As Michael Carrick prepares for Saturday’s derby, fans wonder if this is the club’s worst moment – but they are spoilt for choice Manchester United, without a permanent head coach or European football and knocked out of both domestic cups at the first time of asking, are facing another bleak season. In the almost 13 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left, the club have struggled to find stability, with his shadow stretching down from the directors’ box to the dugout, emphasised by the stand named in his honour staring back. Manchester City arrive at Old Trafford on Saturday in the opposite position, having had Pep Guardiola in post for a decade, amassing 18 major trophies. Michael Carrick will take charge of United for the first time since being appointed until the end of the season at a club who appear to be without a functioning long-term plan. This will be a campaign of only 40 competitive games for United, their fewest since 1914-15, with some fans thankful for being able to cut down on trudging visits. So is this, in the post-Ferguson era, the lowest of the lows? Continue reading...

Food critic comes under fire after suggesting health and safety rules ‘don’t really apply’ to elite restaurants According to a critic who has eaten at every three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, Gareth Ward, the star chef and owner of Ynyshir, on the southern edge of Eryri national park, is a groundbreaking visionary. “He knows which rules to break and when,” Andy Hayler wrote. “He’s like Picasso; if you look at his early still lifes, they’re unbelievably perfect.” Continue reading...

Donald Trump has been gifted the Nobel peace prize medal by Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The gesture comes after Machado was unexpectedly sidelined by Trump when US forces abducted her political rival, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Her supporters had hoped Trump would recognise her as Venezuela's new leader, but instead he gave his support to the dictator’s second-in-command, Delcy Rodríguez. Continue reading...

The brutal crackdown in Iran, ICE in Minneapolis, Russian aistrikes in Kyiv and heavy rain in Gaza – the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Warning: this gallery contains images some readers may find distressing Continue reading...

Manager’s decision is no surprise having fought to keep Marc Guéhi in the summer and doubts over futures of a host of Palace’s FA Cup-winning stars It was the day Crystal Palace supporters had dreaded but feared was inevitable. Oliver Glasner, having confirmed that the captain Marc Guéhi’s move to Manchester City is poised to go ahead, had another bombshell prepared for his press conference to preview Saturday’s trip to Sunderland. Nearly eight months to the day since the Austrian led the club to their first major trophy by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, his announcement that he will leave Selhurst Park at the end of the season came as no surprise. It rounds off one of the worst weeks in the club’s history after the humiliating defeat by non-league Macclesfield that will be for ever an unwanted postscript to their victory. Continue reading...

The Tokyo Olympic champion has climbed more than 1,200 places back to the world top 10 following the birth of her daughter, Bella “I definitely think I’m a better player now than I was before my pregnancy,” Belinda Bencic says as she reflects on climbing more than 1,200 places up the world rankings since returning to competitive tennis as a new mother. In October 2024 Bencic had plummeted to a lowly spot as world No 1,213 when she stepped back on to court feeling secure that baby Bella was being looked after by her husband, Martin Hromkovic – who is also her strength and conditioning coach. On 11 January, 14 months since her comeback began, Bencic played Iga Swiatek in the final of the United Cup in Sydney. The world No 2, and current Wimbledon champion, won the first set but Bencic played supreme tennis as she swept Swiatek aside 6-0, 6-3 in the next two sets to seal her ninth consecutive victory of the week for Switzerland. Her imperious performance also meant that Bencic was back in the world top 10 again. Continue reading...

Trump says ‘I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use’ the act after baselessly claiming that people protesting in Minneapolis are ‘highly paid professionals’ Trump began his remarks today by undermining the Affordable Care Act, and touted his newly unveiled “Great Healthcare Plan”. A reminder that Affordable Care Act subsidies, that were extended during the Covid pandemic, expired at the end of last year, and legislation to revive them has stalled in Congress. Continue reading...

Reza Pahlavi also laid out his bid to assume leadership of the country, following weeks of mass protests and violent crackdowns Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s former pro-western monarch, has predicted the country’s Islamic regime will fall and claimed he is “uniquely” placed to head a successor government. His bid to assume the leadership of a post-Islamic regime Iran follows weeks of mass protests that have left thousands dead after being bloodily suppressed by security forces. Continue reading...

