Stranger Things season five review – this luxurious final run will have you standing on a chair, yelling with joy

The kids growing up might have changed this show’s appeal, but they manage to go out in a flame-throwing, bullet-dodging blaze of glory – while still being more moving than ever before

Time’s up for Stranger Things. The fifth and last season arrives almost three-and-a-half years after a fourth run that felt like a finale, not least because it seemed the kids had grown up. Having originally aped beloved 1980s films where stubbornly brave children avert apocalypse, the franchise now starred young adults and had adjusted plotlines and dialogue accordingly. Life lessons had been learned. Selves had been found. Adolescent anxieties – as personified by Vecna, the narky telekinetic tree-man who rules a parallel dimension adjacent to the humdrum town of Hawkins, Indiana – had been put aside.

But Stranger Things now belatedly returns, with the cast all visibly in their 20s. This is a problem. The whole point is that it’s fun to watch kids outrun monsters by pedalling faster on their BMX bikes, or ignoring their mum calling them to dinner because they’re in the basement with their school pals, drawing up plans to bamboozle the US military using pencils, bubblegum and Dungeons & Dragons figurines. If everyone looks old enough to have a studio apartment and a stocks portfolio, none of the above really flies.

Published: November 27, 2025, 1:01 am

Inside the rise and fall of Podemos: ‘We believed we had a stake in the future’

The leftist party exploded out of Spain’s anti-austerity protests in 2011 and upended Spain’s entrenched two-party system. I was instantly captivated – and for the next decade, I worked for the party. But I ended up quitting politics in disappointment. What happened?

• This article originally appeared in Equator, a new magazine of politics, culture and art

I never expected to retire in my 30s, but I suppose politics is the art of the impossible: what it promises, what it extracts. A decade at the heart of Spain’s boldest modern political experiment aged me in ways I’ve only just begun to fathom.

In May 2014, just four months after it was founded, the leftwing Spanish party Podemos (“We Can”) won five seats in the European parliament. As a recent university graduate who had been part of a local Podemos group (or círculo, as they were known) in Paris, I was hired to work for these MEPs. We arrived in Brussels as complete tyros and had to learn everything on the job. But we were motivated by the promise of doing what we used to call “real politics” – that is to say, not the internal power struggles and ideological weather patterns of the movement (which were always abundant), but the actual issues, such as gender discrimination and unemployment.

Published: November 27, 2025, 5:00 am

Week in wildlife: seal pups, albino turtles and a sleeping tiger

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Published: November 27, 2025, 8:00 am

Foreign interference or opportunistic grifting: why are so many pro-Trump X accounts based in Asia?

A new feature on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter allows users to see the location of other accounts. It has resulted in a firestorm of recriminations

When X rolled out a new feature revealing the locations of popular accounts, the company was acting to boost transparency and clamp down on disinformation. The result, however, has been a circular firing squad of recriminations, as users turn on each other enraged by the revelation that dozens of popular “America first” and pro-Trump accounts originated overseas.

The new feature was enabled over the weekend by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, who called it the first step in “securing the integrity of the global town square.” Since then many high-engagement accounts that post incessantly about US politics have been “unmasked” by fellow users.

Published: November 27, 2025, 12:01 am

Cuddling capybaras and ogling otters: the problem with animal cafes in Asia

A boom in places offering petting sessions is linked to a rise in the illegal movement of exotic and endangered species, say experts

The second floor of an unassuming office building in central Bangkok is a strange place to encounter the world’s largest rodent. Yet here, inside a small enclosure with a shallow pool, three capybaras are at the disposal of dozens of paying customers – all clamouring for a selfie. As people eagerly thrust leafy snacks toward the nonchalant-looking animals, few seem to consider the underlying peculiarity: how, exactly, did this South American rodent end up more than 10,000 miles from home, in a bustling Asian metropolis?

Capybara cafes have been cropping up across the continent in recent years, driven by the animal’s growing internet fame. The semi-aquatic animals feature in more than 600,000 TikTok posts. In Bangkok, cafe customers pay 400 baht (£9.40) for a 30-minute petting session with them, along with a few meerkats and Chinese bamboo rats. Doors are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

Published: November 27, 2025, 6:00 am

Is Queens the new political belleweather of America? | Michael Massing

National news organizations have treated the borough like flyover country. It’s time to change that

As the extraordinary Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani shows, there’s a new bellwether in American politics.

For years, Ohio played that role. In every election from 1964 to 2016, the state voted for the winning presidential candidate, and every four years journalists would travel there to interview voters in Columbus and Cincinnati, Dayton and Youngstown. But in 2020 Biden won without carrying the state, and today Ohio is deeply red, costing it its bellwether status. Several other states once considered battlegrounds – Iowa, Missouri, and Florida – have also turned firmly Republican.

Michael Massing is an American writer based in New York City. He is a former executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:00 am

National Guard shooting: Trump says US should ‘re-examine’ all Afghan refugees after suspect named

President calls the shooting in Washington an ‘act of terror’, as officials name Rahmanullah Lakanwal as suspected shooter

Donald Trump has called for his government to re-examine every Afghan immigrant who entered the US during Joe Biden’s administration, after law enforcement officials identified the suspect in the shooting of two national guard members in Washington as a man from Afghanistan.

A statement from the Department of Homeland Security named the suspect asRahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the US under a Biden-era policy allowing Afghans set up after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Immigration authorities granted Lakanwal asylum earlier this year, according to CNN.

Published: November 27, 2025, 5:12 am

Hong Kong fire latest: rescue crews search for survivors after 55 killed and hundreds reported missing

Three men arrested as 26 rescue teams on site at Wang Fuk Court residential apartment complex in Tai Po district. Follow the latest updates live

• Report: death toll rises as hundreds reported missing

• What we know so far about the blaze

• Bamboo scaffolding may be to blame for spread of fire

• A visual guide to the fire

The death toll has risen again to 44, fire officials say.

Officials said they are still having difficulties proceeding into the upper floors in some of the buildings in the residential complex as the fire continues.

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:54 am

West is ‘missing obscure sanctions that could set back Russia’s war machine’

US group Dekleptocracy identifies chemicals used for military vehicles’ lubricants and tyres as potential vulnerabilities

A US group has identified several obscure but potentially key sanctions it says could seriously disrupt Russia’s war effort in Ukraine after last month’s targeting of the Kremlin’s biggest oil firms.

Previous rounds of sanctions have been applied to Russian energy companies, banks, military suppliers and the “shadow fleet” of ships carrying Russian oil.

Published: November 27, 2025, 7:00 am

South Africa hits back at ‘punitive’ Trump move to bar it from G20 meeting in Florida

Diplomatic row worsens after US president says member state will not be invited to 2026 summit

Donald Trump has said that South Africa will not be invited to G20 events in the United States when it presides over the forum next year, a measure the African nation described as “punitive”.

The US president repeated widely discredited claims that South Africa is “killing white people”, extending a diplomatic row between the countries after the US boycotted the summit in Johannesburg last weekend.

Published: November 27, 2025, 9:50 am

Trump reportedly urged Japan’s PM to avoid further escalations in dispute with China

The report comes after the Wall Street Journal claimed the US president told Sanae Takaichi to ‘dial down the volume’ in dispute over Taiwan

Donald Trump asked the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, to avoid further escalation in a dispute with China during a call this week, according to two Japanese government sources who spoke to the Reuters news agency.

Takaichi sparked the biggest diplomatic bust-up with Beijing in years when she told parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action.

Published: November 27, 2025, 2:38 am

Netflix crashes within minutes of releasing Stranger Things series five

Viewers unable to watch episodes of long-awaited final series on TV when the streaming service briefly froze

When Netflix crashed within minutes of releasing Stranger Things series five, it felt like a plot twist worthy of the sci-fi show itself.

Viewers were left unable to stream the opening episodes of the long-awaited final series, with many voicing their frustration on social media platforms.

Published: November 27, 2025, 8:53 am

Judges allow North Carolina to use Republican-drawn congressional map

New map takes aim at state’s only swing seat and gives Republicans chance to flip seat as part of Trump campaign

A federal three-judge panel on Wednesday allowed North Carolina to use a redrawn congressional map aimed at flipping a seat to Republicans as part of Donald Trump’s multi-state redistricting campaign ahead of the 2026 elections.

The new map takes aim at North Carolina’s only swing seat, currently held by Democrat Don Davis, an African American who represents more than 20 counties in the state’s north-east. The first district has been represented by Black members of Congress continuously for more than 30 years.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:27 pm

Estate of Johnny Cash suing Coca-Cola for using tribute act in advert

The company is being sued under the new Elvis act, which protects a person’s voice from exploitation without consent

The estate of Johnny Cash is suing Coca-Cola for illegally hiring a tribute act to impersonate the late US country singer in an advertisement that plays between college football games.

The case has been filed under the Elvis Act of Tennessee, made effective last year, which protects a person’s voice from exploitation without consent. The estate said that while it has previously licensed Cash’s songs, Coca-Cola did not approach them for permission in this instance.

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:30 am

Jakarta overtakes Tokyo as world’s most populous city, according to UN

The rankings were changed after the UN used new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities

Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city, according to a UN study that uses new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities.

The Indonesian capital is home to 42 million people, according to an estimate by the population division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 report published this month.

Published: November 27, 2025, 3:07 am

Trump calls New York Times reporter ‘ugly’ in latest insult to female journalist

In a Truth Social post, the president lashed out at journalist Katie Rogers after an article questioned whether he was slowing down

Donald Trump lashed out on Wednesday against a New York Times reporter, calling her “ugly inside and out” in his latest personal insult against female members of the media after last week calling another “piggy”.

In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized the newspaper for an article suggesting he was running low on energy in his 80th year, insisting he had “never worked so hard in my life”.

Published: November 26, 2025, 6:19 pm

Trump news at a glance: president orders more troops to Washington DC after shooting of national guard members

Two national guard members were critically wounded in attack near White House – key US politics stories from Wednesday 26 November at a glance

Two West Virginia national guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after they were shot near the White House in Washington. Local officials and federal authorities called the shooting a “targeted” attack and have a suspect in custody.

The shooter was later identified in multiple media reports as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a man from Afghanistan. Lakanwal is said to have entered the United States in September 2021, and been living in Washington state, law enforcement officials told the Associated Press and other outlets.

Published: November 27, 2025, 2:51 am

Hegseth reportedly plans to cut support to US scouts group for being ‘genderless’

Scouting America decries accusations by defense secretary that the organization is attacking ‘boy-friendly spaces’

Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, has said it is “surprised and disappointed” by a report that the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, could sever all military ties to the organization for being “genderless” and failing to “cultivate masculine values”.

In a draft memo to Congress obtained by NPR, Hegseth criticized Scouting America, which began admitting girls in 2018, for purportedly attempting to “attack boy-friendly spaces”.

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:58 pm

Georgia prosecutor confirms final criminal case against Trump is ‘over’

State prosecutor dismisses charges against US president and others in election interference case

The case against Donald Trump and his co-defendants in Georgia ended on Wednesday with a filing for dismissal by the state prosecutor who took over after the removal of Fani Willis, the Fulton county district attorney.

Pete Skandalakis, the prosecutor and the executive director of the prosecuting attorneys’ council of Georgia, confirmed to the Guardian that “it’s over”after superior court judge Scott McAfee issued a one-page order on Wednesday dismissing the 2020 racketeering case. Skandalakis said he would be making no further comments about the matter.

Published: November 26, 2025, 7:52 pm

How the Hong Kong fire unfolded – visual guide

Fire in densely packed group of 31-storey tower blocks that is home to thousands quickly spread via bamboo scaffolding

Dozens of people have died in a huge fire that engulfed several residential tower blocks in Hong Kong, home to thousands of people, on Wednesday afternoon. Many more are in a critical condition and hundreds remain missing, with the fire continuing to burn into Thursday morning.

The fire was first reported at 2.52pm on Wednesday, at the Wang Fuk Court residential complex in Tai Po, in the northern New Territories. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, but officials say it started on the external scaffolding of Wang Cheong House, before spreading to seven of the eight buildings in the densely packed complex.

Published: November 27, 2025, 3:04 am

Experts warn of ‘global crisis’ as number of women in prison nears one million

Number of women incarcerated around the world rising at nearly three times the rate of men, with female prisoners often subjected to sexual violence and forced labour

• Explainer: How many women are in prison and on death row around the world? – in charts

Up to a million women worldwide are facing sexual violence and forced labour in prisons, where they are overlooked and forgotten, in what is being called a growing global crisis.

The number of incarcerated women is rising much faster than men and is expected to surpass one million on current trends. While on average women account for between 2% and 9% of national prison populations, since 2000 the number imprisoned has grown by 57%, compared with a 22% increase in the men’s prison population.

Published: November 27, 2025, 7:00 am

Luigi: The Making and the Meaning by John H Richardson review – sympathy for a devil?

This nebulous study of Luigi Mangione veers close to romanticising him as a latter-day Robin Hood

On 5 December 2024, the New York Times ran the headline “Insurance CEO Gunned Down In Manhattan”. The newspaper then noted that Brian Thompson was “shot in the back in Midtown Manhattan by a killer who then walked coolly away”. The murder in broad daylight was indeed both cold and shocking. But many Americans had a different response: for those who had been denied health insurance or faced exorbitant healthcase costs, the news felt cathartic. Social media blew up. One post read: “All jokes aside … no one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That’s the job of the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximize profits on your health.”

Five days later, Luigi Mangione, a good-looking, 26-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate with a master’s in computer science, was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He awaits trial on federal and state charges of murder, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty. So who is Mangione? And what might have motivated the alleged crime? These are the questions John H Richardson attempts to answer in an investigation that explores broader themes, too.

Published: November 27, 2025, 9:00 am

‘It was no longer a gift for my husband. It was all for me’: four women on how boudoir photography changed their lives

Now a hugely popular photographic genre, many women pay thousands to have intimate portraits taken of themselves by a professional. What do they get out of it?

A few hours into Brittany Witt’s boudoir shoot, with the mimosas kicking in and the music going strong, the photographer asked: “How do we feel about some completely nude photos?” Witt was lying on the bed in lingerie, in a studio in Texas, and hadn’t considered nudity an option. “I was like: ‘OK, we’re on this trust path.’” She undressed. The photographer, JoAnna Moore, covered Witt with body oil and squirted her with water, then asked her “to crawl across the floor with my full trust,” Witt says. “I did so. The pose was nude, and it was completely open. I wasn’t covered with a sheet. It was all out, it was all open, and it brought that worst level of self-doubt. I was terrified.”

