20 m. ago At the dark end of a brutal year, I’m grateful to these heroes for showing us the light | Jonathan Freedland

From Palestinians standing up to Hamas to the Bondi beach rescuers, great acts of courage offer hope even in the bleakest timesSome traditions are getting harder to maintain. Among them, my own custom of devoting the last column before Christmas to reasons to be hopeful. In recent years, amid war and bloodshed, that task has been especially challenging – and this week was no exception.It began with the news from Bondi beach, where 15 people were gunned down and dozens more injured, most of them Jews celebrating the festival of Hanukah. That came just two-and-a-half months after the deadly attack on Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. To be a Jew at the end of 2025 is to fear that to gather together, whether at moments of joy or sorrow, is to take a mortal risk. That even to do relatively ordinary things together has become a matter of life and death.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the author of The Traitors Circl...

Politics

60 m. ago Best deals to expect in Currys Boxing Day sale 2025, picked by experts

From hair straighteners and air fryers to cordless vacuums, here’s what could be on offer in this year’s sale

Economics

66 m. ago Will there be an M&S boxing day sale 2025? Everything we know, from dates to deals

Previous years have seen up to 50 per cent off fashion, beauty and more

Economics

90 m. ago Vladimir Putin is 'Christmas crackers' to threaten Britain, Defence Secretary says

John Healey warned the Russian dictator that he would never take Ukraine, and that the UK was investing millions 'right now' to mobilise British troops 'day one' of a peace deal

Politics

1 hour ago Will there be a Lush Boxing Day sale in 2025? Here’s everything you need to know

The brand famously hosts just one sale a year

Politics

1 hour ago The top deals I’m expecting for Boots’s Boxing Day sale, from Dyson to Prada and more

Plus, the pre-Christmas deals up for grabs right now

Economics

1 hour ago Day after controversial vote, Kennedy Center adds Trump’s name to building

One ex officio member of the center’s board said she was muted on the call when the name change was discussed

Politics

2 h. ago Driver who killed man and hurt others in Christmas Day rampage guilty of murder

Anthony Gilheaney, 31, launched a series of violent attacks against five people in the early hours of December 25 2024.

Events

2 h. ago 2025’s paltry Christmas Day lineup is not what Britain’s television industry needs

It’s a particularly drab year on the British festive television front, writes Micha Frazer-Carroll. The Big Four need to get their act together soon – or risk ceding Christmas to American streaming giants

Politics

2 h. ago When is the shortest day of the year? The Winter Solstice is nearly here

The shortest day of the year will see an early sunset at 3:03pm in the UK

Politics

2 h. ago Driver who hit pedestrians at random in West End Christmas Day 'carnage' found guilty of murder

Anthony Gilheaney drove a random strangers during the West End Christmas Day ‘carnage’

Events

2 h. ago Move over Bluetooth: wired headphones are back – and suddenly cool again

From celebrity endorsements to digital fatigue, the once-obsolete white wire has become a fashion statement and a quiet act of opting outWith white-wired headphones endorsed by celebrities including Lily-Rose Depp, Paul Mescal, Bella Hadid and Apple Martin, a growing number of people are breaking away from wireless listening.For inspiration, there is the Instagram account @wireditgirls, or a Balenciaga campaign featuring the model Mona Tougaard reclining bed, wired headphones in place. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Scotland's New Year's Day tradition that sees people dive into sea in wacky costumes

The Loony Dook is a truly one-of-a-kind event.

Politics

2 h. ago Geese are 'stolen from park to be cooked and eaten on Christmas Day'

Black Ash Park in Newport is well known for having scores of geese and ducks that visitors love to see and feed. However, the popular birds are vanishing from the park.

Politics

2 h. ago Investigators seek motive for shootings of MIT professor and Brown students

Suspect Claudio Manuel Neves Valente was found dead in New Hampshire storage facility after five-day manhuntInvestigators turned on Friday to the search for a motive in the murders of two Brown University students and a physics professor in Massachusetts in separate but linked attacks, after the prime suspect was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.The body of Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, 48, a Portuguese national and formerly very briefly a student at Brown, was discovered in a New Hampshire storage facility on Thursday night after a five-day manhunt. Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago I visited a hidden gem Aberdeenshire town that has the perfect cosy winter cafe

Scotland Now's Alexander Smail spent the day sampling the local shops and cuisine.

Politics

3 h. ago Mad Friday 2025 LIVE: UK braces for busiest travel day of the year

We bring you all the latest travel updates as the UK braces for significant travel disruptions on Mad Friday 2025, one the busiest travel days of the year

Transport

3 h. ago Geese are stolen from park 'to be cooked and eaten on Christmas Day' as locals say migrants could be to blame

Black Ash Park in Newport is well known for having scores of geese and ducks that visitors love to see and feed. However, the popular birds are vanishing from the park.

Events

3 h. ago Jealous husband who stabbed to death wife as she slept in bed jailed for life

Hai Van Nguyen murdered Hien Thi Vu with a kitchen knife at their Lewisham home after believing she was having an affair

Events

4 h. ago I watched Stand By Me with Rob Reiner. Both film and man changed my life

I had watched the coming-of-age weepie over and over growing up so it was an overwhelming experience to sit down with its creator and see it again. It was a magical day and he was just as warm-hearted as his movieRob Reiner beam as he greets me. “You’ve seen Stand By Me 100 times?” he asks. I nod sheepishly. “Then you probably know it better than I do.” It’s August 2006, 20 years after Reiner’s coming-of-age weepie was first released, and I’m sitting in his office at Castle Rock Entertainment, the LA-based production company he co-launched in 1987. On the walls hang posters of Reiner’s beloved movies – This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, Misery, A Few Good Men – but our attention is fixed on a modest TV as Stand By Me begins.I’m here in Beverly Hills to write an anniversary article for a film magazine, but it’s also a pinch-me moment. As a teen, I’d watched Stand By Me on loop, identifying with the four protagonists – fragile, wannabe-writer Gordie (Wil Whe...

Politics