TNT make if official. By the looks of things, Usman Khawaja, who must’ve wondered if he’d ever play Tests again, comes in.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Josh Tongue goes. As Steve Finn just noted, he’s not bowled terribly, but it always felt that his run early in his Test career wouldn’t translate to this series. And what Tongue has is the ability to bowl unplayable deliveries; whether he can avoid getting clobbered in between remains to be seen.
Prices for the ‘supporter entry’ tier are capped at $60
Tier will be available to supporters for all 104 games
Allocation will comprise 1.6% of available tickets
Amid backlash against exorbitant prices for the 2026 World Cup, Fifa on Tuesday announced that it had created a new tier of tickets specifically for supporters of the involved teams for each game, with prices capped at $60 per ticket for every match of the tournament, including the final.
The new pricing category will be part of the allotment of tickets distributed by the associations for the participating teams, who each get 8% of available tickets for every match they play. The new pricing tier, called the entry tier, will comprise 10% of that 8% allotment, or 1.6% of all available tickets taking into account both sets of supporters. Given the size of most 2026 World Cup stadiums, that amounts to a little over 1,000 tickets per match available at that price point, split evenly between supporters of both teams.
Exclusive: Shabana Mahmood plans to ‘use full power of the state’ to curb rise in targeted attacks using websites
Convicted sex offenders will be forced to notify police with the details of any dating app and social media accounts or face up to five years in jail, under plans announced by Shabana Mahmood.
In a move intended to help curb the explosion in targeted attacks using websites, the home secretary said “the full power of the state” would be used to bear down on online abusers.
As Facundo Buonanotte saddled up beside Alejandro Garnacho on the advertising hoardings in front of the pocket of away supporters after the latter opened the scoring at a jam-packed Cardiff City Stadium, for a moment or two everything seemed all right in the often chaotic world of Chelsea. Then, with 15 minutes remaining, the hosts equalised through David Turnbull’s sublime diving header and another awkward 48 hours were on the cards for Enzo Maresca.
Questions would surely have been asked of him by the Chelsea hierarchy had the League One leaders reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals at their expense. Fortunately for Maresca and Chelsea, the substitute Pedro Neto struck a late goal, his low shot sparing the Premier League side any embarrassment. Garnacho’s second in stoppage time sealed the result.
Fifa introduces a small number of "more affordable" $60 (£45) tickets for all 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup following criticism of its pricing structure for the tournament.
Fifa introduces a small number of "more affordable" $60 (£45) tickets for all 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup following criticism of its pricing structure for the tournament.
The alleged gunman shot dead by police during Sunday’s attack on Australia’s Bondi beach was originally from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad and his family there seemed unaware of his alleged “radical mindset”, Indian police said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile the second alleged gunman who was hospitalised after also being shot by police has awoken from a coma and may be charged as early as today, Seven News has reported.
Mark Chavez gets eight months of home confinement and three years of supervised release after star’s overdose death
A doctor who pleaded guilty in a scheme to supply ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his overdose death was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence that included three years of supervised release to 55-year-old Dr Mark Chavez in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
Mother told court she ‘relives the moment over and over’ when she thought her daughter was being killed in front of her
A man who “furiously and repeatedly” stabbed an 11-year-old Australian girl in a random knife attack in London’s Leicester Square has been detained indefinitely.
The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police she thought she was going to die after she was targeted by Ioan Pintaru in the city’s West End on the morning of August 12 last year while on holiday with her mother.
Exclusive: Health bosses say mediation urgently needed to break deadlock as resident doctors prepare to strike from Wednesday
Exasperated NHS bosses have urged Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association to agree to independent mediation to end industrial action by resident doctors, who will begin their latest strike on Wednesday.
The health secretary and the doctors union have been told to embrace the idea in order to urgently break the deadlock in their increasingly bitter dispute that health service bosses say is making patients “collateral damage”.
Corporation will argue it did not have rights to air film in US and it did not cause serious reputational harm
The BBC is preparing to argue Donald Trump’s $10bn court case against it should be dismissed, arguing it has no case to answer over the US president’s claims he was defamed by an episode of Panorama.
