New Year’s Eve live:​ Sydney fireworks ring in 2026 as Asia sees in the new year ahead of Europe and the US

Join our live coverage as we cross the globe to enter the new year

Sydney is the self-appointed “world capital of new year’s eve” and arguably rightly so. As always, eyes will be on the Opera House at 13:00 GMT when fireworks will light up the sky in spectacular fashion. But there are also huge crowds out in Melbourne to see off the year in style.

Thousands of people are expected to descend on Melbourne this evening to celebrate NYE. There will be two 7 minute firework displays and light shows tonight, first a family one at 9.30pm for young children, and the main one at the stroke of midnight.

France targets Australia-style social media ban for children next year

Draft bill to be submitted for legal checks as France aims to follow Australia’s world-first ban on platforms including Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube

France intends to follow Australia and ban social media platforms for children from the start of the 2026 academic year.

A draft bill preventing under-15s from using social media will be submitted for legal checks and is expected to be debated in parliament early in the new year.

Napoli say Rasmus Højlund’s permanent move from Manchester United a ‘formality’

• Striker has scored nine goals since joining on loan

• Champions League qualification brings obligation to buy

The Napoli sporting director, Giovanni Manna, considers Rasmus Højlund’s permanent transfer from Manchester United a “formality”.

Højlund joined the Serie A champions on loan last summer and the Denmark striker has scored nine goals in 20 appearances, including a double in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Cremonese. Napoli are third in Serie A, occupying one of Italy’s four Champions League places.

‘Being annoying is worse than being evil’: the high-octane, low-culture genius of indie duo Getdown Services

Scatological lyrics, social conscience and a shoutout from Walton Goggins – 2026 is going to be the laptop garage band’s year

It’s a Saturday night in Camden, London, and Getdown Services’ fans are getting the beers in before “Britain’s best band” play one of their final gigs of the year. The Electric Ballroom is heaving, despite this being their second show here in a month. There’s no shortage of twentysomethings with shag hairstyles to explain why the duo live up to their slogan. “They’re fun, which we need right now – life is bleak,” says Dulcie. “And they’re socially aware,” adds her friend Lotte. “Even though they are quite silly, they’re grounded.”

Across the bar, Dylan, 22, says that he finds Getdown Services and their genre-agnostic beats empowering: “They’re a laptop garage band that are having fun doing what they love, and seeing that makes me want to do what I love as well.” His pal James, 29, has returned for a repeat performance. “I came to the other Getdown Services show and I felt more jubilant than I did at Oasis,” he says.

How the climate crisis showed up in Americans’ lives this year: ‘The shift has been swift and stark’

Guardian US readers share how global heating and biodiversity loss affected their lives in ways that don’t always make the headlines

The past year was another one of record-setting heat and catastrophic storms. But across the US, the climate crisis showed up in smaller, deeply personal ways too.

Campfires that once defined summer trips were never lit due to wildfire risks. There were no bites where fish were once abundant, forests turned to meadows after a big burn and childhood memories of winter wonderlands turned to slush.

€1m Picasso portrait up for grabs for €100 in charity auction

Artwork by one of the most influential artists of 20th century raffled to fund Alzheimer’s research

His work is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive art, with paintings fetching more than a $100m at auction. But you no longer need to be a multimillionaire to own a Picasso – for €100, anyone in the world has the chance to walk away with a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

The French charity Alzheimer’s Research Foundation announced recently it was raffling Picasso’s 1941 portrait, Tête de femme, which is worth more than €1m, to a single winner. Proceeds from the tickets will help fund Alzheimer’s research, one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.

Finnish police seize vessel suspected of damaging underwater cable

Border guards say they found ship with anchor lowered into sea after detection of fault in Helsinki-Tallinn telecoms link

Finnish police have seized a vessel suspected of damaging a telecommunications cable that runs between Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland.

Police did not disclose any details about the identity of the vessel, but the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, citing the MarineTraffic website, said the ship was the Fitburg, a 132-metre-long cargo ship bearing the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines, en route from St Petersburg in Russia to Haifa in Israel.

'Big Short' investor Michael Burry says he's not shorting Tesla

In a social media post on X, the Scion Asset Management founder responded to a user asking if he would bet against Tesla by saying: "I am not short."

US justice department reportedly reviewing more than 5m pages of Epstein files

Figure represents significant expansion on earlier estimates as effort draws resources away from other DoJ cases

The US justice department is believed to be reviewing more than 5m pages of documents relating to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein – an effort that is drawing resources away from existing cases, according to the New York Times.

The figure represents a significant expansion on earlier estimates, which drew on calculations based on 300 gigabytes of data, papers, videos, photographs and audio files held within FBI archives that relate to investigations in Florida and New York.

Florida police department tests nation's first self-driving patrol car

The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office is testing the nation's first self-driving patrol car. CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave got a firsthand look.

10-year Treasury yield closes out 2025 lower for year, but ticks a bit higher on final day

The U.S. 10-year Treasury was slightly lower on Wednesday as investors take stock ahead of the new year.

Damien Martyn, former Australian Test cricketer, in induced coma with meningitis

• The 54-year-old was admitted to hospital on Boxing Day

• Martyn played total of 67 Tests between 1992 and 2006

The former Australian Test cricketer Damien Martyn has been admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma after being diagnosed with meningitis.

The sporting community is rallying around the 54-year-old, who “is in for the fight of his life”, according to the former AFL player Brad Hardie, who revealed Martyn’s condition on 6PR on Tuesday.

