Duchess of Sussex says journalistic ethics breached as dad turns to journalist first to break news of leg amputation

When Thomas Markle received bad news about his health earlier this month, he immediately texted someone close to him to let them know. The 81-year-old had been admitted to hospital after one leg swelled up and turned black. “Going to lose the leg today,” he wrote.

The message was not sent to his son, Thomas, who lives with him in Cebu in the Philippines, nor to his older daughter, Samantha, who is based in Florida. Instead, Markle contacted Caroline Graham, the US editor of the Mail on Sunday, who is based in Los Angeles. It was she who called Markle’s two older children to let them know the news. She wrote later that they were “flabbergasted”.

Our resident Sweet Spotter had the (mis)fortune of eating a selection of widely available chocolate truffles to save you one more Christmas chore ….

• The best supermarket mince pies, tasted and rated

A perfect chocolate truffle, for me, has a fine, tempered shell that, with a soft, satisfying snap, gives way to a ganache that melts luxuriantly on the tongue (and, failing that delicate snap, then give me a classic bitter dusting of cocoa). Truffles may come in endless variations, but at their core, they are simply chocolate and cream, which makes the quality of both non-negotiable.

A good dark chocolate, about 60-70% cocoa, brings complexity and depth without bitterness, while the right cream-to-chocolate ratio creates a ganache that’s smooth, rich and just soft enough to dissolve in the mouth. Any further additions such as salt, liqueur, citrus, coffee or spices should never be dominant. And, whatever the finish, be it cocoa powder, toasted nuts, coconut or a glossy shell, it should complement rather than compete with the chocolate ganache inside.

The wife of the Trump adviser aims to entice conservative women into Maga – but like much of the rest of the movement, her sales pitch is fundamentally lacking

When Katie Miller, the wife of Donald Trump’s powerful adviser Stephen Miller, interviewed Pete Hegseth on her podcast last week, she didn’t ask him about whether the war secretary had ordered the US military to kill the shipwrecked survivors of an airstrike. She didn’t ask him about the settlement he paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her. Nor did she ask about allegations of alcohol abuse, or the accusation that he had made his ex-wife so terrified that she hid in a closet.

Instead, when Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer Rauchet, appeared on the Katie Miller Podcast, the titular host asked questions like: “If you could write one Hegseth family rule on that whiteboard, what is that?”

Veja doesn’t do surveys or freebies, hates greenwashing and Black Friday, and as demand for trainers wanes, it continues to go its own way

In the grand hierarchy of Paris fashion, it’s tricky for a brand to stand out. Especially one whose coup de maître is a goes-with-everything white sneaker. Yet 20 years after Veja first began selling sustainable footwear, it has become the ultimate affordable It brand for scooter-wielding mums, sustainably minded millennials and A-list bigwigs who want to wear their values on their ethical leather-clad feet.

Veja’s co-founder Sébastien Kopp says he doesn’t know if people buy his trainers because of how they are made or because of how they look. The company is fastidious about social and fairtrade practices, “but because we don’t do surveys, we don’t do marketing, we simply don’t know this information”, he says, speaking from Veja’s Paris headquarters.

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.”

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.

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?

Rita, 35, a travel agent, meets Tom, 40, a social media manager

What were you hoping for?
To have a refreshing new experience. I was curious to see who the Guardian would match me with.

Rehearsals for a live broadcast at short notice reduce us to silence then swearing. This does not bode well

On Wednesday afternoon I receive a text that seems to suggest the band I’m in has been invited to play live on national radio. Twenty minutes later, the guitarist rings me.

“Did you get my text?” he says.

While it’s impossible to escape the emissions associated with flying, some travel methods are more carbon-intensive than others

• Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint

• Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com

As the Australian summer gets under way, many of us are planning holidays.

When it comes to limiting emissions associated with travel, a staycation or local holiday – by train, bus or car – remains the lowest-impact option. But overseas travel by Australians has been increasing in recent decades, with Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States and China among the top destinations, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Whether giving as a festive gift or just enjoying during your own yuletide celebrations, these whiskies – and whiskeys – will bring the warmth

• I tried 60 low- and no-alcohol drinks: here are my favourite beers, wines and spirits

Searching for a whisky this Christmas? From Speysides to single malts, Japanese whiskies and special edition bottlings, the sheer choice can be overwhelming.

If you’re looking for a delicious dram to enjoy with your mince pie, a versatile bottle to have on standby this party season or the perfect gift, there’s a whisky out there with your name on it. It needn’t cost the earth either: I’ve found sustainable B Corp whiskies and pocket-friendly blends along with higher-end options to suit everyone’s budget.

Women are trailblazing efforts in the UK and US to improve sustainability on film and TV sets, from donating catering and rehoming props to reducing emissions

It’s two days before Thanksgiving and Hillary Cohen and Samantha Luu are trying to figure out how they’re going to cook 120 turkeys with limited oven space in their food warehouse in downtown LA. “We’re going to have to do a bit of spatchcocking. It’s not very showbiz,” Cohen says.

It’s the busiest time of year for Cohen and Luu, assistant directors who founded not-for-profit organisation Every Day Action during the Covid pandemic. Designed to help unhoused people and those facing food insecurity across the city, the idea was born when Cohen noticed the amount of food waste on film and TV sets, and looked into redistributing it to those in need. “I remember asking, ‘Why can’t we donate this food?’ I kept being told it was illegal and that people could sue us if they got sick.” It didn’t take Luu, who grew up working in a soup kitchen her father founded, long to establish this was not the case. “In the US, there’s the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act that’s been around since 1996,” she says. “It protects food donors from liability issues.”

Colour-coordinating couples are nothing new, but Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner still caught the eye

When the Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet and the media personality and businesswoman Kylie Jenner appeared at the LA premiere of his new film, Marty Supreme, this week, they appeared to have been Tangoed.

Dressed head to toe in matching bright orange outfits made by the LA-based brand Chrome Hearts, they drew strong reactions online. “I have now confirmed there is such a thing as too much orange,” said one on Reddit.

From sustainable and low-alcohol tipples to Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre’s surprisingly sippable bottle, these are the gins worth your time – and tonic – this Christmas

• The best whisky, from scotch and single malt to bourbon

It’s party season; better make sure the bar cart is fully stocked before friends and family descend. Gin forms the basis of many well-known cocktails, including the negroni, French 75, bramble, gimlet and – 2025’s favourite – the martini. Selecting a decent bottle – or two – will give your usual G&T an upgrade and ensure your Christmas drinks party will be one to remember.

But what is gin? Essentially, it’s a distilled alcohol made from a neutral spirit (usually derived from grain), flavoured with juniper berries and bottled at 37.5% ABV minimum. So, distillers have relative freedom to play around with ingredients, infusions and distillation methods – creating a huge range of gin styles but making it tricky to pick out the right bottle for you.

Escape from the Christmas mayhem to spruce up pots and outdoor furniture, sow sweet peas, or even paint a fence

I suspect you’re not thinking about the garden much this month. After all, we’re 12 days away from Christmas. Perhaps you’re wrapping presents or running school fairs, or maybe you’ve stumbled upon this while having a little scroll in the queue for a grotto somewhere. It’s difficult to even be outside and at a loose end during daylight hours at the moment.

In case you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, what if you went out into your green space or garden, and started having a bit of a potter? Nothing fancy; goodness knows, I don’t put my garden “to bed” as tradition would dictate – chopping down perennial growth and sweeping up leaves and laying a thick black blanket of mulch over neatly edged beds. But rather a gentle ramble, picking up the plastic flowerpots that have blown about the place and finally emptying that sad pot of desiccated summer annuals into the compost bin. You’ll probably feel a bit less chaotic, possibly even a little festive, afterwards.

Marlon Brando was a victim of it, even Princess Diana was caught out by a collar ‘curled like bacon in a pan’. Here are a few ways to avoid their fate

• Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

It is sometimes, amusingly, known as “bacon neck”, and it is the bane of my life: the loss of elasticity that results in a crinkly, ill-fitting collar. This undulating menace commonly befalls the classic crew-neck T-shirt or sweatshirt, but scoop, polo and V-necks can also be afflicted. Too often, science conspires to transform a smooth neckline into something resembling a failed polygraph test.

The term “bacon neck” (not to be confused with “turkey neck”, the disparaging phrase for sagging skin that is almost uniformly levelled at women) was coined, or at least popularised, in a 2010 Hanes commercial featuring the basketball star Michael Jordan. In the clip, Jordan’s seat-mate points out a fellow plane passenger’s worn-out collar: “See how it’s all curled up like bacon in a pan? See how bad this guy looks?”

Snuggle up under oak beams in front of a deep inglenook fireplace, stay warm with underfloor heating or enjoy your own wine cellar for festive entertaining

Our styling editor shares her favourite looks for getting dressed up to the nines

• The best flat shoes for party season

It’s party season, a time of year that either fills you with sartorial dread or has you screaming with excitement as you get to wear yet another embellished dress to the pub on Friday night (‘tis the season after all).

I spend most of the year wearing navy trousers and oversized shirts, but there’s something about a party dress that speaks to my inner J-Lo. Give me applique flowers, cowl necks, asymmetric hemlines and lace edging, perhaps with an oversized blazer or knee-high boots. The options are endless and, in my opinion, during the silly season, the usual rules don’t apply. Here are the best party dress picks for December and beyond.

Mismatched or holey socks won’t cut it if your host asks you to leave your footwear at the door this party season

For her directorial debut, Winslet assembled a cast including Toni Collette, Timothy Spall, Johnny Flynn and Andrea Riseborough to tell a story inspired by her own family’s bereavement. The actors talk mourning, immortality and hospital vending machines

In 2017, Sally Bridges-Winslet died of cancer. She was 71. It was, her youngest daughter said, “like the north star just dropped out of the sky”.

It would have been even worse, says Kate Winslet today, had the family not pulled together. “I do have tremendous amounts of peace and acceptance around what happened because of how we were able to make it for her.”

A passenger having a mental health episode was heading for the emergency exit. He lunged for the door handle, screaming

I write thrillers: mostly ­historical mysteries. In September 2024, I was returning from a ­literary festival in Italy, where I had been talking about my ­latest book. It was a Ryanair flight, and as we came in to land at London Stansted, I heard people behind me shouting. I looked back to see some of them were standing up. A moment later a big man – I would guess he was 6ft 4in, and powerfully built – burst through them. He headed towards an emergency exit and lunged for the door handle, screaming. Behind him, a smaller guy was clambering over the tops of the seats, shouting: “It’s not terrorism. It’s not terrorism. Mental health!”

While exit doors can’t be opened when a plane is at full altitude because the air pressure inside is too great, levels dip during descent, and it is possible to open them. I feared that if he opened the exit, the plane would be hard to control and we might hit the ground about 300mph faster than we were meant to.

US visa edict | 1 No Trump | Flu advice | Costly candles | Christmas spirit

Oh dear! Now I will never get a visa to go to the US as I am sure that I have emailed quite a few letters to the Guardian critical of Donald Trump in the last few years (Tourists to US would have to reveal five years of social media activity under new Trump plan, 10 December).
Michael McLoughlin
Wallington, Surrey

• The latest US visa requirements would be a nightmare. Imagine trying to hold an international bridge tournament in the US. Where would you find players who haven’t bid “1 No Trump” in the last five years?
Steen I Petersen
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

A throuple in Tennessee shares how they planned a fairytale wedding, from rings to first dance

On the day of her wedding, Janie Coppola, 30, overslept. She woke up to a friend banging on her bedroom window, and had to quickly do her hair before rushing to the venue, a dreamy castle in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Fortunately, the rest of the day went smoothly, and on the afternoon of 18 October, she walked down the aisle in a big white dress to be wed to her husband. And her wife.

“Your favorite throuple got hitched,” Margaret French, 32, Janie’s wife, captioned an Instagram post about the day.

From festive gin sets and cult tequila to beautifully boxed fizz, these Christmas-ready bottles make ideal presents for even the trickiest people on your list

• The best whisky, tested

For the person who has everything – or insists they don’t want a gift – a bottle of something fabulous is often the safest idea. With many brands going the extra mile to make their drinks more desirable at Christmas, it is possible to pick out something special.

Whether you’re looking for a hostess gift to impress, are shopping for hard-to-buy-for dads, or you’ve drawn the short straw in the work secret santa, a well-chosen bottle is a solid choice. From festive gin and cult-classic tequila to painstakingly curated wines and English fizz, there’s a bottle for every taste and budget.

Say no to throwaway this Christmas! From tools and jewels to tartan rugs and teapots, here are the pressies you’ve given or received that have stood the test of time

• 14 easy ways to cut Christmas waste

In our throwaway consumer culture, giving gifts can feel like a whole lot of pressure: get it wrong and that present could fall apart, end up in the back of a cupboard (or worse, landfill), or be re-gifted.

The trick is finding something timeless but not boring; thoughtful and personal; well made and useful. We asked you for the gifts you’ve given or received that are still treasured (and going strong) years – often decades – later.

Avery Trufelman is the New York-based radio producer behind Articles of Interest, a fashion podcast that has non-fashion people gripped in their millions

Did you know that the zipper only came about because a Swedish-born engineer named Gideon Sundback fell in love with a factory owner’s daughter? Or that it took longer for it to be developed than it took for the Wright brothers to invent the aeroplane? You probably know that pockets have become a symbol of gender privilege – but were you aware that in the 18th century, women’s pockets were big enough to hold tools for writing, a small diary and a snack for later? Perhaps most surprising is that layering, which has made Uniqlo one of the biggest brands in the world, was in effect invented in the 1940s by a man named Georges Doriot, who was also famous for inventing venture capital.

All these nuggets and more are included in Articles of Interest, a podcast by 34-year-old Avery Trufelman. Listeners tune in for the smarts but also her disarming sense of fun. Not to mention her low, husky voice, which seems made for podcasting. “I don’t take care of it, if that’s what you’re asking,” she says over video call from her apartment in New York.

We’d like to know more about your how much your pets feature in your life during the festive period

We’d like to find out more about you and your pets at Christmas.

Do you spend more on buying Christmas gifts for your pets than your family and friends? Or do you skip party plans altogether to stay with your animal companion?

Marielle says being recorded is part of being her friend, but Beth is fed up of being a muse. Who should reel it in?

• Get a disagreement settled or become a YBTJ juror

Sometimes she films me while I’m eating. I’ll see myself on her Instagram – it’s like a jumpscare

I want Beth to see that the content we make together can get us a foot in the door

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Welcome back to the Thursday news quiz – a weekly exercise in trivia, triumph and asking: “How on earth did that make headlines in the Guardian?” As always, there are no prizes except the possibility of feeling unbearably smug when you get one right, and the knowledge that the official dog of the quiz, Willow, would be delivering you her very best side-eye every time you guess incorrectly. Let us know how you got on in the comments. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 227

Running tends to get characterised as an entirely physical pursuit, which is probably why I avoided it for so long

For a long time, one of the defining activities of my life has been collecting little facts: I never really grew out of that “show-and-tell” mindset that defined us all as children. There’s nothing I like more than submerging myself in a subject area for a couple of weeks, grabbing as many stories as I can, and then turning to my friends and saying, “Did you know …”

If this makes me sound insufferable, it’s because I probably am, but at least I make up for it by providing little anecdotes about the life of Ludwig von Köchel, the man who invented the system for organising the music of Mozart (he was also an accomplished botanist). It doesn’t even really matter what the area of interest is. Over the course of a couple of weeks this year, I read back to back biographies about Malcolm X before discovering the Swedish band Bob Hund, who sing exclusively in a language I don’t speak, and who I could now deliver a short-ish university lecture on, if anyone was interested (my email’s available on my website).

If search interest holds, glitchy glam, cool blue, aliencore and gummy bear aesthetics are among the vibes set to rock the creative world next year

Next year, we’ll mostly be indulging in maximalist circus decor, working on our poetcore, hunting for the ethereal or eating cabbage in a bid for “individuality and self-preservation”, according to Pinterest.

The organisation’s predictions for Australian trends in 2026 have landed, which – according to the platform used by interior decorators, fashion lovers and creatives of all stripes – includes 1980s, aliens, vampires and “forest magic”.

Co-chairs will preside over gala theme of Costume Art, with Beyoncé attending for first time since 2016

The co-chairs of the Met Gala, which is held every year on the first Monday in May in New York City, have been announced as Beyoncé, Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman and, of course, Anna Wintour.

The gala is known as “fashion’s biggest night out” or “the Superbowl of fashion”, and it will be Beyoncé’s first time in attendance since 2016, when she wore Givenchy to attend a Met Gala themed Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.

Our writer tried out seven activities: forget novelty mugs and aftershave – these are the gifts they’ll actually appreciate

• The best Christmas gifts for 2025

Want to give the ultimate waste-free gift, or buy someone something they didn’t even know they wanted? Then try an experience they won’t quickly forget, or stash away at the back of a kitchen cupboard.

You can experience almost anything these days, from pig petting to a “smash it” rage room where you choose a weapon and break things (yes, really). But for this guide, I tried seven more palatable experiences to suit a range of tastes, ages and budgets: experiences that felt unusual but that your recipient might actually enjoy – and some (as I did with life drawing) they might want to take up as a hobby. Most experiences were local to me in London, but all activities selected have alternatives nationwide, of which we’ve listed a few below.

From dark, sound-proofed rooms to clever storage solutions, families with autism and ADHD are finding inspired ways to adjust their environments

In the middle of Cherie Clonan’s bright Melbourne home sits a room in total darkness “for our son to retreat to”, she says. “It’s all black in there. You wouldn’t believe it’s the same home!”

The space, lined with sound-blocking panels, is a sanctuary for her autistic son: a quiet cocoon for decompressing after school. “He loves to go in there to game online with his mates,” Clonan says.

Diagnosed autistic at 37, Clonan lives in a weatherboard cottage with her husband, David, and her two neurodivergent teenagers. Since buying the house five years ago, she has been reshaping it around their needs. “Our family’s split half-half – 50% sensory-seek versus sensory-avoidant,” she says. “I chase light. I love light-filled everything. But my son really is the opposite.”

From sea salt to cardamom, soy wax to sustainable refills, these are the best, most nausea-free scented candles around for Christmas and beyond (and they’re all under £30)

• The best diffusers for your home

While scented candles are a failsafe gift, they can be seen as a bit unimaginative. But they’re perfect for winter days at home and thoroughly festive. Lighting a candle is a ceremony, and the flickering flame can trigger something comfortingly primal in us.

Retailers, from supermarkets to artisan independents, are developing huge ranges of scented candles, and it’s hard to know where to start, and what’s any good. Many of us have been disappointed by a candle that smelled divine when we had an in-store sniff, only to be distinctly underwhelming once it’s home. So we’ve sniffed, burned and rated dozens of candles for you.

This season calls for a tartan bow the size of a dinner plate, traditional baubles on the tree and a host of wooden nutcracker soldiers. ‘Ralph Lauren Christmas’ has gone viral, and gen Z has fallen hard for nostalgia and the 1990s

It is December, which everyone knows is the time to get your Christmas on. So what is it to be this year? An ironic wreath made from brussel sprouts? Oh-so-zeitgeist decorations in the shape of Perelló olive tins or Torres crisp packets? Or are we thinking a minimalist all-white theme?

Wrong, wrong and wrong again. My front door wreath – it went up two weeks ago because I’m a Christmas superfan – is huge and trad, with a tartan bow the size of a dinner plate. There are wooden nutcracker soldiers the size of toddlers by the fireplace. When I put my tree up this weekend, it may well collapse under the weight of old-fashioned round baubles.

From a glitter eyeshadow to a deep brown lip, these are easy and fresh ways to give glitz and glamour

I recently attended my first party of the season, for which I was asked in advance to wear “something sparkly”. With few exceptions, I loathe glitzy eveningwear. What seems fun in season looks depressing to me when hanging heavily on the sale rail come February.

And so with nothing on-code in my wardrobe and no inclination to buy something new, I wore my usual black tuxedo suit and Lisa Eldridge’s Liquid Lurex Eyeshadow in Zora (£21), a cool, bitter-chocolate brown eyeshadow that sweeps on straight from the applicator and smooshes in nicely with a fingertip.

Upgrade your space today, with eight emails packed with tips to brighten up your home - whatever your budget

Embrace your space: the Guardian’s House to Home newsletter is bursting with tips and tricks to help you boost your bedroom and give your living room some love.

Sign up any time, and get eight emails direct to your inbox every Sunday morning.

Olya Kuryshchuk’s publication is a rare – and increasingly powerful – voice advocating for the people behind the scenes in an industry that loves a star. Its new awards celebrate the ‘teams who never get to walk a red carpet’

At the Fashion awards – a lavish event at the Royal Albert Hall this month – Jonathan Anderson was named designer of the year for a third time for his work at his own namesake brand and Dior, Anok Yai was named model of the year and Delphine Arnault, the CEO of Dior and scion of fashion’s wealthiest family, gained a special recognition award for her work supporting new talent through the LVMH prize. Think of it as fashion paying tribute to its biggest stars.

Since the night, there has been praise for the British Fashion Council’s new CEO Laura Weir but also criticism. The anonymous Instagram account boringnotcom, which often shares strong opinions on the industry, wrote: “As predicted, the same names got rotated and won the fashion awards … how utterly boring.”

It’s a far cry from the sun-kissed beaches of Cape Town where she grew up, but the simple pleasures of a seaside village in Cornwall draw the author back year after year

The idea of the sea that I grew up with was associated with sundowners and souped-up cars and skipping classes to sunbathe with the models who took over Cape Town’s beaches each summer. As a student, long nights would end, not infrequently, with a swim at sunrise (until, one morning, the police arrived to remind us that sharks feed at dawn). So it’s hardly surprising that, after moving to Norwich to study in my 20s, the British seaside trips I made felt tepid. Cromer, with its swathe of beige sand sloping into water an almost identical colour, seemed to suggest that over here, land and sea were really not that different from one another. That the sea as I’d known it – with all its ecstatic, annihilating energy – was an unruly part of the Earth whose existence was best disavowed.

It was only several years later, burnt out from a soul-destroying job, that I took a week off and boarded a train to Cornwall. I was 25, poor and suffering from the kind of gastric complaints that often accompany misery. With a pair of shorts, two T-shirts and a raincoat in my backpack, I arrived in St Ives and set off to walk the Cornish coastal path.

I waited for the carriage to roll over and burst into flames, but the sound of a child brought me out of my trance, and showed me how important it is to look outwards in a crisis

The moment I knew I was about to die came a couple of years into my 20s, when life was really just starting out. My best friend, Helen, and I were on our way to Blackburn to catch up with an old university friend who had recently moved there for work. Thrilled to see each other, and basking in the prospect of the party weekend ahead, we chatted nonstop as we made our way by train from York.

We stashed our bags – full of essentials such as bottles of wine and my new pair of black clogs – above our heads and settled down in a cosy two-seater. About 50 minutes into our journey, I was dimly aware of a bang. Then came another, this time impossible to ignore. A woman screamed as our carriage was thrown up into the air in what felt like slow motion. Suddenly, Helen and I were somehow on our feet in the middle of the aisle, hugging each other. Head down, eyes screwed shut, I waited for the carriage to roll over and burst into flames, as I’d seen in films. I remember thinking about our families and friends getting the news. Then I heard the little girl crying.

Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau are the latest A-listers to announce their relationship status online. But there are many ways to do it - from fancy dress to panicked deletions

As a mark of pure intent, going Instagram official has become a firmly entrenched dating marker. To post a picture of you and your new partner on Instagram – on the grid, mind you, not hiding behind the cowardice of a story – is to not only declare that you are in love, but also that you are confident enough in your future to share it with the world.

As such, Katy Perry’s decision to go Instagram official with Justin Trudeau is a classic of the genre. Long dogged by rumours that they might be together, Perry this week debuted a sanctioned image of them both. They are cheek to cheek. They are smiling, albeit in that slightly strained hurry-up-and-take-it way you do when someone decides to shoot a whole reel of photos. Katy Perry is pulling the exact same face she did when she stared into the camera that time she sort of went into space, which is how you know that it is really serious. Good luck to the pair of them.

Experts weigh in on if the traditional remedy of whisky, honey, lemon and hot water can actually help your cold

The hot toddy has a reputation as a folk remedy for illness. And if you’re sick, a steaming cup of whisky, honey, lemon, and water can sound like a lot more fun than crackers and broth.

But what about the alcohol? Here’s what experts say about hot toddies and colds.

Probably the most disgusting online trend of 2025, this has led to pictures of people’s excrement all over the internet. Please make it stop ...

Name: Parasite cleanses.

Age: The earliest written records of what were probably parasitic infections in humans are from Egyptian medicine, between around 3000 and 400BC.

Elevate your sleepwear with our menswear expert’s pick of the best PJs, from sustainably sourced sets and independent brands to classic flannel and checks

• The best women’s pyjamas for cosy nights and lazy mornings

Most men treat sleepwear as an afterthought – a beaten-up T-shirt and some old boxer shorts come to mind. It might be because wearing a full set of pyjamas seems a little twee, but choose well and a proper two-piece will not only look stylish but feel like a treat, too. If you’re not clued up on PJ brands, though, how do you know where to find your next pair?

That’s where I come in – I’m a menswear writer and stylist, and I’m also a big pyjama stan who has tried a lot of sets over the years – so I know a thing or two about the best men’s sleepwear.

Using store-bought deli goods, Alice Zaslavsky builds a vegetarian showstopper for the Christmas table – with minimal cooking

• Check out more Alice Zaslavsky recipes

So you’re hosting a festive shindig in December and there are vegetarians in the crowd – or maybe the vego is you? You want to put on a good centrepiece but you’re not feeling the nut loaf vibes. What to do?

Festive catering for vegetarians is far easier in the northern hemisphere, where you can whack on a big chunk of pumpkin or stuff some peppers, and let them bake away while you roast the chestnuts and mull the wine.

Charles Poekel’s directorial debut has taken a decade to reach the UK, but its indie take on seasonal cinema brings low-key warmth

This is a New York drama so laidback that it has taken a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. First released in the US in 2015, it’s an ultra-low-budget debut from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too authentic-indie and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; through his lens Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth.

Kentucker Audley stars as Noel (it took someone in the film to joke about his name before I twigged). Noel is back for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, standing outside in the freezing cold and sleeping in a not-much-warmer caravan parked next to the trees. A few customers ask about the girl working with him last year. But this year Noel is alone, broken-hearted and working the night shift. There’s a documentary feel to a lot of the scenes, customers asking pointless random questions. One woman wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel looks frozen to the bone physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.