Relationship between pair had appeared fractious New race engineer to be named ‘in due course’ Ferrari have announced they are to replace Riccardo Adami as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer for the 2026 Formula One season, after the pair endured what appeared to be a fractious and testing relationship during the seven-time world champion’s first season with the Scuderia. Ferrari issued a statement on Friday stating Adami would be moved to a new role with the team’s driver academy as academy and test previous cars manager, adding that his replacement as Hamilton’s race engineer, the crucial link between team and driver on the pit wall, would be announced in due course. Continue reading...

News from Friday’s press conferences, including updates on Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and West Ham Continue reading...

Ads to be placed alongside answers as OpenAI looks to beef up revenue for flagship AI product ChatGPT will start including advertisements beside answers for US users as OpenAI seeks a new revenue stream. The ads will be tested first in ChatGPT for US users only, the company announced on Friday, after increasing speculation that the San Francisco firm would turn to a potential cashflow model on top of its current subscriptions. Continue reading...

The US president wants Americans to believe they are facing an emergency. The real danger is from his administration In Minnesota, armed and masked agents are ripping families apart. They are seizing parents while they wait with their child at a bus stop, going door to door seeking undocumented migrants and breaking car windows to drag people out. Last Wednesday an officer shot dead Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old American citizen. Her killing is a tragedy for all who loved her, and most of all for the three children left motherless. It also marks her country’s crossing of a Rubicon. Where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) once preferred to keep a low profile, it now seeks publicity and confrontation – pumped up on billions of dollars in funding, the aggression and brazenness of the administration and the licensing of bigotry. 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. Continue reading...

The West Midlands police chief finally bowed to government pressure and quit. But we should not sleepwalk into a centralised system After refusing to walk, in a manner reminiscent of Stuart Broad batting against the Australians in the 2013 Ashes, the West Midlands chief constable Craig Guildford has finally accepted the inevitable and retired with ill-concealed reluctance from his post. He had little alternative. On Wednesday the Home Office had released a critical report by the chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, into the way West Midlands police supported banning Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans from attending a fixture in Birmingham against Aston Villa. The same day, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, told the Commons that she no longer had confidence in Mr Guildford. The chief constable tried to face down the criticism. But, on Friday, he quit. Continue reading...

Full-time carer Martina Karos and Eleni Edwards, eight, were found dead at home in Salford A translator who became a full-time carer for her severely disabled eight-year-old daughter killed herself and her child after becoming “overwhelmed” by loneliness, a coroner concluded. Martina Karos, 40, and Eleni Edwards were found dead at their home in Salford, Greater Manchester, after police were called when the girl did not turn up at school on 23 September 2024. 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 Continue reading...

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Reform’s latest defector from the Tories is a politician whose eye has only ever been on his own ambition It’s come down to this. Watch any reality TV show and it won’t be long before you hear the lead presenter talking about how each contestant has been on a journey. It’s as though we can’t survive without a narrative structure. An attempt to give emotional meaning to something fundamentally meaningless. It feels as if everyone has to be on a journey now. If you’re not, then you’re somehow less interesting. Only half a person. Even our politicians are no longer exempt. In the last 24 hours there have been any number of talking heads lining up to tell us that Robert Jenrick has been on quite the journey. His former Tory colleagues. His new tribe at Reform. Even Honest Bob likes to talk about his journey. Makes him feel special and different. Important. Continue reading...

Charity hails ‘momentous’ decision to give abiraterone to about 8,000 newly diagnosed men each year The NHS has expanded access to a prostate cancer drug across England in a move expected to save thousands of lives. Abiraterone, which starves cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow, will be offered to men who are newly diagnosed and whose disease has not spread beyond the prostate. Continue reading...

Edward Brandt sentenced to 20 weeks in prison after behaviour left Tory peer ‘in fear of sexual violence’ A former councillor has been jailed for 20 weeks after stalking Penny Mordaunt, which the former Cabinet minister said left her fearing “sexual violence”. Edward Brandt, a professional sailor, had been found guilty of the offence but was acquitted of a more serious charge of stalking involving serious alarm or distress. Continue reading...

