Exclusive: Structural weaknesses are threatening operating theatres, intensive care units and cancer units

• Leaky ceilings and sinking floors: inside St Helier hospital where staff fear for patient safety

Hospital buildings in England are in such a dilapidated state they risk fires, floods and electrical faults, internal NHS trust documents reveal, with leaders saying conditions have become “outright dangerous�.

Official papers from NHS trust board meetings show how staff and patients are being put at risk by an alarming array of hazards due to weaknesses in hospitals’ infrastructure.

Hogmanay festival organisers cancel outdoor events with high winds and rain predicted to hit city in coming days

Edinburgh’s New Year’s Eve street parties and fireworks display have been cancelled on safety grounds because of storms forecast for the next 36 hours.

The city’s Hogmanay festival organisers said the high winds and rain predicted to hit the city made it unsafe to hold any of the outdoor events planned for Monday and Tuesday nights.

Authorities announce investigation as shocked citizens enter second day of official mourning

South Korea has launched an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, and a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.

As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the inspection.

President-elect praised Carter as a ‘truly good man’ in U-turn from past rhetoric in their long thorny relationship

Joe Biden said Donald Trump should learn “decency� from Jimmy Carter’s legacy, in remarks delivered hours after the former president’s death on Sunday at age 100.

Speaking to reporters during a family vacation in the US Virgin Islands, the outgoing US president drew sharp contrasts between Carter’s character and that of his predecessor Trump, who is set to take over a second term as commander-in-chief in January.

Two others charged with drug supply in connection with One Direction singer’s fall from Buenos Aires hotel balcony

Three people have been charged with manslaughter, and two others with drug supply, in connection with the death of Liam Payne, who was allegedly seen being “dragged to his room� while unconscious moments before he fell from his balcony in Argentina earlier this year.

The 31-year-old former One Direction singer fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October.

Kemi Badenoch is judged to be to the right of Tories, and Lib Dems’ Ed Davey further left than Starmer

Keir Starmer is towards the rightwing of Labour members of parliament, according to a study of the political positions of the MPs from every major party.

The prime minister is less leftwing than almost all of his 401 Labour colleagues, according to the research by Chris Hanretty, a professor of politics at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Racing champion turned active travel advocate criticises parts of the media for safety scaremongering

The UK’s public health is being directly harmed by anti-cycling coverage in parts of the media, Chris Boardman, who heads the government’s main active travel organisation, has told the Guardian.

Boardman, a former champion cyclist and businessman, leads Active Travel England (ATE) and is at the forefront of government efforts to help people switch from car trips to healthier and more sustainable travel.

Electricity cable link to Estonia was damaged on Christmas Day in suspected Russian act of sabotage

Finnish investigators say they have found a seabed trail stretching almost 100km (about 60 miles) around the site of an underwater electricity cable that was damaged on Christmas Day in a suspected act of Russian sabotage.

The ship under suspicion of causing the damage, a vessel called the Eagle S flying the flag of the Cook Islands, is believed to be part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, used for transporting Russian oil products subject to embargos after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Hill, imprisoned for 16 years for 1974 pub bombing, set up organisation helping other victims of miscarriages of justice

Paddy Hill, one of six men wrongly convicted for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings who went on to set up an organisation dedicated to helping others facing miscarriages of justice, has died aged 80.

Cathy Molloy, the recently retired chief executive officer of the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (Mojo), which Hill founded, said he “died peacefully at his home in Ayrshire, cared for by his wife, Tara, on Monday morning�.

Federal appeals court upholds $5m sexual assault and defamation verdict in setback for president-elect

A federal appeals court has upheld the $5m verdict against Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming the magazine writer E Jean Carroll, dealing a legal setback to the president-elect.

The three-judge panel at the second US circuit court of appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s arguments for a new trial, ruling that evidence including testimony from other accusers – as well as the infamous Access Hollywood tape that captured him boasting about how it was normal for him to “grab [women] by the pussy� – was properly admitted.

Carter signed treaties to hand over the Panama Canal and criticized Israel, drawing respect and fury past his one term

In May 1989, the former US president Jimmy Carter walked into the lobby of a hotel in Panama and made it known he was determined to be heard in spite of attempts by the country’s military ruler, Gen Manuel Noriega, to shut him up.

Carter was still widely held in contempt in his own country, where his reputation as a one-term president was crucified in the late 70s by interminable gas lines, Iran’s taunting seizure of American hostages and a general perception that he lacked the mettle to lead the free world.

The former US president Jimmy Carter, who has died aged 100, achieved a far more favourable reputation after leaving the White House than he ever secured during his single term of office. Following his electoral defeat in 1980 – when Ronald Reagan beat him by 489 to 49 electoral college votes – his sustained efforts to improve life for the deprived people of the world won him the 2002 Nobel peace prize.

Carter left a mixed heritage from his presidential term. He put human rights firmly on the international agenda, persuaded Congress to cede US control of the Panama canal, demonstrated that peace settlements could be achieved in the Middle East, and completed the second strategic arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.

The 39th president was a Renaissance man who should be celebrated for his environment policy and his work for peace

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States and a Nobel peace prize-winning humanitarian, died on Sunday in Plains, Georgia, the tiny town where he and his formidable wife and life partner, Rosalynn, were born.

Carter – the longest-lived and longest-married US president – is unlikely to be placed in the first rank of American leaders, but his single four-year term is now seen in a much better light than it was when he was best known for the seizure of American hostages in Iran and for his crushing loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The ex-president was pilloried for his characterisation of the Palestinians’ plight but some say an apology is in order

Jimmy Carter’s terminal illness reignited a bitter dispute over accusations the former president was antisemitic after he wrote a bestselling book likening the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories to South African apartheid.

Prominent American supporters of Israel lined up to denounce Carter and the book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, when it was published in 2006.

St Helier’s NHS trust had been promised new building – but faces uncertainty after project put under review by chancellor

• England’s rundown hospitals are ‘outright dangerous’, say NHS chiefs

St Helier hospital is older than the NHS itself. A once beautiful modernist building that admitted its first patients in 1941, it has been left to crumble. The white paint is chipping at every corner of its formerly gleaming exterior and its state of the art balconies have been fenced off due to modern safety regulations.

More pressing concerns for staff are the structural issues that make their already challenging jobs much harder. Large windows built for an optimal stream of ventilation are held together with masking tape to stop them falling in on staff and patients. Corridor floors are sinking into the ground and seep mud, and lifts are out of service so often that ambulances are used to take the most vulnerable patients from side exits in wards to the main hospital building or the intensive care unit.

Mizo Games wants players to have a chance to ‘experience war on the tabletop before it reaches us’

As families in Taiwan prepare to gather for lunar new year celebrations in January, a game that will be released that month promises to offer some war-themed fun over the festive period.

The board game 2045, developed by the Taiwanese company Mizo Games, invites players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years in the future. Players are given roles that include Taiwanese army officers, Chinese sleeper agents and volunteer citizen fighters.

