Sex tapes, pottery shards, a man biffed over the head on his private island … this crime drama based on Elizabeth George’s hit novels fires off every Chekhov’s gun imaginable. Plus it has an unusually buff posho. Strap in!

He is a Balliol man, a suave toff in a suit as sharp as his cheekbones. Unusually buff for a posho, but that is because he is played by Leo Suter, who was Harald Hardrada in Vikings: Valhalla until about 10 minutes ago and evidently still has protein shakes to use up.

She is a working-class Norfolk lass (“Swaffham High, Swaffham Tech”) in sturdy boots and a utility vest who is in the last chance saloon, job-wise, because of her habit of mouthing off to her bosses. She is played by Sofia Barclay, best known as Dr O’Sullivan in Ted Lasso but not getting to use her comedy chops here, because you mustn’t be funny in front of Balliol men. They find it damn confusing and have to be taken off for a lie down.

Daughter of the Wisconsin author confirmed her father died on 29 December and did not provide cause of death

Michael Schumacher, a Wisconsin author who produced a diverse array of works ranging from biographies of film-maker Francis Ford Coppola and musician Eric Clapton to accounts of Great Lakes shipwrecks, has died. He was 75.

Schumacher’s daughter, Emily Joy Schumacher, confirmed Monday that her father died on 29 December. She did not provide the cause of death.

Move sparks praise but chain says hotel independently operated and cancellations ‘not reflective of Hilton values’

The Department of Homeland Security on Monday said a Hilton hotel canceled reservations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota, where the Trump administration has deployed officers after allegations of fraud against Somali immigrants.

After ICE officers booked rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton canceled their reservations, the department said in a post on X.

It’s not supposed to be like this. Nigeria, for at least two decades, have been a team that huffed and puffed, struggled with the weight of their own history and expectation, seemed always less than the sum of their parts. Even as they won the tournament in 2013, or got to the final in 2024, the sense of effort was palpable. Nothing came easily to them. They’re not meant to be a side who canter through last-16 ties.

But on a foul night in Fez, though, the rain leaching across the stadium, Nigeria, inspired by Ademola Lookman, produced a performance of emphatic attacking quality and effectively had the game won with two goals before the half hour. Lookman put them ahead after 20 minutes with his third goal of the tournament, a typical finish into the top corner after a clever cutback from Akor Adams. Five minutes later, it was Lookman’s cross that Victor Osimhen turned in to make it 2-0. The same combination added a third two minutes into the second half, and whatever sliver of hope remained for Mozambique was vanquished for good. Adams smashed in a fourth from yet another Lookman assist.

Department of education, across the street from the supreme court, also evacuated

Arizona’s supreme court building was evacuated Monday morning after multiple vials that tested positive for a homemade explosive substance were sent to the building, according to the state’s department of public safety (DPS).

At about 8am on Monday, DPS responded to reports of a “suspicious package”. Later that morning multiple agencies, including the US Bureau of alcohol firearms and tobacco responded.

President protests innocence in US court as countries at UN meeting condemn Donald Trump’s ‘crime of aggression’

• Venezuela crisis – latest updates

The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges on Monday, two days after his capture by US special forces in an operation ordered by Donald Trump that sent shockwaves around the world.

The brevity and formality of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan – barely 30 minutes during which Maduro was asked to confirm his name and that he understood the four charges against him – belied the far-reaching consequences of the US action.

The Venezuelan leader entered a heartfelt not guilty plea – and told a member of the gallery he was a prisoner of war

• Venezuela crisis – latest updates

At noon on Monday, Nicolás Maduro was escorted into a Manhattan federal courtroom following his capture early on Saturday in Caracas, completing the seized Venezuelan leader’s stunning journey from his capital city to a US courtroom.

It was a surreal display amid the fallout of a brazen US military operation to grab Maduro that has roiled global politics and stunned observers in the US and overseas.

