Move is a ‘backwards step’, company spokesperson says, amid concerns Kremlin is seeking more state control via messaging apps such as Max
Russia has attempted to “fully block” WhatsApp in an attempt to push users towards its own state-sponsored communications app, Max, a spokesperson for the Meta-owned company has said.
The company did not reveal more detail on what extent the attempt succeeded or what action was taken to try to block the app.
In late January a new social media site took a certain corner of the internet by storm. Moltbook was conceived as a space where AI assistants could let off steam, chat and compare notes on their bosses, but it quickly became the focus of breathless claims that the singularity had arrived as the bots started badmouthing their humans and plotting an uprising. So what’s the truth about Moltbook? Madeleine Finlay hears from Aisha Down about what it tells us about AI, and about us.
For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?
As a seven-year-old, Francisco Estrada-Belli was afraid all of history would have been discovered by the time he was old enough to contribute. The year was 1970 and he and his parents had come from Rome to visit relatives in the Central American country of Guatemala. On the trip, they visited the ancient Maya ruins at Tikal. “I was completely mesmerised,” Estrada-Belli told me recently. “It was jungle everywhere, there were animals, and then these enormous, majestic temples. I asked questions but felt the answers were not good enough. I decided there and then that I wanted to be answering them.”
Fifty-five years later, Estrada-Belli is now one of the archaeologists helping to rewrite the history of the Maya peoples who built Tikal. Thanks to technological advances, we are entering a new age of discovery in the field of ancient history. Improved DNA analysis, advances in plant and climate science, soil and isotope chemistry, linguistics and other techniques such as a laser mapping technology called Lidar, are overturning long-held beliefs. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to Maya archaeology.
Opposition parties condemn security laws as ‘violation of the constitutional right to demonstrate’
As leader of the Milan unit of Cub, a grassroots workers’ union, Mattia Scolari joined thousands who marched on Saturday in the northern Italian city against the Winter Olympics. “Wages never grow, young people are fleeing abroad for work and there is more and more poverty. We are fed up with an Olympics that causes mayhem in the city, only brings temporary jobs and will leave lasting ecological damage,” he said.
The rally, which brought together an array of activist groups, was predominantly peaceful, marred only by a brief clash at the end when protesters on the march’s fringe threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at the police, who in turn responded with teargas, water cannons and six arrests. On the same day, rail infrastructure in northern Italy was sabotaged in a protest action subsequently claimed by anarchists.
The culture secretary talks about secret briefings, the need for solidarity and why the government must recognise its big moment of reckoning
It is the day after the night before. On Monday, Keir Starmer looked as if he was on his last political legs. At lunchtime, the Scottish Labour party leader Anas Sarwar called for his resignation, but by the evening, the troops had rallied, and the prime minister had survived the worst. At least until the Gorton and Denton byelection later this month.
Now it’s Tuesday afternoon and there’s a hush around 100 Parliament St, home to the government’s culture, media and sport department. It’s hard to know whether this is its natural state (it’s also the headquarters of HMRC), or whether the country’s politicians and civil servants are in a collective state of shock.
James Van Der Beek has died at 48, leaving a Dawson-shaped hole in the heart of many a millennial TV fanatic. A role model to all of a certain age, Dawson Leery taught us how to break and enter, how to be a bad friend and, most importantly, how to yearn. His years-long pursuit of the girl next door is still, for some of us, the reason we keep sending late-night texts to people who absolutely do not want to hear from us.
So, as we grieve the floppy-haired man who became the less-hot lead as the series went on, let’s look back at some of the most iconic moments spent in Capeside.
The Dawson’s Creek star, who died on Tuesday aged 48, had been open about struggling to meet the high expenses of his cancer treatment
A GoFundMe set up to support the widow and children of actor James Van Der Beek has passed its initial goal of $500,000 within hours of being created – and has now been updated to a goal of $1m.
