General news

• Bob Woodward says he is ‘crushed’ by Washington Post layoffs

  06-02-2026 23:48 via theguardian.com
  Watergate reporter says colleagues and readers ‘deserve more’ after newspaper lays off hundreds of workersThe veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward has said he is “crushed” by the mass layoffs of hundreds of colleagues at the paper and said the impact would be felt by readers – noting both “deserve more”.“I am crushed that so many of my beloved colleagues have lost their jobs and our readers have been given less news and sound analysis,&r
  
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• Taylor Swift casts ‘insanely charismatic and lovable’ Graham Norton in music video

  06-02-2026 23:15 via theguardian.com
  Opalite video reunites host and guests including Domhnall Gleeson and Lewis Capaldi from Swift’s October chatshow appearanceGraham Norton’s chatshow has long been an object of fascination for American stars, wowed by its combined star wattage, glasses of wine and Norton’s own quick-witted, lightly saucy repartee – and Taylor Swift has now taken that fandom to another level.Norton has been cast in the music video for Opalite, the second single from her album The Life of a
  
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• Frontline: Our Soldiers Facing Putin review – if you have a fetish for military jargon, you’ll love this

  06-02-2026 22:00 via theguardian.com
  This documentary about Nato’s readiness for war seems intended to provoke a mix of terror and arousal in the goggling, flag-hugging viewer.It’s terminally dull stuffIt is the world’s largest military alliance but, in reputational terms at least, Nato is currently vulnerable. For an organisation so dependent on US stability and generosity, Donald Trump’s shredding of the so-called “rules-based order” is a potentially existential threat. So Nato could use an eas
  
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• Why will an empty chair tour 17 city landmarks? - BBC

  06-02-2026 21:50 via news.google.com
  Why will an empty chair tour 17 city landmarks?  BBCView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• Max Richter: the composer who crosses the invisible divide between ‘high’ and ‘low’ music

  06-02-2026 21:27 via theguardian.com
  His first Oscar nomination, for Hamnet, is testament to the German-born British composer’s chameleon-like adaptabilityThe German-born British composer Max Richter had never been nominated for an Oscar until this year, though he may – unintentionally – have once scuppered someone else’s chance of winning one.In 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences disqualified Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score for the film Arrival on the grounds that viewers wo
  
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• The Guardian view on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor: driven by a belief that his status made him untouchable | Editorial

  06-02-2026 19:30 via theguardian.com
  The disgraced royal was sheltered by silence. Accountability to victims must mean testimony abroad and scrutiny at home, not palace containment tacticsWhen Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his titles last October, it was presented as a final act: a disgraced royal cut loose to protect the monarchy. The Epstein files suggest otherwise. Photographs and emails released by US authorities place Mr Mountbatten-Windsor deep inside Epstein’s network of favours. And they reveal an intimac
  
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• The Guardian view on a new prison drama: Waiting for the Out speaks quietly but powerfully | Editorial

  06-02-2026 19:25 via theguardian.com
  This BBC series hasn’t made the same the splash as Adolescence. But its reflections on men in prison are valuableDennis Kelly, the author of the BBC’s six-part drama Waiting for the Out – now on iPlayer, with its final episode to be broadcast on Saturday – told an interviewer that fear is the secret hidden inside his latest series. The drama, about a man who takes a job teaching philosophy to a group of men in a prison, is based on Andy West’s memoir The Life Inside
  
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• People with dementia are still people, with joys and interests of their own | Letters

  06-02-2026 19:05 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to an article by Jo Glanville about reading to her parents with dementia, and offer their own insights about supporting loved ones with the diseaseWell said, Jo Glanville (Reading was the key to breaking through the fog of my parents’ dementia, 1 February). Our mother lived with vascular dementia for many years, but she wasn’t “dead” or “as good as dead”. Far too many people believe this, even people whose loved ones have had dementia, and it&r
  
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• Honesty about the realities of motherhood, and proper NHS support, would go a long way | Letters

  06-02-2026 19:05 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to an article by Polly Hudson about the challenges of early parenthood that new mothers are not warned aboutI appreciated the sentiment in Polly Hudson’s piece, but ironically I also felt that it still framed motherhood as a wonderful thing, which of course it is for many, but not all women (I confessed a deplorable secret about motherhood to a friend – and it changed my life, 3 February).To fully tackle this issue, you need to look at a more rounded view of women&rsq
  
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• Geese guided our beloved dog back home | Letters

  06-02-2026 19:05 via theguardian.com
  Jill Webster shares her own experience of birds carrying a message of comfortI was moved by both your published letters on birds carrying messages of comfort (2 February) and Zoe Williams’ reflections on Jilly Cooper’s memorial (3 February) to recall a stoic old dog who we rehomed a few years ago.She’d had a difficult life, much of it spent at the whims of unhappy owners, and after she died we buried her in our garden. Continue reading...
  
