• Fallen giants seal Swanley site on a 10-year option
• Owner Holland hails ‘milestone’ in recovery plan

Wasps are on track to relaunch in the south east after securing land in Kent as a site to build their new stadium. The former Premiership giants went into administration with debts of more than £95 million two years ago but last month applied for entry into the new Tier 2 competition, which will replace the Championship in 2024-25.

By acquiring the site in Swanley on a 10-year option, Wasps are hoping to attract interest in a rugby heartland that does not have a Premiership team. The twice European champions’ ultimate aim is to return to the top flight.

Young pro-Trump men have rolled out a creepy, snide and all-too-revealing mantra

You can’t say it was a fluke. If in 2016, Donald Trump’s novelty, combined with his loss of the popular vote, allowed liberals to retain a bit of plausible deniability about what his presidential win meant about America, this time, there is no such comfort. Donald Trump is no longer a mystery or an amusing diversion: no one can claim that they do not understand full extent of his malignant corruption, or the seriousness of his movement’s hostility to pluralist democracy. And he won the popular vote.

Many postmortems of last week’s election have tried to preserve the notion that Trump’s voter’s did not endorse him and his vision – that they know not what they do. This is dishonest, and a bit patronizing toward Trump’s supporters. Trump’s voters, for the most part, know exactly what he is, and what voting for him means. They are not ignorant or mistaken about him. They endorse him and what he is.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

As Jamie Oliver has found out to his cost, write what you know or you could end up with a flop and an international PR disaster

Ever wondered what frivolous whims you’d indulge if you were made queen for the day? Liz Hurley has. The actor recently told the Guardian she’d ban car air fresheners. She should have stopped there (it’s a winning policy platform) but she added that she’d also ban prison sentences for white-collar criminals and make them do things like teach inner-city kids to ride horses instead.

If I were queen for the day I’d focus less on white-collar criminals and more on literary ones: implementing an immediate ban on celebrities writing children’s books. Should a famous person so much as think of penning a kids’ book, it’d be straight to jail: locked in a cell full of the strongest-smelling air fresheners available.

Documentary about India’s ‘hijras’ highlights the harmony within the community and prejudice against it, but shies away from anything too political

Shot over seven years, Ila Mehrotra’s documentary intimately covers the struggles and the resilience of the transgender community in India. For thousands of years, trans individuals have been a part of the hijra identity , a recognised third gender that also includes intersex and eunuch people. Rooted in Hinduism, hijras are believed to possess supernatural powers of blessings and curses. In this film’s spirited opening scene, they are seen in their finest clothes, as they are invited to shower a newborn with good luck.

The atmosphere might sparkle with jubilant acceptance, but the relationship between Indian society and trans people is much more ambiguous. Shunned by their families, trans women depend on sex work, often in dangerous conditions, to make ends meet. Frustrated with the narrowly defined visibility thrust upon her community, trans model and activist Rudrani Chettri launches her own modelling agency, with the hope of providing more professional opportunities. Her journey is a rocky and emotional one; while news outlets are eager to cover her efforts as a sensational headline, fashion publications continue to snub trans talent.

Scholz due to speak following announcement Germany will hold election on 23 February after break-up of ruling coalition

Greetings, it’s midday in Berlin and German chancellor Olaf Scholz will soon address the Bundestag for the first time since his government collapsed , firing the starting gun on his election campaign.

For months Germany has been hamstrung by the weakness of its squabbling three-way coalition government, leaving allies lamenting that Europe’s most powerful country and largest economy was unable to take big decisions. That changed last week, when Scholz sacked his finance minister , the pro-business liberal leader, Christian Lindner, triggering the end of the coalition and early elections.

They were ordinary selfies Charlotte Hooper had taken from the age of 16, but suddenly they were all over an X-rated chat forum. It was the start of a terrifying period of hypervigilance

Charlotte Hooper was in a university lecture when the Facebook message flashed up on her phone. She shot a quick glance at it – there were 10 minutes of class left – and brushed it off. It was from an acquaintance: “Is this you?”, he asked, attaching a link. She assumed it was some kind of scam.

But within seconds, another notification popped up: this time, screenshots of selfies she had taken over the years. “I had a very physical reaction to it – my whole body tensed up. I thought: oh shit, yeah, this is me.”

Pair, put in charge of new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, both lead firms with lucrative government contracts

As my colleague Philip Wen noted in his report on the appointment of Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to the newly created “Department of Government Efficiency”, a lot of details remain unclear:

It is not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.

Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal agencies.

O2 Academy, Glasgow
She continues to draw on a huge range of styles but, for all her self-doubt, there’s a new swagger developing in her live set

Beabadoobee’s stage decor – huge white drapes, an artfully placed stepladder and a dozen cans of paint – heavily implies that the indie rock singer-songwriter is in the middle of a transformation. Opener and sun-blasted recent single California makes the same case: “Wanted to change, it took a big fight,” she sings, leaning out to an eager crowd. “Call it a bluff, you’ll see it real time.”

Beatrice Laus’s star has been rising since 2017, but this summer her Rick Rubin-produced third album This Is How Tomorrow Moves earned her first UK No 1. Now 24, she’s said the record is about the “confusing world of becoming a woman”, while some of those changes she heralds on California include a healthier, long-view approach to touring.

Decision puts 2,000 jobs at risk overall as part of ‘streamlining’ plans that will include £250m pay increase

The Post Office plans to close 115 branches and says about 2,000 jobs are at risk as part of a plan that will see post office operator pay increase by £250m over the next five years.

The Post Office confirmed on Wednesday that it is seeking to offload 115 branches that it currently centrally owns, known as crown post offices, but said it expects to maintain the total network at 11,500 branches across the UK.