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I wanted to be with you alone…

…and talk about the weather.

• Dembélé doubles up in 5-0 mauling

• Kane and Díaz on target in Bayern win

Ousmane Dembélé struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain blew away bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday, reclaiming top spot in Ligue 1 with a crushing 5-0 victory at the Parc des Princes.

Dembélé opened the scoring after just 12 minutes and added a second before half-time as PSG delivered a real statement of intent going into the crucial months of the season.

• Malinin delivers to secure US Olympic team gold win

• Japan pairs skating brilliance pushes US team to limit

• Host Italy secure team bronze on home Olympic rink

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.

American hopes had rested heavily on the 21-year-old Malinin after a below-par short program on Saturday left the defending champions vulnerable heading into the final day. But the self-styled “Quad God” produced when it mattered most, leading the men’s free skate segment to seal the title and ensure the team gold remained in US hands.

The acting is absolutely excellent, but the script isn’t great. This show lacks the dread of William Golding’s novel

What, you wonder, could possibly have prompted the powers that be to commission an adaptation of a postwar allegory that throws into dreadful relief the impulse to tyranny, the fragility of democracy and the brittleness of our veneer of civilisation in this shining year of 2026? We may never know. Did I mention it takes place on an island in which all normal social rules no longer apply and the inhabitants are protected from any punishment or consequence, no matter what appetites emerge? Hmm. Well, on we go.

Here it is, Jack Thorne’s take – after his triumphant Adolescence – on William Golding’s endlessly harrowing 1954 classic and GCSE staple for the past 30 years, Lord of the Flies. It was his debut novel and born of his reaction to reading RM Ballantyne’s Victorian classic of heroic derring-do, The Coral Island, to his children in the late 40s. That paean to noble and manly virtues from the golden age of optimism hit differently by then, so Golding asked his wife if he should write a book about what would happen if a group of boys were stranded on an island together and behaved how a group of boys stranded on an island together really would behave. She encouraged him to give it a shot. He borrowed character names and made other references to Ballantyne’s book in his own, but Golding’s story is its dark counterpoint; a suggestion that if men are left to rule the world untrammelled there will soon not be many of them, or much of the world, left to dominate. I know – what an imagination, right?

The 30-year-old has labored in the shadow of household names like Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. On Sunday, she made history of her own

For years, Breezy Johnson was the other American alpine skier. The one with the near-misses, the injuries, the suspension and the unfortunate timing to exist in the same stable at the same time as Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. On Sunday, three weeks after her 30th birthday in the shadow of the Dolomites above Cortina d’Ampezzo, she became an Olympic champion.

Johnson crossed first in the women’s downhill at the Milano Cortina Games by four-hundredths of a second – the slightest winning margin in the event’s Olympic history outside the dead heat in 2014 – to become just the second American woman to win the sport’s most prestigious title. The only other was Vonn, who took gold in Vancouver 16 years ago.

• Mia Brookes reaches snowboard Big Air final

• Britain has contenders in curling and freeski slopestyle

High in the Italian Alps, where the thin air and oxygen deprivation often does strange things to the brain, ­British accents have started whispering about the possibility of Magic Monday – and Team GB winning three medals in one day at these Winter Olympics.

And the craziest thing of all? It’s not entirely out of the question.

Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Preston and police say her death is being treated as suspicious

A man has been arrested over the death of a student in her accommodation at the University of Lancashire.

Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead at her accommodation in Victoria Street, Preston, on Thursday afternoon, Lancashire constabulary said.

• ISU review resolves Olympic skating music dispute issue

• Azerbaijan complaint prompts Olympic music listing edit

• Armenia-Azerbaijan tensions resurface again at Olympics

A politically charged dispute between the Olympic delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia over figure skating music has been resolved after skating and IOC authorities reviewed the matter and the official program listing was amended.

The International Skating Union (ISU) said in a statement to the Guardian on Sunday that it had examined the matter with relevant stakeholders. “The situation has been reviewed with all parties involved,” the ISU said. “The official names of the tracks that will be used are listed on the ISU website.”

