New design honors George Cade Price, Belize’s first prime minister known as father of independence from British rule

Belize has taken a “significant step” toward removing the remnants of colonialism by replacing Queen Elizabeth’s image on its dollar bills with those of national heroes.

Unveiling the new design of the bank notes late on Thursday, Belize’s central bank governor, Kareem Michael, said that along with improved security and anti-counterfeit features, the “new family of notes also allows us to recognize and celebrate our heritage and the rich history of Belize”.

Former Fox News host accused of sexual assault, financial mismanagement and excessive alcohol use appears to have enough Republican votes

• US politics live – latest updates

The Senate will vote on Friday night on the nomination of Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for US secretary of defense, but mounting concerns over Hegseth’s personal history and inexperience have raised doubts about his chances of confirmation.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and army veteran, cleared a key procedural hurdle on Thursday, after 51 Republican senators voted to advance his nomination toward a final vote. But two Senate Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined their Democratic colleagues in voting against advancing Hegseth’s nomination because of their skepticism about his qualifications.

Trump’s inauguration, fires in California, the hostage release in Israel and Storm Éowyn: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

• Dispute means ‘protocol’ for 38th edition put on hold
• Position of Challenger of Record now clouded in doubt

The acrimonious split between two knights, Sir Ben Ainslie and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has cast uncertainty over the next edition of the America’s Cup, with crucial negotiations unable to move forward while the disputing parties engage in legal proceedings.

The Guardian understands that a commercial dispute over who owns what within the Ineos Britannia partnership, which was dissolved by Ratcliffe this week, has meant progress over the “protocol” for the 38th America’s Cup will have to be put on hold.

Oscar-winning film-maker behind 20 Days in Mariupol returns to festival with bruising, on-the-ground look at ongoing conflict

A harrowing new documentary from Mstyslav Chernov on Ukraine’s ailing counteroffensive against the Russian invasion brought tears and a standing ovation to the Sundance film festival, two years after the film-maker premiered 20 Days in Mariupol, his Oscar-winning account of the siege’s first weeks.

In 2000 Meters from Andriivka, Chernov is once again beside fellow Ukrainians amid Russian attacks. But whereas 20 Days in Mariupol focused primarily on civilians killed, maimed or mourning during the initial Russian invasion in 2022, Andriivka embeds with Ukrainian soldiers during the military’s counteroffensive in the east throughout 2023, at a time when there was no other independent reporting from the war’s frontlines.

Those using e-cigarettes, medication or heated tobacco products are more likely to successfully give up smoking

A million smokers a year in England try to quit by employing methods with little chance of success, according to new research.

Almost half (49%) of all those trying to give up greatly reduced their chances of success by relying on willpower or over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as gum and patches.

Fauci had served as leading infectious diseases official for seven presidents and had broken with Trump on Covid

Donald Trump on Friday said he had pulled federal security protection for the former top US health official Anthony Fauci.

Fauci, who served as the nation’s top infectious disease official during the Covid-19 pandemic and had served seven US presidents, coming from both parties, as a public health leader for decades, was provided security under the National Institutes of Health, according to CNN, which earlier reported the move.

Prosecutors had offered seven-year sentence, three years probation and 180 days in jail in exchange for guilty plea

The trial for the star rapper A$AP Rocky, who is accused of firing a gun at a former friend in a November 2021 incident, kicked off in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Friday.

The proceedings come a year after the rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. On Tuesday A$AP Rocky, 36, declined a plea offer from prosecutors who recommended ​​a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and 180 days in jail in exchange for a guilty plea.

Stewart Rhodes, whose 18-year Capitol attack sentence was commuted by Trump, was released from prison on Tuesday

A federal judge on Friday forbade Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group, and some other January 6 defendants from the 2021 attack on Congress from entering Washington DC, as well as the US Capitol within, as a condition of their release from prison.

US district court judge Amit Mehta wrote in the order on Friday that Rhodes, along with seven other defendants in the group, would need to be first obtain permission from the court before setting foot in Washington DC.

