Marty Supreme review – Timothée Chalamet a smash in spectacular screwball ping-pong nightmare

Following every dizzying spin of Chalamet’s table tennis hustler, Josh Safdie’s whip-crack comedy serves sensational shots – and a smart return by Gwyneth Paltrow

This new film from Josh Safdie has the fanatical energy of a 149-minute ping pong rally carried out by a single player running round and round the table. It’s a marathon sprint of gonzo calamities and uproar, a sociopath-screwball nightmare like something by Mel Brooks – only in place of gags, there are detonations of bad taste, cinephile allusions, alpha cameos, frantic deal-making, racism and antisemitism, sentimental yearning and erotic adventures. It’s a farcical race against time where no one needs to eat or sleep.

Timothée Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a spindly motormouth with the glasses of an intellectual, the moustache of a movie star and the physique of a tiny cartoon character. He’s loosely inspired by Marty “The Needle” Reisman, a real-life US table tennis champ from the 1950s who was given to Bobby Riggs-type shenanigans: betting, hustling and showmanship stunts. The movie probably earns the price of admission simply with one gasp-inducing setpiece involving whippet-thin Chalamet, a dog, a bathtub, cult director Abel Ferrara in a walk-on role and a scuzzy New York hotel room. Talk about not being on firm ground. Similarly disorientating is the climactic revelation of Chalamet’s naked buttocks prior to one of the most upsetting displays of corporal punishment since Lindsay Anderson’s If….

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:00 pm

I’m part of the triple-decker sandwich generation. You probably are as well

You’ve heard of caregivers in the sandwich generation. In this anti-compassion Trump 2.0 era, it’s more like a triple-decker sandwich. Alissa Quart has experienced this first-hand

It was a crisp autumn day, but I had been trapped inside for hours, breathing the cold air of one of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s cancer centers with my mom. We were waiting for her latest infusion to finish dripping.

Time in hospitals moves differently – minutes stretch and lose their meaning. Meanwhile, my daughter kept calling. Would I be able to go to her school volleyball game? After a few calls, I had to break it to her: the answer was no.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:28 pm

The 110 very best Cyber Monday deals in the US, curated and vetted

Our experts found the best deals and sales that are actually worth your money. Here are our picks for pillows, bath towels, suitcases and more

• Snag these streaming, tech, travel, home and kitchen Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals

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

The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.

We all have holiday traditions we look forward to each year: cooking your grandmother’s classic stuffing recipe. Opening your favorite Advent calendar. Or, if you’re a retailer, pushing deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

JUST ADDED: The best Cyber Monday streaming deal:
Disney+ and Hulu bundle for 12 months

Published: December 1, 2025, 9:39 pm

The US love of football is reaching new levels. Just look at Arsenal super-fan Zohran Mamdani | Bryan Armen Graham

The New York mayor-elect’s devotion to a north London club shows how the global game is winning hearts across the US

• Bryan Armen Graham is the deputy sport editor of Guardian US

When Zohran Mamdani made an appearance on The Adam Friedland Show last week, the newly elected mayor of New York was expecting the typical nimble rundown of politics, jokes and conversational detours. What he wasn’t expecting was Ian Wright suddenly filling a phone screen with a congratulatory video. The former England and Arsenal striker saluted him on “what you’ve achieved”, urged him to channel that “winning energy” into the job ahead before signing off with a nod to the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta. Mamdani cheesed guilelessly as it played before finally blurting out: “I love this man.”

For a moment, the incoming mayor of the most powerful city in the United States was simply another geeked-out Arsenal obsessive left weak by one of his childhood heroes. And in that moment lies something revealing about how football fandom in the US has changed. This was not a politician deploying a sports reference for relatability; it was a display of genuine allegiance that’s planted at the intersection of two different stories about how Americans have come to love the global game.

Bryan Armen Graham is the deputy sport editor of Guardian US

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:00 am

‘It would take 11 seconds to hit the ground’: the roughneck daredevils who built the Empire State Building

They wrestled steel beams, hung off giant hooks and tossed red hot rivets – all while ‘strolling on the thin edge of nothingness’. Now the 3,000 unsung heroes who raised the famous skyscraper are finally being celebrated

Poised on a steel cable a quarter of a mile above Manhattan, a weather-beaten man in work dungarees reaches up to tighten a bolt. Below, though you hardly dare to look down, lies the Hudson River, the sprawling cityscape of New York and the US itself, rolling out on to the far horizon. If you fell from this rarefied spot, it would take about 11 seconds to hit the ground.

Captured by photographer Lewis Hine, The Sky Boy, as the image became known, encapsulated the daring and vigour of the men who built the Empire State Building, then the world’s tallest structure at 102 storeys and 1,250ft (381m) high. Like astronauts, they were going to places no man had gone before, testing the limits of human endurance, giving physical form to ideals of American puissance, “a land which reached for the sky with its feet on the ground”, according to John Jakob Raskob, then one of the country’s richest men, who helped bankroll the building.

Published: December 1, 2025, 2:00 pm

‘It’s going much too fast’: the inside story of the race to create the ultimate AI

In Silicon Valley, rival companies are spending trillions of dollars to reach a goal that could change humanity – or potentially destroy it

On the 8.49am train through Silicon Valley, the tables are packed with young people glued to laptops, earbuds in, rattling out code.

As the northern California hills scroll past, instructions flash up on screens from bosses: fix this bug; add new script. There is no time to enjoy the view. These commuters are foot soldiers in the global race towards artificial general intelligence – when AI systems become as or more capable than highly qualified humans.

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:00 am

Trump reportedly gave Maduro ultimatum to relinquish power in Venezuela

US president sent a ‘blunt message’ to his South American counterpart, sources say

• Analysis: Trump’s pardon of Honduras’s ex-president shows counter-drug effort is ‘based on lies and hypocrisy’

• How US campaign against Venezuela has unfolded

• US politics – live updates

Donald Trump reportedly gave Nicolás Maduro an ultimatum to relinquish power immediately during their recent call – but Venezuela’s authoritarian leader declined, demanding a “global amnesty” for himself and allies.

On Sunday, the US president confirmed the call had taken place, telling reporters: “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call.”

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:00 pm

US north-east braces for ‘significant’ snowfall after storm hits midwest

Prediction for New England area comes after travelers experienced disruption over Thanksgiving holiday weekend

A winter storm is expected to slam much of the north-east United States with rain, ice and heavy snow on Monday night through Tuesday, forecasters have said, with millions of Americans under winter storm advisories.

The bulk of the storm is expected to arrive in the region later on Monday, with the system forecast to develop over the Gulf states then move up the eastern seaboard. Most of the heaviest snowfall is expected to end by Tuesday night, with conditions clearing by Wednesday.

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:53 pm

National guard shooting suspect spent ‘weeks on end’ in isolation, emails show

Mental health of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is charged with murder, had reportedly been unravelling for years

The suspect in the shooting of two West Virginia national guard soldiers in Washington DC on the eve of Thanksgiving had been struggling with his mental health, sometimes spending “weeks on end” in isolation, as he tried to assimilate in the years since arriving in the United States, it has emerged.