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• Lord of the Flies star, 10, made 'friends for life' on set - BBC

  06-02-2026 19:02 via news.google.com
  Lord of the Flies star, 10, made 'friends for life' on set  BBCLord of the Flies: the castaway classic is such excellent, surreal horror that you will feel sick throughout  The GuardianThe BBC’s Lord of the Flies is a first-class example of an adaptation done right  The TelegraphLord of the Flies — a beautiful, haunting and confusing adaptation  Financial TimesBehind the scenes of the BBC's Lord of the Flies  Yahoo News UK
  
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• Winter Olympic wonders, Premier League thrills and Super Bowl LX – follow with us

  06-02-2026 18:41 via theguardian.com
  Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports Continue reading...
  
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• Man jailed after stealing 29 Lindt chocolate bunnies - Cambridge News

  06-02-2026 18:00 via news.google.com
  Man jailed after stealing 29 Lindt chocolate bunnies  Cambridge NewsHomeless man jailed after stealing 29 Lindt chocolate bunnies  ITVXCambridge man who stole 29 Lindt chocolate bunnies is arrested  BBCNews in Brief: career confessions, clever cameras, and ChatGPT  varsity.co.ukChocolate bunny thief jailed  Cambridgeshire Constabulary
  
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• It Walks Around the House at Night review – jump scares and spine tingles as a pretend ghost gets really spooked

  06-02-2026 17:09 via theguardian.com
  Minerva theatre, ChichesterAward-winning writer Tim Foley’s frightfest brings an out of work actor to a country manor to burnish the myth of its resident wraith. Beware of the silhouetted hands!There is a twinkling irony to the setup of Tim Foley’s ghost story: an out of work actor is enlisted to play the role of a ghost for a week, only to become haunted himself. Joe (George Naylor) is employed by David, a handsome stranger, to circle the grounds of Paragon Hall in order to perpetua
  
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• The Eternal Shame of Sue Perkins review – a Bake Off star basks in self-abasement

  06-02-2026 16:17 via theguardian.com
  Darlington Hippodrome
  Perkins’ return to live comedy features some lurid stories of her personal and professional ineptitude, and jaunty tales about vacuum cleaners and a drug-addled trip to a shamanShame is what Sue Perkins promises us in this return to live comedy after years away: her public personae withdrawn like the layers of a Russian doll to reveal the true, humiliated person beneath. Who wouldn’t want to see the former Bake Off star, after “30 years in our living rooms
  
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• The 31 best Galentine’s Day gifts your pals will love

  06-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Celebrate a different kind of love this 13 February with our favourite gift ideas for your BFF, from pottery kits to boxercise sets to the perfect present for pickle fanatics• The best Valentine’s Day gifts for 2026Galentine’s Day may not be an official holiday (yet), but we’re on board with any opportunity to show your friends some love. For the uninitiated, the concept is simple: 13 February is earmarked as a day to get together with your besties and celebrate your frien
  
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• ‘On a knife edge’: can England’s red squirrel population be saved?

  06-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Government plans to protect species by increasing woodland and removing greys, but campaigners say it needs to go furtherWhen Sam Beaumont sees a flash of red up a tree on his Lake District farm, he feels a swell of pride. He’s one of the few people in England who gets to see red squirrels in his back garden.“I feel very lucky to have them on the farm. It’s an important thing to try and keep a healthy population of them. They are absolutely beautiful,” he said. Continue r
  
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• A quick fix for broken zips – and 84 other tips to keep your clothes looking good

  06-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  From keeping whites white to preventing ‘bacon neck’, keep your clothes looking better for longer with these expert hacks First, be sure to buy the best quality you can. Layla Sargent, founder of The Seam, which connects people with skilled menders, cleaners and restorers, advises going for “a slightly higher denier, a good amount of elastane/Lycra, and reinforced toes and gussets”. Brands such as Falke, Heist and Swedish Stockings should last longer than a supermarket th
  
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• EU proposes 'powerful' 20th Russia sanctions package with full ban on oil maritime services - The Kyiv Independent

