Car with ‘Happy Chanukah’ sign firebombed in suspected antisemitic attack in Melbourne

Police say the vehicle was set alight in the driveway of a property in St Kilda East in the early hours of Christmas Day

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A car with a “Happy Chanukah” sign has been firebombed in a Melbourne suburb in the early hours of Christmas morning.

The suspected antisemitic incident comes less than two weeks after the terror attack that targeted Jews celebrating the holiday of Hanukah at Sydney’s Bondi beach and claimed 15 lives.

12/24: CBS Evening News

Her Altadena home survived a wildfire, but now she faces the threat of mudslides; Why flamingos are returning to Florida

Tiny Pacific nation of Palau to take migrants from US in return for aid

The island nation will take up to 75 migrants, months after lawmakers rejected a previous request from Washington

Palau will take up to 75 migrants from the US in return for additional aid, after the tiny Pacific Island nation signed a memorandum of understanding with Washington on transfer of third-country nationals.

US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau spoke to Palau president Surangel Whipps in a call on Tuesday about transferring third-country nationals to Palau, the two sides said in separate statements, after Palau’s lawmakers rejected a previous request from Washington on the matter earlier this year.

California storm threatens homes and holiday travel

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding and mudslides, especially in areas scorched by wildfires.

NORAD tracks Santa in Christmas tradition. See the live map.

NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, tracks Santa's Christmas Eve flight around the world each year. Follow a live map of the tracker here.

Gas leak believed to be the cause of deadly nursing home explosions

At least two people were killed, and about 20 others were taken to hospitals, after a gas leak is believed to have sparked two explosions and a fire at a nursing home in Pennsylvania. Lilia Luciano has more on the victims and the investigation.

Her Altadena home survived a wildfire, but now she faces the threat of mudslides

The hills of Altadena, California, scorched at the beginning of this year by a wildfire, are now sliding amid heavy rain. Andres Gutierrez spoke to one homeowner who plans to ride out the storm. Andrew Kozak has the forecast.

Drivers stranded in Los Angeles area as heavy rain turns roads to rivers

The Christmas Eve drive was anything but a holiday gift for many across Los Angeles as heavy rain turned roads into rivers in some areas. At LAX, the last-minute dash to make it home before Christmas had flyers lining up early hoping the storm didn't keep them grounded. Kris Van Cleave reports.

No pain, no game: how South Korea turned itself into a gaming powerhouse

Gaming was once compared to drugs, gambling and alcohol in South Korea. Now its gaming academies offer a chance to earn a six-figure salary – if you make the grade

Son Si-woo remembers the moment his mother turned off his computer. He was midway through an interview to become a professional gamer.

“She said when I played computer games, my personality got worse, that I was addicted to games,” the 27-year-old recalls.

Trump-backed candidate Asfura declared new president of Honduras

Winning margin of 28,000 votes announced a month late but before review of all ‘inconsistent’ ballots was completed

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes.

1 staff member, 1 resident killed in explosions at Pa. nursing home

Bucks County officials say the two people killed after explosions at a Bristol nursing home were a resident and a staff member.

Afcon roundup: Algeria beat 10-man Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire start defence with win

• Algeria win 3-0 as Adel sees red | Burkina Faso 2-1 E Guinea

• Côte d’Ivoire 1-0 Mozambique | Cameroon 1-0 Gabon

Riyad Mahrez scored twice as Algeria launched their Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a comfortable 3-0 Group E win against 10-man Sudan in Rabat.

The Desert Warriors were ahead within two minutes when the former Leicester and Manchester City winger ran on to Hicham Boudaoui’s clever backheel and fired past the Sudan keeper Monged Abuzaid.

Exclusive: Nvidia buying AI chip startup Groq's assets for about $20 billion in largest deal on record

Nvidia is making its largest purchase ever, acquiring assets from nine-year-old chip startup Groq for about $20 billion.

NHTSA investigating Tesla Model 3 emergency door handles

Traffic safety regulators are reviewing a motorist's complaints that the manual door handles on some Model 3 cars are hard to find, a potential hazard in a crash.

Pope Leo calls for kindness to strangers and the poor in Christmas message

Refusing to help those in need is tantamount to rejecting God himself, says pontiff during Christmas Eve mass

Pope Leo has told Christians that the Christmas story should remind them of their duty to help the poor and strangers.

In his Christmas Eve sermon, the pope said the story of Jesus being born in a stable because there was no room at an inn showed followers that refusing to help those in need was tantamount to rejecting God himself.

UK, Canada and Germany condemn Israel for 19 new West Bank settlements

Fourteen countries, also including France, Italy, Ireland and Spain, say actions ‘violate international law and risk fuelling instability’

Fourteen countries, including Britain, Canada and Germany, have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violate international law and risk fuelling instability.

Israel approved a proposal last Sunday for the new Jewish settlements, which brings the recent total to 69, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

DOJ says more than 1 million potential Epstein files newly uncovered

A bipartisan group of Senators on Wednesday said the Trump administration violated the law by failing to release the records in full last week.

Southern California braces as powerful winter storms threaten up to 8in of rain

Governor declared emergency in several counties, with near white-out snow conditions in parts of the Sierra Nevada

A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds leading to evacuation warnings for mudslides in parts of the southern part of the state, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles.

Cillian Murphy meets Barry Keoghan in first look at Peaky Blinders film

Two stars of Irish acting unite in eagerly anticipated film about Birmingham gangster Tommy Shelby

Two stars of Irish acting are united as Cillian Murphy meets Barry Keoghan in the first look at the eagerly anticipated Peaky Blinders film.

Murphy questions his identity as “famous gypsy gangster” Tommy Shelby in the 70-second teaser released by Netflix on Christmas Eve.

Hawaii cruise passengers face new climate change tax after court ruling

The new tourist tax imposes an 11% tax on the gross fares paid by a cruise ship's passengers to address climate change threats to Hawaii.

