From grown men eating ice cream – gasp! – to Noël Coward sweating in the desert and a baseball team without pants – a new exhibition celebrates images from the era-defining magazine Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The party’s MPs know their leader is failing but they are paralysed by fear of a contest with no obvious successor Westminster time is counted in scandals, resignations, rebellions, U-turns and leadership crises. All the things that aren’t good government age a regime. Keir Starmer has presided over a lot of woes in 18 months, making a young government look old.The premature decrepitude is more advanced, and more disturbing to Labour MPs, because it feels like continuity from the turbulent Tory regime that came before. The policies and personnel are different, but to the casual passing voter the sound of screaming and breaking crockery around Downing Street is familiar as a sign of a political problem family in residence.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistGuardian Newsroom: Can Labour come back from the brink? On Monday 30 April, ahead of May elections join Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Williams, Polly Toynbee and Rafael Behr as they discuss how much of a threat is Labour from both the Green party and Reform and whether Keir Starmer can survive as leader of the Labour party Book tickets here Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 06:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Norway built its global brand on diplomacy and egalitarianism. The cosying up of its elite to the sex offender can only boost the far rightDonald Trump may have wanted revenge against Norway for the Nobel peace prize snub, but even he could hardly have imagined the damage contained in the latest US justice department’s release of three million emails from the Jeffrey Epstein files.A string of what appear to be embarrassing messages between a Norwegian princess and Epstein initially led the global headlines. Mette-Marit, the crown princess, communicated regularly with the financier despite his 2008 conviction for child sexual abuse crimes and even went on holiday to his notorious Palm Beach villa. She has since apologised, expressing her “deep regret” for the friendship. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 05:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

With human sporting dramas fighting for space amid the geopolitics, the Winter Olympics are a reminder that the essence of sport remains noble and validThe Guardian’s sports coverage is different – and shaped by more than just the action on the pitch (or slopes). Help keep it free and independent today by becoming a supporterMy kids don’t like sport. Either playing or watching. This isn’t an affectation – my daughter once turned down a ticket to the Women’s World Cup final. We get along fine. But, given my job, it can limit the teatime conversation at home.On Sunday night, however, for a few moments, they accidentally watched the TV as Ilia Malinin of the USA went head-to-head with Shun Sato of Japan to determine who would lead their country to gold in the team figure skating at the Winter Olympics. They were transfixed. Although they know nothing about ice skating – correction, we know nothing about ice skating – it was obvious that Malinin’s flawed, riskier routine would ace the more fluent, more conservative Sato. It did. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 12:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

UK prosecutors are recklessly deploying art against young men in court. That’s why I’m taking parliamentary action to curb itHow often have you slumped into an armchair and surfed various streaming platforms in search of escape? Even if not looking for them, you’ll have been bombarded by a vast array of crime procedurals made in the UK, the US, various continental jurisdictions and further afield. They are set in gritty urban and idyllic rural landscapes; in country houses and even submarines. Whether featuring hardbitten veteran cops or gifted middle-class amateurs, what they all have in common is murder.Middle England is seemingly addicted to these TV dramas and the books that inspired so many of them. The creativity that produces them is big business. But what if those who write or even just enjoy this form of popular art found themselves prosecuted for real crime, with their work or taste used as evidence of criminality? If you find this possibility ridiculous, spare a thought for the increasing number of young black men and boys charged with “gang-related offences” on the basis of their participation in, or mere engagement with rap and drill music. It’s as though prosecutors were watching The Night Manager and trying to send Hugh Laurie to prison.Shami Chakrabarti is a lawyer, Labour peer, former shadow attorney general and the author of Human Rights: The Case for the DefenceDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 11:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The foodstuff was apparently listed as an interest on a job résumé, according to a viral social media post. It might make you stand out, but not in a good wayCompetition in the jobs market is ferocious, so today’s applicants must attempt to stand out. However, it now transpires, not too much. Online debate has been raging over one employment hopeful’s decision to list “olive oil” as an interest on their CV, after an anonymous account on social media claimed that doing so had blown the applicant’s chance of an interview.In their eyes, this failure of judgment in providing an acceptable interest was a dealbreaker. It spoke completely to the prospective candidate’s character, and it had nothing good to say there. It rendered everything else on the page moot. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 11:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Citizen surveillance is becoming increasingly normalised, even while similar technology is being deployed by ICE agents in the US and the IDF in GazaSay cheese! A decision last week greenlighting Bunnings’ use of facial recognition technology to routinely monitor customers provides a not-so-happy snap of how ill-prepared Australia is for the coming AI storm.On its face, the administrative review tribunal decision to overrule the privacy commissioner’s finding that Bunnings’ use of intrusive, high-impact AI was unlawful is a technical call. But the impact will be material. Continue reading...

11 Feb 2026 02:13 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN