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Jane’s Addiction call it quits after a tumultuous 15 months: ‘The legacy will remain’

US alt-rock band announce they are finally parting ways, following fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuits

US alt-rock band Jane’s Addiction has announced they are parting ways after a tumultuous 15 months of fisticuffs, accusations and lawsuits.

The veteran Californian group, who have a history of drama, dust-ups and bust-ups, prematurely terminated the US leg of their reunion tour in September last year after an onstage altercation in Boston between frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro led to blows and, ultimately, a $10m lawsuit.

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© Photograph: WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy

© Photograph: WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy

© Photograph: WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy

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Peter Arnett, Pulitzer prize-winner who reported on Vietnam and Gulf wars, dies aged 91

Arnett won 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for the Associated Press

Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades dodging bullets and bombs to bring the world eyewitness accounts of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, has died at 91.

Arnett, who won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for his Vietnam War coverage for the Associated Press, died on Wednesday in Newport Beach, California, and was surrounded by friends and family, said his son Andrew Arnett. He had entered hospice on Saturday while suffering from prostate cancer.

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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

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Ukraine war briefing: Drones strike tanker in Russian port, local officials say

Deaths and damage to ship reported in attack in Rostov-on-Don; Zelenskyy to reportedly push EU plan to use frozen Russian assets. What we know on day 1,394

Ukrainian forces have struck a tanker in a southern Russian port and caused deaths, the regional governor said early on Thursday. The strike in the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don damaged the vessel and, according to preliminary information, crew members had died, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram. Mayor Alexander Skriabin was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying: “Emergency teams are extinguishing the fire on the tanker that was struck while docked in a drone attack … A leak of oil products was avoided. Unfortunately, there are dead and injured.” Slyusar also said parts of a high-rise apartment block under construction were damaged in the city and two private homes burned in a nearby town.

Russian air strikes on and around the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia wounded at least 32 people, local authorities said. All the wounded came from the city and its surroundings, the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram. Rescue services earlier said five children were among the casualties in a provisional toll of 30 after the Russian strikes on a block of flats, a house and an educational establishment on Wednesday. Firefighters were seen battling a blaze in a multi-storey housing block. Fedorov said two people were also wounded in a Russian drone strike on a civilian car in Kushuhum, south of Zaporizhzhia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Brussels on Thursday to convince European partners to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, despite Washington “pressuring” EU countries against the plan, Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed Ukrainian official as saying. The European Union has laid out a plan to use the frozen assets to harness €90bn ($105bn) for a loan to help Ukraine repel Moscow’s forces, with the money to be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.

Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn ($217bn) assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies. Dan Sabbagh and Jennifer Rankin report that security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country. EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday are debating whether to approve the lending of urgently needed funds for Ukraine secured on Russian central bank assets.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing to wage a new “year of war” on his country in 2026, after Vladimir Putin said Moscow would “certainly” achieve its objectives. “Today, we heard yet another signal from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war,” the Ukrainian president said in his evening address on Wednesday. The statement was a reaction to the Russian president, who earlier said Moscow would “certainly” achieve its goals in its Ukraine offensive, including seizing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own, amid the flurry of international diplomacy to end the war. Putin warned that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its allies rejected the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

The UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn ($3.3bn) from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine, telling the billionaire to release the funds within 90 days or face court action, reports Jessica Elgot. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, told the House of Commons the funds from Abramovich, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted into a new foundation for humanitarian causes in Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply.

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© Photograph: Ukrinform/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ukrinform/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ukrinform/Shutterstock

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Trump news at a glance: Dan Bongino ‘wants to go back to his show’ says president, as deputy FBI director resigns

Bongino, a former Secret Service agent turned podcaster, will step down in January. Key US politics stories from Wednesday 17 December at a glance

The FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, confirmed on Wednesday that he is stepping down in January.

In a statement posted on social media, Bongino thanked Donald Trump, FBI director Kash Patel, and Pam Bondi, the attorney general he reportedly clashed with over her decision not to release files from the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

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© Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

© Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

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China to hike tax on condoms in attempt to boost falling birth rate

From 1 January, contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate – part of a carrot-and-stick approach by the government to increase births

China is set to impose a value-added tax (VAT) on condoms and other contraceptives for the first time in three decades, as the country tries to boost its birthrate and modernise its tax laws.

From 1 January, condoms and contraceptives will be subject to a 13% VAT rate – a tax from which the goods have been exempt since China introduced nationwide VAT in 1993.

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© Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

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Syrian home town of Ahmed al-Ahmed rallies around the Bondi hero, amid the rubble of civil war

In Nayrab, a town near the Syrian city of Idlib, the family of Ahmed al-Ahmed have been overwhelmed by the global response to his act of bravery

It has been almost 20 years since Ahmed al-Ahmed left Nayrab in the countryside near the north-western Syrian city of Idlib. But on Sunday, he was the talk of the town.

Nayab’s residents awoke to a video of Ahmed wrestling a gun from a shooter halfway around the world in Sydney’s Bondi Beach, saving lives in what was the country’s deadliest shooting in nearly 30 years.

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© Photograph: Moawia Atrash

© Photograph: Moawia Atrash

© Photograph: Moawia Atrash

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Met Office: 2026 will bring heat more than 1.4C above preindustrial levels

Forecast is slightly cooler than the record 1.55C reached in 2024, but 2026 set to be among four hottest years since 1850

Next year will bring heat more than 1.4C above preindustrial levels, meteorologists project, as fossil fuel pollution continues to bake the Earth and fuel extreme weather.

The UK Met Office’s central forecast is slightly cooler than the 1.55C reached in 2024, the warmest year on record, but 2026 is set to be among the four hottest years dating back to 1850.

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© Photograph: Ye Myo Khant/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ye Myo Khant/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Ye Myo Khant/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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BP names Meg O’Neill as new chief executive as incumbent steps down

O’Neill, who has led Woodside Energy since 2021, will be BP’s first female chief executive

BP’s board has appointed its first female chief executive in a bid to revive the oil company’s fortunes, after ousting Murray Auchincloss less than two years into his role.

In an unexpected leadership shake-up Auchincloss will step down as chief executive with immediate effect, but remain in an advisory role until the end of next year.

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© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

© Photograph: Darren England/AAP

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My petty gripe: office parties feel like work because that’s what they are

And don’t get me started on office Secret Santas

As we head into the so-called silly season – that sun-drenched summer of drinks and parties, barbecues and socialising – there’s a shadow looming over the festivities.

The office Christmas party.

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© Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

© Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

© Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

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Raymond van Barneveld sunk by Swiss star Stefan Bellmont at PDC worlds

  • Bellmont: ‘This is great for all Swiss people’

  • James Wade cruises past Ryusei Azemoto

The five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld was left stunned after falling to a straight-sets defeat by Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont in their first-round clash at Alexandra Palace.

Bellmont produced the performance of his career to become the first Swiss player win a match at the World Darts Championship. The 36-year-old from Cham hopes that his success will inspire a wave of darts enthusiasts in his home country.

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© Photograph: Dylan Hepworth/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Dylan Hepworth/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Dylan Hepworth/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

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Lewis Miley heads dramatic late winner as holders Newcastle edge Fulham

To remedy a local let down, enter the local hero. After 56 years without a trophy before glorious victory at Wembley in March Newcastle were never going to let go of the Carabao Cup without a fight, but few of the impressionable children walking up Barrack Road for a pre-Christmas treat imagined their heroes having to hang on to the silverware this grimly before Lewis Miley’s stoppage-time winner.

The Magpies had dominated without often threatening the killer blow, with the constant threat of their own doubt undermining them after the miserable derby defeat at Sunderland that cast a cloud of gloom over St James’ Park well before the Wednesday afternoon rain set in.

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© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

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Arsenal ease past Leuven but settle for Women’s Champions League playoffs

Arsenal secured a seeded spot for the Women’s Champions League knockout playoffs with a comfortable 3-0 victory away at OH Leuven. Olivia Smith, Beth Mead and a Saar Janssen own goal helped Renée Slegers’ team end the league phase in fifth place.

Slegers was delighted with her side’s maturity in front of a raucous crowd at the Den Dreef as they earned their fourth win of the campaign against the plucky hosts.