DOJ says "over a million more documents" found, potentially related to Epstein case

The Justice Department said the process of releasing the Epstein files may take "a few more weeks" due to the volume of materials.

US justice department says it may need ‘a few more weeks’ to process 1m more Epstein documents for release

DoJ says more documents have been uncovered amid criticisms for missing 19 December deadline for full release

The US justice department said on Wednesday that it has been told by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the FBI that they have uncovered more than a million more documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case and processing these for release could take “a few more weeks”.

In a post on X, the justice department said it had received the documents from the US attorney for the southern district of New York and the FBI in “compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, existing statutes, and judicial orders”.

We asked experts to rate the U.S. economy in 2025. Here's what they said.

The economy remained on track this year, defying the gloomiest predictions. That doesn't mean Americans are thrilled with how things are going.

DOJ releases huge set of Epstein files with many mentions of Trump

The Justice Department early Tuesday released more than 11,000 additional documents and photos from the Jeffrey Epstein files.

How to save money on your utility bill this winter as heating costs rise

Many Americans face soaring costs to heat their homes this winter. Here are some ways to lower your monthly utility bill.

From Lily Allen to six-seven: it’s the 2025 bumper pop culture quiz of the year

Did you watch KPop Demon Hunters? Have you listened to Rosalía? And do you know who ‘fedora guy’ is? If you answered yes to all these, this is the quiz for you

These 5 infrastructure stocks have more than tripled this year on the AI trade

While Nvidia has been the biggest infrastructure winner during the AI boom, other data center stocks have performed better this year.

Farage criticised for £400,000 job promoting physical gold as pension investment

Exclusive: Reform leader promotes Direct Bullion – but experts say commodity is not for everyday investors

Nigel Farage has been criticised over his £400,000-a-year second job promoting the idea that people should buy physical gold and put it into their pension pots.

Farage is paid more than four times his MPs’ salary for the four-hour-a-month job at Direct Bullion, where he has featured in Facebook and YouTube videos.

First responders who ran into nursing home after explosion praised as heroes

The police chief of Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, says the incident response after the nursing home explosion is the largest he's ever seen in 20 years.

Judge blocks Trump from stripping security clearance from attorney for now

Trump signed an executive order in March saying it was "no longer in the national interest" for attorney Mark Zaid and others to access classified information.

Extended interview: Aubrey O'Day on Sean "Diddy" Combs, Netflix documentary and forgiveness

In an exclusive interview, "Danity Kane" singer Aubrey O'Day opens up about appearing in Netflix's documentary series, "Sean Combs: The Reckoning," where she reveals she learned about an affidavit from an unidentified witness who claims to have seen Combs and another man sexually assault her. O'Day talks about processing the information and her life since the documentary was released. A spokesperson for the music mogul said in a statement, "Mr. Combs categorically denies the allegations referenced in the Netflix documentary and in recent commentary," and says he's never sexually assaulted anyone.

Terry Rozier seeks to have charges thrown out in NBA gambling case

His lawyers argued that Rozier's alleged involvement​ in the wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies is limited.

How to end the year right: come up with your own personal rituals

Rituals are different from routines – they elevate everyday life. Here’s how to create meaning beyond the festive season

How do you celebrate the end of the year?

Office parties can be a drag, but if you’re self-employed, it can be easy to roll without ceremony from one year into the next. Three years ago, two friends and I were bemoaning the lack of festivities and decided to make up for it by organising our own end-of-year lunch.

I’m an adult. Why do I regress under my parents’ roof?

I like my own company. But do I spend too much time alone?

People say you’ll know – but will I regret not having children?

I Can Fit That In: How Rituals Transform Your Life by Erin Coupe is out now

The stories behind some popular Christmas traditions

"Inside Edition" correspondent Megan Alexander joins "CBS Mornings" to talk about her new book, "The True Gifts of Christmas: Unwrapping the Meaning Behind Our Most Cherished Traditions," which focuses on the backstory of 25 of the most popular Christmas traditions. Editor's Note: CBS earns commissions on purchases made through Amazon via the QR code.

Father and son boaters who helped Texas plane crash victims describe rescue

A small plane transporting a medical patient crashed near Galveston, Texas, on Monday afternoon, killing six people, officials say. A father and son who were boating at the time of the crash and helped rescue people told CBS News' Karen Hua about what happened.

Quick response saves lives in deadly nursing home explosion

A deadly explosion at a nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, killed at least two people and injured about 20 others, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced. Lillia Luciano has the latest.

‘There’s no going back’: Iran’s women on why they won’t stop flouting dress code laws

Despite fresh attempts to make women cover up, many believe the regime wouldn’t risk mass arrests for fear of sparking a wave of popular unrest last seen after the killing of Mahsa Amini

On the streets of Iran’s capital, Tehran, young women are increasingly flouting the compulsory hijab laws, posting videos online that show them walking the streets unveiled. Their defiance comes more than three years after the killing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman taken into custody by the “morality police” for allegedly breaching the dress code rules. Her death led to the largest wave of popular unrest for years in Iran and a crackdown by security services in response, with hundreds of protesters killed and thousands injured.

Under Iran’s “hijab and chastity” law, which came into force in 2024, women caught “promoting nudity, indecency, unveiling or improper dressing” face severe penalties, including fines of up to £12,500, flogging and prison sentences ranging from five to 15 years for repeat offenders.

Two young female friends meet up in Laleh park to rest and drink tea together after a long working day. They used to be classmates studying English

Lawmakers blast DOJ over Epstein files release

Democrats and some Republicans are blasting the Justice Department over its handling of the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which included major redactions. Scott MacFarlane has the latest.