Families of the dead and missing struggle to come to terms with disaster that struck Jeju Air plane as it was coming in to land at Muan airport

“A bird is stuck in the wing. We can’t land,� one passenger on board the ill-fated Jeju Air flight 7C2216 sent out in a panicked text just before 9am on Sunday morning. “Should I write my final words?�

Minutes later, the Boeing 737-800 carrying 181 people veered off the runway and burst into flames, resulting in South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster.

From the silliest concept ever to killer thrillers so dull Villanelle would roll her eyes, there have been plenty of televisual duds in 2024. Here are the biggest turkeys

Yes, the Prince Andrew/Emily Maitlis head-to-head was the TV moment of 2019, and it is unlikely that any television interview will ever be as jawdropping again. But why did we need not just one but two screen recreations of it this year? This one came with Maitlis’s blessing, but sadly already existed in the shadow of Netflix’s Scoop. Despite excellent turns by Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson, it never felt anything other than slight and superfluous.

The average woman in the UK will spend 474 days applying makeup. Without it, I have more time for a life well spent

I am not sure when I gave up wearing makeup. I was never particularly good at it. As a student, I was thrown into an early 2000s performance of femininity that involved thick eyeliner flicks, dyed hair, doll-like blusher and bright pink lips. I felt the pressure of magazines, adverts and other women’s faces pressing me towards cosmetics like a hockey player being clapped into drinking beer out of their own shoe.

The fact that I never had the patience or the money to pull it off didn’t seem to matter. I wore makeup to work and even more makeup to sweat off on the dancefloor when I wasn’t at work. As my 20s slid into my 30s, I still wore mascara most days. I still owned lipsticks and liquid eyeliners and a vintage powder compact. I could still slap it on in the office toilet mirrors, under the arctic glare of a unisex lightbulb.

Arguments still rage about the decision to strip gymnast Chiles of her bronze medal. But one thing is clear: the Games’ organisers failed to live up to the event’s values

As Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles stood behind the podium at the medal ceremony for the Olympic women’s gymnastics floor exercise in Paris, the significance of the moment was clear to all. Their collective success marked the first time in history that three black gymnasts had won bronze, silver and gold at the Olympic Games. And after years of pushing the greatest gymnast of all time to the limit, Brazil’s Andrade had finally outperformed Biles.

In the frenetic moments between competition and ceremony, Chiles and Biles agreed that the special circumstances merited a statement. When Andrade stepped up with her arms aloft to collect the gold medal, the two Americans bowed down to the Brazilian. Andrade extended a hand to each gymnast in response. “Not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us in the United States our flowers as well,� said Chiles after the event, meaning flowers as a metaphor for recognition. “So giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. I felt like it was needed.�

Their new album Constellations for the Lonely ranks among their best work. But as they prepare to go on the road, the Williams brothers talk about their momentous decision to play without Goodwin

Just over four years ago, Doves were on the crest of a wave. Their first album in more than a decade – The Universal Want – had been rapturously received, helping them notch up their third UK No 1. All set to perform it live, the tour was suddenly cancelled due to frontman Jimi Goodwin’s mental health – he has since said he is in recovery from substance abuse.

The cancellation “was heartbreaking for us because this is all we’ve ever wanted to do,� explains guitarist Jez Williams, who formed Doves with drummer brother Andy and schoolfriend Goodwin in Wilmslow, Cheshire in 1998. Sat alongside him in a Manchester eaterie, Andy explains: “You can get away with that once, but if we had to pull a tour again it would be curtains.� Thus, in late 2023, with a new album on the way, and Goodwin telling them he still wasn’t up to touring, they made the momentous decision to go on the road without him.

A dazzling exhibition of Pakistan’s art and architecture – some of it never before loaned outside the country – shows how the repressive 11-year regime of Zia-ul-Haq triggered an extraordinary resistance

The 11-year religious dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq profoundly shaped the art of Pakistan. After the general’s successful coup in 1977, his regime ushered in martial law, trampled on women’s rights, enforced strict censorship and placed draconian restrictions on artistic expression.

Ascent of Man, an abstract painting by Quddus Mirza, is inspired by the controversial trial and hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the democratically elected prime minister overthrown by the coup. The painting, part of a groundbreaking exhibition of Pakistan’s art and architecture, depicts a man sitting in a chair while a headless body floats in the sky. It blends elements of magic realism with an allusion to the seventh-century martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the prophet Muhammad whose death was a major episode in Islam’s history that still resonates today.

Reflecting on a year of unfair decisions and shoddy treatment, we put the worst-offending firms on the podium

For years I have lived a lie. I have lambasted corporate Britain for letting the populace down. I’ve self-righteously blamed airlines for leaving passengers grounded, I’ve hounded energy firms for slugging pensioners with invented bills and exposed councils and insurers for pushing households into homelessness. These last 12 months it’s dawned on me that my ire has been misplaced. The fault lies squarely with consumers and their penchant for illicit activity.

Take those airline passengers. Observer readers, it seems, have form when it comes to trying to smuggle illegal items on board. If it weren’t for the vigilance of airline customer services, a blind Paralympian would brazenly have taken his assistance dog on a flight to a sporting championship, while airport security staff have, time and again, safeguarded the travelling public by confiscating the walking sticks of pensioners.

A backlash against dating culture and apps accelerated with Trump’s re-election, as many opted for self-sufficiency, fostering friendships and protesting against misogyny

Some call it “boysober�. Others take inspiration from South Korea’s 4B movement. And many just get right to it: they’re celibate.

For Olivia Iverson, a 28-year-old Minneapolis woman, it’s a little more complicated. For the past two years, she hasn’t dated much. She’s not opposed to finding someone, but she’s sworn off the apps and prioritized her existing friendships. “I’m re-centering my values around basically everything other than dating men,� Iverson, who works in marketing, said.

The ‘no poo’ movement claims that using a product to clean your barnet makes it less healthy. We ask an expert to come clean on the issue

“Shampoo is definitely not a scam,� says Neil Harvey, chair of the Institute of Trichologists.

He is sceptical of the idea, claimed by the “no poo� movement, that hair can wash itself and that using a product to cleanse it makes it less healthy. In fact, he says that the scalp – with its tens of thousands of follicles and sebaceous glands – needs just as much attention (if not more) than other areas of the body.

There is a clear benefit in taking responsibility for mistakes. So why do so many leaders fob off the public with obfuscation?

The Korean chief executive of Jeju Air, Kim E-bae, could not have been more direct. After the crash of one of the airline’s planes he went straight to the microphone, bowed deeply and said, “Regardless of the cause, as CEO, I feel profound responsibility for this incident.� He offered his “deepest condolences and apologies to the families of the passengers who lost their lives�.

The statement seemed unusual. Last week, another plane crash, this time in Kazakhstan, was acknowledged by a man similarly “responsible�, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. In a contorted message to his fellow leader in Azerbaijan, he said how sorry he was about “a tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace�. He expressed condolences but no responsibility for what has been widely accepted as a Russian missile attack, however unintended. Putin appeared not sorry, but devious.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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His rise to the Oval Office was meteoric. But what he did afterwards set the standard for statesmanship and public service

• Gordon Brown was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010

Though Jimmy Carter was, at the age of 100, the US president who had lived longer than any of the other 45 occupants of the office, he will be remembered for a more important reason. He is, and will be, mourned in every country and continent where civil liberties are valued and peace has proved elusive; revered as the leader who stood with all those who faced imprisonment, torture or persecution for defending democracy and human rights. Carter gave oppressed people hope. I was proud to learn from him and to count him and his wonderful wife, Rosalynn – who was also his closest adviser – as friends.