The development comes after Trump filed a 33-page complaint to a Florida court on Monday, accusing the broadcaster of “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory and malicious depiction” of the president in the documentary.
Exclusive: British students will be able to participate in EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources say
An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – is expected to be announced on Wednesday as part of the UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels.
Final details of the announcement have now been agreed by the two sides, with a plan to allow UK students to participate in the EU-wide scheme without paying any additional fees from January 2027, sources said.
Unions hail ‘generational shift’ as legislation introduces new rights on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts
Labour’s employment rights bill will finally become law after a battle in the House of Lords, paving the way for significant new rights for workers on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts.
Trade unions hailed a “generational shift” for workers’ rights after Tory peers conceded at the 11th hour on the legislation, which the government had promised to pass by Christmas. Royal assent is expected by Thursday.
The health secretary is winning the battle of public opinion but has not convinced those who matter most in this dispute
There are an array of numbers relating to the NHS that, it’s safe to assume, make Wes Streeting wince.
Take, for example, the number of hospital tests and treatments people in England are waiting for – 7.42 million – and the number of people who need them – 6.24 million. Both have come down since Labour took power 17 months ago but still remain near worst-ever highs.
Former Tory chancellor tasked with helping ChatGPT owner develop ties with governments
The former UK chancellor George Osborne is joining OpenAI to lead the ChatGPT developer’s relationships with governments around the world.
He will head a division known internally as OpenAI for Countries, through which the San Francisco artificial intelligence startup works with governments on national-level AI rollouts.
Richard Davies, 49, and Faye Stevenson-Davies, 43, defied odds of more than 24 trillion to one after first winning the jackpot prize in 2018
A couple from mid-Wales have become £1m national lottery winners for the second time, defying odds of more than 24 trillion to one to claim the jackpot again.
Richard Davies, 49, and Faye Stevenson-Davies, 43, first landed a seven-figure prize in June 2018 through the EuroMillions millionaire maker.
Development abandoned after Serbian minister indicted over $500m project, in setback for Trump family empire
Serbia’s authoritarian ruler has threatened reprisals after protesters and a prosecutor thwarted plans for a Trump Tower in Belgrade.
In a rare setback for the Trump family’s global moneymaking campaign, the $500m development was abandoned after Monday’s indictment of a Serbian minister on suspicion of abusing his office to support the project.
The US president has repeatedly targeted American media in an attempt to muzzle debate and scrutiny. His attempt to export the bullying must be resisted
On the day that the government launched a high-stakes consultation to consider fresh ways of funding the BBC in the digital era, the corporation could have done without another difficult news event of its own. Donald Trump’s decision to follow through on threats to sue over the content of a Panorama programme broadcast in October 2024 may not have come as a surprise, given Mr Trump’s litigious record in the United States. But it will add to the general air of beleaguerment at the corporation and further embolden its domestic political enemies.
A terse BBC statement on Tuesday suggested that there would be no backing down in the face of White House bullying. That is the right response to absurd claims of “overwhelming financial and reputational harm” caused to the US president, and a fantastical request for damages amounting to $10bn. The BBC has rightly apologised for the misleading splicing together of separate clips from Mr Trump’s rabble-rousing speech on January 6 2020, prior to the violent storming of the US Capitol. A serious error of judgment was made in that editing process – though the House of Representatives January 6 committee concluded that Trump did use his speech to incite an insurrection. But the claim that a programme not broadcast in the US was part of a malicious plan to defame Mr Trump and subvert the democratic process ahead of last year’s election is utterly specious.
New appointments for urgent and complex care should be welcomed. But NHS dentistry requires more radical surgery
If changes to the NHS dental contract in England result in fewer people being left to suffer with complex problems because they cannot get treatment, that will be a big gain. Sore teeth and gums are debilitating, and dentistry ought not to be out of reach for anyone who needs it.
