The Games’ newest sport combines the seemingly impossible task of ascending a mountain on skis with hiking and then a rapid descent

No one could suggest that the Winter Olympics are lacking in challenge. Skiers zipping down the slopes and flying through the air. Skeletons hurtling around at more than 100km/h. Ice skaters, metal-bladed, spinning, leaping and twisting. Slopestyle athletes pulling off the most outrageous tricks while landing the biggest air. But everyone from recreational skiers to the most extreme sports enthusiasts knows there is always room for more.

Enter the new kid on the ice block at Milano Cortina 2026: ski mountaineering. The new challenge? How about going up the mountain, hiking a bit, followed by a rapid descent on the tiniest skis possible. Before you ask, “why”? Cast your mind over the other disciplines on the schedule and remember that the answer is almost always, “why not”?

The sad truth is that we are witnessing a legacy of the over-indulgent late queen: an organisation unable to meet today’s challenges

Curious that the Epstein scandal, which has caused such an overwhelming furore in the US, should so far have done more to damage the British royal family than the US presidency. Even though many Americans have an obsession with the minutiae of the monarchy and all its works – despite proudly revolting against the institution themselves 250 years ago – their concerns have understandably focused more on their own big beasts, Donald Trump and the Clintons, than ours. It’s as if King Charles and his brother, the artist now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, are some quaint curlicue, a baroque adornment to the main event. Which, of course, is how they see the British monarchy anyway.

Kings and queens have always been susceptible to men with money and power. In the past they were able to bestow both on their loyal followers. Now it is more transactional. It is evident that what appealed to Epstein was access to class and status: the chance to sit jokily on the throne in Buckingham Palace or have a weekend in Balmoral or Sandringham and thereby tie a susceptible royal into his web of contacts and obligations. What appealed to Andrew and his importunate and permanently hard-up former wife, Sarah, was access to cash and the luxuries that went with it. Hard to believe given the royal family’s wealth, but what probably appealed most was cosying up to the sort of money that has brownstone mansions in Manhattan to stay in and private islands for holidays in the Caribbean.

Stephen Bates is a former royal correspondent of the Guardian

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One is the ultimate hun, the other is TV’s most infectiously funny presence and together, they’re a dream team. Their feelgood Greek Job is like a holiday with your two most outrageous mates

It might have aired on 5 January but it was instantly hailed as a contender for TV moment of the year. Egged on by his pal Amanda Holden, the reluctant Alan Carr braved a huge slide at a water park in Corfu called the Black Hole. “It’s pitch black,” warned Holden. “You won’t see a thing.” “Sounds awful,” said the nervous comedian, asking the lifeguard to “Pray for me.”

He proceeded to fall out of his rubber ring and scream all the way down a long, dark tunnel before hurtling head first into the pool. Holden just about recovered from her hysterical mirth to wrap the traumatised Carr in a towel, noting that he looked like “ET on the bike”. Welcome to Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job – the most feelgood guilty pleasure on air.

A shower before bed, with the bathroom lights off, is said to get you to sleep more quickly and rinse off the day’s stress. No wonder it’s suddenly so popular

Name: Dark showering.

Age: The name is new; the idea is not.

We simmered 40 batches of soup to see which makers are worth their stock, including self-cleaning wonders and the best for busy families

• The best blenders, tested

When our bodies crave something nourishing, few things fit the bill better than a bowl of thrifty, healthy and comforting homemade soup. Having a few soup recipes in your back pocket is an affordable and easy way to up your vegetable intake.

However, homemade soups can be time-consuming to make – what with having to saute the veg, stand over the pan as you add liquid and simmer, before you finally blend into the finished soup. Not so with a snazzy soup maker, which will handle much of that faff with the press of a single button. And most of them take less than half an hour to run the programme from start to finish.

Best soup maker overall:
Tefal Easy Soup

Best budget soup maker:
Aldi Ambiano soup maker

A new painting by the maestro of Trumpian kitsch offers a fever dream of musical unity – and fundamentally misunderstands orchestras and conductors. And where are the music stands?

Events in the United States of Trumpland continue to reveal staggering new dimensions to the possibilities of orchestral music. Trump’s announcement that his “Trump Kennedy Center” is to be shut for a refit is a brilliantly cynical way to stop the noise when artists try to cancel their appearances during the rest of his presidential tenure: it’s shut already! Bigly losers, all of you!

But that’s not the new dawn for the artform I’m talking about. I mean the inspirational painting unveiled by the maestro of Trumpian kitsch, Jon McNaughton (and stamped with the presidential seal of approval – ie a post on Truth Social).

MPs say release of papers on Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador could trigger leadership challenge

Labour MPs have warned that Keir Starmer’s days as prime minister are numbered after a day of fury over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The government was on the brink of a defeat in the Commons until a mid-debate amendment brokered by Meg Hillier and Angela Rayner to force the release of documents about Mandelson’s appointment and the depth of his relationship with the convicted child sex offender.

No 10’s misjudgment over Mandelson has left Labour MPs increasingly aware of the fallibility of the PM and his team

The debacle of last summer, when Keir Starmer caved in over welfare changes after promised concessions failed to convince his mutinous backbenchers, was viewed as a low point for his government. Now, amazingly, it has happened all over again.

If the repetition of history was not already enough, with the ructions over releasing government documents about Peter Mandelson, once again Starmer has a certain Angela Rayner to thank, in part, for digging him out of a political hole.

Kemi Badenoch hopes parliamentary procedure will release documents relating to ambassador’s appointment

Kemi Badenoch is using an arcane parliamentary procedure known as a humble address to try to compel the government to release documents relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the US.

The Conservative leader’s aim is to secure the release of documents including the due diligence work carried out by the Cabinet Office, and emails between Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney, an ally of the former peer who is now chief of staff at No 10.

Melinda French Gates insists Microsoft founder has questions to answer over his relationship with Epstein

Bill Gates has said he “regrets” ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein, as his former wife Melinda French Gates alluded to “muck” in their marriage, and insisted the Microsoft founder has questions to answer over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender.

Allegations that Gates hid a sexually transmitted disease from his wife after contact with “Russian girls” surfaced in the latest release of the Epstein files, which have provided remarkable insight into the disgraced financier’s multiple celebrity connections and activities.