How to assess such a life? History will probably see Carter’s second act – his work as a former president – as more momentous than his four years in the Oval Office, from 1977 to 1981. In office, despite his negotiation of the landmark peace deal between Israel and Egypt, he was engulfed by intractable problems – the first oil shock, rampant inflation that was to reach 14% in 1980 – and, with the rise of a militant Iran, the destabilisation of the Middle East, problems that condemned him to a one-term presidency.

As a doctor, I am now seeing patients who have chosen not to take medication on the advice of online wellness influencers

In the age of the internet, Googling symptoms and treatments has been common practice for patients, and sometimes even doctors. The recent explosion in popularity of podcasts and short-form video content such as TikTok, however, has increased the amount of misinformation in search results to levels we have not seen previously – and this is now having tangible effects in the concerns patients present with in clinics and A&E.

This month’s BBC report around Steven Bartlett’s podcast, The Diary of a CEO, showed it was spreading harmful health misinformation, capturing a wider image of a moment we are currently seeing – people have less trust in health professionals and are increasingly relying on videos and other engaging content they see online.

Ammad Butt is a freelance writer and foundation doctor at University Hospitals Birmingham

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.

Our brains are miraculous and weird things, and it turns out everyone has different ways of processing the world

Sometimes I like to start a column by asking myself: should this really be a column that will live on the internet forever, for all and sundry to see? Or is this really an airing of my many neuroses that is better shared privately, with a therapist?

Not infrequently the answer is the latter. But therapy is expensive and comment is free, so I’m afraid, dear reader, that you’re going to have to be my shrink today. And I’ll get straight into my issues: I have a voice in my head that won’t shut up.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

These little wonders will give you a much-needed boost, and this is the perfect time to practice. Go on, you only need 10 minutes

I’m a big napper. World class, in fact. I can go from awake to the bottom of the ocean in five minutes flat, like a high diver off a cliff. It’s a longstanding talent of mine, but I’ve noticed, lately, that unlike other facilities that wane with middle age, my napping skills are only growing stronger. Times were when I wouldn’t have dared reach for a nap unless I had a clean hour before the next commitment. Now, with even 15 minutes to spare – 10 at an absolute push – I’ll risk it. It might look like narcolepsy, but I know the truth: that micro-napping is the key to everything.

I mean, not everything, obviously. But it is definitely the key to functionality after 4pm, the second shift when your kids come home from school and you reward them with your frazzled, after-work energy. Too much screen-time happens in my house because the idea of sitting on the floor to play Anarchy Pancakes or Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza with my nine-year-olds feels like a request to put on iron trousers and climb a steep hill. (And, as I’ve discovered, the only thing worse than not playing is playing in a limp, half-arsed way then calling the game off after one round with a bright “that was fun!� that makes everyone scowl.)

Charli xcx covered in red wine, Anna Sorokin in an ankle tag on Dancing with the Stars – it has been 12 months marked by chaos, indulgence and mess

If culture is the mirror that reflects the state of society, right now we’re all looking a little dishevelled – and struggling to find the energy to care. The signs have been there for a while, with rumblings initially picked up by trend forecasters’ finely tuned cultural seismometers. In 2021, Sean Monahan coined the term “the vibe shift� in his Substack to explain the transition from the self-controlled, self-improvement-obsessed worthiness of the 2010s to the messy decadence of the 2020s. Three years later, it feels like that earthquake has finally hit.

The text of the year was, of course, the album Brat by Charli xcx, and the image that summed it all up was from the lead single’s music video: the pop star pouring a glass of red wine while standing on a vibrating power plate, spilling it down her white T-shirt and staring defiantly into the camera. In the background, actor Rachel Sennott scrolls on her phone on an exercise ball and actor and model Julia Fox vapes while curling a dumbbell. If not dancing, this is casually leaning on the grave of wellness culture. The message is: ‘“It’s OK to be a bit messy, physically and mentally, and let’s have a good time while we’re at it.� While accepting a prize at the Wall Street Journal’s Innovator awards, the musician said: “Luckily for me, the pendulum of culture swung in favour of messiness, personality and the niche.�

Kirsty Major is a deputy Opinion editor for the Guardian

Carter was a man of extraordinary integrity. No president after him succeeded at doing as much post-White House good

Jimmy Carter’s presidency has been etched into historical memory as a failure. That judgment is curious, particularly when it comes from American conservatives; many of the right’s favorite policies – deregulation and a ruthless fight against inflation, no matter the cost in unemployment – were actually started under Carter. Of course, the more that malaise can be associated with the peanut farmer from Georgia, the shinier becomes his successor, Ronald Reagan, conservatism’s greatest 20th-century hero.

What should be beyond dispute is that Carter was the most successful ex-president of the postwar period, and perhaps the greatest former president, period. That has a lot do with his sheer integrity. But the fact that no former chief executive after Carter managed to emulate his model – using their skills and access to do genuinely important things in politics, rather than mostly cashing in – says much about our times.

The US is in urgent need of well-funded, truly independent journalism in 2025. Please make a gift to the Guardian now to help reach our year-end fundraising goal.

As a media critic and longtime journalist, I have serious worries about today’s news environment and its effect on democracy.

I’m concerned about corporate or chain ownership of news outlets that can skew the decision-making and priorities of media leaders. The bottom line seems to loom larger, at times, than tried-and-true journalistic standards do.

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Over the holidays, this column will explore next year’s urgent issues. Today, Today, why Europe’s key alliance faces a troubling year amid political turmoil

When Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signed the 1963 Elysée treaty of friendship between France and Germany, it was a moving milestone on the road to postwar European integration. But Emmanuel Macron tends to avoid sentimental references to the Franco-German “couple� that made the modern EU possible. Ahead of 60th anniversary celebrations of the treaty last year, Mr Macron’s aides observed that, for the French president, “joint European action is a geopolitical necessity, not a romantic matter�.

A touch dry and uninspirational perhaps. But a more coldly analytical approach suits the times. The Franco-German alliance was the indispensable force behind the creation of both the EU’s single market and the euro. But as Europe struggles to define its place in a multipolar and more threatening world, the bedrock partnership at its core is not what it was.

Plots and sprigged muslin aside, the author’s enduring legacy also lies in her relevance as a foil for modern mores

For some, it will be enough merely to re-read Persuasion, and thence to cry yet again at Captain Wentworth’s declaration of utmost love for Anne Elliot. But during the many and various celebrations in 2025 that will mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, others, it seems, are planning to take a rather more full-hearted approach. Be warned: there will be breeches.

In Bath, where Austen took up residence in 1801, a series of costume balls are to be staged, one with a seaside theme inspired by the uncompleted Sanditon. At Chawton in Hampshire, where she lived with her mother and sister Cassandra from 1809, festivals will be devoted to Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma, the latter to include a Dress Up Day, should you happen to have a sprigged muslin gown hanging at the back of your wardrobe.

The national curriculum isn’t working, say former teachers Pauline Silcock and Celia Roberts. Plus a letter from Coram CEO Dr Carol Homden

With reference to provision in schools for special educational needs and disabilities (Send), Anne Longfield is right to say that problems need to be identified early (Send provision in ‘vicious downward spiral’, says former children’s commissioner, 23 December). Her call for the expansion of and investment in Sure Start centres is the right one, together with her call for a focus on more inclusivity in mainstream schools.

As some parents attest, children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) can thrive alongside their mainstream peers when good additional support is provided. When this erodes, the negative impact on individual children and classroom life becomes evident. So it is understandable, although questionable, when a headteacher with Send expertise calls for more funding for special schools as the answer to the problem.

A simpler system | Waspi response | WhatsApp on holiday | Intrusive work emails | Smartphones | Eyes off the Eddies

Rather than chase after people who have not claimed what they are owed (Forget ‘benefit cheats’ – £23bn a year is going unclaimed. How do we get that to vulnerable people?, 23 December), the restoration of universal benefits without means tests, for all children and all pensioners, would be simpler and fairer. The better-off then pay their share through higher income tax. That is how a welfare state works.
Dr Sebastian Kraemer
London

• My husband and I received letters from the DWP recently to say we’d not be getting our fuel allowance this year, total value around £300. However, the same department failed to write and inform me of my six years’ loss of pension, total value in excess of £50,000. Where is the logic in that (Letters, 22 December)?
Kate Rous
Walpole, Suffolk

The best and worst of 2024 – featuring Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the war on woke and the happiest 34 seconds of the year

Keeper Lewis Patching – saying sorry in March after signing on loan for Rushden & Diamonds, conceding four, headbutting a fan in the bar and being sacked on the same day. “I was disappointed how the game panned out … I’d like to apologise and wish the club/supporter all the best moving forward.�

If Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton go down this season, that will be 10 of the last 15 promoted sides who have gone straight back down

• Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson here

And so the year ends, as always seemed likely, with the bottom three places in the Premier League occupied by the three promoted sides. With Wolves and Crystal Palace resurgent and Everton under new ownership and having found the solidity that is always the key strength of Sean Dyche teams, the situation is bleak for the three currently in the relegation zone. Each will have their own reflections on the first half of the season but, more generally, the picture is worrying: the three promoted sides were relegated last season and the gulf between Premier League and Championship is coming to feel almost impossibly wide.

The bottom side Southampton are 10 points from safety. Realistically they probably need to average a point and a half a game from here to stay up – which is to say that they are as good as down. The two games since Russell Martin was sacked have shown an improvement, but even then battling performances at Fulham and Crystal Palace have yielded a single point. Perhaps they would have had a better chance of survival had they not been wedded to a high-risk passing style that kept on surrendering possession in dangerous areas but, in truth, this never looked anything like a Premier League squad. The priority now must be to acquire the six points they need to avoid breaking Derby’s record low of 11 points for the season.

Paulo Fonseca failed to meet his own expectations but was treated poorly by Milan, who have appointed Sérgio Conceição

It was Paulo Fonseca who announced his own sacking shortly after midnight. Driving out of the parking lot at San Siro, he stopped briefly to answer questions from a reporter. “Yes, it’s true, I’ve exited Milan,� he said. “That’s life. Life goes like this. My conscience is calm, because I did everything I could.�

Such phrasing might make it sound like Fonseca took the decision himself. He did not. Milan eventually confirmed they had relieved the head coach of his duties in an official statement published on Monday morning.

The Aaron Rodgers experiment has been a slow-motion car wreck in New York. After Sunday’s latest catastrophic loss, it’s clearer than ever the Jets must turn the page

The score was 40-0. Buffalo had dominated New York in every sense of the word: offense, defense, special teams, body language, camaraderie. They were probably breathing superior air at that point. Finally, after another three-and-out to start the fourth quarter, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich benched Aaron Rodgers. It should have happened much earlier.

Backup Tyrod Taylor swooped in and immediately ran an efficient offense. The 15-play drive culminated with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, placed in a position that screamed: I trust you. Wilson fell to the ground as he caught the ball and stayed there for a few extra seconds. Whether it was cathartic, or Wilson was simply happy to put up the Jets’ first points of the day, the vibe had shifted.

Two interceptions, one of which perfectly illustrated Rodgers’ loss of arm zip

Sacked in the end zone for a safety

Giving up on a fumble recovered chase that Matt Milano took to the house

A late hit penalty (really)

Underthrowing too many short-to-mid range passes that landed at his receivers’ feet and then openly blaming them for the incompletions

• Grant Bradburn referred to independent cricket regulator
• Investigation made New Zealander’s position ‘untenable’

Glamorgan have sacked head coach Grant Bradburn after allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against the New Zealander. The Welsh county referred Bradburn to the independent cricket regulator following the allegations and the 58-year-old was subsequently charged with misconduct.

“We are confident that a fair and transparent process has been followed in this case,� read a Glamorgan statement. “Glamorgan Cricket has a zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour of any kind. Having completed our own internal investigation, it became clear that Mr Bradburn’s position was untenable, and the club is now providing the appropriate support to those affected.�

The Guardian and Observer sport photographer selects his favourite images of the year and recalls the stories behind them

It’s been quite a year, and one totally dominated by the “big three�: the men’s Euros in Germany and the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. This a personal selection of my favourite pictures, a few of which haven’t been published before. Some have been chosen for their news value; others are here because there’s a nice tale behind them.

Author of William Hill award-winning book The Racket does not miss life on tour as world No 129 but holds no bitterness towards the game

Conor Niland laughs and, without hesitating, rejects the idea that he misses the intensity of competition which shaped and sometimes deformed his life as a professional tennis player who reached a high of No 129 in the world. “No,� he exclaims. “I found myself waking up with butterflies in my stomach on the morning of the William Hill [Sports Book of the Year award] and thinking: ‘I haven’t felt this in a while, and I don’t particularly miss it.’ I don’t think anyone enjoys butterflies that much.�

Niland scrabbled around on the Futures and Challengers tours, those brutal circuits of hell for players outside the top 100 where intensity is often defined by the need to win a match to earn enough money to pay a hotel bill or book a plane ticket out of Astana or Delhi and fly to the next tournament in the hope of climbing the rankings. The dream of becoming an ATP regular has now been replaced for Niland, who retired from tennis in 2012, by a very different dream which saw him deservedly win the Sports Book of the Year last month for The Racket.