Family of New Orleans terror attack victim marks 1 year since tragedy

New Orleans is marking one year since 14 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a terror attack on the city's iconic Bourbon Street. Kati Weis spoke to the family of one of the victims about how they're remembering their loved one.

Winter weather blasts Great Lakes, parts of Northeast with heavy snow and dangerous winds

Winter weather slammed Syracuse, New York, with more than 24 inches of snow falling on Tuesday - its second highest one-day total on record. Meanwhile, blustery winds created near-blizzard conditions along Lake Erie. Ian Lee reports.

Is anything open on New Year's Eve 2025? See which stores are operating.

Most major retailers and grocery stores will be open on New Year's Eve, although some will have reduced hours.

Yes, women’s rights are under threat around the world. But we’ve found hope in unlikely places | Rahila Gupta

From El Salvador to Russia, Iceland and Syria, women are pushing back against the rise of regressive forces. Let’s support their fight

• Rahila Gupta is an anti-racist feminist activist and the co-author, with Beatrix Campbell, of Planet Patriarchy

In 2025, the world that had been opened up by women has often seemed to be closing in. The forces behind the rollback of abortion rights in Donald Trump’s US are attempting to do the same in the UK. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has doubled down on its attacks on women and girls. Sexual violence is commonplace in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Mexico, even the president is not safe from sexual assault. A perverse rewilding appears to be taking place.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that around the world, women’s rights are being concreted over. But in researching our book, Planet Patriarchy, Beatrix Campbell and I found women’s resistance erupting like green shoots through the cracks. In El Salvador, women can receive sentences of 30-50 years for miscarriages construed to be abortions. Yet feminists have managed to free all 72 women who had been imprisoned for this, using innovative penal and legal strategies. In Russia, feminists have taken to wearing blue and yellow ribbons, the colours of the Ukrainian flag, to signal their anti-war solidarity.

Rahila Gupta is an anti-racist feminist activist and the co-author, with Beatrix Campbell, of Planet Patriarchy

Fed up: inside Trump’s unprecedented bid to exert control over the US central bank

The US president and his allies spent 2025 attacking the Federal Reserve amid a rollercoaster year for the US economy

In the bowels of the US Federal Reserve this summer, two of the world’s most powerful men, sporting glistening white hard hats, stood before reporters looking like students forced to work together on a group project.

Allies of Donald Trump had spent weeks trying to manufacture a scandal around ongoing renovations of the central bank’s Washington headquarters and its costs. Now here was the US president, on a rare visit, examining the project for himself.

‘Even in the most unlikely places there is beauty’: stories of hope from newsrooms around the world

From the construction worker who won a place at medical school to an art exhibition in a country with no galleries, we asked journalists for their most optimistic tales of the year

Founder of the Migration Story, India

‘We live with war over our heads’: the Romanian villagers threatened by Russian drones

Intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports bring blasts, evacuations and fear of escalation to border communities

At the edge of Romania’s Danube delta on the border with Ukraine, in the village of Plauru, cows graze in flat, marshy fields. Houses with blue-painted roofs and window frames line a dirt track, many shuttered or abandoned.

Residents can see the cranes and silos of Izmail, a Ukrainian port city separated from Plauru by the 300 metre-width of the Danube River. By day the scene is deceptively calm. But sometimes, after dark, that calm dissolves.

Gold, silver prices fall after CME raises precious metals margins — again

The moves come at the end of a blockbuster year of annual gains for the precious metals.

Ski jumps, dancers and bear festivals: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year’s Eve speech

Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drills

China’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing.

Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.”

HHS freezes federal child care funds to Minnesota amid viral fraud allegations

Federal officials say they're freezing payments to child care centers in Minnesota while they investigate fraud claims. It comes after a conservative influencer posted a video claiming empty day care centers are receiving taxpayer funds. CBS News obtained surveillance video from one center showing kids being dropped off the same day the influencer filmed at that day care. Jonah Kaplan reports.

Slot sees positives as Frimpong and Kerkez adapt to end of a full-back era

• Liverpool head coach’s new full-backs have struggled

• Slot expects improvement as squad and signings settle

Arne Slot has said Liverpool remain “a work in progress” in both full-back positions but backed Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez to make their mark as his team stabilise.

Slot admits Liverpool are still adjusting to the end of the Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson era with injuries and disruption limiting the impact of their designated successors, including Conor Bradley. Frimpong has improved since returning from his second hamstring injury of the season, however, and provided assists for Hugo Ekitiké and Ryan Gravenberch in the recent victories over Tottenham and Wolves. Slot believes the summer signings Frimpong and Kerkez, from Bayer Leverkusen and Bournemouth respectively, will prove valuable assets for Liverpool, with their pace essential for the modern game.

How $160 million worth of export-controlled Nvidia chips were allegedly smuggled into China

The scheme involved falsifying shipping documents to misclassify the GPUs and hide their true destinations, including China and other prohibited locations.

How police are preparing to secure Times Square crowds on New Year's Eve

Security measures are in place at some of the most iconic New Year's Eve celebrations, including New York City's Times Square, where more than one million people are expected to gather on Wednesday. Elaine Quijano looks at how the New York City Police Department is preparing.

The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhar

While GLP-1 drugs promise an easy fix, our bodies still need what they have always needed: healthy food and regular exercise

• Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

If there has been a hot topic in health in 2025, it’s definitely been GLP-1s, colloquially referred to as “anti-obesity” jabs. These medications, taken weekly as an injection into the abdomen, result in significant weight loss and, despite being developed to manage type 2 diabetes in those with metabolic disorders, have become mainstream in many countries as a treatment for obesity. Clinicians rave about the health outcomes in patients taking the medication, with study after study emerging on the health benefits of the associated weight loss in those who are obese. Celebrity endorsements, online sales and off-label use have seen them widely used by people of all ages and sizes who want to drop weight.

