After failure in the Senate, House GOP has its own health care proposal

House Republicans released proposed legislation late Friday that would not extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax subsidies.

Comedy icon Dick van Dyke celebrates turning 100: "I still try to dance"

The famed star sang and danced his way into America's heart through his illustrious career that has spanned nearly eight decades.

United flight returns to Dulles airport after engine failure during takeoff

United Airlines said no injuries were reported after the plane returned to Dulles International Airport.

Arsenal v Wolves: Premier League – live

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off
⚽ Live scores | Table | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Scott

2 min: Doherty skittles Martinelli out on the left. An early free kick for Arsenal. Rice’s delivery is uncharacteristically poor, failing to beat the first man … and that first man is Doherty, who makes good his mistake by clearing.

Arsenal get the ball rolling. They haven’t lost at home yet this season, winning ten from 11. Godspeed, Wolves.

Skywatchers rejoice: The Geminids meteor shower peaks tonight

The Geminids meteor shower appears every December, but it will peak this year on Saturday, the 13th.

Phil Foden’s rocky road is proof that a prodigy’s promise is no guarantee of glory | Jonathan Wilson

The Manchester City midfielder is in sparkling club form but that doesn’t mean he is the right fit for Tuchel’s England

By the time the World Cup comes around, nine years will have passed since Phil Foden won the Golden Ball as England lifted the Under-17 World Cup. That tournament can be seen in hindsight as a watershed for the English game, the first indication that the elite player performance plan (EPPP) and the England DNA project – taking youth football seriously – might be beginning to pay off.

Youth football is notoriously unpredictable and England’s record in the Under-17 World Cup since shows a failure to qualify and a pair of last-16 exits, but following that 2017 success, England’s senior side have reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final, while the under-21s have won two European titles. Two previous Golden Ball winners from Under-17 World Cups – Cesc Fàbregas and Toni Kroos – have gone on to win the senior World Cup. Some, such as Landon Donovan, Anderson and Kelechi Iheanacho have had perfectly decent careers. And others have vanished almost entirely: Sani Emmanuel of Nigeria, for instance, won in 2009 then made just 16 senior appearances, 10 of them in the Swiss second tier with Biel-Bienne; while another Nigerian, Kelechi Nwakali, winner in 2015, joined Arsenal but, after a series of loan moves and stints in the lower reaches of the Spanish and Portuguese systems, was kicked out of Barnsley this past summer after returning late for pre-season.

Death on high-speed roller coaster in Florida deemed accidental

Kevin Rodriguez Zavala died from blunt-impact trauma on ride at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park

A Florida sheriff’s office has concluded that the death of a 32-year-old man while riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park was accidental.

According to a report released Friday by the local medical examiner, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala suffered a deep cut on the left side of his forehead, a fracture to the bone ridge above his eye and bleeding above his skull. Additional injuries included bruises on his arms and abdomen, a broken nose and a fractured right thigh bone.

European football: Raphinha sinks Osasuna to consolidate Barcelona’s lead

• Real Madrid, who play on Sunday, now trail by seven points

• Leverkusen’s Terrier hits back-heel volley against Cologne

Raphinha struck twice late in the second half as Barcelona secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over a resolute Osasuna side, extending their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points. Hansi Flick’s men now sit on 43 points, comfortably clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand and play at Alavés on Sunday.

Despite their control of the game, Barcelona struggled to break down Osasuna’s deep defensive block until the 70th minute when Pedri’s incisive pass cut through the visitors’ defence, finding Raphinha in his stride. The Brazilian forward took a controlled touch before unleashing a thunderous strike from the edge of the area, the ball arrowing inside the left post to finally break the deadlock. Raphinha sealed the win in the 86th minute. A deflected cross from Jules Koundé on the right found the Brazilian unmarked at the far post, and he calmly volleyed the ball into an empty net, giving the scoreline a more comfortable look.

Chile votes in polarizing presidential runoff as far-right takes lead

Chile heads to a presidential runoff on Sunday, with far-right contender José Antonio Kast — a supporter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet — tipped to win.

Three Americans killed in Syria by suspected Islamic State gunman, Pentagon says

US Central Command reports an ambush on Saturday, the first attack to inflict US casualties since fall of Bashar al-Assad

Two US army soldiers and one American civilian interpreter have been killed and several other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by the Islamic State group in central Syria, the Pentagon said.

The attack on US troops in Palmyra is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of the former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, a year ago.

The moment I knew: as he opened the Uber door, he opened my eyes to a love beyond work

Ash Jacks McCready had low expectations for her first date with Tom, but after an awkward start, their relationship moved fast and wild

• Find more stories from the moment I knew series

In high school I was in an all-consuming relationship with one thing: dance. Any free time I had was spent on working towards a coveted spot at a performance company.

As soon as I graduated school in Brisbane, I left to begin my career as a performer.

From Bosnia to Brisbane: what child refugee Jasmina Joldić learned about peace, hate and the fragility of society

The 30th anniversary of the Dayton Accords, which put an end to the war in Bosnia, leads Joldić to reflect on the nature of imperfect peace

Jasmina Joldić was nine when she found out she was born into a religion.

Her mother, Selma, was trying to explain to little Jasmina and her older sister, Amela, why their father had been taken away by armed men.

2 U.S. service members and 1 civilian are killed in ISIS attack in Syria

The attack, which took place in the city of Palmyra, comes a year after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the lifting of U.S. sanctions.

Maresca’s cryptic comments spark confusion after Chelsea sink Everton

What had seemed like a routine win for Chelsea became something a lot more mysterious thanks to a cryptic comment from Enzo Maresca in the post-match press conference. “The last 48 hours,” he said, “have been the hardest since I joined the club because so many people didn’t support me and the team.”

