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Iran preparing nuclear counterproposal as Trump warns he is considering limited military strikes

Iranian foreign minister says draft could be ready for internal review in coming days while US president says ‘they better negotiate a fair deal’

Iran’s foreign minister has said he expects to have a draft counterproposal ready within days after nuclear talks with the US this week, while Donald Trump said he was considering limited military strikes.

Two US officials told Reuters that US military planning on Iran had reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack and even pursuing leadership change in Tehran, if ordered by Trump.

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© Photograph: Hannah Tross/US NAVY/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hannah Tross/US NAVY/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hannah Tross/US NAVY/AFP/Getty Images

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LADOT’s ‘don’t poop on buses’ campaign takes bizarre twist

The plop thickens. Los Angeles Department of Transportation has scrapped a video campaign begging passengers not to poop on city buses. Officials pulled the six clips from YouTube and its website and claimed they were never meant to be made public. A link to the originals now reads: “This channel doesn’t have any content.” Los...

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Under water, in denial: is Europe drowning out the climate crisis?

Even as weather extremes worsen, the voices calling for the rolling back of environmental rules have grown louder and more influential

In the timeless week between Christmas and the new year, two Spanish men in their early 50s – friends since childhood, popular around town – went to a restaurant and did not come home.

Francisco Zea Bravo, a maths teacher active in a book club and rock band, and Antonio Morales Serrano, the owner of a popular cafe and ice-cream parlour, had gone to eat with friends in Málaga on Saturday 27 December. But as the pair drove back to Alhaurín el Grande that night, heavy rains turned the usually tranquil Fahala River into what the mayor would later call an “uncontrollable torrent”. Police found their van overturned the next day. Their bodies followed after an agonising search.

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© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

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What was Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s trade envoy role?

Backed by Labour and Conservative figures, he was a controversial choice when appointed in 2001

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, bringing his former role as the UK’s special representative for international trade and investment into focus. He denies any wrongdoing. But what was that role?

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© Photograph: Haydn West/Photoshot/PA

© Photograph: Haydn West/Photoshot/PA

© Photograph: Haydn West/Photoshot/PA

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Relooted: the South African video game where players take back artefacts from western museums

Creators say they’re offering Africans a ‘hopeful, utopian feeling’ of retrieving objects looted by colonial armies

A new South African video game lets players take back African artefacts held in western museums in a series of heists, amid a growing campaign to repatriate treasures looted by colonial armies.

Players of Relooted become South African sports scientist and parkour expert Nomali, as she leaps and dives through museums to retrieve 70 real objects. They include an Asante gold mask that was taken by the British army when it destroyed the Asante empire’s capital, Kumasi, and is now in the Wallace Collection in London. Another object is the skull of the Tanzanian king Mangi Meli, which was taken to Germany after its colonial regime executed him in 1900.

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© Photograph: Nyamakop

© Photograph: Nyamakop

© Photograph: Nyamakop

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Ukraine is the biggest and most consequential of all the American betrayals | Simon Tisdall

As the war enters its fifth year, it’s time for Europe to take the fight to Putin on its own terms and tell Trump to get lost

Viewed from Europe, the US’s failure to defend the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression is the greatest and most consequential of a host of recent American betrayals. It’s not just the sickening subservience shown to Vladimir Putin, an indicted war criminal and mass killer. It’s not only the victim-blaming and bullying of Kyiv into making concessions. It’s not even Donald Trump’s crass attempts to monetise the war and milk the misery of millions for Nobel glory, while undercutting Nato allies and trampling sovereign rights.

What really shocks, and hurts, is the sheer bad faith shown by a country that Europeans always counted a friend. As the 18th-century English gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe noted, “few circumstances are more afflicting than a discovery of perfidy in those whom we have trusted”. To echo Trump’s dark warning after he was rebuffed over Greenland: Europe will remember.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

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Six great reads: dating in later life; a lost Amazon van, ‘gong bath’ freezers, and Toni Morrison

Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days

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© Composite: Jacqueline Lawrie; Christian Sinibaldi/LNP; The Guardian

© Composite: Jacqueline Lawrie; Christian Sinibaldi/LNP; The Guardian

© Composite: Jacqueline Lawrie; Christian Sinibaldi/LNP; The Guardian

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MPs considering investigation into Andrew’s role as UK trade envoy

MPs will meet on Tuesday to discuss the former prince, as it emerged he pestered ministers for a bigger government role

An influential committee of MPs could launch an inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s role as a UK trade envoy despite his arrest, it is understood, as it emerged that the disgraced former royal pestered ministers about getting a bigger government role.

After his arrest on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the cross-party business and trade committee said it would meet next Tuesday to discuss a possible investigation into the role he held from 2001 to 2011.

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© Photograph: Toby Melville/PA

© Photograph: Toby Melville/PA

© Photograph: Toby Melville/PA

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‘Doubling down on meat’: is the UK’s love affair with vegetarian food over?

McDonald’s, Wagamama and others scale back plant-based choices in the UK in favour of ‘high-margin’ meat-led dishes

In 2021, vegetarianism and veganism were booming and menus reflected it. Restaurants and fast-food chains rapidly expanded their meat-free offerings, racing to meet growing demand from diners. McDonald’s launched its first plant-based burger, joining a wave of operators embracing non-meat options.

Fast forward to 2026 and the landscape looks markedly different. Last month, the fast food chain announced it was axing most of its vegetarian range – sparing only its McPlant burger – owing to weak sales. Wagamama has removed some vegan dishes from its menu, while Domino’s has also scaled back its plant-based options. The final Veggie Pret, a standalone concept store from the high street sandwich chain that started in 2016, closed in February 2024.

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© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images

© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images

© Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images

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Meera Sodha’s recipe for rhubarb and custard trifle

Nostalgia and comfort combine in abundance in this retro dessert that’s strictly for kids of all ages

The first time I had rhubarb and custard together was in a boiled sweet from a big jar in my mum’s corner shop. You could flip the sweet in your mouth and rub the flavour you wanted with your tongue. Too tart? Flip to the custard side. Too creamy? Flip again. It was one of the best ways to spend 10 minutes as a seven-year-old in the early 1990s. A few decades on, a lot has changed. Mum no longer has a corner shop, I don’t love boiled sweets any more, but eating rhubarb and custard is still a fantastic way to spend 10 minutes (at the very least).

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© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Florence Blair.

© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Florence Blair.

© Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Florence Blair.

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