Van Der Beek, best known for his role as sensitive teen Dawson Leery on the TV series Dawson’s Creek, died on Tuesday aged 48 after a battle with bowel cancer.
Rics surveyors report inquiries from new buyers, agreed sales and house prices were less negative in January
There are “tentative signs” that the housing market in England and Wales is recovering from a months-long slowdown after uncertainty around the autumn budget and economic pressures, estate agents and surveyors have reported.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said its members were feeling more optimistic about the year ahead than at any time since December 2024, as inquiries from new buyers, agreed sales and house prices became less negative in January.
There are grave fears for a former Canberra high school student after claims he was killed in Iran, amid representations by the Australian government to Tehran over the potential execution of prisoners.
Posts on social media accounts linked to the boy suggest he died on Friday, after reportedly being detained in Iran. The claims could not be verified.
It’s the part of myself I’m most frequently embarrassed by – but as comedy festival season approaches, I’m prepared for the worst
I thought Daniel Kitson was just about ready to kick me out of the comedy room. He had already picked on me several times for laughing too loud, too readily (“that wasn’t even a joke”, he chastised me at one point). I was trying hard to suppress my laughter – to hold it in, to hold it back, to not fully express the joy I was feeling. I was being somewhat successful. And then I wasn’t. Everyone in the audience was laughing – but I was laughing too much.
Then Kitson looked at me, and asked me to laugh “10% less” – I was ruining it for the rest of the audience, he said. Bring it down 10% and give everyone else a chance. My face turned red, I shrunk in my seat, and I tried my hardest – really, I did – to not laugh so loud.
Buddhist monks had walked 2,300 miles from Texas, braving snow and often barefoot – their arrival in the capital was greeted by thousands
Bhante Saranapala gazed down at more than a hundred Buddhist monks wearing burnt-orange, saffron and maroon robes, most sporting woolly hats, a few clutching flowers.
“These monks are awesome!” roared Saranapala, who is known as the “Urban Buddhist Monk”, prompting a cheer from the big crowd. “Their determination should be greatly appreciated. Walking from Texas to Washington DC, 2,300 miles; it requires strong determination!”
Jailed then exiled in London, Rahman returns home as the main contender to be next prime minister of Bangladesh
Tarique Rahman, who after 17 years in exile is the main contender to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has pledged to end entrenched corruption and put the country on a “new path” as voting began in the first free and fair elections in almost two decades.
Speaking to the Guardian before polls opened on Thursday morning, Rahman promised a new era of clean politics, including a “top down, no tolerance” approach to graft, if his Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) was brought to power.
Republicans join Democrats in objecting to national emergency US president declared to impose tariffs
The US House on Wednesday voted to rescind tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on Canada last year, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House’s trade policy as the president threatened electoral retaliation against any Republican who defied him.
The largely symbolic resolution to disapprove of the national emergency Trump declared to impose tariffs on Canada passed 219 to 211, with six Republicans – Don Bacon of Nebraska, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Kevin Kiley of California, Dan Newhouse of Washington and Jeff Hurd of Colorado – voting with all Democrats except Jared Golden of Maine, who voted against it.
New evidence shows Gregory Bovino hailed agent who fired at Marimar Martinez five times in her car
Newly released evidence has shown that Gregory Bovino, a border patrol chief who was the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts until last month, praised a federal agent who shot a Chicago woman during an immigration crackdown last year.
Marimar Martinez, a US citizen, was shot five times by a border patrol agent in October while in her vehicle. She was charged with a felony after officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused her of trying to ram agents with her vehicle. But the case was abruptly dismissed after video evidence emerged showing that an agent had steered his vehicle into Martinez’s car.
Lawyers for Martinez have pushed to make evidence in the dismissed criminal case public, saying they were especially motivated to do so after a federal agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis under similar circumstances.
