Hundreds of writers, musicians and performers urge licensing deals instead of scraping creative work Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, REM and Jodi Picoult are among hundreds of Hollywood stars, musicians and authors backing a new campaign accusing AI companies of “theft” of their work. The “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” drive launched on Thursday with the support of approximately 800 creative professionals and bands. The campaign includes a statement accusing tech firms of using American creators’ work to “build AI platforms without authorisation or regard for copyright law”. Continue reading...

Greater Manchester mayor said to have ‘zero’ chance of NEC selection, but public fuss may just embarrass No 10 enough If Andy Burnham has a road back to parliament to challenge Keir Starmer as Labour leader, it is a road with 6ft-deep potholes. With the right vehicle, it may be possible – but there are points at which any brave traveller might think about turning back. For Burnham to run in Andrew Gwynne’s seat of Gorton and Denton, he would first have to stand down as mayor of Greater Manchester. This in itself is no small decision for a seat he may not get selected to fight. He would potentially cost the authority millions in running a mayoral byelection – and the party a significant sum to fight it. Continue reading...

Ryan Coogler’s ghost story breaks records One Battle After Another in second with 13 nods Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value and Frankenstein score nine apiece George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow and Wicked snubbed Full list of nominees Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s critically and commercially acclaimed supernatural thriller, has become the first film to be nominated for 16 Academy Awards. The film starring Michael B Jordan as twin brothers setting up a blues club in 1930s Mississippi while battling racism and vampires has so far taken $368m worldwide. It is nominated for trophies including best picture, director, leading actor, supporting actor (for the British actor Delroy Lindo), supporting actress (for the British-Nigerian Wunmi Mosaku) and the Academy’s inaugural casting prize. Continue reading...

It used to be a breath of fresh air – TV’s most relatable reality show. Now it features shouting matches and bad-tempered confrontations, and the biggest loser is the viewer For the past year, The Traitors has had a massive problem. No, not the parade of indistinguishable white male contestants. Nor the way it increasingly kills off its most likable characters too early (RIP Jessie). Not even the fact that the disproportionate number of people of colour who leave the show early suggests it has a big problem with unconscious bias. Actually, sorry: let me rephrase. The Traitors has two massive problems. But here’s the one that defines this series: what the point of the show actually is. The celebrity version blew the previous regular season of The Traitors out of the water. It was absolutely charming, featuring a bunch of lovely people playing a gripping game while committing the politest series of murders possible. It smashed the normal version in every sense: ratings, watchability, how instantly it hooked you. And it was always going to be that way, given that this is a show that functions best when you’re rooting for as many contestants as possible. So when nearly every player is one you’re already familiar with, it inevitably makes for more gripping TV than a series where you spend the first two weeks going: “Sorry, there’s a guy in there called Jack?” Continue reading...

Family say Nora the cat, who needs medication for heart murmur, is safe and well and they are over the moon Nora the cat who was filmed being taken by an Amazon delivery driver from outside her family home has been returned, her owners have announced. Doorbell footage appeared to show the driver picking up Nora and walking away with her after attempting to deliver a package to the address in Elland, West Yorkshire, on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Pollution from wood burners kills thousands but proposed emissions limit would cut toxic particles by 9% New wood-burning stoves will carry a health warning highlighting the impact of the air pollution they produce, under UK government plans. Ministers have also proposed cutting the limit on the smoke emitted from wood burners by 80%. However, the measure would only apply to new stoves, most of which already meet the stricter limit. The new limit would only cut the annual toxic emissions from wood burning in the UK by 9% over the next decade, according to the consultation. Continue reading...

No apparent ill-feeling between Ryder Cup pair ‘I asked if he had any good wine over Christmas’ The talk was of wines, not fines. Any notion of an awkward 18 holes between Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton was firmly dismissed by the Englishman in the immediate aftermath. McIlroy used pre-tournament media duties at the Dubai Desert Classic to assert that Hatton and Jon Rahm should settle their seven-figure penalties due to the European Tour Group for their participation in LIV Golf. McIlroy’s sentiment felt especially notable because he was to spend the opening two rounds at the Emirates Club in Hatton’s company. Yet there appeared no ill feeling whatsoever between the Ryder Cup teammates; as evident on the course and by what Hatton said later. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president arrives to address the World Economic Forum after meeting with Donald Trump Zelenskyy’s speech looks to be slightly late, as Indonesia’s president Prabowo Subianto is still speaking. Don’t worry: I’m keeping an eye on this for you. “Hardly any details are known yet about the proposed Greenland deal. But we need them in order to decide how to proceed with the implementation of the EU-US trade deal. @EP_Trade will revisit the issue on Monday and discuss the way forward.” “However there is no room for false security. The next threat is sure to come. That’s why it is even more important that we set clear boundaries use all available legal instruments&apply them as appropriate to the situation. We must continue to act with this level of confidence.” Continue reading...

