First journey around moon with astronauts in more than 50 years could blast off in February Nasa’s giant new moon rocket has moved to the launch pad in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century. The trip could blast off in February. Continue reading...

Experts warn use of VPNs makes it hard to limit access to technology that can create nonconsensual explicit images Days after Malaysia made global headlines by announcing it would temporarily ban Grok over its ability to generate “grossly offensive and nonconsensual manipulated images”, the generative AI tool was conversing breezily with accounts registered in the country. “Still here! That DNS block in Malaysia is pretty lightweight – easy to bypass with a VPN or DNS tweak,” Grok’s account on X said in response to a question from a user. Continue reading...

Politicians are raising the alarm, while MI5 quietly welcomes the prospect of Beijing’s new London facility While there has been no shortage of politicians eager to raise concerns about China’s proposed “mega embassy” near the Tower of London, the espionage community quietly takes a different view, arguing that concerns about the development are exaggerated and misplaced. The domestic Security Service, MI5, is already quietly welcoming the prospect of rationalising China’s seven diplomatic sites to one, but a more significant argument is that modern technology and the nature of the Chinese threat means that, in the words of one former British intelligence officer, “embassies are less and less relevant”. Continue reading...

The former heptathlete throws shapes to Cameo and got gold-medal inspiration from Whitney, but which rapper helps get her out of bed? The first song I fell in love with I was at nursery school when Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was the song of the moment. I remember seeing the video on Top of the Pops, which is chilling at first, but epic when it gets to the big guitar break. The first single I bought My mum had this little record player that used to keep me very entertained, so I got her to buy me Ring My Bell by Anita Ward for my birthday or Christmas, from a record shop in Wolverhampton. Continue reading...

European leaders say tariff threat ‘unacceptable’ as Trump escalates plan for the US to acquire Greenland The UK’s position on Greenland is “non-negotiable”, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said after Donald Trump ramped up pressure with a pledge to apply tariffs to the UK until a deal is reached for the US to acquire Greenland. She echoed a statement from Keir Starmer last night, telling Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “We believe that this decision on tariffs is completely wrong.” Continue reading...

Former Tory’s media strategy reportedly calls him ‘biggest defection story Reform has ever had’ Robert Jenrick’s media plan for his defection to Reform reportedly refers to him as “the new sheriff in town” and “the biggest defection story” Nigel Farage’s party has ever had. The leaked plan references the defection of the former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi on Monday, signalling that it was prepared in recent days. Continue reading...

Saturday’s visiting fans know a thing or two about being a dysfunctional club but the level of hate inside Tottenham’s gleaming home surprised even them It comes to something when the level of discontent at Tottenham had people who have spent all season watching West Ham wondering if it was all a bit much. There were cries of mutiny whenever Guglielmo Vicario tried to play out from the back, jeers at half-time and, of course, sustained boos when another home defeat for Thomas Frank’s nervous wreck of a team ended with one last cross from Djed Spence drifting sadly out of play in the ninth minute of added time. At times it felt like not knowing how to leave the room after accidentally walking in on a bitter row between a warring couple. How is anyone supposed to function in such a poisonous atmosphere? Somehow, the malaise at West Ham felt mild by comparison. At least the anger in east London tends to be focused mainly at the board for the failure to kick on since swapping Upton Park for the soullessness of Stratford in 2016. It is not targeted at the team or the manager as much, whereas the grumbling at Spurs seems to fly in all directions, especially as the brutal departure of Daniel Levy five months ago has left fans without one standout candidate to be their hate figure. Continue reading...

A father helping a son across the line, Kevin Sinfield’s inspirational friendship with Rob Burrow and more – when devotion to others takes centre stage The older I get, the more profoundly I appreciate that, when I’m writing about sport, I’m also writing about love. This makes perfect sense given these are mankind’s two greatest inventions and the stuff we can least do without, but there’s more to it than that: sport and love are both expressions of identity, creativity and devotion, pursued because they are right but also because it’s impossible not to. Continue reading...

Full-back was at the centre of club’s Champions League celebrations and she knows how to party and recover Katie McCabe had the last laugh in May. After Arsenal’s phenomenal Champions League win over Barcelona, in which she was part of a back four that didn’t concede a foul against the three-time European champions, Arsenal partied hard and McCabe was front and centre of the social media posts from inside the club’s afterparty. At the celebration outside the Emirates Stadium two days later, the full-back was a highlight, shades on, leading the 10,000 crowd in singing her own chant before shushing them and kicking off a rendition of the final goalscorer Stina Blackstenius’s song to the tune of Karma Chameleon, getting a huge cheer when she proclaimed “red is in my bloooood” and being spotted having to run to catch up with the coach before it left the ground when the players finished their third day of celebrations. Continue reading...