California slammed by torrential rain as residents prep for flooding

Southern California was drenched by torrential storms overnight. Meanwhile, power was restored to San Francisco after a major blackout in the area from storms. Andres Gutierrez has more.

Trump suggests pulling licenses if networks are "almost 100% Negative" about him

President Trump said TV broadcast licenses should be revoked if newscasts and late-night shows are almost entirely negative about him and the GOP.

Amazon faces 'leader's dilemma' — fight AI shopping bots or join them

Agents like OpenAI's Instant Checkout and Perplexity's Instant Buy threaten to reshape the e-commerce landscape.

‘Freedom is a city where you can breathe’: four experts on Europe’s most liveable capitals

From Copenhagen’s cycle lanes and Vienna’s shared parks to Barcelona and London’s unfulfilled potential, better living is close at hand

The angry rumble of a speeding SUV. The metallic smog of backlogged traffic. The aching heat of sun-dried neighbourhoods baking in an oven of concrete and asphalt.

For most people, the mundane threats that plague our environments are likely to annoy more than they spark dread. But for scientists who know just how dangerous our surroundings can be, the burden of knowledge weighs heavy each day. Across Europe, environmental risks cause 18% of deaths from cardiovascular disease and 10% of deaths from cancer. Traffic crashes in the EU kill five times more people than murders.

Amorim challenges Manchester United to ‘step up’ after Bruno Fernandes injury

• ‘It’s impossible to replace Bruno … we need more leaders’

• United host Newcastle in Premier League on Boxing Day

Ruben Amorim has described Bruno Fernandes as “impossible to replace” but has told Manchester United’s players the captain’s injury is a chance for them to step up.

Fernandes was forced off at half-time of Sunday’s loss at Aston Villa owing to a soft-tissue injury that will rule him out for a prolonged period. United host Newcastle in Boxing Day’s only Premier League fixture and Amorim was asked how he could compensate for Fernandes’s absence when the 31-year-old’s deputy, Kobbie Mainoo, is also injured.

Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation a crime

France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 to 1962 is marked by mass killings and large-scale deportation

Algeria’s parliament has unanimously approved a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime and demanded an apology and reparations.

Lawmakers, standing in the chamber wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag, chanted “long live Algeria” on Wednesday as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”.

Greetings from Jaffa, Israel, where a salon is a welcoming space for Palestinians and Jews

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

‘It’s the story of my life’: how a retired teacher transformed his memories into a miniature world

From postcards to 3D models of nativity scenes, Ken Bonham has spent decades crafting the vast collection of dioramas that fill his home in Birmingham

A miniature world can be found hidden inside a one-bedroom flat in Birmingham. For decades, Ken Bonham, a retired teacher, has made memory boxes of places he has visited with his dressmaker wife of 54 years, Maggie, each made up of items they have collected on their travels or Bonham has made.

Models of barns, castles and churches are also crammed into the property – made from cork, balsa wood, styrofoam – or 3D card elevations from Bonham’s photos. Each Christmas, Bonham delights his neighbours by crafting nativity scenes from items he has collected and crafted.

Trump’s claims to Venezuelan oil are part of broader ‘resource imperialism’, experts say

Critics compare offensive to Iraq war, citing familiar mix of regime-change rhetoric, security pretexts and oil interests

Donald Trump’s recent claims that the US should keep Venezuelan oil from seized tankers are part of a broader belief in rightwing “resource imperialism”, experts say.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has escalated pressure on Venezuela, invoking drug-trafficking claims. This month, the US intercepted two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and began pursuing a third, while intensifying its campaign against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

The video games readers couldn’t switch off in 2025

In this week’s newsletter: Pushing Buttons readers on their favourite games of the year, from Death Stranding 2 and Arc Raiders to Ghost of Yōtei and more

Happy holidays, Pushing Buttons readers! Once again, we are approaching the cherished time of year between Christmas and New Year when we might actually have the time to play some video games. I hope Santa brought you something new to play, instead of taking one look at all the unplayed games in your Steam library and putting you straight on the naughty list.

Over the past few weeks you have been sending in your favourite games of the year. I maintain that you readers have excellent taste: there’s crossover with our own Guardian games of the year list, but also plenty here that I haven’t played myself. Thank you to everyone who sent in a recommendation, and I hope you find yet another game to add to your pile of shame among the following suggestions. I’ll be back next week with a year-in-review issue – in the meantime, go enjoy yourselves!

Christmas Eve swims and an underground mass: photos of the day – Wednesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

Trump approves deployment of 350 national guard members to New Orleans

Critics say deployment is unwarranted and could cause fear in the city, which has seen a decrease in violent crime rates

The Trump administration is deploying 350 national guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the new year, launching another federal deployment in the city at the same time that an immigration crackdown led by border patrol is under way.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with supporting federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Parnell added that the national guard troops will be deployed through February.

Truth in fantasy: what Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials taught us over its 30-year run

The ‘religious atheist’ author held a reputation as CS Lewis’s opposite. But his two trilogies – which came to a close this year – were a celebration of humanity and imagination

Twenty years ago, I visited the Botanic Garden in Oxford for the first time. Among the winding pathways lined with flowers, about halfway back, stood a bench under a tree, largely identical to the others throughout the park. Was this the one? I wondered.

I didn’t have to question it for long. A closer look revealed words and images etched along its wooden slats, all along similar lines: “Lyra + Will”, they said. Or: “Pantalaimon” and “Kirjava”. Tucked between the bench’s arm and seat was a folded-up scrap of paper with a handwritten message of thanks.

