Steve Wright admitted to abducting, sexually assaulting and murdering Victoria Hall, as well as attempting to kidnap Emily Doherty A serial killer already serving a whole-life prison sentence for the murders of five women has been further sentenced to 40 years for the killing of schoolgirl Victoria Hall, as well as for attempting to kidnap 22-year-old Emily Doherty, in 1999. Steve Wright caused “untold distress” to 17-year-old Hall’s family when he abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered her, a prosecutor said at his sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday. Continue reading...

As their debts rise, graduates reveal how loans are reshaping careers, finances and faith in the system Student loans: why is Martin Lewis clashing with Rachel Reeves? Growing anger over the plight of millions of graduates saddled with ballooning student loan debts is threatening to develop into a fresh crisis for the government, with Martin Lewis leading the demands for an urgent rethink. The MoneySavingExpert founder has been critical of the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, over a change to repayment thresholds affecting 5.8 million people who took out a student loan between 2012 and 2023. Continue reading...

DVDs and CDs signalled the beginning of the end for physical media but now have pride of place among technologies that are forgotten but not quite gone Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email There is something magical about browsing someone else’s DVD collection. Like a bookshelf it reflects the owner’s taste and interests; at least the ones they want visitors to see. But as a dead medium, DVDs make a more abstract statement: a collection suggests an ongoing commitment to physical media – the film equivalent of a record collection – but DVDs have come and gone, superseded in quality and accessibility. Continue reading...

PC; Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel This mischievous roguelike escapade featuring utterly fiendish felines is compelling, and impressively tasteless You know that old saying about cats having nine lives? Well, as far as Mewgenics is concerned, you can forget it – and you can also forget the idea that a game about cats has to be in any way cute. These kitties are red in tooth and claw, prone to strange mutations, and strictly limited to just the one life, which often ends swiftly and brutally. Such is the nature of roguelike, a format that has spawned some of the biggest indie hits of the past 20 years. In these games, failure is permanent; dying sends you back not to the last checkpoint but back to the beginning, the game reshuffling its elements into a new shape for your next run. And so it goes in Mewgenics. You gather a party of four felines and send them out on a questing journey, from which they return victorious or not at all. Continue reading...

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

Obsessing over individual players and political chaos leaves less time to focus on the misogyny. And that’s for the best, isn’t it guys? Fair play to Bill Gates’s ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, a woman who fronted up to appear on a podcast this week while so many of the men who feature in the latest Epstein files drop found that their diaries had them scheduled to stay hiding under their rocks. Melinda was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, obviously, and executed a very graceful drive-by. “Whatever questions remain there of what I don’t – can’t – even begin to know all of it, those questions are for those people, and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me. And I am so happy to be away from all the muck that was there.” Oof. Yet she also said, more generally: “I think we’re having a reckoning as a society, right?” Cards on the table, I don’t think we’re having one at all. Look at the headlines, or what’s dominating all the news bulletins. We’re talking about anything but the things that most need to be reckoned with. In the UK, we’re talking round the clock about Peter Mandelson, the one guy in this we at least know wasn’t making sexually abusive use of Epstein’s trafficked women and girls. Even if he did offer Epstein image rehab advice, which, as discussed here in depth on Tuesday, was a foray into the moral abyss. (Again.) But the frenzied and remorseless focus on political fallout – and not the male-on-female debasement that is the entire heart of this story, and always has been – is weird, isn’t it? I had a mirthless laugh at the New Statesman’s cover this week, which characterised the Mandelson affair as “the scandal of the century”. Guys, it’s not even the biggest scandal of the scandal. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Researchers say blood sample strip, which can be used at home, can pick up virus that causes cervical cancer A pioneering test of period blood for signs of cervical cancer could be a convenient, non-invasive and accurate way of screening for the disease, researchers have said. A regular sanitary pad topped with a blood sample strip can pick up human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cases of cervical cancer, and could be used by women at home, the results of a study indicate. Continue reading...