LeBron James’ birthday on Monday will make him the first NBA player to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. Knowing when to walk away may be the hardest part of his journey

It’s Christmas Day and a scrum of journalists surround a smiling, exhausted LeBron James in the visiting locker room at Chase Center in San Francisco, minutes after the latest installment in a decades-spanning catalog of thrilling battles with his friend and foe, Stephen Curry. James is asked, in light of all the recent hand-wringing about the state of the NBA as an entertainment product, what he thinks the “good stuff� is in the league on a given night. “LeBron and Steph�, he shoots back, grinning. And he’s not wrong. But it’s just a few days out from 30 December, which marks his 40th birthday, and the quadragenarian elephant in the room casts a somewhat melancholy shadow over the joy of the high-level basketball being played. No one, maybe not even James, knows exactly how much time is left in his illustrious NBA career. But it isn’t much.

Since his return from a still-mysterious nine-day excused absence from the Lakers a few weeks ago, James has been playing that aforementioned high-level basketball again following a rocky spell in the beginning of the season. For maybe the first time of note, James showed flashes of true, marked decline during that stretch, putting forth his worst shooting numbers since his rookie season more than two decades ago. His recent return to form calls into question if that regression was less of a bellwether and more of an aberration, perhaps brought forth by fatigue after a summer of intense (and wildly entertaining) Olympic play en route to his third gold medal. But fluke or not, it did shine a light on a topic that has been ominously hanging over every step of James’ trajectory over the last few seasons: his imminent retirement, which he has alluded to coming sooner rather than later on several occasions, and the cavernous, face-of-the-league-sized hole that will be left in his wake whenever he does decide to hang it up.

UN secretary general, António Guterres, says ‘we must exit this road to ruin’ in annual new year message

The world has endured a “decade of deadly heat�, with 2024 capping 10 years of unprecedented temperatures, the UN has said.

Delivering his annual new year message, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the 10 hottest years on record had happened in the past decade, including 2024.

Analysis of insurance payouts by Christian Aid reveals three-quarters of financial destruction occurred in US

The world’s 10 most costly climate disasters of 2024 caused $229bn in damages and killed 2,000 people, the latest annual analysis of insurance payouts has revealed.

Three-quarters of the financial destruction occurred in the world’s biggest economy, the US, where climate denier Donald Trump will become president next month.

Communities across the UK are fighting ‘catastrophic’ proposals to build new energy-from-waste plants

Labour faces a growing backlash across the country over proposals to build a new generation of more than 40 waste incinerators to burn household and commercial rubbish.

Communities are fighting plans for the new energy-from-waste incinerators which have been called the UK’s dirtiest form of power. The plants, some of which can burn more than 500,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, are often located in more deprived areas.

Academic Danilo Brozović says studies of failed civilisations all point in one direction – today’s society needs radical transformation to survive

For someone who has examined 361 studies and 73 books on societal collapses, Danilo Brozović’s conclusion on what must happen to avoid today’s world imploding is both disarmingly simple and a daunting challenge: “We need dramatic social and technological changes.�

The collapse of past civilisations, from the mighty Mayan empire to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), has long fascinated people and for obvious reasons – how stable is our own society? Does ever-growing complexity in societies or human hubris inevitably lead to oblivion? In the face of the climate crisis, rampant destruction of the natural world, rising geopolitical tensions and more, the question is more urgent than ever.

Survey by Chartered Management Institute finds only 19% of companies have a policy in place

• ‘Exhaustive, expensive and soul-destroying’: one NHS worker’s infertility journey

Employers should have formal policies in place to help workers who are undergoing fertility treatment, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has said, warning that businesses are increasingly losing talented people by failing to support them.

With NHS data showing that one in every seven couples have difficulty conceiving, the professional body urged companies to be understanding and supportive, and offer flexible work hours and paid time off to accommodate medical appointments, as well as paid compassionate leave when necessary.

Financier has sued paper over articles containing allegations that he had sexually assaulted or harassed women

The hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is seeking at least £79m in damages from the Financial Times after suing the publication for libel, documents filed at the high court show.

Odey began legal action against the FT in May over four articles published in 2023 which contained allegations that he had sexually assaulted or harassed multiple women.

Marcus Fakana hands himself in to authorities and will serve year-long sentence in Dubai’s al-Awir prison

A British teenager has handed himself in to the authorities in Dubai to begin a one-year prison sentence for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, a campaign group has said.

Marcus Fakana, 18, was on holiday with his family in the United Arab Emirates when he met the girl, who is also from London and turned 18 the following month. He was arrested at his hotel and charged after the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures after the family’s return to London and called the Dubai police.

Cask N Tandoor pub, 200m from Anne Hathaway’s cottage, accused of breaching legal covenant limiting development

A pub that serves “sizzling tandoori dishes� within shouting distance of a Shakespeare heritage site may have to be demolished as the result of planning objections.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has claimed that the Cask N Tandoor pub was built in breach of a legal covenant that limits development on land owned by the hotelier Rakesh Singh.

Finance lead for England and Wales police chiefs says focus on officers gets in way of making better use of budgets

Police forces should be allowed to cut officer numbers and spend more money on technology to boost crime fighting, a police chief has said.

Chief constable Paul Sanford, who leads for police chiefs on finances, said there was an obsession with officer numbers, even though it would often be more effective to have fewer officers supported by better technology.

More than 400 pubs called last orders in 2024 amid rising costs and cautious consumer spending

• Business live – latest updates

More than 400 pubs in England and Wales shut their doors for good this year against a backdrop of rising costs and cautious spending among consumers.

The number of pubs has fallen below 39,000 for the first time, as 412 were demolished or converted for other uses in the year to December, according to an analysis of government figures by the property data company Altus Group. Most of the closures happened in the first half of the year.

Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).

Summer break in August had to be cancelled after attack in Southport led to violent unrest across the UK

Keir Starmer has finally been able to take an overseas holiday and is understood to be in Madeira with his family over the new year.

While he has the use of Chequers, his official country retreat, the prime minister was unable to go on a planned summer break in August after rioting broke out in a series of towns and cities.

Jump of 17.2% in 12 months to September for city, while Huddersfield had largest decline

Stoke-on-Trent experienced the biggest annual house price growth in the UK, while Huddersfield had the biggest decline, according to the mortgage lender Halifax.

Average house prices in the Staffordshire city jumped by 17.2% or £33,000 in the 12 months to September, to £227,002 as buyers sought more affordable options against a backdrop of high mortgage costs.

Stoke-on-Trent £227,002 +17.2 %

Slough £497,704 +14.9%

Oldham £250,546 14.6%

Bradford £226,261 +13.1%

Bolton £252,070 +12.9%

Barnsley £224,886 +12.6%

Wolverhampton £278,083 +12.4%

Doncaster £228,040 +11.6%

Dunfermline £230,379 + 10.8%

Hamilton £229,835 +10.3%

Huddersfield £260,498 -6.6%

Wirral £294,250 -5.4%

Ealing £559,788 -4.9%

Southwark £555,325 -4.8%

Kingston upon Thames £582,282 -4.2%

Enfield £506,667 -4%

Harrow £552,203 -3.6%

Westminster £730,859 -3.6%

Bromley £541,131 -3.2%

Aylesbury £423,252 -2.8%

UK culture minister says government wants to ‘open a dialogue’, but will intervene if platforms do not comply

The UK culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has written to video-sharing platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, urging them to promote higher quality educational content to children.