But which people? It was far from obvious. There was a clear sense Maresca was directing a message to somebody: he made the statement in response to a question about Malo Gusto’s form and repeated it before clarifying: “I love the fans and we are very happy with the fans.” Nor did it seem that he meant the media; he has never previously given any indication he cares what journalists and pundits say, there was no sense of hostility and he had appeared in perfectly good spirits at his pre-match press conference.

Powerball jackpot rises to $1 billion for Saturday's drawing

The $1 billion jackpot is the seventh-largest in the game's history.

Saracens fall just short in South Africa as Sharks survive Champions Cup storm

• Pool 1: Sharks 28-23 Saracens

• Much-changed Sarries beaten in tough conditions

It is a long way to go for just a point, but Saracens all but took the maximum against Sharks in biblical weather in Durban. Now that South Africa has been incorporated into the Champions Cup, these long trips are part and parcel. It meant Saracens changing 10 of their starting lineup. It meant Sharks changing 14 – and a head coach to boot.

JP Pietersen, the former Springbok, stepped up to fill his new role this week when John Plumtree resigned after the Sharks’ heavy defeat in Toulouse on Sunday. One match, one win, his record now reads. For Sharks this was only a second win of the season. They were just about worth it, but still they must despair at finding any rhythm among a squad packed with Springboks.

Met will not investigate claims against Andrew relating to Virginia Giuffre

Scotland Yard says it is sticking with earlier decision not to launch criminal inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will not be the subject of a criminal investigation in Britain over allegations he had sex in London with a teenager who was trafficked, and then put pressure on his police protection officer to dig up dirt on her.

The Metropolitan police on Saturday said after weeks of review, it would not launch any formal criminal investigation into King Charles’s brother. Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein led to the stripping of his royal status.

Pulp Fiction actor Peter Greene found dead in New York apartment

Greene, 60, praised for the various villains he played during his career but manager says he also had ‘heart as big as gold’

Peter Greene, the actor known for his roles in Pulp Fiction and The Mask, has died at the age of 60.

He was found dead at his New York City apartment on Friday, his manager said, and the cause of death has not been disclosed.

Israel says its military killed Hamas commander Raed Saed in Gaza City strike

If Saed is dead he would be most senior militant to be killed since October ceasefire, in attack on car that reportedly left four dead

The senior Hamas commander Raed Saedhas been killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

The attack killed four people and wounded at least 25 others, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.

Mohamed Salah returns and sets up Ekitiké to help Liverpool beat Brighton

There were tears in Mohamed Salah’s eyes when he applauded the Kop after the final whistle and his family were present, as requested, for what the forward had suggested could be his goodbye to Liverpool. But Anfield was not in the mood to let go. Say it ain’t so, Mo.

Did victory over toothless Brighton on Saturday really represent the end of a phenomenal Liverpool career? Only Salah knows the answer to that. Beyond question was the 33-year-old’s determination to make an impact after his 26th-minute introduction, Arne Slot’s willingness to put the team above the individual and Anfield’s appreciation for one of its greatest talents.

YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos viewed 1.2bn times in 2025

Exclusive: More than 150 anonymous channels using cheap AI tools to spread false stories about Keir Starmer, study finds

YouTube channels spreading fake, anti-Labour videos have amassed more than a billion views this year, as opportunists attempt to use AI-generated content to profit from political division in the UK.

More than 150 channels have been detected in the last year that promote anti-Labour narratives, as well as outright fake and inflammatory accusations about Keir Starmer.

Cuba denounces US seizure of oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast as ‘piracy’

Cuban foreign ministry called US military action ‘maritime terrorism’ under a policy of ‘economic suffocation’

Cuban officials have denounced the US seizure of the Skipper oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday, calling it an “act of piracy and maritime terrorism” as well as a “serious violation of international law” that hurts the Caribbean island nation and its people.

“This action is part of the US escalation aimed at hampering Venezuela’s legitimate right to freely use and trade its natural resources with other nations, including the supplies of hydrocarbons to Cuba,” the Cuban foreign ministry statement said.

Army taps celebrity chef Robert Irvine to overhaul its mess halls

The U.S. Army tapped celebrity chef Robert Irvine to help overhaul its mess halls and meal options, and "CBS Saturday Morning" got an inside look at Irvine's process.

Ohio man who spent decades on death row for murder has his case dismissed

The case has been dropped against a man who spent a quarter-century on death row for the robbery and murder of a New Jersey woman at an Ohio hotel nearly three decades ago.

This week on "Sunday Morning" (Dec. 14)

A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.

Belarus releases 123 prisoners including opposition leaders after US lifts sanctions

Nobel prize winner Ales Bialiatski and opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava among those freed after US talks with Alexander Lukashenko

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel peace prize winner Ales Bialiatski and leading opposition figure Maria Kalesnikava, after the US lifted sanctions on Belarusian potash, a key export.

The announcement came after two days of talks with an envoy of the US president, Donald Trump, the latest diplomatic push since the Trump administration started talks with the autocratic leader.

Thailand denies Trump ceasefire claim as clashes with Cambodia continue at border

Thai PM says military will keep fighting and Cambodia suspends border crossings as casualties rise

• Thailand-Cambodia fighting explained

Thailand’s caretaker prime minister has denied the existence of a ceasefire with Cambodia, despite Donald Trump announcing that both countries had agreed to halt fighting.

As heavy clashes continued along the border between the two countries, Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday that Thailand had not agreed to a ceasefire with Cambodia and that its forces would continue fighting. Cambodia announced it had suspended all border crossings with Thailand.

Psychedelic treatments show promise for OCD while cannabis doesn’t, review finds

Psychiatry professor theorizes that the difference is related to how the substances interact with areas of the brain

A recent review of alternative treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) indicates that psychedelic treatments show promise for the disorder while cannabis does not.

Dr Michael Van Ameringen, a psychiatry professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and lead author of the review published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, said that 40-60 % of OCD patients get either partial or no relief with available treatments, including SSRIs and exposure and response prevention therapy.

House Democrats release more photos from Epstein estate

House Democrats released more photos from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that include prominent figures like billionaire Bill Gates and former President Bill Clinton.

Church Nativity scenes add zip ties and gas masks to protest immigration raids

Supporters of the displays say the Bible is on their side, but critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery.

Lindsey Vonn back on the podium after historic World Cup downhill win

One day after becoming the oldest winner of a World Cup downhill, Vonn, 41, finished second in a race on Saturday in St. Moritz.

How did Mail on Sunday’s US editor become ‘rock solid friend’ of Meghan’s father?

Duchess of Sussex says journalistic ethics breached as dad turns to journalist first to break news of leg amputation

When Thomas Markle received bad news about his health earlier this month, he immediately texted someone close to him to let them know. The 81-year-old had been admitted to hospital after one leg swelled up and turned black. “Going to lose the leg today,” he wrote.

The message was not sent to his son, Thomas, who lives with him in Cebu in the Philippines, nor to his older daughter, Samantha, who is based in Florida. Instead, Markle contacted Caroline Graham, the US editor of the Mail on Sunday, who is based in Los Angeles. It was she who called Markle’s two older children to let them know the news. She wrote later that they were “flabbergasted”.

Gavin Newsom pushes back on Trump AI executive order preempting state laws

California governor says order pushes ‘grift and corruption’ instead of innovation just hours after president’s dictum

The ink was barely dry on Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence executive order when Gavin Newsom came out swinging. Just hours after the order went public Thursday evening, the California governor issued a statement saying the presidential dictum, which seeks to block states from regulating AI of their own accord, advances “grift and corruption” instead of innovation.

“President Trump and David Sacks aren’t making policy – they’re running a con,” Newsom said, referencing Trump’s AI adviser and crypto “czar”. “Every day, they push the limits to see how far they can take it.”

Wes Streeting calls for ‘cross-party consensus’ on gender identity ahead of puberty blocker trial

Health secretary wrote to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, urging her to ‘take heat and ideology’ out of debate

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has called on the Conservatives to maintain the cross-party consensus on gender identity services built before the last election in a letter to Kemi Badenoch.

Streeting wrote to opposition leader on Friday urging her to “take the heat and the ideology” out of debate amid controversy over a puberty blocker trial for children.

Comedian Robin Ince quits Radio 4 show, claiming BBC found his views ‘problematic’

Ince says he resigned as co-host of Infinite Monkey Cage because of what he described as his lack of ‘obedience’

The comedian and author Robin Ince has resigned from his role as co-host of the long-running BBC Radio 4 podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage after a fallout with BBC executives over “problematic” opinions and what he described as a lack of “obedience”.

Ince, who has co-presented the popular science show alongside Prof Brian Cox for 16 years, posted on social media that his personal views, aired outside the BBC, “have been considered problematic for some time” and he “felt he had no choice but to resign”.

Fired Michigan football coach charged with home invasion and stalking

Fired University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore "barged his way" into the apartment of a woman with whom he had been having an affair after she reported the relationship to the school and he lost his job, prosecutors said.

Can you imagine raising a kid without ChatGPT? Sam Altman can’t | Arwa Mahdawi

The OpenAI CEO gushed about the bot’s parental-assistance abilities. Is it really his best child-rearing hack?

Just how does he do it all? Every time I look at the news, Sam Altman’s face seems to be staring back at me. The CEO of OpenAI, a well-known workaholic, is constantly in the public eye explaining how AI will probably cure cancer and transform the social contract and generally change the world. While doing all that he’s reportedly gearing up for OpenAI to file for a stock market listing valuing the company at $1tn, as soon as next year. And he’s also a new dad: Altman and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their first child into the world in February. So he’s got a lot on his plate.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Satellite images show huge fog formation haunting central California

Dense, 450-mile-long fog bank lingering over central valley as experts blames unusual combination of weather factors

New Nasa satellite images reveal the scope of central California’s dreary December, caused by an enormous fog formation that has been haunting the Central Valley for weeks, trapping residents in colder-than-usual temperatures.

The low cloud formation, known as tule fog, first formed over central California in November and persisted into early December. The Central Valley typically sees this type of fog during the colder months of the year, when the air near the ground is cold and moist, and the winds are calmer, allowing moisture in the air to transform into a thick layer of fog.

To 'graduate' from poverty, they can borrow to build a business. So why aren't they?

It's called the "graduation" approach — both financial and moral support to help people move from extreme poverty to self-sufficiency. But in this innovative Uganda project, something isn't clicking.

King Charles III says early diagnosis allows his cancer treatment to be reduced

The monarch revealed the positive outlook in a recorded message broadcast on British television as part of a campaign to promote screening, which increases the likelihood of successful treatment.

‘Chalk Revolution’ strikes nerve as Slovakia fears return to authoritarian past

Teenager who first scrawled messages on pavement in protest at rightwing government did not expect so many others to follow suit

Scrawled in chalk on the pavement near a secondary school in eastern Slovakia, the messages were short and to the point: “Enough Fico,” read one, echoing a popular anti-government slogan, while the other joked about the Slovakian prime minister providing sexual favours to Vladimir Putin.

Appearing hours before the prime minister, Robert Fico, was due to speak at the school, the messages struck a nerve. Similar comments swiftly began sprouting up across Slovakian pavements in what was labelled the “Chalk Revolution” by some and “November Chalk Wave” by others.