For the public health community, it’s an odd moment. For years, we’ve advocated for government action on obesity – not through new drugs, but by taking nutrition and food systems seriously. We’ve highlighted the need for government action on making nutritious food affordable, regulating ultra-processed foods, bringing in sugar taxes and banning advertising of unhealthy products to young people, alongside encouraging an increase in physical activity. The solutions are simple: get people to eat more nutritious food and move. The challenge has been implementation, especially in deprived areas.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

Fit Forever: Wellness for midlife and beyond
On Wednesday 28 January 2026, join Annie Kelly, Devi Sridhar, Joel Snape and Mariella Frostrup, as they discuss how to enjoy longer and healthier lives, with expert advice and practical tips. Book tickets here or at guardian.live

Greetings from Vienna, where an imperial palace hosts a holiday market for all

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

Tell us: have you trained your AI job replacement?

We’d like to hear from people who are training AI to replace their current roles

Analysis by the International Monetary Fund says Artificial intelligence will affect about 40% of jobs around the world.

We’d like to find out more about the impact of AI on jobs now. With this in mind, we want to hear from people who have been training AI to replace their current roles. What has the experience been like? How do you feel about your future at your company? Do you have concerns?

My big night out: I realised I could leave the house party behind – and everything else that made me feel small

It was New Year’s Eve and there had been fireworks, drinking and dancing. Amid it all, I felt ashen and cold. As I walked out, I felt my first surge of quiet liberation

We drove out along the coast one afternoon, to a fireworks shop a couple of towns along. It was late in the year, and the light was low and dismal, rain scudding the windscreen. In a couple of days’ time it would be New Year’s Eve, and then our small town would scatter itself to parties held in bars and houses and nightclubs, and out along the harbour. At midnight, there would be an amateur firework display on the roof of the old lido.

In the shop that afternoon, some of the fireworks sat behind a glass-fronted cabinet. They had names like Stinging Bees, Vendetta and Sky Breaker, and beneath each item was a small laminated caption: “One hundred shot roman candle firing high whistling bees,” read one. “Twenty-five secs of time rain salutes. Noisy,” read another.

Elon Musk’s 2025 recap: how the world’s richest person became its most chaotic

How the tech CEO and ‘Dogefather’ made a mess of the year – from an apparent Nazi salute during his White House tenure to Tesla sales slumps and Starship explosions

The year of 2025 was dizzying for Elon Musk. The tech titan began the year holding court with Donald Trump in Washington DC. As the months ticked by, one public appearance after another baffled the US and the world. Musk appeared to give a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, staunchly championed a 19-year-old staffer nicknamed “Big Balls,” denied reports of being a drug addict while advising the president, and showed up at a White House press conference with a black eye – all in the first half of the year alone.

“Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in an expansive interview earlier this month. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china.”

‘A hell of a lot of fun!’ Your favourite podcasts of 2025

True crime, AI, romantasy and strange stories from a small Welsh town are among your picks of the best podcasts of the year

I stumbled across this podcast a few weeks ago and romped through the first season in short order. My Dad died recently, and I often feel sad. Ill-advised has helped me feel lighter. I have laughed out loud at both the questions and Bill’s dryly-delivered answers. I love the banned word portion (such as “pivot” and “like“, when used as fillers in sentences), while the book suggestions at the end are a perfect closer. Julie Hannaford, 59, librarian, Toronto, Canada

Trump family business delays launch of $499 gold smartphone

US-made device planned by end of year hit by recent government shutdown affecting shipments

Trump Mobile, the phone company launched by Donald Trump’s family business, has pushed back plans to deliver a $499 (£371) gold-coloured smartphone by the end of the year.

The Trump Organization licensed its name to launch a mobile service and the device in June, in the latest monetisation of his presidency by a family business empire now run by Trump’s sons.

From the World Cup to the return of Michaela Coel, 2026 promises to excite and bring joy

A very Long Wave-coded book, a landmark Nigerian film and more Black art, culture and sport on its way in the next 12 months

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The week between Christmas and New Year is a unique time. You’re free to not worry about what day of the week it is, or think too heavily on anything beyond your current state. But as we reach the new year, it is equally fun to think about the things we hope will bring some much-needed collective joy in the year ahead.

This week, our colleagues from across the diaspora have shared the Black cultural events that they are looking forward to in 2026, from books and TV shows to Ghana beating England at the World Cup.

Why flu cases are surging this season. And, protests erupt in Iran over the economy

The flu is spreading rapidly across the U.S. this season, and it is expected to get worse. And, protests have erupted across Iran over the country's troubled economy.

Seven environmental wins across the US in 2025 despite Trump-era reversals

Environmental advocates notched key wins at local and state levels this year despite Trump rollbacks

As 2025 draws to a close, environmental advocates across the US find themselves weighing a year marked by both setbacks and successes.

Despite major environmental reversals taken by the Donald Trump administration including loosening fossil fuel rules and weakening endangered-species safeguards, conservationists, lawmakers and researchers still notched key wins at local and state levels.

‘Life is pain without you’: Cary Elwes and Martin Scorsese pay tribute to Rob Reiner as autopsy reports sealed

As a judge puts a security hold on Rob and Michele Reiner’s cases and Joe Rogan criticises Donald Trump’s comments about Reiner’s death, collaborators continue to pay tribute

More than two weeks after the deaths of the film director Rob Reiner and his photographer wife, Michele, friends and colleagues continue to pay tribute to the couple.

