This race marks the return of legendary American skier Lindsey Vonn, six years after her retirement from the sport.
Downhill is the 41-year-old’s speciality and she’s won a record 45 World Cup races in this event, plus her only Olympic gold medal in 2010.
We will have to see how much of an affect crashing in the final World Cup downhill before the Winter Olympics hinders Vonn’s bid.
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Keep an eye out for her superbly-named compatriot Breezy Johnson, who is the 2025 world champion.
The host nation will be hopeful of at least one podium place, although World Cup champion Federica Brignone only returned to action in January, nine months after breaking multiple bones in her left leg and tearing her ACL during a giant slalom crash at the Italian Championships.
Bergamo native Sofia Goggia took downhill silver four years ago despite suffering a knee injury just 23 days before the event.
Cross country skiing: Men’s skiathlon (11:30-12:50)
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It’s a fifth Winter Olympics for Britain’s Andrew Musgrave, whose best Olympic result is seventh in the skiathlon in 2018.
In this event, competitors complete 10km using the classical technique before changing skis and doing 10km using the freestyle technique.
Johannes Hosflot Klaebo is the world champion and this could be the first of a bobble-hatful of golds for the Norwegian at these Games.
Snowboard: Women’s big air qualification (18:30-20:45)
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Britain’s Mia Brookes has every chance of becoming Britain’s youngest Winter Olympic medallist for 78 years.
The rider from Cheshire has just turned 19 but has already won back-to-back big air World Cup titles and comes to Italy fresh from winning medals in the X Games.
But she will face a stacked field, including Japan’s Kokomo Murase, Reira Iwabuchi and Mari Fukada, who formed a clean sweep of the medals at last year’s World Championships.
Austria’s Anna Gasser is aiming to win the event for the third Games in a row at the age of 34.
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Maisie Hill, whose career was almost ended by a horrific training accident three years ago, will be Britain’s other representative.
Figure skating: Team (20:55)
The team figure skating competition concludes with the men’s free skate.
The USA won gold after the Russian team was demoted in Beijing in a protracted saga that delayed the medal ceremony by over two years.
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The USA are the reigning World Team Trophy champions and won three of the four individual events at last year’s World Championships but Japan and Georgia will be pushing them hard.
The police were called to a sudden death in Peterborough on Wednesday (February 4).
13:27, 04 Feb 2026Updated 15:14, 04 Feb 2026
Cambridgeshire Police were called to a street in Peterborough after reports of a “sudden death”. The police attended to Gladstone Street in Peterborough just before 11am on Wednesday (February 4).
The street had been closed off near Russell Street to allow emergency services to attend to the area. The East of England Ambulance Service also attended.
The police have confirmed an investigation into the incident is ongoing. Further details have not been released.
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A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “This is a sudden death, we are at the scene and investigations are ongoing. We don’t have anything further at this time.”
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If you’re in love, don’t compare your bond to others, as it is unique.
Single? Look again at an old friend who’s got back in touch.
Get all the latest Aries horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictionsYour daily horoscope for Thursday
♉ TAURUS
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April 21 to May 21
As the moon and Saturn spar, it sets the scene for a day of dealing with big emotions – in ways that focus on the future rather than the past.
A time of assuming certain situations can’t be changed is over, as you start to realise how much power you do have.
If you’re single, this can be a day of foxy “F” flirtation.
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Get all the latest Taurus horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions
♊ GEMINI
May 22 to June 21
A dream home can appear back on your horizon when you are not looking.
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But straight away you will sense what is right about a certain new address, or way of altering the one you have.
This time you should be able to decide your own timeline.
Later, the way you help others be creative can wake up something special.
Get all the latest Gemini horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions
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♋ CANCER
June 22 to July 22
Pluto’s ability to muddle up words and make mischief may be strong – but your own natural sense of right and wrong is stronger.
So you can steer any conversation through, and really connect with someone who has felt so out of reach lately.
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The luck factor enhances your eye for bargains and big potential prize pots.
Get all the latest Cancer horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions
♌ LEO
July 23 to August 23
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Holding firm on a spending promise can reap rewards later.
So even though temptation is all around, do stay strong.
There are love words you are longing to share, too, but it is important to choose the right time rather than rush in.
A work team that looks so unconventional can still be very successful.
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Get all the latest Leo horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions
♍ VIRGO
August 24 to September 22
First thing today is a great time to put together thoughts about your talents and skills – because later there may be an unexpected chance to share these.
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Instead of modesty, be honest about what you do well, because the perfect match, in love or work, can be waiting.
The luck factor calls at a black door.