The Katie Miller Podcast: an aggressively vibeless curriculum for the Maga mom

The wife of the Trump adviser aims to entice conservative women into Maga – but like much of the rest of the movement, her sales pitch is fundamentally lacking

When Katie Miller, the wife of Donald Trump’s powerful adviser Stephen Miller, interviewed Pete Hegseth on her podcast last week, she didn’t ask him about whether the war secretary had ordered the US military to kill the shipwrecked survivors of an airstrike. She didn’t ask him about the settlement he paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her. Nor did she ask about allegations of alcohol abuse, or the accusation that he had made his ex-wife so terrified that she hid in a closet.

Instead, when Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer Rauchet, appeared on the Katie Miller Podcast, the titular host asked questions like: “If you could write one Hegseth family rule on that whiteboard, what is that?”

Dior, Chanel and … Veja? The ethical Paris trainer worn by A-listers and royalty

Veja doesn’t do surveys or freebies, hates greenwashing and Black Friday, and as demand for trainers wanes, it continues to go its own way

In the grand hierarchy of Paris fashion, it’s tricky for a brand to stand out. Especially one whose coup de maître is a goes-with-everything white sneaker. Yet 20 years after Veja first began selling sustainable footwear, it has become the ultimate affordable It brand for scooter-wielding mums, sustainably minded millennials and A-list bigwigs who want to wear their values on their ethical leather-clad feet.

Veja’s co-founder Sébastien Kopp says he doesn’t know if people buy his trainers because of how they are made or because of how they look. The company is fastidious about social and fairtrade practices, “but because we don’t do surveys, we don’t do marketing, we simply don’t know this information”, he says, speaking from Veja’s Paris headquarters.

How to watch Erika Kirk's town hall with CBS News

The last person to ask Charlie Kirk a question attended the town hall, airing at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

It's Christmastime —– and if you live in the Alps, watch out! Krampus is coming

In Salzburg, Austria, Christmas involves both St. Nick and Krampus, a mythological punisher with roots stretching back to late antiquity and many fans in the present-day Central Alps.

You and me against the world: who was behind Trump’s anti-Europe foreign policy?

The US’s national security strategy, shared last week, claims European immigration will cause ‘civilisational erasure’

How do you create a foreign policy manifesto for a US president who leads from the gut?

The initial draft fell to Michael Anton, a Maga firebrand whom officials have called the lead author behind the US’s radical new national security strategy (NSS). The document shocked US allies, warning that immigration to Europe would cause “civilizational erasure”, reviving the Monroe doctrine in the western hemisphere, and downgrading the US’s responsibility for great power competition with China and Russia.

Trump attacks old foe Biden – but presidential parallels hard to avoid

US president finds himself shouldering same burdens of affordability crisis and the inexorable march of time

He was supposed to be touting the economy but could not resist taking aim at an old foe. “Which is better: Sleepy Joe or Crooked Joe?” Donald Trump teased supporters in Pennsylvania this week, still toying with nicknames for his predecessor Joe Biden. “Typically, Crooked Joe wins. I’m surprised because to me he’s a sleepy son of a bitch.”

Exulting in Biden’s drowsiness, the US president and his supporters seemed blissfully ignorant of a rich irony: that 79-year-old Trump himself has recently been spotted apparently dozing off at various meetings.

Cruise-ship stowaway owls set for US return after living it up at Spanish resort

Burrowing owls, who boarded cruise ship in Miami, to be returned to US next month after long spell in quarantine

Two burrowing owls stowed away on a cruise ship out of Miami, and are now living the high life at a Spanish resort before returning to the US next month.

Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said the mating pair boarded Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas before the vessel’s transatlantic crossing to Cartagena in southern Spain in February. The tiny owls, a threatened species in Florida, usually prefer more rural landscapes, and may have been spooked by all the concrete around the Port of Miami, they say.

Will Farage's Trumpian strategy work against him? He has good reason to believe it won't | Samuel Earle

The Reform leader bit back over allegations of racial abuse and revealed his strategy: the best form of defence is dragging everyone else into the mire

As the allegations of Nigel Farage’s racist and antisemitic school bullying multiplied, it was hard to keep up with his shifting array of responses. At times, in his evasiveness and discomfort, he has looked like that most un-Farage of things: a nervous politician, anxious not to say the wrong word.

Last week, however, he angrily returned to his preferred posture: brimming with indignation at the moral hypocrisy of elites. He lashed out at the BBC’s “double standards” for indulging the allegations, when the broadcaster itself showed racist jokes and skits back in those days. Farage announced it was not he who should apologise, but apparently the BBC that should say sorry “for virtually everything you did throughout the 1970s and 1980s”.

Fewer characters on TV had abortions this year — and more stories reinforced shame

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco track how abortion comes up on television. They say the trends from 2025 are concerning.

‘My photos are warm and full of imagination – that’s something AI could never achieve’: Yuan Li’s best phone picture

This spectacular image taken in Sakrisøy, Norway, triggered accusations that it was simply too good to be true

Yuan Li splits his time between two careers: in the winter, he works as a ski instructor; in summer, a photographer. When he took this image, Beijing-based Li was visiting Norway and Iceland with friends, on a trip focused on sightseeing and photographing the aurora borealis. He captured this picture while exploring Sakrisøy, a small island in Lofoten, Norway. In the foreground sits this distinctive yellow homestay; in the background, Olstinden mountain.

“It had snowed heavily all day,” Li recalls. “As I was setting up to capture this scene, the snow stopped and the sun came out, which made the perfect environment for taking photos.”