AA says long-awaited evaluations show schemes are a ‘catastrophic waste of time, money and effort’ Business live – latest updates Most of Britain’s smart motorway schemes have proved poor or very poor value for money, according to assessments by the government agency that built them. Official evaluations from National Highways, some of which had been held back by the Department for Transport (DfT) since completion in 2023, showed that a slew of big projects to convert the hard shoulder on the M1, M4, M6 and M25 were rated as “poor” or “very poor” value. Continue reading...

‘I am feeling pretty good about myself,’ says Bruce Mouat Figure skaters Gibson and Fear in bronze position Snoop Dogg and the sport of curling made for a very odd mixture at the Winter Olympics on Friday with British competitors Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds even more shocked than the crowd and the millions tuning in when they got a picture request from the rapper. Mouat and Dodds had maintained their unbeaten record so far at the Games with a 7-4 win over tough opponents Sweden, but were just as pleased to meet the US superstar. Continue reading...

Letter expresses concerns agreement may involve ‘serious violations of international human rights law’ The UN has called on the UK and France to halt the controversial “one in one out” asylum system, warning that there may be “serious violations of international human rights law”. Nine experts, who include seven special rapporteurs, wrote a 20-page letter to Downing Street and Paris on 8 December 2025 outlining detailed concerns about potential breaches of human rights they have identified in the scheme. They gave the two governments 60 days to respond and on Friday published their letter. Continue reading...

Led by women, queer-friendly, diverse: this model can break so many boundaries. But if we lose spaces to meet in, it can't happen Something quietly profound happened last Ramadan. In a year when the war on Gaza hardened public debate into camps, when half the UK was found to believe that Islam – and therefore Muslims – to be incompatible with British values, when the general volume of Islamophobia was ratcheted several notches higher by Reform UK’s rise in the polls, hundreds of Muslim Londoners gathered every night to build the kind of community and connection we were told had been decimated. Lost to whatever the flavour of blame is at the moment: doomscrolling, the telly streamers, individualism promoted by late-stage capitalism, a society fractured by the cost of living. For a month, Muslims came together in the capital and put on iftars, the evening meal that breaks the day’s fast, that reflected the world we want to live in: inclusive, often female-led and queer-friendly, properly diverse, rooted in generosity. A community without judgment, formed outside mosques, free from the performative piety Olympics. Which all sounds deeply earnest, but believe me when I tell you that these were some of the most vibey events I went to last year. Nosheen Iqbal is the host of the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast Continue reading...

Police investigating whether blast that injured at least 169 others at Friday prayers in Islamabad was suicide attack A bomb ripped through a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and injuring at least 169 others, according to officials. Police said they were investigating whether the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. There were fears the death toll from the blast at the Khadija al-Kubra mosque in Islamabad could climb even higher as some of the injured were reported to be in critical condition. Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the injured to nearby hospitals. Continue reading...

A totally tropical livener with familiar cachaça and lime and an intriguing kiwi jam twang This tropical, vibrant drink is our most popular cocktail, perhaps because it’s a twist on something familiar. Rather than building it in the glass with crushed ice, as for a traditional caipirinha, this is shaken so that the kiwi jam is mixed into the drink more thoroughly. Jake Garstang, restaurant manager and sommelier, Maré, Hove, East Sussex Continue reading...

After plundering her tearaway teens for the comedy classic, Lisa McGee is back with a hilarious Scooby-Doo-style caper. As How to Get to Heaven from Belfast hits our screens, she explains why the craic’s about to get deadly How do you follow up a show about girls in Derry? With one about women in Belfast, obviously. That’s what Lisa McGee has done. Her new eight-parter, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, is as far away from Derry Girls as you can get when the distance between the worlds amounts to 70 miles along the A6. Or as she puts it: “I wanted a shit, female, Northern Irish A-Team!” Continue reading...

