The claim that music sung in Spanish will alienate viewers ignores the fact that many people would rather join the fun than risk being left out of it The morning after the 3 January US military action in Venezuela, in which Nicolás Maduro was captured, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace in parts of the eastern Caribbean, and my stay in St Kitts stretched into an unexpected extra week. At the mercy of the systems that determine which corridors open and when, and who gets routed where, an overwhelmed customer service agent suggested I charter a boat to nearby St Maarten, fly to Amsterdam, and then stitch together a series of flights to avoid the affected airspace. I understood the Caribbean, then, less as a string of proximate islands and, instead, as a set of routes connected by powers elsewhere. Power doesn’t just regulate airspace, it also governs cultural transmission – who gets broadcast, who gets heard, and on what terms. That’s why the handwringing over the Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, and the characterization of his almost exclusive use of Spanish in his music as an intrusion, feel so disingenuous. The drama isn’t about understanding the lyrics. Rather it’s a claim about Bad Bunny and his music as fundamentally un-American, stemming from a fear of feeling left out, or the more colloquially known fear of missing out (Fomo). Continue reading...

Labour faces a battle to hold on to its 13,000 majority, with the Greens the bookies’ favourite and Reform hoping to gain from split vote on left As Nigel Farage cut the ribbon on Reform UK’s byelection headquarters in Greater Manchester this week, Labour’s candidate, Angeliki Stogia, sat tearfully in a cafe nearby. Politicians do not often show their emotion but for Stogia, who arrived in Britain as a student from Greece in 1995, this is personal. “I am angry,” she said of Farage’s party. “I am very, very angry. How dare they come here and spread this division?” Continue reading...

Two Cornishmen agreed on the problems facing their home county. Would they see eye to eye on the solutions? John, 41, St Austell Occupation Automotive engineer Continue reading...

While Quebec parties have long sought independence, the secret meetings by unelected Albertans with US officials have been branded treasonous by some A separatist push for a referendum on independence from Canada. Meetings with foreign officials perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. Accusations of treason and sedition. Ahead of a 1995 referendum, leaders of Quebec’s independence movement made a string of provocative overtures to foreign governments, including a trip by the province’s premier to France. In a move that outraged anglophone Canada, the mayor of Paris gave Quebec’s Jacques Parizeau a welcome befitting a national leader. Continue reading...

After a sexually frustrating marriage led to divorce, I chased increasingly extreme BDSM encounters. But I never felt truly satisfied. Had I been looking for the wrong thing all along? To everyone else, it probably looked like a regular summer’s evening. Couples and families enjoying the beer garden, people playing cricket on the green – and I was being handcuffed in the passenger seat of a 4x4 by a man I barely knew. My name is Leesa, and I’m a recovered sex addict. Continue reading...

Faced with economic coercion, Europe has trodden carefully. My experience tells me that’s not enough In February of last year, Donald Trump convened the first full cabinet meeting of his second term in the White House. He proudly announced his intention to impose sweeping tariffs on the US’s closest allies in Europe. When asked by a reporter whether Europe might retaliate, Trump sounded confident. “They can’t,” he said. Pressed to explain, he continued: “We are the pot of gold. We’re the one that everybody wants. And they can retaliate, but it cannot be a successful retaliation.” As Trump saw it, Europe was weak and feckless – a minnow compared with the American economic juggernaut. When confronted with a US president prepared to throw his country’s weight around, Europe would certainly cave. In the year since, Trump has repeatedly wielded America’s economic might against Europe, from coercing the EU and the UK to swallow lopsided trade deals to pressuring Denmark to sell him Greenland. And time and again, his assessment of European countries – that they would scurry to him, hat in hand, eager to make a deal – has been vindicated. Continue reading...

Exit polls point to public endorsement of new prime minister Sanae Takaichi Japan’s conservative governing party is on course to strengthen dramatically its grip on power after exit polls predicted a landslide victory in Sunday’s lower house elections. The LDP was projected to win between 274 and 328 seats out of a total of 465, according to an exit poll by the public broadcaster NHK, well above the 233 it needed to regain the majority it lost in 2024. Combined with seats secured by its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation party, the parties could win between 302 and 366 seats, NHK added. Continue reading...

⚽ Updates from Emirates Stadium, kick off 12pm (GMT) ⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Xaymaca Chloe Kelly starts as a substitute against her former club. The England winger came off the bench to score an equaliser in the reverse fixture in October but it wasn’t enough to stop Manchester City going on to win the game through a late Iman Beney winner. Arsenal: van Domselaar, Fox, Wubben-Moy, Catley, McCabe, Little, Mariona, Russo, Mead, Foord, Smith Continue reading...