According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s mental health had been unravelling for years, leaving him unable to hold a job and flipping between long, dark stretches of isolation and taking sudden, weeks-long cross-country drives.

Published: December 1, 2025, 9:26 pm

Several protesters arrested after ICE raid thwarted in New York City

Demonstrators blocked the exit of ICE vehicles from a parking lot using garbage bags and metal barriers

A raid by federal immigration authorities on Saturday in New York City was thwarted by about 200 protesters, several of whom were arrested after scuffles with police officers.

The episode was the latest in which citizen activists have stood up to agents enforcing Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda through targeted raids in various cities across the country after his second presidency began in January.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:41 pm

US-Russia talks may pile pressure on Kyiv to make concessions, says EU foreign policy chief

Kaja Kallas says negotiators should not ‘lose focus that it’s actually Russia who has started this war’

• Europe live – latest updates

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said she fears talks between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will pile pressure on Ukraine to make concessions with the two men expected to meet on Tuesday.

Witkoff, the property developer turned envoy recently exposed for coaching Russian officials on how to win Trump’s favour, is arriving in Moscow after leading a US delegation in talks with Ukraine at the weekend, nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:21 pm

Israeli settlers attack and rob Italian and Canadian volunteers in West Bank

Group beaten in early hours of morning in village where they volunteered to help protect Palestinians from settler violence

Italy and Canada have raised concerns about the treatment of their citizens who were beaten and robbed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Three Italians and a Canadian were attacked early on Sunday morning in the village of Ein al-Duyuk, near Jericho, where they had volunteered to help protect the Palestinian population from intensifying settler violence.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:40 pm

Luigi Mangione under ‘constant watch’ in prison to prevent ‘Epstein-style situation’

Corrections officer testifies that Mangione had constant watch to prevent him from dying in custody like Epstein

Luigi Mangione was kept under tight supervision in a Pennsylvania state prison last year because officials “did not want an Epstein-style situation”, a corrections officer said during Manhattan state court testimony on Monday.

This striking allusion to Jeffrey Epstein, the well-connected financier who died in jail awaiting trial on sex-trafficking, came during day one of a potentially week-long proceeding to weigh the legality of evidence gathered during Mangione’s arrest at a McDonald’s restaurant after the killing of a prominent healthcare executive.

Published: December 1, 2025, 9:13 pm

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs decries Netflix series by 50 Cent as ‘shameful hit piece’

Disgraced and incarcerated music mogul claims footage in docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning was stolen

Sean “Diddy” Combs has taken issue with a splashy new Netflix docuseries on his life and many legal troubles, that is executive produced by his longtime rival 50 Cent.

The former Bad Boy Records executive and hip-hop star, currently serving a four-year sentence for prostitution-related charges, blasted Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a “shameful hit piece”, and accused Netflix of incorporating stolen footage.

Published: December 1, 2025, 9:42 pm

Scarlett Johansson says she was pressed to remove Holocaust narrative from directing debut

A backer of Eleanor the Great, about a woman who pretends to be a Holocaust survivor, dropped out after Johansson refused to make changes

Scarlett Johansson has said she was pressed to remove Holocaust references in her feature directing debut Eleanor the Great, which stars June Squibb as an elderly woman who pretends to be a Holocaust survivor.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Johansson said that during the film’s pre-production phase, one of the film’s backers threatened to pull out unless the plot elements relating to the Holocaust were cut out.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:59 pm

Trump news at a glance: tensions with Venezuela rise following president’s reported ultimatum to Maduro

Trump reportedly had a ‘blunt message’ for Venezuelan president: leave power and your country immediately – key US politics stories from 1 December at a glance

Donald Trump reportedly had a blunt message for Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro: leave power – and your country – immediately.

Sources told the Miami Herald the US president had a phone call with his South American counterpart, who is the focus of a four-month pressure campaign in which Trump has ordered a major naval deployment off Venezuela’s northern coast.

Published: December 2, 2025, 2:06 am

White House insists Trump’s recent physical shows ‘perfectly normal’ health

US president, who is 79, had October exam amid concerns over his cognitive abilities and mental fitness

• US politics live – latest updates

The White House on Monday released details of Donald Trump’s recent “comprehensive executive physical” after the president admitted on Sunday night he had “no idea” what part of his body had been the subject of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

Trump, the oldest US president, underwent the procedure during a surprise “semi-annual physical” on 10 October and faced questions about it from reporters on Air Force One as he traveled back to Washington after a Thanksgiving break in Florida.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:41 pm

FBI under Kash Patel has become ‘internally paralyzed by fear’, new report reveals

Leaked assessment based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources describes organization as a ‘rudderless ship’

• US politics live – latest updates

The FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts.

The leaked assessment, obtained by the New York Post and prepared for both congressional Senate and House judiciary committees, is based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:38 pm

Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba serving unlawfully as US attorney, says appeals court

Habba disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, appeals court says

Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba, whom his administration has maneuvered to keep in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, is disqualified from serving in the role, an appeals court said on Monday.

A panel of judges from the third US circuit court of appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower court judge’s ruling after hearing oral arguments at which Habba herself was present on 20 October.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:18 pm

Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia

Like the narco-state, a ‘scam state’ refers to countries where an illicit industry has dug its tentacles deep into institutions and transformed the economy

For days before the explosions began, the business park had been emptying out. When the bombs went off, they took down empty office blocks and demolished echoing, multi-cuisine food halls. Dynamite toppled a four-storey hospital, silent karaoke complexes, deserted gyms and dorm rooms.

So came the end of KK Park, one of south-east Asia’s most infamous “scam centres”, press releases from Myanmar’s junta declared. The facility had held tens of thousands of people, forced to relentlessly defraud people around the world. Now, it was being levelled piece by piece.

Published: December 2, 2025, 2:02 am

‘The current could kill an elephant’: Asia flood survivors describe escaping with their lives

From Thailand to Indonesia, torrential flooding has carried away people’s possessions and homes, upending entire communities

• How cyclones and monsoon rains converged to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide

Aminah Ali, 63, was at home in the Pidie Jaya district of Indonesia’s Aceh province when the rains started at midnight on Wednesday. The waters rose gradually. It seemed like the usual flooding that happens during monsoon season, but then came a loud roar of water: her village was suddenly inundated.

With help from her son, she managed to clamber on to her rooftop, where she waited for 24 hours. Flood waters, 3 metres high, stretched into the distance. “I saw many houses being swept away,” she said.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:55 pm

How progressives are taking over swing states – and driving fear into Democratic elites

Left-leaning challengers in the Rust belt are throwing chaos into a divided party struggling to rebuild after Trump’s win

In the run-up to last month’s mayoral election in Dayton, Ohio, candidate Shenise Turner-Sloss found herself up against it.