Turning Point USA is plotting its own half-time show in defiance of Bad Bunny – but one of TV’s Blackest programs already perfected the alt-cast in 1992 When the NFL announced Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as this year’s Super Bowl half-time show headliner, it walked right into a culture war. Right-wing critics raged over the musician’s gender-nonconforming style, Spanish-language music and anti-Maga politics. Donald Trump, after saying he had never heard of Bad Bunny, called the headlining choice “absolutely ridiculous”. In response, Erika Kirk and her Turning Point USA conservative advocacy group turned the controversy into its own counter-programming event: the All-American Halftime Show. After its Nashville-heavy lineup, led by Kid Rock, was announced on Monday, vice-president JD Vance was first among conservatives to enthusiastically spread the word. Continue reading...

The Barbz have built a parasocial relationship with the rapper – in some cases to their own detriment Nicki Minaj is back doing PR for Donald Trump, and it’s messier than ever. Last week, she appeared at a treasury department summit in Washington DC to show support for Trump accounts, a new kind of investment account designed to “provide eligible American children with tax-advantaged investment accounts courtesy of President Donald J. Trump”, according to a government website. The most disappointing part of the rapper’s recent turn toward Maga, though, is how her stans – a significant portion of whom are Black and queer – are responding. After the summit, Minaj’s followers defended her online and even helped push Trump’s agenda. “In a society full of hate and division, supporting Nicki Minaj is reminding people to see past political differences and see the human in one another,” one supporter wrote. Oh brother. Minaj is a perfect example of the cult of celebrity, the dangers of modern fan culture and how celebrity worship can intersect with politics in truly dangerous ways. Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Inflation-linked increase comes as ministers continue to review options for BBC's future funding Business live – latest updates The TV licence fee is to increase from £174.50 to £180 a year from 1 April, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has said. The DCMS said the £5.50 increase in the fee, which is the predominant method of funding for the BBC, would give the corporation a “stable financial footing to deliver for audiences and support the wider creative industries”. Continue reading...

Key player suffered hamstring injury in training Roebuck makes surprise return as replacement England have suffered a major setback on the eve of their Six Nations opener against Wales with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso ruled out with a hamstring injury, prompting a surprise recall for Tom Roebuck. Roebuck is the beneficiary of Feyi-Waboso’s injury, called into the side to make a first appearance since picking up a toe injury in England’s November victory over the All Blacks. England are still investigating the extent of Feyi-Waboso’s injury - sustained in training on Thursday - and it remains to be seen if he will feature at all in the Six Nations. Continue reading...

We want to hear how the fall in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ether are impacting people Bitcoin sank to its lowest value in more than a year this week, faling to $63,000 on Thursday, about half its all-time peak of $126,000 in October 2025 It’s part of a wider shock to crypto prices. The second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, has faced losses of more than 30% this year alone. Continue reading...

Intensive negotiations going on behind scenes Game could be worth up to £367m in media rights The Pakistan v India T20 World Cup fixture remains in doubt on the eve of the tournament with International Cricket Council sources telling the Guardian they expect the dispute to go down to the wire before their scheduled meeting in Colombo next weekend. Intensive negotiations are continuing behind the scenes after the Pakistan government triggered a crisis last weekend by announcing their national team would not take the field against India on 15 February – a boycott that could cost the ICC a huge rebate in a fixture worth around $500m (£367m) in media rights. Continue reading...

Dressed in Sunday school apparel and singing exclusively in Dutch, this unorthodox five-piece embrace clinical chaos From Kapelle, Holland Recommended if you like Black Midi, King Crimson, YHWH Nailgun Up next New single Maalstroom out now Tight-fitted in scrimpy Sunday school apparel, Grote Geelstaart – Dutch for great yellowtail fish – make music that’s decidedly less orthodox than appearances suggest. Drums skirmish with frighteningly efficient, jackhammer velocity; synths and guitars buzz and ring like fire alarms; the bass rumbles like a jammed freighter engine. Grote Geelstaart’s clinical chaos goes hand in hand with vocalist/guitarist Luuk Bosma’s primal punk dramaturgy, reminiscent of Nick Cave, James Chance and underrated Dutch punk thespians De Kift. This MO translates wonderfully to Grote Geelstaart’s Zeelandic roots, a place where an intricate network of dykes is built and maintained to keep the unforgiving North Sea at bay: human ingenuity v lawless elements. Continue reading...

