37 minutes ago The Guardian view on Argentina’s austerity year: painful cuts, rising poverty and a geopolitical gamble | Editorial

In his first 12 months Javier Milei has imposed drastic economic measures – sparking protests while banking on an IMF bailoutThe first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump after his victory last November was Argentina’s president, Javier Milei. The affinity is obvious: both are political outsiders united by extreme-right rhetoric and a penchant for anarchic capitalism. Mr Milei promised a war on bureaucrats, brutal public spending cuts and sweeping deregulation of Latin America’s second-largest economy. Predictably, the outcome has been devastating: a recession plunged more than half the country into poverty within the first six months of 2024.Mr Milei did not so much win the last election as the previous government lost it. When voters went to the polls in October 2023, monthly inflation stood at around 8%, fuelling frustration with the established parties and anxiety about the future – sentiments Mr Milei skilfully exploited. After his victory, monthly inflation soared to...

Politics

6 hours ago Levante Beach Club, Rhodes: the sporty Greek holiday for people who hate sunbathing

This active resort holiday is pegged as the perfect place for Type 2 fun personalities. Samantha Herbert puts it to the test — seeing how many activities she can fit into seven days

Society

14 hours ago ‘A welfare state with a budget on the right side of zero’: Iceland’s youngest

Kristrún Frostadóttir, who entered politics just four years ago, speaks to the Observer about feminism, the far right and reopening talks on joining the EUNearly 45 years ago, Iceland made history by producing the world’s first elected female president of a country, setting it on a path to being the global feminist frontrunner it is today.Since then it has had multiple female presidents and prime ministers, but it wasn’t until three weeks ago, when social democrat Kristrún Frostadóttir took office, that the country’s two top positions were both held by women at the same time. It comes after Halla Tómasdóttir became Iceland’s second female president in August. Continue reading...

Economics

4 hours ago Manchester United starting XI vs Arsenal confirmed as Amad on bench but Garnacho starts

Man United will be looking to keep their hopes of defending their FA Cup crown alive when they face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Sport

48 minutes ago Northern Irish nun killed in Ecuador earthquake takes step towards sainthood

Beatification ceremony for Clare Crockett, former party girl from Derry, draws more than 100 people to MadridA nun from Northern Ireland who was killed in an earthquake while she was teaching music in Ecuador has taken a step closer to sainthood.A ceremony on Sunday afternoon started the process of beatification for Clare Crockett, who died in the Portoviejo, Ecuador during an earthquake in April 2016. The 33-year-old had been working in the country as part of her work as a nun, which had also taken in placements in Spain and the US. Continue reading...

Events

26 hours ago Couldn’t put it down: David Hurn’s photographs of people reading – in pictures

In 1983 David Hurn met one of his photographic heroes, André Kertész , and jokingly suggested that, when he reached Kertész’s age of 89, he would remake his seminal volume, On Reading. True to his word, the Magnum photographer has now done so. Wherever Hurn travelled as a photojournalist, he took images of people reading books, magazines and, lately, on mobile phones. “One of the things that happens in every country in the world is people read,” he says. “It’s lovely to read – the touch of the paper, the ease of being able to check back a few pages. But we’re at a time now where we’re not quite sure whether, in the future, books on paper are going to disappear.”David Hurn’s On Reading is published by RRB Photobooks (£35) Continue reading...

Culture

26 hours ago Britain's gas crisis could lead to higher energy bills if we have to import more from the EU to keep country running, expert says

With Centrica and National Gas at odds over the UK's gas stocks, the Government may be forced to turn to the EU to ensure supply, in a move which could spell disaster for consumers.

Science

66 minutes ago Ministers from 17 countries meet for Saudi talks on speeding aid to Damascus

Riyadh meeting also discussed keeping pressure on Syria’s new leadership to meet commitment to inclusive transitionMinisters from 17 Middle East and western countries have met in Riyadh to discuss how to speed aid to the new Syrian government while keeping pressure on the caretaker leadership to meet its commitment to run an administration representative of all religions and ethnic groups.The meeting on Sunday came as protesters in Syria called on the west to move faster on lifting economic sanctions, and so persuade more refugees to return from Europe and the states surrounding the country. Continue reading...