Actor gives emotional evidence against Associated Newspapers saying articles about her were ‘deeply hurtful’ Prince Harry v Daily Mail – live updates Elizabeth Hurley has accused the publisher of the Daily Mail of bugging her windowsill as well as using information obtained from tapping her landline as she gave emotional evidence at the high court. Hurley had to stop several times to compose herself as she recounted how she had been targeted by “deeply hurtful and damaging” articles. Continue reading...

Commentators speculated whether the sunglasses were a statement, but the truth (a burst blood vessel) was less glamorous The world leaders and company executives meeting in Davos this week were meant to be discussing the most complex and alarming geopolitical crisis most could ever remember. Instead, all eyes were on Emmanuel Macron. Continue reading...

US president repeats claims to have stopped eight wars as he hosts signing ceremony at World Economic Forum • Davos live – latest updates Donald Trump has claimed the world is “richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was just one year ago” as he hosted a launch event for his “board of peace” initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos. At a signing ceremony for the new organisation, the US president said it would be “one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the history of the world”. Continue reading...

While we’re slogging through the long, dark days of January, a little preparation can make your midday meal a source of comfort and joy • Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast Even if you have no truck with Blue Monday, Quitter’s Day or any of the other new-year wheezes concocted by enterprising marketeers, the last weeks of January can feel like a bit of a confused slog. Seasonal colds and lurgies abound. The weather is generally at its rain-lashed and blackly overcast worst. Well-intentioned attempts at self-improvement or abstemiousness are starting to creak in the face of a desire for whatever scraps of midwinter comfort we can find. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to food and, more specifically, the daily puzzle of how to have something nourishing as a working lunch. These can feel like lean days in more ways than one – characterised by tax payments or a painfully slow creep towards the first payday of 2026. And that’s only more apparent now that, after the remote working and pyjama-clad Zoom calls of the post-pandemic era, lots of us have returned to the office for at least the bulk of the week. Even as someone who effectively eats out for a living, there have been plenty of times when I have stood up from the desk of my chosen workspace (often one of the oversubscribed tables at the British Library) with no real plan and wandered aimlessly, only to end up forking out for some insipid sandwich, tepid heat-lamp soup or tray of indeterminate vegetable mulch that is both expensive and unsatisfying. Continue reading...

Disability campaigner at Leonard Cheshire whose mischievous personality brought a fresh perspective to the charity Disabled people might still be waiting for all UK trains to be accessible were it not for the success of a high-profile campaign led by John Knight, who has died of sepsis aged 67, after himself overcoming profound disabilities from birth and becoming a leading figure in the charity and public sectors. Knight was responsible for policy and campaigns at the disability charity Leonard Cheshire during passage of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, which was to set a deadline for railway carriages to be accessible. Train companies were pressing for a date of 2035, to maximise the life of inaccessible rolling stock, but the campaign persuaded the House of Lords to back an amendment to the legislation with a time limit of 2020. The change was then accepted by the Labour government. Continue reading...

Cash, gold, mercury and firearms seized in operations in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname Police and prosecutors from Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname have arrested nearly 200 people in their first joint cross-border operation targeting illegal gold mining in the Amazon region, authorities said. The operation was backed by Interpol, the EU and Dutch police specialising in environmental crime. It involved more than 24,500 checks on vehicles and people across remote border areas and led to the seizure of cash, unprocessed gold, mercury, firearms, drugs and mining equipment, Interpol said. Continue reading...

Road safety activists ‘vindicated’ after success of campaign supported by NHS trusts and headteachers UK politics live – latest updates The Mayor of Tower Hamlets acted unlawfully in attempting to remove three low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) schemes, the court of appeal has ruled. Road safety activists say they feel “vindicated” after campaigning for more than three years to keep the traffic restrictions in place in the east London neighbourhoods of Bethnal Green, Shoreditch and Columbia Road. Continue reading...

Extreme heat ‘is getting worse and whether we like it or not … there’s ultimately a limit to what we can actually physically cope with,’ scientist says Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Human-caused global heating made the intense heatwave that affected much of Australia in early January five times more likely, new analysis suggests. The heatwave earlier this month was the most severe since the 2019-20 black summer, with temperatures over 40C in Melbourne and Sydney, even hotter conditions in regional Victoria and New South Wales, and extreme heat also affecting Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. Continue reading...

Researchers find with high confidence that security officials used Cellebrite to extract data from activists’ phones Authorities in Jordan appear to be using an Israeli digital tool to extract information from the mobile phones of activists and protesters who have been critical of Israel and spoken out in support of Gaza, according to a new report by the Citizen Lab. A multiyear investigation found with high confidence that Jordanian security authorities have been using forensic extraction tools made by Cellebrite against members of civil society, including two political activists, a student organizer, and a human rights defender, the researchers said. Continue reading...

Spiced rums are a hit but the traditional blends outshine them all After Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica last October, rum lovers anxiously awaited news from the island’s six distilleries. Hampden Estate, in the parish of Trelawney to the north, was right in the hurricane’s path, and the furious winds deprived its historic buildings of their roofs and the palm trees of their fronds. Then came more alarming rumours: the dunder pits had overflowed. Dunder pit? This is the one of the most distinctive features of traditional Jamaican rum, a style exemplified by Hampden, which has been in operation since 1753. You typically make rum by fermenting molasses and/or sugar cane juice into an alcoholic “wash”, then distil that into a potent liquor, but local distillers developed several strategies to oomph up the flavour. Dunder is the leftover liquid from the still, and it’s lobbed into the next fermentation for its funky notes, a bit like a sourdough starter. At Hampden, they also use muck, an outrageously smelly, semi-sentient soup containing countless billions of yeast bacteria, plus various bits of decomposing, well, stuff. I’m not sure what would happen if you fell in: possibly die, or perhaps be granted infinite powers, Obelix-style. Then there’s the fermentation process itself: most distilleries use generic industrial yeasts, which typically convert sugars to alcohol over a couple of days, but at Hampden they harness wild yeasts, which can take weeks. Incidentally, Andrew Hussey, Hampden’s owner, has reported that production is now safe, though the communities who live and work around the distillery remain badly affected. Continue reading...

Exclusive: sources say powerful figures in the regime secretly pledged US and Qatari officials they would welcome Maduro’s departure Before the US military snatched Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month, Delcy Rodríguez and her powerful brother pledged to cooperate with the Trump administration once the strongman was gone, four sources involved at high levels with the discussions told the Guardian. Rodríguez, who was sworn in on 5 January as acting president to replace Maduro, and her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, secretly assured US and Qatari officials through intermediaries ahead of time that they would welcome Maduro’s departure, according to the sources. Continue reading...

Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations when it comes to the US-shaped problem Could European countries really decide to boycott the World Cup this summer? It is an astonishing question to be asking in 2026 and an indictment of the bind in which, as Donald Trump sows confusion around a potential annexation of Greenland, the world’s most popular sport finds itself. But the idea is at least seeping into the mainstream and senior figures are asking what, in a worst case scenario, it would take for football to meet the moment. Unprecedented times call for previously unthinkable conversations. As the Guardian reported this week, an anniversary party for the Hungarian FA on Monday became the forum for unofficial discussions among national association heads about how a unified approach to the US-shaped problem might take shape. Continue reading...

Regulator says thousands of UK’s most vulnerable households missed rebate for months amid soaring costs Ovo Energy will pay a penalty of over £2.7m after failing to pass on government support payments for winter energy bills to thousands of vulnerable customers during the energy cost crisis. The regulator found that Ovo, set up by Tory donor Stephen Fitzpatrick, was almost two years late in passing on the warm home discount (WHD) payments to almost 12,000 customers by the deadline on March 2024. Continue reading...

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The TV chef is rumoured to be replacing Prue Leith on The Great British Bake Off. She is exactly what the show needs right now When Prue Leith announced that she was leaving The Great British Bake Off, on the basis that “I’m 86 for goodness sake,” there was really only one figure who could realistically replace her. And so it has come to pass. Believe press rumours and the next Bake Off judge is Nigella Lawson. If it’s true, this is the best possible call for a series that – if we’re honest – has lost its way. Bake Off has become slightly long in the tooth over the last half decade or so. This is partly to do with talent churn (over the years we’ve lost Mel and Sue, Mary Berry, Sandi Toksvig, Matt Lucas and now Prue Leith) and partly because the series is struggling to keep its challenges fresh. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Legislation thought be unlikely even to be put to vote before timing out after opponents’ procedural delays MPs and peers who backed the assisted dying bill now believe it is “near impossible” for it to pass the House of Lords in time because of procedural obstacles used by opponents. Supporters of the bill, including its sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, have been in intense discussions with the government to find ways to move it to a vote in the Lords. With progress so slow, experts and MPs believe it is unlikely the legislation will even be put to a vote before the end of the session in May, after which it will automatically fall. Continue reading...

Quake Brutalist Jam began as a celebration of old-fashioned shooter level design, but its latest version is one step away from being a game in its own right A lone concrete spire stands in a shallow bowl of rock, sheltering a rusted trapdoor from the elements. Standing on the trapdoor causes it to yawn open like iron jaws, dropping you through a vertical shaft into a subterranean museum. Here, dozens of doors line the walls of three vaulted grey galleries, each leading to a pocket dimension of dizzying virtual architecture and fierce gladiatorial combat. Welcome to Quake Brutalist Jam, the hottest community event for lovers of id Software’s classic first-person shooter from 1996. First run in 2022, the Jam started out as a celebration of old-school 3D level design, where veteran game developers, aspiring level designers and enthusiast modders gather to construct new maps and missions themed around the austere minimalism of brutalist architecture. Continue reading...