  06-02-2026 15:41 via news.google.com
  EU proposes 'powerful' 20th Russia sanctions package with full ban on oil maritime services  The Kyiv IndependentEU targets Russian energy, banks, goods and services in latest sanctions package  politico.euEU proposes new sanctions to weaken Russia's oil and gas revenues  Euronews.comEU pushes for full ban on services tied to Russia’s oil trade  Financial TimesAs West goes after Russia’s oil fleet, Moscow fears for its war funding  Th
  
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• ‘Christian pastors declared Pikachu to be a demon’: how Pokémon went from moral panic to unifying global hit

  06-02-2026 15:30 via theguardian.com
  Nintendo’s monster-collecting franchise was pilloried as a ‘pestilential Ponzi scheme’ in the 90s. But as its celebrates its 30th birthday, it now stands as a powerful example of video games’ ability to connect peopleWhen I was 11, it was my dream to compete in the Pokémon World Championships, held in Sydney in 2000. I’d come across it in a magazine, and then earnestly set about training teams of creatures, transferring them between my Pokémon Red Game
  
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• Week in wildlife: cuddling sloths, dazed iguanas and a very fat seal - The Guardian

  06-02-2026 15:23 via news.google.com
  Week in wildlife: cuddling sloths, dazed iguanas and a very fat seal  The Guardian
  
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• Steve Wright: Serial killer given 40-year sentence for murdering Victoria Hall, 17, as judge says 'you'll die in prison' - BBC

  06-02-2026 15:14 via news.google.com
  Steve Wright: Serial killer given 40-year sentence for murdering Victoria Hall, 17, as judge says 'you'll die in prison'  BBCSteve Wright given 40 years for Victoria Hall's murder  BBC'Suffolk Strangler' told he will die in jail as he's sentenced for sixth murder  Sky NewsSerial killer Steve Wright sentenced to 40 more years for schoolgirl’s murder  The GuardianSteve Wright sentenced to life imprisonment  Suffolk Constabulary
  
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• Mewgenics review – infinite ways to skin a cat

  06-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  PC; Edmund McMillen and Tyler GlaielThis mischievous roguelike escapade featuring utterly fiendish felines is compelling, and impressively tastelessYou know that old saying about cats having nine lives? Well, as far as Mewgenics is concerned, you can forget it – and you can also forget the idea that a game about cats has to be in any way cute. These kitties are red in tooth and claw, prone to strange mutations, and strictly limited to just the one life, which often ends swiftly and brutall
  
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• So the Epstein scandal is about politics? Silly me for thinking it’s about the mass abuse of women and girls | Marina Hyde

  06-02-2026 14:36 via theguardian.com
  Obsessing over individual players and political chaos leaves less time to focus on the misogyny. And that’s for the best, isn’t it guys?Fair play to Bill Gates’s ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, a woman who fronted up to appear on a podcast this week while so many of the men who feature in the latest Epstein files drop found that their diaries had them scheduled to stay hiding under their rocks. Melinda was asked about Jeffrey Epstein, obviously, and executed a very graceful driv
  
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• Ozempic and Wegovy could damage your eyesight, regulator warns - The Times

  06-02-2026 14:30 via news.google.com
  Ozempic and Wegovy could damage your eyesight, regulator warns  The TimesFat jabs can cause vision loss, regulator warns  The TelegraphMHRA updates guidance for semaglutide prescribers and patients  GOV.UKSmall risk of severe acute pancreatitis with weight-loss jabs, UK regulator warns  The GuardianAcute Pancreatitis Warnings Strengthened on GLP-1RAs  European Medical Journal
  
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• Cocktail of the week: Maré’s kiwi caipirinha – recipe | The good mixer

  06-02-2026 14:01 via theguardian.com
  A totally tropical livener with familiar cachaça and lime and an intriguing kiwi jam twangThis tropical, vibrant drink is our most popular cocktail, perhaps because it’s a twist on something familiar. Rather than building it in the glass with crushed ice, as for a traditional caipirinha, this is shaken so that the kiwi jam is mixed into the drink more thoroughly.Jake Garstang, restaurant manager and sommelier, Maré, Hove, East Sussex Continue reading...
  
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• ‘It’s the rubbish, female A-team!’ Derry Girl Lisa McGee on her hilarious new mystery thriller

  06-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  After plundering her tearaway teens for the comedy classic, Lisa McGee is back with a Scooby-Doo-style caper. As How to Get to Heaven from Belfast hits our screens, she explains why the craic’s about to get deadlyHow do you follow up a show about girls in Derry? With one about women in Belfast, obviously. That’s what Lisa McGee has done. Her new eight-parter, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, is as far away from Derry Girls as you can get when the distance between the worlds amounts
  
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• Tell us: how have you been affected by falling cryptocurrency prices?