Politics

6 hours ago Meet Grace Charis, Paige Spiranac's influencer rival who went viral for her controversial golf attire

She may not be an LPGA or Ladies European Tour player. She's not even a professional golfer. Yet Charis has quickly become one of the most popular players of the game online in recent years.

Sport

50 minutes ago Swedish PM says country neither at war nor at peace as armed forces enter Baltic

Ulf Kristersson says ‘hostile intent cannot be ruled out’ as increased surveillance follows suspected cable sabotage The Swedish prime minister has said that his country is neither at war nor at peace as he announced that Sweden would be sending armed forces into the Baltic sea for the first time as part of increased surveillance efforts amid a spate of suspected sabotage of undersea cables.The country announced it will contribute up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft to a Nato effort to monitor critical infrastructure and Russia’s “shadow fleet” as the alliance tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure. Continue reading...

Events

3 hours ago Prince Harry's takedown of James Corden that left David Beckham building bridges

James Corden has been pals with Prince Harry and David Beckham for years, but the footballer was reportedly forced to act as a peacekeeper between his friends after an ill-timed joke from the Duke

Politics

10 hours ago Today's rugby news as Gatland summons coaches for final meeting and Wales hopeful steps up

Here are your rugby morning headlines for Sunday, January 12.

Sport

3 hours ago The Shetland Way by Marianne Brown review – a daughter’s journey to the heart of the climate crisis

An environmental writer returns to her father’s home for his funeral in a family memoir that becomes an examination of Shetland’s crucial role in the energy landscapeAs with many nature-centric memoirs of recent years, Marianne Brown’s debut, The Shetland Way, begins with personal loss. It opens at the funeral of her father, Bill, on his home island of Shetland, a place she knows only in glimpses; her parents separated when she was two, and her relationship with her father was characterised by absence, “always promising something it would never deliver”. But her connection with the islands and her late father is forced into an accelerated intimacy; the funeral takes place in February 2020 as the pandemic spreads, and Brown finds herself unexpectedly spending the months of lockdown with her partner and young daughter in Shetland: “Confinement in a land that claimed half my genealogy, a history and culture of which I knew next to nothing about.”They stay in the house that Bill, a pott...

Events

5 hours ago ‘Australia deserves a champion’: Alex de Minaur ready to meet great expectations | Simon Cambers

World No 8 is coming off a career-best year as pressure mounts to become the first homegrown Australian Open men’s singles champion since 1976Playing at home in front of a home crowd can go one of two ways. For some, it’s an inspiration, they play their best tennis at the most important moments. For others, it can be crippling, the tension ripping through their body and stopping them from playing the way they so dearly want to.Think Sam Stosur, the Australian who won the US Open in sensational style in 2011, beating Serena Williams in the final, but for whom the expectations at Melbourne Park were simply too stressful. For all his talent, Nick Kyrgios’s best run in Melbourne is a quarter-final effort in 2015. Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo made one quarter-final at Roland-Garros but triumphed in Australia and at Wimbledon. Continue reading...

Politics

12 hours ago How to watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona: TV channel and live stream for Spanish Super Cup final today

Eternal rivals meet again with silverware on the line

Sport

4 hours ago Sweden to contribute up to 3 warships to reinforced NATO presence in the Baltic

Sweden's government says the country will contribute up to three warships to a NATO effort to increase the alliance’s presence in the Baltic Sea as it tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure

Events

5 hours ago Canada’s election is about to have an Elon Musk problem with Trudeau’s exit

The world’s richest man looks to move Canada to the right as the beleaguered prime minister prepares to departThe decision by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, this week to resign as head of the Liberal party has set in motion a leadership race against the backdrop of a looming general election, which will be held amid political turmoil triggered by Donald Trump’s America First economic nationalism. It has also given Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, an opportunity to inject himself into yet another country’s political turmoil.Since Trudeau’s resignation on Monday, Musk has posted repeatedly about Canadian politics on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter he bought in 2022 for $44bn. He has praised clips of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s Conservative party, while relishing in Trudeau’s downfall and engaging with rightwing Canadian influencers. Continue reading...

