Arsenal v Wolves: The final Premier League match of the day sees first meets worst as the league leaders host bottom of the table at the Emirates Stadium. Mikel Arteta has insisted Gabriel Jesus will not be sold and can be his first-choice No 9 after Jesus made his injury comeback as a second-half substitute in the 3-0 win against Club Brugge on Wednesday following 11 months away.
The Brazil international, 28, brings an extra dimension to Arteta’s frontline but he has just 18 months to run on his contract.
No, I don’t consider that [selling him], especially with the situation that we have right now.
Gabriel has a lot to offer to the team and he’s proven that straight away in the first minute that he was available to play. He’s put so much to be in this position again and now the focus is to be with us.
I’ve been trying and learning all the moments and all the challenges, but every single week that we play, the numbers are not amazing for us, but we have been breaking so many of those numbers as well, it’s been incredible.
I love this type of challenge. I love it, because if the club didn’t achieve it in the past, there is a reason and right now, we can change the story. Simple as that.
It’s just over 15 minutes to go before kick-off – let’s remind ourselves of the Women’s Super League Standings after 10 games. Stating the obvious, fourth is not where Arsenal hoped to be; out of the Women’s Champions League spots as it stands. But a long way to go!
Ruby Mace was a defensive colossus for Everton last Sunday – and, of course, the 22-year-old is a former Arsenal player. Safe to say she’ll be motivated this afternoon.
Rate rises by 19% compared with 2020, prompting fresh concerns about NHS maternity care
The risk of women in England suffering severe bleeding after giving birth has risen to its highest level for five years, prompting fresh concern about NHS maternity care.
The rate at which mothers in England experience postpartum haemorrhage has increased from 27 per 1,000 births in 2020 to 32 per 1,000 this year – a rise of 19%.
Officials say raccoon that broke into Virginia liquor store on 29 November had previously hit DMV and karate studio
The raccoon that barged into a Virginia liquor store, smashed bottles of booze and passed out drunk in a bathroom this past Black Friday has at least two other break-ins under his belt, a local government official has revealed.
Before burgling the Ashland ABC store on 29 November, the raccoon had separately broken into a karate studio and a department of motor vehicles office, all on the same block of businesses, Hanover county animal protection officer Samantha Martin said on an episode of the local government’s official podcast published Thursday.
This spectacular image taken in Sakrisøy, Norway, triggered accusations that it was simply too good to be true
Yuan Li splits his time between two careers: in the winter, he works as a ski instructor; in summer, a photographer. When he took this image, Beijing-based Li was visiting Norway and Iceland with friends, on a trip focused on sightseeing and photographing the aurora borealis. He captured this picture while exploring Sakrisøy, a small island in Lofoten, Norway. In the foreground sits this distinctive yellow homestay; in the background, Olstinden mountain.
“It had snowed heavily all day,” Li recalls. “As I was setting up to capture this scene, the snow stopped and the sun came out, which made the perfect environment for taking photos.”
Enfield’s family-run Neco Tantuni, which specialises in Turkish street food, secured place among other Michelin-starred restaurants on Vittles 99-strong list
On a list of London’s best restaurants, you would expect to see the usual Michelin-starred suspects such as The Ledbury, Ikoyi and The Ritz. But high among these culinary heavyweights sits a humble salonu tucked away in the depths of north London.
Neco Tantuni, a small Turkish eatery specialising in the foodie delights of Mersin, a city located on the southern coast of Turkey, has been crowned the fourth best restaurant in London by Vittles, the trendy food magazine that has become a bible for those looking for the best (and more off-the-radar) grub in the capital.
The most exciting places our writers came across this year, from untouched islands in Finland to an affordable ski resort in Bulgaria and the perfect Parisian bistro
On a midsummer trip to Ireland, I saw dolphins in the Irish Sea, sunset by the Liffey, and misty views of the Galtee Mountains. The half-hour train journey to Cobh (“cove”), through Cork’s island-studded harbour, was especially lovely. As the railway crossed Lough Mahon, home to thousands of seabirds, there was water on both sides of the train. I watched oystercatchers, egrets, godwits and common terns, which nest on floating pontoons. Curlews foraged in the mudflats, and an old Martello tower stood on a wooded promontory.
Channel Seven airs footage of Brisbane airport incident
‘This matter is being taken seriously,’ says broadcaster
England’s embattled tour of Australia suffered a public relations setback on Saturday following a testy altercation between a member of security staff and a local camera operator at Brisbane airport.