Recent statistics suggest that although a decade ago children watched an average of two hours’ television a day, that has since dropped by more than 70%. Instead, children were migrating to YouTube, TikTok and other streaming platforms between the ages of four and eight, Nandy said.

Lawyer says he wishes to spare Gisèle Pelicot a new ordeal after marathon trial convicted all 51 accused

Dominique Pelicot will not appeal against his conviction for drugging and raping his wife and inviting strangers to rape her, his lawyer has said.

Béatrice Zavarro said the former electrician, 72, who was jailed for the maximum 20 years this month, wished to spare his now ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, a new ordeal but admitted there was also the risk a new trial in front of a public jury could mean a longer prison sentence.

A spate of murders has taken the Caribbean nation’s total to 623 in 2024, of which nearly half were gang related and almost all linked to organised crime, say police

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has declared a state of emergency after a weekend of violence in the Caribbean dual-island nation took the number of murders this year to 623.

Five men were shot overnight in an estate on the outskirts of the capital, Port of Spain, a man killed outside a police station on Saturday, and a 57-year-old woman was shot dead on Friday as she collected her teenage son from hospital in San Fernando.

Government spokesperson says freedom of speech ‘covers the greatest nonsense’ after Musk’s endorsements of AfD

The German government has accused Elon Musk of trying to meddle in the country’s election campaign with repeated endorsements of the far-right party AfD.

“It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election,� said the government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann after Musk’s X posts and an opinion piece published at the weekend backing the anti-Muslim, anti-migration Alternative für Deutschland.

Trial conducted solely against teenager’s parents as their son could not be criminally prosecuted due to his age

A Belgrade court has jailed the parents of a 13-year-old boy after he shot dead nine students and a security guard at an elementary school in Serbia’s capital last year.

The killings, on 3 May 2023, deeply shocked the Balkan state, where mass shootings have been rare despite high levels of gun ownership.

Match Group’s digital assistant will tailor profiles and search for dates – but critics fear genuine connections are at risk

Fed up with writing dating profiles? Or sick and tired of swiping? Dating apps not really doing it for you? Let a digital sidekick take the strain.

While user fatigue may be setting in – reports suggest a notable decline in usage – the world’s biggest online dating company is launching an artificial intelligence assistant that it claims will “transform� online dating.

Study finds small but significant increase in characters talking about murder or killing over past 50 years

Talk of homicide is on the rise in films, researchers have found, in a trend they say could pose a health concern for adults and children.

A study found that over the past 50 years there had been a small but significant increase in movie characters talking about murdering or killing.

Warsaw’s return to the European mainstream with presidency of the EU Council may not be quite what it seems

Germany’s chancellor appears to be heading for defeat; France’s president is mired in crisis. But while Europe’s traditional power duo are in the doldrums, there is a strong, stable and pro-EU leader east of Paris and Berlin – Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk.

For European officials, it’s a helpful gift of the calendar that Poland takes charge of the EU Council rotating presidency from 1 January.

Order triggers new wave of displacement and there are reports of damage to two more Gaza hospitals

Israel has issued new evacuation orders for all remaining civilians to leave Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza as part of a blistering three-month-old campaign that Israel denies is aimed at depopulating a third of the Palestinian territory, amid reports Israeli attacks have damaged two more struggling hospitals in Gaza City.

The Israeli army forcibly evacuated Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday, leaving the northern third of the strip, which is cut off from the rest of Gaza, with just one small functioning medical centre, al-Awda, in nearby Jabalia. On Sunday, everyone remaining in Beit Lahia was ordered to leave after Palestinian militants launched five rockets from the area that targeted Israeli territory.

For years reporters at Syria’s state news agency had to toe the line. As life in Syria grew harder, so did the their work

After 21 years, the day Farouk feared had finally come. An envelope sealed with red wax made its way through the faded hallways of Syria’s national news agency, Sana, and landed on his desk. Inside was what employees called a penalty, the contents of which could range from a reprimand from the editors to a summons to one of Syria’s brutal security branches.

“I found a mistake before the article was published and I brought it to the editors’ attention. I thought this would be a good thing but they punished me,� Farouk, a journalist on Sana’s foreign news desk, said under a pseudonym.

A trade war started by Donald Trump is seen as the biggest risk to market stability next year

• Business live – latest updates

Global stock markets are tipped to keep rising in 2025, led by more gains among US shares, despite anxiety about inflation and fears that Donald Trump could spark a new trade war.

Wall Street analysts are forecasting the S&P 500 will rise by roughly 9% in 2025, taking the index of US companies up to about 6,500 points by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg datar.

In this week’s newsletter: this year’s bestsellers; tried-and-tested waterproof jackets; and heated throws for a cosy January

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Will 2024 really be remembered for brat, brain rot and AI-generated slop? Judging by the Filter recommendations you loved the most, it’s actually been the year of heated blankets, book lights and big coats. An altogether more cuddly vibe.

It makes perfect sense. When times are toxic, you reach for comfort. You’ve already had your fill of Trump, Musk and Baby Reindeer – not to mention rain, rising bills and the relentless horror of global news – so you’re craving a psychological detox. Finding joy in autumn’s best beauty buys and money-saving products that make life easier is a way of giving your mood a hug.

Electric toothbrushes promise healthier teeth and gums and can transform your oral hygiene. We put more than 20 models to the test to reveal the best for every budget

If you grew up using a conventional toothbrush – essentially a stick with bristles on the end – you may be surprised to learn just how long the electric toothbrush has been around. The first was designed in the late 1930s, but that model was a long way from the sleek, feature-packed and Bluetooth-enabled beasts you can buy today.

There are now dozens of ultra-advanced versions on the market, but which ones are worth your cash? For the past two months, my teeth have become figurative guinea pigs to help you find the answer to that question. I put a bunch of electric toothbrushes from Oral-B, Philips, Suri, Ordo, Silk’n, Foreo and more through their paces to separate the best from the rest. Here are my conclusions.

Best electric toothbrush overall:
Spotlight Sonic Pro
_{£150 at Look Fantastic}

Best value electric toothbrush:
Icy Bear Next-Generation sonic toothbrush
_{£64.99 at Icy Bear Dental}

Best premium electric toothbrush:
Philips Sonicare Smart 9400
_{£160.99 at Amazon}

Best oscillating toothbrush:
Oral-B iO3
_{£60 at Boots}

Best electric toothbrush for sustainability:
Suri sonic toothbrush
_{£80.75 at Boots}

If you’re looking to heat the human not the home – or just love snuggling under something cosy on your sofa – these are our best buys

Aside from hugging a fluffy hot-water bottle, sipping the Christmas whisky and ramping up the thermostat, an electric blanket or heated throw is the best way to keep out the winter chill. More than half of a typical household’s fuel bills goes on heating and hot water, so finding alternative ways to keep warm – and heating the person, rather than the whole home – is always a good idea.

Many of the best electric blankets and heated throws boast running costs of about 1p to 3p an hour, so it’s hard to ignore their potential energy- and money-saving benefits.