Worth £6bn and with revenues recently rising by 10.9%, the niche interest game has become a global business You don’t need to spend your weekends organising a face-off between bloodthirsty orcs and elves to have heard of the game Warhammer. So popular is the fantasy game that its parent company Games Workshop is valued at a staggering £6bn and is almost ever-present on British high streets. Continue reading...

Independent media, civil society, the rule of law – these are the things that Iranians truly need. And there are ways for the west to help secure them Soon after becoming president in 2017, Donald Trump ordered an attack on an Islamic State (IS) underground complex in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. The strike involved the first-ever use in combat of a GBU-43 massive ordnance air blast (Moab) “bunker buster” bomb – the US’s most powerful conventional weapon. The bombing killed about 90 insurgents but failed to crush IS. It also made zero long-term difference to the US’s losing battle with the Taliban. Yet that was not the point. Inexperienced Trump, who had famously avoided military service, was keen to show he was in charge, a commander-in-chief unafraid to make tough calls and send troops into harm’s way. He craved a big bang – a spectacular demonstration of unmatched US power. Like a teenager who unexpectedly obtains the keys to the family gun cabinet, he could not resist the temptation to play with all those shiny new Pentagon weapons. Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

A guide to each club’s setups, from Chelsea’s multi-headed structure to Brentford’s smooth planning and Manchester United’s muddles The appointment of Andrea Berta as sporting director in March was greeted with much enthusiasm by Arsenal’s supporters, given his impressive track record in more than a decade at Atlético Madrid,. The Italian, who began his career in finance, has made an instant impression. Known as a shrewd negotiator, the suave and softly spoken 54-year-old masterminded Arsenal’s outlay of more than £250m in the summer that included the arrivals of Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke. Berta takes the lead on recruitment in consultation with Richard Garlick, who was promoted to chief executive in September, the manager, Mikel Arteta, and the co-chair Josh Kroenke. James Ellis, a former scout who then spent two years as head of recruitment, was appointed as technical director in the summer and is tasked with “delivering the club’s long-term player progression strategy”, with a focus on creating a pathway from academy to first team. Ed Aarons Continue reading...

⚽ News, buildup and discussion before the day’s action ⚽ Fixtures | Tables | Afcon final preview | Email us here Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! We have two Premier League fixtures to look forward to this afternoon as Wolves take on Newcastle and Aston Villa host Everton. We’ll also be reacting to yesterday’s games as Arsenal failed to capitalise on Manchester City’s derby day loss to United. Elsewhere, the Africa Cup of Nations comes to an end this evening as Senegal face Morocco in the final. Stick with us throughout the day as we preview the action in the build-up to the main event. Continue reading...

The first grand slam of 2026 is under way in Melbourne Britain’s Fery delivers upset with win over seed Cobolli Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch: email Daniel On 1573 Arena, Norrie has taken the first set off Benjamin Bonzi 6-0 and just struggled to a hold for 1-1 in the second; on Cain, Francis Tiafoe, seeded 29, leads Jason' Kubler, the Australian qualifier, 7-6 5-3; on Kia, Seb Korda and Michael Zheng are playing a deciding set; and on Laver and Court respectively, we’ll soon have Sabalenka v Tiantso Rakotomanga Rajaonah and Bublik, now up to 10, against Jenson Brooksby. Mini Eggs, though. Absolute art. Continue reading...

This is one of three key months when fraudsters ramp up the number of scams to trap travellers into paying for a ‘bargain holiday’ … that doesn’t exist Stress-free travel: plan now to avoid holiday scams and pitfalls You are battling the January blues and see a cheap deal on one of your socials for a two-week break in Spain during August. Better still, the price is £200 cheaper than elsewhere, possibly because the holiday is almost sold out. When you text to confirm the details after making the payment, you are talked through the booking by a convincing contact. Continue reading...

Our reviewer loved this wake-up light more than any other he’s tested – it’s even knocked his previous best sunrise alarm off the top spot • Read the full ranking in our sunrise alarm clock test Since I first tested sunrise alarm clocks last winter, I’ve come to suspect that there’s no such thing as getting up on the wrong side of bed. What we ought to be worried about is waking up on the wrong side of dawn. During summer (and other times of the year, for late risers), the sunrise begins to rouse us before we wake up. The brain kicks into gear and sends signals to initiate all sorts of bodily processes, from metabolism to hormone release, which helps us to feel ready for the day. It’s a fundament of our circadian rhythm – and we miss out on it whenever we wake before it gets light. Continue reading...