Get all the latest Virgo horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictionsSingle? A chat about a bill can start somethingCredit: Getty
♎ LIBRA
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September 23 to October 23
You have a sixth sense about who thinks and feels the way you do underneath, even if on the surface they show no sign.
This is something to trust if you are putting together a team, or considering your place in a couple.
Already in love? Pluto adds passion that’s deep and a little dangerous, and you will adore it.
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Get all the latest Libra horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions
List of 12 star signs
The traditional dates used by Mystic Meg for each sign are below.
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♏ SCORPIO
October 24 to November 22
The fastest-thinking and most outrageous planets in the zodiac connect across your chart and you are ready to make waves, home and away.
A writing-rich role at work can be part of this, or a move in your own time to take your wildest ideas seriously.
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In love, nothing and no one is out of reach when you try.
A six-point deficit to Arsenal in the Premier League is not quite a state of affairs that calls for Manchester City to throw everything at the cups, but we might be approaching that scenario.
City are certainly strong favourites to reach the League Cup final, taking a 2-0 lead into tonight’s home second leg against holders Newcastle United.
Pep Guardiola’s team will play Arsenal at Wembley on March 22 if they progress, around a month before the teams play at the Etihad in the league. There is also a chance that they could play in the Champions League quarter-finals.
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This weekend looks like another significant one in the title race, with Arsenal hosting Sunderland and City travelling to Anfield where they have a grim record. Perhaps the danger to City tonight is Guardiola rotating his team with an eye on that game and being caught out.
Newcastle certainly have the speed and attacking menace to trouble an unstable City defence, but they will have to improve on a dreadful away record. Across the league and the Champions League this season, Newcastle have won just three of 16 matches on the road. They need to win by two goals just to send the tie to extra time.
Eddie Howe lined up with a roving front three of Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga against Liverpool at the weekend, and against a City team who like to play the offside trap, prioritising pace could be wise. Alternatively, he could take the view that Yoanne Wissa and Nick Woltemade are fresh as they go in search of goals.
Newcastle hope to have Bruno Guimaraes back in their midfield, but they remain without Tino Livramento and Joelinton.
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Will Guardiola take this opportunity to rest Erling Haaland now Omar Marmoush is available again? Haaland has scored just twice in 10 appearances since the turn of the year.
Even without coming to the Winter Olympics in Italy, Donald Trump and his polarising policies and provocations are dominating, even distracting.
Of all the security agents chosen to protect the official US delegation, ICE is in Milan for the expected opening ceremony visits by vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio.
They are the Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel called a “militia that kills” by Milan mayor Beppe Sala following the deaths of two Americans last month in Minneapolis.
Image: Pic: AP
There have been attempts by the Italian government to allay fears about their deployment, insisting they won’t have powers to conduct policing in the streets.
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But just their presence here has been a concern for protesting locals in Milan.
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Add in how tensions have been stoked in recent weeks between Mr Trump and Europe over his threats to capture Greenland, and it all raises the potential for a hostile atmosphere greeting American officials and athletes in the opening ceremony at the San Siro home of AC and Inter Milan on Friday night.
So, I asked International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry: would jeering be freedom of expression, or is there a need for spectators to show respect?
“I hope that the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful of each other,” Ms Coventry said, reflecting on seeing athletes from different countries mixing in the official Olympic village in Milan.
“It was a real opportunity to put into perspective how we could be.
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“And so I hope that the opening ceremony will do that and will be a reminder for everyone how we could be.”
Image: IOC president Kirsty Coventry said she hoped people would be ‘respectful of each other’
US Games on the horizon
Ms Coventry is yet to meet Mr Trump despite the Los Angeles Olympics being just two years away.
But Olympic chiefs are facing pressure from IOC members in Africa to tackle concerns about the impact of Mr Trump’s travel bans on delegations.
Officials from Ethiopia and Djibouti challenged LA 2028 chiefs during meetings in Milan about the need for equal access for all countries to the games – beyond athletes.
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Ms Coventry’s own Zimbabwe is subject to restrictions for some citizens for entry to the US.
Her lack of contact with Mr Trump after a year leading the IOC contrasts with the US leaders’ regular meetings with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, although his World Cup is sooner – coming this summer.
Moore’s team-mates created just seven chances between them at Hibs on Sunday.
He registered five alone on Wednesday, while his seven dribbles were also higher than any other player.
Game state has to come into that, of course. At the weekend, Rangers were playing against 11 men, away to a top-six side. Struggling Kilmarnock were a man and a goal down after a few minutes on Wednesday.