Witt, 33, has come to see that terror as an important part of her experience. She used to be a competitive weightlifter. “I had a very masculine aura. I showed up in strength,” she says. At school and work – in the construction side of the oil and gas industry – she was “type A – scheduler, planner, had everything together, kind of led the group”. A turbulent home life when she was growing up led her to develop robust protection mechanisms which, in adulthood, acted as a block to relationships – issues she had been addressing with a life coach. But in that moment, on all-fours in Moore’s studio: “I felt those protections stripped away. There was nothing to hide behind, literally, figuratively.”

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:00 am

The best Lego gift sets to click together a creative Christmas

Lego sets featuring Star Wars, Harry Potter and Fortnite would all make excellent gifts for superfans of all ages – or opt for some build-it-yourself decor

• The 163 best holiday gift ideas for 2025, vetted by the Guardian US staff

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

Like puzzles, Lego sets are a delightfully tactile way to unplug and reconnect with the physical world. By snapping a few bricks together, you can build just about anything you can imagine, from Disney princess castles to Formula 1 racecars. It doesn’t matter how old or talented you are: you can buy Lego Duplo sets for kids as young as two, or 2,883-piece Lego Technic sets that will challenge even mechanical engineers.

As an adult Lego fan, I have been building for six years and own about three dozen sets, including stunning technical builds, showcase-worthy end products, and even functional sets that act like working toys. Whether you’re looking to spend a few afternoons stacking blocks, or dedicate entire days to the hobby (I have done both), I picked some of my favorite sets to share – some from my collection, and a few I can’t wait to add to it.

Published: November 26, 2025, 6:30 pm

You be the judge: should my partner stop compressing the coffee in the moka pot?

Hamad thinks his method enhances the flavour. Lucia says he’s breaking all the sacred rules. Who needs to wake up and smell the coffee?

• Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

Hamad’s method isn’t the way it’s supposed to be done. I’m Italian – I know all about good coffee

Pressing down the grounds improves the flavour. Lucia is just being a coffee snob

Published: November 27, 2025, 8:00 am

‘Fearing for our lives’: Australians tell of Chilean mountain horror where five hikers perished

Hikers say authorities should have closed popular trail due to horrendous weather conditions, and camp staff offered minimal assistance

About 100 metres below the most challenging summit in a remote nature reserve in Chilean Patagonia, Australian woman Emily Dong was among a group of hikers who feared they were going to die.

Less than a day later, five hikers would be confirmed dead in the Torres del Paine national park after winds hit 190km/h and temperatures plummeted to –5C. Taking into account wind chill, it felt like –20C.

Published: November 26, 2025, 2:00 pm

God, gears and gun jewellery: Route 1 revisited – in pictures

Anastasia Samoylova took a photographic journey up the US east coast – and found herself in America’s unreconciled past just as much as its fragmented present

Published: November 27, 2025, 7:00 am

If Epstein’s survivors don’t receive justice that is a ticking time bomb | V (formerly Eve Ensler)

Millions of sexual violent survivors will not live a day longer with this torturous injustice

It began as I finished Nobody’s Girl, the torturous and devastating account of Virginia Giuffre’s life. It was what I can only describe as a kind of corporeal attack, an existential clutch followed by days of such powerful anxiety my body was taken in bouts of uncontrollable shaking. A sense of not mattering, a virulent dread and dissolving into an all-encompassing nothingness impossible to shake. How many times as a child, after being abused by my father, had I experienced this sense of erasure and disappearance?

Feeling that no matter what I did, what I accomplished, how hard I tried to lift my head above the parapet I would be cast out forever. This attack lasted days. Perhaps it was Virginia’s story, parts of which felt much like my own. Raped as a child by her father, then raped by her father’s good friend, then raped when she ran away, then the years of being raped by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, then being sexually trafficked to powerful and sadistic men to be raped again.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:00 am

At last, TV about influencers that isn’t cringe – I Love LA is my show of the year | Emma Brockes

It gets into its twentysomething characters’ heads in a way that’s fresh and real. You either get it, or you don’t

It’s been a while since a TV show came along that people leaned into losing their minds about, but finally, and after a year of otherwise mediocre programming, we have one. I Love LA, the HBO comedy set among wannabe gen Z influencers, is only halfway through its eight-episode run, but it is already comfortably the best show of the year. And more importantly, it has triggered all the signifiers of event TV: obsessive repeat viewings, line-by-line coverage, big platform profiles of its stars and weekly recaps on Vulture, New York magazine’s website. Within days of each episode airing, people have transcribed and uploaded the entire script, which – with the best will in the world – no one’s doing for Riot Women.

The surprising thing about this is not the fact that it’s the first show by Rachel Sennott, the show’s 30-year-old creator and star, or that the action takes place in a tiny world in east LA, but that content about influencers can be watchable at all. To date, millennial and older writers have tended to use social media as a lumbering plot device – oh my God, something’s gone “viral!” – or as a stand-in for the collapse of all known standards. You probably haven’t watched these because nobody did, but take your pick from: HBO’s one-season disaster The Girls on the Bus, in which an old-media reporter covers a US election race only to find that influencers – those pesky kids! – have stolen her patch. Or the equally horrific Netflix flop Girlboss, loosely based on the memoirs of Sophia Amoruso, the early influencer, and which not even a cameo by Cole Escola could save. Or Flack, the deathly Anna Paquin-fronted show about publicists trying to manage their clients’ social media, and an early red flag for which was the use of the word “maven” in the show’s publicity.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:19 pm

This French judge approved Netanyahu’s arrest warrant. Now Trump is targeting him | Owen Jones

Three ICC judges have been put on a sanctions list with terrorists after approving an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister. This is the charade of the ‘rules-based order’

The fate of one French judge is a case study in the west’s long unravelling. Nicolas Guillou cannot shop online. When he used Expedia to book a hotel in his own country, the reservation was cancelled within hours. He is “blacklisted by much of the world’s banking system”, unable to use most bank cards.

Guillou, you see, has been sanctioned by the United States, putting him on a 15,000-strong list alongside al-Qaida terrorists, drug cartels and Vladimir Putin. Why? Because alongside two other judges of the international criminal court pre-trial chamber I, he approved arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Deif, the former commander of Hamas’s military wing. Guillou and his colleagues had “actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel”, the US claimed when imposing the sanctions in June. All are now barred from entering the US – but that is the least of the consequences.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: November 26, 2025, 8:34 am

Why on earth would Meghan still want to be called the Duchess of Sussex? | Arwa Mahdawi

She and her husband seem keen on their titles and accolades, and less enthusiastic about putting in the work that ordinarily goes with them

Meghan may be a resident of Montecito, California, but she is still the Duchess of Sussex, and she won’t let us commoners forget it. Despite their highly publicised separation from the royal family, Harry and Meghan remain extraordinarily loyal to their fancy titles. They have been asked before why they cling to their aristocratic honorifics and shrugged off the question. “What difference would that make?” Harry told Anderson Cooper in 2023, when asked why the couple didn’t renounce the titles.