Writing on Instagram, Cary Elwes, who starred in Reiner’s 1987 classic The Princess Bride, said he only now felt able to post publicly about his loss.

Dazn ordered to honour €84m Belgian football TV deal after terminating contract

• Dazn must resume €6.6m-a-month payments

• It said agreement was not viable without carriage deal

Dazn has been ordered to honour the remainder of an €84.2m (£73.5m) TV deal with Belgium’s Pro League this season after the streaming service announced last month it was terminating the contract.

In a judgment from Belgium’s centre for arbitration and mediation (Cepani), sent to the clubs on Wednesday morning, Dazn has been told it must continue broadcasting and paying for the Pro League until 30 June, unless Cepani declares otherwise. That would cost it about €53m.

A polycrisis has shattered our world this year. But with care, we can put it back together | Elif Shafak

The challenges and strains have been almost too much to take. But in 2025, words of depth and courage have been an antidote to numbness

I once saw a young glassblower in Istanbul, still new to his craft, shatter a beautiful vase while taking it out of the furnace. The artisan master standing by his side calmly nodded and said something that I still think about. He told him: “You put too much pressure on it, you kept it unbalanced and you forgot that it, too, has a heart.”

The year we are leaving behind has been plagued from the start by a series of social, economic, environmental, technological and institutional challenges, all happening with such speed and intensity that we are yet to fully comprehend their impact on our lives, let alone on future generations. As the overwhelming strain of domestic and geopolitical changes continues to build up, I cannot help but remember the man’s words. Too much pressure. Unstable, uncertain and replete with deep inequalities. This could well be the year we forgot that the Earth, too, has a heart. It definitely feels like the year when the world was broken.

US executions surged in 2025 to highest level in 16 years

Forty-seven men killed by states operating death penalty – almost double last year’s number

US executions have surged in 2025 to the highest level in 16 years, as Donald Trump’s campaign to reinvigorate judicial killings, combined with the US supreme court’s increasing refusal to engage in last-minute pleas for reprieve, have taken a heavy toll.

A total of 47 men – they were all male – have been killed by states operating the death penalty in the course of the year. That was almost double the number in 2024, amounting to the greatest frenzy of capital punishment bloodletting in America since 2009.

Martin Ødegaard relocates his missing rhythm to dictate Arsenal’s tempo again

Rejuvenated by his goal on Saturday and free from injuries that have disrupted his season, Arsenal’s captain led their destruction of Villa

When Arsenal really needed Martin Ødegaard, the captain finally rediscovered his magic touch. Gabriel Magalhães had just opened the scoring against Aston Villa after a first half in which Mikel Arteta’s nervous side were struggling without the influential Declan Rice. Then it happened.

Jadon Sancho was waiting to receive a pass from Youri Tielemans inside Villa’s half but, before the forward knew it, Ødegaard had pinched the ball and was haring towards Emiliano Martínez’s goal. A jink back on to his left foot fooled Tielemans and allowed Ødegaard to play through the perfect through ball for Martín Zubimendi to score the crucial second. It was the fifth goal or assist that Zubimendi has contributed to since he joined in the summer – the joint-best return of his club career – and the Spaniard’s impact was rightly hailed by a delighted Arteta. “Credit to his teammates as well, how easy they make it for him,” said the Arsenal manager in a nod to Ødegaard.

His brother's mental illness isolated his family. Now he's helping other caregivers

When it comes to serious mental illness, family caregivers are crucial partners. But often, they must fend for themselves. A new solution offers them support.

Out with the mayo: How Ukrainians reclaim holiday food

For many people from former Soviet countries, New Year's is a big holiday feast time. A Ukrainian restaurant in Washington gives NPR a taste of what's on the menu.

One pub a day closed permanently in England and Wales in 2025

Data shows 366 pubs have been demolished or converted for other uses this year as cost pressures take toll on sector

One pub a day disappeared for good in England and Wales during 2025 as sustained cost pressures continued to weigh heavily on the sector.

Analysis of government statistics shows that 366 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses over the year to December.

‘It’s not a hen party hellscape’: Dublin’s Temple Bar strives to shake off its bad reputation

Despite reviews of the district as a raucous tourist trap, improved policing has restored safety and an eclectic vibe

When Ireland redeveloped a swathe of central Dublin in the 1990s, the idea was to create a version of Paris’s Left Bank, a cultural quarter of cobbled lanes, art and urban renewal.

Planners and architects transformed the run-down Temple Bar site by the River Liffey into an ambitious experiment that drew throngs of visitors and won awards.

‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing?

The bioscience startup has attracted billions in investment – and a flurry of criticism, but founder tells the Guardian plans to bring back the woolly mammoth will not be derailed

Death and taxes are supposed to be the things we can depend on in this life. But in 2025, the American entrepreneur Ben Lamm sold much of the world on the idea that death did not, after all, need to be for ever.

This was the year the billionaire’s genetics startup, Colossal Biosciences, claimed it had resurrected the dire wolf, an animal that disappeared at the end of the last ice age, by tweaking the DNA of grey wolves. According to the company, it had also edged closer to bringing the woolly mammoth back from the dead, with the creation of genetically engineered “woolly mice”.