Her opponent, mayor Jeffrey Mims, was a 78-year-old local Democratic party doyen who had served on school boards and teachers’ unions in the city for decades. His campaign budget was three times hers and an incumbent hadn’t been unseated from the mayoral role in the city for over a decade.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:00 pm

The 28 gifts and treats Filter US writers are loving this holiday season

From durable Converse dupes to laundry detergent sheets, our product reviewers reveal what products earned spots in their daily lives

• 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

At the Filter US, our writers test plenty of things in the line of duty: bath towels, sleep masks, AirPods Pro, blenders, toaster ovens, instant coffee and more. So what are they putting in their own shopping carts?

This holiday season, the Filter team asked our product reviewers to share what they’re personally using and loving. Their answers ran the gamut: a portable projector that transforms any wall into a private theater, a more durable dupe of Converse’s Chuck Taylors, a trigger-point massage tool to loosen tight muscles and laundry detergent sheets that are kind to the planet and easy to use, to name a few. Read on for the 28 most loved items that earned a spot in our writers’ daily lives. Karen Yuan, Filter US commissioning editor

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:15 pm

‘Was it a woman who bit off his ear?’: the wild life and serene photography of Tom Sandberg

Norway’s most celebrated photographer made his name with calm, reflective images that sit at odds with his reckless life. Friends and family remember a paradoxical man

Norway has never looked as wet as in the photographs of the late Tom Sandberg. There are shots of drizzle and puddles, of asphalt slick with mizzle. A ripple of water appears to have a hole in it, a figure looms behind a rain-dappled window, a gutter glows after a downpour.

Shot in either bold chiaroscuro or gentle orchestrations of greys, these are pictures with the power to make the everyday seem dreamlike. But they are also uplifting, in a confusing kind of way, like being told to dress for sun even when the clouds are black.

Published: December 2, 2025, 12:07 am

‘Conversion therapy’ is homophobic and dangerous. Yet it threatens to make a comeback | David Kirp

Bans on the dangerous practice, condemned by national mental health organizations, could soon be struck down

Homosexuality is an illness that therapists can and should cure: that’s the rationale for “conversion therapy”, a practice promoted as a way to change an individual’s sexual orientation from gay to straight.

But a host of studies conclude that such counseling doesn’t work – small wonder, since sexual orientation is a core part of an individual’s identity. It’s also potentially harmful, especially for minors. Research shows that youth subjected to conversion practices, often at the insistence of misguided parents, are prone to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness and suicide.

David Kirp is professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley and a frequent Guardian contributor.

In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:00 am

‘Mansplaining’ was once a contender for word of the year. Here’s why we should stop using it

‘Rage bait’ is Oxford word of the year in 2025. But I think we should be able to decommission words that have brought more trouble than they’re worth, starting with the 2015 runner-up

The Oxford word of the year has been chosen, and it’s “rage bait”. It was a close-run contest with “aura farming” – that just means charisma, for which a number of perfectly fine words already exist – and “biohack”, a non-specific lifestyle improvement in which you’ve somehow got into the mainframe of time itself, and made some aspect of your body immune to its ravages. Since “aura farming” is extraneous and “biohacks” are almost all bollocks, the competition can’t have been that close, but the neologism isn’t necessarily welcome.

Rage bait, as you probably already know, is the publication, usually online, of material designed to make people angry. It’s not a made-up phenomenon; we’ve known for some time that online engagement is most strongly driven by out-group animosity, but nor is it a cute feature of modern life, like iced matcha lattes and Labubus. It creates intellectual silos, drives deep social divisions, and ultimately corrodes trust in institutions and reason itself, as people feel so alienated from any but their own tribe that they cease to believe anything except word of mouth. I’d argue that it’s a bit like making “ethnic cleansing” your word of 1992, during the Bosnian war. Yes, people were using it a lot, but that didn’t make it a fun answer for a quiz. Turns out it was named Un-Word of the year by the GfdS (society for spoken German), which deplored its euphemistic nature. And that is fair. Anyway, good luck in the dictionary business, Oxford, if you collude to make rage bait all the rage. Your alphabetical list of meanings isn’t going to get anyone’s dander up.

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: December 1, 2025, 5:33 pm

It's not just Gaza. From the West Bank to Syria and Lebanon, Israel's onslaught continues | Nesrine Malik

Broken ceasefires, bombing, ground incursions and mounting deaths: Israeli imperialism is now expanding across the region

It is clear now that the ceasefire in Gaza is only a “reducefire”. The onslaught continues. There are near-daily attacks on the territory. On a single day at the end of October, almost 100 Palestinians were killed. On 19 November, 32 were killed. On 23 November, 21. And on it goes. Since the ceasefire, more than 300 have been killed and almost 1,000 injured. Those numbers will rise. The real shift is that the ceasefire has reduced global attention and scrutiny. Meanwhile, Israel’s emerging blueprint becomes clearer: bloody domination not only in Gaza, but across Palestine and the wider region.

A “dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal”, is how Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described this post-ceasefire period. Israeli authorities have reduced attacks and allowed some aid into Gaza, she said, but “the world must not be fooled. Israel’s genocide is not over.” Not a single hospital in Gaza has returned to being fully operational. The onset of rain and cooling weather has left thousands exposed in dilapidated tents. Since the ceasefire on 10 October, almost 6,500 tonnes of UN-coordinated relief materials have been denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities. According to Oxfam, in the two weeks after the ceasefire alone, shipments of water, food, tents and medical supplies from 17 international NGOs were denied.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:00 am

Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions | George Monbiot

The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts

How do you reckon our political system works? Perhaps something like this. We elect MPs. They vote on bills. If a majority is achieved, the bills becomes law. The law is upheld by the courts. End of story. Well, that’s how it used to work. No longer.

Today, foreign corporations, or the oligarchs who own them, can sue governments for the laws they pass, at offshore tribunals composed of corporate lawyers. The cases are held in secret. Unlike our courts, these tribunals allow no right of appeal or judicial review. You or I cannot take a case to them, nor can our government, or even businesses based in this country. They are open only to corporations based overseas.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:00 am

Tired of being a woman in 2025? Why not become a nun… | Emma Beddington

Nuns are having a moment. It’s not the religion women crave, however – it’s a sense of purpose, community and peace

Nuns are everywhere – we’ve had Isabella Rossellini’s Sister Agnes stealing the show in Conclave and nuns with main character energy in The Phoenician Scheme, And Just Like That and Nine Perfect Strangers. On #nuntok (yes, a thing), real sisters demystify and give surprisingly irreverent glimpses into their lives. There was the Austrian trio jailbreaking from a care home to return to their beloved convent, and at the other end of the demographic scale, a rise in younger women following, or at least considering, cloistered vocations.

Nun memes have become a jokey shorthand for real dissatisfaction with life as a woman in 2025 – unsolicited dick pics, workplace discrimination and the endless, soul-sapping scroll. They don’t, mostly, express a yearning for strict religiosity or voluntary celibacy, but for community, purpose and a retreat from chaos. It’s the same impulse that attracts women to single-sex communities or makes them pine, like Stella in Bernard MacLaverty’s brilliant Midwinter Break, for béguinages (the lay communities of single women that flourished in the Low Countries in the middle ages). We all just want peace.