The difference, Mr Duke, is that people might stop wondering why you and Megs are so keen on reminding everyone that you’re royals, while living in a country that famously has no monarchy. And this question isn’t going away. It keeps popping up and it’s back in the news now thanks to a Harper’s Bazaar cover story on Meghan.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:00 am

Teenage dreams are never practical. But where would we be without the people who chased theirs? | Adrian Chiles

It can feel wrong to encourage young people to shoot for the stars – yet if no one did, our world would be empty of the artists, actors, athletes and visionaries who give it so much pleasure and meaning

Who wants to crush a kid’s dreams? Not me. But what to say when asked by a teenager about a career in the media? With tens of thousands of media, journalism and other graduates crowding into the market every year, the chances of finding steady work, let alone stardom, are more remote than ever. There’s no advice I feel comfortable giving. Too often, I suck my teeth and tell them how hard it is, which surely invites them to wonder exactly how hard it can be if I’ve managed to pull it off. Fair point. But what’s the point encouraging them to chase something that probably isn’t there? Dispiriting.

Dispiriting too, when you encounter the opposite of a teenage dreamer: the teenage realist. A few years ago, I was being shown around a secondary school in the Black Country with various worthies. A venerable member of the Cadbury family was in our group. Tremendously tall, stooping to hear what was said, he was kind and attentive, but not of a breed recognisable to any of the kids around us. Undaunted, the head boy led our group with some aplomb. He was but 16 – the school didn’t have a sixth form. He talked to us about the school in a mature, intelligent manner, but without a trace of precocity. In his own quiet way, he was quite something. This young man will go far, I thought. With this in mind, I asked him what he wanted to go on to study. He said he was looking at doing drama at a local college.

Published: November 26, 2025, 2:56 pm

Arne Slot’s woes deepen as awful Liverpool are thrashed by PSV at Anfield

Nine defeats in 12 games. The worst run in 71 years. By a team that coasted to the Premier League title last season and were then supposedly upgraded to the tune of almost £450m. Unbelievable, as Arne Slot would say. His Liverpool are stuck in reverse and his position could be under serious threat unless a way out is found soon.

PSV Eindhoven were the latest beneficiaries of woeful Liverpool defending and aimless attacking play as the Dutch side inflicted a comprehensive defeat on Slot’s team.

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:10 pm

The Super Bowl Shuffle at 40: how a goofy rap classic boosted the Bears’ title run

A new documentary charts how a song that featured a 335lb rapper and bad dancing went viral in the pre-internet era

The Chicago Bears are 8-3 and soaring in this season’s NFL standings. For a fanbase that’s grown accustomed to looking up at the division rival Green Bay Packers and looking ahead to the next season’s prospects, it’s reason to smell the roses and indulge in some light strutting. But even as fans find themselves looking forward to the Bears’ first playoff berth in five years, something that once seemed unthinkable with a second-year quarterback and a rookie head coaching helming a squad that managed only five wins last year, no fan is thinking the 2025 Bears have a Super Bowl run in them – not without a rap song to lay the marker down.

Before the 1985 edition of the Bears romped to victory in Super Bowl XX, they tempted fate by recording The Super Bowl Shuffle. Although the song only peaked at 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, the accompanying video came to rival Michael Jackson’s Thriller for popularity as it popped up endlessly on TV during the Bears’ title run. “The Super Bowl Shuffle went viral in an age where there was no viral existence like we know it today,” the song’s recording engineer, Fred Breitberg, says. “It was a phenomenal entity as well as being a good record.”

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:00 am

Arsenal go top as Martinelli puts finishing touch to win against Bayern Munich

This was billed as a clash of two of the best teams in Europe and for most of a cold evening in north London it felt like it. An absorbing game that ebbed and flowed throughout had Bayern Munich’s rising teenager Lennart Karl cancel out Jurrien Timber’s opening goal from a corner before substitutes Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a deserved win for the home side. It maintains their 100% record in the Champions League and sends them top of the table.

Harry Kane let it slip in the buildup that scoring against Arsenal gives him “a bit more joy” than any other club. But the England striker with 27 goals for his club to his name this season barely had a sniff as a Bayern Munich side that had also won their first four matches in the Champions League group stage and had been unbeaten in 21 previous games this season were taught a lesson. A place in the knockout stages now seems a mere formality.

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:00 pm

Dončić will pay teammate’s fine after heated confrontation in Lakers’ win over Clippers

• Slovenian reignites rivalry with Clippers’ Kris Dunn

• Dončić narrowly misses 40-point triple double

Luka Dončić was unhappy with the special NBA Cup court at the Los Angeles Lakers’ downtown arena, calling it “slippery” and “dangerous.”

The Slovenian superstar was much happier about the Lakers’ togetherness and toughness after Jaxson Hayes stuck up for him in his latest confrontation with Kris Dunn – and he plans to pay Hayes’s fine for the resulting technical foul.

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:05 pm

Connors State College basketball player Ethan Dietz dies after suffering head injury in game

• Forward died on Tuesday after injury in weekend game

• School cancels several games after player’s death

Ethan Dietz, a sophomore basketball player at Connors State College in Oklahoma, died on Tuesday from an injury suffered during a game, school officials said.

Dietz, a 6ft 8in forward from Vilonia, Arkansas, was injured during the second half of the game on Saturday in Texas, the school said in a statement posted to its Facebook page. A spokesperson for the junior college said that initial reports indicate Dietz suffered a head injury.

Published: November 26, 2025, 6:50 pm

Roman amphitheatre older than Colosseum gets accessible facelift for Winter Paralympics

• Verona venue to host Milano-Cortina opening ceremony

• Critics see changes to 2,000-year-old arena as blasphemy

A 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre is to be made fully accessible to people with disabilities before the Winter Paralympic Games in Milano‑Cortina, as organisers prioritise legacy with 100 days to go.

The conversion of the Arena di Verona, which will host the Paralympics opening ceremony, includes the addition of a lift and toilets to a structure older than the Colosseum. Described by the Milano-Cortina 2026 chief executive, Andrea Varnier, as “the symbol of our Paralympic Games”, he admits the conversion has also been considered as an act of “blasphemy” by some traditionalists.

Published: November 26, 2025, 6:00 am

Pitch Points: is Slot at risk, what’s up with Trinity Rodman and is Birmingham’s stadium a fantasy?

The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. Today, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them

This time last season, Liverpool had just registered their 10th win in 12 games to go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. It was around this time the narrative around Slot’s team shifted from questioning if they could win the title in their first season post-Jürgen Klopp to predicting just how far ahead of the chasing pack they would finish. A year on, the narrative has shifted tremendously.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:00 am

Adrian Newey to step up and lead Aston Martin as team principal next F1 season

• Newey: ‘I have seen great talent within our team’

• Current chief Andy Cowell to become strategy officer

Adrian Newey, regarded as one of the best engineers in Formula One history, will become Aston Martin team principal next season.

Newey committed his long-term future to Aston Martin in September 2024 after his departure from Red Bull sparked a bidding war for the Briton’s services.

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:27 pm

‘Zero regrets’: Tom Heaton on life at Manchester United after 1,029 days without a game

The former England keeper discusses his sometimes borderline deluded outlook and being proud to defend the values of the club he loves

Tom Heaton wears a scowl. Sodden and frozen, he trudges off a pitch at Manchester United’s Carrington training base, gesticulating and muttering a goalkeeper-eyed analysis of the game his team have just lost. “We got pumped,” he says loudly, his annoyance clear.