Best overall electric blanket:
Fogarty Wonderfully Warm
_{King, £80 at Dunelm}

Best budget electric blanket:
Slumberdown Sleepy Nights
_{King, £33.60 at Amazon}

Best quilted electric blanket:
Dreamland Pure Comfort bamboo underblanket
_{King, £139.99 at Amazon}

Best overall heated throw:
Beurer heated snuggle blanket
_{Extra-large, £84.99 at Beurer}

Best budget heated throw:
OHS electric heated fleece over blanket
_{£34 at Online Home Shop}

Whether you prefer to pop the cork on prosecco, English fizz or alcohol-free, these sparkling wines are the best around

A celebratory bottle of bubbly doesn’t just mean champagne any more. Sure, it could be champagne, but it also could be méthode Tasmanoise, crémant or even English or Indian sparkling wine.

Whether it’s dryness, flavour, or a specific country of origin or you’re looking for, there is a fizz to fit the bill. Here’s a selection of the best supermarket, wine club and online picks to raise a glass with. Bottoms up!

The latest in a series of writers paying tribute to their go-to comfort watches is a recommendation of 1992’s satisfying con movie

To quote the late, great Leonard Cohen: everybody knows the dice are loaded, everybody knows the fight is fixed. That’s a cynical outlook, but one to which I fully adhere. Which perhaps explains why so many of my go-to comfort movies are about con artists.

Granted, not every classic con movie makes for a breezy watch – no one throws on The Grifters when they need a pick-me-up – but many do. The Lady Eve, Paper Moon, The Sting, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Ocean’s 11 – with their myriad twists and turns, hip earworm dialog, and stacked casts playing lovable rogues sticking it to the man, they prove endlessly rewatchable.

5 March 1934 – 27 March 2024
The neuroscientist celebrates the Nobel-winning author of Thinking, Fast and Slow – a psychologist whose elegance of thought helped reveal the foibles of human reasoning

• Read the Observer’s obituaries of 2024 in full

Daniel Kahneman was a brilliant scientist who marvelled at his own errors in thinking. “The essence of intuitive heuristics: when faced with a difficult question, we often answer an easier one instead, usually without noticing the substitution�, he wrote in Thinking, Fast and Slow. He turned that fascination into a career, becoming one of the founders of the field in modern psychology known as judgment and decision making.

I first met Danny when I was a student at Stanford, working in the laboratory of his longtime collaborator Amos Tversky. Danny worked across the bay at University of California, Berkeley, and he and Amos alternated visits on a regular basis, just as they alternated authorship on their papers. It was Danny’s turn to come to Stanford.

The Gavin and Stacey star associates Paul Weller with dolphins and doesn’t think Fleetwood Mac are sexy. But who does she swear along to to in the car?

The first song I fell in love with
Wild Wood by Paul Weller, when I was in the National Youth Theatre of Wales, staying away from home for the first time, spotting dolphins in the sea in Aberystwyth.

The first single I bought
My grampa bought me Joanna by Kool & the Gang and Mickey by Toni Basil from Woolworths in Swansea. When I got older, I bought Push It! by Salt-N-Pepa, which I played on the big silver record player in the living room.

The writer and director worked on a string of successful comedies in the 1980s and 90s, including Private Benjamin and The Parent Trap, frequently with then wife Nancy Meyers

Charles Shyer, the director of Father of the Bride and Baby Boom, who formed a successful comedy film-making partnership with his then wife Nancy Meyers, has died aged 83. His family confirmed his death in a statement to Deadline, and his daughter, film-maker Hallie Meyers-Shyer, told the Hollywood Reporter he died in hospital in Los Angeles “after a brief illness�.

Shyer had a hand in a string of successful comedies made over four decades, often in conjunction with Meyers, whom he married in 1980. The son of studio executive Melville Shyer, he cut his teeth as a writer on the TV series The Odd Couple (starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman), before breaking into movies with a writing credit on Smokey and the Bandit. He co-wrote the Goldie Hawn comedy Private Benjamin with Myers and his fellow Odd Couple writer Harvey Miller. Directed by Howard Zieff, Private Benjamin was a huge hit on its release in 1980, earning Shyer an Oscar nomination and enabling him to move into the director’s chair.

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
This hotch-potch musical with disappointingly broad characters, jarring over-acting and lack of emotional impact falls flat

This tale about a town whose grownups mysteriously disappear plays on the concept of children “Home Alone� but with added scares and a climate message. All the elements of an appealing children’s show are in this adaptation of Tom Fletcher’s book, from puppetry to song and dance, yet it fails to create magic.

Under Tom Jackson Greaves’s direction, the story is too slow to set off, with the Creakers – rubbish-loving monsters, of sorts – not emerging in fullness until the end of the first act. When they do reveal themselves they are an interesting mix of the cuddly and grotesque, but not characterful enough.

Openings across Africa and Asia offer new cultural experiences in stunning architectural surroundings

From a noisy, performative and unapologetically non-European Yorùbá cultural centre in Lagos, Nigeria, to the much-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, 2024 was a big year for museums opening in the developing world. A number of projects will also be inaugurated in 2025, offering an abundance of new museums to visit in 2025. Here are some of the best of them:

Topped with Charli xcx’s swaggering yet vulnerable Brat, here are the year’s finest LPs as decided by 26 Guardian music writers
• More best music of 2024
• More on the best culture of 2024

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Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama was chilling, Lily Farhadpour charmed in Iran and Paul Mescal was tremendous in a fantasy-romance as our critics select their standout picks of the year
• The best films in the US
• More on the best culture of 2024

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Is Avril Lavigne really dead? Can Michael Sheen save us from chemical poisoning? And exactly how X-rated does Lily Allen get? Here are our top picks of the year’s hottest podcasts

It’s almost 40 years since a baby-faced Woody Harrelson ambled into Ted Danson’s bar on Cheers, and despite their differing career paths since – with Harrelson departing the sitcom world for Hollywood’s big leagues – the two remain close pals. This warm and unvarnished interview series saw them reunite creatively, as they caught up with showbiz friends including Jane Fonda, Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson and even Kelsey Grammer (to whom Danson extended a heartfelt apology over an old rift from all those years ago).

What a year of telly! A true story made for groundbreaking (and controversial) viewing, a chalk-and-cheese pair finally got it on – and a gorgeous Japanese epic became an instant classic
• More on the best culture of 2024

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A brilliantly simple canapé of scallop and mushroom topped with herby breadcrumbs and served in half-shells

You can serve these in one of two ways: three scallops, each in large half-shells or small ramekins as a dinner party starter, or if you are lucky enough to have 18 small shells, serve them as canapes – my daughter appropriated my collection into her toy kitchen, so I had to beg for them back: “I’m making fish fingers in a shell!� She didn’t buy it. For anyone who isn’t a toddler, these are a lovely, easy, prep-ahead dish.

A novel approach to a side of gammon, wrapped in fresh bread, may well be your new favourite party centrepiece

As well as being a glorious thing, a well-cured ham is a generous thing, giving many times over. The first is the simmering, which Nigella Lawson describes as “a savoury clove-scented fog� filling the room, poaching the joint and creating a highly flavoured stock for later use. Then comes the second fog of roasting meat and, in the case of this recipe, the bread wrapped around it, which is an idea borrowed from a cafeteria buffet in Trieste.

