Raducanu faces Mananchaya Sawangkaew, the World No 195, as the British No 1 begins her Australian Open campaign after a win for qualifier Arthur Fery
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When funding cuts closed National Theatre Wales, the actor saw it as an emergency, and set about building a replacement. As its first show comes to the stage, he explains his plan to bring big productions back to his homeland
Since Thornton Wilder wrote Our Town in 1938, it is said that not a day has passed when the Pulitzer prize-winning show hasn’t been performed. “Every time I read it, I come away with the feeling of having been woken up,” says Michael Sheen, star of the upcoming touring production of Wilder’s play about a close-knit community in small-town America. “With this urgent sense of ‘I have to not waste this.’”
Transposing the heart of the American classic to Wales, this new production also marks the launch of Welsh National Theatre, a hugely ambitious company formed – and financed – by Sheen in response to the collapse of the former National Theatre Wales. “Opening night is going to be more than just the opening night of a play,” says Russell T Davies, the show’s creative associate. “I think in 10 years, we’ll be having a marvellous celebration that all began with Our Town.”
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© Photograph: Helen Murray
© Photograph: Helen Murray
© Photograph: Helen Murray
Vice-president has emerged as key defender of Maga flame – and is backed by big tech billions. Is this the heir apparent?
“We did not have a lot of money,” said JD Vance, placing hand on heart as he recalled his childhood in Middletown, Ohio in the 1990s. “I was raised by a woman who struggled often to put food on the table and clothes on her back.”
There was an earnest cry from the audience. “Mamaw!” shouted a man.
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© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images
© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images
© Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images
The food, beauty and pharmaceutical industries poison our self-image. GLP-1 drugs will only make them richer – and strengthen the hold they have over us
Fifty years ago, I started thinking about the demand for women to look a certain way and the rebellions against the narrow ways in which we were supposed to display (and not display) our bodies. For a while, there was a conversation about the strictures. Some young women refused to conform. Some women risked being in the bodies they had rather than embodying the dominant images of being Madonna or the whore. But troubled eating abounded, even if it wasn’t always visible, stoked by the food and diet industries and their bedfellows in the beauty and fashion industries. These industries targeted appearance as crucial to girls’ and women’s identity and their place in the world.
Today, a new kind of troubled eating is stalking the land, entirely induced by the new GLP-1 weight-loss drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies and promoted by their willing agents on social media. It is totally understandable that people want relief from obsessive and invasive thoughts about their bodies and food. The explosion of GLP-1 drugs has provided a kind of psychological peace for many who feel less frightened of their appetites.
Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, psychoanalyst and social critic. She is the author of many books, including Bodies and Fat Is a Feminist Issue
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© Photograph: Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images
© Photograph: Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images
© Photograph: Iuliia Burmistrova/Getty Images
The first grand slam of 2026 is under way in Melbourne
Britain’s Fery delivers upset with win over seed Cobolli
Follow us over on Bluesky | Get in touch: email Daniel
I’m not sure why, but I can’t get commentary on Bublik v Brooksby, which isn’t helpful, but Bublik leads 3-1; Tiafoe is up a break in set three, so at 4-2 is only two games away from seeing off Kubler; Zheng leads Korda by a break at 4-3 in the fifth; and Norrie is up a set on Bonzi, but serving to stay in the second at 4-5.
We’re away on Laver, Sabalenka in dayglo straight out of 1989 … and Rakotomanga Rajaonah immediately makes 0-30 on her serve. Oh! And when the champ swats a backhand long, she’s down three break points! All three are saved, but then the underdog raises a fourth on advantage, thrashes a deep return, and Sabalenka nets a forehand! Rakotomanga Rajaonah need only hold five times and she’s a set up! Er yeah, let’s see…
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© Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP
© Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP
© Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP
Authorities say there had been ’clear and repeated warnings’ about the avalanche risk
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‘If I can entertain the people, that's even better’ Corentin Moutet said after his first-round win over Tristan Schoolkate
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⚽ Fixtures | Tables | Afcon final preview | Email us here
The likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and Manchester City are also back in Women’s FA Cup action today…
Tottenham v Leicester City
Bournemouth v Manchester City
Brighton v Nottingham Forest
Chatham v York City
Ipswich Town v Sheffield United
London Bees v Liverpool
Manchester United v Burnley
Oxford United v Middlesbrough
Southampton v Bristol City
Arsenal v Aston Villa
Charlton v Swindon
Hull v Birmingham
Strasbourg v Metz
Nantes v Paris FC
Rennes v Le Havre
Lyon v Brest
Stuttgart v Union Berlin
Augsburg v Freiburg
Parma v Genoa
Bologna v Fiorentina
Torino v Roma
AC Milan v Lecce
Getafe v Valencia
Atletico Madrid v Alaves
Celta Vigo v Rayo Vallecano
Real Sociedad v Barcelona
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© Composite: Getty Images
© Composite: Getty Images
© Composite: Getty Images
Trump said it was ‘time for Denmark to give back’ to the US
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First journey around moon with astronauts in more than 50 years could blast off in February
Nasa’s giant new moon rocket has moved to the launch pad in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.
The trip could blast off in February.
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© Photograph: Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
US delegation includes White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner
© Reuters
European leaders say tariff threat ‘unacceptable’ as Trump escalates plan for the US to acquire Greenland
The UK needs to have an “adult debate” with the US after Donald Trump threatened to ramp up tariffs until a deal is reached for the US to acquire Greenland, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said.
She said Keir Starmer will talk to Trump at the “earliest opportunity” but could not say if that would be at Davos in the coming week.
As the prime minister has very clearly said we disagree with this decision.
We’re going to go and have that conversation with our American counterparts, and while we’re having that conversation with them, we’re also going to be talking about the security of the United Kingdom and the United States and how our interests are better served by working together.
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© Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
© Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Experts warn use of VPNs makes it hard to limit access to technology that can create nonconsensual explicit images
Days after Malaysia made global headlines by announcing it would temporarily ban Grok over its ability to generate “grossly offensive and nonconsensual manipulated images”, the generative AI tool was conversing breezily with accounts registered in the country.
“Still here! That DNS block in Malaysia is pretty lightweight – easy to bypass with a VPN or DNS tweak,” Grok’s account on X said in response to a question from a user.
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© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Massive fire burns through the night as only 30% blaze is controlled till morning
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© AFP via Getty
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Politicians are raising the alarm, while MI5 quietly welcomes the prospect of Beijing’s new London facility
While there has been no shortage of politicians eager to raise concerns about China’s proposed “mega embassy” near the Tower of London, the espionage community quietly takes a different view, arguing that concerns about the development are exaggerated and misplaced.
The domestic Security Service, MI5, is already quietly welcoming the prospect of rationalising China’s seven diplomatic sites to one, but a more significant argument is that modern technology and the nature of the Chinese threat means that, in the words of one former British intelligence officer, “embassies are less and less relevant”.
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© Illustration: David Chipperfield Architects
© Illustration: David Chipperfield Architects
© Illustration: David Chipperfield Architects
A TV reporter and current and former army officers are accused of exchanging military information for payments
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