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‘Want to come skiing in Austria at half-term?” I asked my 13-year-old son. “It’ll be just like one of those luxury chalet holidays, only we’ll make our own beds, cook our own dinners and carry our gear back to our accommodation ourselves.” Osian didn’t hear the caveats. “Sounds amazing,” he said, his eyes glazing to a cinematic sweep of white powder and the chance to perfect his 360.

For many families, the dream of a catered chalet – and its ready-lit fires, homemade strudels and chauffeured lift shuttles – remains just that. Apartments offer access to the slopes at less vertigo-inducing prices, but they tend to come with a minimum seven-night stay. If you only have a few days to spare, or a budget that won’t stretch to a full week’s lift pass, hotels fill the gap, but then you’re back navigating the moguls of cost.

Instead, Osian and I were youth hostelling. I booked the last room available in the February school holidays at St Josefsheim, in the small western Austrian town of Schruns, and started scrolling Vinted for salopettes. Opened in December 2021 within a stately, blue-shuttered villa built in the early 1900s as a hospital and maternity facility, this is the first – and, so far, only – hostel in the Montafon ski area. Five minutes’ walk from the town’s railway station, and across the road from a bus stop, it is also, crucially, just two minutes’ ski-booted shuffle from a gondola station.

Above the ground-floor restaurant and bar are 13 bedrooms and bunkrooms, some doubles, the others sleeping up to eight people in cosy wooden sleeping pods. Although there is not, yet, any kind of communal games room or lounge, there is a shared kitchen and, in a playful homage to the building’s former function as a baby unit, a run of bathrooms tiled in pinks and blues.

The hostel operates a contactless self check-in system and early check-ins aren’t possible, so when we arrived on a lunchtime train from Zurich, we found ourselves unable even to leave our luggage until our allotted 3pm arrival time. Luckily, the restaurant manager, Christian, spotted us lurking on the steps and offered to watch our suitcases while we went off to explore the town and sort out ski hire.

Lower-key than many Austrian resorts, the five ski areas strung out along the Montafon valley, in Vorarlberg’s southern corner, are known for their snowsure pistes, all covered by the WildPass lift pass. This also gives access to the valley’s buses and trains, meaning it’s easy to hop between them to pick and mix your own slopeside schedule; Golm, in Vandans, is brilliant for younger children, with a new kindergarten and Golmi Land fun park, while Silvretta Montafon, directly above Schruns, is the largest ski area in the valley with 140km of marked runs. Access to all those pistes, and having almost everything you need within five minutes’ walk, makes Schruns a popular base for families – as does its restrained après-ski scene.

Wandering back to St Josefsheim in the late afternoon, kitted out with skis, boots and helmets, we came across flotillas of sea-shantying sailors and choreographed human sunbeams dancing away the sky’s snow-clouded gloom in the town’s annual carnival celebrations.

Inside our twin room, however, it was less carnival and more cocoon. Roomy and bright, from door handle to flooring, nothing creaked or rattled. A cord strung between hooks either side of the main window, made a handy line for hanging damp clothes, and shoe racks in the corridors helped us maintain the wholesome spotlessness. Making up our beds with the cheery gingham bed linen provided, we unpacked our ski clothes into the room’s pristine pink lockers, then padded down to the communal kitchen for an early dinner.

With only two cooking stations, the kitchen can fill up quickly if everyone goes at the same time and, because it was carnival and most of the town’s restaurants were closed, everybody did. Osian and I squeezed on to a table with a German family, who told us this was their first time skiing from a youth hostel. “We like Schruns and usually book an apartment, but finding something for only a few days, which we wanted this time, is not so easy. This was an affordable alternative.”

