A combat veteran, Zhang Youxia was once seen as the most trusted man in Xi Jinping’s military. Now he is the most public example of disloyalty to Mr. Xi.

© Adek Berry/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The mass shooting occurred in an area fought over by drug cartels, just as the Mexican government has sought to show Washington that it is combating criminal groups.

© Mario Armas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A network of ordinary people is trying to hold officers involved in Donald Trump’s sweeping Minnesota crackdown to account

The US president has an uncanny ability to spot the faultlines in the old order and manipulate them to his advantage

As population decline accelerates, the big risk is labour shortages, not mass unemployment

Investment bankers embrace ‘intense’ pitching as groups in defence, tech and wider economy prepare to go public

Ali Ansari, accused of financing Revolutionary Guards, owns Mallorca golf club and Frankfurt hotels via offshore companies

Menopause may be best known for hot flashes and mood swings, but it can also come with many other less talked-about symptoms, including skin changes. Studies have shown that a majority of women report skin problems as they age — in particular, one they might not have experienced since their teen years. Dr. Amy Wechsler, a...

After arresting political opponents, banning the most popular party and using violence to crush dissent, the military’s proxy is on course to win by a landslide

The polls have closed in Myanmar, but no one is waiting in suspense. After arresting political opponents, banning the most popular political party and using violence to crush dissent, the military’s proxy is on course to win by a landslide.

“This is a fake election,” says a man who voted on Sunday in Mandalay, the second most populous city, his finger freshly dipped in purple ink. Like many, he voted only out of fear, worried that junta officials could retaliate if he stayed home.

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© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

© Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Preventing the mayor from returning to Westminster deprives the party of its most potent candidate in Gorton and Denton

When Labour dignitaries gathered at the Titanic hotel in Liverpool on Friday night, one question loomed above all others: to change captain or not?

For many, that question has become even more pressing after Keir Starmer’s allies brutally stopped Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster before it had even begun.

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© Photograph: Jon Super/AP

© Photograph: Jon Super/AP

© Photograph: Jon Super/AP

Crimefighting nuns, giant killer white balloons and Aubrey Plaza getting stuck in a wall … here are your favourite ever mind-bending TV series

Catterick is my favourite baffling TV show. It stars Vic and Bob and a stellar backup cast – Reece Shearsmith, Tim Healey, Mark Benton, Matt Lucas and Morwenna Banks. It starts off innocuously enough with Carl Palmer (Bob) returning to Catterick to visit his brother Chris (Vic) but quickly descends into anarchy. The extremely loose plot centres around the criminal antics of mummy’s boy Tony (Shearsmith) but there are more tangents than a geometry conference. From ripped up posters of George Clooney and haunting dance routines to Chris Rea and Foreigner, Catterick should be top of your TV destinations. Tom Whelan, South Shields

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© Photograph: 2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

© Photograph: 2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

© Photograph: 2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

Exclusive: Outgoing director general indicates support for update to licence-fee model as part of wider changes

The BBC will face “profound jeopardy” over its future unless it embraces significant changes to its funding, its outgoing director general has said, as he signalled his support for an overhaul of the licence fee.

Speaking to the Guardian, Tim Davie called for supporters of the corporation to “stand up and fight” for it, amid increased hostility from its commercial and political critics.

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© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

© Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

Ministers plan to license content from institutions such as National History Museum and National Library of Scotland

Met Office data and legal documents from the National Archives could be used by artificial intelligence systems as the UK government pushes ahead with plans to employ nationally owned material in AI tools.

The government is providing funds for researchers to test how Met Office content could be used by the technology, such as in helping agencies and councils know when to buy more road grit. Another project will explore whether legal data from the National Archives – the UK’s repository for official documents – could help medium- and small-sized businesses with legal support.

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© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Study finds top performers over past decade have companies in industries such software, marketing and finance

• A southern town in the north: how Warrington has adapted to change

Eleven towns and cities in the UK, including Warrington, Barnsley and Wakefield, have seen their disposable incomes rise twice as fast as the rest of the UK over the past decade, a study has found.

