Guardian writers and readers share the simple tricks they use to bring a bit of joy into their lives

During the pandemic, my husband found some wood on our street and used it to build a tiny, squirrel-sized picnic table. We attached it to the side of our fence with a handful of peanuts on top. Few sights are guaranteed to lift my day more than watching a “dining in” Nutkin parking its rump on the tiny wooden seat, occasionally glancing towards the house as if he’s waiting for you to bring the drinks. If you don’t have as much time on your hands as my husband did during lockdown, you can buy one on Etsy.

The world will be anxious, and rightly so. For a man so bent on a peace prize, Trump appears to revel in conflict

The overthrow and reported capture by invading US forces of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s hardline socialist president, will send a shiver of fear and consternation around the world. The coup is illegal, unprovoked and regionally and globally destabilising. It upends international norms, ignores sovereign territorial rights, and potentially creates an anarchic situation inside Venezuela itself.

It is chaos made policy. But this is the world we now live in – the world according to Donald Trump.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator

As Andrew Ngeh and Kathleen Oliver paddleboarded together in a secluded bay in Vanuatu, the chemistry between them was undeniable

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In 2015, I’d been living in Vanuatu for a year, coaching the Vanuatu women’s beach volleyball team as they aimed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. I was a volunteer through an Australian government program, and a new intake of Australians was arriving in Port Vila one afternoon in February, so I went to the Australian High Commission to meet them.

I got chatting with this gorgeous and bubbly girl called Kath, who’d been volunteering in Indonesia. I thought we were meeting for the first time, but as I introduced myself, Kath explained that we had in fact met before, walking across Pyrmont Bridge in Sydney during our training weekend.

Defenders say AI can do good to fight the climate crisis. But spiralling energy and water costs leave experts worried

During a golden sunset in Memphis in May, Sharon Wilson pointed a thermal imaging camera at Elon Musk’s flagship datacentre to reveal a planetary threat her eyes could not. Free from pollution controls, the gas-fired turbines that power the world’s biggest AI supercomputer were pumping invisible fumes into the Tennessee sky.

“It was jaw-dropping,” said Wilson, a former oil and gas worker from Texas who has documented methane releases for more than a decade and estimates xAI’s Colossus datacentre was spewing more of the planet-heating gas than a large power plant. “Just an unbelievable amount of pollution.”

The novelty of eating at a diner owned by the richest person in the world seems to have worn off in just a few months

Less than six months since it opened, Elon Musk’s Tesla Diner has the feel of a ghost town. Gone is the Optimus robot serving popcorn, gone are the carnivore-diet-inspired “Epic Bacon” strips, gone are the hours-long, hundred-person lines wrapped around the block. Even the restaurant’s all-star chef, Eric Greenspan, is gone. The Hollywood burger-and-fries shop seems like a shell of the bustling eatery it was when it opened in late July.

On a balmy Friday afternoon in December, the parking lot for Tesla car charging was, at best, half full. Inside what the company describes as a “retro-futuristic” diner, a handful of people trickled in, ordering burgers and hotdogs or asking for merch. The upstairs deck, AKA “Skypad”, was vacant except for a pair of employees stringing holiday lights. More staff was busy at work, buffing fingerprints off the chrome walls and taking out the trash, than there were customers. The diner was spotless.

From cheaper shopping to tax and travel cash, there is a host of resources to help you out. We pick some of the best

Money is central to many people’s new year resolutions – whether it’s trying to save more, organising what you have already, or improving your spending or saving habits.

If you have promised to tackle your finances this year, there are lots of tools and apps that can help you achieve your goal. Here are 26 to help you in 2026.

Donald Trump says the US will ‘run’ Venezuela and put Maduro on trial after audacious military operation in Caracas

• Full report: Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela

• Explained: Is there legal justification for the US attack on Venezuela?

• Reaction: Global outcry after US strikes Venezuela

The Reuters news agency says it has been told by a US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that the US carried out strikes inside Venezuela on Saturday.

The unnamed official did not provide details. As mentioned earlier, the White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to request for comment on Saturday morning.

Trump is no longer bending the rules – he is demolishing them, with consequences far beyond Caracas

• US strikes on Venezuela – live updates

Hardly anyone expected 2026 to be a year of peace, and it was barely two days old when the worst fears were confirmed.

The overnight strikes on Venezuela, the abduction of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, and Donald Trump’s declaration that the US would “run” the country and sell its oil, have driven another truck through international law and global norms. But that is not even the most concerning thing about it.

US president says oil majors primed to invest in rebuilding infrastructure following Maduro ouster

• US attacks Venezuela – live updates

US oil giants have so far remained silent on Donald Trump’s claim that they are primed to spend “billions and billions of dollars” rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro​.

Chevron, the only US oil company still operating in Venezuela, committed only to following “relevant laws and regulations” after the US president suggested American energy multinationals would be central to his plans for the country.

Trump’s unprecedented capture of Nicolás Maduro follows months of military campaign and years of strained relationship

• US attacks Venezuela – live updates

Overnight on Friday, the US carried out airstrikes across Venezuela, with explosions rocking the capital, Caracas, before dawn. Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump announced that US forces had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flown them out of the country.

The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said they would face trial in New York on charges of involvement in narco-terrorism. A fresh indictment was issued on Saturday.