Early next morning, we found the kitchen was already packed with families spooning muesli into bowls, slicing through local cheeses and sipping steaming coffees. Not us, though. Collecting our gear from the cellar’s ski room, we clomped across to the bus stop and took the five-minute journey to the Zamang lift to meet Natascha Zandveld, from the Silvretta Montafon ski company, heading up the slopes for breakfast at the newly renovated Kapellrestaurant. There, we filled up on scrambled eggs and bacon while soaking up the panorama of peaks and pistes beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

In summer, cows graze the mountainsides and Osian insisted he caught a whiff of hay on the lift up. “It’s a working farming community here rather than a resort,” Natascha told us. “Tourism in Montafon began with locals renting rooms in their homes to visitors prescribed alpine air by their doctors, and most hotels are still family-run.”

Snow clouds began to billow on the horizon, so we clipped in and set off while there was still a seam of sunlight above us. Our first run was a long, glorious blue, threading through towering pines. Sunlight spilt on to the snow between their trunks and when we stopped for hot chocolate, at Gasthaus Kropfen mountain hut, it was so warm on the terrace we peeled off our jackets.

The next day, we took the bus in the other direction, to Golm. The sky was awash with inkblot clouds, but the snow beneath our skis was as soft as whipped cream. Higher up it was hard to tell where the piste ended and the sky began, but on the lower slopes we snaked between fir trees slouched under the weight of snow, the forested tracks blissfully quiet early in the day. We refueled at Haus Matschwitz, a steam-fogged mountain chalet doing a fast trade in fluffy kaiserschmarrn (sweet pancakes cut into bitesized pieces) and jam roly poly-like germknödel.

“Burn calories, not electricity,” a local sustainability initiative urged and we greedily obliged, carving squeaky powder all afternoon to make space for dinner back at St Josefsheim. Inside its bar, local people mingled with guests beneath a suspended vintage gondola cabin and there was a buzz in the restaurant, too, as we ordered plates of schweinsbraten (roast pork with caraway-laced bread dumplings) and pillowy keesknöpfli (Austrian mac’n’cheese).

On our final evening, we took another bus, to Garfrescha, to go night tobogganing. Snow fell thick and fast as a retro chairlift hauled us nearly 1,400m up the mountain before our sledges propelled us back downhill in a rush of giddy abandon. “This is amaaaazing!” whooped Osian, vanishing into the dark ahead of me, both of us convulsed with laughter.

Waiting for the bus at the bottom of the mountain, we looked up at the cluster of exclusive chalets above us, steam rising from their hot tubs and the sound of clinking glasses within. In taking local buses, joining the carnival crowds and talking to other travellers at St Josefsheim, we had felt more connected to this valley – and each other. That, it turned out, was the real luxury.

Beds in shared dorms at St Josefsheim start from €30pppn, private rooms from €135 for four. The accommodation was provided by Austria Tourism and Montafon. Flight-free travel was provided by Eurostar, Twiliner and FlixBus

Jeffrey Epstein urged Canadian-American media and real estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman to relinquish control of his financial affairs over what he claimed was the magnate’s “potentially dangerous” cognitive impairment, according to files released by the United States Department of Justice.

While Epstein’s business ties with Zuckerman, now 88 years old, have been a matter of public record for over two decades, the files suggest that the late sex offender also served as a confidant with access to the most intimate details of the billionaire mogul’s personal life.

After a meeting with Zuckerman and the Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen in October 2015, Epstein wrote an email urging the tycoon to enter a guardianship or conservatorship for his own protection.

Epstein told Zuckerman, the owner and publisher of US News & World Report, that the mogul had requested his help during their meeting several days earlier, but that he “might not remember”.

“Your friends including me are very concerned that your cognitive impairment has now reached a serious and potentially dangerous level. There is serious concern for your financail, emotional physical and psychological safety,” Epstein wrote, using his typically idiosyncratic approach to spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Epstein suggested that Zuckerman grant Rod-Larsen, Zuckerman’s nephews, and “anyone else you trust” authority to manage his affairs, warning that his “remarkable abilities” were no longer enough to protect him.

“I am aware that your condition makes you prone to suspicion but that being said, the future predictable decline will be an ever increasing danger,” Epstein wrote.

“Admittting you have a problem will take courage and determination.”