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© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

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Manchester City 2-0 Brentford, Newcastle 2-1 Fulham: Carabao Cup quarter-finals – live reaction and semi draw

⚽ Carabao Cup latest updates, plus semi-final draw
Live scoreboard | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Scott

6 min: Cherki executes his first, but almost certainly not his last, cheeky backheel of the evening. But it doesn’t release Lewis down the right. Soon the ball’s back at the feet of Trafford, who launches long. Bobb threatens to get in behind Henry, but the Brentford defender turns on the jets to win the footrace and head back to his keeper Valdimarsson.

4 min: BREAKING NEWS: It’s raining in Manchester. Meanwhile only a gentle rumble in the stands, with nothing much happening yet.

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© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

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Palestine Action-linked hunger striker Qesser Zuhrah taken to hospital

Protesters had gathered outside prison to demand 20-year-old, who is on day 46, receive urgent medical attention

A 20-year-old woman taking part in the hunger strike by Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners has been taken to hospital after protesters gathered outside the jail where she was being held to demand she receive urgent medical attention.

Qesser Zuhrah, who is being held at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey while awaiting trial, is on day 46 of her hunger strike.

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© Photograph: n/a

© Photograph: n/a

© Photograph: n/a

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Australia v England: Ashes third Test, day two – live

Australia all out for 371; England fume over Snicko call
Ashes top 100 | Follow on Bluesky | Email Martin

The consensus is that today and tomorrow will be the best days to bat. England need to go huge, because they won’t fancy chasing too many against Nathan Lyon on day five.

“As the cliche has it, it’s a crucial first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh hour,” writes Gary Naylor. “Are Australia bringing 871 Test wickets into an already winning team or imbalancing their attack with a couple of rusty bowlers? Are England Bazball zealots or pragmatic pros? Did 2006 happen at all? Feels like the opening credits of an episode of Soap.”

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© Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA

© Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA

© Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA

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The aftermath of the Bondi terror attack is not a time to blame, politicise or dilute democracy | David Heilpern

Now is the time to simply say: Jewish lives matter. May we rise above the horror and national shame to be a better and stronger country

I for one am reeling. I am overwhelmed with sorrow and grief for the murdered and their families, friends and communities.

It is a time, above and well before all else, for supporting them – no community or religious group should be killed or live in fear no matter their beliefs, customs or even allegiances.

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© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

© Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

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Chelsea fight back to seal WCL quarter-final spot, Manchester United sink Juve

  • Sam Kerr header secures 2-1 victory in Wolfsburg

  • United seeded for playoffs along with Arsenal

Chelsea clinched an automatic place in the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals by coming from behind to stun Wolfsburg and avoid having to contest February’s playoffs.

Sam Kerr won the game with her 20th Champions League goal, heading in Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s cross. Chelsea survived a late scare when the German side struck the crossbar in the 94th minute, but will now contest the last eight in March.

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© Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA

© Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA

© Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA

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Teachers will be given extra training to tackle misogyny in schools

Keir Starmer, announcing new strategy, says ‘toxic ideas are taking hold early and going unchallenged’

Children as young as 11 who demonstrate misogynistic behaviour will be taught the difference between pornography and real relationships, as part of a multimillion-pound investment to tackle misogyny in England’s schools, the Guardian understands.

On the eve of the government publishing its long-awaited strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in a decade, David Lammy told the Guardian that the battle “begins with how we raise our boys”, adding that toxic masculinity and keeping girls and women safe were “bound together”.

Preventing young men being harmed by “manosphere” influencers such as Andrew Tate.

Stopping abusers in England and Wales through measures such as dedicated rape and sexual offences teams and enforceable domestic abuse protection orders.

£550m of funding to support victims.

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© Photograph: Lisa Howeler/Alamy

© Photograph: Lisa Howeler/Alamy

© Photograph: Lisa Howeler/Alamy

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US Senate confirms billionaire Musk ally Jared Isaacman as Nasa chief

Vote on Isaacman, private astronaut and Mars missions advocate, passes 67-30 for him to be agency’s 15th leader

The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become Donald Trump’s Nasa administrator. The confirmation makes an advocate of Mars missions and an ally of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk the space agency’s 15th leader.

The vote on Isaacman, who Trump nominated, removed and then renamed for the post of Nasa administrator this year, passed 67-30, two weeks after he told senators in his second hearing that Nasa must pick up the pace in beating China back to the moon this decade.