When my father first came to the UK, people bonded and looked after him. Would that happen now? | Nell Frizzell

I’ve taken in refugees from time to time, and formed ties that have lasted to this day. Instead of demonising people, we could try sharing our lives with them

There is one Christmas story from when my father first arrived in the UK, 43 years ago, that can still make me howl with laughter. It was a cold winter and my dad had been gripped by the idea of roasting chestnuts. He had grown up in the southern hemisphere, in a former British colony, so despite the fact that his Christmases were hot – spent in shorts and flip-flops – he had been surrounded by images of snowy churches, robin redbreasts, holly, ivy and, yes, chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

And so, he headed out to Clapham Common in south London to collect conkers. They were chestnuts, after all. Horse chestnuts but hey, that’s still a chestnut. Or so he thought. And so, that evening when his British friends arrived at the house where he was staying, they were greeted by the suspiciously acrid smell of about 30 conkers, baking away in the little gas oven, plus a wild-haired man in his 20s primed to chomp into his tray of baked poison.

Nell Frizzell is a journalist and author

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: when it comes to lace, it’s all about the trimmings

Head-to-toe can be too much, but a lace trim on a skirt, a camisole under a blazer, lace tights? Now you’re talking

Sometimes a little goes a long way. This is true for Tabasco on eggs, for fragrance in an elevator, for confidence in the karaoke booth, and it is also, I have belatedly realised, the secret of how to wear lace.

All these years, I’ve been getting lace wrong by wearing too much of it. Killing it with overenthusiasm. Lace is beautiful stuff: delicate and romantic. Look closely at it and you will see tiny motifs and patterns, flowers and symbols, crafted in miniature like secret messages. Lace has drama: it is the fabric of marriages, funerals and christenings, after all. And it can switch vibes: white is chaste, red is raunchy, black is sophisticated. Lace has it all going on.

BP to sell majority stake in $10bn Castrol business to US investment firm

Stonepeak will acquire 65% of lubricants business as part of wider plans for the oil company to pay down its debt

• Business live – latest updates

BP has agreed to sell a majority stake in its $10bn (£7.4bn) lubricants business Castrol to the US investment company Stonepeak, as the new chair, Albert Manifold, rapidly reshapes the under-pressure oil and gas company.

Stonepeak will acquire a 65% stake in Castrol, in a deal that values the division at $10.1bn including its debt. The deal, in which BP will retain a 35% stake in the business through a joint venture, is expected to close at the end of next year, the company said on Wednesday.

US and Ukraine edge closer to joint plan to end war – with Moscow’s response uncertain

Ukraine accepts principle of demilitarised zone in east, while insisting Russia make similar concessions in pulling back forces

Washington and Kyiv have edged closer to a jointly agreed formula to end the war in Ukraine amid continuing uncertainty over Moscow’s response and a number of unresolved issues.

Revealing the latest status of the peace talks, brokered by Washington, Ukraine’s president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, appeared to have secured several important concessions from earlier versions of the now-slimmed-down plan after intense talks with the US negotiating team.

Trump plows ahead with construction plans as preservation group seeks limits

President Trump has overhauled parts of the White House at a sprinter's pace with virtually no oversight, and it appears there is little standing in his way.

What's open on Christmas Eve 2025? See which stores are operating.

Many businesses adjust their hours on Christmas Eve, so it's best to plan ahead if you need to do any last-minute shopping.

How to turn an excess of herbs into a showstopping sauce for just about anything – recipe | Waste not

This make-ahead, easy green sauce is suitable for to almost any main dish and a great way to use up hang-about herbs

Whenever I want to cook something special, my first thought is always salsa verde, and Christmas is no exception. This vibrant sauce is so forgiving and endlessly versatile – a last-minute showstopper that can be whipped up with a few store-cupboard ingredients and some herbs. It’s normally made with parsley, garlic, capers, anchovy fillets, olive oil and vinegar, but as long as the end result is green and saucy, I’m generally more than happy. Finely chop whatever herbs you have to hand – I used rosemary, sage, lemon verbena and nasturtiumsfrom the garden.

‘You sneak in and hope you make it back’: the Sudanese volunteers risking it all to bring care to millions

Members of Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms network tell Guardian they didn’t mind missing out on the Nobel peace prize because ‘we only want to help’

Doing good gets you killed in Sudan. It was why Amira did not tell her mother when she joined a volunteer group that felt like the only thing stopping her country sliding deeper into dystopia.

Each morningshe secretly crossed the shifting frontline of Sudan’s North Kordofan state. Amira was entering territory held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), paramilitaries who have committed countless war crimes, including genocide, during the country’s cataclysmic war.

My big night out: I spent the evening with Ant and Dec – and it sparked an audacious new ambition

I was a chemistry student, my days spent boiling, titrating and stirring. But after that night, I formed a double act with a friend, writing jokes and making a radio show, before heading off to Australia …

Although I loved my time at Nottingham University, I didn’t go there with much intention of doing anything with my degree in chemistry afterwards. Not only was it full-on, I wasn’t particularly good at it. In an experiment to examine the incubation of goat’s blood, I accidentally added 10 times too much hydrogen peroxide. Blood shot out of the flask and splattered all over my face like a scene from The Sopranos. I can still hear my professor’s screams.

But that’s OK, because I hadn’t really gone to university to win the Nobel prize, I’d gone to experience the culture of the mid 90s. British dance music – through acts such as Orbital, Leftfield, Underworld, Faithless and the Chemical Brothers – was exploding. Britpop was happening around me: (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory was released the week I went to uni. My entry to this smorgasbord of cool happened when, in our second year, Ant and Dec announced a live show up in town.

Thailand and Cambodia begin talks to end deadly clashes after venue row

Negotiations expected to last four days as each side calls on the other to show sincerity in words and actions

Cambodian and Thai officials began four days of talks at a border checkpoint on Wednesday intended to negotiate an end to the deadly clashes between the two countries, Phnom Penh said.

The meeting in Thailand’s Chanthaburi province had been at risk after Phnom Penh demanded a switch to a neutral venue.

Tell us: do you have unusual living arrangements?

Perhaps you have been living with friends for many years, or live in a commune

Do you have what could be described as unusual living arrangements?

Perhaps you live in communal housing, or a commune or with extended family.

European leaders condemn US visa bans as row over ‘censorship’ escalates

Washington accused of ‘coercion and intimidation’ after five leading figures behind digital safety law campaign targeted

European leaders including Emmanuel Macron have accused Washington of “coercion and intimidation”, after the US imposed a visa ban on five prominent European figures who have been at heart of the campaign to introduce laws regulating American tech companies.

The visa bans were imposed on Tuesday on Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner and one of the architects of the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and four anti-disinformation campaigners, including two in Germany and two in the UK.

Enticing Salah would be a coup for Saudi league searching for an identity

Egypt forward could change face of a league so far mostly reliant on ageing stars and alter perception of football in the Arab world

Mohamed Salah has made an impact in Morocco with an injury-time winner to spare Egypt’s blushes in their Africa Cup of Nations opener against Zimbabwe but his future intervention in Saudi Arabia could be more meaningful. A Saudi Pro League (SPL) that had been moving away from signing big-name veterans is tempted by a player who will be 34 just as this season ends.

Although players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have been successes on and off the pitch, albeit incredibly expensive ones, the powers that be don’t want the SPL to be regarded as a retirement league in the sun for stars whose powers are waning. But Salah is different, the attraction intensified by the fact that he is the biggest-name player in the Arab world.

A key question for every believer: does God approve of Santa Claus? I hope so, or I’m in trouble | Ravi Holy

The great Santa deception arguably breaches the ninth commandment (‘Thou shalt not bear false witness’). I think God would cut us some slack

When I was first ordained, an older priest gave me three commandments for a successful ministry: one, try not to upset the flower ladies; two, don’t preach pacifism on Remembrance Sunday; and, three – and most important – never tell children that Santa isn’t real.

If only someone had had that talk with RevDr Paul Chamberlain, who last Christmas reduced a classroom full of year 6 children to tears by telling them the truth: “It’s your mum and dad.” (I hope that doesn’t come as a shock to any of you.)

Ravi Holy is rector of the United Wye Benefice in Canterbury, Kent, and a standup comedian

In the snow, these salamanders get supercool

Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold.

When porch pirates steal medicine instead of holiday gifts

Mail theft can happen around the holidays, but sometimes, instead of getting a new iPad, the thief swipes a mail order medicine. Here's what to do about it.

New Epstein files mention Trump. And, SCOTUS rules on National Guard in Chicago

The DOJ released tens of thousands of new documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Guard must stay out of Chicago.

Martha Stewart becomes latest celebrity to invest in Swansea City FC

US lifestyle entrepreneur joins Snoop Dogg and Luka Modric by making minority investment in the Welsh club

The American lifestyle personality Martha Stewart has become the latest celebrity to become a co-owner of Swansea City football club.

Stewart will join the rapper Snoop Dogg and the footballer Luka Modric as a minority owner of the Welsh club, which plays in the second tier of England’s football pyramid. The announcement was made in a post on the club’s website by two of its owners, Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen. The post did not disclose the size of the investment.

British boy stabbed to death in Portugal allegedly by ex-partner of his mother

Tributes paid to Alfie Hallett, 13, as police say suspect also died in incident believed to be domestic violence related

A 13-year-old British boy has died after being stabbed at his home in Portugal allegedly by the ex-partner of his mother.

The boy has been named locally as Alfie Hallett, with tributes paid on social media by the basketball team that he played for.

Koepka’s departure is a blow for LIV but also raises questions for PGA Tour | Ewan Murray

Five-time major champion looks poised to become a fascinating test case for golf’s future after exiting Saudi-funded breakaway tour

It was portrayed as amicable when it felt so inevitable. News that Brooks Koepka will step away from LIV Golf in 2026 comes as no shock. This never felt a particularly sensible alliance; an individual who craves glory at the top level and a disruption regime that has grasped for relevance with only varying degrees of success.

Koepka has looked unhappy in his professional domain for some time. He has all but admitted he would never have joined LIV but for fears over a potentially career-threatening injury. Golf’s ultimate alpha male was the captain of LIV’s Smash GC team. The whole thing always seemed preposterous.

Dancing! Fighting! Impregnating! The best movie moments of 2025

From Sinners to F1 to Highest 2 Lowest, Guardian writers pick the scenes that stuck with them the most this year

Spoilers ahead

Disclosure: I covered auto racing for years and still follow Formula One skeptically. I definitely went into F1: The Movie knowing what I was in for, an answer to the hypothetical: what if the bougiest sport on God’s green earth was turned into a western? But you can’t help going along for the ride once Brad Pitt starts filling the frame with his blue-eyed winks, wry smiles and Butch Cassidy swagger. I should’ve been more indignant about this martinet sport making a literal hero out of the biggest rogue on the grid. But I left disbelief in parc fermé as Pitt’s Sonny Hayes bumped and nicked his way to the season finale at Abu Dhabi to much consternation before his wingman (Damson Idris) takes up the ticky tactics at Yas Marina circuit and winds up sacrificing himself and producer Lewis Hamilton (not again!) to help Sonny win his first race and thwart a hostile takeover of their fragile team. And when the lights went up at my desolate midday screening, it was just me still on the edge of my seat and my disbelief still firmly off track. Andrew Lawrence

The Spin | Women’s cricket team of the year: from Jemimah Rodrigues to Alana King

The Spin’s annual selection marks a history-making World Cup triumph for India, and work to do for England

India’s mission to build a global women’s cricket dynasty advanced apace in 2025. Few will forget the sight of Harmanpreet Kaur’s team converging joyously on the field at the DY Patil Stadium to celebrate a fairytale World Cup win that was five decades in the making.

That final was the highlight of a year that included only one Test match – the Ashes affair at Melbourne at the end of January. As ever, therefore, the Spin’s team of the year is cross-format, though we gave substantial weight to performances at crunch moments in the aforementioned World Cup.

Why are drug prices so high in America? Trump doesn’t have the right answer | Susi Geiger and Théo Bourgeron

Americans are not paying high prices because of other western countries. Pharmaceutical companies are to blame

When Donald Trump spoke about drug prices on 19 December, he struck a familiar note. Americans, he said, were paying far too much for medicines – and it was everyone else’s fault.

There would be no talk of reining in private insurers or pharmaceutical profits. Instead, Trump blamed foreign governments for getting a better deal. Countries like France, Germany and Japan, he argued, were piggybacking on the United States by keeping their drug prices low.

Susi Geiger and Théo Bourgeron are the authors of Peak Pharma: Toward a New Political Economy of Health (Oxford University Press)

U.S. and Ukraine reach consensus on key issues aimed at ending the war

The United States and Ukraine have reached a consensus on several critical issues, but sensitive issues around territorial control in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland remain unresolved.

What does climate change look like? This year's hurricane season is one example

The Atlantic hurricane season produced a normal number of storms, compared to more frequent storms in recent years. But the storms that did form were huge.

Despite Vatican-Israel tensions, Catholics and Jews work to build trust in Haifa

Religious leaders started getting together after Oct. 7, 2023, in the hope of preventing a repeat of Arab-Jewish violence that erupted after a previous conflict in Gaza two years earlier.

Sali Hughes on beauty: the new crop of milky toners are a game-changer

These gentle, hydrating toners impart the glassy look popularised by Korean skincare – and I can’t do without them

I wouldn’t say it was rare that the beauty industry invents a whole new product category, but my own willingness to adopt another step certainly is. Ten years ago, I’d have told you not to bother with toner unless you particularly enjoyed using it, which is as good a reason as any in a world on fire. And yet over the past couple of years, the new “milky toners” have, to me at least, become so functional as to be indispensable.

These are cloudy fluids, thicker than a toner but thinner than a moisturiser, usually containing gentle, universally skin-pleasing ingredients like glycerine, ceramides and peptides.

‘I plugged in Zelda and everything changed’: developers share their fondest Christmas gaming memories

From a family showdown on Guitar Hero III to the winter levels in Diddy Kong Racing, the designers of some of today’s top titles recall the gifts and moments that lit up their childhoods

There is a viral video that tends to get passed around at this time of year. It’s an old home movie showing a boy and a girl on Christmas morning eagerly unwrapping a present that turns out to be an N64 console – the boy is, to put it mildly, extremely pleased. It’s a scene a lot of us who play games will recognise: the excitement and anticipation provided by that big console-sized parcel, or the little DVD-shaped package that could be the latest Super Mario adventure. Although I never got a games machine at Christmas, I remember one year being given Trivial Pursuit on the Commodore 64 and the whole family gathered around the TV to play. It was one of the few times my mum and my sisters showed any interest in the computer, and I loved getting them involved.

Veteran designer Rhod Broadbent of Dakko Dakko recalls the Christmas of 1992, when his father, a programmer who had previously looked down on games consoles, bought him Mario Kart and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. “Zelda was completely unknown to me at the time,” he recalls. “I think Dad was probably expecting me to be more excited. But after I had spent the morning in Mario Kart, I plugged in Zelda and everything changed. From the title music, through the intro and into that beautiful initial thunderstorm, everything was so polished and smooth and unlike the video games I’d played before. It didn’t leave the cartridge slot for weeks. I remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday …”

ICE officer accused of excessive force, then sent back to work despite active probe

DHS's handling of the incident raises questions about the department's oversight mechanisms to investigate employee misconduct.

Crime in the U.S. fell in 2025. Will the trend continue?

Crime rates dropped across much of the U.S. in 2025. That was true for both property and violent crime. And it declined nearly everywhere: In big cities and small towns, and in red and blue states.

How hope is fading: the mobs bringing violence back to the streets of Bangladesh

As crowds attack newspaper offices and violence has killed 184 people, the optimism around Sheikh Hasina’s overthrow has dimmed

The sounds of a mob were already audible when Zyma Islam hit send on her article for Friday’s edition of Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper. She quickly headed out, hoping to avoid the crowd that had already burned down the offices of Prothom Alo, another of Bangladesh’s most prestigious newspapers. But when she reached the door, they were already there.

The rioters were angered by the assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader from the pro-democracy movement that unseated the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hadi’s killers were Hasina loyalists who had escaped to India, according to the authorities. The crowd that had rapidly gathered on the night of 18 December was ready to lash out at anyone they saw as linked to the previous government.

Converts by Melanie McDonagh review – roads to Rome

A thought-provoking examination of the literary stars who became Catholic – from Evelyn Waugh to Muriel Spark

In the five decades between 1910 and 1960, more than half a million people in England and Wales became Catholics. Among them were a clutch of literary stars: Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark and Graham Greene. But there was a whole host of poets, artists and public intellectuals less known to us today, whose “going over to Rome” provoked envy and dismay.

In this thoughtful though brisk book, Melanie McDonagh, a columnist for The Tablet, gives us 16 case histories of Britons who went “Poping” during the scariest decades of the 20th century. At a time when reason and decency appeared to have been chased out by political extremism and global warfare, it was only natural to long for something solid. Writing in 1925, Greene confided to his fiancee “one does want fearfully hard for something firm and hard and certain, however uncomfortable, to catch hold of in the general flux”.

Cracker jokes and custard chemistry: ways to smuggle science into Christmas

Researchers share the easy ways to uncover moments of festive discovery, proving you don’t need a lab coat to experiment this Christmas

Christmas may seem like a time for switching off and suspending disbelief but there are plenty of ways to introduce a little science into the celebrations.

We asked experts for their top home experiments to challenge friends and family.