  06-02-2026 13:39 via theguardian.com
  We want to hear how the fall in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and ether are impacting peopleBitcoin sank to its lowest value in more than a year this week, faling to $63,000 on Thursday, about half its all-time peak of $126,000 in October 2025It’s part of a wider shock to crypto prices. The second-largest cryptocurrency, ether, has faced losses of more than 30% this year alone. Continue reading...
  
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• Add to playlist: the bizarro punk of Dutch upstarts Grote Geelstaart and the week’s best new tracks

  06-02-2026 13:25 via theguardian.com
  Dressed in Sunday school apparel and singing exclusively in Dutch, this unorthodox five-piece embrace clinical chaosFrom Kapelle, Holland
  Recommended if you like Black Midi, King Crimson, YHWH Nailgun
  Up next New single Maalstroom out nowTight-fitted in scrimpy Sunday school apparel, Grote Geelstaart – Dutch for great yellowtail fish – make music that’s decidedly less orthodox than appearances suggest. Drums skirmish with frighteningly efficient, jackhammer velocity; synths and
  
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• The Virgins review – a tornado of gossip, pretence and pain as teens make Friday night sex night

  06-02-2026 13:20 via theguardian.com
  Soho theatre, London
  Desire collides with stomach-churning awkwardness in this play – which won the Women’s prize – about friends heading out for some physical contactI’m watching Miriam Battye’s The Virgins, which was nominated for the Women’s prize for playwriting in 2020, but it feels as if I’ve been thrown headfirst back into my teenage years. Centred on a group of teens who have decided that tonight is the night their sex lives finally get moving, i
  
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• Go deep into Freud, follow Gwen John home and watch Giacometti melt – the week in art

  06-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  The master portraitist’s process is spelled out, Cardiff celebrates the great Gwen, Lynda Benglis eyes up Giacometti and Scottish art schools wind back the clock – all in your weekly dispatchLucian Freud: Drawing Into Painting
  Dig deep into the vision of this great artist with an exhibition that follows his portrait process from paper to canvas.• National Portrait Gallery, London, from 12 February to 4 May Continue reading...
  
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• Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman review – a perfect fairytale for our times

  06-02-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  What does good living look like? With his marriage and career in meltdown, a man tries to get back to nature in this thought-provoking fableThere has never been a better time than now for Man, the protagonist of Helen of Nowhere, to be a neo-transcendentalist. As a university professor, the lessons he imparts involve encouraging his students to remove themselves from the politics of the city and “the tools of human construction” to pursue the purity of nature. In doing so, Man muses,
  
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• So, the smartphone ban in schools is going well … the Stephen Collins cartoon

  06-02-2026 11:30 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• The best flower delivery in the UK for every budget: eight favourites, freshly picked

  06-02-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  In need of a last-minute gift? We’ve tested the most beautiful blooms, including sustainable, British-grown and same-day delivery options, for Valentine’s Day and beyond• The best letterbox giftsI pride myself on being an excellent gift-giver, and I truly believe the uplifting feeling of finding flowers on the doorstep is hard to beat (unless they’re from an ex who “just wants to talk” – never be that guy).Flowers are such an easy win for the gift-giver,
  
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• Nussaibah Younis: ‘The Bell Jar helped me through my own mental illness’

  06-02-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  The author on taking solace in Joan Didion, discovering Donna Tartt and being cheered up by David SedarisMy earliest reading memoryThe first books I became obsessed with were Enid Blyton’s boarding school stories Malory Towers and St Clare’s. When I was eight, I’d hide them under my pillow and read by the hallway light when I was supposed to be asleep.My favourite book growing upRoald Dahl’s Matilda. I felt woefully misunderstood by the world and
  
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• Eternity to Queer: the seven best films to watch on TV this week

  06-02-2026 10:00 via theguardian.com
  Who will Elizabeth Olsen choose to spend the afterlife with – Callum Turner or Miles Teller? Plus: Daniel Craig is wonderful in Luca Guadagnino’s erotic dramaDavid Freyne’s lovely new film is a throwback to classic Hollywood romantic comedies such as the Cary Grant classic My Favourite Wife. Miles Teller (in the Grant role) plays Larry, who dies accidentally after 65 years of marriage to Elizabeth Olsen’s terminally ill Joan. He finds himself in an afterlife transit hotel
  