The decision to prioritise complex cases, as well as the lack of urgent care in some places, has been taken following a consultation that highlighted these two issues. From next April, the NHS payment system will alter so that patients can book a package rather than a series of individual appointments if they need to be seen more than once. Dentists will be incentivised to offer more slots to those needing urgent treatment for issues including severe pain and infections.
The Harlequins senior coach, Jason Gilmore, has praised the ability of Northampton’s George Furbank and declined to rule out a move for the England back.
The 29-year-old Saints star is out of contract next summer and has reportedly held talks with the south‑west London club over a switch from the 2023-24 Premiership winners.
While the former arts minister’s call for tax breaks and a bonfire of red tape will be welcomed, we seem to be going round in circles. And why hasn’t the single most calamitous cause of funding reduction been addressed?
The arts in England are underfunded, and were dealt a blow by Covid from which many organisations have not yet recovered. But that has been only part of the story. The sheer weight of required form-filling, the endless bureaucracy, the impracticable length of time it takes to simply be funded by Arts Council England (ACE) have caused universal frustration among those working in the arts. There is much talk of exhaustion and burnout.
Many organisations have felt frustrated, too, by the strictures of ACE’s flagship strategy, Let’s Create, which, though admirable in principle, with its focus on participation in the arts, is perhaps tilted too far from recognising the expertise and individuality of artists and arts institutions. Especially in classical music and opera – where ACE has made crude interventions into the direction of the art form – the body has been widely condemned for overreach of its powers. As with many things in life, though, opinion depends on your perspective. Funding has been diverted to underserved areas, and grassroots organisations, outside the south-east. Unsurprisingly, those who have received support for the first time are better disposed to ACE than those who have had their funding reduced or cut off.
Readers respond to Sunday night’s terror attack targeting Jewish families celebrating the first night of Hanukah at Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia
The Bondi beach terror attack did not occur in a vacuum. It followed years in which antisemitism originating on the left has been minimised, sanitised, or treated as a conceptual misunderstanding rather than a real threat.
In Australia, language that Jews recognise immediately as dangerous has been repeatedly defended as nuance. Antisemitic imagery has been excused as metaphor. Threats have been recast as “context”. When Jews object, they are told they are conflating criticism with hatred – even when the language used would be unacceptable if directed at any other minority.
The agreement raises the baseline threshold used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess the cost-effectiveness for newmedicines, enabling more treatments to be considered for NHS use.
Retired immigration judge Jane Coker points out that it’s the right to respect for family life that the European convention on human rights protects
Why do the media refer to “the right to family life” in the European convention on human rights (What does UK want to change about human rights law – and will it happen?, 10 December). It is the right to respect for family life. As the Bonavero report from the University of Oxford makes clear, article 8 can only prevent deportation if the impact would be “unduly harsh” on the family and the consequences of deportation outweigh the public interest.
The number of foreign national offenders who successfully invoked human rights grounds to prevent their deportation is 0.73% of the total number of foreign offenders. Having a child or partner in the UK does not mean that a foreign national offender can successfully appeal on human rights grounds. The Home Office does not keep – or at least does not appear to release – statistics on the number of foreign national offenders who are removed immediately after serving their prison sentence and those who are not, despite there being a valid deportation order (some of whom then go on to commit further serious crimes).
There’s a difference between armchair diagnosis and legitimate observation, and we must allow medical expertise to inform public discourse, writes Robert Krasner
The Goldwater rule was designed to prevent irresponsible “armchair diagnosis” based on hearsay. However, Dr Allen Dyer, a psychiatrist instrumental in developing the original rule, clarified in October 2024 that it was never intended to serve as an absolute gag order. It does not preclude responsible discussion of observable public behaviours, particularly when a public figure voluntarily displays these patterns on a national stage.
Claim filed in Argentina alleges crimes against humanity were carried out on Women, Life, Freedom protesters
A group of victims of the Iranian government crackdown during the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2022 have filed the first criminal complaint against 40 named Iranian officials alleging crimes against humanity, including targeted blinding and murder.
The request for a criminal investigation to be launched has been filed in Argentina by a group of Iranians with the help of the non-profit Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. The Argentinian legal system is especially open to accommodating universal jurisdiction claims.