Five big Boxing Day Ashes Tests: Botham, Pietersen and Warne

Opening salvos before a huge MCG crowd are often among the most memorable meetings between Australia and England – here are five crackers

In the first session Australia set off at a lick, surging to 102 without loss with David Warner’s 83 the crux. Warner would go on to notch his 21st Test century, but not without a spot of drama when one run shy. Pity poor Tom Curran, who thought he had claimed Warner on 99 after the batter had spooned to mid-on and the eager hands of Stuart Broad. However, a replay revealed the England bowler had overstepped and his maiden Test wicket was snatched from his grasp.

No bickering around the Christmas tree! If your family are trapped by their algorithms, here’s the way out | Dr Kaitlyn Regehr

My research on social media shows high levels of misinformation and disconnect. Here’s how to talk to kith and kin this week without tears and tantrums

• Dr Kaitlyn Regehr is the programme director of digital humanities at University College London

December: a time of cultural rituals around food, gathering and taking to TikTok to bemoan bigoted relatives. Indeed, this new cultural ritual is now a social media staple that sweeps across our feeds over the festive period. We post about intergenerational debates on politics; stomaching “wokeness” jokes; and the now near-mythical “uncle” character – the older male holding court at the table – exemplified by tweets that go something like: “My uncle just went on a 10-minute rant about [insert topic]. The turkey is dry and so is his take.”

In these situations, many of us are torn between the impulse to call out harmful speech and our (or more often, our mother’s) longing for family harmony. These micro-yuletide tensions are played out at dinner tables across the country and are indicative of broader cultural and political polarisation. Polarisation is amplified by the social media-driven information silos in which we all now live.

Be proactive, not reactive. Start conversations organically, rather than in reaction to a comment or event. This will set an objective tone. Make conversations short and often, rather than one big event.

Think “big picture”. Focus the conversation on the overarching structures at play, perpetuated by the attention economy. Where possible, inspire agency around these topics by offering information about online processes and then let them do the critical thinking.

Focus on the positive. For young people in particular, focus on positive examples, role models and narratives. This is often much more powerful than talking about the negative examples. Talk to older children and teens about what they can be rather than what they can’t.

Dr Kaitlyn Regehr is programme director of digital humanities at University College London, lecturing on digital literacy and the ethical implications of social media and AI. She is also the author of Smartphone Nation: Why We’re All Addicted to Screens and What You Can Do About It

The big sports quiz of the year 2025

Have you followed the football, rugby, basketball, NFL, cycling, F1, tennis, horse racing, sumo, athletics and golf?

How the Guardian reported 2025, with editor-in-chief Katharine Viner

It has been a year dominated by Donald Trump. It has not yet even been 12 full months since his return to the White House in January but already the changes he has wrought – both in the US and around the world – seemed scarcely conceivable in 2024.
Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, tells Annie Kelly what it has looked like from the editor’s chair: from the deployment of the national guard on American streets, to the humiliation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, to the erosion of the rules that once governed peace and war.

In the UK, she describes a Labour government failing to tell its story and missing chance after chance to tackle the rise of Reform and the far right. ‘Politics is about timing,’ she says of the government’s notable silence over the summer, ‘and I think a lot of those opportunities were missed.’
It has not been a year without hope, from the unexpected success of leftwing figures such as Zohran Mamdani and Zack Polanski, to the Guardian’s decisive victories in court defending its reporting, in a case described as a landmark ruling for #MeToo journalism.
Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/todayinfocuspod

• This is our last episode of 2025. Thank you to everyone who has listened and watched this year. We will return with new episodes on 5 January 2026.

The hill I will die on: Being late can be the height of good manners and decorum, actually | Rachel Connolly

Instead of seeing etiquette as a set of categorical rules, we should recognise that poor form can actually have good consequences

Many people are out there labouring under the impression that lateness is always terribly rude. I am here to tell you this is totally wrong. There are situations when, yes, it is rude. There are situations when it basically doesn’t matter. But there are also situations when being late is actually the height of good manners and decorum.

If you are invited to dinner, especially by a person who you can sense is an inexperienced cook or host, you should endeavour to be late. By at least 10 minutes I would say. But, honestly, if your host is a 25-year-old who has sent you a message saying, “I’m going to try making this :)” and then attached a picture of an elaborate recipe with two separate kinds of molasses, then I would say half an hour is probably best.

Rachel Connolly is the author of the novel Lazy City

Killing the Dead by John Blair review – a gloriously gruesome history of vampires

Shroud-chewers, lip-smackers and suckers populate this fascinating study of ‘the unquiet dead’ across the centuries

The word “vampire” first appears in English in sensational accounts of a revenant panic in Serbia in the early 18th century. One case in 1725 concerned a recently deceased peasant farmer, Peter Blagojević, who rose from the grave, visited his wife to demand his shoes, and then murdered nine people in the night. When his body was disinterred, his mouth was found full of fresh blood. The villagers staked the corpse and then burned it. In 1745, the clergyman John Swinton published an anonymous pamphlet, The Travels of Three English Gentlemen, from Venice to Hamburgh, in which it is written: “These Vampyres are supposed to be the Bodies of deceased Persons, animated by evil Spirits, which come out of the Graves, in the Night-time, suck the Blood of many of the Living, and thereby destroy them.” And so a modern myth was born.

But it is not so modern, or exclusively European, as this extraordinary survey shows. Instead, the author, a historian and archeologist, argues that belief in the unquiet dead is found in many cultures and periods, where it can lay dormant for centuries before erupting in an “epidemic”, as in Serbia. Where there is no written source, John Blair makes persuasive use of archeological finds in which bodies are found to have been decapitated or nailed down. In 16th-century Poland, a buried woman “had a sickle placed upright across her throat and a padlock on the big toe of her left foot”. Someone, our author infers reasonably, wanted to keep these people in their coffins.

