House Republicans rip Senate war powers push as 'political theater' after Trump's Venezuela raid


















As the US supreme court weighs bans on trans athletes, five students speak about the joy of sports and toll of exclusion
The US supreme court on Tuesday is considering state laws banning transgender athletes from school sports.
The cases were brought by trans students who challenged bans in West Virginia and Idaho barring trans girls from girls teams. The outcome could have wide-ranging implications for LGBTQ+ rights. A total of 27 states have passed sports bans targeting trans youth while more than 20 states have maintained pro-LGBTQ+ policies.
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© Composite: AP, Courtesy Haaga family

© Composite: AP, Courtesy Haaga family

© Composite: AP, Courtesy Haaga family
Less than two weeks into the year, the US is stoking mayhem at home and abroad – with midterms coming in the autumn
Have we ever seen a year in recent memory begin with as much deliberate turmoil as 2026 has? Less than two weeks into 2026, we have witnessed Donald Trump deploy US forces to depose and abduct the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, along with Cilia Flores, his wife and close political adviser. The US president then informed the world that the United States would “run” Venezuela for the time being, which he later explained could potentially last for several years.
Trump has also threatened – and then seemingly made peace with – the president of Colombia; seized at least five oil tankers in the Caribbean (actions that UN experts label illegal armed aggression); promised US military strikes targeting cartels in Mexico against the wishes of Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum; and frightened the people of Cuba with the prospect that Marco Rubio could be their next president.
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© Photograph: Kyle Stevens/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kyle Stevens/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kyle Stevens/Shutterstock
The explosive popularity of the gay hockey TV drama reveals women’s desire for sex and romance without violence or hierarchy
The first time gay hockey romance crossed Mary’s radar, she was warned off it. A 64-year-old non-profit executive from Toronto, Mary recalled mentioning the Canadian author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series to her son, a twentysomething queer writer and fellow hockey-obsessive, a few years ago.
“I said: ‘Have you heard of these books?’ and he said: ‘Yeah.’ I said: ‘Should I read these books?’ And he said: ‘No. They’re not for you.’”
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© Photograph: Sphere Abacus/Sky

© Photograph: Sphere Abacus/Sky

© Photograph: Sphere Abacus/Sky
The satirical title targeted in an Islamist attack 10 years ago published a racist, sexist caricature of me that speaks volumes about its values
The day before Christmas Eve, just as France readied itself to slip into the holiday slowdown, something abruptly shook me out of any festive torpor. The satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, known globally and tragically for being the target of an Islamist attack in 2015 published a caricature – of me. And it was appallingly racist. A huge, toothy grin, an enormous mouth, the cartoon depicts me dancing on a stage before an audience of laughing white men, adorned with a banana belt on a largely exposed body. The headline: “The Rokhaya Diallo Show: Mocking secularism around the world.”
Stunned by the violence of this grotesque cartoon, I shared it on social media with a brief analysis: “In keeping with slave-era and colonial imagery, Charlie Hebdo once again shows itself incapable of engaging with the ideas of a Black woman without reducing her to a dancing body – exoticised, supposedly savage – adorned with the very bananas that are hurled at Black people who dare to step into the public sphere.”
Rokhaya Diallo is a French journalist, writer, film-maker and activist
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© Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images
From one-pot meals to versatile dishes that last all week, our panel of experts serves up ideas for solo chefs
I really struggle with cooking for one, so what can I make in January that’s interesting but easy and, most importantly, warming?
Jane, via email
“There’s an art to the perfect solo meal,” says Bonnie Chung, author of Miso: From Japanese Classics to Everyday Umami, “and that’s balancing decadence with ease.” For Chung, that means good-quality ingredients (“tinned anchovies, jarred beans”), a dish that can be cooked in one pan (“a night alone must be maximised with minimal washing-up”) and eaten with a single piece of cutlery, “preferably in front of the telly and out of a bowl nestling in your lap”. Happily, she says, all of those requirements are met by miso udon carbonara: “It has all the rich and creamy nirvana of a cheesy pasta, but with a delicious, mochi-like chew that is incredibly satisfying.” Not only that, but you can knock it up in less than 10 minutes. “Melt cheese, milk and miso in a pan to make the sauce base, then add frozen udon that have been soaked in hot water.” Coat the noodles in the sauce, then serve with crisp bacon or perhaps a few anchovies for “pops of salty fat”. Crown with a golden egg yolk (preferably duck, but hen “will suffice”), which should then be broken: “Add a crack of black pepper, and your cosy night in has begun.”
“January feels like a time for fresh, bright flavours,” says the Guardian’s own Felicity Cloake, which for her often means pasta con le sarde made with tinned fish, fennel seeds and lots of lemon juice; “or with purple sprouting broccoli and a generous helping of garlic and chilli”. A jar of chickpeas, meanwhile, mixed, perhaps, with harissa, chopped herbs and crumbled feta, brings the possibility of a quick stew, Cloake adds, while it’s always a good shout to braise some beans, because cook-once, eat-all-week recipes are a godsend – so long as they’re versatile, that is.
Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com
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© Photograph: Lizzie Mayson/The Guardian. Food styling: Liberty Fennell. Prop styling: Max Robinson. Food styling assistants: Flossy McAslan and Poppy Sanderson.

