Good morning.
The Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX on Sunday, exacting their revenge against the team that defeated them in the title game 11 years ago.
Kenneth Walker III, the engine of Seattle’s offense with 135 rushing yards on 27 carries, was named MVP, while Sam Darnold completed his long redemption arc from draft-bust to champion quarterback by throwing for 202 yards and a touchdown, Tom Lutz reported from Levi’s Stadium.
“It’s unbelievable. Just everything that’s happened in my career,” Darnold said after the game. “But to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I can’t say enough about our defense and special teams.”
What about Bad Bunny’s half-time show? The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican megastar delivered an ode to Latino culture and heritage, performed largely in Spanish. Donald Trump has lashed out against it, calling it “an affront to the Greatness of America”.
New Epstein files shed light on his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe
For years, Jeffrey Epstein abused teenage girls and young women on his ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to testimony from several women.
A Guardian review of the recently released documents has revealed more details about the ranch and about past law enforcement inquiries related to the property. The nearly 10,000-acre (4,000-hectare) property – known as Zorro ranch – was allegedly visited by powerful men, including a former state governor.
Did federal authorities previously investigate Epstein’s activities at the ranch? Briefly – in February 2007, as part of an investigation of child sexual abuse in Florida, records show that the FBI interviewed Epstein’s ranch manager. Otherwise, it drew little scrutiny before Epstein’s death.
Venezuela’s Machado says close ally kidnapped by ‘heavily armed’ men hours after prison release
The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday said one of her closest allies was kidnapped hours after being freed from prison.
Machado said on social media that Juan Pablo Guanipa was taken around midnight in a residential neighbourhood of the capital, Caracas. Guanipa, a former governor who was released after more than eight months in custody, was one of several opposition members to be freed from politically motivated detention on Sunday.
Do we know who Guanipa’s kidnappers are? It remains unclear. Alfredo Romero, president of Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal, said: “So far, we have no clear information about who took him. We hope he will be released immediately.”
In other news …
The Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 78, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for national security offenses. It is the harshest penalty handed down for such offenses in Hong Kong.
Portugal has elected a moderate socialist as president in a race where the far-right candidate won a record share of the vote, with the politicians gaining 66.8% and 33.2% respectively.
Backlash to immigration crackdowns in Maine could threaten Republican control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections.
Stat of the day: In January alone, the US saw 25% of the total measles cases confirmed in all of 2025
In January alone, the US recorded a quarter of the total measles cases confirmed in all of 2025. With the outbreak showing no sign of slowing as federal officials largely stay silent on vaccination, concerns are growing that the country could lose its measles elimination designation. Mehmet Oz, a senior US public health official, has called on Americans to get vaccinated, saying: “We have a solution for our problem.”
Building power: A California community rallied against a datacenter – and won
When a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter in Monterey Park last December, a handful of residents vowed to stop it. And through a word-of-mouth campaign waged over just six weeks, stressing potential impacts on the power grid and noise pollution, they succeeded: local leaders have now issued a 45-day moratorium on datacenter construction and a pledge to explore a permanent ban.
Don’t miss this: ‘If I didn’t write about him, I’m afraid I might become him’: the making of Taxi Driver at 50
Half a century on from the release of Taxi Driver, the screenwriter Paul Schrader talks about the movie’s inspiration and legacy. Schrader was just 26 and in a dark place when he wrote the script for what would become Martin Scorsese’s legendary movie as a form of self-therapy: “I lost my job, left my wife, left the girl I left my wife for, didn’t have a place to live, was drinking considerably, was living in my car and had a gun in the car.”
Climate check: Global economy must move past GDP to avoid planetary disaster, warns UN chief
The global economy must be urgently overhauled to stop it rewarding pollution and waste, the UN secretary general António Guterres has warned. He called for the world to shift away from prioritizing growth, as measured by GDP, at all costs: “We must place true value on the environment and go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of human progress and wellbeing.” In this interactive feature, Alex Clark examines whether growth and emissions can be decoupled.
Last Thing: Sirāt’s ravers demanded that ‘the music could not stop for three days’
Movies often struggle to capture the essence of club culture – but the existential mystery thriller Sirāt did things differently. It got lifelong ravers from across Europe together to take part in its opening scene, which shows a rave in the southern Moroccan desert. When discussing how to best represent them in the film, the Oscar-tipped director Oliver Laxe recalls: “They told us that the music cannot stop for three days. And we were really pleased with this idea.”
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