Madeline Horwath on the most romantic Christmas gift that money can buy – cartoon

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‘Every chef should train here’: Turkish restaurant ranks fourth on list of London’s top food spots

Enfield’s family-run Neco Tantuni, which specialises in Turkish street food, secured place among other Michelin-starred restaurants on Vittles 99-strong list

On a list of London’s best restaurants, you would expect to see the usual Michelin-starred suspects such as The Ledbury, Ikoyi and The Ritz. But high among these culinary heavyweights sits a humble salonu tucked away in the depths of north London.

Neco Tantuni, a small Turkish eatery specialising in the foodie delights of Mersin, a city located on the southern coast of Turkey, has been crowned the fourth best restaurant in London by Vittles, the trendy food magazine that has become a bible for those looking for the best (and more off-the-radar) grub in the capital.

Our 25 favourite European travel discoveries of 2025

The most exciting places our writers came across this year, from untouched islands in Finland to an affordable ski resort in Bulgaria and the perfect Parisian bistro

On a midsummer trip to Ireland, I saw dolphins in the Irish Sea, sunset by the Liffey, and misty views of the Galtee Mountains. The half-hour train journey to Cobh (“cove”), through Cork’s island-studded harbour, was especially lovely. As the railway crossed Lough Mahon, home to thousands of seabirds, there was water on both sides of the train. I watched oystercatchers, egrets, godwits and common terns, which nest on floating pontoons. Curlews foraged in the mudflats, and an old Martello tower stood on a wooded promontory.

England caught up in Ashes media fallout over security guard’s row with TV crew

• Channel Seven airs footage of Brisbane airport incident

• ‘This matter is being taken seriously,’ says broadcaster

England’s embattled tour of Australia suffered a public relations setback on Saturday as the result of a testy altercation between a member of security staff and a local camera operator at Brisbane airport.

In footage released by Channel Seven, England’s minder Colin Rhooms is heard repeatedly telling the camera operator Nick Carrigan to “get out of my face, mate” and eventually pushing him back as he attempted to film players in transit.

The Trump administration keeps picking fights with pop stars. It’s a no-win situation | Adrian Horton

By using music from SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo in ICE videos, the government is playing a game of rage-bait

Last week, as the Trump administration was engulfed in controversy over its illegal military strikes near Venezuela (among numerous other crises), a Department of Homeland Security employee – I picture the worst sniveling, self-satisfied, hateful loser – got to work on the official X account. The state-employed memelord posted a video depicting Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials arresting people in what appeared to be Chicago, celebrating the humiliation and incarceration of undocumented immigrants as some sort of patriotic achievement. The vile video borrowed, as they often do, from mainstream pop culture; in this case, a viral lyric from Sabrina Carpenter’s song Juno – “Have you ever tried this one?”, referring to sex positions – overlaid on clips of agents chasing, tackling and handcuffing people, cheekily nodding to all the methods in ICE’s terror toolbox.

Carpenter, as a pre-eminent pop star, was caught in an impossible position. Say nothing, as her friend and collaborator Taylor Swift did weeks earlier when the White House used her music in a Trump hype video, and risk appearing as if you condone the administration’s use of your art for a domestic terror campaign (the administration hasn’t yet used Swift for an ICE video, but I’m sure it’s coming); or engage, even if to honestly express your utter disgust, and risk bringing more attention to objectionable propaganda designed to provoke a response.

Guz Khan: ‘What do I most dislike about my appearance? My breasts’

The actor, writer and comedian on turning his life around, fancying Cilla Black and his secret nose-picking

Born in Coventry, Guz Khan, 39, was working as a secondary school teacher when he began uploading comedy videos as the character Mobeen in 2014. The following year, he gave up teaching to pursue standup. In 2017, his show Man Like Mobeen was released by the BBC and ran for five series. He won a Royal Television Society award in 2020 and was Bafta-nominated twice. His films include Army of Thieves and The Bubble. Guz Khan’s Custom Cars starts on Quest on 19 January. He is married with five children and lives in the West Midlands.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impulsivity. We end up in strange places, like right now – I am in the Middle East.

Australia’s social media ban has given us a way to fight big tech – and get my son back on his skateboard | Sisonke Msimang

The ban on under-16s accessing ‘harmful’ content that began this week has overwhelming approval from adults – even if it had a few teething issues

A few weeks ago, my 14-year-old went into the garage, pulled out his skateboard and told me this was going to be his “skate park summer”. I was curious about what was sparking his renewed interest in an activity he hadn’t thought about since he was 12. His response: “The ban.”

I was thrilled. As far as I was concerned, Australia’s world-first social media law aimed at preventing children under 16 from accessing social media apps was already a success. But this week, as the ban took effect, my son wasn’t so sure. Access to his accounts remained largely unchanged. Many of his friends were in the same position. Across the country, the rollout has been uneven, as social media companies try to work out how to verify kids’ ages.

Sisonke Msimang is the author of Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home (2017) and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela (2018)

Flora Shedden’s Christmas desserts recipes for figgy crumble mince pies, boozy ice-cream, and choc pear meringues

Three sweet treats for even the fussiest sweet tooth: fig and hazelnut crumble mince pies, sherry and raisin ice-cream, and chestnut and pear meringues

Out of sheer laziness, this is a no-churn, very quick to assemble take on things. I tend usually not to recommend no-churn ice-creams unless there is booze involved, so this sherry and raisin one is a great candidate (the alcohol stops the ice-cream from becoming too hard and crystallised). And keep the leftover egg whites from the mince pies to make the chestnut and pear meringue, an alternative for the Christmas pudding haters at your table – there is always one. I think it’s important to have at least two puddings at Christmas.

Lionel Messi’s India tour starts in chaos as angry fans throw seats in stadium

• Argentinian makes 20-minute appearance in Kolkata

• Supporters climb fence and hurl objects from stands

Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off on a chaotic note on Saturday as fans ripped up seats and threw them towards the pitch after the Argentina and Inter Miami forward’s brief visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, the ANI news agency reported.