A goal-scoring performance from the England youth international in the Old Firm derby win at Celtic last month looked set to ignite his Ibrox career, but seven games without a goal contribution followed.
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Despite that, the Ibrox side just appear a livelier and more unpredictable proposition with Moore in the line-up.
A mid-season injury and squad rotation has meant Moore has failed to feature in 12 of Rangers’ 25 league matches, but Rohl is now demanding consistency as his side attempt to reel Hearts in.
“We know Mikey, that should be the level for him again and again,” the Rangers head coach told BBC Scotland.
“This is the next step for him, consistency. But I will not speak about individual performances, it’s about the team.”
“Cervical screening can be difficult for some women for many reasons, like if they have had a bad previous experience, they are menopausal, they have a physical or learning disability, cultural barriers, or are a survivor of sexual violence,” says Athena Lamnisos from charity The Eve Appeal.
A man in his 70s has been arrested in connection to the fire.
A man has been arrested after a fire at a barn in Lakenheath. Suffolk Police were called to Back Street by Suffolk Fire & Rescue at around 11:30pm on Thursday, January 29, with reports that a barn that was completely engulfed in flames.
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Emergency services attended and a man in his 20s was found inside of the barn. He was taken to hospital for treatment to severe burns, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
A man in his 70s has been arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and on suspicion of the cultivation of cannabis. He was taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning.
He has been released on police bail. Officers are appealing to anyone with information or who had recent use of the building to come forward.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or saw anything suspicious in the area before the incident should contact West CID at Suffolk Police quoting 37/5794/26 via their website or by calling 101.
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You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800555111.
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The WASPI campaign is consulting lawyers about a fresh judicial review after the Government refused compensation to 1950s-born women affected by state pension age changes
The WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has stepped up its calls for DWP compensation, despite the Government recently stating there would be no financial redress. Labour ministers addressed the Commons last week on January 29 to confirm that no compensation would be offered to the 1950s-born women represented by WASPI and similar campaign groups.
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Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Parliament: “The evidence shows that the vast majority of 1950s-born women already knew the state pension age was increasing thanks to a wide range of public information, including through leaflets, education campaigns, information in GP surgeries, on TV, radio, cinema and online. To specifically compensate only those women who suffered injustice would require a scheme that could reliably verify the individual circumstances of millions of women.”
WASPI condemned the decision as a “disgraceful political choice” that showed “utter contempt” for the affected women. The campaign represents the generation of women who were impacted when the state pension age for women increased from 60 to 65 and later to 66.
They argue that the DWP failed to properly inform them of the changes, with many remaining oblivious until the last moment, upending their retirement plans when they discovered the news. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman had previously investigated the matter, finding there was ‘maladministration’ by the DWP, as they should have sent notification letters to the women far sooner.
The Ombudsman also recommended financial compensation for the affected women, ranging from £1,000 to £2,950. In December 2024, Labour announced they would not provide compensation, reports the Mirror.
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The Government subsequently reversed this position, stating they would reassess the matter due to new evidence they needed to examine. However, in their most recent decision, the Government said once more there would be no financial settlements.
The WASPI campaign is now urging its members to contact their local MPs, pressing them to demand a Parliamentary vote on the issue. In the Ombudsman’s report, the watchdog called for Parliament to address the matter.
Numerous MPs individually support the WASPI cause, as well as some political parties including the Liberal Democrats and Green Party. WASPI had sought a judicial review of the earlier ruling, though this was resolved out of court after the Government pledged to revisit their decision.
Angela Madden, chair of the WASPI campaign, said the organisation is consulting with lawyers regarding a potential fresh judicial review application. She said: “We would welcome it, if the lawyers think there is a different way to go, we would welcome that as well.”
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She said they expect to receive guidance from their legal team shortly. If you want to file a judicial review of such a decision, it must be submitted within three months.
Ms Madden said: “The only people who can get this for us are Parliament. So we have to impress on Parliament that they simply must do it. The way the DWP has behaved is undemocratic. They are defending themselves, and the Ombudsman is so that we are protected from departments defending themselves.”
She said the campaigners feel “insulted”, particularly as the Government’s decision relied on a 2014 survey suggesting the women would not remember getting a letter or would not read it if they had received it, and so sending out letters sooner would have made little difference.
“The criminals use this data to develop AI-generated voice clones used to simulate consent for direct debits, deceiving even legitimate businesses and financial providers,” the watchdog explains.
“These details appear then to be passed or sold to other criminal operations who, with the details, can easily circumvent the banks and set up payments without the victim’s knowledge.
“Victims often do not realise payments are being taken.”
