3 h. ago ‘We should have pulled the Big Sam ripcord’: Premier League fans assess the season so far

The Guardian’s fans’ network on 2025-26 at the halfway stage: best games, worst setbacks, and their January window wish listsStory so far It would be pretty churlish to be anything other than super-chuffed, with those displays over Bayern Munich and our neighbours among the highlights. But, as we know, there are no prizes for being top at Christmas. Our success so far has largely been due to our defensive resilience; it’s the most talented squad we’ve had in many a moon but we’ve only shone going forward in fits and spurts. Find that spark on a consistent basis and we really will be firing.Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5 Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago ‘That video saved our lives’: how women are defying the Taliban’s brutal crackdown on protest

The activist Zarmina Paryani speaks from exile in Germany about how Afghanistan has tried to silence the voices of women and girls since the 2021 takeoverIt was nearly dark on 19 January 2022 when the knocking began. At first soft, then insistent, the sound echoed through the flat in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Zarmina Paryani and her sisters froze. They had known this day was coming.“We always knew the risks of protesting and we were prepared to die on the streets,” the 26-year-old activist told the Guardian. “But I never imagined they would come for us like that – in the middle of the night, breaking into our home.” Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Gambling firms spent nearly £5m to advertise on TfL since London mayor’s ban pledge

Gambling firms spent nearly £5m to advertise on TfL since London mayor’s ban pledge  The Guardian

Economics

5 h. ago Hungary's 'water guardian' farmers fight back against desertification

Southern Hungary landowner Oszkár Nagyapáti has been battling severe drought on his land

Politics

15 h. ago The Guardian view on the new space race: humanity risks exporting its old politics to the moon | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look skyward, where a new lunar contest mirrors humanity’s struggle to live within planetary limitsDuring the cold war’s space race, the Apollo moon missions were driven by the need to prove American superiority. Having made that political and technological point with the 1969 moon landing, the contest between Moscow and Washington petered out. A new dash across the skies kicks off in 2026, reigniting geopolitical competition under the guise of “peaceful exploration”. The moon’s south pole is emerging as the most valuable real estate in the solar system, offering “peaks of eternal light” for solar arrays and ice deposits in craters shielded from the sun.The US and a China-led bloc are eyeing the lunar surface and its potential to control a post-terrestrial economy. Space had been humanity’s last commons, supposedly shielded by the 1967 UN outer space treaty that bans state ...

Politics

23 h. ago Through the lens of history, Trump's legacy will be more of a blotch than a Maga masterpiece | Simon Tisdall

Take this hopeful thought into 2026: the tyrants we endure always falter, and their ‘seismic’ upheavals are usually false dawnsFor those who lived through the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, was an unforgettable moment. The sinister watch towers with their searchlights and armed guards, the minefields in no-man’s land, the notorious Checkpoint Charlie border post, and the Wall itself – all were swept aside in an extraordinary, popular lunge for freedom.Less than a month later, on 3 December 1989, at a summit in Malta, US president George HW Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared that after more than 40 years, the cold war was over. All agreed it was a historic turning point.Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Politics

38 h. ago Ollie Scarles in tears after his mistake gifts Fulham victory at West Ham

The Hammers looked set to earn a point until five minutes from full-time when 20-year-old full-back Scarles took an air-shot at a clearance.

Politics

49 h. ago I was there: England’s Euro 2025 glory was a surreal, almost psychedelic blur

Sarina Wiegman’s champions took supporters on the most thrilling and nail-biting ride in Switzerland that was in many ways even more enjoyable to cover than their 2022 triumphSurreal. Utterly surreal. A home Euros in 2022 had provided wave after wave of emotion, England’s win at Wembley the culmination of decades of growth, setbacks, fight and deep longing. Everyone sang from the same hymn sheet for that maiden Euros win: the written press, broadcasters, fans, sponsors, Football Association, players and Sarina Wiegman and her staff. There were tears – lots. Having begun covering women’s football for the Guardian via a weekly column before the 2017 Euros, then gone full-time before the 2019 World Cup, I felt as if I had lived that progression, journeyed with them, contributed, in some small way, to that growth.The 2025 edition was different, surreal, an almost psychedelic experience. In many ways better than 2022. This was England’s first major tournament win – male or female – away ...

