American looking to retain title she won in Beijing Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing Winter Olympics: day six – live | And email Beau Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Chloe Kim won her last Olympic title, in 2022: American snowboarder Chloe Kim has become the first woman to successfully defend the Olympic halfpipe title, soaring to an untouchable lead with a gigantic opening run and cruising to a historic repeat gold. Continue reading...

Move puts AI firm in opposition to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has advocated for less stringent AI regulations Anthropic will spend $20m to back US political candidates who support regulating the AI industry, according to a company statement released on Thursday. Anthropic’s donation puts it in opposition to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has advocated for less stringent regulation of AI. The company is donating to Public First Action, a political group that opposes federal efforts to quash state AI regulations like a December executive order issued by Donald Trump. One of the candidates that the group is backing is Republican Marsha Blackburn, who is running for governor in Tennessee and who opposed an effort in Congress to bar states from passing AI laws. Continue reading...

Physics research drives technological innovation, from medical imaging to data processing, write Dr Phil Bull and Prof Chris Clarkson; plus letters from Tim Gershon and Vincenzo Vagnoni, and Prof Paul Howarth Your article (UK ‘could lose generation of scientists’ with cuts to projects and research facilities, 6 February) is right to highlight the serious consequences of proposed 30% funding cuts on the next generation of physics and astronomy researchers. The proposals also risk a generational destruction of the country’s ability to produce skilled graduates, retain specialist knowledge, and support physical science in industrial and educational settings. This comes against a backdrop of wider threats to university finances, from rising costs to declining international student numbers. An estimated one in four UK physics departments are already at risk of closure, and recent cuts and delays to Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grants have further depleted finances and will result in the loss of some highly skilled technical staff. Continue reading...

Government action is needed before it is too late, writes Jill Fitzgerald-O’Connor Re Larry Elliott’s article (How can Britain regain its manufacturing power?, 5 February), the basis for the revival of our manufacturing industry requires first a shift in attitude that brainwork is superior to manual labour. Changes to the curriculum are needed so that technically oriented students can pursue courses that are a first option rather than second best. Part of my training as a designer-pattern cutter involved a placement in a factory, an experience now rarely available to fashion students. In the 1980s, the government set up the Enterprise Allowance Scheme to encourage innovation, but there was no follow-on support to encourage production; successful entrepreneurs had to apply for personal loans from banks, limited to the value of their houses. Continue reading...

Conservation efforts to improve red squirrel numbers in mid Wales are being undermined by developers, writes Lorna Brazell of the Cambrian Mountains Society I was interested to read about the efforts being debated to conserve England’s embattled red squirrel population (‘On a knife edge’: can England’s red squirrel population be saved?, 6 February). In view of the inexorable spread of the greys across Great Britain, it was actually a surprise to learn there are still reds anywhere as central to the island as the Lake District. But it was also a disappointment to find that the article overlooked Welsh red squirrels entirely – despite the significant success of efforts to conserve them on Ynys Môn and the presence of a significant, genetically distinct population here in the Cambrian Mountains. Reds are, as you mention, the most-missed threatened mammal species of Great Britain, so we cannot afford to ignore any of their few remaining fastnesses. Ideally, we would also be taking concrete steps to protect those places from further erosion of habitat or human disturbance. Continue reading...

Bar blockers | Unlikely book recommendation | Ask AI | The proliferation of potholes | Divine intervention Queues in pubs (Letters, 6 February)? Hallelujah! Now perhaps elderly women of 5ft 1in will be able to get a drink. I’m not sure which are worse, the big blokes who wave their £20 notes over your head or the ones who, having bought a drink, just stay leaning on the bar. Queueing? Bring it on. Mine’s a large house red, please. Rosemary Chamberlin Bristol • Paul Dacre’s characterisation of a certain book as “written to appeal to a certain section of the Guardian readership” was presumably intended as a put-down, but I took it as a recommendation (Flashes of anger but Paul Dacre keeps his head before court cut-off, 11 February). Can we get more of the same from this unlikely source of advice? Mark de Brunner Harrogate, North Yorkshire Continue reading...