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:00 am

Max Verstappen prepared to ‘maximise everything’ in F1 season-deciding finale

• Red Bull driver can win fifth world title in Abu Dhabi

• He was 104 points behind top after Dutch GP in August

Max Verstappen is fired up to go to Abu Dhabi and compete for his fifth F1 world championship after the Dutchman won in Qatar, narrowed the gap to 12 points within the championship leader, Lando Norris, and overtook Oscar Piastri to set up a three‑way season-deciding finale at the Yas Marina circuit.

Verstappen produced a superb drive for Red Bull in Lusail on Sunday but it was a victory handed to him by McLaren, who made a calamitous strategy call for Norris and Piastri.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:00 pm

In the NFL’s season of meh, even the battered 49ers are Super Bowl contenders

San Francisco are a flawed team with serious injuries. But with no great teams in the league this year, the playoffs are wide open

The 49ers’ season felt over after Week 6’s loss to Tampa Bay. Yes, they were 4-2. Yes, they were tied with the Seahawks and Rams and had already won head-to-head games against both. But that’s when they hit rock bottom. All Pro linebacker Fred Warner was the latest casualty, following in the footsteps of All Pro edge rusher Nick Bosa with a season-ending injury. Brock Purdy had also struggled with injuries. George Kittle was hurt in Week 1. Both were not expected to return for several games. Brandon Aiyuk had no plans to play any time soon, at least not for San Francisco. By Week 7, the only big names in action were Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams.

Dire as the 49ers appeared on paper, they hung in. It helped that the Cardinals, Falcons, Giants, and Panthers featured in their upcoming schedule. They beat all four of them, losing only to the Texans and Rams in the next few weeks. None of the wins inspired much confidence, though. The Cardinals outgained the 49ers by 200 yards. Purdy threw three interceptions against the Panthers.

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:00 am

Guglielmo Vicario boos show a creeping toxicity is taking hold at Tottenham | Rob Davies

Reaction to goalkeeper’s error on Saturday was reprehensible but fans have had enough of being let down by the team

In my 35 years as a Tottenham fan, 15 of them as a season‑ticket holder, I’ve seen the home atmosphere turn ugly more than a few times. Chants of “We want our Tottenham back” have resurfaced during times of struggle, while mounting fury at Daniel Levy finally grew too loud to ignore for the Lewis family over the summer.

I remember well the chorus of boos that ultimately sounded the death knell for Nuno Espírito Santo, when he subbed off a lively Lucas Moura against Manchester United. And if you want a deeper cut, I was there in May 2007 to witness the visceral anger and disgust when Hossam Ghaly threw his shirt on the ground after being substituted by Martin Jol, half an hour after coming on.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:00 pm

Fuzzy Zoeller obituary

Popular American golfer hailed for winning the US Masters and the US Open

The golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, who has died aged 74, won two majors – the US Masters in 1979 and the US Open in 1984, both by virtue of a playoff. His Masters success was especially notable for the fact that it was Zoeller’s debut in the competition, making him the first golfer since 1935 (and still only the third) to win on his first appearance. He won the sudden-death playoff against Tom Watson and Ed Sneed with a par and a birdie, sinking a six-foot putt on the second extra hole and hurling his putter high into the air as the ball disappeared into the cup.

Zoeller’s US Open victory at Winged Foot five years later was remembered for his light-hearted interaction with his play-off rival, Greg Norman. When Norman holed a lengthy putt on the last of the 72 holes, Zoeller, who was behind him on the fairway, mistakenly thought the Australian had gone into the lead, and waved a white towel in mock surrender. But Norman’s putt had only drawn him level, and Zoeller was able to secure a par on the last to maintain parity. During the subsequent 18-hole playoff, which Zoeller won by eight strokes, Norman returned the gesture by flapping his own white towel at the 18th.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:44 pm

Treylon Burks’ one-handed miracle catch draws comparisons to Odell Beckham’s Giants grab

• One-handed TD catch comes on Sunday Night Football

• Catch draws praise from Beckham himself

Odell Beckham’s Jr’s miracle grab in 2014 may remain the best NFL catch this century, but Treylon Burks’ effort on Sunday pushes it close.

During the third-quarter of Sunday’s game between the Commanders and Broncos, the Washington receiver reached behind him as he fell backwards in the end zone and grabbed a Marcus Mariota pass with his right hand. He secured the ball as he fell to the turf and his touchdown tied the game at 13-13.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:58 am

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are showing the resilience of champions

In the past, moments like Chelsea’s shorthanded goal might have sent Arsenal reeling. No longer

• Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

The gap at the top is five points. Arsenal have now played two of their three toughest away games of the season. They’ve come through a potentially extremely tricky week with reputation enhanced, despite being without one of their starting centre-backs for all three games and both for one of them. If there is any sense of disappointment, it is only that they failed to beat Chelsea, whom they have become accustomed to getting the better of, despite having a man advantage from the 38th minute on Sunday.

But really there shouldn’t be any disappointment. Coming out of the international break, having conceded a late equaliser to Sunderland in their previous game, Arsenal looked potentially vulnerable. Despite having been by far the most impressive side this season, their lead over Manchester City was only four points. They were without Gabriel, who probably ranks alongside Declan Rice as their most important player. They faced Tottenham, Bayern and Chelsea over the course of eight days, and Manchester City appeared to be beginning to gather momentum.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:40 pm

Purists be damned: why title-deciding playoffs make soccer sing | Leander Schaerlaeckens

In MLS and NWSL alike, edge-of-your-seat contests have delivered indelible moments that even the best title race run-in can’t match

There’s a TV commercial that’s been running on Apple TV during MLS games for Lowe’s hardware stores. Lionel Messi carefully places a soccer ball on a field, ready to take a free kick. He is flanked by Lionel Messi and Lionel Messi. On the sideline, manager Lionel Messi, assisted by Lionel Messi, gesticulates. Lionel Messi lays off the ball for Lionel Messi, who crosses it to Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi chests and volleys it into the net and is mobbed by another half dozen Lionel Messis (or is it Lionels Messi?).

Facing Inter Miami in the ongoing MLS playoffs must feel more or less like living inside this ad. Before Saturday’s Eastern Conference final against New York City FC, Messi had either scored or assisted on all 12 goals Miami had scored in the postseason. Messi has smashed up the league this year, but he has saved the real savagery for the playoffs.