Politics

4 hours ago Newsom says LA blaze is ‘worst natural disaster in US history’ amid criticism over water supply issues

Blazes have left at least 16 dead as questions asked about the lack of water supply for firefighters tackling monster blazes

Events

5 hours ago Inside Love Island Scott Thomas’ love affair with Kady McDermott as he returns to villa

Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott got together after meeting on the second series of Love Island back in 2016, and fans will recall their explosive relationship.

Politics

6 hours ago Revealed: The REAL story behind case of missing woman who vanished aged 16 in 1972 and was 'found' alive 52 years later

EXCLUSIVE: 16-year-old Sheila Fox vanished for over five decades before being found in Watford in a bizarre missing persons case, Now MailOnline reveal the real story behind the headline.

Events

5 hours ago Newsboy’s horseracing tips for Monday’s three meetings, including Exeter Nap

Newsboy fancies his nap, As The Fella Says, to win at Exeter and also hopes Amaysmont can score at Wolverhampton and complete his Daily Double

Politics

6 hours ago Where it all went wrong for Kyle Walker: Inside the muddled mind, love triangle chaos and niggling injuries as Man City captain demands move abroad, revealed by JACK GAUGHAN

Pep Guardiola's admission last night that Kyle Walker has asked to leave Manchester City to 'explore opportunities abroad' shows just how far the right-back's stock has fallen at the Etihad.

Events

5 hours ago Love Island All Stars 2025: Meet the former contestants returning for a second chance at romance

Reality dating show hosted by Maya Jama is back for more love and drama

Politics

8 hours ago Real Madrid vs Barcelona XIs: Confirmed team news, predicted lineups and injuries for Spanish Super Cup final

Clasico rivals meet in Jeddah in pursuit of domestic silverware

Events

9 hours ago Dogs, horses and peacocks were rescued from the LA fires. A charity waits for the owners

Injured animals are still being taken into pet shelters

Events

7 hours ago Return looted shipwreck treasures to countries of origin as reparations for slavery, says lawyer

Proposal suggests restitution for colonial artefacts should also apply to underwater heritage Shipwrecked colonial treasures that have lain on the seabed for centuries could be recovered and returned to their countries of origin as reparations for slavery.Tim Maxwell, an international cultural heritage lawyer, said repatriating artefacts found underwater could help former colonial powers meet moral obligations to countries they had historically exploited for their transatlantic trade. Continue reading...

Politics

10 hours ago Medieval Women: In Their Own Words review – a bracing cold shower with Joan of Arc and co

British Library, LondonA letter from the French saint and a lethal shopping list are among the stars of a mind-bending show of the words, mystical visions and everyday lives of women from 1100 to 1500What does hell smell like? At the British Library last week, I opened a small wooden door and inhaled a scent that was bitter and vegetal: a combination of sulphur and something that I didn’t dare to think about for too long so soon after breakfast. Ugh. To spend eternity breathing in this! Happily, though, a counter-stink was on hand. Before the devil had a chance to appear, I closed the door and opened another next to it. This time, my nose filled with the sweetness of honey. It wasn’t precisely heavenly; to be worldly just for a moment, I think you need Chanel or Guerlain for truly celestial perfumes. But it did make me smile. The things museum curators get up to when they’re trying to encourage time travel.The horrible smell was inspired by the saintly Julian of Norwich’s 16th and f...

Events

7 hours ago I've tested hundreds of beauty products, but this Trinny London brow and mascara duo stands out

I rarely repurchase beauty products, but the Lash2Brow stick is an exception

Politics

12 hours ago A Second Act by Dr Matt Morgan review – what nearly dying can teach us about living

In this sequel to his bestseller, Critical, the intensive care doctor draws lessons on the joys of a ‘second life’ from the experiences of patients who have flatlined and been revived“We have two lives,” Dr Matt Morgan writes, before clarifying: “The second begins when you realise you have [only] one.” Sometimes, as the case studies in this book detail, this realisation comes more suddenly and profoundly than most of us can imagine. For more than 20 years, Morgan has been a specialist doctor in intensive care, labouring at the extreme margins of life. Just occasionally, in his day-to-day education in human mortality, he has witnessed what might, in other traditions, be thought of as supernatural events: people whose vital signs have flatlined, but who have returned to tell the tale. The stories in this book – a sequel to his bestselling Critical – are his accounts of those impossible second acts, and his reflections on what we can learn from those lucky few who have experienced both...

