LA officials call on 2028 Olympics chair to resign over Ghislaine Maxwell emails 04. February 2026 (20:15) Casey Wasserman has said he regrets 2003 emails with the convicted sex trafficker Several Los Angeles officials have urged Casey Wasserman, the chair of the LA28 Olympics committee, to step down after emails between him and the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced.The emails date back to 2003 and appear among more than 3m files related to Jeffrey Epstein released by the justice department last week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Tesco sorry for putting up Welsh bilingual signs in Cornwall 04. February 2026 (20:12) Campaigners say they appreciate attempt to use Cornish but mistake points to need for more access to languageShoppers in Cornwall could have been forgiven for feeling bemused after a supermarket put up bilingual signs – in Welsh.A branch of Tesco in Helston – about 200 miles from south Wales by road – pointed shoppers towards pysgod, which is Welsh, not Cornish, for fish. It also labelled sweet potato as tatws melys – again Welsh instead of Cornish. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
EU deal on Ukraine loan could boost UK if it agrees to help pay costs 04. February 2026 (19:50) British firms could get more opportunities to supply defence equipment to Kyiv if agreement can be reachedThe UK could reap greater benefits from a €90bn (£78bn) EU loan for Ukraine, if it agrees to help pay the cost of borrowing, after European countries signed off long-awaited financial aid for Kyiv.British firms could have greater opportunities to supply defence equipment to Ukraine funded by the loan if the government agrees a “fair” contribution towards EU borrowing costs. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Father of toddler abused by nursery worker ‘frustrated’ by deportation 04. February 2026 (19:46) Polish national Roksana Lecka, sentenced to eight years in prison for child cruelty, will be deported on ThursdayThe father of a toddler who was abused by a nursery worker in a “sadistic” campaign of cruelty says he is “upset and frustrated” that the worker is to be deported to Poland on Thursday, less than five months into an eight-year sentence.Roksana Lecka, a Polish national, was convicted last June of 21 counts of child cruelty, after a jury at Kingston upon Thames crown court in London found she had smacked, punched, pinched and kicked children aged between 18 months and two years while working at two London nurseries in 2023 and 2024. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Steve Bannon calls for immigration agents at polling sites during midterms 04. February 2026 (19:41) Ex-Trump adviser adds to elections officials’ concern about potential interference from Trump administration in votingSteve Bannon, the former White House strategist and rightwing podcast host, said he wants to see immigration agents at the polls in November, a proposal that election officials have feared.Bannon has no formal power, but is an influential figure on the far right and is closely tied with the Trump administration. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Son of Norway’s crown princess ‘does not remember’ taking videos of alleged sexual assault 04. February 2026 (19:37) Marius Borg Høiby, 29, on trial accused of 38 crimes, broke down in tears as he claimed press had harassed him for yearsMarius Borg Høiby, the son of Norway’s crown princess, has told a court he does not remember taking pictures and videos found on his phone that police say show him sexually assaulting a woman at a royal residence.Høiby, Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship before her marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, is on trial accused of 38 crimes, including four rapes and assaults. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Murdered son of Muammar Gaddafi was perceived as a threat to Libya’s elite 04. February 2026 (19:26) Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, shot dead on Tuesday, appealed to ‘a nostalgia for a past that is remembered as more secure’The assassination of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is a reminder of both how violent Libya remains more than 15 years after his father’s demise – and how much Saif had come to be perceived as a threat to Libya’s governing elite.The loyalist Gaddafi green movement remained a potent gathering point for some Libyans nostalgic for a return to imagined past security that Saif’s father symbolised. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Texas man sues California doctor for allegedly sending abortion pills to state 04. February 2026 (18:52) Suit is the first under new law allowing residents to sue providers protected in their states under ‘shield laws’A physician based in California has become the first medical provider sued under a recently enacted Texas statute that empowers private individuals to file civil lawsuits against providers who mail abortion medication into the state.The case was brought by Jerry Rodriguez, who claims that Remy Coeytaux, a doctor practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area, violated a Texas law that allows abortion providers to face penalties of at least $100,000 if they mail pills into Texas. The filing alleges Coeytaux mailed abortion medication to end Rodriguez’s girlfriend’s pregnancies twice, once in 2024 and again in early 2025. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Angel that looked like Giorgia Meloni removed from Rome church fresco 04. February 2026 (18:27) Vatican appears to have ordered removal of restored work, which artist confessed he had made to resemble PMThe face of a winged angel bearing a striking resemblance to the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has been erased from a fresco in a historic Rome church, putting an end to a debacle that embarrassed the Vatican.The image on the wall painting in a chapel of the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina in central Rome was removed overnight, leaving the cherub headless. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
After latest Epstein files release, the king must feel vindicated for cutting off Andrew 04. February 2026 (17:43) Position of Mountbatten-Windsor now appears even more grave, and the shadow cast over his family even darkerWhen King Charles stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his titles and announced he would be booted out of Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace said the “censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him”.Four months and more than 3m documents later, Charles must surely feel vindicated on his tough approach. For while there is nothing to suggest the king nor any other senior royals knew then what was to come in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, what has emerged has been truly shocking. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