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© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

© Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

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Manchester City into Carabao Cup semis as Cherki and Savinho see off Brentford

Pep Guardiola cites how his team must grow during the season and with each outing of this campaign Manchester City suggest greater control and composure.

This manifested in a professional victory that sweeps the former four-in-a-row competition victors into the semi-final.

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© Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters

© Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters

© Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters

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Fani Willis defends Trump prosecution at contentious Georgia hearing

Fulton county DA hits back at Republican opponents who investigated her over relationship with special prosecutor

Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis testified on Wednesday at a combative Georgia state senate committee about her prosecution of Donald Trump for election interference.

The state senate created the special committee in early 2024 to investigate Willis after the revelation that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, special prosecutor in the Trump case, which ultimately derailed the prosecution of the now-re-elected president.

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© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

© Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

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Parents of sextortion victim sue Meta for alleged wrongful death

Exclusive: Lawsuit is the first UK case of its kind, with Ros and Mark Dowey accusing Meta of ‘putting profit before our young people’

The parents of a 16-year-old who took his own life after he fell victim to a sextortion gang on Instagram are suing Meta for the alleged wrongful death of their son, in the first UK case of its kind.

Murray Dowey died in December 2023 at his family home in Dunblane, after being tricked into sending intimate pictures to an Instagram contact. He thought it was a girl his own age, but it turned out to be overseas criminals involved in financially motivated sexual extortion.

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© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

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‘Permanent winter’: a day in the life of a hospital dealing with flu and strikes

The Guardian gained rare access to Royal Stoke university hospital to see how staff free up beds for patients in a gridlocked system

Thirteen ambulances are lined up at the rear of the emergency department (ED) of the Royal Stoke university hospital, Staffordshire, as Ann-Marie Morris, the hospital trust’s deputy medical director, walks towards the entrance, squinting in the low afternoon sun. Behind the closed door of each vehicle is a sick patient, some of whom have been waiting for four hours or more, backed up in the car park, just to get in the door.

The reason they are stuck out here is that there are no beds in the ED – and there is not much corridor space, either. In the tight foyer, a cluster of ambulance staff and a senior nurse in hi-vis are huddled around a computer station. Behind them, a corridor stretches into the ward, where at least six or seven beds are lined up head to toe along one side, each occupied by a patient. Leading off to the left are three more beds and three more strained, watchful patients. Another patient and another bed are to the right.

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© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

© Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

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MPs warn that UK agreements with Donald Trump are ‘built on sand’

Exclusive: UK government’s ‘naive belief’ that Trump is a good faith actor ‘could cost UK taxpayer billions’, says health select committee chair

Ministers and senior MPs have warned that the UK’s agreements with Donald Trump are “built on sand” after the Guardian established that the deal to avoid drug tariffs has no underlying text beyond limited headline terms.

The “milestone” US-UK deal announced this month on pharmaceuticals, which will mean the NHS pays more for medicines in exchange for a promise of zero tariffs on the industry, still lacks a legal footing beyond top lines contained in two government press releases.

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© Photograph: Leon Neal/Reuters

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Reuters

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Reuters

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Some of England’s most-deprived councils to get funding boost in new deal

Manchester, Bradford and outer London boroughs among those to receive increases ministers hope will ‘restore pride’

Some of England’s most-deprived councils will receive a funding boost under a new three-year local government deal which prioritises urban areas with high social needs at the expense of affluent places in the leafy south-east.

Manchester, Birmingham, Luton, Bradford, Coventry, Derby and outer London boroughs such as Haringey and Enfield will receive big spending power increases under what ministers have described as a fairer system that will “restore pride and opportunity in left-behind places”.

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© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

© Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

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Ineos chemicals plant is saved – but what is the strategy for the rest of heavy industry? | Nils Pratley

Argument for ensuring ethylene production at Grangemouth is strong, yet policymaking on deindustrialisation is disjointed

“Our commitment is clear: to back British industry, to stand by hardworking families, and to ensure places like Grangemouth can thrive for years to come,” said Keir Starmer as the Ineos ethylene plant on the Firth of Forth was saved for the nation with the help of £120m of public money.

Is the commitment clear, though? What, precisely, does the prime minister mean by “places like Grangemouth”? Which heavy industries and plants is the government pledging to shield from the forces of sky-high energy prices and carbon taxes? Is there a strategy here? Or does intervention happen only at the 11th hour when an important plant is threatened with imminent closure and ministers panic about knock-on consequences?

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© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

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If he never returns, Terence Crawford’s legacy as one of boxing’s greats is secure | Bryan Armen Graham

The ring’s standout problem-solver steps away from ‘competition’ on his own terms and with an unblemished record across five divisions

Terence “Bud” Crawford has always fought like a man who wanted to leave no room for argument. Not simply to win, but to win so cleanly that dissent collapses on contact. So his retirement announcement on Tuesday didn’t feel like a sudden fade-out so much as the closing of a file: tidy, decisive, signed in his own hand. Three months after scaling two weight divisions to outclass Canelo Álvarez in Las Vegas and become the undisputed super-middleweight champion, Crawford says he is stepping away “on his own terms”. In the cruellest sport, that is rarer than a perfect record.

Boxing is purpose-built to keep you in. To lure you back with one more payday, one more belt, one more chance to settle a score that only exists because the promoters or the public insist it should. The hurt business has never been conducive to happy endings. The preferred vernacular is violent or sad or compromised: a stoppage you don’t see coming, a dubious decision, a diminished version of yourself preserved forever in high definition.

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© Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images

© Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images

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The Guardian view on another green U-turn in Brussels: going slow on car-industry targets is a road to nowhere | Editorial

The European Commission’s proposals to water down a 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars will store up major problems for the future

Two years ago, the European Union’s adoption of a 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars was hailed as an act of global leadership, and a declaration of faith in the journey to net zero. That the home of BMW, Renault and Fiat should decisively reverse away from the internal combustion engine was seen as a symbolic moment.

This week, Brussels proposals to water down that ban have sent a very different kind of message. Electric vehicles might be the future. But after intensive lobbying by German and Italian manufacturers, the European Commission has proposed a reprieve for new CO2-emitting cars that would allow them to be sold after the former cut-off date. According to the EU’s industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, this U-turn offers a “lifeline” to an ailing car industry that has struggled to cope with Donald Trump’s trade wars and Chinese competition.

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.

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© Photograph: Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

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The Guardian view on Australia’s social media ban: dragging tech companies into action | Editorial

Children under the age of 16 needed protecting and the moral argument wasn’t winning. Government regulation can change the terms of debate

On 10 December, the world watched as Australia enacted the first social media ban for under-16s. Whether it will have the desired effect of improving young people’s lives we are yet to find out. But what the ban has achieved already is clear.

Many politicians, along with academics and philosophers, have noted that self-regulation has not been an effective safeguard against the harms of social media – especially when the bottom line for people like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk depends on keeping eyes on screens. For too long, these companies resisted, decrying censorship and prioritising “free speech” over moderation. The Australian government decided waiting was no longer an option. The social media ban and similar regulation across the world is now dragging tech companies kicking and screaming toward change. That it has taken the force of the law to ensure basic standards – such as robust age verification, teen-friendly user accounts and deactivation where appropriate – are met shows the moral argument alone was not enough.

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.

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© Photograph: Halfpoint Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Halfpoint Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Halfpoint Images/Getty Images

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Oscars to move over to YouTube starting in 2029

Exclusive global rights to the year’s biggest night in film will move to the video platform for a four year period

The Oscars will be moving from broadcast to online as part of a multi-year new deal with YouTube.

From 2029, the video platform will have exclusive global rights to Hollywood’s biggest night, including the ceremony but also red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content and Governors Ball access. The deal will run until 2033.

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© Photograph: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

© Photograph: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

© Photograph: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP

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Storytellers: how the world’s oldest job became the hottest new corporate job title

Big tech, retailers and compliance firms are hiring people to ‘own the narrative’. But what do they actually mean by that?

Name: Storyteller

Age: Since Once Upon a Time, in a land far, far away.

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© Photograph: Posed by models; Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

© Photograph: Posed by models; Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

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Rights group challenges trans-inclusive swimming policy at Hampstead Heath

Allowing entry on the basis of self-identification of gender rather than biological sex is unlawful, high court told

Rules permitting trans women to share female changing facilities and swim in a women-only pond are discriminatory and unlawful, the high court has heard.

The City of London Corporation is breaching equality legislation by allowing trans people to use the single-sex ponds on Hampstead Heath, according to a claim brought by the rights group Sex Matters. It is seeking permission to challenge the admission regulations.

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© Photograph: Hollie Fernando/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hollie Fernando/Getty Images

© Photograph: Hollie Fernando/Getty Images

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Antony Price, ultra-glam designer for Duran Duran, Bowie and Roxy Music, dies aged 80

The great maverick image-maker, who was praised for inventing ‘result-wear’ yet only staged six shows, was adored by stars and Queen Camilla – and cut Mick Jagger’s Gimme Shelter trousers in his first job

Antony Price, the maverick British designer and theatrical “image maker” has died aged 80. He was among the first to combine music, theatre and fashion, helping to craft Roxy Music’s glam rock aesthetic and designing Duran Duran’s yacht rock tailoring a decade later. More recently, he became Queen Camilla’s go-to designer.

Often described as the greatest designer you’ve never heard of, Price only ever staged six shows – or “fashion extravaganzas” – in his 55-year career but just last month returned to the London catwalk for the first time in more than 30 years with a show in collaboration with 16Arlington. There, Lily Allen created headlines by modelling a black velvet “revenge dress”.

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© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

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From Nvidia to OpenAI, Silicon Valley woos Westminster as ex-politicians take tech firm roles

Commons committee monitoring revolving door that gave jobs to George Osborne, Nick Clegg and Tony Blair

When the billionaire chief executive of AI chipmaker Nvidia threw a party in central London for Donald Trump’s state visit in September, the power imbalance between Silicon Valley and British politicians was vividly exposed.

Jensen Huang hastened to the stage after meetings at Chequers and rallied his hundreds of guests to cheer on the power of AI. In front of a huge Nvidia logo, he urged the venture capitalists before him to herald “a new industrial revolution”, announced billions of pounds in AI investments and, like Willy Wonka handing out golden tickets, singled out some lucky recipients in the room.

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© Photograph: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

© Photograph: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

© Photograph: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

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Will resident doctors lose support over latest strike? | Letters

Karen Ford says strike action is set to continue because of political posturing, while an NHS consultant worries about the deteriorating relationship among colleagues. Plus letters from John Sowerby, Dr Mussaddaq Iqbal, Gill Kelly and a final-year medical student

Striking resident doctors are digging in. History suggests this will go on and on” says the headline on Denis Campbell’s analysis piece (16 December). As a retired public health research and policy adviser and the parent of a doctor currently in core training, I agree that it is likely to go on and on – but not because doctors are stubborn. It will persist because the numbers do not add up and too much of the response has been political posturing rather than workforce planning.

This year, around 30,000 doctors competed for just 10,000 specialty training posts, leaving thousands unable to progress. Promised increases of around 1,000 posts from 2026 may help at the margins, but will leave large numbers with no route into registrar training.

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© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

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Population growth is as concerning as overconsumption | Letter

Robin Maynard reponds to an article by George Monbiot

George Monbiot labels anyone raising concerns about ongoing global human population, currently growing by 70 million per year, as “obsessives” (The facts are stark: Europe must open the door to migrants, or face its own extinction, 12 December).

Deploying familiar tropes and the loaded phrase “population control” (not used by the organisations or institutions working on the issue), he insinuates that anyone raising population concern is at best hypocritical, at worst racist, by blaming “poorer Black and Brown people in the global south” while ignoring excessive individual consumption in rich, developed countries like the UK. His crusade to scare off any liberal, progressive person from daring to posit that growth in population as well as consumption might be an issue sinks to new lows when he claims that only “mass murder on an unprecedented scale” could slow and stabilise population growth.

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© Photograph: Robert Kneschke/Alamy

© Photograph: Robert Kneschke/Alamy

© Photograph: Robert Kneschke/Alamy

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When ‘How are you?’ becomes a painful question to answer | Letter

Mark Cottle, who has metastatic prostate cancer, responds to an article by Carolin Würfel

It’s not just Germans like Carolin Würfel (16 December) who face a challenge with the question “How are you?” When I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, that question went from being a routine conversation-opener to something much trickier.