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• Average house price tops £300,000 for first time, says Halifax - BBC

  06-02-2026 08:30 via news.google.com
  Average house price tops £300,000 for first time, says Halifax  BBCPrice of average UK home passes £300,000 for first time, Halifax says  The GuardianUK House Prices Bounce Back to Hit Record High, Halifax Says  BloombergAverage UK house price tops £300,000 for the first time  The TelegraphHalifax House Price Index: A calmer market sets the tone for 2026  Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce
  
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• Jean by Madeleine Dunnigan review – sex and teenage secrets

  06-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Queer self-discovery drives this powerful coming-of-age debut set in a bohemian 1970s schoolIt might sound like a potentially familiar narrative: a queer coming-of-age story, charted across one single heat-crazed summer in the 70s. From its very first paragraphs, however, this debut novel feels different. Madeleine Dunnigan immediately takes us inside the head of her rather scary protagonist, and makes his adventures in teenage lust and self-awareness as involving as they are immediate. The writ
  
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• Flats for sale in England with outside space – in pictures

  06-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  From a Victorian conversion in London to a flat in a Southport townhouse with beaches on the doorstep Continue reading...
  
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• The largest life-form on land 400 million years ago was one that scientists can’t explain - Ground News

  06-02-2026 07:01 via news.google.com
  The largest life-form on land 400 million years ago was one that scientists can’t explain  Ground NewsView Full coverage on Google News
  
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• ‘It’s dedicated exclusively to female artists, from Frida Kahlo to Tracey Emin’: readers’ favourite unsung museums in Europe

  06-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  From ancient Greek bronzes to an unusual take on Donald Trump, readers recommend galleries and collections they’ve discovered on their travels
  • Tell us about a sunny break in Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherWe visited the Female Artists of the Mougins Museum, in Mougins, a small village on a hill near Cannes. Full of exclusively female artists – from Berthe Morisot in the 19th century and Frida Kahlo in the early 20th to contemporary figures such as
  
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• Helen Goh’s recipe for Valentine’s chocolate pots de creme for two | The sweet spot

  06-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Delicate, rich and silky chocolate pots to round off a romantic dinner These chocolate pots are dark, silken and softly bitter, with enough richness to feel a little decadent, but not heavy. Make one to share or two individual ones, depending on your mood. They can be made ahead, anywhere from an hour to a full day in advance, and will keep happily in the fridge. If they’ve been chilled for more than a couple of hours, let them sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving. T
  
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• Heads up: what to wear to elevate a humble hoodie

  06-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  With the right styling, a hooded top doesn’t have to be restricted to travelling or working from home Continue reading...
  
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• The Papers: 'PM battles for survival' and Rayner 'ready to go'

  06-02-2026 03:36 via bbc.com
  The political fallout from the Epstein files continues to dominate the papers.
  
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• ‘Sana-mania’ grips Japan as ultra-conservative Takaichi expected to secure election landslide

  06-02-2026 03:19 via theguardian.com
  The country’s first female PM is the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her outfits and snacks to her favourite pink pen Just eight months ago, Japan’s ruling party appeared to have reached the edge of the electoral abyss. It had lost a parliamentary majority for the second time in 15 months; its MPs were implicated in a long-running slush fund scandal; the then prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, was the target of factional plotting.But as voters prepare to br
  
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• I can't sell Mum's retirement flat - and it's costing me thousands

  06-02-2026 01:45 via bbc.com
  Relatives face "never-ending nightmare" of service charge debts as thousands of retirement flats stand empty across England and Wales.
  
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• Increase school funding to meet need for special education, MPs urge

  06-02-2026 01:42 via bbc.com
  A cross-party group calls on the government to "align funding to need", as ministers consider SEND reforms.
  
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• Statin pills much safer than advertised, major review finds

  06-02-2026 01:08 via bbc.com
  The results, in The Lancet journal, come from trials involving more than 120,000 people comparing statins with a dummy drug or placebo.
  
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• Number of homeless refugees in England soars, BBC finds

  06-02-2026 01:05 via bbc.com
  Analysis of government data shows numbers increased from 3,560 in 2021/22 to 19,310 in 2024/25.
  
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• Government's claim on sex offender's assets a thump in the jaw, say victims

  06-02-2026 01:03 via bbc.com
  Victims of prolific sex offender Thomas McKenna have accused a Stormont department of taking money out of their pockets over an attempt to recover legal costs.
  
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