The co-founder of Palestine Action has won a legal challenge to the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. Palestine Action was the first direct action protest group to be proscribed. The decision was widely condemned and was defied by a civil disobedience campaign, during which more than 2,000 people have been arrested. From July last year, being a member of – or showing support for – the group became an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian columnist Owen Jones Continue reading...

BP Pulse Live, Birmingham The US band’s brawny, pit-inciting riffs come laced with blurry waves of distortion, making for music that is oddly reflective and melancholy Early 00s metal is enjoying a revival, but that alone can’t account for the dramatic surge in commercial fortunes being enjoyed by Deftones. Thirty-one years on from the release of their debut album, they find themselves, as frontman Chino Moreno has put it, “literally bigger than we’ve ever been”. Between the release of 2020’s Ohms and last year’s Private Music their monthly listener figures on Spotify surged from two million to 17 million. The 15,000-capacity venue where they open their UK tour is accordingly heaving. The reason, with a certain inevitability, is TikTok virality. Tonight, Deftones’ setlist is liberally peppered with tracks ubiquitous on the social media app, from opener Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) to encore Cherry Waves – although why its users have alighted on them is a matter of conjecture. On fan forums, opinions range from the practical (younger listeners discovered the band after emo rappers sampled their music) to the more earthy: there is discussion of a phenomenon called – dear God - “hornycore” into which the Deftones apparently fit because Moreno has “sexual tones” and is “a fox/daddy”. Continue reading...

Annex holding 6,000 women and children is now mostly empty, raising security and humanitarian concerns Most of the foreign families of suspected Islamic State fighters have left al-Hawl camp since the Syrian government took control of the facility, prompting security and humanitarian concerns over their whereabouts. About 6,000 women and children from 42 different countries were previously held in the foreigners’ annex of al-Hawl camp in northeast Syria, which housed some of the most radical former members of the extremist group. The foreigners’ annex was separate from the part of the camp that contained about 20,000 Syrians and Iraqis. Continue reading...

Number of employees declined by more than 14% to 24,963 last year, with fall greatest among younger workers AI is indeed coming – but there is also evidence to allay investor fears UK advertising agencies had their biggest annual exodus of staff last year, led by younger workers, as artificial intelligence tools threaten to replace workers and force the industry to cut jobs and costs. Staff numbers at creative agencies, which are facing acute pressure from the rollout of AI tools that reduce or even replace the need for agency staff, fell more than 14% in 2025. Continue reading...

‘Quad God’ leads contenders in men’s free skate Email Beau or get in touch on Bluesky Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results | Briefing Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the team event went: The United States held off a late charge from Japan to retain the Olympic team figure skating title on Sunday, with Ilia Malinin delivering in the men’s free skate to secure gold after three days of competition. Japan finished with silver, while host nation Italy claimed bronze. Continue reading...

French judge marked French duo higher than US pair Petition calling for probe approaches 15,000 signatures ISU says it has ‘full confidence’ in scoring system The International Skating Union (ISU) has defended the integrity of Olympic ice dance judging after a single judge’s scoring gap became central to the outcome of the gold medal contest, insisting variations across panels are expected and that safeguards exist to prevent bias from determining results. In a statement released Friday, the governing body rejected suggestions that the judging system failed during the competition, which saw France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron narrowly defeat Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates in one of the closest and most disputed finishes of the Milano Cortina Games. Continue reading...

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Vladyslav Heraskevych reacts to say: ‘Cas has failed us’ Lizzy Yarnold: Olympic chiefs have got it badly wrong The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) on Friday dismissed an appeal by Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych to be reinstated in the Winter Olympics after he was kicked out over his “helmet of memory” in honour of the country’s war dead. The 27-year-old was removed from the Olympic programme on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet – depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 – breached rules on political neutrality at the Games. More details soon … Continue reading...

With their profile and vile words, these malign provocateurs are tearing down decency’s guardrails It lacks the elegance of “greed is good”, but as a distillation of the spirit of the age, it’s right up there. “I feel liberated,” a top banker told the Financial Times shortly after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential election. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled … it’s a new dawn.” So that’s what they meant by “vibe shift”. Though, as the Epstein files reveal daily, the top 0.01% were hardly primly biting their tongues before Trump’s win, at least not in private. Those with telephone-number fortunes and great power felt able to speak, and write, to each other about women in language so vicious, so filled with hate – women discussed as body parts, as “less than human”, in Gordon Brown’s apt phrase – that they didn’t need the encouragement of a “grab ’em by the pussy” president to cast off their inhibitions. Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist 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...

Ascot only UK jump card which does not face inspection Below-freezing forecasts for Wincanton and Haydock The valuable card at Ascot which features the Grade One Ascot Chase is the only jumps meeting in Britain on Saturday which does not face a morning inspection as an “arctic blast” expected to last until early next week causes disruption to the racing programme, less than a month before the festival meeting at Cheltenham. Wincanton, where Alexei, an improving 25-1 shot for the Champion Hurdle on 10 March, is due to go on trial in the Kingwell Hurdle, will hold a precautionary inspection at 8am GMT with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing overnight. Continue reading...