Messi is in India as part of a tour during which he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics and a padel tournament, and launch charitable initiatives at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

‘This extraordinary story never goes out of fashion’: 30 authors on the books they give to everyone

Colm Tóibín, Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Michael Rosen and more share the novels, poetry and memoirs that make the perfect gift

I love giving books as presents. I rarely give anything else. I strongly approve of the Icelandic tradition of the Jólabókaflóðið (Yule book flood), whereby books are given (and, crucially, read) on Christmas Eve. Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain is the one I’ve given more often than any other; so much so that I keep a stack of four or five to hand, ready to give at Christmas or any other time of the year. It’s a slender masterpiece – a meditation on Shepherd’s lifelong relationship with the Cairngorm mountains, which was written in the 1940s but not published until 1977. It’s “about the Cairngorms” in the sense that Mrs Dalloway is “about London”; which is to say, it is both intensely engaged with its specific setting, and gyring outwards to vaster questions of knowledge, existence and – a word Shepherd uses sparingly but tellingly – love.

Starmer to pick new US ambassador as relations with Trump tested

Exclusive: A trio of candidates have been interviewed by the PM, but he could still decide to directly appoint someone else

Keir Starmer is poised to choose a new ambassador to Washington from a shortlist of three as relations with the US are tested over Ukraine and Donald Trump’s attacks on European leaders.

The prime minister held interviews with three finalists for the role this week, the Guardian has learned, with Downing Street preparing to make an appointment before the end of the year.

Edward Enninful: ‘Britain feels less tolerant now than we were in the 90s’

The former British Vogue editor reflects on his early years in London, the importance of celebrating diversity and why he takes comfort in the younger generation

When Edward Enninful was scouted on the tube travelling through London in 1988, it changed his life. The Ghanaian teenager, newly arrived in Britain, was drawn into the capital’s creative scene of the 90s – as a model, then stylist and, by 18, the fashion director of i-D magazine.

“It was the height of the YBA [Young British Artists] movement – Jay Jopling, Tracey Emin. I met Kate [Moss] at a casting,” he recalls. “Then Naomi [Campbell] for a cover, and I knew we’d be great friends. We all hung out across disciplines. Friday rolled into Saturday into Sunday. I miss that rawness.”

12/12: CBS Evening News

Trump, Clinton seen in new batch of Epstein photos released by House Democrats; Chef saves elderly man after he didn't show up at restaurant he eats at every day

Dorothy Parker ‘fwowed up’ in a 1928 review of which children’s classic? The Saturday quiz

From demon, equal and encyclopedia to The Tour of Life and Before the Dawn, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz

1 Inflation adjusted, what is the highest-grossing film of all time?
2 What was revamped in 1279, 1560, 1696, 1816 and 1971?
3 Dorothy Parker “fwowed up” in a 1928 review of which children’s classic?
4 Native to South America, what is the world’s largest bird of prey?
5 Which fabric is protected by the orb certification mark?
6 The Almanach de Gotha is a directory of what?
7 Which amusement park was opened in Vienna in 1766?
8 What British term for rare US R&B 45s was coined by Dave Godin?
What links:
9 Năstase; Connors twice; Tanner; McEnroe twice?
10 Menevia, c600; County Down, c460; Lydda, c303; Patras, c60?
11 Choral by Beethoven; The Great by Schubert; From the New World by Dvořák?
12 Reverend Joy Carroll Wallis; hotelier Donald Sinclair; US military surgeon Richard Hornberger?
13 Demon; equal; encyclopedia; eon; fairy; medieval; primeval?
14 The Tour of Life in 1979 and Before the Dawn in 2014?
15 Charles X’s sword; Corot’s The Road from Sèvres; Empress Eugénie’s tiara; Mona Lisa?

Why do moths eat clothes and how old is the universe? The kids’ quiz

Five multiple-choice questions – set by children – to test your knowledge, and a chance to submit your own junior brainteasers for future quizzes

• ​Submit a question

Molly Oldfield hosts Everything Under the Sun, a podcast answering children’s questions. Do check out her books, Everything Under the Sun and Everything Under the Sun: Quiz Book, as well as her new title, Everything Under the Sun: All Around the World.

‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement

The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable

Ten years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.

Renewable energy smashed records last year, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. Investment in clean energy topped $2tn, outstripping that into fossil fuels by two to one.

Blind date: ‘He’s a cat lover and I’m allergic. I would hate to make him have to choose!’

Rita, 35, a travel agent, meets Tom, 40, a social media manager

What were you hoping for?
To have a refreshing new experience. I was curious to see who the Guardian would match me with.

Meera Sodha’s recipe for Christmas ricotta semifreddo | Meera Sodha recipes

Hobnobs, ricotta, chocolate and amaretto – what’s not to like?

I believe in divine communion, especially when it comes to food; an alliance of ingredients that come together as though they were meant to feed spirit and body. It might be too lofty to say that this semifreddo is divine, but the combination of Hobnobs, ricotta, chocolate and amaretto really does it for me. That said, there are many alliances that can be formed in the Christmas store-cupboard, so use this as a base for any biscuits, dried fruit and chocolate to which you feel most spiritually aligned.

‘It’s not normal to walk into the tornado’: To fans, there was only one Ricky Hatton. Those who loved him knew many

Three months after Hatton’s death, his bereft former trainer Billy Graham, friend Jane Couch and his brother Matthew are all trying to find a hopeful future amid the grief

“Of course I remember,” Billy Graham says quietly as he pushes back his straw trilby to show me his wounded expression. “I can remember everything.”

