The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts • This week’s readers’ replies: Should speed cameras be hidden? How can we accept that what feels like overwhelming love for someone is unrequited, and how can we get over it?

HH, Suffolk, by email Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com . A selection will be published next Sunday.

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The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Ultra-processed foods have been linked to various health issues, but are a ubiquitous part of the modern western diet. Can Emma Joyce avoid them for a whole week?

Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email I’ve been eating ultra-processed foods (UPFs) all my life. Breakfast as a child was often Coco Pops, Rice Bubbles or white toast slathered in spreadable butter.

Dinners usually involved processed sauces, such as Chicken Tonight or Dolmio, and my lunchboxes always contained flavoured chippies or plasticky cheese. I don’t blame my parents for this.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Noticing how out of place we looked, she asked in English if she could help us Read more in the kindness of strangers series In 1996, I travelled around Indonesia with my then-boyfriend. We’d been exploring Surabaya when we heard about an island off the coast called Madura that could be reached via ferry.

It didn’t turn up in any of the tourist guides, which appealed to us, being adventurous types. We knew Madura wouldn’t be touristy, but expected there’d be some streets to explore and somewhere to sit down and have a cup of tea.

As soon as Madura came into sight, we realised our visit may not have been a great idea. We were expecting to see houses and buildings dot the shore, as well as the hawkers who’d typically crowd around piers in Indonesia with food and wares to sell.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

My experience of court was eye-opening. And when I sat in on other cases, I realised how often mothers are vilified It’s 1836 and the French writer George Sand is swimming in the River Indre with her clothes on, weighed down by layers of ankle-length fabric.

To anyone passing by, she must look mad or worse – driven by a death wish. But for her there is the relief of cool water sluicing hot skin, after walking for hours in 30C heat.

She’s been moving all day because if she stops she’ll remember how frightened she is: she’s about to go to court to fight for her children against a husband driven by punitive anger. Custodire .

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Immersive lessons and flexible qualifications: the support, innovation and personalisation of online schooling is helping students who had negative experiences at bricks-and-mortar institutions Moving to any new school can be daunting, but joining an online school is a whole new experience. For James, starting at King’s InterHigh was a bit scary at first, but it soon became the best school he had ever been to.

“The first weeks are a bit different, but once you get used to it, I think it’s even better than a physical school,” he says. King’s InterHigh, an online school, uses advanced technology to create a flexible learning experience for students all around the world.

Once James enrolled at King’s InterHigh, which follows a British curriculum for students aged seven to 19, he says he was supported straight away. “It’s very welcoming,” he says.

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

At the Faversham there was thumping house music, projections of lava lamp bubbles, and bottles of K Cider. Rave culture had hit Leeds, and my friends and I plunged in I can mark out stages in my life by the pubs I’ve been to – and I started early.

My grandparents used to take me to the Sandford Arms across the road from their house in Leeds on a Saturday afternoon to play the jukebox – and since I remember records like Boney M’s Rivers of Babylon this must mean I was about four. My other grandparents, meanwhile, actually ran a pub in the city centre.

Their days usually started with my grandad, who did not have the bonhomie of a natural landlord, groaning to my grandmother: “You open up, Kath, I can’t face it!” Continue reading...

The Guardian - Life & Style • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

The superstar singer on his itinerant childhood, brutally honest mother, and the moment of anger that led him to write Grace Kelly Born in Beirut in 1983, Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr, otherwise known as Mika, was raised in Paris and London. He attended the Royal College of Music, before his breakthrough in 2007 with debut album Life in Cartoon Motion and its No 1 single, Grace Kelly.

He went on to sell 20m records, and worked as a presenter and judge on TV shows such as Eurovision and The Piano. Mika now lives in Italy and in Hastings, East Sussex, with his partner.

His first English-language album in six years, Hyperlove, is out on 23 January. This was taken in our kitchen in Paris.

The Guardian - Fashion • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Looking for something gentle and kind for a sensitive nose? The new gen Z brands have you covered For someone who makes no secret of her obsession with fragrance, I’m always surprised by how frequently people ask me to recommend one for someone who hates the stuff.

Sometimes wearing more potent fragrances is impossible for those prone to allergies or migraines, but mostly it’s an instinctive aversion to being held captive all day by scent too pervasive for one’s liking. And in these instances, I invariably suggest the layering of two more subtly scented products with compatible aromas, to add depth and interest without the same strength as a power perfume.

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The Guardian - Fashion • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Activate fresh-start mode with our fashion editor’s favourites for 2026 – including an unlikely new obsession Are we ready for 2026? Ready as we’ll ever be, right?

We’ve got this, team. Time to turn the page and kick things forward, with the help of a few key pieces to nudge mind, body and soul into the onwards and upwards.

Making your wardrobe a little more 2026 is a surprisingly effective strategy for activating fresh-start mode. Read on for your new-year primer: the cosiest moon boots, the sleekest hair pins, and where to get a quarter-zip – high fashion’s latest obsession – on a post-Christmas budget.

The Guardian - Fashion • Jan. 18, 2026, 5:36 p.m.

Just more than a year after the new luxury behemoth was formed, it announced it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy Every year, the stores down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue dress up their windows at Christmastime. Tourists from all over the world come to gawk at all the glitter, lace, ruffles and bows.

Saks’s Fifth Avenue location, so iconic that it’s embedded in the brand’s name, is usually dressed top to bottom during the holidays. In 2023, the store partnered with Christian Dior to display a giant zodiac calendar.

As part of the light show, fireworks were released from the top of the store to the oohs and aahs of spectators. Continue reading...

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