, it was somebody else looking in and saying that.” She has a large, close family who would have helped immediately – and did, once Jones asked – it’s just that it didn’t occur to her to ask. “I had taken that role on: ‘I’m just going to get everything done.’ I just took off, and that was it.”

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Published: February 15, 2026, 5:00 am

My rookie era: I attempted only the easiest Australian Women’s Weekly birthday cakes. Then came the duck cake

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When I shared my attempt online, my duck cake was described as ‘Big Bird on crack’

I assume no parent aspires to give their offspring an unmemorable and vanilla childhood. I wanted to be a fun mum, creating love-soaked memories and quirky family traditions for my children right from the get-go. I wanted to be Bluey’s parents before Bluey even existed.

The Australian Women’s Weekly birthday cakes were destined to be a pillar of my perfectly imperfect parenting rituals. One child quickly became three, and that iconic recipe book was in constant rotation. In the early years, I would simply choose a cake that matched my very basic baking skills. I also only owned a round tin, so my kids’ early cakes were circle-shaped, or circle-adjacent: the swimming pool (a round cake filled with jelly), the cat (a round cake with ears) and the race track (two round cakes with the centres removed).

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:00 pm

A new diagnosis of ‘profound autism’ is under consideration. Here’s what parents need to know

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Category describes people who have little or no language, an IQ of less than 50 and require 24-hour supervision

When it comes to autism, few questions spark as much debate as how best to support autistic people with the greatest needs.

This prompted the Lancet medical journal to commission a group of international experts to propose a new category of “profound autism”.

How many children met the criteria for profound autism?

Were there behavioural features that set this group apart?

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Published: February 15, 2026, 11:41 pm

Can you solve it? Chapeau! A smart new hat puzzle

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Logicians and their bonnets

UPDATE: Read the solution here

Today’s puzzle is a new twist on a classic genre: the “common knowledge” hat riddle in which logicians deduce facts about their hats based on what they know, and what they know others know.

Head sums

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Published: February 16, 2026, 7:10 am

I thought my powerlifter father was the strongest man in the world. But a secret steroid addiction took him – and us – to the brink

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He didn’t look like a stereotypical ‘drug addict’, but when he fled to South Africa with all our savings it was obvious that is what he had become

When I tell people that a drug addiction nearly killed my dad, I know what most of them are thinking. Heroin. Crack. Maybe meth or ket. Those substances that steal your soul and slowly wreak havoc on your body. They’re imagining Trainspotting; too-skinny frames and protruding hip bones, the physical effects of addiction that are impossible to miss.

But that isn’t how it played out in my family.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 12:00 pm

Trump gets the Monroe doctrine wrong. He should take a page from Bad Bunny

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The US president has twisted the 1823 doctrine to suit his quest for domination. It originally had a very different vision for the Americas

Throughout Bad Bunny’s mesmerizing performance during the Super Bowl, the word “America” kept expanding, like an accordion, stretching out to embrace people of all nationalities. “Together we are all America,” his football read, and he obviously meant it, in the largest, most hemispheric sense. Near the end, after shouting “God bless America” (his only words in English), Bad Bunny ran through a long list of countries in the western hemisphere.

That inclusiveness enraged Donald Trump, who erupted on social media, and tried to take the word back, declaring the half-time show “an affront to the greatness of America”. By which, of course, he meant the United States.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 2:00 pm

No fuel, no tourists, no cash – this was the week the Cuban crisis got real

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Diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative Trump tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in

Among the verdant gardens of Havana’s diplomatic quarter, Siboney, ambassadors from countries traditionally allied to the United States are expressing increasing frustration with Washington’s attempt to unseat Cuba’s government, while simultaneously drawing up plans to draw down their missions.

Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest. After Washington’s successful military operation against Cuba’s ally Venezuela at the beginning of January, the US administration is actively seeking regime change.

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Published: February 15, 2026, 6:00 am

Carnival, lunar new year and anti-US fervour: photos of the day – Monday

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

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Published: February 16, 2026, 2:33 pm

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