Graham, who trained Ricky Hatton for all but the last three of his 48 fights, used to sit with his fighter on the grimy steps outside their first boxing gym in Salford in the late 1990s. It was a more innocent time and, rather than being called The Preacher and The Hitman, they were just Billy and Ricky then.

I ate 3,000 meals for my ‘best of London restaurants’ list – and I hope you disagree with it | Jonathan Nunn

From pie-and-mash to the swank of a Michelin star, everyone has their own idea of what’s ‘best’. What’s yours?

• Jonathan Nunn is the author of London Feeds Itself

Almost 24 years ago, a small British food magazine called Restaurant assembled an all-star panel – made up of Gordon Ramsay, John Torode, Aldo Zilli and 65 other food guys – to adjudicate on the world’s most stupid question: what is the best restaurant on the planet? It didn’t matter that no judge had been to all the restaurants on the shortlist, or that two of the judges happened to be Jeremy Clarkson and Roger Moore – what the editors of Restaurant understood is that people love a list, and if you order a group of restaurants from 50-1 and throw a party, people might take it seriously.

“This could run and run,” the editors wrote in their intro, half hoping. They were right. Within two decades, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants had gone from what critic Jay Rayner described as a “terribly successful marketing exercise” to an insurgent alternative to the ossified Michelin Guide, solidifying the reputations of El Bulli, the Fat Duck and then Noma as the “world’s best restaurant”.

Jonathan Nunn is a food and city writer based in London who co-edits the magazine Vittles. He is the author of London Feeds Itself

Tim Dowling: my band is set to play live on the radio. What could possibly go wrong?

Rehearsals for a live broadcast at short notice reduce us to silence then swearing. This does not bode well

On Wednesday afternoon I receive a text that seems to suggest the band I’m in has been invited to play live on national radio. Twenty minutes later, the guitarist rings me.

“Did you get my text?” he says.

‘We are more successful than they wanted us to be’: Chloe Kelly on team squabbles, scoring that penalty and surviving sport’s gender wars

Women’s football is booming – but the bigger it’s got, the messier it’s become for players. Through it all, the hot tip for Sports Personality of the Year has kept a cool head

At the end of last year, Chloe Kelly was seriously considering stepping away from football. She was deeply unhappy at Manchester City, her team since 2020, where it seemed as if they wouldn’t let her play, nor let her leave. She wasn’t getting enough time on the pitch, so wasn’t sure that she would be selected for England, who were preparing to defend the title she had helped win in 2022 in the Euros tournament. She was 26, about to turn 27. She had been a professional footballer since she was 18, but her mother was starting to get concerned. She desperately wanted her daughter to be happy again. “I remember my mum coming up to see me and she was meant to go home, but she didn’t go home, because she was so worried,” recalls Kelly.

Less than a year later, and things are very different. At the time of writing, Kelly is favourite to win Sports Personality of the Year after a history-making comeback. At the end of January, she was loaned to Arsenal and in May she lifted the Champions League trophy with the team, very much the underdogs in the final against Barcelona, whom they defeated 1-0. At the end of July, she scored that penalty for England, securing them a second Euros title, against arch-rivals Spain. She was fifth in the Ballon D’or Féminin, and named in the Fifpro World 11 squad for the first time – a peer-voted list of the best footballers in the world. Against the odds, then, 2025 has turned out to be a great year. “For sure,” Kelly smiles. “To bounce back, that’s what makes it the best year of my career.”

Beware wrapper’s back, and other festive injuries: The Becky Barnicoat cartoon

Kim Jong-un admits North Korean troops clearing landmines for Russia

Leader praises his soldiers for turning ‘danger zone into a safe one’ during ceremony in Pyongyang welcoming them back from Ukraine war

North Korea sent troops to clear mines in Russia’s Kursk region earlier this year, leader Kim Jong-un said in a speech carried on Saturday by state media, a rare acknowledgement by Pyongyang of the deadly tasks assigned to its deployed soldiers.

According to South Korean and western intelligence agencies, North Korea has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.

‘A master of complications’: Felicity Kendal returns to Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink after three decades

The writer’s former partner and her co-star Ruby Ashbourne Serkis describe the bittersweet nature of remounting his 90s play so soon after his death

• ‘We were swimming in the mind pool of Tom Stoppard!’ – actors salute the great playwright

I won’t, I promise, refer to Felicity Kendal as Tom Stoppard’s muse. “No,” she says firmly. “Not this week.” Speaking to Stoppard’s former partner and longtime leading lady is delicate in the immediate aftermath of the writer’s death. But she is previewing a revival of his Indian Ink, so he shimmers through the conversation. The way Kendal refers to Stoppard in the present tense tells its own poignant story.

Settling into a squishy brown sofa at Hampstead theatre, Kendal describes revisiting the 1995 work, developed from a 1991 radio play. “It’s a play that I always thought I’d like to go back to.” Previously starring as Flora Crewe, a provocative British poet visiting 1930s India, she now plays Eleanor Swan, Flora’s sister. We meet Eleanor in the 1980s, fending off an intrusive biographer but uncovering her sister’s rapt and nuanced relationships in India.

Has Simon Cowell lost his mojo? Seven things you need to know about the music mogul’s new direction

The former X Factor judge is back, auditioning boyband wannabes for his latest talent show – but gen Z doesn’t seem to care very much, or even know who he is

Have we gone back in time to 2010? If only! No, Simon Cowell is just back in the headlines, reasserting his svengali status for his new Netflix show. Reviews suggest that Cowell’s attempted comeback, 15 years since his celebrity peak, highlights less his particular star power than how totally the world has moved on. But is there anything to learn from SyCo now, and will his new boyband work? Let’s see!