Linguists say the prime minister’s use of ‘s’ instead of ‘z’ breaks national English conventions
Mark Carney says that amid a fundamental shift to the nature of globalisation, his government will catalyse the growth in both the public and private sector.
Susie Wiles says Trump wants to keep ‘blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle’ in a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair
Wiles also said she had told Donald Trump that his second term was not supposed to be a retribution tour.
“We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said in an interview in March.
I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.
I don’t think he [Trump] wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.
Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.
The BBC has vowed to defend itself against the $10bn lawsuit that the US president, Donald Trump, filed against it. Trump alleges the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively” edited the 6 January speech he gave before the attack on the US Capitol. On Tuesday, a BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
Lucy Hough speaks to the head of national news, Archie Bland
Legislation clears upper house after Tories and cross-benchers drop opposition to lifting compensation cap
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has published a green paper on BBC charter renewal. It includes a consultation on options for the future.
On funding, the document says the government has an “open mind” on how the licence fee system may be reformed to stop fewer households paying every year. It suggests there might be a new type of licence fee for people who say they don’t watch BBC TV, but who do use the BBC’s website, or BBC Sounds.
In addition to BBC saving and efficiency programmes, we also want to explore wider reforms that could help address the funding challenges the BBC faces. We have not ruled out keeping the current licence fee in place with its current structure. However, given the sustainability challenges it is facing, we are also reviewing the scope of services for which the licence fee is required and considering differential rates for specific types of users, to make it more sustainable for the long-term, along with increasing commercial revenue to ease the burden on the public. This would aim to reverse the trend of fewer households paying every year and declining overall income, which risks the BBC declining if it is not addressed. Any reform of the licence fee must be proportionate and reflect the cost-of-living burden on the public.
As the licence fee is a tried and tested public funding model, we are not considering replacing it with alternative forms of public funding, such as a new tax on households, funding through general taxation, or introducing a levy on the revenues of streaming services to fund the BBC …
My aims for the charter review are clear. The BBC must remain fiercely independent, accountable and be able to command public trust. It must reflect the whole of the UK, remain an engine for economic growth and be funded in a way that is sustainable and fair for audiences.
Soutar finally holds nerve to win match at 16th attempt
Chris Dobey shrugged off an early scare to reach the second round of the World Darts Championship with a 3-1 win over China’s Zong Xiaochen at Alexandra Palace.
Dobey, who reached the semi-final last year, was not expected to be troubled by his opponent but a spate of missed early doubles threatened to cost the eighth seed. After winning the opening set, Dobey’s repeated failure to find double top allowed his opponent to level at 1-1 and briefly threaten what would have been a momentous upset.
Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati is the women's player of the year at the Fifa Best Awards for the third year in a row, with England's Sarina Wiegman named coach of the year.
Another day, another Reform UK press conference: this time the deputy leader’s turn to apologise for his Send remarks
Call it a Christmas miracle. For this was the day when Richard Tice sent in his application to become a fully paid-up member of Woke. The day the Reform deputy leader tried to break free from his role as the perennial sidekick. An insignificant blot on the Nigel Farage landscape. When he tried to show he was able to think his own thoughts. Be his own man. Release the closet liberal inside. No longer have to apologise for his existence at the posh dinners he enjoys so much.
Yet Dicky will always be Dicky. Unable to escape The Unbearable Lightness of His Being. When he looks in the mirror, even he has to agree there is less than meets the eye. So it was inevitable he crashed and burned as usual. There are just too many contradictions that he can’t reconcile. A lifetime of trying to be loved has left him unsure of who he really is. A neurotic narcissist with a large ego and next to no self-worth.
The Bonfire of the Insanities by John Crace (Guardian Faber Publishing, £16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Writers cited Machado’s support for Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro
At least three writers have withdrawn from next month’s Hay festival in Cartagena, Colombia, in protest at an invitation extended to the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado.
The main reason cited by them is Machado’s support for Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro and her comments in favour of a potential US military intervention in the Caribbean country.
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