The convention, in Britain at least, is to answer something like “Oh, not bad…” Frankly, things are very bad, so I’m stuck between the dishonesty of the ritual reply and the full truth, which is a lot to fling back at someone offering an innocent greeting. I’ve developed the more nuanced response “All right today”, which I use if I really am doing all right in the general context of things.

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© Photograph: yangwenshuang/Getty Images

© Photograph: yangwenshuang/Getty Images

© Photograph: yangwenshuang/Getty Images

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Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets

Exclusive: Key figures at frozen assets depository among targets of intimidation campaign, say European intelligence agencies

Belgian politicians and senior finance executives have been subject to a campaign of intimidation orchestrated by Russian intelligence aimed at persuading the country to block the use of €185bn assets for Ukraine, according to European intelligence agencies.

Security officials indicated to the Guardian that there had been deliberate targeting of key figures at Euroclear, the securities depository holding the majority of Russia’s frozen assets, and leaders of the country.

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© Photograph: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP/Getty Images

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Donald Trump says Venezuela ‘illegally took’ US oil and ‘we want it back’ – live

President tells reporters that Venezuela ‘took all of our energy rights’ in latest ramping up of rhetoric

The Donald Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, will soon make his first appearance before Congress since sparking an uproar with comments seen as pressuring ABC to temporarily pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel from the air.

ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s show over statements he made following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which prompted Carr to say that he wanted broadcasters to “take action” on Kimmel, and: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

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© Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

© Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

© Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

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Nick Reiner appears in court on murder charges in killing of parents

Son of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner who is being held without bail did not enter a plea

Nick Reiner, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, made his first appearance in court on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old, who is being held without bail, did not enter a plea, and his arraignment has been delayed until January.

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© Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

© Photograph: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images

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Britain rejoining Erasmus+ won’t halt the nativist tide – but it’s a step in the right direction | Julian Baggini

In an era of rising nationalism, this move represents a brief flicker of hope for the internationalist ideal

‘I am a citizen of the world,” so the great Renaissance thinker Desiderius Erasmus is reputed to have said. It is because of his cosmopolitanism that 521 years after his birth, the EU named its exchange programme for students after him. It was part of a project aiming to create citizens of Europe, not just of its member states.

Britain’s post-Brexit withdrawal from the scheme was a setback for a cosmopolitan project that has suffered bigger blows since. Nationalism has been ascendant across the continent, and Euroscepticism ceased to be a peculiarly British phenomenon years ago. Could the announcement that British students are to be readmitted to Erasmus+ provide some hope that the internationalist dream is not dead yet?

Julian Baggini is a writer and philosopher; his latest book is How the World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy

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.

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© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

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Rare pink fog blankets parts of UK with warning issued over poor visibility

The unusual phenomenon is caused by sunlight passing through layers of fog

The skies over parts of Britain turned a soft shade of pink on Wednesday morning as the low sun shone through layers of widespread fog to produce the rare atmospheric treat.

Meteorologists at the Met Office said the fog formed when temperatures dropped overnight. They issued a yellow warning across a large area of central and northern England where the fog would be slow to clear, which remained in effect until 10am.

Pink fog enveloped the countryside at sunrise in Oxfordshire.

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© Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock

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Undercover officer admits deceiving woman into five-year relationship

Mark Jenner strung along activist who wanted to have children with him in an ‘extremely cruel’ way to infiltrate leftwing circles, Spycops inquiry told

An undercover officer has admitted he “callously and cruelly” deceived a woman into a five-year relationship while infiltrating leftwing campaigns, the spycops inquiry has heard.

Mark Jenner and the leftwing activist, known as Alison, lived as a couple, but he never told her that he was in reality an undercover officer who was spying on anti-racist activists.

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© Photograph: Undercover Policing Inquiry

© Photograph: Undercover Policing Inquiry

© Photograph: Undercover Policing Inquiry

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Scientists log rare case of female polar bear adopting cub: ‘They’re really good moms’

Canadian researchers tracking bear known as X33991 noticed she had gained a second cub who likely needed help

Scientists in Canada have documented a rare case of female polar bear adopting a new cub, in an episode of “curious behaviour” that highlights the complex relationships among the apex Arctic predators.

Polar Bears International, a non-profit conservation group, said on Wednesday that when they first placed a GPS collar on a female polar bear in the spring, she had one young cub. But when she was spotted with two cubs of roughly the same age last month, they realized they were witnessing an exceedingly rare case of adoption.