A report from Centre for Cities, a thinktank, showed that between 2013 and 2023, disposable income for residents of these top performing towns and cities rose by an average of 5.2%, compared with an increase of 2.4% for urban areas in the UK overall.

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© Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy

© Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy

© Photograph: Mark Waugh/Alamy

Mediterranean chicken meatballs with feta and black olives, Persian-style saffron chicken and rice, and a garlicky, Korean-inspired chicken and potato traybake

When it comes to traybakes, chicken is the undisputed hero, because it’s endlessly adaptable and perfect for carrying bold, global flavours. First up, some eastern Mediterranean chicken meatballs, flecked with feta and black olives for a sharp, savoury punch. Then a Persian-style saffron chicken and rice; the rice cooks with the chicken, absorbing all the flavours of the sunshine-yellow saffron and crisping up at the edges. Finally, a Korean-inspired chicken and potato traybake in which gochujang and soy create a deeply savoury sauce that elevates a simple midweek meal.

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© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Eden Owen-Jones.

© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Eden Owen-Jones.

© Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Eden Owen-Jones.

Seven sisters constellation’s brightest members will be hidden from view for about an hour

On the night of 27 January, the moon passes in front of the Pleiades star cluster, temporarily hiding (occulting) some of its brightest members from view.

The Pleiades, also known as the seven sisters, lie about 440 light years away in the constellation Taurus, the Bull. They are one of the most recognisable structures in the winter sky. The stars were all born from the same giant cloud of molecular gas. Although in time they will be dispersed through the galaxy, at only 100m years old, they remain a relatively tight-knit community of stellar siblings.

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© Photograph: .

© Photograph: .

© Photograph: .

Mark Carney and other custodians of the order are right to contemplate its death, but are they really willing to unpick the the entire system?

When precisely did the rules-based order die? Mark Carney’s speech last week at Davos was the first time a western head of state has said outright what has been hanging over political proceedings for some time. The rules-based order is “fading”, in the middle of a “rupture” and there’s no going back. But outside Davos, the G7 and Nato, that is old news – many believed the rules-based order had expired long ago, depending on what moment you take as your watershed.

There were several components to the order, which of course was a layered, complex thing. The first is structural, that is, the agreement between powerful and prosperous countries that there would be certain mechanisms and protocols to maintain political stability, contain the outbreak of wars and promote their mutual economic interests. All the bodies that direct international traffic – the EU, Nato, the UN, the WTO, the IMF – make up that top layer of organisation.

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© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

The Nets suffered a one-sided 126-89 thrashing by the Clippers on Sunday night in Los Angeles, but it wasn’t for lack of effort from Nic Claxton. The starting center gutted through a finger injury suffered in Friday’s loss to the Celtics, playing with a bandage on his right pinky. He was slated to have imaging...

Rising fears that another US shutdown looms pushes gold price to new height amid nearly 90% rise since Trump’s inauguration

Gold has jumped above US$5,000 an ounce for the first time, as Donald Trump’s chaotic policies and proclamations drive more investors to seek safe harbour in the precious metal.

The price of the yellow metal jumped 1.8% to $5,078 an ounce on Monday, according to Bloomberg.

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© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

© Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Instead of going for a two-point conversion in the second half, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay kicked the extra point.

We need to get the truth out about why California’s costs are so high. As long as politicians can lie and shift the blame to others, they will never be held accountable and nothing will be fixed.

McVay, 40, coached the Rams against the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game, a 31-27 Seattle win, as the second-longest tenured coach in the NFL. He and the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan started in 2017, four years after Andy Reid started with the Chiefs.

Heroes, zeros and the full blitz from the Seahawks' 31-27 win over the Rams in the NFC Championship on Sunday.

While the Patriot player was able to get his fingers on it, the ball did have the distance to give the Broncos a fleeting moment of hope, but it went wide left.