Study’s author says society not tech companies paying for environmental impact of AI and asks if this is fair The AI boom has caused as much carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere in 2025 as emitted by the whole of New York City, it has been claimed. The global environmental impact of the rapidly spreading technology has been estimated in research published on Wednesday which also found that AI-related water use now exceeds the entirety of global bottled-water demand. Continue reading...

Southern Transitional Council, backed by UAE, told it could face airstrikes after its recent huge territorial gains As many as 20,000 Saudi-backed forces are gathering on the border of Yemen as the separatist Southern Transitional Council comes under pressure to withdraw from the huge territorial gains it has made in the last month in the vast oil-rich governorate on Hadramaut in eastern Yemen. The STC is using its advance to raise its demand for Yemen to revert to two states, north and south, as it had been until 1990. Continue reading...

The defensive end’s pursuit of the NFL sack record defies belief, raising questions about what his perpetually rebuilding team should do about it The NFL sack record is one of those hallowed figures in professional sports. Michael Strahan’s 22.5 lingered for two decades not because pass rushers failed to get better, but because everything has to break just right for someone to reach it. You need volume. You need game scripts. You need offenses chasing points. When TJ Watt finally tied it in 2021, it felt like he had reached the outer limit. The record had been touched, but not broken. Myles Garrett has spent this season treating that assumption with contempt. Now, he’s a couple of plays away from history. Continue reading...

Drop is cause for public health concern, but news isn’t all bad as acknowledging struggles is ‘a good sign’, experts say A record low proportion of Americans rate their mental health as “good” or “excellent” according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday. The percentage of Americans polled who rated their mental health as “excellent” dropped below 30% for the first time this year while the number who rated their mental health as either “good” or “excellent” also dropped to a record low 72%. Continue reading...

Bid includes 11 new stadiums but PIF wants to cut costs Architecture firms asked to resubmit plans, Guardian told Saudi Arabia’s construction of stadiums for the 2034 World Cup is facing delays owing to a desire from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, to scale back costs. The Guardian has been told that several architecture firms awarded contracts to build stadiums in Saudi have been asked to resubmit plans because their designs have been deemed too expensive, and contractors due to start work next year have been told the build will not begin on time. Continue reading...

Friends, family and assorted strangers have been sending thoughts and prayers about my ‘cancer journey’. It is, in the nicest possible way, a lot I wrote a piece a few weeks ago railing at the app-heavy facelessness of dealing with the NHS about what I believe is known as one’s care pathway. My point was that it might be efficient if reducing head count in admin departments is what counts as efficiency, but not if clear communication is the aim. The whole palaver of the comms around the journey to diagnosis was more of a drama than the diagnosis itself, which was for a very mild variant of skin cancer. As fond as I am of a wallow in self-pity and catastrophisation, even I couldn’t get myself into a panic over this. So I certainly wasn’t courting sympathy or concern by making too much of it, and I was as careful as possible to get this across. But then a couple of media outlets ran clickbait-type headlines along the lines of AC REVEALS HE HAS CANCER. And everything went nuts; thoughts and prayers came streaming in from all quarters. There were family and friends – to whom I’d not mentioned it because I didn’t think it merited a mention. There were people I’d not heard from in years. Continue reading...

Some traditional treats may be off the menu, but there are plenty of alternatives for a festive feast For a festival with childbirth at its religious heart, it is perverse how much of our traditional Christmas spread isn’t recommended for pregnant women. Pre-pregnancy, this was not something I’d clocked. I was the soft cheese supremo, canape queen – at my happiest with a smoked trout blini in one hand and a champagne flute in the other. Then one day in October, two blue lines appeared on a test result and everything started to change: my body, my future and most pressingly my Christmas. Don’t get me wrong: no present under the tree can match the gift I’ve got in store. But as a food writer who loves this season, I can’t think of a worse time to be nauseated, exhausted and forbidden by the NHS to eat, drink or do my favourite things to eat, drink or do in winter. I have no alternatives for saunas, skiing and hot baths. I do, however, know enough chefs, bartenders, retailers and producers to create a Christmas feast that is full of wonder, joy and within the NHS guidelines. Continue reading...

Across the world, incarcerated pregnant women are often held in deplorable conditions, leading some to miscarry or give birth alone inside a cell, say campaigners Read more in our Women in prison series Dina Hernández was 35 weeks pregnant when she was arrested near her home in San Salvador in March 2024. The 28-year-old human rights activist, who was with her five-year-old son, was accused of “illicit association” with gang members and jailed without evidence. Three weeks later, her family received a call from the prison authorities to collect the body of her newborn baby. The cause of death has not been investigated and the family has no idea what happened, or whether Hernández – who is believed to remain in prison – received any postnatal care. Continue reading...

The president’s appearance and schedule have sparked speculation – perhaps fueled in part by his political fortunes Is Donald Trump OK? Recently, he’s looked tired. His famous fake tan is a bit more sallow than usual and seems painted on more thickly and clumsily than it was before. He appears to nod off in front of cameras more and more often, including in cabinet meetings and press events in the Oval Office. His public schedule is light: he is often at his golf clubs, has traveled around the country less frequently than at this point in his first term, and now only rarely holds the stadium rallies that once defined his preferred style of politics. He tends to sit, even when others are standing, and has shortened his daily schedule, often not conducting official duties before noon. A New York Times report found that his public appearances have declined by nearly 40% compared to his first year in office. He sometimes disappears from public view for days as he did in the late summer, and he and his administration have released unclear and conflicting information about his health. His right hand seems to be experiencing frequent injury or discoloration – it will often be covered with a band-aid or smeared with makeup; the White House has claimed, implausibly, that he is bruised from shaking too many hands. In some images, his ankles are visibly swollen. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Average of 3,140 people in hospital with flu each day last week, an all-time high for this time of year The NHS is on “high alert” as the number of people in hospital with flu reached the highest ever for this time of year amid ongoing industrial action. An average of 3,140 people were in hospital with flu each day by the end of last week, an increase of 18% compared with the previous week. Continue reading...

The Reiners’ bodies were discovered on Sunday at their home in Los Angeles. Their son Nick was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and has since appeared in court The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has released reports stating the cause of death of the film director Rob Reiner and his wife, the photographer Michele Singer Reiner. Both are listed on the organisation’s website with the cause given as “multiple sharp force injuries” and “homicide” stated as the manner of death. The date of death, which had been the subject of some speculation, is given as Sunday 14 December. Continue reading...

Heavily armed tactical operation officers intercepted two cars on a busy street with images showing suspects cable-tied on the side of the road Police have detained seven men in connection with possible planned violence in Sydney’s south-west. Tactical operations police had responded to “information received that a violent act was possibly being planned” on Thursday evening, a NSW Police spokesperson said. Continue reading...

Social Mobility Commission report highlights ‘extreme regional differences’ in terms of childhood, jobs, innovation and growth Former industrial communities across Britain are facing “entrenched disadvantages” stretching back decades, the latest social mobility research has said. It raises specific concern about the rising number of young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training (Neets), which was one in seven between 2022 and 2024. Continue reading...

After Guardian writers picked their favourite lesser-known festive movies, readers shoutout Klaus, The Ref and more I thought a real modern hidden gem is All Is Bright starring Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti as two down-on-their-luck Christmas tree sellers. It’s perfectly played by both, with Rudd putting in, not his usual “puppy dog everyone wants to be your mate” role but a sarcastic turn, complementing Giamatti’s Christmas grinch. More a black comedy (by Hollywood standards), it’s an excellent film. Andyouwillknowme Continue reading...

What was the final resting place of the bronze age toxophilite? Which butterfly is named after the giant with 100 eyes? Who was shown carrying Bananaman’s 45th birthday cake? On your marks … set, go! Editor’s note: the King William’s College quiz has appeared in the Guardian since 1951. The quiz is no longer sat formally; it is sent to the schoolchildren and their families to tackle over the Christmas holiday. So yes, you are allowed to Google – however, the questions are constructed to make that less than straightforward. Answers will appear on theguardian.com on 13 January 2025. Good luck! General knowledge paper, 2025-2026, No 121, set for the pupils of King William’s College, Isle of Man Continue reading...

Seth Rogen’s warm, Emmy-winning comedy about a Hollywood movie company is exquisitely excruciating – and more fun than anything else on TV • The 50 best TV shows of 2025 • More on the best culture of 2025 Oh, The Studio – how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Or at least allow me to gaze, rapt, from behind an ornamental palm tree as your vintage convertible hurtles towards yet another catastrophic Hollywood assignation. The Emmy-winning creation of Seth Rogen and long-term writing partner Evan Goldberg, The Studio follows Matt Remick, an idealistic film executive who finds himself unexpectedly promoted to head of Continental Studios. “This could be my time!” he gasps, cock-a-hoop to find himself in charge of the company to which he has devoted the last 22 years of his life. He is, unfortunately, correct. “Film is my life,” he splutters during his tearfully grateful acceptance speech to CEO Griffin Mill (Bryan Cranston). Mill – an oleaginous sod with a spray tan the colour of a 70s ski lodge – smiles thinly. “At Continental, we don’t make films. We make movies. MOOOOVIEEEEES that people wanna PAY to see,” he explains, tightly, and Matt’s face proceeds to sink like a souffle. And it continues to sink over 10 exquisitely excruciating episodes, as his hopes for a new era of intelligent, auteur-helmed blockbusters are repeatedly marmalised by a system both frightened and angered by anything that can’t be deposited in a Swiss bank account. Continue reading...

Timing seen as reset moment after potential loss of hundreds of council seats in England and defeat in Wales and Scotland • UK politics live – latest updates Keir Starmer is planning for a new king’s speech after the crunch May elections as a reset moment for the government amid speculation over the prime minister’s future. Senior sources in parliament said planning was under way to end the parliamentary session the week after local elections in England and parliamentary elections in Wales and Scotland in May, making it a significantly longer session than normal, and nearly two years since Labour first set out its legislative agenda. Continue reading...

Former top medic described as ‘Dr Death’ by prosecutors poisoned 30 people ranging in age from four to 89 A French anaesthetist described by prosecutors as “Dr Death” has been found guilty of intentionally poisoning 30 patients and killing 12 over almost a decade as a top medic in France. Frédéric Péchier, 53, once seen by colleagues as a “star anaesthetist”, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after state prosecutors said he was “one of the biggest criminals in the history of the French legal system”. Continue reading...

The documentary-maker on new film 2000 Meters to Andriivka (the Guardian’s No 2 film of 2025), being on the Oscar circuit with 20 Days in Mariupol and filming on the frontline Adrian Horton: I know you were showing your prior film, 20 Days in Mariupol, to western audiences when you began working on this film. What brought you back to the frontlines? Mstyslav Chernov: What brought me back was not speaking to the audiences, even, but just coming out of Mariupol, we were so devastated and so scarred by what happened. And then we went off to Bucha, where we saw more war crimes. And then I went to Kharkiv, my home town, which was bombed every day, just as Mariupol was. So even when we were starting to edit 20 Days in Mariupol, I was already looking for a story that would be, in a way, a response to that feeling I had, of devastation and helplessness. I kept seeing Ukraine as a victim of this brutal invasion, and I wanted to tell another story which would have an opposite direction – to show some sort of agency, some sort of strength and response to that violence, when Ukrainians push back. AH: And that was when Mariupol was already out? What was that dissonance like for you – being on the Oscar circuit, then filming on the frontlines? MC: That was when the theatrical release started in July. It was the same time as Barbie and Oppenheimer, and it was the same time when we had dozens and dozens of Q&As for the wider public. It was when the first receptions and red carpets started. But of course, at the same time, the frontline was on fire. Ukraine was fighting this counteroffensive. And I would go from those places in the United States, in the UK, in Europe, these beautiful, peaceful cities, back to Ukraine – fly to the border, get a car, get a train, get another car, get in a trench. And in that trench, I would see a world that was so different. It would be like another planet, or 100 years backward in time. That collision of two worlds – I just tried to express it. I tried to comprehend it, how we live in a world where both war and peace and humanity and violence exist. And so 2000 Meters to Andriivka naturally became a film about distances, not just about the reality of war, not just about the humanity of people who are pinned down in those foxholes. But also about the distance between Europe and Ukraine, between Ukrainian society and people in the trenches. Hopefully that comes through. Continue reading...

US hedge fund Elliott thought to prefer London over New York, which could be welcome boost to UK stock market Business live – latest updates The owner of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble is reportedly preparing to list the booksellers on the stock market. Elliott Investment Management, the hedge fund that owns the most popular bookstores in the US and the UK, has spoken to potential advisers about an initial public offering (IPO), the Financial Times reported. Continue reading...

Ukrainian soldiers claw their way toward an abandoned one-street town, battling Russian artillery fire, snipers and aerial attacks, in this feat of documentary film-making and frontline reporting • The best films of 2025 in the UK • More on the best culture of 2025 Two thousand meters is a little over a mile, roughly the length of the Kentucky Derby, or 25 New York City blocks – a quick drive, a reasonable walk, a span very much within the realm of human comprehension. Which makes the distance in 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, all the more unbelievable. Here, on this brief wooded strip of land in late 2023, Ukrainian soldiers clawed their way towards the abandoned, one-street town – a supposedly key notch in the Russian supply line – battling Russian artillery fire, snipers and aerial attacks. An advance that would ordinarily take about 10 minutes to run takes several lethal weeks. In both a feat of film-making and frontline reporting – at the time, Chernov was virtually the only documentarian on the frontline of a conflict rife with Russian propaganda and misinformation – we experience all 2,000 meters to Andriivka as the soldiers do: inch by inch, meter by meter, a senseless barrage of carnage from seemingly everything everywhere all at once, a fever dream of first world war-style trenches and modern drone dystopia. Chernov seamlessly weaves together soldiers’ bodycam footage – harrowing first-person windows into the terror and fog of war – and his own recordings, embedded with Ukraine’s third assault brigade during what turned out to be a largely disappointing counteroffensive. Chernov managed to catch many of the soldiers, mostly boyish twentysomethings who had other plans before Russia’s full-scale invasion, in moments of downtime or reflection, in breaks from the slog. For many, it’s their last record. Continue reading...

The Scottish actor and presenter – who hosted the Bafta TV awards this year – will take over from David Tennant at the February ceremony The Scottish actor and presenter Alan Cumming has been named as the new host of the Bafta film awards, taking over the reins from David Tennant. Cumming, who hosted the Bafta TV awards earlier this year and captivated audiences worldwide as host of The Traitors US, will take the stage at the Royal Festival Hall for the ceremony on 22 February 2026. Continue reading...

AI Security Institute report finds most common type of AI tech used was general purpose assistants such as ChatGPT and Amazon Alexa A third of UK citizens have used artificial intelligence for emotional support, companionship or social interaction, according to the government’s AI security body. The AI Security Institute (AISI) said nearly one in 10 people used systems like chatbots for emotional purposes on a weekly basis, and 4% daily. Continue reading...

Remarkably, most of the men connected to the convicted sex offender have barely experienced any fallout. That says as much as the scandal itself A couple of weeks ago, the annual DealBook Summit got under way in New York. It’s a series of public talks billed as conversations with “the world’s most consequential people”, and is part of that circuit of live events in which the worst people on Earth gather on stage to address the second-worst people on Earth, their paying audience. Hosted by Andrew Ross Sorkin, the conference was a characteristically starry affair, but in a lineup that included Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and “changemaker” Halle Berry, it was Ehud Barak, the former prime minister of Israel and a former associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who really caught the eye. My first thought about Barak’s appearance was: Larry Summers must be spitting. Summers, the former president of Harvard and another Epstein associate, was very much not on stage at the DealBook Summit, nor is he anywhere else in polite society right now. One can only imagine how bitter he must be feeling about the variance in fortunes of the men – and occasional woman – with known connections to Epstein. Of this list, two are dead (Marvin Minsky and Jean-Luc Brunel), one is in jail (Ghislaine Maxwell) and one has lost his house, his title and his invitation to the family Christmas (Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor). But for the rest of the prominent associates, email correspondents, birthday-card signatories, grant recipients and dinner companions of the late convicted paedophile – all of whom insist that, while in Epstein’s orbit, they remained in total ignorance as to the man’s true nature – the cancellation fairy’s aim has been predictably inconsistent and wide. Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Letter from 39 backbenchers threatens rebellion over proposal to expedite court backlog in England and Wales Keir Starmer is facing the threat of a backbench rebellion over plans to reduce the number of jury trials in England and Wales, as dozens of Labour MPs signed a letter describing the move as “madness”. The justice secretary, David Lammy, announced plans earlier this month that will take thousands of trials away from the jury system, to be heard instead by judges and magistrates. Continue reading...