Sometimes the obvious question must be asked: even on days such as this, does Heaton still enjoy it? “I love it,” is his response, his near‑permanent grin reappearing.

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:00 am

Rachel Reeves targets UK’s wealthiest in £26bn tax-raising budget

Chancellor axes two-child benefit cap and cuts energy bills paid for by mansion tax and freezing tax thresholds

• Analysis: ‘Tax-raising budget crash-lands on struggling economy’

• Budget 2025: key points at a glance

• Budget 2025: what it means for you

Rachel Reeves targeted Britain’s wealthiest households with a £26bn tax-raising budget to fund scrapping the two-child benefit policy and cutting energy bills.

On a chaotic day that involved key details of her budget accidentally being released early by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the chancellor defended the measures, saying she was “asking everyone to make a contribution to repair the public finances”, but that she wanted the wealthiest to pay the most.

Published: November 26, 2025, 8:37 pm

Pope Leo arrives in Turkey on first overseas trip as pontiff

Vatican says ‘demanding’ six-day mission, which will also take him to Lebanon, will be packed with meetings with political and religious leaders

Pope Leo is making his debut overseas trip as leader of the Catholic church, travelling on a six-day mission of peace and unity to Turkey and Lebanon in what the Vatican said was expected to be a “demanding” schedule packed with meetings with political and religious leaders amid heightened Middle East tensions.

The Chicago-born pontiff, who was elected in May, arrived on Tuesday in Turkey, a country with a Muslim majority and home to an estimated 36,000 Catholics.

Published: November 27, 2025, 5:00 am

Large bull shark kills woman and injures man in attack at NSW beach

Swimmers aged in their 20s bitten by shark at Kylies beach in Crowdy Bay early on Thursday morning, with woman dying at the scene

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A woman has died after a “large bull shark” attacked her and a man on the New South Wales mid-north coast at Kylies beach.

The pair, both aged in their 20s, were swimming together at the beach at Crowdy Bay on Thursday morning when they were bitten, police said.

Published: November 27, 2025, 4:08 am

Trump officials halt protected status for Haitians in US

Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem says allowing Haitians to remain is ‘contrary to US national interest’

The Trump administration has once again moved to halt humanitarian protections for Haitians living in the US, this time announcing that their temporary protected status (TPS) will expire on 3 February.

According to a new Department of Homeland Security notice issued on Wednesday, TPS for approximately 340,000 Haitian migrants will be terminated next year.

Published: November 26, 2025, 7:21 pm

St Vincent prime minister seeks record sixth term in tight election

Ralph Gonsalves campaigns on strong economy in bid to retain office he has held since 2001

Voters in St Vincent and the Grenadines will go to the polls on Thursday with Ralph Gonsalves seeking a record sixth consecutive term as prime minister.

The elections are expected to be a tight contest between the ruling Unity Labour party, which has been in power since 2001, and the opposition New Democratic party. In the last election, ULP won nine of 15 seats, but the NDP won the popular vote.

Published: November 27, 2025, 5:00 am

‘I didn’t even know this type of attack existed’: more than 200 women allege drugging by senior French civil servant

In a case echoing the Pelicot trial, dozens of women allege they were given hot drinks mixed with a diuretic to make them urinate. Three of them speak out here

When Sylvie Delezenne, a marketing expert from Lille, was job-hunting in 2015, she was delighted to be contacted on LinkedIn by a human resources manager at the French culture ministry, inviting her to Paris for an interview.

“It was my dream to work at the culture ministry,” she said.

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:49 pm

California prosecutors’ office used AI to file inaccurate motion in criminal case

Filing contained errors known as ‘hallucinations’, with attorneys arguing prosecutors’ office used AI in other cases

A California prosecutors’ office used artificial intelligence to file a motion in at least one criminal case, which contained errors known as “hallucinations”.

A prosecutor at the Nevada county district attorney’s office in northern California “recently used artificial intelligence in preparing a filing, which resulted in an inaccurate citation,” district attorney Jesse Wilson said in a statement to the Sacramento Bee. “Once the error was discovered, the filing was immediately withdrawn.”

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:00 pm

Protests, tears and a baby: five key images that tell the story of Cop30

Emotions ran high at the UN climate summit in Brazil, which was hit by its first major protest in four years

It was a tense moment. A group of about 50 people from the Munduruku, an Indigenous people in the Amazon basin, had blocked the entrance to the Cop30 venue in protest, causing long lines of delegates to snake down access roads, simmering in the morning heat.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:26 pm

John Kerry urges Australia to take ‘hard-nosed’ approach with world’s biggest fossil fuel-producing countries at Cop31

Exclusive: Former US secretary of state calls for more demanding steps from Australia as it takes over presidency of next year’s UN climate summit

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Australia’s government, which will preside over the next UN climate summit, should gather the world’s 25 biggest greenhouse gas emitting countries and push them to draw up a roadmap to end the era of fossil fuels, former US secretary of state John Kerry has said.

Only by “hard-nosed” confrontation with fossil fuel producers, and reducing their consumption in major economies, would the world be able to tackle the climate crisis, he said.

Published: November 26, 2025, 4:00 pm

Mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew detained by US immigration agents

Bruna Ferreira, who has a child with the White House press secretary’s brother, is now in custody at an ICE facility

• US politics live – latest updates

Karoline Leavitt’s nephew’s mother has been detained by US immigration agents in Revere, Massachusetts, as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Bruna Ferreira, a Boston-area resident who migrated with her family to the US from Brazil as a child, is now in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana, according to the Boston radio station WBUR, which first reported the arrest.

Published: November 26, 2025, 2:18 pm

Rightwing influencers spin anti-Muslim rage in Michigan for social media reach

In Dearborn, provocateurs have held anti-Islam rallies, attempted to burn the Qur’an and rile residents for clickbait

White nationalist and rightwing agitators recently descended on Dearborn, Michigan, to hold an anti-Islam rally at which they attempted to burn a Qur’an and manufacture controversy over the city’s large Arab American population. But the protest has been dismissed by local leaders as a cheap publicity stunt aimed at generating money and clicks for far-right influencers.

But there is little doubt the Michigan city has become a repeated target for the publicity-hungry far-right because it holds the US’s highest percentage of Arab American residents. Similar provocateurs have marched with a pig’s head on a pole at an Arab American fair. Meanwhile, Christian evangelists regularly attempt to convert Muslim children at parks or outside schools.

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:00 pm

Texas man, 95, sets record as oldest bus driver: ‘I don’t have no desire to quit’

Raymond Hager says he enjoys driving too much and struggles to sit at home to think about retiring

A 95-year-old bus driver from Texas who has gained recognition as his profession’s oldest member worldwide says he enjoys driving his passengers around too much – and struggles mightily to just sit at home – to think about retiring quite yet.

“I’ve always liked to drive – I still do,” Raymond Hager said at a recent ceremony where officials in his home town of Wichita Falls honored him for his record-setting career in bus transportation. “And hopefully I stay safe and drive as long” as his boss and physician each allow him.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:00 am

European progressives must tackle housing crisis to beat far right, say researchers

Centre left can win broad support by addressing soaring house prices and rents, according to data analysis

Centre-left parties can build a broad new coalition of support if they tackle Europe’s deepening housing crisis, researchers have said. Conversely, ignoring it risks pushing increasingly fed-up voters into the arms of the far right.

