Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged massages to taxpayer while trade envoy, say reports Former senior civil servants say culture of deference meant excessive expenses claims were waved through Kevin Rawlinson
Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictions Will Craft https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/22/us-immigration-trump-administration
Let a thousand stinky blossoms bloom: how Australia became the world’s corpse flower destination Australian collections of the endangered and notoriously unpredictable flowers have popped off in recent years, as ‘personas’ like Putricia, Stinkerella and Smellanie prove a hit with nosy spectators Petra Stock and Josh Nicholas https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/22/corpse-flowers-australia-putricia-stinkerella-smellanie
‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone’ Jenny Kleeman https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton-valid-visa-detained-ice
Detentions and disappearances: how ICE has driven fear into Michigan’s Arab communities Arab Americans in Dearborn and beyond are being swept up by ICE at places of worship and work, with devastating consequences Stephen Starr in Dearborn, Michigan https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/michigan-arab-communities-ice-fear
Trump news at a glance: president lobs insults at US supreme court for striking down his global tariffs Trump called justices ‘fools’ and ‘disgrace to the nation’ after their rebuke of his aggressive trade tactic – key US politics stories from 20 February 2026 at a glance Guardian staff https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/20/trump-administration-news-updates-today
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them. As the fourth anniversary of the invasion approaches and the world enters a new period of geopolitical uncertainty, Europe’s politicians and spy services continue to draw lessons from the failures of 2022 Written by Shaun Walker https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia
‘We’re no longer attracting top talent’: the brain drain killing American science As Trump slashes science funding, young researchers flee abroad. Without solid innovation, the US could cease to have the largest biomedical ecosystem in the world Ed Pilkington https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/19/trump-science-funding-cuts
After my ICE arrest, I learned one crucial way to treat trauma. We can all take part An illustration of numerous gentle, overlapping hands forming the shape of a protective flower enclosing a small, curled up child. I was detained for writing a op-ed about Gaza as a student at Tufts. My experience has only made me feel more connected to others facing oppression Rümeysa Öztürk https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/feb/18/rumeysa-ozturk-trauma-children-ice-gaza
Here’s a great costume idea for conventions — all you need is a couple of woodworking tools! Be great for dieting too!
Rio de Janeiro carnival 2026 – in pictures Rio de Janeiro’s carnival is full of contrasts: wealth brushes up against poverty, joyful abandon unfolds alongside hard labour. Its visual expression also explores notions of power. In a country with the largest Catholic population in the world, racy nun costumes are everywhere during the festival. Along with revellers dressing up in sexy police costumes, the Catholic cosplay reveals an element of carnival’s underlying subversive nature: authority figures softened, flipped, and reconsidered through street theatre and play Avery Leigh White https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2026/feb/18/rio-de-janeiro-carnival-2026-in-pictures
The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role Peter Bradshaw https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/16/blood-countess-film-review-isabelle-huppert
TurboTax & Me I owe! I owe! I owe! Less than my first rough through, but more than I wish. My hope that the solar panel installation credit would cover my last estimated tax payment fell foul to a large unexpected capital gains tax hit. The host of medical bills I’d expected never materialized.
Theophylline & Me Ive taken theophylline, an ancient and now little-prescribed drug from a tree in India, since before the dinosaurs vanished. Over the years, cost and sense never went together. Various weight pills of the drug varied wildly and were not related to the dose. A 200 MG pill might cost 30 times as much as a 600 MG pill. Right now, it has just vanished. CVS just fails to fill it. Walgreens and Amazon think they can provide it. Amazon claimed they can get 200 MG pills with a 3-month supply for only $1,028 and change. My BC & BS insurance formulary doesn’t cover the 200 MG dose, and they denied my first request for a waiver. I reapplied, and they approved it. The Amazon price dropped to only $450! A Canadian pharmacy can provide it for $177.40 ($23.03 to Herr Trump’s tariffs). Cost Plus, which ustta not have much, has 300 MG for $15.12 for 90 pills. Of course, this is three prescriptions I’ve not filled, and I don’t have a paper prescription for that dose. (A downside to theophylline is you need blood tests for aminophylline levels to determine if you’re taking enough to be effective and too little to be toxic. A couple of years ago, I went too high in the range, which I can’t recommend.)
Happy Lunar New Year! It’s the year of the horse, and given I am not chemically compatible with horses, who knows what the year holds? Sure hard to beat the last one though.
Ramadan Starting today or tomorrow as determined by a moon-sighting committee.
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts – video The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupted on Sunday, sending lava fountains, ash and smoke into the air. The US Geological Survey said it was the 42nd episode of lava fountains since the current series of intermittent eruptions began in December 2024. The plume from the latest eruption reached more than 10,000 metres (35,000 feet), according to the National Weather Service Source: US Geological Survey https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2026/feb/16/hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-erupts-video
Shamelessly Stolen from Tom Scott’s Newsletter: This video of the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, officiating weddings at at the NYC Marriage Bureau fascinated me for a couple of reasons. To be clear, it’s a very well-produced PR piece by the Mayor’s Office: something like this a great way to make a political figure seem down-to-earth and friendly. And at the surface level, it’s a lovely Valentine’s video, too! But there’s a couple of subtle details that reveal how that down-to-earth effect is produced in 2026, and I reckon they would have been unthinkable five years ago: And second: blink and you’ll miss it, but on the shot of the dog, it’s obvious that the seating is cracked and faded. The building doesn’t look perfect — but it’s never shown to be run-down in a way that affects any couple’s Big Day. The imperfections here, I think, are curated just as much as the video cuts, the words, and the music First: most of the couples interviewed are holding a big, clunky, square wireless mic-box! That would never have appeared in a professionally produced video just a couple of years ago: subtle lapel mics would have been clipped on, or maybe there would even have been a sound op with a boom pole. But now, the desire to appear authentic and down-to-earth on social media means that, even in an otherwise glossy video, the producer just asks the interviewee to hold a bit of consumer electronics. Never mind the expensive camera, lens, editing, and everything else: hand them a mic, and suddenly everything Feels Genuine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUp01MXUkpo
In Minneapolis, Native American patrols keep watch – and see history repeating: ‘We are still being chased’ The American Indian Movement was established in Minneapolis more than 50 years ago in response to police brutality. After ICE agents flooded the city this winter, neighborhoods reprised citizen patrols Maanvi Singh, with photographs by Jaida Grey Eagle https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/15/minneapolis-native-american-patrols-ice