Politics

52 h. ago London council starts issuing speeding fines to cyclists amid locals complaints

London council starts issuing speeding fines to cyclists amid locals complaints  Wimbledon Guardian

Politics

63 h. ago The Guardian view on adapting to the climate crisis: it demands political honesty about extreme weather | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at how the struggle to adapt to a dangerously warming world has become a test of global justiceThe record-breaking 252mph winds of Hurricane Melissa that devastated Caribbean islands at the end of October were made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Scorching wildfire weather in Spain and Portugal during the summer was made 40 times more likely, while June’s heatwave in England was made 100 times more likely.Attribution science has made one thing clear: global heating is behind today’s extreme weather. That greenhouse gas emissions warmed the planet was understood. What can now be shown is that this warming produces record heatwaves and more violent storms with increasing frequency. Continue reading...

Politics

64 h. ago ‘A bat’s head’: the best and worst gifts 11 people have ever received

Can we learn anything from the experiences of these Guardian readers? Exchanging gifts is delightful. It can also be fraught. How do you choose something the receiver will enjoy or find meaningful? And must you act pleased if you receive a tub of anti-cellulite cream?With the holidays fast approaching, 11 Guardian readers shared the best and worst gifts they have ever received. Can we learn anything from their experiences? Perhaps not: “Don’t just give something that appeals to you,” writes one, and “Always gift something you want,” writes another. Continue reading...

Politics

68 h. ago An icy vlogger and Boxing Day dips: photos of the day – Friday

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

Culture

2 d. ago Living on the edge: what young people in England told us about life on the coast

As part of the Guardian’s Against the tide series, readers aged 18 to 30 share what they love about living in their coastal town, the challenges and why they often choose to leaveMegan, a 24-year-old from the Isle of Wight, is very familiar with saying goodbye. She decided university wasn’t for her and remembers how, one by one, she waved off her friends who left the island to study. Many never came back. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Nick Cave, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rami Malek, CMAT and more! The best Guardian portraits of 2025 – in pictures

Whether it was pop stars, athletes and Hollywood A-listers baring all or real-life heroes and fearless campaigners Guardian photographers captured the people behind this year’s biggest stories and most revealing profiles Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘Bob Odenkirk called to check on me after he saw it’: Rhea Seehorn on the intensity of making hit show Pluribus

The star has hit the big time as a total grump in her new Apple TV drama – no mean feat, given how delightful she is. She talks Lego therapy, freaking out her Better Call Saul co-star and her frustration with the Guardian crosswordRhea Seehorn has had a hell of a year. For years she had garnered a reputation as a great underappreciated talent, but that has all changed now thanks to Pluribus. A series about one of the only people on Earth not to have their minds taken over by an alien virus, Pluribus is not only critically adored, but recently became Apple TV’s most-watched show. And Seehorn is front and centre through it all. However, today she has bigger things on her mind.“You gotta tell me how to crack the code,” she pleads before we’ve even said hello. “I’m an avid crossword puzzler, but I cannot beat the Guardian crossword. I cannot crack it, and I need to figure out what the problem is.” Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on May 2026 elections: a new political geography is coming into view across Britain | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at the impact of devolution on growing volatility of party political allegianceNext year will be pivotal in British politics, and 7 May will be the point around which things pivot. Elections to local councils, the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Senedd will give millions of voters across the UK a chance to express party preferences. Their verdicts could imperil Labour and Conservative leaders. In Wales, Labour might be sent into opposition for the first time since devolution. Plaid Cymru and Reform UK are set to make substantial gains. At Holyrood, the Scottish National party (SNP) is on course for a majority. That would be an extraordinary defiance of political gravity for a party weighed down by nearly two decades of incumbency.In England, both Labour and the Tories risk losing scores of councillors as their vote shares are gobbled up by the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and ...

Politics

3 d. ago Premier League and England icon's relationship with darts walk

Hazel O'Sullivan was regular on the darts circuit when she met a Premier League star

Politics

3 d. ago Ronnie O'Sullivan's favourite referee and why she was banned from officiating player

A snooker referee was unable to officiate one player's matches at the UK Championship due to a conflict of interest

Sport

3 d. ago Bono busking and a festive royal duet: photos of the day – Christmas Day

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

Culture

3 d. ago Queen Camilla's simple 'Boxing Day staple' breakfast enjoyed by the Royal Family

The Royal favourite recipe was nicknamed 'buttered eggs' by Princess Margaret

Politics