Protesters are enjoying greater freedom of expression since Nicolás Maduro’s downfall despite lack of regime change Protesters have taken to the streets of cities across Venezuela in the latest sign of an embryonic political shift after Nicolás Maduro’s recent downfall. Student demonstrators gathered on the campus of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas on Thursday to demand the release of all of the country’s political prisoners, the return of exiled activists and a full transition to democracy. Continue reading...

Theatre503, London Olga Braga’s award-winning play captures the suffocating tensions of a household as war looms – finding flashes of tenderness amid the rising threat Olga Braga’s stark new play, the winner of Theatre503’s international playwriting award, is a grim portrait of war in Ukraine. This smartly wrought and tightly packed production clings to the moments before Russia’s full-scale invasion of the Donbas in 2022, as Braga conjures a bleak microcosm of war in a cramped Ukrainian home. Every element of this sometimes overloaded show works hard, with already high tensions within the household increasing as the external threat of Russian occupation creeps closer. Director Anthony Simpson-Pike makes ambitious use of the small stage in his first show as artistic director, while Niall McKeever’s set feigns simplicity only to rip itself impressively apart when invasion strikes. Continue reading...

Dutch club are managed by Robin van Persie Sterling thinks he can be ‘a valued member of the team’ Raheem Sterling has signed for Feyenoord on a contract until the end of the season. The 31-old winger, capped 82 times by England, has joined as a free agent, having at the end of January terminated his contract at Chelsea – which had 18 months to run. Sterling has not played a competitive game since the final day of last season when he was on loan at Arsenal. He endured a difficult time over the first half of this season when the then Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, banished him from the first-team squad. Continue reading...

The Bob Coveiro (the Gravedigger) Law ‘recognises the emotional bond between guardians and their pets’ A dog that remained beside his former owner’s grave for 10 years has now given his name to a new state law allowing pets to be buried alongside their loved ones in São Paulo. The new law – already being informally referred to as the Bob Coveiro (the Gravedigger) Law, in tribute to its inspiration – was signed this week by the governor of Brazil’s most populous state, the conservative Tarcísio de Freitas. Continue reading...

Touchline ban from FA for remarks to Kirsty Dowle Mandatory education and £2,000 fine also imposed Barnet’s manager, Dean Brennan, has been given a nine-match touchline ban by the Football Association after being found guilty of making sexist comments to the referee Kirsty Dowle during a League Two game this season. It was revealed in December that Brennan had been charged with an aggravated breach of FA rule E3.1 for allegedly making offensive remarks to Dowle during Barnet’s defeat by Shrewsbury in September. Continue reading...

Wes Streeting says rise is above inflation forecast and will be in pay packets earlier but union criticises figure More than 1.4 million NHS workers will receive a 3.3% pay rise from April, the government has announced. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, said the uplift was above the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast of 2.2% inflation for 2026-27, delivering a “real-terms pay rise” for NHS staff. Continue reading...

Seamer was set to spend February helping at his father’s restaurant until late World Cup call – now he’s focused on another England upset It is fair to say that England’s first two games at the T20 World Cup have not inspired much confidence – unless you’re one of their future opponents. For Scotland, last-minute call-ups after the decision to banish Bangladesh from the tournament last month, English travails have put some extra pep in their step ahead of the now-crucial Group C clash in Kolkata on Saturday. “Definitely,” says the seamer Safyaan Sharif. “They’ll be feeling pressure because they know they have to win if they want to qualify. Obviously that’s the same with us, but I don’t think we have too much to lose. I think they have more to lose than us. Nepal gave them a good run and they were stressed in that game. They were panicking a lot – you could tell, the way they were playing in the final few overs. So it’s how they handle the pressure. Continue reading...

Evangelos Marinakis is close to appointing fourth head coach of season after Sean Dyche’s sacking and it’s a mess of his own making because he should never have fired Nuno Sacking three head coaches in a season does not reflect well on Nottingham Forest or their owner, Evangelos Marinakis. It is a mess of their own making, which started with the exit of their most successful manager in recent history and has the latest P45 going to the man brought in to sort out the problems created by an ill-judged appointment that lasted eight winless games. Twelve months ago Forest were battling for a Champions League spot under the stable stewardship of Nuno Espírito Santo. A lot has changed and they will become the first Premier League side to have four permanent managers in a season, which was not a record Forest were aiming for in August, when they were hoping to build on a seventh-place finish, an FA Cup semi-final and qualifying for Europe for the first time in 30 years. Continue reading...