Actor held without bond in New Mexico on child abuse charges stemming from twin brothers’ complaint With allegations of prior sexual misconduct against him continuing to mount, Timothy Busfield received an expression of support from his wife and fellow actor, Melissa Gilbert – as he was also ordered held without bond in connection with on-set child abuse charges in New Mexico. A statement that a representative for Gilbert, known best for her work on Little House on the Prairie, shared with media outlets said she “supports her husband” and was keeping “her focus … on supporting and caring for their … family, as they navigate this moment”. Continue reading...

US bombs are not the answer, but there’s much the outside world can do – starting with noticing the horror unfolding in Tehran Did you notice history being made this week? I am not referring to what may have been the most pathetic moment in recorded time – Donald Trump gratefully taking the Nobel peace prize medal from the woman who actually won it – nor the defection of a politician from one British rightwing party to another, but something grimmer. For this week witnessed what could well prove to be a landmark chapter in the blood-soaked history of the Middle East. Thanks to an information blackout caused by Tehran’s decision to switch off the internet, it is hard to be precise about what just happened on the streets of Iran. But one official has admitted to a death toll of 2,000. CBS News put the number of dead at 12,000, while some warn it could be many thousands more – all of them Iranian civilians, gunned down for daring to protest against their government and to demand a better life. Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Guardian newsroom: Year One of Trumpism: Is Britain Emulating the US? On Wednesday 21 January 2026, join Jonathan Freedland, Tania Branigan and Nick Lowles as they reflect on the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency. Book tickets here or at guardian.live 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. Continue reading...

Woman who paired Buckley with Paul Mescal in critics’ favourite is contender in new Academy Award category If you were to compile a list of the most powerful people in the movie business, you might start with the auteurs, the A-list actors or the execs who bankroll Oscar-winning projects. But among those better-known powerbrokers is another vital cog in the Hollywood machine: the people with the ability to make and grow stars. Continue reading...

Readers respond to Jonathan Liew’s article on rude chants on the football terraces about the prime minister Jonathan Liew links rude football chants to the unmerited personal abuse which Keir Starmer is currently receiving (When crowds direct offensive chants at Keir Starmer, who’s to blame? I’m afraid he is, 13 January). Football managers are frequently the target for similar treatment. Like them, Starmer has to set his team’s strategy and tactics and produce results that please supporters. Continue reading...

Guardian readers responds to an article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in which she laments the takeover of four family-owned cafes I can’t help being disappointed by the current controversy over the Hampstead Heath cafes, as highlighted by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett (I’m sick of avocado toast – I just want to keep my local, untrendy cafe, 12 January), as it’s all happened before. In 2016, as chair of the Hampstead Heath management committee, I voted against the proposal to take the running of the Parliament Hill cafe away from the D’Auria family and hand it to the Benugo chain, but the proposal was initially agreed (albeit by only one vote). There was a predictable outcry against this decision, and I found myself confronted by angry protesters at a meeting chaired by the local MP, Keir Starmer. Continue reading...

Readers respond to Emma John’s article on the difference in attitudes to the game in England and Australia Emma John’s perceptive analysis of cricket in Australia is spot-on (England ruthlessly privatised cricket – Australia embraces it with constant public displays of affection, 9 January). I have been visiting Australia for many years – our son and his family live in Sydney. The locals, on hearing my accent, mostly respond by saying “Sorry about the cricket, mate.” It’s not in a gloating or superior way, but in a genuine sense of puzzlement at how when we have often promised a real contest we perform like a malfunctioning firework. As Emma observes, in Australia cricket is a national obsession and accessible to all, either to watch or to play. In England it has become elitist, with free-to-air TV coverage long gone, the cost of going to a game increasingly prohibitive and the county game’s importance as a place to learn having been eroded. In spite of a loyal and well-heeled bunch of supporters, epitomised by the Barmy Army, it has become a minority sport, and the poorer for it. Continue reading...

Publishing pays abysmally, says an anonymous writer, who feels closer to their neighbours on benefits than to their former peers in teaching and academia Access to the arts might be good for mental health (The Guardian view on living more creatively: a daily dose of art, 9 January), but the conditions in which most artists have to produce their work does nothing to improve their own. I’m a novelist, and I was paid £1,000 and £500 respectively for my last two books. The latter was shortlisted for an international literary award. That’s £1,500 earned in 10 years. Before turning to writing full-time, I worked in other areas: in local government, and as a teacher and academic. Continue reading...