1. Cowell is chasing a new direction

Venezuela oil exports reportedly fall sharply after US seizure of tanker

The seizure of the Skipper on Wednesday marked the first US capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019

Venezuelan oil exports have reportedly fallen sharply since the US seized a tanker this week and imposed fresh sanctions on shipping companies and vessels doing business with Caracas, according to shipping data, documents and maritime sources.

The US seizure of the Skipper tanker off Venezuela’s coast on Wednesday was the first US capture of Venezuelan oil cargo since sanctions were imposed in 2019 and marked a sharp escalation in rising tensions between the Trump administration and the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $40m to women who said talc to blame for cancer

California jury finds company knew its talc-based products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers

A California jury on Friday awarded $40m to two women who said Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder was to blame for their ovarian cancer.

The jury in Los Angeles superior court awarded $18m to Monica Kent and $22m to Deborah Schultz and her husband after finding that Johnson & Johnson knew for years its talc-based products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers.

12/8: CBS Evening News

Trump responds after Marjorie Taylor Greene discusses their falling out; Altadena brings Christmas Tree Lane back to life after devastating fire.

House GOP unveils health care plan, with vote on track for next week

The Republican proposal does not include an extension to the expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.

Former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore charged with stalking, home invasion

Appearing remotely from a county jail in a white jumpsuit, former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was charged with stalking and illegally entering the home of the woman he was allegedly romantically involved with. Jericka Duncan has the latest.

Relentless flooding leaves residents stranded in western Washington

The Pacific Northwest is dealing with historic flooding, with more rain expected in the coming days. Carter Evans reports, and Lonnie Quinn has the forecast.

When a regular at his restaurant stopped showing up, the chef went looking for him

Charlie Hicks ate his lunch and dinner at the Shrimp Basket in Pensacola, Florida, every day for 10 years. When he suddenly stopped showing up, the chef went looking for him, and ultimately saved his life.

Trump, Clinton seen in new batch of Epstein photos released by Democrats

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Friday released 19 photos from a trove of images obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.

Flu cases surging nationwide

After the bustle of Thanksgiving travel, flu infections are surging across the country. Dr. Jon LaPook reports.

A world-weary, hard-drinking hungover Supergirl? This could be James Gunn’s DCU masterstroke

As played by Milly Alcock, the Supergirl trailer shows Kara Zor-El looking burdened and traumatised. Does this mean that the DC universe is getting darker?

Since James Gunn’s Superman became the biggest superhero movie at this summer’s box office, the world has been waiting to find out what the rest of the DCU sandpit will look like. Now, with the debut trailer for Supergirl, we have our first proper glimpse. On this evidence, the new Kara Zor-El lives in a brave new universe of gods and monsters that reflects her loneliness and fury right back at her.

Milly Alcock’s “woman of tomorrow” may not be like anyone we’ve seen on big or small screens before – which is impressive given how often Supergirl has been wheeled out over the decades. Helen Slater’s 1984 version is now widely regarded as a kind of sun-bleached Reagan-era artefact – a well-meaning but terminally camp experiment. Sasha Calle’s Supergirl in the recent The Flash looked soulful, angry and potentially gamechanging. And Melissa Benoist spent six seasons headlining a Supergirl series that was warmly received by its audience but rarely intruded into the consciousnesses of people who actually buy comic books.

Trump says 'no big deal' after Jeffrey Epstein photos showing him released

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the photos to pressure the Trump administration to release files about Jeffrey Epstein.

Former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore charged with home invasion, stalking

Moore, 39, is charged with third-degree felony home invasion, as well as misdemeanor counts of stalking and of breaking and entering.

National Guard member wounded in D.C. shooting making "extraordinary progress"

Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe "has made extraordinary progress," his medical team said.

TSA is giving airline passenger data to ICE for deportation push: NYT

The program led to the arrest in Boston of Any Lucía López Belloza, a college student who was deported to Honduras, the report said.

Broadcom tumbles 11% despite blockbuster earnings as 'AI angst' weighs on Oracle, Nvidia

Even with better-than-expected earnings and revenue, Broadcom slid on Friday as investors continued to grow concerned about the AI trade.

Law prof sues Boeing, alleging exposure to toxic fumes on Delta flight

A Temple University law professor alleges in a suit that he breathed in contaminated air on a Boeing craft, leaving him physically impaired.

AI order from Trump might be ‘illegal,’ Democrats and consumer advocacy groups claim

President Donald Trump's executive order on a national artificial intelligence framework threatens funding for states that pursue AI laws deemed "onerous."

New Orleans jail escapee who was on the run for months sentenced to life in prison

Derrick Groves​, 28, was sentenced Friday to two life sentences over a 2018 double murder, with the Louisiana judge rebuking him for the disruption caused by his five months on the run​.

Ancient lake reappears in Death Valley after record-breaking rains

Repeated fall storms led to the temporary lake, known as Lake Manly, appearing in basin 282ft beneath sea level

After record-breaking rains, an ancient lake in Death Valley national park that had vanished has returned to view.

The temporary lake, known informally as Lake Manly, has appeared once more at the bottom of Badwater Basin, which sits 282ft beneath sea level, in California. The basin is the lowest point in North America, according to the National Park Service.

Trump sued by preservation group seeking to halt White House ballroom construction

The lawsuit argues that President Trump was legally required to get federal approvals before demolishing the historic East Wing of the White House.

Oracle says there have been 'no delays' in OpenAI arrangement after stock slide

Oracle pushed back against a report that said the company will complete data centers for OpenAI, one of its major customers, in 2028, rather than 2027.

Rivian's AI, autonomy impress Wall Street, but EV and capital concerns remain

Rivian impressed Wall Street with its plans for AI and automation, but significant challenges involving demand and capital remain for the EV maker.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, floods in Indonesia, the IDF in Gaza and the Nutcracker in Nairobi: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists