Keir Starmer may have seen off a potential leadership challenger in Andy Burnham this week but his position is still far from secure. His unpopularity with voters is glaring: in a recent YouGov poll, 75% said they viewed him unfavourably; only Liz Truss has ever had worse ratings. Labour MPs are already in a “cold panic” about losing the next general election to Reform, said the BBC’s Chris Mason, and this only “turbocharges questions” about Starmer’s “future as prime minister”.

What did the commentators say?
The “real winner” from the decision to block Burnham’s return was undoubtedly Wes Streeting, said Ben Walker in The New Statesman. The health secretary, who has made little secret of his wish to take over the top job one day, is the “current front-runner” among Labour MPs – although views of him among the rank-and-file party membership are “more divisive”. He “would probably defeat Starmer in a head-to-head contest but, if he has to face off against another, more soft-left, candidate, it might be trickier”.

Angela Rayner, who resigned as deputy PM last year after failing to get proper tax advice on a property sale, has been signalling her intention to get back to the fray. Her allies told The Times’ Aubrey Allegretti that she would have 80 MPs ready to back a leadership bid and is “well placed to challenge” the PM “after what is expected to be a difficult set of elections in May”. Other Labour MPs have also “talked up the prospect” of former leader and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband becoming the “choice of the soft left”, said Kitty Donaldson in The i Paper.

What next?
Starmer’s team “cling to the hope that something may turn up” before the crucial 7 May parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland, and local elections in England, or that his rivals will “lose their nerve”, said the Financial Times. But, barring better-than-expected results at the ballot box, the pressure on the PM to make way after an electoral bloodbath could become overwhelming.

The “distractions of Donald Trump and Davos” proved an “opportune” moment for France’s state-owned rail operator SNCF to “slip out some news”, said Gavin Mortimer in The Spectator. Bonjour to Optimum, “the new and exclusive area of the train where kids are not welcome”. And, to ensure that “little Gallic brats” don’t disrupt the quiet, “even briefly”, this carriage will be “located at the end of the train to prevent other passengers from walking through the Optimum-dedicated area”.

‘Shocking’ and ‘sick’
“In a rare moment of unity”, French MPs of all political stripes have expressed “outrage”, said Mortimer in The Spectator. “It’s shocking,” Sarah El Haïry, France’s high commissioner for children, said on BFM. “Travelling with children is not a problem to be fixed, but a reality to be supported.” Left-wing MP François Ruffin said the ban shows that French society is “sick”, while right-wing former interior minister Bruno Retailleau, said it was “everything France must not become”.

The arrival of the child-free train carriage only adds to France’s ongoing debate about adults-only spaces, said The Guardian. Last year, Laurence Rossignol, a socialist senator, called for a curb on the rising number of child-free holiday resorts. “We can’t organise society by separating children off from ourselves in the way some establishments don’t take dogs,” she said. “Children aren’t troublesome pets.”

‘Right to tantrum-free spaces’
I think the child-free carriage is a “magnificent idea”, said Fiona McIntosh in The Independent. Now my daughters have grown up, I have “earned the right to tantrum-free spaces”. And it’s actually quite a reasonable proposition: the Optimum carriage is only available Monday to Friday during “peak business travel” on just 8% of the SNCF’s express trains in and out of Paris. “Surely this segregation is a win-win for everyone?” .

Hostility towards children in public places “is growing”, said Rachel Connelly in The Guardian. But making them “absent of children” speaks to a “fantasy” world where our lives “are totally detached from the lives of the people around us” – when, of course, they aren’t. Just imagine “if this fantasy were reality: our lives would be very small and boring”.

Costumed “guizers” march in a torch-lit procession during the Up Helly Aa fire festival in Lerwick, Shetland. The annual event marks the end of Yule season, and celebrates Scotland’s Norse heritage in a tradition dating back to the 19th century.

Andy Buchanan / Getty

When everyone is glued to a different screen, it’s probably time for a board game. From assembling the perfect sushi platter to building your own mushroom kingdom, there is now far more choice than Monopoly or Scrabble (although these time-tested games are classics for a reason). Sore losers beware.

Root
This “devilishly tough” war game is “disguised as a fairytale romp”, complete with “adorably anthropomorphised woodland creatures”, said James Austin on Wirecutter. Players take the role of one of four factions and compete to “control the different clearings in the forest”. Expect “consistently surprising interactions”, plenty of strategy and “gorgeous, playful art”. For ages 10+

Mycelia
We loved the “magical, whimsical theme” of Mycelia, said Katie Gregory in The Independent. “Quite different to anything else we tested”, the aim of the game is to build a deck of cards which players “use to earn leaves, and buy more cards that help you move magical dewdrops off the board” and build a mushroom kingdom. Mycelia comes with four double-sided boards to “keep things interesting” and, unlike most board games, it can also be played solo. For ages 9+

Sushi Go Party!
Relatively affordable and “easy to learn”, Sushi Go Party! is a great choice for families, said Matthew Thompson on The Conversation. The “fast-paced” game sees competitors trying to score the most points over a series of rounds by collecting the “best combination” of sushi, appetisers, specials and desserts on “colourful” cards. It’s a lot of fun. For ages 8+

How Trump Became a Liability for Europe’s Far Right
Jeanna Smialek in The New York Times
Europe’s nationalist leaders previously “welcomed the momentum” that Donald Trump gave them, writes Jeanna Smialek. But they’re now taking “a more strident stance” against him, after his “rambling” Davos speech and other recent events “underscored his disdain for the continent”. While “the European far right still shares key ideas” with Trump and Maga, “public association” with the president is “looking like a politically treacherous high-wire act” – and centrist politicians are sensing “a chance to skewer” their “right-wing political opponents”.

Pick-up trucks don’t belong in Britain
Simon Kelner in The i Paper
“I blame Billy Bob Thornton” and his “Landman” TV series for the UK “boom” in pick-up trucks, writes Simon Kelner. Our streets weren’t designed for these “oversized, overbearing” vehicles. They “block sight lines at junctions” and the bonnets are so high that child pedestrians “cannot be seen from the driver’s seat”. Apparently, there are “tax advantages” in owning these “more polluting cars”, which seems “counterintuitive”. Driving a pick-up should be “penalised – rather than encouraged – by the tax system”.

Why we need our National Heritage Service
Mario Trabucco della Torretta in The Critic
There is a “recent tendency to view museums” as “nothing more than glorified storage units” for “assets” that can be “liquidated” when “the political wind shifts”, writes archaeologist Mario Trabucco della Torretta. But “museum activism” should not devalue the idea of “the permanent collection”. Our museums are “our National Heritage Service”, guarding “our collective identity”, and “this must transcend the whims of any single generation”. We should “work together” to “save our NHS (the other one)”.