
Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice
From the person who scrolls on the toilet to the one without any social media, what do their digital habits tell us?
• Will Storr: we have lost so much of ourselves to smartphones – can we get it back?
Dayeon, 16: the teenager who spends less than an hour a day on screens
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 06:00:50 GMT
As rivers swell and homes are cut off, scientists say UK winter rainfall is already 20 years ahead of predictions
When flooding hit the low-lying Somerset Levels in 2014, it took two months for the waters to rise. This week it took two days, said Rebecca Horsington, chair of the Flooding on the Levels Action Group and a born-and-bred resident. A fierce barrage of storms from the Atlantic has drenched south-west England in January, saturating soils and supercharging rivers.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 06:00:51 GMT
A robotic team fuelled by data and scrutinised relentlessly in a climate of angst and rage feels like a digital-age metaphor
Like most people who have no talent for business ideas, I have a huge number of highly promising business ideas always on the go, ideas that are available for investment from any passing billionaire or Dragons’ Den rainmaker type.
Not one of the A-listers, obviously. I’m not insane. Not a Meaden or a Paphitis. But perhaps one of the minor ones, some strangely groomed South African retail magnate called Dork van Frotwangle who looks as if he keeps a bag of human fingers in his freezer and will mysteriously disappear mid-series and never be mentioned again.
Continue reading...Fri, 30 Jan 2026 20:00:37 GMT
Sabrina Carpenter fangirling Miss Piggy, Beaker losing his eyes … yes, Kermit and co are back for a trip down memory lane – and it’s a perfect, saucy joy
The Muppet Show is back! We need this, don’t we? We need them. The TV show ended in 1981, yet decades later, memes of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal et al still circulate. We give their movies Oscars. Their version of A Christmas Carol is a non-negotiable tradition for anyone with sense. Jim Henson’s furry anarchists bring us together like few things can. As a beady eyed fun-sponge, I can’t help but wonder – why?
In an 1810 essay, German poet Heinrich von Kleist argued that puppets demonstrate pure grace: a weightless unself-consciousness that humans long for but never achieve. He was talking about marionettes, suspended from strings. Yet Muppets are hand puppets; extensions of a body. They have weight. As for grace, have you seen how Kermit moves? His arms flap, and he bounces vertically, while moving forwards. It’s hard to imagine a less efficient walk. That frog, he silly.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 07:00:52 GMT
After a three-year hiatus, the former One Directioner has announced a record-breaking tour. But this week he’s facing a backlash. Will his big comeback go to plan?
God save Harry Styles! Thus far in his career, the former One Direction frontman and unproblematic fave has been the golden boy of British music, one of our few stars to successfully crack America and not embarrass us in the attempt. Amid ever-dwindling sources of national pride, Styles has been a constant, the UK’s preferred Prince Harry and even less controversial than Paddington. But is his charmed run about to come to an end?
As Styles gears up for his big comeback, after a three-year hiatus from music and in large part public life, there are signs he may have set his sights too close to the sun, with controversy over ticket prices and a backlash brewing. Can Harry style it out?
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 05:00:48 GMT
‘Everyone wants to know,’ Melania says at the beginning of the two-hour extravaganza – but do we?
It’s Friday afternoon at Hoyts on Sydney’s northern beaches, and the atmosphere is horrific. I am here to see Amazon’s $75m “documentary” on Melania Trump, which has already been condemned as a flop ahead of its release.
When I arrive, I panic for a second that I have the time wrong. There are no Melania posters anywhere and the screening is tucked into the back bottom corner of the large movie theatre, like the weird leftover table at a wedding.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:06:12 GMT
Elon Musk and former UK ambassador to US Peter Mandelson among those named in newly released documents
An apparent FBI document released among the US government’s files on Epstein appeared to show a mugshot of Ghislaine Maxwell at the time of her arrest in 2020.
It is thought to be the first time this image has been released publicly.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:46:21 GMT
Keir Starmer says he wants to ‘go further’ in relations with Brussels as ministers look to restart stalled negotiations
The UK and the EU are exploring the prospect of new talks on closer defence cooperation, as Keir Starmer stressed on Friday that he wanted to “go further” in the UK’s relationship with Brussels.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, is due in London for talks next week, with trade, energy and fisheries on the agenda. But diplomatic sources said the UK is keen to discuss restarting negotiations on defence as soon as it can.
Talks for the UK to join the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) Security Action for Europe (Safe) defence fund collapsed in November 2025 amid claims that the EU had set too high a price on entry to the programme.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 07:00:54 GMT
Kazakhstani rallies from 3-0 down in final set for glory
2023 runner-up turns tables with 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win
Elena Rybakina had plenty of reasons to lose faith in her latest pursuit of a second grand slam title. She had played well for so much of the Australian Open final but, just as was the case in their final here three years ago, as Aryna Sabalenka began to impose herself in the match, Rybakina lost all control. Trailing 0-3 and 30-30 on her serve in the final set, Kazakhstani’s chances were fading quickly.
Although Rybakina is one of the least expressive tennis players to ever reach these stages, her reserved persona belies the grit at the heart of her success. The fifth seed brilliantly drew on her inner fire to produce the one of the great recoveries of her career, finding a way through from a break down in the final set to clinch her first Australian Open title with a brilliant 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over the world No 1.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:19:33 GMT
City of London Corporation accused of lack of transparency in retendering process that handed contracts to Daisy Green
A couple who run three cafes at north London beauty spots including Hampstead Heath and Queen’s Park have claimed a small victory in their battle to overturn the decision by their landlord, the City of London Corporation, to evict them.
Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez have run the cafes at Parliament Hill Lido, Queen’s Park and Highgate Wood for several years, but were told just before Christmas they had been unsuccessful in a retendering process.
Continue reading...Sat, 31 Jan 2026 10:00:54 GMT