In footage released by Channel Seven, England’s minder Colin Rhooms is heard repeatedly telling the camera operator Nick Carrigan to “get out of my face, mate” and eventually pushing him back as he attempted to film players in transit.
By using music from SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo in ICE videos, the government is playing a game of rage-bait
Last week, as the Trump administration was engulfed in controversy over its illegal military strikes near Venezuela (among numerous other crises), a Department of Homeland Security employee – I picture the worst sniveling, self-satisfied, hateful loser – got to work on the official X account. The state-employed memelord posted a video depicting Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials arresting people in what appeared to be Chicago, celebrating the humiliation and incarceration of undocumented immigrants as some sort of patriotic achievement. The vile video borrowed, as they often do, from mainstream pop culture; in this case, a viral lyric from Sabrina Carpenter’s song Juno – “Have you ever tried this one?,” referring to sex positions – overlaid clips of agents chasing, tackling and handcuffing people, cheekily nodding to all the methods in ICE’s terror toolbox.
Carpenter, as a pre-eminent pop star, was caught in an impossible position. Say nothing, as her friend and collaborator Taylor Swift did weeks earlier when the White House used her music in a Trump hype video, and risk appearing as if you condone the administration’s use of your art for a domestic terror campaign (the administration hasn’t yet used Swift for an ICE video, but I’m sure it’s coming); engage, even if to honestly express your utter disgust, and risk bringing more attention to objectionable propaganda designed to provoke a response.
The actor, writer and comedian on turning his life around, fancying Cilla Black and his secret nose-picking
Born in Coventry, Guz Khan, 39, was working as a secondary school teacher when he began uploading comedy videos as the character Mobeen in 2014. The following year, he gave up teaching to pursue standup. In 2017, his show Man Like Mobeen was released by the BBC and ran for five series. He won a Royal Television Society award in 2020 and was Bafta-nominated twice. His films include Army of Thieves and The Bubble. Guz Khan’s Custom Cars starts on Quest on 19 January. He is married with five children and lives in the West Midlands.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impulsivity. We end up in strange places, like right now – I am in the Middle East.
The midfielder has caught the eye at Selhurst Park and now has the World Cup and Champions League in his sights
For all the milestones Adam Wharton has ticked off since he signed for Crystal Palace in January last year there is one he has yet to celebrate: scoring a goal.
It took only four months for the midfielder to earn a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad thanks to some scintillating performances for the club, although Wharton didn’t play a minute at the tournament after making his debut in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The ban on under-16s accessing ‘harmful’ content that began this week has overwhelming approval from adults – even if it had a few teething issues
A few weeks ago, my 14-year-old went into the garage, pulled out his skateboard and told me this was going to be his “skate park summer”. I was curious about what was sparking his renewed interest in an activity he hadn’t thought about since he was 12. His response: “The ban.”
I was thrilled. As far as I was concerned, Australia’s world-first social media law aimed at preventing children under 16 from accessing social media apps was already a success. But this week, as the ban took effect, my son wasn’t so sure. Access to his accounts remained largely unchanged. Many of his friends were in the same position. Across the country, the rollout has been uneven, as social media companies try to work out how to verify kids’ ages.
Sisonke Msimang is the author of Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home (2017) and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela (2018)
Three sweet treats for even the fussiest sweet tooth: fig and hazelnut crumble mince pies, sherry and raisin ice-cream, and chestnut and pear meringues
Out of sheer laziness, this is a no-churn, very quick to assemble take on things. I tend usually not to recommend no-churn ice-creams unless there is booze involved, so this sherry and raisin one is a great candidate (the alcohol stops the ice-cream from becoming too hard and crystallised). And keep the leftover egg whites from the mince pies to make the chestnut and pear meringue, an alternative for the Christmas pudding haters at your table – there is always one. I think it’s important to have at least two puddings at Christmas.
Supporters climb fence and hurl objects from stands
Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off on a chaotic note on Saturday as fans ripped up seats and threw them towards the pitch after the Argentina and Inter Miami forward’s brief visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, the ANI news agency reported.