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

• This week’s replies: why does a song sometimes get stuck in our heads – and what makes an earworm?

Is it possible to acquire courage if you don’t have it? I was moved this week by the story of the Australian boy who swam to land for several hours in rough seas to raise the alarm that his mother and siblings had been swept out to sea. Despite his exhaustion, he then ran several kilometres to find a phone.

But I’m also thinking of the lesser demands for courage – such as standing up to a friend, or family member, or tackling a company that’s ignoring your polite requests when you’re suffering from its actions. Or I also wonder how people do certain jobs that, to me, require buckets of courage: starting a business or any other sort of professional risk-taking; reporting from a war zone like Lyse Doucet or Jeremy Bowen. Or just being a police officer knocking on a door of a suspect and not knowing what will come at you from the other side.

Allies hope aide’s departure can quell anger over Mandelson scandal but others say it leaves PM dangerously exposed

• Profile: Labour election guru undone by poor judgment

• ‘Only honourable course’: resignation statement in full

Keir Starmer is fighting to reassert control over his party after accepting the resignation of his closest adviser, Morgan McSweeney, amid anger over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

After days of pressure over the scandal, his departing chief of staff said on Sunday he took “full responsibility” for his advice to send Mandelson to Washington despite his ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, which McSweeney conceded had undermined trust in Labour and in politics itself.

Those pushing to oust the prime minister are unlikely to be deterred by his right-hand man’s departure

For some Labour MPs, the sight of Keir Starmer accepting the resignation of his long-term consigliere, Morgan McSweeney, encapsulated everything they think is going wrong with the prime minister’s leadership.

After days of mounting criticism over McSweeney’s role in advocating for the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador, the prime minister’s chief of staff left Downing Street on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola threw himself back into his seat in the dugout. The Manchester City manager had just witnessed a moment of sheer brilliance and, like everyone connected to his club, he had to fear the worst. Because bad things tend to happen to him at Anfield.

The blow had been administered by Dominik Szoboszlai, the stand‑in Liverpool right-back, and it is worth dwelling on it for a moment – if only a moment as it was overtaken rapidly by a bonkers finale. When the Hungarian addressed a free-kick 30 yards out, City did not look overly concerned: they put two men in their wall. Perhaps they had not remembered what Szoboszlai did to Arsenal from a similar position at the start of the season.

• Walsh and Thompson seal 2-0 success at Tottenham

• Liverpool and West Ham win to boost survival hopes

Chelsea defeated Tottenham 2-0 to boost their faint hopes of retaining the Women’s Super League title, as Madonna watched from the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Goals from Keira Walsh and Alyssa Thompson either side of half-time ended Chelsea’s run of back-to-back defeats and left Sonia Bompastor’s team nine points off the leaders Manchester City, who lost 1-0 against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium earlier on Sunday.

• ‘You can’t underestimate these guys any more’

• Curran’s final-over heroics sealed four-run win

England flirted with one of the great T20 World Cup upsets in Mumbai before getting their campaign under way with victory against Nepal by four runs and, although they did not lose the game, Sam Curran insisted they had lost any sense of complacency.

“We take those two points and take great confidence, because it wouldn’t have been a nice dressing room this evening,” said Curran, who conceded just five runs in the final over to decide the game.

The gruesome finish to the US star’s comeback, at age 41 and with a ruptured ACL, is a reminder of skiing’s unforgiving nature

There was always a version of this story that ended in a single, violent instant. Lindsey Vonn was 13th to push out of the start gate on Sunday in Cortina d’Ampezzo knowing exactly what she was racing with: a fully ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, a heavy brace wrapped around the joint, and the accumulated wear of a career spent flirting with speed and consequence.

Vonn barely made it out of the opening phase of the run.

Pressure grows on Keir Starmer as Labour peer reported to have received payment worth three months’ salary when he quit in September

• UK politics live – latest updates

A cabinet minister has called for Peter Mandelson to hand back the payout he received after quitting as ambassador to the US last year, as pressure increased on the prime minister to quit for having appointed him in the first place.