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:00 am

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s football

Ruben Amorim is happy to ‘steal’ from others, Phil Foden is central to City and Thomas Frank is in trouble at Tottenham

• Latest Premier League table | Top scorers

As Barney Ronay has noted, Arsenal are facing a weekly renewal of the Game You Just Have to Win If You Want to Be Champions. Did this represent a Game You Just Have to Win Because Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo Was Sent Off? Yes and no. The hosts will naturally be more pleased with a point in the context of the first-half red card, while Arsenal perhaps looked a little jaded and below their best overall. But Enzo Maresca’s side were excellent throughout, despite having to play so much of the match with 10 men, and they deserved something from it. Compared with some Chelsea v Arsenal encounters from the olden days (when more overtly physical iterations of the Blues traditionally used to crush the fragile Gunners) there were no signs of weakness, mental or otherwise, from Arteta’s Premier League leaders in a fierce and physical derby. They will experience few harder tests than this, and a point was fair. Luke McLaughlin

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:00 am

NFL roundup: Panthers shock Rams as Allen sets TD record in Bills’ win over Steelers

• Bryce Young excels in Carolina victory

• Bills QB scores record 76th rushing touchdown

Bryce Young completed 15 of 20 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns – two of them coming on fourth down – and the Carolina Panthers (7-6) forced three turnovers by Matthew Stafford to beat Los Angeles (9-3) and snap the Rams’ six-game winning streak. Carolina’s defense intercepted Stafford twice with Mike Jackson returning one for a 48-yard touchdown and ended the 37-year-old’s NFL record of 28 straight TD passes without an interception. Derrick Brown, who tipped a ball resulting in one of Stafford’s first pick, came up with a key strip-sack with 2:25 left in the game to preserve the win. Stafford completed 18 of 28 passes for 243 yards with two touchdown passes to Davante Adams, his 13th and 14th of the season.

Published: December 1, 2025, 12:46 am

Sri Lanka and Indonesia deploy militaries as Asia floods death toll passes 1,100

Millions of people affected by torrential rainfall in Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia

• How cyclones and monsoon rains combined to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide

Sri Lanka and Indonesia have deployed military personnel as they race to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed more than 1,100 people across four countries in Asia.

Millions of people have been affected by a combination of tropical cyclones and heavy monsoon rains in Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, Thailand and Malaysia in recent days.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:57 pm

Dutch king says he ‘will not shy away’ from slavery history on rare royal visit to Suriname

The king and queen’s visit to the former colony is the first by members of the Dutch royal family in nearly five decades

The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, vowed on Monday that the topic of slavery would not be off-limits as he visits former colony Suriname, where the practice ended just over 150 years ago.

The king arrived in the capital Paramaribo on Sunday with Queen Maxima, a week after the small South American country marked 50 years of independence from the Netherlands.

Published: December 2, 2025, 1:16 am

Siri-us setback: Apple’s AI chief steps down as company lags behind rivals

Amar Subramanya will replace John Giannandrea after firm has struggled to catch up with AI rollouts by competitors

Apple’s head of artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea, is stepping down from the company. The move comes as the Silicon Valley giant has lagged behind its competitors in rolling out generative AI features, in particular its voice assistant Siri. Apple made the announcement on Monday, thanking Giannandrea for his seven-year tenure at the company.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said his fellow executive helped the company “in building and advancing our AI work” and allowing Apple to “continue to innovate”. Giannandrea will be replaced by longtime AI researcher Amar Subramanya.

Published: December 2, 2025, 12:51 am

Shortage of ‘breakthrough’ weight loss drugs will slow fight against obesity, WHO warns

WHO urges countries to make drugs such as Mounjaro more accessible to people and asks drugs companies to lower prices

Weight loss drugs such as Mounjaro offer huge potential to tackle soaring obesity globally but are currently only available to one in 10 of those who need them, the World Health Organization has said.

Their proven effectiveness in helping people lose weight means the medications represent “a new chapter” in how health services can treat obesity and the killer diseases it causes, the WHO added.

Published: December 1, 2025, 1:45 pm

California police plead for details on shooting at child’s party with suspect unknown

Search continues after four people, including three children, were killed and 11 were injured in Stockton

Residents of Stockton, California, are reeling after a deadly shooting at a toddler’s birthday party killed four people, including three children ages eight, nine and 14, and injured 11.

Authorities are still looking to understand what happened at the celebration on Saturday, and urged witnesses to come forward.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:47 pm

Hundreds flee central Haiti after gangs launch large-scale attacks and burn homes

Official confirms nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child, in Artibonite region over the weekend

Heavily armed gangs attacked Haiti’s central region over the weekend, killing men, women and children as they set fire to homes and forced survivors to flee into the darkness.

Police made emergency calls for backup, asserting that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control after the large-scale attacks targeting towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:46 pm

British public’s verdict is in: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie

Survey also reveals Britons’ favourite festive film, views on tear-jerkers and family cinema trips

When Macaulay Culkin recently said he didn’t consider Die Hard to be a Christmas film – wading into one of pop culture’s most heated holiday debates – he was booed by a live audience.

But it looks like the British people are behind the actor, with a survey revealing that Home Alone is the UK’s favourite festive film, while Die Hard has officially been voted not a Christmas movie.

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:30 pm

Zillow deletes climate risk data from listings after complaints it harms sales

Site removes feature after real estate agents and some homeowners say scores appear arbitrary and hurt sales

Zillow, the US’s largest real estate listing site, has removed a feature that allowed people to view a property’s exposure to the climate crisis, following complaints from the industry and some homeowners that it was hurting sales.

In September last year, the online real estate marketplace introduced a tool showing the individual risk of wildfire, flood, extreme heat, wind and poor air quality for one million properties it lists, explaining that “climate risks are now a critical factor in home-buying decisions” for many Americans.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:27 pm

Hole in Antarctic ozone layer shrinks to smallest since 2019, scientists say

EU’s Copernicus monitoring service hails ‘reassuring sign’ of progress observed this year in hole’s size and duration

The hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic this year was the smallest and shortest-lived since 2019, according to European space scientists, who described the finding as a “reassuring sign” of the layer’s recovery.

The yearly gap in what scientists have called “planetary sunscreen” reached a maximum area of 21m sq km (8.1m sq miles) over the southern hemisphere in September – well below the maximum of 26m sq km reached in 2023 – and shrank in size until coming to an early close on Monday, data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) shows.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:53 pm

‘We’re true guardians of the forest’: quilombola community near Belém demand land rights and recognition

Short boat ride from Cop30 host, Afro-descendant residents of Menino Jesus say their voices are not being heard

Walk through the conference centre where the recent UN climate talks were held and representations of Indigenous people and culture were everywhere, from the spear-carrying, fiery-headed Cop30 mascot Curupira to huge mural-sized photos of people navigating the Amazon in dugout canoes and the many protests demanding dialogue outside.

Yet a short boat ride down the river from Belém, into the forest itself, takes you to another forest-dwelling community also fighting for further recognition within the Cop process. The quilombola community of Menino Jesus has existed for six generations. Quilombolas are the descendants of former enslaved people who fled into the forest as a site of refuge. Over hundreds of years, they established a unique way of life separate from mainstream Brazilian society, living in harmony with nature as fugitives protected by the jungle.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:00 pm

How cyclones and monsoon rains converged to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide

Extreme weather kills more than 1,100 people across south and south-east Asia as cyclones turbocharge rain systems

• Devastating floods hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand – latest updates

Tropical cyclones have combined with heavy monsoon rains to lay waste to swathes of Asia, killing more than 1,100 people as of Monday, with the death toll expected to rise, and leaving many more homeless.

A confluence of three tropical weather systems – including a rare cyclonic storm that built up in the strait of Malacca – has fuelled intense wind and rainover the past week, devastating areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam with flooding and mudslides.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:39 pm

Republican whose child has Down syndrome opposes redistricting after Trump’s ableist slur

Michael Bohacek, an Indiana state senator, says US president’s ‘choices of words have consequences’

An Indiana Republican lawmaker whose child has Down syndrome has promised to oppose efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor his party after Donald Trump aimed a slur for people with intellectual disabilities at a political opponent.

Michael Bohacek, a member of Indiana’s state senate, wrote Friday on Facebook that he has been “an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities” since one of his daughters was born with Down. Referring to how the president used an ableist slur to insult Tim Walz, the Democratic Minnesota governor, a day earlier, Bohacek’s post added, “His choices of words have consequences.”

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:38 pm

Democrats hope for off-year House upset in Tennessee Maga stronghold

Even a close second could be a bellwether of Republican loss of control of House of Representatives in midterms

Fresh off a wave of successes in November’s off-year elections, Democrats are angling for an audacious victory in a Republican-heavy Tennessee congressional district where an upset win could amount to a major blow against Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

Voters on Tuesday will cast ballots in a special election to replace Mark Green, a Republican representing a middle Tennessee district who resigned from Congress in July. Drawn by the state’s Republican leaders to ensure its voters favored their party, the district last year backed Trump and Green by 22-point margins.

Published: December 1, 2025, 1:00 pm

Flight of woman in Slender Man case casts spotlight on system that failed her

Morgan Geyser, who stabbed a classmate as a 12-year-old, fled after a decade being raised by state institutions

The haunting apparition of “Slender Man” reappeared last week when Morgan Geyser, a central character in an 11-year-old attempted murder case, briefly absconded from a Wisconsin care home to which she had been transferred after being released from a psychiatric institution over the summer.

Geyser was 12 in 2014 when she pleaded guilty to stabbing a sixth-grade classmate to appease the mythical Slender Man.

Published: December 1, 2025, 1:00 pm

Aipac over affordability: Democratic candidates come under fire for support of Israel

Democrats like congressman Ritchie Torres face backlash for pro-Israel stances as Americans’ views of Israel sour

At a campaign event in the Bronx last month, a congressional candidate quizzed a cheering crowd: “What do you think would happen if the US ended all aid to Israel?” At a Thanksgiving gathering with voters, another candidate in the same race fielded questions about affordability – but also about “moral leadership” when it came to Israel’s war in Gaza. A third candidate vying for the same seat devoted much of his campaign’s launch video to lambasting the current member of Congress representing the district over the funding he’s received from the pro-Israel lobby.

The incumbent in question – congressman Ritchie Torres – is one of the most staunchly pro-Israel advocates in Congress. Dalourny Nemorin, one of his challengers for the Democratic nomination to represent the district calls him the “poster boy” for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac. “Ritchie Torres cares more about Bibi than he does about the Bronx,” Michael Blake, another challenger, said in the launch video.

Published: December 1, 2025, 12:00 pm

Iran sentences award-winning director Jafar Panahi to year in prison for ‘propaganda activities’

Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an Accident

Iran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the country.

The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili said, adding that they would file an appeal.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:59 pm

Hong Kong arrests 13 on suspicion of manslaughter over apartment fires

Authorities face growing criticism for detaining at least two civilians who have called for accountability

Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested 13 people on suspicion of manslaughter in relation to last week’s devastating fire, as they face growing criticism from residents over the arrests under national security laws of at least two civilians calling for accountability.

Emergency services continued to search through the seven towers of the Wang Fuk Court estate in Tai Po on Monday, days after the city’s deadliest fire in 75 years. The death toll rose to 151 and is expected to rise further as the search continues. About 40 people are still missing.

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:12 am

India orders phone makers to preload devices with state-owned cyber safety app

Critics voice concern as government says its Sanchar Saathi app combats cybersecurity threats for 1.2bn telecom users

India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cybersecurity app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates.

In tackling a recent surge of cybercrime and hacking, India is joining authorities worldwide, most recently in Russia, to frame rules blocking the use of stolen phones for fraud or promoting state-backed government service apps.

Published: December 1, 2025, 6:41 pm

Frozen-in tenor: Italian mayor apologises over Pavarotti statue stuck in ice rink

Late singer’s widow says building ‘ugly’ ice rink around statue in Pesaro is disrespectful and ridicules his memory

An Italian mayor has apologised to the family of Luciano Pavarotti after a Christmas ice rink entrapped a statue of the legendary opera singer – and skaters were invited to “give [him] a high five”.

The lifesize bronze, featuring Pavarotti wearing a tuxedo with his arms outstretched and holding a handkerchief in one hand, was unveiled to much fanfare last year in a square in the centre of Pesaro, a coastal city in the Marche region.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:32 pm

‘We didn’t think Back to the Future sounded plausible – or good’: Huey Lewis and the News on The Power of Love

‘I told the producers I didn’t know how to do a song for a film – and added that, frankly, I didn’t fancy writing one called Back to the Future. They said, “No problem, just give us one of your songs”’

Steven Spielberg and Bob Zemeckis asked to meet us, along with Bob Gale and Neil Canton. They said they’d just written this film whose lead character was a guy called Marty McFly, and whose favourite band would be Huey Lewis and the News. They asked: “How about writing a song for the film?” I said: “I’m flattered but I don’t know how to write for film necessarily. And frankly, I don’t fancy writing a song called Back to the Future.” They said: “No problem. We just want one of your songs.” I said: “Tell you what, we’ll send you the next one we work on.”

Published: December 1, 2025, 2:45 pm

‘There was rage and pain and iron in him’: Patrick Marber on the great hits – and fond smokes – he had with Tom Stoppard

The director worked with theatre colossus Tom Stoppard on two smash hits. Here, he remembers their heated rehearsals, the night they stayed up watching Jaws – and the last four cigarettes they smoked together

Tom was my hero from the night I first saw Travesties in 1979. I was 15. The older kids at school did a production of it and I was spellbound; it was glamorous, sensual and completely incomprehensible. I wanted to know everything about this cool, obscure playwright. I started in the school library with the Encyclopedia Britannica. Then I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (incomprehensible) and then I read a third of Jumpers before giving up (totally incomprehensible).

As an English Lit student in the mid 1980s, I studied Stoppard and found his work slightly less incomprehensible. But in 1993, I saw the original production of Arcadia and felt that same spell I’d felt as a child. Let’s call it art. And beauty. And words spoken from a stage like no one else. A couple of years later, my first play, Dealer’s Choice, had just opened at the National Theatre and Tom was on the board. Someone told me: “Stoppard saw your play and mentioned it in some speech to donors as a good example of new writing at the NT.” A week or so later, I met him at a drinks do. He approached me. He approached me. All hair and suit and cigs and warmth. He gave me a hug and told me I was a proper young playwright.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:16 pm

‘Ingrained in my psyche’: why Gremlins 2: The New Batch is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers highlighting their favourite comfort rewatches is a look back at Joe Dante’s raucously rule-defying sequel

“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” Some sage advice from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At face value, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. However, in a weird way, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Seriously, hear me out.

When things go bad, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin knows this. In fact, most of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) have the same sly, self-aware sense of humour when it comes to the blurry line separating everyday life and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

Published: December 1, 2025, 10:00 am

Why won’t Marvel let Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine retire in peace?

The actor himself has promised to accept all future cameos as the beloved claw-gremlin, but this will only wear out his superpowers

There was once a time when Hugh Jackman Wolverine cameos made a sort of sense. Bursting out of a cell in full Weapon X gear, massacring half a bunker, then vanishing, in 2016’s otherwise pretty forgettable X-Men: Apocalypse. Telling potential recruitment team Magneto and Professor X to, er, go fuck themselves while propping up a bar in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Even popping up via archived footage from X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2018’s Deadpool 2. These were cameos we could accept: quick, self-contained sideshows that understood the sacred rule that such things ought to be fun and brief. They also arrived at a time when Jackman didn’t yet carry the weight of 25 years of audience investment.

Last week, in an appearance on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show, Jackman revealed that he has banned himself from saying no to future appearances as the surly mutant. “I am never saying ‘never’ ever again,” he said. “But I did mean it when I said ‘never’, until the day when I changed my mind. But I really did for quite a few years, I meant it.” There are suggestions that he could make a brief appearance in the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday, in order to capitalise on the success of Marvel’s recent $1bn megahit Deadpool & Wolverine, even though he wasn’t mentioned in an interminable name-on-chair live stream from earlier this year, in which most of the main cast members were revealed.

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:00 am

What we’re reading: Geoff Dyer, Andrew Michael Hurley, Marcia Hutchinson and Guardian readers on the books they enjoyed in November

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

I finally got round to Thoreau’s Journal. It is determinedly down-to-earth and soaring, lyrical and belligerent, humane and cantankerous. Walt Whitman thought Thoreau suffered from “a very aggravated case of superciliousness”, but as Walt also said (of himself) the Journal of this brooding, solitary figure is great; it “contains multitudes.”

Homework by Geoff Dyer is published by Canongate (£20). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson is published by Cassava Republic. To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:55 pm

Five of the best food books of 2025

Sami Tamimi celebrates Palestine’s culinary heritage, Helen Goh uncovers the psychological benefits of baking and Roopa Gulati reveals tricks used in the best Indian kitchens

Lugma: Abundant Dishes & Stories from My Middle East
Noor Murad (Quadrille)
One of the greatest tests of a cookbook is not just whether the recipes appeal on first glance, but whether they have the power to weave themselves into your regular cooking life. By this measure, Lugma is my top food book this year. Its author, Noor Murad, is a young Bahraini-British food writer who has previously worked with Ottolenghi. It is a delight to find her writing here in her own voice about the Middle Eastern ingredients that mean so much to her (you’ll need black limes!). The recipes hit a sweet spot between ease and specialness. Even a simple side dish of greens becomes a feast, sauteed with fried onions and turmeric oil. Alongside a pantheon of rice dishes for celebrations, there are simpler midweek hits such as tuna jacket potatoes enlivened with a spicy tomato sauce and preserved lemons. Noor’s deeply fragrant Middle Eastern bolognese is now the recipe against which I judge all other ragus.

Baking and the Meaning of Life
Helen Goh (Murdoch)
The idea of baking as therapy is often bandied around, but Helen Goh knows whereof she speaks. Alongside her career as a baker, Goh (who was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents) was for a long time a practising psychologist. Whatever the theory behind the effect, every time I follow Goh’s wonderfully precise yet creative recipes, I feel a deep calm and happiness as well as a sense that she is teaching me new skills (“learning, growth and achievement” are among the psychological benefits of baking, according to Goh). The Shoo Fly buns are the currant buns of dreams (with a whole raw orange pureed into the dough) and I wanted to make the chocolate financiers with rosemary and hazelnuts so much that I bought a financier tin specially (no regrets there).

Published: December 1, 2025, 2:00 pm

Jorja Smith’s label requests share of royalties from ‘AI-cloned’ TikTok viral song

Uncredited vocals on song I Run by British dance act Haven alleged to infringe copyright as impersonation of Smith

Jorja Smith’s record label has called for a share of the royalties from a TikTok-viral song that it claims used an AI-cloned version of the British singer’s voice.

The song I Run, by British dance act Haven, went viral in October and was due to chart in the UK and the US after reaching No 11 on the US Spotify chart and No 25 on the platform’s global chart.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:29 pm

Josh Brolin on Donald Trump: ‘There’s no greater genius than him in marketing’

The actor met the future president while making Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and says he is ‘not scared’ of him

Actor Josh Brolin says President Trump was a “different guy” when he first met him in 2009, and that “there is no greater genius than [Trump] in marketing”.

Brolin was speaking to the Independent to promote his new film Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and said that while his clergyman character was not based on the president, there was a similarity in that once he “garners a sense of power, then there are no boundaries”.

Published: December 1, 2025, 3:12 pm

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

Rufus Sewell, Christine Baranski, Susan Wokoma, Toby Jones and Harriet Walter share their unforgettable encounters with a theatrical giant

I worked with Tom when I was quite young, on Arcadia in 1993, and again on Rock’n’Roll 13 years later. In the interim it slowly dawned on me that not all jobs were like that. He was one of the most intelligent people you could ever meet but the extraordinary thing was that you’d walk away from conversations with him feeling like you were not unintelligent or unwitty yourself. That’s not always the case with incredibly brilliant writers and funny people. That generosity of spirit marked my time with him. He was incredibly good company, very sweet, and you felt encouraged to put forward your own ideas, make your own jokes.

Published: December 1, 2025, 2:47 pm

‘No party on the planet was safe from Hoggy rocking up!’ Irvine Welsh on his friend Pam Hogg

‘I spent the 90s with Pam – clubbing and partying in the way those times demanded. What I saw was a truly groundbreaking artist, and a life marked by independence, courage and kindness’

• Pam Hogg, fashion designer with a rock’n’roll spirit, dies at 66 – news
• Pam Hogg – obituary

There are people who live life to the full, then there’s Pamela Hogg. Pam’s tenure on this earth is a trawl through just about every significant cultural and creative moment in the UK over the last 30-odd years. One of our most groundbreaking artists, Pam was a colourist of Warholian proportions, creating art to be hung on the body rather than the walls of a gallery. She was a punk who provocatively mashed up gender and sexual stereotypes. Fashion was the art form that freed her imagination, and her success was due to her talent and drive being greater than her disdain of the conformist industry and the gatekeepers surrounding it.

I sat in St Joseph’s hospice in London by her unconscious but serenely beautiful figure – as if she’d made her exit into another work of art – telling her that her jam-packed life was characterised by creativity, independence, courage and kindness. “Hoggy, you left absolutely nothing on the table.”

Published: December 1, 2025, 1:32 pm

The 35+ best US Cyber Monday tech deals on TVs, tablets, phones, smart watches and more

The sales you’ve been waiting for all year have arrived. Snag deals from Samsung, Amazon, Sony and more

• The 43 very best US Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, curated and vetted

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

Black Friday started off as a way to score some great deals on gifts, but let’s be honest: it’s also a chance to pick up some nice, deeply discounted goodies for yourself. This is especially true in the world of tech, where high prices and personal taste mean it’s often just safest to buy what works for you rather than guessing on a gift. Don’t worry, we won’t judge.

But when you’re inundated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, it’s easy to get spun around by specs: is that really enough storage? Is the screen big enough? Will I regret not getting the newer version? That’s when you turn to the experts.

Published: December 1, 2025, 7:43 pm

The 41+ best US Cyber Monday kitchen deals on blenders, pans, cleaning tools and more

From Le Creuset to Vitamix to KitchenAid, these are the Black Friday kitchen deals you need to replace your cutting boards, frying pans and finally snag a Dutch oven

• The 73+ very best US Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, curated and vetted

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

It’s December, which marks the kickoff to Cyber Monday and the official start of the holidays. After weeks of early sales and a day (read: weekend) of Black Friday sales, this marks the last chance you’ve got to take advantage of all the best Cyber Monday kitchen deals.

A good Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale offers the ideal opportunity to stock up on kitchen necessities. As a home and kitchen shopping writer, I’ve spent almost three years perusing these Black Friday sales. I’ve sat for hours in a test kitchen with a small army of blenders and sauce pans. I’ve chatted with cooks and food experts about their favorite picks. So I have tracked enough holiday sales over the years to know when a “deal” is just a regular price in a festive hat.

Published: December 1, 2025, 4:22 pm

The 34+ best US Cyber Monday home deals on bath towels, vacuum cleaners, toolsets and more

From toilet paper to toolsets, we’ve reviewed thousands of sales on home products to find the ones worth checking out

• The 86 very best US Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, curated and vetted

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

Black Friday used to be known for crazy crowds rushing into stores and fighting over the best deals. Now, that chaos has wriggled its way online. Products now come from a hundred different brands you’ve never heard of, accompanied by “reviews” that might very well be written by the very same companies.

Not to worry. More than a decade of experience as a professional product reviewer has given me a pretty well-honed nose on what’s a good deal for you and your family. Much of that time was spent in a lab, testing everything from washing machines to hair dryers. I have also covered retail shopping events such as Black Friday and Prime Day enough times to know how companies try to deceive you, and how to spot it.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:24 pm

The 33+ best US Cyber Monday travel deals on luggage, backpacks, travel adapters and more

From Away, Calpak and Samsonite, here are budget-friendly reasons to upgrade your luggage, replace your headphones and upgrade your travel photos

• The 86+ very best US Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, curated and vetted

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

While the Cyber Monday deals landscape can be overwhelming – and you might be tempted to avoid it completely – some actually incredible deals do exist out there, particularly in the travel space. As a travel journalist and the writer of a packing list newsletter, I’m always on the hunt for luggage, clothing and gear that will streamline my travel process. During Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, I keep a trained eye on the retailers with genuine discounts on carry-on suitcases, comfortable loungewear and more. Pro tip: if a specific item catches my eye, I will Google it to see if another website is offering a more enticing deal. (It usually is.)

So if you’re hunting for items that will upgrade your travels without blowing your budget, use my curated guide to inform your shopping.

The best luggage deal:
Away Packing Pro Bundle

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:51 pm

Gratitude can be truly healing – but you need more than a checklist

Transformative gratitude occurs within sincere relationships, but building those links is not always an easy process

Recently, my psychoanalyst annoyed me. She said something and I felt misunderstood, criticised – and that she was wrong. I wanted an apology. As we worked through this, as she listened to me and I listened to her, I gradually realised that she hadn’t meant exactly what I thought, and that I was the one who had misunderstood, who was being so critical. But why couldn’t she have made it easier for me to understand, phrased it like I would have done? She responded: “That isn’t what I thought.”

In that moment, something clicked. I felt the rush and the relief of sudden emotional clarity. I think this came from seeing that my psychoanalyst, by not apologising to appease my anger, by not taking an easy way out of the conflict, by persisting in offering me her honest thoughts about what was going on in my mind and by bearing my struggle to take them in, was giving me an extremely rare and precious experience. I felt an overwhelming and surprising surge of gratitude.

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:00 am

The one change that worked: I used to be a compulsive shopper – until I hit upon a simple trick

The minute I had any disposable income, I would spend it on things I didn’t need. Deciding to wait a day before handing over my money changed everything

One day at work two years ago, a notification hit my phone: my paycheck had come through. It was a fair amount for someone still at university, so I did what I always did when payday arrived: I opened every shopping app on my phone. Amazon, Vinted, Etsy, Depop, Zara, you name it. Within the space of an hour, I had spent £90 on clothes, decorative items and a completely useless weighted blanket I never touched.

A few days later, I went online again and bought a hairdryer. I already owned one, but thought another couldn’t hurt. Then I added LED strip lights and two pairs of shoes that weren’t even my size. This wasn’t new behaviour. In fact, I’d been notorious for it ever since I could afford to buy my own things.

Published: December 1, 2025, 11:00 am

Is it true that … a glass of wine a day is good for your heart?

Moderate wine consumption may benefit your cardiac health, but foods such as grapes and berries offer similar advantages without the negative effects

“People shouldn’t think that drinking wine is good for you,” says Dr Oliver Guttmann, a consultant cardiologist at the Wellington hospital in London.

Alcohol consumption is linked to high blood pressure, liver disease, digestive, mental health and immune system problems, as well as cancer.

Published: December 1, 2025, 8:00 am

‘It was extremely pornographic’: Cara Hunter on the deepfake video that nearly ended her political career

The Irish politician was targeted in 2022, in the final weeks of her run for office. She has never found out who made the malicious deepfake, but knew immediately she had to try to stop this happening to other women

When Cara Hunter, the Irish politician, looks back on the moment she found out she had been deepfaked, she says it is “like watching a horror movie”. The setting is her grandmother’s rural home in the west of Tyrone on her 90th birthday, April 2022. “Everyone was there,” she says. “I was sitting with all my closest family members and family friends when I got a notification through Facebook Messenger.” It was from a stranger. “Is that you in the video … the one going round on WhatsApp?” he asked.

Hunter made videos all the time, especially then, less than three weeks before elections for the Northern Ireland assembly. She was defending her East Londonderry seat, campaigning, canvassing, debating. Yet, as a woman, this message from a man she didn’t know was enough to put her on alert. “I replied that I wasn’t sure which video he was talking about,” Hunter says. “So he asked, did I want to see it?” Then he sent it over.

Published: December 1, 2025, 5:00 am

Autumn maples and Frankfurt in the fog: photos of the day – Monday

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

Published: December 1, 2025, 2:28 pm