Messi is in India as part of a tour during which he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics and a padel tournament, and launch charitable initiatives at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
Colm Tóibín,Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Michael Rosen and more share the novels, poetry and memoirs that make the perfect gift
I love giving books as presents. I rarely give anything else. I strongly approve of the Icelandic tradition of the Jólabókaflóðið(Yule book flood), whereby books are given (and, crucially, read) on Christmas Eve. Nan Shepherd’sThe Living Mountain is the one I’ve given more often than any other; so much so that I keep a stack of four or five to hand, ready to give at Christmas or any other time of the year. It’s a slender masterpiece – a meditation on Shepherd’s lifelong relationship with the Cairngorm mountains, which was written in the 1940s but not published until 1977. It’s “about the Cairngorms” in the sense that Mrs Dalloway is “about London”; which is to say, it is both intensely engaged with its specific setting, and gyring outwards to vaster questions of knowledge, existence and – a word Shepherd uses sparingly but tellingly – love.
Exclusive: A trio of candidates have been interviewed by the PM, but he could still decide to directly appoint someone else
Keir Starmer is poised to choose a new ambassador to Washington from a shortlist of three as relations with the US are tested over Ukraine and Donald Trump’s attacks on European leaders.
The prime minister held interviews with three finalists for the role this week, the Guardian has learned, with Downing Street preparing to make an appointment before the end of the year.
While UAE-backed forces are accused of mass killings in Sudan, the NBA is deepening its partnership with the controversial Gulf state. This is what sportswashing looks like
As paramilitary fighters from the brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the largest city in western Sudan – carrying out mass executions, rapes and ethnic cleansing with weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates – the NBA’s annual in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, tipped off on Halloween night, proudly sponsored by the very same Gulf state.
The tournament is the most visible example of the NBA’s expanding partnership with the UAE – a partnership that includes annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a lucrative sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and plans for a new NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus.
Dean Garnett's inspirational journey from the 'wild west' to the PFL Europe bantamweight final against Baris Adiguzel on Saturday, where he could win a $100,000 (£75,000) prize.
The former British Vogue editor reflects on his early years in London, the importance of celebrating diversity and why he takes comfort in the younger generation
When Edward Enninful was scouted on the tube travelling through London in 1988, it changed his life. The Ghanaian teenager, newly arrived in Britain, was drawn into the capital’s creative scene of the 90s – as a model, then stylist and, by 18, the fashion director of i-D magazine.
“It was the height of the YBA [Young British Artists] movement – Jay Jopling, Tracey Emin. I met Kate [Moss] at a casting,” he recalls. “Then Naomi [Campbell] for a cover, and I knew we’d be great friends. We all hung out across disciplines. Friday rolled into Saturday into Sunday. I miss that rawness.”
It’s pure joy to see the beloved comedy’s crew get back together. It feels like a family reunion – but one where everyone is hugely charming
Peep Show is not really a TV show. It’s closer to an identity now, embedded in the collective British DNA. A decade after the show finished, many of us still call each other “Clean Shirt”, notice logos in foam or quip about crack being “very moreish”. The only show more emblematic of the UK’s national psyche is The Great British Bake Off. Therefore rejoice, for the hottest collab of the holiday is here! I’m calling this the real reason for the season. The true raisin for the praisin’, perhaps.
They’re so much part of our lives, it’s hard to see these bakers as actors. It feels more natural to say that this Christmas the Bake Off tent will host a reunion of Mark, Sophie, Big Suze, Super Hans and Dobby. Together again, like family, your family. It’s glorious to see them – older, some bearded, not one of them less charming. No proceeds from this are going to charity because there aren’t any. This is happening purely for joy.
Drivers also told to take caution after complaints rise about long-stay meet-and-greet services
Terence Baxter* had booked a meet-and-greet service to park his Volkswagen at Heathrow airport while he and his wife went on holiday. The couple handed over the keys at the drop-off site and were driven to the terminal – and that was the last they saw of their car. On their return they were informed by the company it had been stolen.
Their case comes as airports and police forces are warning travellers to be wary of “unofficial” operators advertising cheap long-stay parking after a rise in complaints.
Several car-sharing companies are considering launching or expanding in London, with the imminent closure of Zipcar’s UK operation leaving a large gap in the market in one of Europe’s biggest cities.
Free2Move, owned by the carmaker Stellantis, said it was “closely monitoring the London market”, and “actively assessing” options for its services. It already operates fleets in cities including Berlin, Paris, Rome and Washington DC.