The perfect evening routine: how to prepare for bed – from blue light to baths

Whether you go for an easy jog or actively limit your screen time, studies show there are tried and tested ways to wind down and be sure of a good night’s sleep

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After a hard day at work, the last thing you want to do is fritter away your precious downtime slumped on the sofa in a dazed doomscroll. Yet, in the absence of a better plan, it happens with depressing ease. How we spend the hours between shutting down the laptop and slipping under the duvet affects sleep quality, mood and how restored we feel the next day. So, how can we reclaim those lost evenings?

According to Jason Ellis, a professor of psychology at Northumbria University and director of the Northumbria centre for sleep research, establishing a regular end-of-day routine sends a signal to your brain that you are making a shift between work mode, and rest and recreation. “It’s about putting the day to bed before you go to bed,” he says. Gretchen Rubin – an author, podcaster and creator of the Happiness Project – agrees. “Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life,” she says.

Lububus, Taylor Swift and Sydney Sweeney: here’s the deluge that was 2025 | Dave Schilling

It was a tough year (again) and we met it all with a shrug

It’s the end of another year, which means a deluge of dire looks back on the various atrocities of the last go around the sun. As is my duty, I have to add to the pile. But does it all have to be quite so sad? Do we have to dutifully trawl through the muck to find some elusive meaning to what we’ve been forced to endure? Unfortunately, yes. It was a tough year (again) and we met it all with a shrug. As we’ve all been made punishingly aware, Dictionary.com’s word of 2025 is “6-7,” a viral meme slogan which is technically two words. Pretty cheeky of the Dictionary to cheat on their own assignment.

How tragically emblematic of the year we just witnessed. We’re all too apathetic to even complain about getting swindled by a gaggle of word snobs. “Apathy” would have been a better choice for word of the year, considering how we’ve collectively shrugged at every dispiriting development of the last 12 months. Nicki Minaj popped up at the Turning Point USA conference to kiki with Erika Kirk and the most I could muster was “I guess she’ll do a concert at the Trump-Kennedy Center soon.”

Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist

Farmers are about to pay a lot more for health insurance

Tariffs, inflation, and other federal policies have battered U.S. farmers' bottom lines. Now many farmers say the expiration of federal health care subsidies will make their coverage unaffordable.

Queen Camilla says she was ‘so angry’ after assault on train when a teenager

‘I was reading my book and this boy, man, attacked me, and I did fight back,’ queen tells BBC’s Today programme

Queen Camilla has spoken for the first time about how she was “so angry” when she was physically assaulted on a train as a teenager.

Camilla described the incident in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, during which she also praised the courage of the racing commentator John Hunt and his daughter Amy, whose family were murdered at their home.

Rage bait, goblin mode … do words of the year have any real value?

Analysis shows obscure and barely used choices, drawn from online slang, do not stand the test of time

If you have seen a news story declaring 2025’s chosen “word of the year” in recent weeks, you might be forgiven for asking yourself: what, another one?

Depending on which dictionary you turn to, the chosen term this year was either Collins’s “vibe coding”, “parasocial” from Cambridge Dictionaries or their Oxford University Press rival’s “rage bait” – with many other selections besides.

Cyprus pledges ‘different mindset’ as it assumes EU presidency

Country’s six-month stint at helm begins with defence, migration and Ukraine still at top of agenda

Cyprus says it will bring “a new approach to the table” when it assumes the EU presidency on Thursday, as defence, migration and Ukraine continue to top the agenda at a time of acute geopolitical uncertainty.

As one of the bloc’s smaller member states, Cyprus will tackle its six-month stint at the EU’s helm with discipline and dedication but also “a different mindset”, the Cypriot foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, said.

The Spin | The men’s Test cricket team of the year: from Travis Head to Jasprit Bumrah

Our selection panel’s votes have been counted to reveal the best men’s Test side from the last 12 months

Sharpen your pencils and swallow your marmalade on toast before you read on, everyone, it’s time for the Guardian’s annual men’s Test XI of the year (here’s the women’s team from last week). This year’s 13-person selection panel included Ali Martin, Vic Marks, Tim de Lisle, Adam Collins, Rob Smyth, Jonathan Liew, Tanya Aldred, Taha Hashim, Daniel Gallan, Emma John, Simon Burnton and James Wallace. Everyone taking part picked and submitted their own XI in the days after Australia’s victory in the third Ashes Test at Adelaide (statistics are from 1 January 2025 up to and including this match). When the votes were added up, Earth’s combined side to play Mars looked like this:

Travis Head: 759 runs at an average of 42. Votes (out of 13): 10
The E and the D in the end of England’s Ashes chances. The series took an early turn when Head volunteered to open the batting in the fourth innings of the first Test, and turned in the sort of innings England’s batters only spoke about playing. They had 205 runs to defend, which (easy to forget this bit) everyone reckoned ought to be enough on a tricky pitch but ended up looking pitifully inadequate. Ben Stokes flapped, and England’s fragile attack, which had bowled so well in the first innings of that same match, were smashed. The damage was so bad that some of them were still looking for their lines and lengths in Adelaide three weeks later, when Head scored the century that killed their last faint chance of winning the Ashes.

Why do we make New Year's resolutions? A brief history of a long tradition

One of the earliest mentions of New Year's resolutions appeared in a Boston newspaper in 1813. But the practice itself can be traced back to the Babylonians.