There is the pleasure of ham itself, too, brought to the table, carved and enjoyed, but only up to a point. When it comes to ham, it isn’t enough to hope that there are leftovers; it is necessary to ensure that there are leftovers, for sandwiches or to go with fried eggs and thin chips. And because a little ham goes a long way, I hope for leftovers of leftovers, which can be cut into small chunks and added to ham stock and pea soup.

He left £60,000 in an account, and now it’s stuck there because they won’t engage with me over the administration of the estate

My father died with a Barclays account balance of over £60,000. My sibling and I were joint executors. The money in the estate was to be divided equally between us and the rest of our siblings.

Unfortunately, the relationship between my sibling and me has broken down and they are not engaging with me, or the administration of the estate.

The stark landscapes of mid-winter are the best time for enjoying the elements on these routes. Our writers tell us the personal stories behind their favourite hikes

You can concertina this walk into a couple of hours, or else pack a lunch, take all day and let it breathe. Its centrepiece is Derwent Edge, a line in the sky running south to north, the preferred direction of travel, past a series of rocks and outcrops with down-to-earth names, like the Wheel Stones, the Salt Cellar and the Cakes of Bread, that don’t do justice to their sculptural mystery.

Social monogamy has been observed in less than 10% of mammal species – and birds have been shown to be less faithful than previously believed

• More summer essentials

In 2011 a shock celebrity break-up garnered headlines around the world – not the separation of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, nor Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, but the sudden, inexplicable rupture between Bibi and Poldi, two 115-year-old Galápagos tortoises at Happ reptile zoo in Austria.

After nearly a century as a couple, the female, Bibi, had had enough: one day, she bit a chunk off Poldi’s shell, drawing blood, and continued to attack him until zoo staff moved him to a separate enclosure.

Time flies when you’re… in a boring routine, according to research, which shows that new experiences, from foreign travel to a walk in nature, can alter our perception of time

It’s the time of the year for endless cliches. From “tis the season� and “the gift that keeps on giving� to “new year, new you�, there’s nowhere to hide from tired old phrases. One of my favourites is “Christmas comes around quicker each year� – which ignores the fact that one year equals one trip around the sun.

There’s often a kernel of truth in a cliche, though. A recent study by Ruth Ogden from Liverpool John Moores University and colleagues showed that the vast majority of people in both the UK and Iraq really did experience Christmas (or Ramadan) approaching more rapidly every year. This may be down partly to festive decorations appearing ever earlier in the season. But it’s also a result of how we perceive time psychologically.

We would like to hear from people in the UK and what they predict will happen to their finances next year

We want to find out more about how people in the UK feel about the state of their finances and what the new year might bring for them.

What are your hopes and concerns for your finances in 2025? Are you hoping to get promoted or change jobs? Are you starting a family and worried about how you will manage? Perhaps you have been unemployed and will be returning to work next year. What will this mean for you?

Share a tip on a peerless architectural or sculptural creation, ancient or modern – the best tip wins £200 towards a Coolstays break

The Seven Wonders of the World was a list of peerless architectural and sculptural creations from the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East drawn up in the 2nd century BC by Greek travellers following Alexander the Great’s conquests. Only one is still standing – the Great Pyramid of Giza. In 2001, the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation came up with an updated list, which included Machu Picchu, Petra and the Taj Mahal. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so we would like you to tell us about your personal wonder of the world. It could be an ancient stone circle, a statue, a stately home, a temple or even a modern-day skyscraper.

If you have a relevant photo, do send it in – but it’s your words that will be judged for the competition.

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their winter encounters with nature

Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14.

The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a majestic deer, a busy rock pool or a yomp in the woods.

We want to hear from people about the items they have lost after they were delivered and left on their doorstep

Now that Black Friday has come and gone, we’d like to find out more about the deliveries you have received but that have gone missing from your doorstep.

Were you able to retrieve the lost parcel? If you raised the issue with the retailer or courier, what happened? Were you able to get a replacement or a refund?

Even as experts remain puzzled by Jeju Air crash, they are sceptical a bird strike was sole cause of fatal disaster

One day after the fatal airline disaster in South Korea, the answer as to what went wrong with Jeju Air 2216 remains elusive.

Even as experts remain puzzled by what caused the crash that killed 179 people, experts say that a bird striking the engine is unlikely to be the sole factor.

Republican figures are using their influence to sell a variety of goods, preying on people’s political affiliations

If you wanted to, you could smell like Donald Trump. Or you could drink coffee developed by Rudy Giuliani. You could also use a nicotine product developed by Tucker Carlson, read your children a Trump-themed book written by Mike Huckabee, take health pills hawked by Dr Oz and wear T-shirts designed by Kash Patel.

These are only a few of the products that Trump and people in his circle are selling to the American public, as Republicans and the right wing have established an unprecedented culture of grifting – hawking everything from Bibles to scraps of fabric to NFTs in a ruse that has become a multimillion-dollar micro industry.

Hostilities are taking place in more than 170 locations across the globe and women are suffering the effects more than at any time since the second world war. Here, female photojournalists reveal personal stories of life under fire

For Lynsey Addario, a celebrated conflict photographer, covering war in 2024 was all about a six-year-old girl from Ukraine. For most of the summer, Addario followed Sonya and her family as they navigated the final stages of her short life in a hospice in Chernivtsi, western Ukraine.

The girl’s treatment for retinoblastoma, an aggressive eye cancer, had been disrupted by the Russian invasion in February 2022 and then lapsed when the family were forced by the fighting to move to Poland as refugees. By the spring of this year, her body was riddled with tumours.

‘Shattering but tender’: a semi-conscious Sonya Kryvolapchuk, six, lies next to her mother, Natalia, 27, at a care centre in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Photograph: Lynsey Addario for the New York Times

Competition named after champion surfer Eddie Aikau is held only when waves in Waimea Bay top 30ft

A rare surfing event, the Eddie, took place in Hawaii last week, thanks to some giant waves.

Formed about a week ago in the north Pacific Ocean, the waves emerged as a low-pressure system produced an exceptionally large swell. They went on to hit Hawaii, enabling the Eddie to take place for just the 11th time in its 40-year history.

Bumper grain crop set to weigh heavily as farmers count costs of seed, fertilizer – and effects of possible trade war

Many US midwestern grain farmers will lose money this year after reaping a bumper crop, and the outlook for their future income is bleak.

US farmers harvested some of the largest corn and soybean crops in history this year. Big harvests traditionally weigh on crop prices because of plentiful supply. And those price pressures comes at a time when costs remain persistently high to grow corn and soybeans, the US’s most valuable crops.

What explains this shift? The answer lies in a combination of physiology, metabolism and strategy

Men are dominant at most athletic events but ultra-endurance sports (exercising for six hours or more) represent a unique domain where the performance gap between men and women is narrowing significantly.

In traditional endurance events like marathons, men consistently outperform women by about 10%.