My reduced vision badly affected my ability to appreciate films and art, but the stripped-back staging and immediacy of the play gave me back my sense of self
I began to notice my sight deteriorating in my 40s, but not just in the way that you expect it to with age. I had night blindness and blind spots in my field of view. At 44, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye condition that causes the retina cells to die. I had always been a very visually oriented person: I was a practising architect, and someone who loved to read, draw, go to the cinema and visit art exhibitions. So when black text disappeared on a glaring white page, films became impossible to follow and artworks only took shape once explained to me, I questioned who I would be without my vision.
Around the age of 50, I had a particularly stressful year: I got divorced; dissolved my business; started a new job; moved house; and my dad died. As my life fell off a cliff, so did my eyesight, so that by 2015 my field of vision had decreased to only 5-10 degrees (a healthy average person’s is about 200 degrees). I was registered blind, but for a long time I lived in denial, not telling anyone how much vision I had lost. At work, feeling vulnerable and like I could lose my job, I presented as fully sighted, a daily performance that became exhausting. I was in survival mode, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, hoping I wouldn’t get found out. I refused to see myself as disabled, and resisted using a white stick, but once I eventually did, I found people saw my disability before they saw me. I felt a total loss of identity. And I stopped doing the cultural things that once brought me joy.
Release of 43-second video comes as senior church figures speak out against dangers of Christian nationalism
The Church of England has released a video in response to a Christmas carols event on Saturday being organised by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson amid calls from a growing number of senior church figures to challenge Christian nationalism.
In the 43-second video, Christmas Isn’t Cancelled, posted on the church’s YouTube channel, more than 20 people from the archbishop of York to schoolchildren speak about the “joy, love and hope” of Christmas. The message is “a simple reminder that Christmas belongs to all of us, and everyone is welcome to celebrate”, the C of E said.
From demon, equal and encyclopedia to The Tour of Life and Before the Dawn, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz
1 Inflation adjusted, what is the highest-grossing film of all time? 2 What was revamped in 1279, 1560, 1696, 1816 and 1971? 3 Dorothy Parker “fwowed up” in a 1928 review of which children’s classic? 4 Native to South America, what is the world’s largest bird of prey? 5 Which fabric is protected by the orb certification mark? 6 The Almanach de Gotha is a directory of what? 7 Which amusement park was opened in Vienna in 1766? 8 What British term for rare US R&B 45s was coined by Dave Godin? What links:
9 Năstase; Connors twice; Tanner; McEnroe twice? 10 Menevia, c600; County Down, c460; Lydda, c303; Patras, c60? 11 Choral by Beethoven; The Great by Schubert; From the New World by Dvořák? 12 Reverend Joy Carroll Wallis; hotelier Donald Sinclair; US military surgeon Richard Hornberger? 13 Demon; equal; encyclopedia; eon; fairy; medieval; primeval? 14 The Tour of Life in 1979 and Before the Dawn in 2014? 15 Charles X’s sword; Corot’s The Road from Sèvres; Empress Eugénie’s tiara; Mona Lisa?
Palestinians who have worked the ‘breadbasket’ area for generations face being replaced by Israeli settlers
The death knell for the Palestinian village of Atouf, on the western slopes of the Jordan valley, arrived in the form of a trail of paper, a series of eviction notices taped to homes, greenhouses and wells, marking a straight line across the open fields.
The notices, which appeared overnight, informed the local farmers that their land would be confiscated and that they had seven days from the date of their delivery, 4 December, to vacate their properties. A military road and accompanying barrier was to be built by Israel right through the area.
The smash hit sci-fi nostalgia-fest reaches the end game on Boxing Day – so brace yourself for blockbuster whoppers. Plus: Ethan Hawke is a dirt-digging ‘truthstorian’ in a quirky drama full of heart – and more Emily in Paris!
The concluding episodes of the Duffer brothers’ smash-hit coming-of-age, sci-fi nostalgia-fest (maybe the secret of the show’s success is how many genres it manages to incorporate?) will be dropping all over the festive season – and they are blockbuster whoppers. Devotees will be up bright and early on Boxing Day for episodes five to seven (the finale airs on New Year’s Day). Events are dominated by Will’s new powers, which present a massive threat to Vecna. But why is Vecna so wary of the cave in which Max is hiding? As the finale looms, the past and present are set to fall into place – and the now visibly twentysomething cast will be able to move on with their lives. Netflix, from Boxing Day
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva sits down with Kelly Somers to discuss his career, what he will do once he retires, and playing for Pep Guardiola.