‘The television event of the decade!’ It’s your top TV of 2025

From the phenomenal Vince Gilligan show Pluribus to horny, life-changing ice-hockey drama Heated Rivalry and much more … here are Guardian readers’ shows of the year

(Disney+) It’s embarrassing to say about a product released by the Disney Corporation within the Star Wars brand, but it’s by far the most searing and narratively sound portrayal of the creep of totalitarianism I’ve seen on-screen in years. Airtight character work, pitch-perfect action and the ideal moment to tell an inherently political story about the hope of truth and resistance against an endless barrage of falsehoods and atrocities. Eoin, London

Sali Hughes on beauty: I don’t make new year resolutions, but these are my pledges for 2026

Hydrated skin and some trips to the gym – I’ll be embracing better beauty habits next year

I’m not given to making new year resolutions, but by coincidence I have recently made a number of pledges to adopt better beauty habits. I believe that even someone in this job, who already moisturises and UV protects religiously, can still find areas for improvement.

Once again, I have pledged to drink more (or indeed some) water. After decades of tea dependency, I never find myself thirsty in the way others describe, and so force myself to hydrate only for the sake of my skin (to which it makes a noticeable difference) and well, aliveness. To this end, I’ve bought one of those ridiculously enormous mugs influencers drain several times daily, and hope to make my way through perhaps one by bedtime.

A little boy gave her hope for her foster daughter's future

At a neighborhood park, a young boy noticed Natalie's young foster daughter using a walker. His reaction left Natalie with an unexpected feeling of hope for the future.

In one year, Trump pivots fentanyl response from public health to drug war

Experts say Biden's focus on addiction health care saved tens of thousands of lives and slowed fentanyl smuggling. Trump scrapped Biden's approach in favor of military strikes.

Morning news brief

Trump says the U.S. military conducted a strike on a Venezuelan dock he claims was used by drug smugglers, protests over economy flood Iran, flu cases in the U.S are on the rise, CDC data shows.

The Master of Contradictions by Morten Høi Jensen review – how Thomas Mann wrote The Magic Mountain

A vivid account of the creation of one of literary modernism’s greatest achievements

In a 1924 letter to André Gide, Thomas Mann said he would soon be sending along a copy of his new novel, The Magic Mountain. “But I assure you that I do not in the least expect you to read it,” he wrote. “It is a highly problematical and ‘German’ work, and of such monstrous dimensions that I know perfectly well it won’t do for the rest of Europe.”

Morten Høi Jensen’s approachable and informative study of The Magic Mountain positions Mann as a writer who was contradictory to his core: an artist who dressed and behaved like a businessman; a homosexual in a conventional marriage with six children; an upstanding burgher obsessed with death and corruption. Very much the kind of man who would send someone a book and tell them not to read it.

Life after LeBron James: who will inherit the NBA’s future?

As the millennial superstars near the end, an international generation reshapes the league. The question is whether an American can still carry the crown

That the NBA is reckoned in seasons is apt. To measure a legacy this way is as much existential as it is symbolic. Martin Heidegger argued that time is not something we pass through, but the condition of our being – less a pathway than a pressure. Heavy stuff, yes, but the NBA has always operated under similar weight.

The millennial superstars who stabilized the league for two decades are now entering their twilight: LeBron James (who turned 41 on Tuesday), Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Chris Paul. In their wake comes something genuinely new. For the first time, the league’s next dominant generation is unmistakably international. The NBA’s gen Z elite now emerge from Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Canada and France.

​Two cubicles, 73 women, one long queue: Japan’s female MPs fight for more loos

PM Sanae Takaichi joins petition asking for better facilities for women to match improved representation

Nearly 60 female lawmakers in Japan, including the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, have submitted a petition calling for more toilets in the parliament building for women to match their improved representation.

Japanese politics remains hugely male-dominated, although the number of women in the parliament rose at the last election – and Takaichi became the first female prime minister in October. This is reflected by there being only one lavatory containing two cubicles for the lower house’s 73 women to use near the Diet’s main plenary session hall in central Tokyo.

China accuses Netherlands of making 'mistakes' over chipmaker Nexperia

Beijing and Amsterdam are locked in a war of words over technology transfer.

National Guard arrives in New Orleans for 1st New Year's since Bourbon Street attack

Nearly a year after a New Year's Day truck attack on Bourbon Street left 14 dead, New Orleans officials are still seeking permanent security solutions.

Eurostar restarts services in Channel tunnel amid continued risk of disruption

Passengers face delays day after power supply problem and broken down train halted services between UK and France

Eurostar passengers have been warned that continued delays and cancellations are possible on Wednesday despite the resumption of services after a power supply issue halted Channel tunnel train trips connecting London to the European mainland.

Thousands of passengers in the busy run-up to the new year faced hours of delays after the train operator cancelled services between London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels on Tuesday because of an overhead power supply problem and a failed LeShuttle train.

January transfer window 2026: what every Premier League club needs

Aston Villa have a decision to make about Harvey Elliott, Brentford have money to spend and Burnley and Everton need goalscorers

A busy summer with the arrival of more than £250m in reinforcements has proved to be invaluable given the number of injuries that have hit Arsenal, particularly in defence. But that also makes any more expensive incomings unlikely in January, especially after the timely return of the influential Gabriel Magalhães this week. A loan signing or two could be on the cards, however, with Arsenal not having filled either slot so far after bringing in Neto from Bournemouth and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea last season. Mikel Arteta could do with more cover at right-back and must also decide whether to allow Ethan Nwaneri to go on loan with the 18-year-old having made only three starts in all competitions. Ed Aarons

12/30: CBS Evening News

Dangerous cold and snow slam large swaths of U.S.; We asked people to reflect on 2025 and share their hopes for 2026

The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson review – a gripping tale of family and forbidden love

Two brothers attempt to escape their father’s gangland past in a tense, tender debut that moves between Thatcher-era Northumberland and southern Spain

Andalucía is famous for its variety: high alpine mountains and snow-capped peaks, river plains and rolling olive groves, sun-baked coastlines and arid deserts. It is the perfect setting for Neil Rollinson’s debut novel, which is its own kind of spectacular mosaic. Built from short, seemingly discrete chapters that take us between Spain in 2003 and the coalfields of Northumberland in the 70s and 80s, The Dead Don’t Bleed coheres into an extraordinarily tense and tender portrait of two brothers trying to escape their father’s gangland past.