With 2026 being the year of the fire horse, this spicy number has a suitable kick to mark the occasion Here’s a spicy little number that will help you see in the lunar new year in style on 17 January. Rron Rakoci, mixologist, Huŏ, London Continue reading...

Designer Stella Jean forced to paint over image of revolutionary on ski suits after being told it breached rules Winter Olympics live – latest updates The designer behind the Haitian team’s uniform for the 2026 Winter Olympics has said she had to redesign their ski suits for the opening ceremony after being told they did not comply with the guidelines on athlete expression by the International Olympic Committee. The uniforms, designed by the Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean, were based on a 2006 painting of the formerly enslaved revolutionary Toussaint Louverture riding a horse by the Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié. Louverture, who led the successful revolt that established the world’s first Black republic in 1804, had been central to Jean’s initial design. Continue reading...

An undercover operative stopped Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein carrying out deadly terror attack Two men have been jailed for life after attempting to stage one of the UK’s deadliest terrorist attacks before it was thwarted by an undercover operative. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, who had sworn allegiance to Islamic State (IS), planned a marauding firearms attack targeting Greater Manchester’s Jewish community. Continue reading...

Theatre Royal, Glasgow There are strong performances and much to admire in Dai Fujikura and Harry Ross’s opera about the Japanese artist, but it feels strangely inert ‘I might become the art myself,” sings the artist Katsushika Hokusai in the new opera by composer Dai Fujikura and librettist Harry Ross. And here he is, doing just that: played by the baritone Daisuke Ohyama, with the forces of Scottish Opera ranged around him. Over five acts, The Great Wave gives us episodes from Hokusai’s life and death, beginning with his funeral then continuing in flashback, including a dream sequence in which he encounters the wave that inspired his most famous print. As you might expect, it looks beautiful. The production is the work of an all-Japanese team headed by the director Satoshi Miyagi, and it’s full of Hokusai’s pictures, projected upon the bamboo walls of Junpei Kiz’s set, which reflect the artist’s barrel-shaped coffin. It often sounds beautiful, too: Fujikura uses the shakuhachi – a recorder-like flute, played by Shozan Hasegawa – as the basis for a light-infused soundworld conjuring openness and simplicity in almost Copland-esque style, made piquant with fluttering, elusive orchestral textures. Continue reading...

From Blue Lights gossip to How to Get to Heaven from Belfast cocktails, the city has become a small-screen hotspot – and is basking in its newfound fame ‘I love them!” Minutes after I jump into a taxi at Belfast International airport, the driver is beaming about Derry Girls. So many tourists he picks up want to talk about the hit comedy and, as a fan himself, he’s happy to oblige. We’re stuck in traffic, which is odd for this small city on a wet Tuesday morning. “It’s because all the media are here,” he jokes. But there is some truth to it. I’m visiting for the world premiere of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the new series from Derry Girls mastermind Lisa McGee, and to see how the capital became home to the best TV. Continue reading...

Proscription of British direct action group has been fiercely controversial from moment it was proposed last June The list of those who criticised the ban on Palestine Action and its consequences was disparate to say the least, taking in a Trump administration official, a former director of public prosecutions, a former director of the security services, Home Office officials, politicians of different stripes, and UN experts, not to mention a host of NGOs. Now a trio of senior judges can be added to the list, after they deemed the ban to be “disproportionate” and impinging on freedom of speech and protest when the direct action group’s activities could be targeted under the existing criminal law. Continue reading...

Labour market expert Prof Brian Bell has called for better pay and conditions in key sectors, particularly social care Rachel Reeves has appointed a labour market expert who has repeatedly called for better pay and conditions in key sectors, such as social care, to reduce the UK’s reliance on migrant workers as her new chief economic adviser. Prof Brian Bell, who chairs the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which advises the government, has been announced as the new chief economic adviser in the Treasury – a senior civil service role. Continue reading...

The home secretary has vowed to fight the judgment, but she and the government are on the wrong side of history This is a day of humiliation for those who facilitated Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and a moment of vindication for those who stood against “the crime of crimes”. It is worth underlining what the high court in London has today ruled to be unlawful: our government’s decision to place the direct-action group Palestine Action on the same legal footing as al-Qaida and Islamic State. Legally speaking, simply showing support for it risked a jail sentence of up to 14 years. The consequences? More than 2,700 people arrested for holding placards opposing genocide and supporting Palestine Action, many of them elderly, including a retired octogenarian priest. No one who engages in criminal damage for a political cause imagines they will avoid arrest. As the court ruling makes clear, normal criminal law remains available for such acts. But when a government applies the badge of “terrorism” to movements that, however disorderly, are clearly not terrorist movements, an alarming precedent is set. As the court recognised, the proscription interferes with rights to freedom of expression, to peaceful assembly and free associations with others. You do not need a fevered imagination to see how a future Reform UK government could build on such a precedent. (As things stand, the ban on the group remains in effect so the government has time to appeal.) Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist 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...