The US president has issued a blizzard of edicts and announcements. Determining where to focus the fightback will be difficult but essential

Waiting for Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was like watching a tsunami gather force. Everyone could see the threat approaching. But its scale was still shocking as it hit land, and what damage it wreaks will ultimately take months and years to determine.

The deluge is intentional. For supporters, there is a sense of unleashed macho, almost messianic energy – setting the US on a path to national destiny which might take in Greenland, Panama and ultimately Mars. This time Mr Trump has an electoral mandate, a compliant team with a ready agenda, the obsequiousness of billionaires who command the attention economy, and a compliant supreme court which has already granted the president extraordinary power. He aspires to the rule of a monarch. The flood of executive orders, pardons and pronouncements is intended to overwhelm and intimidate, but also to disorientate opponents.

From Ireland’s shot at history to Italy’s raised expectations, the 2025 championship has all the ingredients to rival past classics

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Six Nations and what strikes me on the eve of the tournament is how much of a reassuring presence in the calendar the championship has become. The World Cup is a wonderful tournament but there is debate over how many teams should feature, the Champions Cup has been tinkered with in terms of format and the Premiership has undergone changes, whether it be the number of teams or the absence of promotion and relegation. Against that backdrop, having a tournament as consistently familiar as the Six Nations is special.

Whether you’re a supporter, an administrator, a player or a broadcaster, we all believe that the Six Nations is the shining light of rugby. It is the one tournament where there is a unified belief that it is still the greatest competition. In the coming weeks we’ll have 10s of millions of viewers watching our sport, it is our moment in the spotlight.

In just 100 hours, the returned president has already revealed his goal and exposed the weakness of those who might challenge him

It’s hard to see in a blizzard. When so much is coming at you, one thing after another, it becomes impossible to discern anything but a blur. You become disoriented and lose your balance. If that was the aim of Donald Trump’s first 100 hours in office, it’s definitely working.

The bombardment of executive orders, decisions and declarations has been unrelenting, a shock-and-awe display of presidential action that has left its targets reeling. Consider what Trump has done this week alone.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Progressive Conservative leader of Canada’s most populous province seeks ‘strong mandate’ to counter 25% tariff plan

The premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has said he will call an early election, citing the need for a strong mandate to fight against tariffs threatened by Donald Trump.

Doug Ford said he would meet the province’s lieutenant governor on Tuesday to dissolve his government and call an election on Wednesday, which would allow for voting on 27 February. The election had previously been slated for June of 2026.

The teenager on his calm demeanour, learning the defender’s art in Italy and his side’s European credentials

He is surely one of the most exciting prospects in the game – José Mourinho said as much around this time last year – but to many Dean Huijsen is just a Chill Guy. Last month the 19-year-old celebrated his first Bournemouth goal, against Tottenham, by mimicking the popular meme of a human-like dog smirking with paws in pockets, and then did the same a couple of weeks later after opening the scoring in a resounding win at Old Trafford.

A TikTok clip of Huijsen imitating the image, posted by Bournemouth, has been viewed 11m times. “I’ve always been a pretty relaxed person, pretty chilled,” Huijsen says. “I think I am pretty calm on the ball, I make my decisions and I don’t get too panicked. I thought it would be a nice celebration but didn’t expect it to go so viral. I just thought it would be funny – I guess people liked it.”

People in their 60s are living longer today than in previous generations. We asked experts how they can best prepare

The percentage of people 65 or older has rapidly increased over the last 100 years. This group grew about five times faster than the total population between 1920 and 2020.

Baby boomers, who started turning 65 in 2011, are primarily behind this growth spurt. The sixtysomethings of today are also living longer than previous generations.

Columbia University’s Merlin Chowkwanyun says public health has a long history of being used against asylum seekers – from repatriation to segregation

In one of Donald Trump’s many day one executive orders and proclamations, he cited not just safety and national security as a reason to crack down on immigration – but also public health.

It’s not the first time the president has used public health to block immigration. In the early days of the Covid pandemic, his administration used a dormant wartime law from 1944, known as Title 42, to invoke public health restrictions to turn back migrants at the US-Mexico border. It expired in 2023, during the Biden administration, but experts believe it could be revived as Trump’s advisers have reportedly spent months trying to find a disease that would help them be able to close the border.