Until now, Rollinson has been known as a poet; his collection Talking Dead was shortlisted for the 2015 Costa poetry prize. Here he brings his talent for compressed evocation to an exploration of fraternal rivalry and the enduring impact of a violent patriarchy. If you took Frank and his brother Gordon apart on the autopsy table, he writes, “you’d find the same bones, the same blood. Almost everything interchangeable. The corkscrews of DNA, the cells, the posture, the downcast glance.” But from a young age, change is afoot within Frank. He knows his father has “high hopes for him” in the family business of petty crime: “Frank Bridge. King of Northumberland”. But Frank wants to be a different kind of king. He carries within himself a “yearning for something more expansive” – the kind of dream that could get him killed in his family’s closed world of criminal secrecy.

‘It’s cooler than saying I bought this on Asos’: the big car boot sale rebrand

Whether Vinted’s to blame or TikTok’s to thank, people are flocking back to car parks in search of secondhand bargains. How did the car boot get hip again?

It’s a crisp Sunday morning in south-west London. Tucked within rows of terrace houses, the playground of a primary school has been transformed into an outdoor treasure trove. Tables are filled with stacks of books and board games; clothes hang from metal racks or are piled into boxes which are strewn over a hopscotch. It’s the 10am opening of Balham car boot sale. A modest queue filters through the entrance: families, pensioners, fashion influencers, TikTokers.

Three friends – Dominique Gowie, Abbie Mitchell (both 25 years old) and Affy Chowdhury (26) – arrived an hour earlier, to set up. They are selling at a car boot for the first time, enticed by the growing hype circulating on social media. “If you go out and say: ‘Oh I bought this at the car boot,’ I think it’s actually cooler than saying I bought this on Asos,” says Dominique.

Lily Allen’s live return, Charli xcx’s Wuthering Heights and Simon Rattle’s Janáček: music to listen out for in 2026

Raye, Deftones and Yungblud do UK tours, Jill Scott returns for more neo-soul, and the classical world gears up to celebrate Hungarian composer György Kurtág at 100

• More from the 2026 culture preview

Seventeen years on from the release of her debut single, Florence Welch finds herself in an intriguingly strong position: while most of her early 00s indie peers are forgotten or in reduced circumstances, she is a major influence on pop, from Ethel Cain to the Last Dinner Party to Chappell Roan. Her recent album Everybody Scream was a strong restatement of her theatrical approach – with more light and shade than you might expect – but it’s on stage that she really comes into her own.
• UK tour begins 6 February at the SSE Arena, Belfast

How to make garlic bread – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

You may think you know how to make garlic bread. But have you made this garlic bread?

Once upon a time, an ex and I used to throw an annual party – a non-chic affair with a recycling bin full of ice and bottles – where the star, and the thing that everyone really came for, was the garlic bread: 10 or 15 loaves of the stuff, always demolished while still dangerously hot from the oven. I believe the original recipe was Nigel Slater’s; this is my tweaked version.

Prep 15 min
Cook 25 min
Makes 1 loaf

Curb the cod, park the prawns: top chefs on how to swap out the ‘big five’ seafood

From moules marinière to scallop, bacon and garlic butter rolls, here’s how to cast your culinary net wider and embrace more sustainable species

For a nation surrounded by water, Britain’s seafood tastes are remarkably parochial – we mostly eat cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns. But with a huge range of species out there, making the decision to swap the “big five” for more sustainable options could be a good new year resolution to aim for. Here are five species to consider – and if you’re worried these won’t taste as good as cod and chips, we’ve rounded up a selection of top chefs to tell you how to make the best of what could be on your plate in 2026.

Is ‘coasting’ the perfect way to enjoy an alcoholic drink this New Year’s Eve?

Retailers say appetite for alcoholic drinks that are about half the strength of the traditional versions is soaring

Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations often used to result in a hangover the next day, but with moderation now the order of the day the new drinks industry buzzword is “coasting”.

This involves choosing a white wine, lager or even a cocktail that is about half the strength of the traditional version of the drink – meaning you can have the same number of drinks without feeling the worse for wear.

What happened next: Valerie the dachshund taught us how to survive – and thrive

We could learn a lot from the pampered sausage dog who became a canine Bear Grylls. Perhaps all of us are capable of more than we might expect

Who among us hasn’t yearned, at least momentarily, to cast off the trappings of our comfortable lives and live wild, unfettered and free? This year someone showed us the way: a charismatic Aussie sausage dog (I believe that’s “snag” in local vernacular). Whether you already carry Valerie the miniature dachshund’s story in your heart or managed, somehow, to miss the pint-sized phenomenon’s incredible journey, join me as we revisit this heart-warming tale.

In November 2023, Valerie was a one-year-old “absolute princess” of a pup – those are the words of her emotional support human, Georgia Gardner, who received the sausage as a graduation gift. A diminutive 15cm high, she needed a ramp to help her get into bed in her New South Wales home and wore a pink sweater in chilly weather, with matching pink collar and lead. But Valerie chose to swap her pampered life of roast chicken and pupuccinos for freedom in the dangerous wilds of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, escaping while Gardner and boyfriend Josh Fishlock were on holiday there.