After a week when it seemed all but over for Keir Starmer, John, Pippa and Kiran unpack how the prime minister survived – and what it means for Labour in the long run Continue reading...

DfE guidance urges teachers to respond to social transition requests ‘with caution’ and includes Cass report findings Primary school-age children who question their gender could be allowed to use different pronouns under long-awaited government guidance to schools on the subject. The new guidance, billed as moving away from a culture-war approach on the subject, has some changes compared with draft guidance produced in 2023, under the Conservatives, which said that primary-aged children “should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them”. Continue reading...

Everything you need to know about buying ski gear: our fashion expert’s top budget brands for goggles, gloves, salopettes and jackets • How to dress in cold weather Skiing is expensive. From your lift pass to your equipment hire, transfers, travel and accommodation, it’s not a particularly accessible sport. Luckily, there are ways to curb your spending if you’re heading to the slopes – one of which is your choice of ski gear. There are several reasonably priced brands that provide quality for a fraction of the price of luxury labels. Sure, you won’t be buying the most technologically advanced gear – if you’re a seasoned skier tackling extreme weather off piste, a high-street jacket probably won’t cut it – but if you’re a touch more fairweather, like me, these products will do the job just fine. And some brands offer a high spec for a relatively reasonable price, too – the North Face and Tog24 always put performance first, for example. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! There are a lot of billionaires making global headlines at the moment and even if we were dying of thirst, Football Daily wouldn’t go for a pint with any of them. Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe almost certainly wouldn’t want to come for a pint with us, given our backstreet local’s clientele boasts no end of foreigners of every stripe and shade, all of whom are apparently more hell-bent on annexing the pool table than “colonising the UK”. A man who is so patriotic he would do anything for his country except live or pay taxes in it, Big Sir Jim has plumbed unprecedented depths of unpopularity among Manchester United fans by embarking on a diatribe against immigrants that played fast and loose in its use of far-right rhetoric and was backed up by wildly inaccurate statistics. Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. I am sure I am in tune with 1,057 others when I suggest that Tottenham Hotspur did a Frank appraisal of their situation and decided to have a frank conversation with Frank to explain that, frankly, his tenure as manager was not good enough and that, as soon as their franking machine could print off the postage, Frank would be getting a frank letter, asking him – frankly – to do one. Which is a great shame, as he seems to be a really good guy and, as his time at Brentford shows, he is a very good manager. As an Arsenal fan, I now wish him well, which I haven’t been able to do since June last year” – Andrew Kluth (and no others). In yesterday’s Football Daily (full email edition), we have Liam Rosenior making sure his players are ‘switched on for 90 minutes’. Can I be one of 1,057 pedants pointing out that, according to no less an authority than Big Website, games now last an average of 100 minutes, 36 seconds? Demand more, Liam. Demand more” – Simon Riley (and no others). This may be scant consolation to Rod de Lisle (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) but Leicester’s capitulation against Southampton, while spectacular, is eclipsed by at least one other game. Back in 1957, Huddersfield Town – managed by Bill Shankly, who, were he still around, would surely win letter o’ the day so often you’d probably drop it altogether as a feature, and also featuring future Wolves manager Bill McGarry as a player – somehow contrived to turn a 5-1 lead in the 63rd minute away at Charlton (who had also been down to 10 men since the 17th minute) into a 7-6 defeat” – Simon Gill. It doubtless won’t be much consolation to interim Leicester boss Andy King, but given that his team weren’t playing against 10 men when they threw away that 3-0 lead to lose 4-3, it probably wasn’t the worst half in the history of football” – Nick Payne. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...

Supporters raise £73,000 to secure future of Welsh valleys chapel where beloved hymn was first sung The Welsh valleys chapel where the beloved hymn Cwm Rhondda – also known as Bread of Heaven – was first sung is safe in the hands of local people after a successful fundraising campaign. A community group has taken ownership of Capel Rhondda in Hopkinstown, near Pontypridd, after raising more than £70,000. Continue reading...

