The Animation Educators’ Forum (AEF), a non-profit association of teachers and scholars whose focus is the art of animated film, has just revealed this year’s inductees into their Hall of Fame. This virtual hall is dedicated to the artists and scholars whose teaching influenced the history of animation. Each January, the Forum announces a new group of names added to the hall. In 1973, John Halas asked Whitaker to teach a crash course in animation to help build the next generation of artists. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, Animation Educators’ Forum (AEF), film preservation, open-source support, special events, screenings and the annual Annie Awards.

There is a "knowing enough wink" to make sure it's suitable for all ages, however, says Nicholson. In the US press, the Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg, external writes it's "not The Muppet Show at its best, but it's a return to what the Muppets do best". Meanwhile in the New York Times, James Poniewozik, external says "these are, in fact, your grandparents' Muppets, and your parents'. And John Nugent, from Empire,, external says previous reboots have veered into the realms of parody but this revival "goes back to basics". But if these reviews are anything to go by, we could be seeing more Muppets fun before too long.

But Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, has a vision for states working in coordination with federal immigration officials, and he’s attempting to test it out in Tennessee. Confidentiality extends to records for grant programs administered by the department, preventing watchdogs from examining what local law enforcement agencies do with federal grant money for immigration enforcement. If someone’s immigration status cannot be verified, it requires the agency to refer the contact to ICE and Tennessee’s centralized immigration enforcement division. Critically, the proposal would criminalize the use of a commercial driver’s license (CDL) by an operator without lawful immigration status. The legislation sets up the prospect of Tennessee state troopers checking the immigration status of out-of-state drivers passing through the state.

But across the pond, a man named Jeffrey Epstein, a well-connected financier and convicted child sex offender, had been briefed hours before. “Finally got him to go today …” an email believed to be sent by Peter Mandelson informed Epstein on Monday morning. The apparent tipoff, revealed in the latest tranche of the Epstein files, not only gave Epstein an inside track on the UK’s political future, but also on large moves that were to ripple through global markets. When Epstein asks if the UK business secretary is home, Mandelson wrote “Just leaving No10..will call”. It came shortly after markets in Tokyo had opened for trading, and prompted a sharp rally after European stock markets opened at 8am UK time that day.

Total Digital Subscribers: 12.8 million, with 1.4 million net new digital subscribers added in 2025. Digital Revenue: Over $2 billion in total digital revenues for the first time. Digital Advertising Revenue Growth: Increased by 20% in 2025. 4th Quarter Digital Advertising Revenue Growth: Increased by 25%. Digital advertising revenue grew by 25% in the fourth quarter, contributing to a 16% increase in total advertising revenue.

The power button doubles as fingerprint scanner, but it is quite slim; and being flush with the side makes the task of pressing it harder than necessary. View image in fullscreen The Moments switch turns on a distraction-free interface and sits above the flush power button with integrated fingerprint scanner. It trades a few premium features for a lower price than its predecessors, but still has a good screen, great looks and reasonable battery life. While few phones offer as repair-friendly a design, more mainstream devices offer almost as long software support as the Fairphone. But things have improved in the rest of the industry, with better access to repair and longer software support, making the Fairphone tough to recommend for everyone over mainstream devices.

This week, we spoke with Donna Mae, a longtime resident of Minneapolis and registered nurse working mostly with people who are unsheltered and use injection drugs. We talk about the danger of a resurgence of ISIS, the humanitarian crisis growing due to the seige in Kobane and the fears of a renewed patriarchal governance, but also about organizing and international solidarity. This is a good time to get together with community in your area to figure out how you can support the revolution in Rojava. If you don’t have a Rojava solidarity group in your area (start one), keep an ear out for calls to action via the Emergency Committee for Rojava: https://www.defendrojava.org/In the meantime, check out this first podcast by the Youth Media project, Ronahi: https://www.ronahi.eu/2026/ronahi-podcast-episode-1/. Featured Track:

More than 160 people have been killed in two villages in western Nigeria in the country’s deadliest armed assaults this year, as communities reel from repeated and widespread acts of violence perpetrated by jihadists and other armed groups. The death toll from Tuesday’s attacks in Woro and Nuku in Kwara state stood at 162 on Wednesday afternoon, according to Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area. He told the Associated Press that the Lakurawa, an armed group affiliated with Islamic State, had carried out the attacks. The military said last month that it had launched “sustained coordinated offensive operations against terrorist elements” in Kwara state and achieved notable successes. In response to the myriad insecurity woes, local authorities in Kwara state imposed curfews in certain areas and had closed schools for several weeks before ordering them to reopen on Monday.

This week, the city is shutting down blocks downtown around the Moscone Center, where the NFL is hosting events for football fans. “There’s certainly been an uptick in operations for months now,” said John Do, an ACLU attorney who worked on a lawsuit against San Francisco over how it conducted homeless sweeps. “Me and several people that I’ve been with were told that we were not allowed to be out when the Super Bowl is happening this week, whatever the hell that means. “They said that the church is opening the shelter for the week of the Super Bowl, because the city wants the homeless people off the streets for all the fans coming from the East Coast to see the city and celebrate for the Super Bowl,” Thomas said. Born in San Francisco, Thomas said street crews have asked him to move along before.

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Virgo’s death was announced on Wednesday by the World Snooker Tour and tributes poured in for one of the sport’s greats. Former world champion John Parrott worked alongside Virgo in the BBC commentary box and said he “transcended the sport” and “loved a joke”. He told BBC Sport: “John was a tremendous competitor and a very good break-builder, brilliant among the pink and black. Sir Stephen Fry became a good friend of John Virgo (John Walton/PA)“Then he transcended the sport and went into the commentary box. Virgo retired in 1994 and was later inducted into the World Snooker Tour hall of fame for his success on the baize and his work as a broadcaster.

Israeli forces have bulldozed part of a Gaza cemetery containing the war graves of dozens of British, Australian and other allied soldiers killed in the first and second world wars, satellite imagery and witness testimony reveal. Satellite imagery of the Gaza war cemetery in al-Tuffah, a district of Gaza City, shows extensive earthworks in the southernmost corner of the graveyard. The first bulldozing occurred outside the cemetery walls, extending approximately 12 metres around all sides of the cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which is responsible for the upkeep of the Gaza cemetery and many like it around the world, last commented on the state of the graveyard on 11 December. Four sections of the dead from the first world war have also been flattened.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held the first round of US-led peace talks in Abu Dhabi as Washington seeks a pathway to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has said repeatedly any settlement must include Ukraine ceding the entire eastern Donbas region, including areas still under Ukrainian control. The second round of talks was initially supposed to start on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, but was postponed until Wednesday because of rising tensions in the region over Iran. The US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, have travelled to Abu Dhabi for the negotiations. Ukraine and several European governments have accused Beijing of providing weapons to Russia, allegations China denies.

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: snowflake students have become the target of a new rightwing crusade. But exaggerated claims of censorship reveal a deeper anxiety at the core of modern conservatismBy William Davies. Read by Lucy Scott

Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office. Trump framed the issue as a means to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. Claims that noncitizens are voting in numbers that can affect an election are a lie. But it raises concerns about potential efforts by the president to rig the November midterm elections. Chuck Schumer, the US Senate minority leader, also weighed in on X, writing that “Democrats will fight and block Trump’s calls to nationalize elections”.