Pat McFadden, the welfare secretary, said on Sunday he thought the Labour peer should give back his Foreign Office payout, which is reported to be as much as £55,000. The Foreign Office is understood to be reviewing the payment.

Looking for Valentine’s Day gift ideas? Creative gift ideas for him and sentimental gifts for her

• This story was originally published in the Filter US newsletter on buying fewer, better things. Sign up here to get early access to it

Each week we cut through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better – from what is worth buying to the tools, habits and ideas that actually last.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I’m nostalgic for candy hearts and childhood crushes. But like many facets of adulthood, the holiday becomes more complicated as I grow older.

26 sentimental and practical US Valentine’s Day gifts for her in 2026

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Exclusive: Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by US tech firms, edited out warnings by two young speakers at its 2024 Safer Internet Day event

An internet safety campaign backed by US tech companies has been accused of censoring two teenagers they invited to speak out about the biggest issues facing children online.

Childnet, a UK charity part-funded by companies including Snap, Roblox and Meta, edited out warnings from Lewis Swire and Saamya Ghai that social media addiction was an “imminent threat to our future” and obsessive scrolling was making people “sick”, according to a record of edits seen by the Guardian.

If he and his philosophy were to blame for the government’s ills, now it can change tack. There can be no more excuses

Here is something they can’t take away from him: Morgan McSweeney is often credited for Labour’s remarkable turnaround from the abyss of the 2019 election to the astounding landslide of 2024. Few thought it could be done. The Tories did all they could to help, but it took clever strategy and ruthless tactics to pull off what no pollsters predicted in the immediate wake of Boris Johnson’s 80-seat majority. But it turned out that the skills that win election campaigns are not those that run a government.

His resignation today will do little to shore up Keir Stamer’s precarious position. “Man or woman overboard!” has been the frequent cry from the decks of No 10. After just 18 months, here’s a roll call of the drowned, all from senior posts selected by Starmer with fanfare, only to make them walk the plank: Sue Gray, Steph Driver, Liz Lloyd, James Lyons, Matthew Doyle, Nin Pandit, Paul Ovenden and probably more I’ve forgotten. It’s not a good look: in a company, shareholders would ask what was wrong with their CEO.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist

Top House Democrat says president’s suggestion for Republicans to ‘take over’ elections really means ‘steal it’

Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives said on Sunday.

Jeffries’ comments come amid widespread concern after Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting”. The US constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws to set requirements for federal elections. The constitution gives the president no authority over how elections are run.

A mining disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo underscores the human cost of extraction. Intensified competition for resources isn’t helping

When Donald Trump boasted recently that he had stopped the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – though fighting persists in the DRC, at appalling human cost – he made clear that his goals went beyond a long-sought Nobel Peace prize.

“They said to me, ‘Please, please, we would love you to come and take our minerals.’ Which we’ll do,” the US president added. Now he is following through. Last Monday he launched a new strategic reserve plan, “Project Vault”, worth almost $12bn. Two days later, JD Vance hosted a summit seeking to create a trade zone for critical minerals.

Women’s and human rights activist, arrested at a demonstration in December, is said to be on hunger strike

Iran has sentenced the Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven more years in prison after she began a hunger strike, her supporters said Sunday, as Tehran cracks down on all dissent following nationwide protests and the deaths of thousands at the hands of security forces.

The new convictions against Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the US over its nuclear programme to avert a military strike threatened by Donald Trump. Iran’s top diplomat said on Sunday that Tehran’s strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers”, striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US.

Mathematician whose work at the US Naval Weapons Laboratory was pivotal to the development of GPS

It was only late in life that the mathematician Gladys West, who has died aged 95, was recognised for her role in the development of today’s global positioning system, or GPS. She came to be thought of as another “hidden figure” – a reference to the 2016 book and subsequent film about three black women who worked at Nasa during the space race.

While West’s story may have been less dramatic – it took decades of painstaking work at the US Naval Weapons Laboratory for her to come up with the geodesic systems that would allow the precise measurements and mapping needed for the technology – her work nevertheless transformed modern life.