Events

7 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Zverev in action, Sabalenka beats Stephens and more on day one – live

Updates from the first day of action at Melbourne ParkAny thoughts? Share them with Daniel via emailTalking of Andreeeva, here she is talking to Tumaini Carayol.I can’t wait to see how she develops but, seeded to meet Saba in round four, she might be on borrowed time. That, contest, though, would be a treat – and most likely a lot closer than our current one. Sabalenka breaks again for 4-0, but Stephens quickly earns 15-40 Continue reading...

Politics

14 hours ago UK weather: Rare amber cold health warning today with 'deaths likely' as Brits brace for

The UK's Health Security Agency confirmed a country-wide amber cold health warning will last until Tuesday, January 14, amid a warning that deaths could be 'likely'

Events

8 hours ago The Princess of 72nd Street by Elaine Kraf review – charming portrait of an artist in her own world

Kraf’s charming and challenging fourth and final novel, now published in the UK, is narrated by a New Yorker who experiences psychotic episodes“I am glad I have the radiance. This time I am wiser,” begins Elaine Kraf’s 1979 novel – now published for the first time in the UK – in irresistibly intriguing style. The narrator is Ellen, an artist living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where she regularly experiences periods of what she calls radiance, or what the rest of us would call psychosis, mental illness, or detachment from reality.And what “the rest of us” think is part of the problem for Ellen, because the radiances make her happy and she is no threat to anybody. “Fools! No one likes anyone for what they really are.” So she becomes Esmeralda, self-styled princess of 72nd Street. “I am not one of those rulers who is never seen on the streets mingling with the common people.” Continue reading...

Politics

16 hours ago Ukraine war briefing: Ukraine ‘captures two North Korean soldiers in Russia’

Pair being interrogated in Kyiv, with intelligence agency SBU saying one had fake Russian military ID; Russia claims control of village near PokrovskSee all our Ukraine coverageUkraine said it was interrogating two North Korean soldiers after capturing the pair in Russia’s Kursk region – the first time it has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the war last year. The president, Volodymyr Zelensyy, said on X on Saturday the soldiers were captured by Ukraine’s special forces and were being interrogated by the SBU domestic intelligence agency in Kyiv. The SBU released a video showing the two men in hospital bunks, one with bandaged hands and the other with a bandaged jaw. It said their questioning was being done in Korean with the help of South Korea’s NIS intelligence agency. Neither Russia nor North Korea immediately reacted to the announcement.The SBU said the two captured North Korean men had told interrogators they were experienced army sold...

Events

8 hours ago Friends fans spot 'biggest ever lie told' – and everyone is saying same thing

Chelsea Torres, a mum from Honolulu, Hawaii, took to Instagram to share a video of herself enjoying a peaceful breakfast alone at home – then she realised one big thing...

Politics

17 hours ago I'm sure I was drugged and raped too, says the daughter of the Monster of Avignon

Caroline Darian says photographs of her asleep in bed - among thousands of images stored on a laptop to document the serial rape of her mother, Gisèle - show her in underwear she didn't own.

Events

8 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Sabalenka beats Stephens, Zverev in action next on day one – live

Updates from the first day of action at Melbourne ParkAny thoughts? Share them with Daniel via emailTalking of Andreeeva, here she is talking to Tumaini Carayol.I can’t wait to see how she develops but, seeded to meet Saba in round four, she might be on borrowed time. That, contest, though, would be a treat – and most likely a lot closer than our current one. Sabalenka breaks again for 4-0, but Stephens quickly earns 15-40 Continue reading...