Pioneering scheme hopes species that thrived for thousands of years in Irish waters can do so again The dinghy slowed to a stop at a long line of black bobbing baskets and David Lawlor reached out to inspect the first one. Inside lay 60 oysters, all with their shells closed, shielding the life within. “They look great,” beamed Lawlor. So did their neighbours in the next basket and the ones after that, all down the line of 300 baskets, totalling 18,000 oysters. Continue reading...

Newly appointed Cambridge professor says feat would accelerate scientific knowledge by an order of magnitude Dark, hungry and inescapable: black holes are often portrayed as the ultimate cosmic villains. But now astronomers are preparing to capture a movie of a supermassive black hole in action for the first time, in observations that could help reveal another side to these elusive – and perhaps misunderstood – space objects. Continue reading...

With tens of thousands thought to be arriving each year, the ‘southern route’ is becoming more perilous and extortionary On the evening of 5 January, residents driving through the suburb of Mulbarton in south Johannesburg saw five young men in the street dressed only in underwear. They were later picked up along with seven other young men by South African police. Police said two were in a car involved in a high-speed chase. A 47-year-old Ethiopian man was arrested and charged with kidnapping and failing to stop when police instructed him to. The 12 men, originally thought to be teenagers but said by police to be 22 to 33, were charged with being in South Africa illegally. Continue reading...

Food produce and other waste has been littering Sussex coastline as capsized shipping containers wash ashore Coral Evans was walking along the beach in Brighton on Tuesday evening when she came across an unfamiliar sight. “Hundreds of dust masks had washed up, along with single-use plastic gloves and cans of dried milk,” she said. “It was odd to see in winter – because nothing surprises us in summertime with the amount of people on the beach.” Continue reading...

Kick back and dream of summer with our pick of seaside gems, including a stylish Andalucian bolthole and a villa with views of Stromboli Wild, windswept and wonderfully unspoilt, the Costa de la Luz is the Spanish coastline time forgot; a great swathe of Atlantic drama, fringed with sandy beaches and small seaside villages and resorts. Hotel Madreselva, surrounded by the pine forest, wetlands, dunes and sea cliffs of the Breña y Marismas de Barbate nature reserve, makes a suitably tranquil base, with a palm-shaded courtyard, flame-walled pool area and 18 stylish rooms, all with a private patio. A minute’s walk from the beach at Los Caños de Meca, the hotel is perfect for watersports lovers, as well as exploring this unspoilt corner of Andalucia. The hilltop pueblo blanco of Vejer, a 20-minute drive away, has charm in spades, while Cape Trafalgar, a lighthouse with views over the Strait of Gibraltar, is 10 minutes’ walk along the beach. Doubles from £83 B&B, hotelmadreselva.com Continue reading...

Tony Cholerton created Robovacc to inoculate a timid tiger at London zoo – but says it could administer jabs to badgers It began with the tiger who wouldn’t come to tea. Cinta was so shy that she refused to feed when keepers at London zoo were around, and staff wondered how they would ever administer the young animal’s vaccinations without traumatising her. So Tony Cholerton, a zookeeper who had been a motorcycle engineer for many years, invented Robovacc – a machine to quickly administer vital jabs without the presence of people. Continue reading...

Call for UK state to step in after Gupta-owned Dalzell works in Scotland unable to produce metal for three new warships A shipbuilder for the Royal Navy faces an uncertain wait for the steel to build three warships because of a shortage of cash at the Scottish steel mill that has won the contract. Liberty Steel Dalzell in Scotland has been unable to start production in earnest because there is “no cashflow to buy slab”, despite an order to supply 34,000 tonnes of metal plates to build fleet solid support (FSS) ships for the navy, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. Continue reading...

23-year-old dismantles unwell Italian 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-1 First Grand Slam appearance as a direct qualifying entrant For a few fleeting moments inside the vast John Cain Arena, it seemed like Arthur Fery had missed his opportunity. The 23-year-old’s attempts to serve out an excellent set against, the 20th seed at the Australian Open, Flavio Cobolli, had ended painfully. He quickly found himself serving down 5-6 against one of the best players in the world with his back to the wall. These circumstances often do not favour the more inexperienced, lower-ranked players, but in one of the biggest matches of his career Fery made his own luck as he rose to the occasion and delivered the first great upset of the Australian Open, dismantling Cobolli 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round for the first time. Continue reading...

He joins Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn and Frank Bruno in a big new series. Plus: the bizarre return of After the Flood. Here’s what to watch this evening 10pm, Channel 4 Continue reading...