Demon Slayer economics: how the anime juggernaut became a saviour

Once underground art form now props up slumped box office sales and is used by governments to build soft power

An animated drama featuring hordes of carnivorous fiends might not sound like classic box office fodder, but that’s exactly what Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle proved to be in September.

The film set new records for anime – Japanese animated films and series – making more than $70m (£52m) on its opening weekend in the US and £535m so far globally. To put that in context, Ghost in the Shell – an anime classic released in 1995 – made about £2m worldwide.

EU legislation intended to fight deforestation has been effectively ‘dismantled’

Law’s original author points to removal of obligations for downstream traders to verify origin of commodities

It was hailed by campaigners around the world as a game-changing piece of legislation that would help stop deforestation.

But when a bullet-ridden version of the EU’s deforestation regulation, once supposed to be the crown of the Green Deal, finally limped across the legislative line this month, not even its architect was smiling, and one politician said it had been pretty much “dismantled”.

Isiah Whitlock Jr, actor in The Wire and Veep, dies aged 71

Whitlock’s career spanned decades and included roles in many Spike Lee films

The American actor Isiah Whitlock Jr, who played a corrupt politician on HBO crime drama The Wire and had roles in numerous Spike Lee films, died at age 71 on Tuesday, his manager said.

“It is with tremendous sadness that I share the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him – you loved him. A brilliant actor and even better person,” Brian Liebman wrote on social media.

‘People are wrestling with the burden’: Japan pivots to focus on nuclear power ‘maximisation’ alongside renewables

Post-Fukushima nuclear closures of dozens of reactors forced the country to rely heavily on imported fossil fuels

Body found amid search for missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos

The body has not yet been identified, Texas officials said at a Tuesday news conference.

Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor known for his roles in "The Wire" and "Veep," dies at 71

Isiah Whitlock Jr. is perhaps best known for his role as state Sen. R. Clayton "Clay" Davis on HBO's "The Wire."

Missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos' father speaks out amid search

Camila Mendoza Olmos, 19, was last seen on the morning of Christmas Eve hear her home in San Antonio, officials said.

"Bomb cyclone" winter storm moves east with snow squalls in the forecast

A powerful winter storm system moving across the Great Lakes and Northeast is bringing snow and ice, frigid temperatures and possible whiteout conditions.

Black bear living underneath Altadena house shows no sign of budging

The 550-pound black bear has taken up residence in the crawlspace underneath Ken Johnson's home in California for a month.

Khanna calls for nationwide fraud investigation after wealth tax proposal caused firestorm

California Rep. Ro Khanna is navigating a difficult environment as one-time supporters turn on him due to his support of a wealth tax.

We asked people to reflect on 2025 and share their hopes for 2026

As 2025 comes to a close, Jericka Duncan asks people to reflect on the past year and look toward the next.

Flu cases spiking this holiday season, CDC data shows

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 32 jurisdictions are showing "high" or "very high" levels of flu.

Man fed up over 550-pound bear who refuses to leave his crawl space

A massive black bear has been living beneath a home in Altadena, California, for the past month. As Carter Evans reports, the problem has become unbearable.

HHS freezes all federal child care funding to Minnesota in wake of fraud claims

The Department of Health and Human Services said it has frozen federal child care funding for the state of Minnesota, citing viral fraud allegations. Jonah Kaplan has the latest.

Many states reporting higher than usual flu cases

There has been a recent surge in flu cases over the holidays. Previously, 14 states were reporting high or very high levels of flu. Now that number has more than doubled to 29 states across the country. Dr. Jon LaPook explains.

NFL star Stefon Diggs accused of strangulation

Stefon Diggs, a star wide receiver with the New England Patriots, has been charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from an incident on December 2. Diggs has denied the allegations through the Patriots and his own attorney. CBS Boston's Aaron Parseghian has details.

Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of JFK, dies at 35

Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of late President John F. Kennedy, has died after announcing a terminal cancer diagnosis in late November.

Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of JFK, dies at 35 after cancer battle

Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, has died shortly after announcing she had a terminal cancer diagnosis, the JFK Library Foundation said. She was 35. Elaine Quijano reports.

Dangerous cold and snow slam large swaths of U.S.

Arctic air is pushing in behind winter storms that battered much of the nation with heavy snow, dangerous cold and ferocious winds. Ian Lee reports, and Rob Marciano has the forecast.

Fed minutes show officials were in tight split over December rate cut

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday released minutes from its December meeting.

Fed meeting minutes reveal deep splits on December rate cut decision

The minutes released Tuesday indicate that some Fed officials who supported the rate cut had reservations.

Alleged D.C. pipe bomber appears in court to contest continued detention

Brian Cole was arrested and charged earlier this month for allegedly planting two pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021.

Preview: Meghan Markle: American Princess

Who is Meghan Markle? Gayle King anchors a CBS News special on the future wife of Prince Harry -- the woman who went from a grade school advocate to half of a global power couple for a new era -- as told by those who know her best: her friends, teachers and co-stars. Watch Friday, April 20 at 10/9c on CBS.

"48 Hours: NCIS": The Marine's Wife

When a young military wife at the Marine Combat Base in Twentynine Palms, California, vanishes, NCIS agents discover she has a secret — did it lead to murder?

"48 Hours: NCIS": Deadly Lies

Did a duplicitous online love affair between two people who never met lead to an innocent Marine being murdered?

"48 Hours: NCIS": Trail of Fire

Friends searching for a missing Army nurse find her apartment smoldering and no sign of their friend. Can NCIS agents find her?