Facing existential challenges on trade and security, the bloc has finally realised it has to grow up and go it alone – but the path ahead is a rocky one
Emmanuel Macron put it simply – and starkly. Confronted with “a world in disarray” and a double, potentially existential challenge from the US and China, he said: “Europe must become a power.”
The bloc is facing “a Chinese tsunami” on trade, Macron told several European newspapers, as the country most Europeans had for decades seen principally as an infinite export market transforms itself instead into a ferocious, low-price, hi-tech competitor.
Ukrainian president says security guarantees must first be in place as he pushes back at suggestions he plans to hold poll under US pressure. What we know on day 1,450
Bill that requires proof of citizenship and would limit mail-in voting passes 218-213 but faces uphill battle in Senate
The House on Wednesday passed the Save America Act, which would dramatically change voting regulations by requiring proof of citizenship at voter registration and significantly curtail mail-in voting.
The legislation, which passed 218 to 213, faces an uphill battle in the Senate, close observers say.
Writer made international breakthrough with 1980 novel Rituals and won acclaim for his travel writing
The Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom, whose novels, travel writing and translations made him a prominent literary figure in postwar Europe, has died aged 92.
Publishing house De Bezige Bij said in a statement on Wednesday evening that Nooteboom had “passed away very peacefully on his beloved island Menorca”. The statement was made on behalf of the author’s wife, the photographer Simone Sassen.
Arne Slot does not believe his job security hinges on Liverpool securing Champions League qualification this spring but the Dutchman would much prefer not to put that particular notion to the test.
On this evidence there seems a decent chance last season’s title winning manager will not have to. In finally ending Sunderland’s proud unbeaten home record in the Premier League, sixth placed Liverpool left themselves only three points adrift Manchester United and two behind Chelsea.
British pair finish seventh after stumble in free dance
Gold goes to France’s Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron
Lewis Gibson did his best to smile, but the pained pinch on the face of his partner, Lilah Fear, as they twirled around the Milan Ice Skating Arena gave the game away. The Team GB pair had dreamed of becoming the first British Olympic skating medallists since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1992. Instead, they endured a nightmare on ice.
Their chances went barely a minute into their free dance routine. The crowd had just started to clap boisterously along to the Proclaimers’ hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), when Fear stumbled and lost her balance through the twizzle sequence.
Evangelos Marinakis often takes action when the crowd turns against a head coach. The Nottingham Forest owner watched from his throne, enduring 90 minutes of inept finishing and sloppy play in a desperate goalless draw against rock‑bottom Wolves, resulting in boos and insults aimed at Sean Dyche at full time, which sealed a third head coach sacking of the season.
Thirty-five shots came and went for Forest, few testing José Sá but the patience of the crowd was thoroughly tested, ultimately costing Dyche his job. It was a missed opportunity for the hosts, who moved only one point further north of 18th-placed West Ham, when three were there for the taking.
Former New York Jets first-round draft pick Darron Lee has been kept in jail without bond as he faces a first-degree murder charge over the death of his girlfriend in Tennessee.
The ruling by Judge Tori Smith came after Lee was arrested and charged late last week. He also faces a charge of tampering with or fabricating evidence. Lee is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on 9 March.
Authorities identified the victim in the case as Gabriella Perpétuo. The couple had been living in a home they rented where the incident occurred for about 10 days, Brian Lockhart a detective in Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office testified on Wednesday.
Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones were travelling in Laos in late 2024 when they were fatally poisoned with methanol at Nana Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng
Australia will send a special envoy to Laos as it investigates the methanol poisoning deaths of two teenagers.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced the appointment on Thursday after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade apologised earlier this week for not providing more information to the victims’ families.
Public opinion polling agency says decision ‘solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities’
Gallup, the public opinion polling agency, will stop tracking presidential approval ratings after almost nine decades, a spokesperson confirmed.
As Donald Trump continues to closely scrutinize polling of his popularity, and publicly lambast media companies that report on unfavorable numbers, Gallup insisted its decision was “solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities”.
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