Three-year-old bears Qing Bao and Bao Li can be seen on the zoo’s ‘giant panda cam’ after arriving in US in October

Two new giant pandas made their public debut at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC on Friday morning amid growing excitement about newcomers to the nation’s capital, quickly dubbed by some media outlets as “pandamonium”.

The three-year-old pandas, Qing Bao, whose name means “green treasure” in Mandarin, and Bao Li, whose name means “active and vital power”, arrived in the US from China last October, making them the first pandas to come to DC from China in 24 years, but have been in quarantine since.

Russian president strikes noticeably favourable tone, downplaying Trump’s economic threats

Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to discuss the war in Ukraine with Donald Trump and suggested it would be a good idea for them to meet.

In his first comments since Trump issued threats to inflict economic damage on Russia if it failed to end the war in Ukraine, Putin struck a favourable tone towards the US president.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

With apologies to Sheffield United v Hull, Friday night in the UK is all about the finale of BBC ratings juggernaut The Traitors, with stacks of gold set to be handed out after four weeks of top-notch skulduggery. We’re not in the business of serving up spoilers, so will simply say we hope [redacted] finally gets their comeuppance, [redacted] is vindicated and we never see [redacted] on our screens again. In an effort to kill some time and keep things vaguely football-adjacent, we’re pondering who belongs in the traitorous turret of the lavish, treasure-laden Premier League castle.

When I called him after the [Lille] game he says, ‘ah, it wasn’t as exciting as other games of Liverpool’. I had to try to explain to him these games you can easily lose … if you play these stupid balls. I call them stupid balls. [He] would love to see us playing [them] a bit more” – Arne Slot reveals that he does have at least one critic this season – his dad.

• Technical director has been at club since summer of 2023
• Hammers keen on loan deal for Ajax forward Brobbey

West Ham are finalising the departure of their technical director, Tim Steidten, after freezing him out of their transfer plans.

Steidten arrived at the club in the summer of 2023 and was soon playing a key role in the transfer market. But the 45-year-old German has been under growing pressure because of a series of questionable signings.

Artistic director collects award at Paris fashion week while rumour mill suggests Gucci, Burberry or Margiela move

Friday afternoon in Paris was a big one for the British designer Kim Jones. The artistic director not only presented his latest menswear collection for Dior, he also collected the prestigious Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, a rarity for someone from outside France. In a fashion moment par excellence, the award was presented to him by Anna Wintour, becoming a knight in the process.

Jones has been at Dior for six years, designing the brand’s menswear collections. During that time, he has explored the brand’s rich archive and also personal interests, including TS Eliot’s The Waste Land and Vanessa Bell’s house Charleston in east Sussex. This show was no different. It took Christian Dior’s mid-50s Ligne H collection as its jump-off, but made Casanova – the 18th-century Italian author known for his multiple relationships with women – its muse.

Ice given unprecedented authority to expedite deportations as US cities face raids and troops arrive at US-Mexico border

• US politics live – latest updates

The Trump administration is issuing a new round of heavy-handed measures that could rapidly deport immigrants who entered the United States through recently established legal pathways, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained the New York Times.

The directive, signed by the acting homeland security secretary, Benjamine Huffman, grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials unprecedented authority to expedite deportations for immigrants who entered the country with government authorization through two key Biden-era programs.

What the pushback against a more equal society could mean for a world fraught with power imbalances

When American voters headed to the ballot box in November, polls suggested the cost of living, immigration and reproductive rights ranked among their biggest concerns.

But tucked within this week’s barrage of executive orders was an attack on an initiative that had in recent years become increasingly weaponised around the world: measures that sought to tackle discrimination.

Gigantic wall of ice moves slowly from Antarctica on potential collision course with wildlife breeding ground

The world’s largest iceberg – a behemoth more than twice the size of London – is drifting toward a remote island where scientists say it could run aground and threaten penguins and seals.

The gigantic wall of ice is moving slowly from Antarctica on a potential collision course with South Georgia, a crucial wildlife breeding ground.