Soho theatre, London Desire collides with stomach-churning awkwardness in this play – which won the Women’s prize – about friends heading out for some physical contact I’m watching Miriam Battye’s The Virgins, which was nominated for the Women’s prize for playwriting in 2020, but it feels as if I’ve been thrown headfirst back into my teenage years. Centred on a group of teens who have decided that tonight is the night their sex lives finally get moving, it’s a tornado of growing pains and pretence at pleasure. It’s a Friday night, and best friends – and virgins – Chloe (Anushka Chakravarti) and Jess (Ella Bruccoleri) are getting ready to go “out out” for the first time. Joined by their gossip-hoarding friend Phoebe (played by a hysterical Molly Hewitt-Richards), who panics at even the mention of physical contact, they brush their teeth and straighten their hair in anticipation of Anya (Zoë Armer) from the year above arriving to teach them all they need to know. Even better, Chloe’s brother Joel (Ragevan Vasan), who practically shrinks when a girl enters, and his “really, really fit” friend Mel (Alec Boaden) are next door playing video games. With no parents at home and vodka mixers at the ready, the night is a recipe for success. Continue reading...

Clarets host must-win game against West Ham with club facing a third demotion in three Premier League seasons “I still enjoy the day out, I just don’t let the results affect me any more,” says the Burnley season-ticket holder Mark Bentley. Fifteen games without a Premier League win and 11 points adrift of safety, the Clarets are facing relegation the season after promotion for a third time in a row. Sparring with the best should bring glorious enjoyment at Turf Moor but instead they have three victories from 24 games, beating the two other promoted sides and rock-bottom Wolves, with survival chances looking worse than slim. Relegation rivals West Ham visit on Saturday, and another defeat would remove any faint hope that Burnley could turn it around and leave their record over recent seasons reading: down, up, down, up, down. Beating Sunderland in the first home game brought optimism after a summer where money was spent, notably bringing in the 96-cap Kyle Walker after eight years of success at Manchester City, but that feelgood factor has dwindled. Continue reading...

A message board on the Russo brothers’ website briefly hosted Marvel fans’ best guesses about the direction their forthcoming film will take. Here are the wildest With its enigmatic promo run for Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel has perfected the trailer that reveals precisely nothing. Teasers have consisted of portentous glances, mood lighting, and characters standing very still. Dialogue is pre-scrubbed of context. Music swells with the confidence that something enormous is happening just out of frame. Plot, meanwhile, has been placed in witness protection. The studio is clearly well aware that giving away even a smidgen of detail this early on – the film isn’t due for release until December – would result in fans cracking the code long before any bums actually go on seats. After all, Marvel has been here before. Avengers: Infinity War’s trailers laid out just enough narrative scaffolding for the internet to calmly conclude, months in advance, that Thanos was going to win and leave the universe in binary tatters. And it happened again with Avengers: Endgame, a film whose storyline was deduced from toy leaks, casting announcements and the radical insight that actors rarely sign multi-picture deals only for their characters to die permanently. Continue reading...

Recreate a centuries-old technique from the far east with moss, soil, twine, bonsai compost – and a little patience I’ve lived in the same corner of London for the best part of 15 years, and increasingly the pavements and parks are layered like onion skins, holding memories of my youth that I don’t realise are there until I return. This week I took my newborn daughter to Peckham in south-east London, to meet a friend in a cafe I’d never heard of. When I turned up, I realised it used to be a regular haunt of mine, and suddenly I was both a tired woman in her late 30s with two kids, and also 22, unemployed and making the most of happy hour. I bring this up because of what was on the table: a kokedama. If you’re unfamiliar, the word translates to “moss ball”. A decade ago, I saw them hanging outside the doorways of houses in deserted, snow-covered mountain villages in Japan, holding the tremulous fronds of overwintering ferns. The technique dates back centuries, a side-product of the art of bonsai that has become popular in its own right. Kokedama are a lot easier to create at home than bonsai trees: plants’ rootballs are removed from their pots and packed tightly with dense moss, before being bound with the string that can be used to hang them up with. Continue reading...