© Photograph: Lizzie Mayson/The Guardian. Food styling: Liberty Fennell. Prop styling: Max Robinson. Food styling assistants: Flossy McAslan and Poppy Sanderson.

© Photograph: Lizzie Mayson/The Guardian. Food styling: Liberty Fennell. Prop styling: Max Robinson. Food styling assistants: Flossy McAslan and Poppy Sanderson.
Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change
The world is losing forests to fire at an unsustainable rate, experts have warned.
Wildfires have always been part of nature’s cycle, but in recent decades their scale, frequency and intensity in carbon-rich forests have surged.
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© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design










Fans of Normal People and One Day will adore The New Years, which follows a relatable on-off couple in Madrid. It is the best relationship drama you haven’t seen yet
It is rare to watch a fictional romance and feel genuinely invested in the question of will-they-won’t-they – and even rarer for it to reflect familiar relationship turbulence. Many love stories on TV skip straight to wish-fulfilment, delivering instant chemistry, no challenges that can’t be overcome within the runtime and glib reassurance that Love Conquers All.
Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, for instance – based on a real couple, and ostensibly exploring whether a relationship can survive differences of faith – didn’t wait to resolve that question before bringing its leads together. In real life, promising connections fall at much lower hurdles, for such banal reasons as incompatible schedules.
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© Photograph: Mubi

© Photograph: Mubi

© Photograph: Mubi

© Caroline Gutman for The New York Times
UN rights chief says ‘killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop’ as Iranian official tells Reuters around 2,000 have died
Non-essential French embassy staff have left Iran, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Agence France-Presse. The personnel left on Sunday and Monday, the sources added, without saying how many people had departed. “The protection of our personnel and our citizens is a priority,” a French foreign ministry official told AFP.
Commenting on the protests, the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk said:
This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue. The Iranian people and their demands for fairness, equality and justice must be heard.
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© Photograph: MEK/The Media Express/SIP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: MEK/The Media Express/SIP/Shutterstock

© Photograph: MEK/The Media Express/SIP/Shutterstock










Top seed was leading Osorio 6-3, 2-4 when play called off
Venus Williams lost 6-4, 6-3 to Tatjana Maria in Tasmania
Emma Raducanu cut a frustrated figure on Tuesday at the Hobart International as her first round match was suspended for the night due to rain with the Briton struggling to hold on to her precarious 6-3, 2-4 lead.
Raducanu, the top seed in Hobart, will return to the court on Wednesday afternoon hoping to close out her first win of the season. She lost her only match of 2026 to Maria Sakkari at the United Cup mixed-team competition last week. Afterwards, Raducanu explained how her pre-season had been badly disrupted by the foot injury she had been struggling with since she prematurely ended her 2025 season in October. The 22-year-old only began to play points and move properly in her training sessions once she arrived in Australia at the end of December.
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© Photograph: Steve Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Steve Bell/Getty Images

© Photograph: Steve Bell/Getty Images









Nine governors including Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey and ECB’s Christine Lagarde say independence is critical
Global central banks have issued an extraordinary joint statement offering “full solidarity” to the US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, in the face of the latest threat to his independence from Donald Trump’s White House.
“The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability,” the statement said.
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© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

© Photograph: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
The Jay Kelly star says he would be honoured to work with Dano, Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard after all three actors were criticised by the director
George Clooney has said he would be “honoured” to work with three actors who were heavily criticised by Quentin Tarantino last month. Speaking at AARP’s Movies for Grownups awards on 10 January, Clooney said: “By the way, Paul Dano and Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, I would be honoured to work with those actors. Honoured.”
Clooney continued by describing his new film, Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, as a movie “made by people who love actors – that’s an important part. People I’ve known most of my life … actually, most of them are actors. I have a great affinity [for them], and I don’t enjoy watching people be cruel.”
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© Photograph: CraSH/Shutterstock

© Photograph: CraSH/Shutterstock

© Photograph: CraSH/Shutterstock