Corporation denies defamation but must hand over revealing documents after judge dismisses jurisdiction argument President Trump’s multibillion dollar lawsuit against the BBC over the editing of one of his speeches has been set for a year’s time. In a blow to the corporation, the Florida judge has also rejected the BBC’s attempt to put off disclosing internal documents relating to the episode of Panorama that contained the spliced version of Trump’s 2021 address. Continue reading...

Advocate general questions decision, saying reforms needed to unfreeze about €10bn have not been carried out Europe live – latest updates The top adviser to the EU’s highest court has said it should annul a decision by the European Commission to unfreeze billions of euros of payments to Hungary that had been suspended because of serious concerns over corruption and the rule of law. Tamara Ćapeta, the advocate general of the European court of justice, said on Thursday the commission should not have paid out the funds because Hungary had not actually carried out the judicial reforms that were a condition for their release. Continue reading...

Leaders promise to fight back with court challenges as Trump rescinds finding foundational to US climate rules Climate leaders gathered outside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters on Wednesday to condemn the Trump administration’s plans to repeal the legal finding underpinning all federal climate regulations, and promised to fight against the rollback. “This is corruption, plain and simple. Old fashioned, dirty political corruption,” said Sheldon Whitehouse, senator for Rhode Island, at the rally. “This is an agency that has been so infiltrated by the corrupt fossil fuel industry that it has turned an agency of government into the weapon of the fossil fuel polluters.” Continue reading...

The film-maker and author narrates this vivid account of his wide-eyed adventures as young music journalist in 70s America, hanging out with heroes from David Bowie to Led Zeppelin The title of The Uncool refers to rock critic Lester Bangs’s assessment of Cameron Crowe, whose adventures as a music journalist were loosely depicted in his 2000 movie, Almost Famous. Long before he became a film-maker, the teenage Crowe travelled around the US interviewing some of the biggest rocks acts of the era, among them Gram Parsons, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Eagles and the Allman Brothers Band. Crowe’s memoir reveals him as the perennial outsider who, unlike his interviewees, cared little about sex, booze and drugs and who lacked a certain savoir-faire. Yet rock stars liked having him around, enjoying his sincerity and the fact that he was more admiring fan than dispassionate reporter. Crowe is the reader, delivering a warm and vivacious narration that conveys the wide-eyed astonishment of his youthful self as he is thrust into the orbit of his heroes. He also paints a vivid picture of an era in which bands weren’t protected by gaggles of PR representatives and a writer could spend 18 months with an artist – as Crowe did with Bowie in the mid-1970s – to write a single profile. Continue reading...

Opéra Royal de Versailles/Angioloni (Château de Versailles Spectacles) Doubling as vocalist and conductor, Angiolini is joined by fine singers in this rarely recorded late work. Giacomo Nanni’s sonorous ‘Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori’ is a particular highlight Premiered in 1732, Sosarme is a bit of a sleeper among Handel’s mature operas, with only Anthony Lewis’s 1954 recording in the current catalogue. That’s a shame, as it possesses emotional depth as well as a swag of memorable arias. Contemporary audiences gave it a warm welcome, though the composer’s last-minute attempt to avoid a diplomatic faux pas by switching settings from medieval Portugal to mythical Lydia hasn’t helped its reputation. This lightly sprung performance from Opéra Royal de Versailles under conductor Marco Angioloni goes some way to rehabilitating the work, even if the engineered sound and edgy string tone are a little in-your-face. Rémy Brès-Feuillet is honey-toned in the title role, originally a vehicle for the great contralto castrato Senesino, with Sarah Charles suitably soubrettish as his beloved Elmira. Continue reading...

From his public persona to a sense that he sold the country a pup, many factors seems to feed a sense of ‘great dislike’ UK politics live – latest updates In yet another confusing and chaotic period for British politics there is one thing on which just about everyone can agree: Keir Starmer is unpopular. Very, very unpopular. His net favourability rating, the difference between those who have a generally positive or negative view of the prime minister has been, depending on the pollster, anything from -50 to -57, a nadir only beaten by Liz Truss. Recent focus group descriptions of Starmer include a “jellyfish” and a “doormat”. Continue reading...