Politics

20 hours ago Brits are keeping warm during the bitterly cold snap – by sinking pints down the pub

Chilly Brits have been taking shelter from the bitterly cold snap by propping up bars up and down the country to warm up. They necked 150 million pints in the first 10 days

Events

9 hours ago ‘Would love to see her faked’: the dark world of sexual deepfakes – and the women fighting back

The government has promised a crackdown on synthetic image abuse – but campaigners warn it doesn’t go far enoughIt began with an anonymous email. “I’m genuinely so, so sorry to reach out to you,” it read. Beneath the words were three links to an internet forum. “Huge trigger warning They contain lewd photoshopped images of you.”Jodie (not her real name) froze. In the past, the 27-year-old from Cambridgeshire had had problems with people stealing her photos to set up dating profiles and social media accounts. She had reported it to police but been told there was nothing they could do, so pushed it to the back of her mind. Continue reading...

Politics

27 hours ago ‘Most of my work is a response to war’: Colombian artist Doris Salcedo on violence, Trump and her crack in Tate Modern’s floor

The artist, famed in the UK for her extraordinary fissure in the turbine hall, has turned her focus to the climate catastrophe and the plight of migrants, but old concerns about her country remainAs the world turns toward another fractured year, Doris Salcedo, the Colombian artist, is at work trying to fathom how to create a house out of human hair. Salcedo, 65, has long made herself a channel of collective trauma, her art expressing profound anger at political crimes and atrocities at home and abroad – as well as creating imaginative spaces for mourning. Her hair project, she says, comes in response to what she has come to think of as “domicide”: the calculated bombing and destruction of places that people call home.“Most of my work is a response of some kind to war,” she says. “And we have all witnessed – of course for decades in Colombia, but also now in Ukraine and Syria and Sudan and in Gaza – this destruction of houses for the sole purpose of escalating human suffering. In Gaz...

Events

9 hours ago The week in TV: Patience; 7/7: The London Bombings; Playing Nice; American Primeval – review

The week in TV: Patience; 7/7: The London Bombings; Playing Nice; American Primeval – review  The Guardian

Politics

27 hours ago Real Madrid vs Barcelona XIs: Predicted lineups, confirmed team news and injuries for Spanish Super Cup final

Clasico rivals meet in Jeddah in pursuit of domestic silverware

Events

9 hours ago Ianis Hagi and Philippe Clement Rangers dynamic has changed as dad Gheorghe reveals why he swerved Ibrox meeting

The Romanian legend insists his son has passed a difficult Ibrox test after watching him score against Celtic

Politics

28 hours ago Ukraine shows first North Korean soldiers captured alive fighting war for Putin

Two North Korean soldiers have been captured alive and are now helping Ukrainian secret service after being given false Russian identities and drafted in to fight in Putin's war against Ukraine

Events

9 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Sabalenka v Stephens, plus Zverev in action on day one – live

Updates from the first day of action at Melbourne ParkAny thoughts? Share them with Daniel via emailTalking of Andreeeva, here she is talking to Tumaini Carayol.I can’t wait to see how she develops but, seeded to meet Saba in round four, she might be on borrowed time. That, contest, though, would be a treat – and most likely a lot closer than our current one. Sabalenka breaks again for 4-0, but Stephens quickly earns 15-40 Continue reading...

Politics

29 hours ago Netflix viewers divided as sequel to hit 2023 movie shoots to No 1 in rankings

‘Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger’ has proved immediately popular

Events

10 hours ago In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World review – visions of mortality abound

Fitzrovia Chapel, LondonIn a former hospital chapel replete with its own stories, works by Paula Rego, Phyllida Barlow and others resonate in their exquisitely contemplative surroundingsThe Fitzrovia Chapel is a miniature cathedral in the heart of London – a tiny vault of marble, stained glass and gold conceived on the most human of scales. Old photographs show congregations of barely more than 50. It is possible to walk from one end to the other in fewer than a dozen steps, but along the way are glimmering mosaics, glowing stars and some of the most moving words I have ever read in a church.This chapel, where King Charles recorded his recent Christmas message, is all that remains of the old Middlesex hospital in the heart of London. A neo-gothic building of dark red brick, it once nestled inside this venerable teaching hospital, founded in 1745. Now it stands alone, and fully visible, dwarfed instead by the high-rise apartments and luxury shops of the Pearson Square complex that re...

Politics

38 hours ago Chaos as LA Fire Chief 'called in to be fired by Mayor'... but says she is still in her job

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is clinging onto her job by a thread sources say, after she hugged staff goodbye and entered a meeting with the mayor.

Events