Research by the Progressive Politics Research Network (PPRNet) suggests dramatic rises in the cost of housing over recent years have eroded support for centre-left parties – once the champions of affordable housing – and fuelled anti-establishment disaffection.

Published: November 27, 2025, 5:00 am

ChatGPT firm blames boy’s suicide on ‘misuse’ of its technology

OpenAI responds to lawsuit claiming its chatbot encouraged California teenager to kill himself

The maker of ChatGPT has said the suicide of a 16-year-old was down to his “misuse” of its system and was “not caused” by the chatbot.

The comments came in OpenAI’s response to a lawsuit filed against the San Francisco company and its chief executive, Sam Altman, by the family of California teenager Adam Raine.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:31 pm

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raid Palestinian town in West Bank

Israeli military and security service say ‘broad counter-terrorism operation’ in Tubas to continue for several days

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers supported by armoured vehicles have conducted raids in the Palestinian town of Tubas near Nablus in the biggest such military deployment by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza last month.

Palestinian media reported that a curfew was imposed on Tuesday night on Tubas and some neighbouring communities, roads were closed by earthen barriers and families forced from their homes to allow Israeli forces to use the buildings.

Published: November 26, 2025, 11:45 am

Trump threatens Venezuela’s Maduro with ‘the easy way … or the hard way’

Venezuela president vows to defend ‘every inch’ of the country amid military buildup in Caribbean

• A visual guide to the US military presence in the Caribbean

Donald Trump has warned Nicolás Maduro he can “do things the easy way … or the hard way” as Venezuela’s authoritarian leader responded to the growing US pressure campaign by urging followers to prepare to defend “every inch” of the South American country.

Clad in woodland camouflage fatigues, Maduro told a rally in the capital, Caracas, it was their historic duty to fight foreign aggressors, just as the Venezuelan liberation hero Simón Bolívar did two centuries ago.

Published: November 26, 2025, 2:44 pm

After bringing back Rush Hour, which franchise might Trump resurrect next?

The president’s bizarre insistence that the dead Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker series should return resulted in a shock announcement this week. Maybe there’s more to come …

So far, Donald Trump’s control of the media has involved a lot more stick than carrot. Thanks to a combination of outbursts and indiscriminate legal threats, the powerful figures at the centre of a rapidly consolidating industry find themselves with little option but to bend to the president’s every demand. Unfortunately, what he’s demanding is Rush Hour 4.

Just a few days ago, this seemed like a weird overreach, like when Trump used a keynote speech at a McDonald’s to demand more tartare sauce on Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. But in this case it really happened. Trump told majority Paramount Skydance shareholder Larry Ellison that he wished someone would make Rush Hour 4, and now Rush Hour 4 is being made.

Published: November 26, 2025, 2:56 pm

‘Stay tuned’: new Anne Rice film could foretell release of unpublished work by late author

Documentary series of Interview with the Vampire writer available to stream with potential for further releases

The worst heartbreak and most riveting triumph of Anne Rice’s life happened in relatively quick succession, each beginning when the US novelist’s daughter – Michele, then about three – told her she was too tired to play.

Rice had never heard such a comment from a child that age, and subsequent blood tests ordered by a doctor revealed that her beloved “Mouse” had acute granulocytic leukemia, considered untreatable for her.

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:00 am

The Beatles Anthology: the flammed together ‘new episode’ feels totally pointless

The TV equivalent of raiding a bare cupboard, the supposed extra hour here is cobbled together from previous DVD extras – but you can’t miss the tension between Harrison and McCartney

There’s no doubt that the arrival of The Beatles Anthology in 1995 was a big deal. The TV series was broadcast at prime time on both sides of the Atlantic, and ABC in the US even changed its name to ABeatlesC in its honour. The three accompanying albums (the first time the Beatles had allowed outtakes from their recording sessions to be officially released) sold in their millions. Its success helped kickstart the latterday Beatles industry, a steady stream of officially sanctioned documentaries, reissues, remixes, compilations and expanded editions, predicated on two ideas: that the Beatles’ archive contains fathomless bounty; and that the band’s story is so rich there’s no limit to the number of times it can fruitfully be retold in fresh light.

For a while, those ideas seemed to hold true, but recently, it’s been hard not to think the Beatles’ Apple Corps might be trying to feed an insatiable appetite for content from an increasingly bare cupboard. You can marvel at the highlights of Peter Jackson’s TV series Get Back and still wonder whether the director wasn’t stretching his material a little thin; whether nearly eight hours of it – plus a separate Imax film of the Beatles’ final live performance on the roof of Apple’s London HQ, and a reissue of the original 1970 Let It Be documentary – might have been rather too much of a good thing.

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:54 pm

Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Thankful that we only have five weeks left in this year’

Late-night hosts talked Trump’s rambling turkey pardoning speech and Paramount reviving Rush Hour 4 at his request

Late-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s especially weird address at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon.

Published: November 26, 2025, 4:03 pm

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review – Josh O’Connor excels in another deadpan delight

Daniel Craig is joined by a sparkling array of talent including O’Connor, Glenn Close and Josh Brolin in this latest murder mystery with a religious undercurrent

Rian Johnson’s delectable new Knives Out film is a chocolate box: mouthwateringly delicious on the first layer and … well, perfectly tasty on the second. Daniel Craig returns as private detective Benoit Blanc, in a slightly more serious mode than before, with not as many droll suth’n phrases and quirky faux-naif mannerisms, but rocking a longer hairstyle and handsomely tailored three-piece suit.

Blanc arrives at a Catholic church in upstate New York to investigate the sensational murder of its presiding priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a ferocious clerical alpha male played by Josh Brolin, thundering his reactionary views from the pulpit. (That “Monsignor” title can only be bestowed by the pope incidentally: presumably Benedict XVI or John Paul II, not milksop liberals like Francis or Leo XIV.) And prime suspect is the sweet-natured, thoughtful junior priest Father Jud Duplenticy, amusingly played by Josh O’Connor, who was upset by the Monsignor’s heartless attitudes and was caught on video threatening to cut him out of the church like a cancer. Atheist Blanc faces off with the young priest, a worldview culture-clash which leads to an extraordinary encounter with the Resurrection itself.

Published: November 26, 2025, 7:00 am

The Beatles Anthology review – the incredible audio shows exactly why the world fell in love with this band

This update of the 1995 documentary series is utterly authoritative. And its tweak of the Fab Four’s songs is a thing of wonder – their music absolutely thumps!

It would be wrong to go into The Beatles Anthology expecting another Get Back. Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary did such a miraculous job of recontextualising the glum old footage from Let It Be, by setting it against an ingenious ticking clock device and expanding it out to become a maximalist feelgood avalanche, that it felt like you were watching something entirely new.

But The Beatles Anthology is not new. If you saw the original series on television in 1995, or on YouTube at any point since, you’ll know what you’re in for. It is almost the exact same thing, only the images are sharper and the sound is better.

The Beatles Anthology is on Disney+ now.