Zuckerman, who previously owned The Atlantic and the New York Daily News, appeared to take Epstein’s advice seriously, thanking him for his “thoughtfulness and friendship” and asking for recommendations for a lawyer with “experience in such matters”.

Zuckerman suggested the two men meet after he returned from an upcoming trip to San Francisco, but Epstein advised him to cancel the trip and said the mogul had told him about his travel plans on four separate occasions.

“I know you dont remember each time. . MORT , you need a Guardian,” Epstein wrote. “you should choose one now, while your judgment peeks through the haze. waiting too long. will mean most likely a court imposed solution. NOT FUN.”

Epstein also discussed Zuckerman’s health with his nephew, Eric Gertler, advising the relative to oversee the sale of the businessman’s stocks, art collection, helicopter and plane.

“my expertise is the financial . take any other suggestion as merely transmitting from others skilled in this terrible situation,” Epstein wrote to Gertler, who is the current executive chairman of US News & World Report, in one email.

It is not clear if Zuckerman followed Epstein’s advice to pass over control of his affairs.

Zuckerman announced that he would step down as chairman of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the US, about six months after his correspondence with Epstein.

Zuckerman did not cite any health concerns at the time and kept the title of chairman emeritus at the company, which he cofounded in 1970.

His philanthropic organisations – the Zuckerman Institute and Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program – and Gertler did not reply to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.

Zuckerman’s relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, occasionally made headlines during the early 2000s, before Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

In 2003, Zuckerman partnered with Epstein and several other prominent businessmen, including the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, in an unsuccessful bid to buy New York Magazine.

The two men teamed up again the following year to invest $25m in the short-lived relaunch of the entertainment and gossip magazine Radar.

Investigative files released by the US Department of Justice in January showed that the late financier viewed Zuckerman as a client and close associate, as well as a business partner.

In 2013, Epstein drew up a $21m proposal to provide Zuckerman with “analysing, evaluating, planning and other services” related to the passing on of his estate, according to emails in the files.

It is unclear whether Zuckerman accepted Epstein’s proposal or otherwise employed him to manage his estate planning.

Epstein also pressured Zuckerman to alter coverage of his alleged sexual abuse of girls in the New York Daily News, suggesting a “proposed answer” to questions put to him by the newspaper in 2009. Zuckerman owned the New York Daily News at the time.

Silent Witness fans were left baffled after the latest episode of the BBC One crime drama featured an internal monologue scene

Silent Witness viewers were left scratching their heads over one scene in the latest episode of the BBC programme.

Monday night’s instalment (March 2) of the crime drama saw Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) and Jack Hodgson (David Caves) and their fellow pathologists examining what appeared to be the suicide of a British-Chinese pro-democracy activist.

The woman’s remains were found in water and it was initially believed to be a suicide. However, as Nikki and Harriet Maven (Maggie Steed) delved deeper, evidence began suggesting something more sinister had occurred, reports the Express.

During the post-mortem examination, Maggie’s inner thoughts were heard, with her reflecting: “Shame, a quality which alerts us of the gap between who we are today and the best version of ourselves. It’s not a disparagement of the essence of our being, but a reminder of who we could be. Inspiring. Helping us to rise. Not driving us to despair.”

She continued: “Shame is an overlooked quality in a society which rewards celebrity over accomplishments.”

The sequence baffled many viewers, prompting a flurry of reactions on X, previously known as Twitter.

“I have never heard such droning piffle as Harriet’s ‘Shame’ soliloquy,” commented one, whilst another simply questioned: “Harriet???”

“What’s with the internal monologue, a meditation on shame in Silent Witness? Just give us the crime story,” remarked someone else.

Another queried what the character was “prattling on about it”, adding: “She’s talking in riddles.”

Another posted: “Silent Witness venturing into thought monologues now? Or is Harriet good at ventriloquism.”

Somebody else said: “Not keen on the latest series of Silent Witness after the awful episode last week and now cheesy internal monologues. New writers?”

However, other people who had tuned in to the drama appreciated the technique, with one remarking on the platform: “Oh I like the way they’re doing this one. Inside everyone’s heads.”