‘I think I was relatively astute in The Traitors!’ Nick Mohammed on magic, TV mayhem and why he turned on Joe Marler

He stole our hearts in The Celebrity Traitors – then it all went wrong. The actor and comedian opens up

When I catch up with Nick Mohammed, he is on the set of War, a new HBO series. Full of legal eagles, tech-bro hot shots and ugly divorces, it’s a punchy, slick enterprise, nothing at all like The Celebrity Traitors – except for the high drama, unbearable tension and the fact that Mohammed is reunited with Celia Imrie. Traitors was filmed in April and May and this started in September, so they both knew exactly what had happened in the castle, but were still in their chamber of deadly secrecy. Mainly, Mohammed was happy just to kick about with Imrie again. “She’s wonderful,” he says. “Everything you think she might be, she absolutely is – she’s just brilliant.”

Which brings us to the root of the problem, the answer to the question: “What the hell happened, Nick?” Spoiler alert: we intend to talk about exactly what went down in the most infuriating Traitors final since, well, the last non-celebrity Traitors. If Joe Marler had had his way, he and Nick would have sauntered to victory, Alan Carr’s magisterial fibbing finally unmasked. Instead, Nick’s niggling doubts brought down the ship.

19 states and D.C. sue HHS over effort to ban transgender care for minors

The declaration issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria.

Barracuda, grouper, tuna – and seaweed: Madagascar’s fishers forced to find new ways to survive

Seaweed has become a key cash crop as climate change and industrial trawling test the resilient culture of the semi-nomadic Vezo people

Along Madagascar’s south-west coast, the Vezo people, who have fished the Mozambique Channel for countless generations, are defined by a way of life sustained by the sea. Yet climate change and industrial exploitation are pushing this ocean-based culture to its limits.

Coastal villages around Toliara, a city in southern Madagascar, host tens of thousands of the semi-nomadic Vezo people, who make a living from small-scale fishing on the ocean. For centuries, they have launched pirogues, small boats carved from single tree trunks, every day into the turquoise shallows to catch tuna, barracuda and grouper.

A boat near lines of seaweed, which has become a main source of income for Ambatomilo village as warmer seas, bleached reefs and erratic weather accelerate the decline of local fish populations

In Berlin, I took an evening class on fascism – and found out how to stop the AfD | Tania Roettger

With the far-right party ahead in the polls, I discovered that a novel set during the rise of the Nazis provides a timely warning

In 1932, the Berlin-born writer Gabriele Tergit set out to memorialise what she saw as a disappearing world: the lives and fates of the city’s Jews. By 1945, after fleeing the Nazis first to Czechoslovakia, then Palestine, then Britain, Tergit had finished her novel, but it took until 1951 for The Effingers to be published. Even then, only a few German booksellers wanted it in their shops. It was too strange a piece of work for a German public that had watched, if not participated, in the Holocaust.

Though overlooked at the time, it has been rediscovered as a classic in Germany, and has now been published in English for the first time. It is a chronicle of three affluent Jewish families in Berlin between 1878 and 1942, with an epilogue set in 1948, based on Tergit’s return visit to her destroyed city. Tergit understood how dangerous the Nazis were. She was a court reporter and covered Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels on trial in the 1920s – this also made her a target, and she fled Berlin after narrowly escaping an SA (“Brownshirts”) raid in March 1933.

Tania Roettger is a journalist based in Berlin

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What happened next: how a shocking rape and murder case was solved – 58 years later

In Portishead, a dusty box of forgotten files led Jo Smith and her team to a criminal who had escaped justice for more than half a century. This was the longest-running cold case to be solved in the UK, and possibly the world

In June 2023, Jo Smith, a major crime review officer for Avon and Somerset police, was asked by her sergeant to “take a look at the Louisa Dunne case”. Louisa Dunne was a 75-year-old woman who had been raped and murdered in her Bristol home in June 1967. She was a mother of two, a grandmother, a woman whose first husband had been a leading trade unionist, and whose home had once been a hub of political activity. By 1967, she was living alone, twice widowed but still a well-known figure in her Easton neighbourhood.

There were no witnesses to her murder, and the police investigation unearthed little to go on apart from a palm print on a rear window. Police knocked on 8,000 doors and took 19,000 palm prints, but no match was found. The case stayed unsolved.

Retribution fears as Australian Muslims see surge in Islamophobic hate since Bondi terror attack

Security stepped up at mosques amid spate of targeted abuse as leaders mourn Bondi victims and say community will not ‘claim victimhood’

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Threats and hate speech against Muslim Australians have surged in the wake of the Bondi beach attack, with one mosque receiving dozens of offensive phone calls and reports of people being targeted in the street.

As Australia’s Jewish community deals with trauma from the attack that killed 15 people at a Hanukah event, religious leaders say societal and political divisions has led to other groups being targeted by hatred.

Waymo will update driverless fleet after San Francisco blackout to improve navigation during outages

Three days after blackouts in San Francisco brought down Waymo's service, the company said it's implementing changes for when "infrastructure fails."

Sivert Guttorm Bakken, Winter Olympics hopeful, dies at training camp aged 27

• Norwegian biathlete found dead in hotel room in Italy

• Bakken, 27, was 13th in this season’s overall standings

Norwegian biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken has been found dead in his hotel room in Lavaze, Italy. The Norwegian Biathlon Association said the cause of the 27-year-old’s death was unknown.

The International Biathlon Union, the sport’s governing body, said the athlete’s death had been confirmed by Italian authorities.

D.C. National Guard shooting suspect facing 5 additional federal charges

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, is accused of fatally shooting Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and wounding Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe.

China’s mineral dominance gives Western magnet makers a moment in the sun

"Frankly, we were the solution to the problem that the world didn't know it had," Rahim Suleman, CEO of Canadian group Neo Performance Materials, told CNBC.