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:00 am

Service by John Tottenham review – comic confessions of a grumpy bookseller

Working in a bookshop while failing to write a novel, the narrator admits to being a ‘living cliche’ in this bitter black comedy

“I had become a living cliche: the cantankerous bookseller,” the narrator declares a third of the way through John Tottenham’s debut novel. “No book or movie that included a scene set in a bookstore was complete without such a stock ‘character’.” That’s one way to pre-empt criticism, and Sean Hangland is just such a stock figure. Embittered, rude, apathetic, resentful of the success and happiness of others and intellectually snobbish, he’s a 48-year-old aspiring writer who makes ends meet, just about, working in an independent bookshop in a gentrifying part of LA.

He worries about turning 50 having made nothing of his life. He notes, lugubriously, that he barely seems to get any writing done and that – having no gift for plot, characterisation or prose – the novel he claims to be trying to produce will be lousy anyway. He keeps bumping into old friends whose books are being published by hip independent presses or who have acquired nice girlfriends, or both. His teeth are in bad shape.

Published: November 26, 2025, 9:00 am

T​he era-defining Xbox 360 ​reimagined ​gaming​ and Microsoft never matched it

Two decades on, its influence still lingers, marking a moment when gaming felt thrillingly new again

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Almost 20 years ago (on 1 December 2005, to be precise), I was at my very first video game console launch party somewhere around London’s Leicester Square. The Xbox 360 arrived on 22 November 2005 in the US and 2 December in the UK, about three months after I got my first job as a junior staff writer on GamesTM magazine. My memories of the night are hazy because a) it was a worryingly long time ago and b) there was a free bar, but I do remember that DJ Yoda played to a tragically deserted dancefloor, and everything was very green. My memories of the console itself, however, and the games I played on it, are still as clear as an Xbox Crystal. It is up there with the greatest consoles ever.

In 2001, the first Xbox had muscled in on a scene dominated by Japanese consoles, upsetting the established order (it outsold Nintendo’s GameCube by a couple of million) and dragging console gaming into the online era with Xbox Live, an online multiplayer service that was leagues ahead of what the PlayStation 2 was doing. Nonetheless, the PS2 ended up selling over 150m to the original Xbox’s 25m. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, would sell over 80m, neck and neck with the PlayStation 3 for most of its eight-year life cycle (and well ahead in the US). It turned Xbox from an upstart into a market leader.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:00 pm

Kirby Air Riders review – cute pink squishball challenges Mario for Nintendo racing supremacy

Nintendo Switch 2; Bandai Namco/Sora/HAL Laboratory/Nintendo
It takes some getting used to, but this Mario Kart challenger soon reveals a satisfyingly zen, minimalist approach to competitive racing

In the world of cartoonish racing games, it’s clear who is top dog. As Nintendo’s moustachioed plumber lords it up from his gilded go-kart, everyone from Crash Bandicoot to Sonic and Garfield has tried – and failed – to skid their way on to the podium. Now with no one left to challenge its karting dominance, Nintendo is attempting to beat itself at its own game.

The unexpected sequel to a critically panned 2003 GameCube game, Kirby Air Riders has the pink squishball and friends hanging on for dear life to floating race machines. With no Grand Prix to compete in, in the game’s titular mode you choose a track and compete to be the first of six players to cross the finish line, spin-attacking each other and unleashing weapons and special abilities to create cutesy, colourful chaos.

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:00 am

Apple TV series The Hunt postponed due to plagiarism allegations

French thriller starring Benoît Magimel has been accused of stealing its story from a 1976 action film

A new Apple TV thriller has been pulled from the schedules because of accusations of plagiarism. French drama The Hunt was due to be released on 3 December, but it has been hit by allegations of similarity to a 1976 film adaptation of a novel, Shoot.

The Hunt stars Cannes and three-time César award winner Benoît Magimel and two-time César winner Mélanie Laurent, who has featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. But press releases about The Hunt, as well as its official trailers, have now been removed from Apple’s site.

Rex is an uber-macho hunter who, together with four equally testosterone-addled buddies, embarks on a hunting trip in the Canadian wilderness. But their weekend is cut short by a rival band of hunters they encounter in the forest, one of whom inexplicably takes a potshot at Rex’s party and grazes the head of one of his buddies. Another of Rex’s friends returns fire, killing the shooter. From there Rex and company scurry off and head back to civilisation. Rex, however, becomes convinced that the dead man’s companions are going to come after him and his friends.

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:21 pm

Secrets of the cow-skulled scarecrow: did one man’s cruel tales inspire Paula Rego’s best paintings?

When the great artist saw a shocking play by Martin McDonagh about the torture of children, she asked him for more dark stories. As the vivid, extraordinary works they triggered go on show, the playwright looks back

In the summer of 2004, Paula Rego wrote to Martin McDonagh asking for permission to name some pictures after his play The Pillowman. His shocking investigation into the relationship between art and life featured two brothers under interrogation for the torture and murder of children. One is a writer whose stories are summarised by an investigator as: “A hundred and one ways to skewer a fucking five-year-old.”

Rego, then a 69-year-old grandmother as well as a world famous artist, had been taken to see the play at the National Theatre in London by one of her daughters, who knew it would resonate with her. “The brutality and beauty and humour rang very true and like something I had known all my life,” she wrote to McDonagh. “I am actually Portuguese, although I have lived in London for 50 years, and our stories are brusque and cruel like yours.”

Published: November 26, 2025, 4:30 pm

‘When property owners have vision’: the artists bringing a derelict hotel back from the dead

A former sailors’ haunt has been reimagined by more than 40 creatives for the closing weekend of the Fremantle biennale

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Making my way up a creaky, carpeted staircase, I step into what feels like a different world – a building I’ve passed hundreds of times yet never set foot in. I am standing on the first level of Fremantle’s former P&O hotel, and am immediately taken aback by its weathered, almost cinematic beauty: tall stained-glass windows, dark timber mouldings and an iron-framed balcony peering over High Street like some forgotten lookout.

First built about 1870 and renovated during the gold-rush era, for almost a century this building was a magnet for wharfies and crewmen, with its 31 rooms and a raucous sailors’ bar known as the Cockpit. But despite being in the centre of Fremantle’s busiest street, this historical relic has largely remained empty and off-limits for decades.

Left: Sculptural artist Abdul Rahman Abdullah’s work, In the name, draws on his childhood when the scarcity of halal meat brought animal slaughter and butchery into his family’s suburban back yard. Right: A chandelier forms part of his work Wednesday’s Child

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Published: November 26, 2025, 2:00 pm

Thrill ride: the best of Africa Foto Fair 2025 – in pictures

In 2010, the photographer Aida Muluneh created the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia’s capital to showcase talents from Africa and beyond. Since the pandemic, the event has boomed online to include work without borders

Published: November 26, 2025, 7:00 am

The 30 gifts for kids in the US under five, as picked by parents and family members

From foam blocks to a karaoke machine to a mess-free coloring set, here’s a list of fantastic gift ideas for little ones

• 28 of the best gifts for US kids five to eight, picked by kids themselves

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Who doesn’t love seeing the excitement on a young child’s face when they tear open wrapping paper to reveal a colorful new toy? It makes the time you spend searching for the perfect gift worthwhile.

Parents naturally love to shop for their kids and babies, but gifting is where grandparents, aunts and uncles shine as well. We polled adults with kids and close family members aged five and younger to find out what they have already bought or plan to buy the little ones this year and why. The result? Fantastic gift ideas for little ones, from toddlers to pre-schoolers.