Amber, George, Balvinder and Karen battle it out for a chance at the glitterball trophy. Plus: get in the spirit with some festive bangers. Here’s what to watch this evening
The goofy star of Mary Poppins becomes a centenarian on Saturday. And what a precocious performer he has proved, sustaining scrappy mischief through seven decades of mainstream entertainment
All Hollywood stars grow old and die except perhaps one - Dick Van Dyke - who turns 100 today. The real world Peter Pan who used to trip over the ottoman on The Dick Van Dyke Show is still standing. The man who impersonated a wind-up toy in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang hasn’t wound down just yet. He has outlived mentors, co-stars, romantic partners and several studios. He’s even outlived the jokes about his performance in Mary Poppins. These days his mangled cockney accent is regarded with more fondness than contempt. It’s seen as one of the great charms of the 1964 classic, along with the carousel chase or the cartoon dancing penguins.
Charm is the magic ingredient of every popular entertainer and few have possessed it in such abundance as Van Dyke, the impoverished son of a travelling cookie salesman who dropped out of high school and educated himself at the movies. “His job in this life is to make a happier world,” his Broadway co-star Chita Rivera once said - and this may explain his stubborn refusal to quit, not while times are tough and he feels that audiences still need cheering up.
As Paramount, with close ties to the Trump administration, entered the bidding, experts predict any merger will ‘raise red flags’ among regulators
Over the first 10 months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has not hidden his desire to control the US media industry – from encouraging TV networks to fire journalists, comedians and critics he dislikes to pushing regulators to revoke broadcast licences. Now he seems determined to set the terms for one of the biggest media deals in history.
It’s a deal that could have repercussions not just in the US, but across the world, with not just the future of Hollywood at stake but also the landscape of news.
The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable
Ten years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.
Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut stars the 96-year-old June Squibb, while Netflix’s lovable tweefest sees its heroine move to Rome
Eleanor the Great Out now June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, which premiered at Cannes and tells the tale of the eponymous Eleanor, a senior citizen recently relocated to New York, who strikes up a friendship with a 19-year old – and then stumbles her way into pretending to be a Holocaust survivor.
Lurker Out now A hit at Sundance, this is the story of a lowly retail employee who happens to strike up a friendship with a rising pop star, becoming the Boswell to his Johnson, if Boswell was part of a pop star’s entourage. But the path of friendship with a famous person never did run smooth, and the uneven power dynamic soon prompts some desperate manoeuvring in this psychological thriller.
Ella McCay Out now Emma Mackey stars in the latest from James L Brooks (his first since 2010), a political comedy about an idealistic thirtysomething working in government and preparing to step into the shoes of her mentor, Governor Bill (Albert Brooks). Jamie Lee Curtis co-stars as Ella’s aunt.
Hobnobs, ricotta, chocolate and amaretto – what’s not to like?
I believe in divine communion, especially when it comes to food; an alliance of ingredients that come together as though they were meant to feed spirit and body. It might be too lofty to say that this semifreddo is divine, but the combination of Hobnobs, ricotta, chocolate and amaretto really does it for me. That said, there are many alliances that can be formed in the Christmas store-cupboard, so use this as a base for any biscuits, dried fruit and chocolate to which you feel most spiritually aligned.
From pie-and-mash to the swank of a Michelin star, everyone has their own idea of what’s ‘best’. What’s yours?
Jonathan Nunn is the author of London Feeds Itself
Almost 24 years ago, a small British food magazine called Restaurant assembled an all-star panel – made up of Gordon Ramsay, John Torode, Aldo Zilli and 65 other food guys – to adjudicate on the world’s most stupid question: what is the best restaurant on the planet? It didn’t matter that no judge had been to all the restaurants on the shortlist, or that two of the judges happened to be Jeremy Clarkson and Roger Moore – what the editors of Restaurant understood is that people love a list, and if you order a group of restaurants from 50-1 and throw a party, people might take it seriously.
“This could run and run,” the editors wrote in their intro, half hoping. They were right. Within two decades, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants had gone from what critic Jay Rayner described as a “terribly successful marketing exercise” to an insurgent alternative to the ossified Michelin Guide, solidifying the reputations of El Bulli, the Fat Duck and then Noma as the “world’s best restaurant”.
Jonathan Nunn is a food and city writer based in London who co-edits the magazine Vittles. He is the author of London Feeds Itself
Login