The instalment of Silent Witness was part one of the two-part series finale episode, which is entitled Shame. The second part of the story, which will conclude season 29 of the hit show, is scheduled to be broadcast on Tuesday March 3.

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Silent Witness broadcasts on BBC One

Tehran, Iran – Iranians are being directly addressed by leaders inside and outside the country after the United States and Israel launched attacks across Iran, prompting Tehran to respond with a wave of ongoing missile and drone attacks across the region.

“In light of the continued joint operations by the US and the Zionist regime against Tehran and several other major cities, if possible while remaining calm, please travel to other centres and cities where it is feasible for you to do so,” read a text message sent to the 10 million residents of Tehran by the government on Saturday afternoon.

All outbound roads from the capital were heavily congested with traffic from the morning, shortly after the US and Israel began joint strikes that targeting more than 20 of Iran’s 32 provinces.

Inside Tehran, people also formed long queues in front of petrol stations, even as government authorities emphasised that they remain in control, saying that food and fuel supplies would not be a problem and that contingency plans were in motion.

Authorities also accommodated civilians trying to exit the city, including by setting up roadside refuelling stations. Many families were headed to three provinces to the north near the Caspian Sea, as they did during the 12-day war with Israel.

Last June, during the war, US President Donald Trump issued a direct warning telling all Tehran citizens to immediately evacuate.

But in a video message released shortly after the strikes began on Saturday, he urged the Iranian people to stay in their homes and wait for a suitable time to rise up and overthrow the theocratic establishment governing Iran since a 1979 Islamic revolution. He framed it as “probably your only chance for generations”.

Similar sentiments were echoed in separate video messages released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the US-backed shah who was overthrown by clerics led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the revolution.

“Be vigilant and prepared so that at an appropriate time, which I will inform you precisely, you return to the streets for the final effort,” Pahlavi said.

This was in reference to nationwide protests that gripped Iran in January, during which thousands of civilians were killed, many on the nights of January 8 and 9.

Iranian authorities claim that civilians were killed by “terrorists” and “rioters” armed, funded and trained by the US and Israel. But the United Nations and international human rights organisations have blamed state forces for an unprecedented crackdown against peaceful protesters, and say tens of thousands have been incarcerated and some face execution.

Student protests also took place last week in Tehran and major cities, including the holy Shia city of Mashhad to the northeast and Shiraz to the south of Iran. A number of students were suspended, while others were arrested or summoned by intelligence authorities.

Universities and schools were declared closed after the strikes on Saturday until further notice, according to a directive by the Supreme National Security Council. Most had already been moved online until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20 in response to the unrest at other universities.

But dozens of people, many of them children, were killed after two schools were hit in southern Iran’s Minab and in Tehran.

State media showed paramilitary Basij members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) patrolling the streets of downtown Tehran on Saturday afternoon on motorcycles and vehicles and waving flags.

A similar gathering was recorded in Palestine Square, where pro-state groups shouted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.

Iranians forced into another internet blackout

The opening salvo in Tehran targeted the Pasteur neighbourhood in the downtown area, where government offices are located.

A satellite image and videos of the area showed that the compound housing the offices of the supreme leader was largely destroyed in the strikes. It was not immediately clear if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was present at the time of the attack, but the foreign minister later told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know”.

Minutes after the start of the war, Iranian authorities began shutting down internet connections and mobile phone connections across multiple areas of Tehran. Some mobile connectivity was restored, but the internet shutdown was expanded across the country, with almost all traffic blocked and leaving only few proxy connections working to access the global internet.

The Islamic Republic had imposed an unprecedented 20-day total internet shutdown in January, and heavy state filtering was in place prior to the shutdown on Saturday.

Iranian authorities urged citizens on Saturday to only follow official state media, to report any suspicious activity, and to refrain from collaborating with “enemies” on pain of heavy punishment.

As daylight waned, Tehran’s streets emptied, but the sounds of explosions continued to ring loud.