New Diorama theatre, London James Nash’s doomscrolling play unpacks social media and the violence it hosts We piece together fragments. Distorted voice notes, the depths of the comments section and snatches of conversation make up James Nash’s lithe little nightmare. Unpacking the internet and the violence it plays host to, Guidelines follows the aftermath of a murder, filmed on a phone, as its impact ricochets outwards in real life and on our screens. Pip Williams’s clean direction immediately unsettles. Rachel-Leah Hosker and Alex McCauley flit between reeling off community guidelines for social media with fierce fixed smiles, and playing a pair of teens unable to escape the story of the girl who was murdered in the woods. Patch Middleton’s sound design sustains tension from the start, with a thundering message from a worried mother mutating into an ominous threat. Continue reading...

Will Drake Maye lead New England into a new era of championships? Or will the Seahawks get revenge 11 years in the making? Our writers give their verdicts Pressure Sam Darnold. Darnold was outstanding in the NFC championship game when forced to throw under duress. But that hasn’t been the case all season. The Seahawks rank sixth in EPA/dropback when there is no pressure, but drop to 22nd when there is pressure. Collapsing the pocket is New England’s best shot at success. Their interior pass-rushers, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, will need to overwhelm Darnold. OC Continue reading...

Puerto Rican superstar promises ‘the world will dance’ in all-Spanish half-time gig that comes as Trump agents wage deadly crackdown For 13 minutes on Sunday night, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will pulse with reggaeton, Latin trap and Caribbean rhythms as Bad Bunny headlines a historic Super Bowl halftime performance, primarily – or perhaps entirely – in Spanish. The Puerto Rican megastar, whose songs fuse the raw energy of música urbana, Boricua pride and resistance politics, has promised a “huge party”. At a moment when masked federal agents are sweeping through American cities, rounding up long-settled immigrants, legal residents and even US citizens, Bad Bunny’s presence on the grandest stage in US sports offers a striking contrast – a joyful celebration of pride and solidarity for millions of Latinos. Continue reading...

Department store’s retail boss reveals how it is thriving by focusing on unique items and tie-ups from Adidas to Grayson Perry On a damp Thursday in central London, shoppers have fled the rain to indulge in some Bridgerton-themed escapism at upmarket department store Liberty, which has dedicated its fourth floor to the raunchy period drama. “When customers come to Liberty they want the discovery of new brands or something a bit different,” says Lydia King, Liberty’s new retail managing director. Continue reading...

Amber feared having sex with other women had ruined the best thing in her life, but Todd says exploring together has ultimately strengthened their partnership • How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously The first time we had sex with a couple, I didn’t anticipate how destabilising it would feel Continue reading...

Gout opts to focus on world under-20 championships Teenage sensation’s absence is blow to Glasgow event The Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout has decided not to compete at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The 18-year-old will instead focus on the world under-20 championships in August, where he hopes to emulate the legendary Usain Bolt. The two events are taking place back-to-back, with Gout and his support team deeming it unwise for him to contest both so early in his burgeoning career. Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Keir Starmer as Labour peer reported to have received payment worth three months’ salary when he quit in September UK politics live – latest updates A cabinet minister has called for Peter Mandelson to hand back the payout he received after quitting as ambassador to the US last year, as pressure increased on the prime minister to quit for having appointed him in the first place. Pat McFadden, the welfare secretary, said on Sunday he thought the Labour peer should give back his Foreign Office payout, which is reported to be as much as £55,000. The Foreign Office is understood to be reviewing the payment. Continue reading...

António José Seguro tipped to beat populist André Ventura with support of mainstream politicians on left and right The centre-left Socialist candidate, António José Seguro, is heavily favoured to defeat the far-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election on Sunday, in a vote that will test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style of politics. Recent opinion polls suggest Seguro will collect twice as many votes as Ventura in the head-to-head between the two top candidates in last month’s first round of voting, when none of the 11 runners captured the more than 50% of the vote required for victory. Continue reading...

This master craftsman’s work has lit up everything from Bond to Blade Runner 2049. But as he publishes his memoir, why is he so worried about the future of film-making? Roger Deakins – cinematographer to the Coen brothers, Martin Scorsese and Sam Mendes, whose work has earned him 14 Oscar nominations and two wins, five Baftas, a knighthood and a reputation for being the greatest practitioner of his craft alive – is struggling to explain just exactly what he does. “Argh!” he exclaims, when confronted by the question: what is cinematography? “Well, I started off trying to be a still photographer, someone like Don McCullin. And it’s been a whole arc through cinematography. Now what is cinematography? I don’t know. It’s very different from still photography. But the essentials are the same. You’re trying to tell a visual story.” It is “very much a collaboration”, he continues; working with “hundreds of people” on films can be a “wonderful experience … I suppose I’m not answering your question, because actually I’ve got no idea,” he says. “The cliche is visual storytelling, but it’s much more than that.” Continue reading...