Published: November 26, 2025, 9:30 pm

Why jigsaw puzzles may be the missing piece to your holiday relaxation

In a time of digital distraction and shredding attention spans, jigsaw puzzles offer the ultimate digital detox for defragmenting your mind

• The six best US jigsaw puzzles for adults and kids

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Whether it’s TikTok or Instagram Shorts or the upcoming Vine reboot, modern social media seems ever-more intent on shredding whatever is left of your attention span. Making the most of your free time and protecting your mental health is absolutely vital, and the key might be the age-old hobby of jigsaw puzzles.

My wife, Amanda, and I have both turned to jigsaw puzzles as a sort of digital detox and meditation-in-motion at the end of long, stressful days. It’s also a perfect activity for the holidays. Imagine cosying up at your table with a mug of something warm, free from work or school obligations, as the colder days turn to dusk outside.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:30 pm

Feeling lonely? Six ways to connect with friends – even when busy

If you aren’t getting the quality time or intimacy you need, try these connection experiments to shake up interactions

Lately, life has felt like Groundhog Day: work, gym, sleep, repeat. Between a punishing work schedule, the grim weather and my desire to hibernate, my social life has suffered. I feel dissatisfied, restless and isolated. But I have plenty of friends and active group chats – I can’t be lonely, surely?

Wrong!

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:00 pm

How to be a good party host (or guest) | Zoe Williams

From picking your guests (always add a random) and your outfit, to coping with drunks and nudity, this is what you need to know

When I was young, I thought the worst thing you could do, as a host, was to run out of booze. Then, when I was less young, I thought it was to not have enough food, and now I am perfectly wise, I know that those things don’t matter at all, because you can always go to the shop. The important thing is not to look harried, and to not look that way, you need to not be that way.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:00 pm

A moment that changed me: I adopted a koala, he bit me – and I remembered something important about myself

As I watched the news about Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2020 I felt compelled to help. It was the start of a new relationship with nature, and a reminder of my childhood joie de vivre

As hookup sites go, it was in another league. I was looking for a different kind of soulmate and I was spoilt for choice. Would it be Floyd, “a stylish poser and a winner of hearts”? Or Bobby, “who loves cuddling and is a bit of a showoff”? Or could it be the “beautiful and incredibly sweet Morris with a gentle nature”? One stood out. Not only was he “very affectionate” but he was also “a bit of a troublemaker – always exploring and often found sitting on the rocks”. Just what I was looking for; I swiped right. That’s how I met Jarrah. My koala.

A month before, in 2020, I’d seen a newsflash about the bushfires in Australia. The effect on the continent’s wildlife was devastating. An estimated 61,000 koalas had been killed or injured among 143 million other native mammals. There were two things I felt I could do from the UK: one was to make koala mittens to protect their burnt paws (following a pattern I found online); and two, I could adopt a koala and send monthly donations to protect them in the wild. So I joined the Australian Koala Foundation, which is dedicated to the marsupials’ survival.

Published: November 26, 2025, 6:55 am

The death of the living room: ‘It’s hard to invite people over – not everyone wants to sit on a bed’

The number of rental properties without a lounge is surging, and people are having to eat and socialise in kitchens, bedrooms and stairwells. How can you relax and build community without a communal area?

‘Without a living room, your world becomes quite small,” says Georgie, a 27-year-old climbing and outdoor instructor. When she moved into a house-share with four strangers in 2023, she wasn’t worried about the lack of a living room. “I kind of thought it would be fine – I didn’t have that many options, and the house was by far the cheapest.”

The property she rented was in Leeds, and what had once been a lounge had gradually been turned into an inaccessible storage space. To make things worse, the kitchen was tiny: “By the time you put a table against the wall, you couldn’t sit or stand without getting in the way of the sink or the oven.”

Published: November 26, 2025, 10:00 am

Coupling up: how to avoid money worries in your relationship

From joint bank accounts and pooled savings to mortgages and tax allowances, talk about money for a happy financial future together

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer for whether you should manage your finances jointly, separately or somewhere in the middle.

Published: November 26, 2025, 7:00 am

Quiet divorce: why people are checking out of their marriage emotionally – without telling their partner

Are you ready to ‘go zombie’ in your relationship, lowering your expectations of it, forging your own separate life, but staying wed? You’re just one of many who are ‘subconsciously uncoupling’

Name: Quiet divorce.

Age: Ancient, probably.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:03 pm

Danish delight: Tim Anderson’s cherry marzipan kringle recipe for Thanksgiving

These iced Danish pastries stuffed with nuts and jam are a speciality of Tim’s hometown of Racine, Wisconsin

Kringles are a kind of pastry that’s synonymous with my home town of Racine, Wisconsin. Originally introduced by Danish immigrants in the late 19th century, they’re essentially a big ring of flaky Viennese pastry filled with fruit or nuts, then iced and served in little slices. Even bad kringles are pretty delicious, and when out-of-towners try them for the first time, their reaction is usually: ”Where has this been all my life?”

We eat kringles year-round, but I mainly associate them with fall, perhaps because of their common autumnal fillings such as apple or cranberry, or perhaps because of the sense of hygge they provide. I also associate kringles with Thanksgiving – and with uncles. And I don’t think it’s just me; Racine’s biggest kringle baker, O&H Danish Bakery, operates a cafe/shop called “Danish Uncle”. But I also think of Thanksgiving as the most uncle-y American holiday, geared towards watching football and snoozing on the couch.

Tim Anderson is the author of the 24 Hour Pancake People newsletter and Hokkaido: Recipes from the Seas, Fields and Farmlands of Northern Japan, published by Hardie Grant at £28. To order a copy for £25.20, go to guardianbookshop.com. Rachel Roddy is away.

Published: November 26, 2025, 3:00 pm

‘Drone operators are hunted. You feel it from your first day’: the female pilots on Ukraine’s frontline

As casualties mount, recruitment is expanding. Three women talk about why they signed up for a brutal combat environment

Women have been involved in Ukraine’s drone operations since the early months of the full-scale invasion, but as shortages in the military increase their presence has grown, particularly in FPV (first-person-view) attack units.

Casualty figures are not disclosed but widely understood to be high, and Ukraine is becoming reliant on civilians to fill roles that once belonged to trained military personnel. A short but intensive 15-day course is given to a trainee operator for frontline deployment, a turnaround that reflects the urgent need.

Indoor and outdoor training courses set up for trainee pilots at a drone school

Published: November 26, 2025, 5:00 am

Tell us about the worst behaviour you’ve witnessed on a flight

As Sean Duffy has urged passengers to mind their manners, we would like to hear about the worst breaches of airline etiquette that you’ve seen

The US transportation secretary Sean Duffy has started a “civility campaign” for air travel, urging passengers to dress smartly instead of wearing PJs and slippers, keeping children’s behaviour in check and remembering their manners.

With this in mind, we would like to hear about the untoward airline behaviour you’ve witnessed. What is the worst breach of aeroplane etiquette you’ve seen?

Published: November 27, 2025, 10:41 am

Trump pardons Gobble and stranded beluga whales: photos of the day – Wednesday

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

Published: November 26, 2025, 1:00 pm