Scamming is rife: Brits receive seven scam calls or texts on average every month.
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And NTS has blocked nearly 21 million scam calls in six months.
As part of that work, the watchdog has shut down more than 2,000 phone numbers.
Crooks can use AI software to quickly and cheaply carry out scamsCredit: Alamy
“What we’re seeing is a deeply disturbing combination of old and new: traditional phone scams supported by disturbing new techniques,” said Louse Baxter MBE, who heads up the NTS’ scams team.
“Criminals are using AI not just to deceive victims, but to trick legitimate systems into processing fraudulent payments.
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“This is no longer just a nuisance – it’s a coordinated, sophisticated operation targeting some of the most situationally vulnerable consumers in society.
“We urge everyone to speak to friends and relatives about scam calls, check bank statements regularly and report anything suspicious.”
NTS says that Brits are being cold-called and then coerced into providing details to the criminals.
This allowed crooks to take “continuous payments” from the accounts of victims.
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And because this happens in the background, it’s possible for victims to not even realise their accounts are quietly being emptied.
STAY SAFE FROM SCAMS – WHICH? ADVICE
Here’s the official Which? response to this scam alert…
“It’s horrifying that criminals are using AI to clone voices in order to set up fraudulent direct debits,” said Lisa Webb, Which? consumer law expert.
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“You shouldn’t have to worry about your own voice being used against you in this way but sadly we’ve reached a stage where every phone call must be treated with suspicion.
“If you get any calls out of the blue, don’t be afraid to hang up – genuine callers won’t mind.
“If you see any direct debits or transactions on your bank account that you don’t recognise, contact your bank immediately using the number on the back of your card.
“You should also report any scams to Police Scotland or Report Fraud to investigate.
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“It’s also worth making sure you’re registered with the telephone preference service to opt out of unsolicited marketing calls, that way you’ll know that any unexpected marketing or sales calls are either a rogue company or a scammer.”
“This alarming new twist in phone-based fraud shows just how quickly criminals are exploiting emerging technologies to prey on the public,” said John Herriman, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute chief.
“Voice cloning takes scam calls to a sinister new level, making it even harder for legitimate businesses and consumers to distinguish real interactions from fraudulent ones.
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“Trading Standards teams across the UK are working tirelessly to disrupt these operations, but we need the public to stay alert, talk to loved ones about the risks, and report anything suspicious.
“Protecting consumers, especially those most vulnerable, requires all of us to stay informed and work together to tackle these modern day and emerging examples of fraud.”
Voice-cloning technology isn’t new – it’s been around for several years.
Tools to clone voices can be accessed cheaply and easily online, making the process relatively straightforward.
We spoke to Louise Baxter from the NTS, who shared advice for Sun readers worried about this kind of con.
“It all starts with one phone call, where you think you’re talking to a real company and they ask for your bank details,” Louise told The Sun.
“So the most important advice is to never give any personal information to anyone who calls you out of the blue and without doing your own checks on who they are, no matter how genuine they sound.
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“But the criminals are clever and anyone can be a victim of a scam.
“With the growing use of sophistication and AI in scams, we should all get into the habit of checking our bank statements regularly to make sure we recognise all the payments that are going out.
“We’re also urging people to talk to friends and relatives who may be more vulnerable to scam phone calls, to help them stay safe.”
Louise also recommended visiting their website for advice – http://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk – as well as instructions for downloading the NTS’ new scam-fighting app.
The incident saw an Audi SQ7 model stolen from Leeds, according to Greater Manchester Police, in the early hours of today, February 4.
The car was driven along the M62 towards Greater Manchester before being spotted by officers who began following it.
The Audi drove onto the M60 and then the East Lancashire Road, where a pursuit ensued. Police cars and the National Police Air Service helicopter followed it.
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Officers say it hit “more than 120mph” in some areas, before its two occupants decamped on Milk Street, Tyldesley, and were arrested.
The driver, an 18-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, dangerous driving, failing to stop and no insurance.
The passenger, a 20-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Both remain in custody for questioning.
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Sergeant Rebecca McElory from GMP’s Roads Policing Unit said: “This was a fast‑moving incident that began outside our force area, and thanks to the coordinated work between ourselves and colleagues from NPAS, we were able to safely bring it to a conclusion.
“The two suspects in this job showed a complete disregard for the law and for the safety of other road users by travelling at extremely high speeds in a stolen vehicle.
“We are very lucky that we aren’t here talking about a high-speed collision which could have seen innocent members of the public seriously injured.
“I hope these arrests send a clear message to those who think they are above the law that we will not hesitate to take action against these people who strike fear into our communities.”