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© Photograph: Dave Sandford/Discover Churchill

© Photograph: Dave Sandford/Discover Churchill

© Photograph: Dave Sandford/Discover Churchill

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Nigel Farage told to ‘come out of hiding’ over alleged election overspending

Labour chair urges Electoral Commission to investigate claims Reform leader spent too much in Clacton campaign

Nigel Farage is facing a possible second investigation into allegations he overspent on his Clacton election battle by £9,000 after the official watchdog said it was assessing the claims.

The Electoral Commission was asked by Labour to look into Reform UK’s election expenses after a whistleblower told the Daily Telegraph that the party failed to declare spending on leaflets, banners, utility bills and refurbishment of a bar in its Clacton campaign office.

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© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

© Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

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A black swan event: Keir actually cracked a good joke at PMQs | John Crace

MPs from most corners of Commons laughed at the festive gag – but stony-faced Farage failed to see the funny side

Whisper it softly, but Keir Starmer made a joke. A good one at that. MPs from most corners of the Commons even laughed. Genuine laughter. Not the contrived partisan guffaws you usually get at prime minister’s questions that makes the public howl in despair.

OK, we can take issue with the delivery. Starmer has next to no grasp of comic timing. Any gag takes its life in its own hands when Keir is around. Most are dead on arrival. But let’s not be too picky. It was still a black swan event. A genuine rarity.

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© Photograph: House of Commons/PA

© Photograph: House of Commons/PA

© Photograph: House of Commons/PA

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Chelsea told to ‘put up or shut up’ over potential Earl’s Court move

  • Club yet to make a decision on how to build bigger ground

  • A £10bn housing and retail bid for site approved this week

Chelsea have been urged to “put up or shut up” and decide whether they want to move to Earl’s Court after alternative plans for the site were approved by Kensington and Chelsea council.

The club are yet to make a decision on how to build a bigger ground and another stumbling block is in their path after the Earls Court Development Company’s proposals for a £10bn housing and retail development were granted planning permission at a council meeting on Tuesday. The ECDC, whose master plan does not include room for a football stadium, secured unanimous approval from Hammersmith and Fulham council last month.

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© Photograph: Heritage Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Heritage Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Heritage Images/Getty Images

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Everything about Paul Mescal is irresistible – with one exception | Adrian Chiles

The actor has said Shakespeare’s language can be understood ‘in the body’. I couldn’t disagree more

I want to believe in reincarnation because I want to come back as Paul Mescal. What it must be like to be irresistible. I’m sure it gets wearing, but I’d still like to give it a try, just for research purposes. Not so much for the carnal stuff, but for the way every word he utters is taken to be as beautiful as he is. Intoxicated by their admiration, his admirers leap headfirst into the still waters of his pronouncements apparently certain of hidden depths thereunder.

So it has been with the reaction to how he comforted his director when she confessed, in so many words, that she couldn’t always grasp what Shakespeare was on about. We’ve all been there. At least I have. There there, quoth Mescal: “Listen, if Shakespeare is performed right, you don’t have to understand what they’re saying. You feel it in the body, the language is written like that.”

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© Photograph: Courtesy of Focus Features/© 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

© Photograph: Courtesy of Focus Features/© 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

© Photograph: Courtesy of Focus Features/© 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

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How to become a good and thoughtful gift-giver

Choosing the right gift can feel difficult, but it is possible to buy something meaningful that will please your loved ones – and stay out of the trash

My family members are incredible gift-givers. Every birthday and holiday, they manage to select exactly what the recipient wanted – or didn’t know they wanted.

I didn’t inherit this gene.

What do people talk about when they’re not trying to impress you? What are their genuine interests, passions and concerns?

Notice their lifestyle, Maso says: “How they live, what they value, where they unwind.”

Choose something that “reflects their world, not yours”. Did I want a Lego orchid? Yes. Did my father? No.

Add a touch of the unexpected. “The best gifts always have a little, ‘I didn’t know I needed this, but it’s so me!’ moment,” Maso says.

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© Photograph: Dmytro Betsenko/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dmytro Betsenko/Getty Images

© Photograph: Dmytro Betsenko/Getty Images

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