Gustavo Petro makes remark after Trump threatens military action similar to Venezuela

• ‘Naked imperialism’: how Trump intervention in Venezuela is a return to form for the US

Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart have turned up the volume of their war of words, further raising tensions between the two countries after US forces attacked Venezuela to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, the US president threatened similar military action against Colombia, saying the South American country is “very sick too” and “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”

The 73-year-old Oscar-nominated actor was issued with an eviction notice in December

Mickey Rourke has turned to fundraising to pay the US$59,100 (£44,000, A$89,000) he allegedly owes in rent, after being sued by his landlord and facing eviction from his Los Angeles home.

The 73-year-old actor, who was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for his performance in the 2008 drama The Wrestler, has approved a GoFundMe page launched by Liya-Joelle Jones, a friend and member of Rourke’s management team. At time of writing, the fundraiser had raised US$33,000 of its US$100,000 goal.

The actor first realised what music was when he heard Yellow Submarine and knows a lot of Paul Simon lyrics, but what would he put on at a party?

The first song I fell in love with
My earliest memory is walking into a room at nursery school where they were playing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. I was captivated by the sound effects, and Lennon shouting: “Full speed ahead!” When it got to the chorus, I remember thinking: “This must be music!”

The first single I bought
When I was eight, I won a competition at school to pick a new record to play at the mini disco we had on Fridays. My teacher took me to Woolworths, and I chose Come Back My Love by [50s revivalists] Darts. The first single I bought with my own pocket money was Mull of Kintyre by Wings from a record shop in Colne in Lancashire. It was No 1 at the time, and I chose it when my dad pointed out that it was by one of the Beatles.

Streaming’s algorithms make it easy to avoid whole discographies – so in the interest of deeper listening, our writers dedicate time to the ones who might have got away

The first time I heard Joni Mitchell, in 1997, she was looped across the chorus of Janet Jackson’s single Got ’Til It’s Gone. The song’s credits would educate me on the sample’s origins; I had previously assumed Big Yellow Taxi was an Amy Grant original. The second time I heard a Mitchell song was when Travis covered the beautiful River as a B-side.

Jabs to prevent influenza, rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other vaccines are no longer fully recommended

The Trump administration will slash routine vaccine recommendations during childhood from 17 to 11 jabs – the biggest change to vaccines yet under the purview of longtime vaccine critic Robert F Kennedy Jr.

The changes, which US health officials announced on Monday afternoon and are effective immediately, will erode trust and reduce access to vaccines while allowing infectious diseases to spread, experts said.

Prime minister assures colleagues he may one day stand up to Donald Trump – but not yet

Keir Starmer has got used to walking a diplomatic tightrope with Donald Trump. But the US president’s Venezuelan adventure, whisking its leader out of the country after a late-night raid, has pushed that cautious approach to its limits.

The clues were all there. Ever since Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela against drug traffickers – and blockaded oil tankers – the military campaign had been mounting.

President wants to placate demonstrators calling for political change, action on corruption and help with cost of living

The Iranian government is attempting risky economic concessions as it tries to meet the escalating demands of protesters seeking fundamental political change, a clampdown on corruption and an easing of the squeeze on living standards of the poor.

Now entering their ninth day, the protests have spread to 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces, with a human rights group claiming that the death toll has passed 35 with more than 1,200 arrested.

Deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was controversially captured by US special forces and is due to appear in a Manhattan court. The arrest came after months of US pressure against Maduro, including attacks on ‘narco-boats’ and blockades on oil tankers. Donald Trump has since claimed the US is going to ‘run’ Venezuela - but how?

Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders must defend the rule of international law, as a dangerous new world order emerges

The initial reaction of European leaders to Donald Trump’s illegal military intervention in Venezuela was not only weak, it also had the briefest of shelf lives. Refusing on Sunday to condemn the attack as a breach of international law, European Union member states called hopefully for “a negotiated, democratic, inclusive and peaceful solution to the crisis, led by Venezuelans”. The delusional nature of that response was laid bare as Mr Trump told reporters the same day: “We’re in charge.”

So much for the restoration of democracy. The US president also repeated threats of further military action, should the repressive regime left behind when Nicolás Maduro was seized fail to do Washington’s bidding. As Mr Trump’s marginalising of the Nobel prize-winning opposition figurehead María Corina Machado illustrated early on, the will of Venezuelans is not on his list of priorities. Operation Absolute Resolve was about exercising raw power to dominate a sovereign nation, and controlling Venezuela’s future oil production.

Degrading pictures being posted on Elon Musk’s site despite the platform pledging to suspend people who generate them

Degrading images of children and women with their clothes digitally removed by Grok AI continue to be shared on Elon Musk’s X, despite the platform’s commitment to suspend users who generate them.

After days of concern over use of the chatbot to alter photographs to create sexualised pictures of real women and children stripped to their underwear without their consent, the UK’s communication’s watchdog, Ofcom, said on Monday that it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK”. Ofcom added that it would assess whether an investigation is necessary based on the company’s response.

Husam Zomlot says inauguration of mission in London marks change of direction for Palestinian state

The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said the inauguration of the state’s embassy in London is “proof that our identity cannot be denied”.

Husam Zomlot hailed the upgrading of Palestine’s mission in Hammersmith, west London, as “historic” and “monumental”.

William Defoor, 26, to appear in court Tuesday after arrest for alleged attack on vice-president’s Cincinnati home

A man arrested during an incident where someone appeared to be trying to break into the Ohio house of JD Vance with a hammer is to appear in court on Tuesday.

The vice-president on Monday thanked law enforcement in Ohio for arresting someone he referred to as a “crazy person” who had turned up at his Cincinnati home overnight.

Goalkeeper who swapped city rivals in the summer proved pivotal on his return with a stunning series of saves

“I hope people don’t get angry but he’s my friend.” There wasn’t long until the Barcelona derby and Jofre Carreras had briefly abandoned the warm-up to talk to the TV. There on the touchline, talk inevitably turned to his former roommate, housemate and teammate Joan García, now in goal for their greatest rivals. Carreras’s answer was just about audible over all the noise and then he was off again: he had something else to do before it all started, accepting a shirt marking his 100th game for Espanyol. Behind them as club legend Rafa Marañón presented it, the team captains lined up for a photo of their own with the first Catalan to referee this fixture in 80 years and, way off to the left out of shot, García clapped. Like everything else he did, except actually play, he did so discreetly.

Joan and Jofre, both 24, have known each other “for as long as I can remember”, in Carreras’s words. Over four years, they shared a room at Espanyol’s residency on Carretera de Mataró in Sant Adrià del Besòs and then they shared an apartment. When García collected his award as Espanyol’s best player in 2023-24, and was handed a supply of sausages, Carreras also received an award – two different supporters’ clubs rewarding two different winners on the same day. When García started being noticed beyond Barcelona, Carreras declared his friend the world’s best. And when the summer heat got a bit much – and, boy, did it – García took refuge at Carreras’s. Now though they were opponents. And that, Carreras said, was “a bit strange”.

Chrystia Freeland takes on new role amid government shakeup in Kyiv as Ukrainian president replaces key figures

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Canada’s former finance minister Chrystia Freeland as an adviser on economic development, a move he says will help strengthen the “internal resilience” of the war-torn nation.

“Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations,” he wrote on social media. “Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience – both for the sake of Ukraine’s recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defence if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end.”

Owner Modella starts insolvency proceedings for both chains, saying trading is ‘extremely challenging’

The retailers Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop are on the brink of administration, putting 2,550 jobs at risk.

Both chains are owned by Modella Capital, a private equity firm, which recently bought the high street arm of WH Smith – renamed TG Jones. Modella said in a statement that the climate on UK high streets was “extremely challenging” and data suggested “an alarming drop-off in pre-Christmas footfall”.

Exclusive: Lack of consultants in UK health service means patients do not get drugs or surgery in time, say senior medics

Thousands of people who have had a stroke are ending up severely disabled or dying because the NHS has too few specialists to treat them quickly enough, senior doctors are warning.

A chronic shortage of stroke consultants across the NHS means that patients are suffering horrendous consequences because of delays in getting clot-busting drugs and surgery, they said.

70% of stroke units are short of at least one consultant in stroke care, and many are two down.

53 of 84 hospitals that responded had vacancies for a total of 96 consultants.

The NHS relies heavily on locum doctors to fill holes in the workforce caused by the difficulty in recruiting new consultants.

10% of the NHS’s 423 substantive (permanent) consultants are due to retire in the next five years, exacerbating the existing shortage.