Fewer under-25s leaving home, and older renters being priced out of ownership or solo renting, is fuelling a change in house-share demographics When Nicola Whyte first moved into a four-bedroom house share in Balham 16 years ago, she never imagined she would still be living there at 45. But with rents soaring, and ongoing challenges in saving up for a house deposit, she has ended up as a housemate far longer than she anticipated. “I didn’t think I was going to be here 16 years later, but I’m not unhappy,” she said. “My friends sometimes think I’m a bit weird, they ask me how I can still do it. But I really enjoy it. The rent is really reasonable, it’s close to work and I think it gives you a deeper understanding of people.” Continue reading...

It is one of the most powerful involuntary actions the human body can perform. But is a big sneeze a sign of illness, pollution or something else entirely? How worried should we be about a sneeze? It depends who you ask. In the Odyssey, Telemachus sneezes after Penelope’s prayer that her husband will soon be home to sort out her house-sitting suitors – which she sees as a good omen for team Odysseus, and very bad news for the suitors. In the Anabasis, Xenophon takes a sneeze from a soldier as godly confirmation that his army can fight their way back to their own territory – great news for them – while St Augustine notes, somewhat disapprovingly, that people of his era tend to go back to bed if they sneeze while putting on their slippers. But is a sneeze an omen of anything apart from pathogens, pollen or – possibly – air pollution? “It’s a physical response to get rid of something that’s irritating your body,” says Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist and professor at the University of Manchester. “Alongside the obvious nasal hairs that a few people choose to trim, all of us have cilia, or microscopic hairs in our noses that can move and sense things of their own accord. And so if anything gets trapped by the cilia, that triggers a reaction to your nerve endings that says: ‘Right, let’s get rid of this.’ And that triggers a sneeze.” Continue reading...

Milano Cortina Games: updates from Sunday’s action Schedule | Results | Medal table | Briefing | Email Geoff Times are all in local time in Milan and Cortina. For Sydney it is +10 hours, for London it is -1 hour, for New York it is -6 hours and San Francisco it is -9 hours. Snowboard: The women’s and men’s giant slalom elimination runs are on now. Then from at about 1pm the women’s quarter finals, 2:12pm the women’s semis, at 2:19pm the men’s semis, and at 2:26pm the women’s final. Alpine skiing: the Women’s Downhill event, after the men’s yesterday. Cross-country skiiing: Men’s 10km+10km skiathlon Biathlon: Mixed replay 4x6km Snowboard: Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Snowboard: Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Speed Skating: Men’s 5000m Luge: Men’s Singles Figure Skating: Team Event - Men’s Single Skating Continue reading...

Man in his 60s ‘arrested and handed over to Russia’ after fleeing to UAE, according to media reports A Russian man suspected of shooting and wounding the senior Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alekseyev in Moscow has been arrested in Dubai, the Russian FSB security service has said. The man, in his 60s, was “arrested and handed over to Russia” after fleeing to the United Arab Emirates, while a suspected accomplice was arrested in Moscow and another escaped to Ukraine, Russian media quoted the FSB as saying. Continue reading...

England begin their Group C campaign in Mumbai India deny USA seismic shock | Email James Teams: England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (c), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Liam Dawson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood. Continue reading...

With the Omnivore’s Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan transformed our understanding of food and drugs. Can he do the same for our sense of self? Several years ago, Michael Pollan had a disturbing encounter. The relentlessly curious journalist and author was at a conference on plant behaviour in Vancouver. There, he’d learned that when plants are damaged, they produce an anaesthetising chemical, ethylene. Was this a form of self-soothing, like the release of endorphins after an injury in humans? He asked František Baluška, a cell biologist, if it meant that plants might feel pain. Baluška paused, before answering: “Yes, they should feel pain. If you don’t feel pain, you ignore danger and you don’t survive.” I imagine that Pollan gulped at that point. I certainly did when I read his account of the meeting in his latest book, A World Appears. Where does it leave our efforts at ethical consumption, if literally everybody hurts – including vegetables? Continue reading...

Animals, insects, flora and fauna – the world photographed in close-up in the annual competition dedicated to micro and macro photography. Cupoty 7 was won by underwater photographer Ross Gudgeon, triumphing over 12,000 entries from 63 countries Continue reading...

Mandelson under increasing pressure to return payout after he was sacked over as US ambassador over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics as speculation over Keir Starmer’s future as prime minister continues. Peter Mandelson is under increasing pressure to return the payoff he received after being sacked as ambassador to the US in September over his friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Peter Mandelson’s civil service employment was terminated in accordance with legal advice and the terms and conditions of his employment. Normal civil services HR processes were followed. Further information will be provided to parliament as part of the government response to the motion passed last week which is being coordinated by the Cabinet Office. Continue reading...