Ex-husband of Nicola Sturgeon and former CEO of party is due to appear in Glasgow court next Friday The former chief executive of the Scottish National party (SNP) Peter Murrell has been accused of embezzling £459,000 from the party over a period of more than 12 years, according to court documents that emerged ahead of a court hearing. Murrell, the ex-husband of former first minister and party leader Nicola Sturgeon, is due to appear at the high court in Glasgow next Friday for a preliminary hearing in the case. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Leicester City have a proud tradition of beating the odds. At the start of the 2015-16 Premier League season, the bookies rated them as no better than 5,000-1 long shots to win the title, only for the Foxes to send shockwaves around the world by doing exactly that in what is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sport. Five years later, they lifted the FA Cup despite having been priced up at the comparatively miserly – but still hefty – odds of 16-1. Earlier this week they were at it again, somehow contriving to defy the laws of probability by surrendering a three-goal half-time lead at home against Southampton and snatching the most unlikely of defeats from jaws of victory that weren’t so much gaping as unhinged like that of a snake. A capitulation that came just four days after they had been docked six points for financial shenanigans, it left them just one place above the drop zone and staring down the barrel of back-to-back relegations to League One. Re: your coverage of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s latest comments (yesterday’s Football Daily). Alongside this billionaire’s first move at Old Trafford to cut the tea lady and the lunches, surely ‘Small Sir Jim’ would be a more accurate moniker?” – Nick Phelps. Congratulations to Big Sir Jim for becoming the first person to put their hat in the ring for the second annual Fifa Peace Prize. A reminder that this worthless piece of junk is awarded annually ‘to reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world’. Sounds like a shoo-in to me” – John Collins. Continue reading...

Customers flock to Daoxiangcun to pick up cakes selected by the president during lunar new year tour around city A Beijing pastry shop visited by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on a lunar new year tour this week has been swarmed by customers hoping to get their hands on Xi-approved sweet treats. Traffic was brought to a standstill in Beijing’s capital as the president took a tour around the city on Monday and Tuesday. Continue reading...

Defeat by West Indies leaves England needing a win ‘It’s about playing with personality,’ says opening batter It turns out England’s self-confidence might be a bit more resolute than their batting. It will take more than a couple of teetering performances to set this team’s morale atremble. So despite being nervy against Nepal and wobbly against West Indies, England could hardly have been more cocksure on the eve of a crucial T20 World Cup group fixture against Scotland. As Phil Salt put it: “When we’re at our best nobody can live with us.” England arrived in India having lost once in 11 T20 games over the previous 12 months, and that run continues to be a source of belief. “It’s just about getting to that space more often than we have in the last two games,” Salt said. “We’re not talking about 10 [bad] games or 12 games, we’re talking about two games where it’s fair to say we haven’t been at our best. But the good news is the competition is in front of us and we’ve got these opportunities to come. And if we can be that authentic side of ourselves – chests out, taking the game on and being smart – there’s nothing to stop us. Continue reading...

Seven states must make deal for sharing basin that supplies 40 million people, before US government steps in. With negotiations at an impasse, what’s at stake? The future of the American west hangs in the balance this week, as seven states remained at a stalemate over who should bear the brunt of the enormous water cuts needed to pull the imperiled Colorado River back from the brink. Time is running short to reach a deal before a critical deadline, set for Saturday. In the region where water has long been the source of survival and conflict, the challenges hindering consensus are as steep as the stakes are high. Continue reading...

‘Society is better when we embrace other cultures’ Haaland doubt for FA Cup tie, Rodri charged by FA Pep Guardiola has said that blaming people from overseas for a country’s problems is wrong, the Manchester City manager’s comments coming amid the fallout of Sir Jim Ratcliffe claiming the United Kingdom is being “colonised by immigrants”. Ratcliffe’s comment, made in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, has led to widespread condemnation, including from within football, leading to Manchester United’s single largest minority owner saying he was sorry that his “choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe”. Continue reading...

Royal Court Upstairs, London Cave people with very different perspectives meet on an elk hunt in Jack Nicholls’ savage but sweet play about love and violence among early humans Love is expressed with a licked thumb run down a forehead in Jack Nicholls’ dazzlingly unpredictable debut play. Savage and sweet and entirely strange, The Shitheads transports us back tens of thousands of years, to a time when survival required good aim with your hand axe, and squeamishness would not serve you well. Early humans Clare (Jacoba Williams, slippery and wild) and Greg (Jonny Khan, puppyishly excitable) meet on the hunt for an elk (a beautiful raggedy creature designed by Finn Caldwell and captained by Scarlet Wilderink, absolutely alive – until it is not). Never having met anyone like the other, they are both in awe of their opposing perceptions of time and the future, of living and dying. Worthy of a licked thumb. Continue reading...