Manager: striker ‘works so hard and wants to succeed’ Amorim will rotate Fernandes if United return to Europe Ruben Amorim has conceded Benjamin Sesko is struggling for form at Manchester United and wants the striker to learn to accept criticism so it becomes like a “normal Monday”. Sesko has scored only twice in 11 appearances for United since joining the club from RB Leipzig for £73.7m in August. That has brought inevitable pressure on to the 22-year-old’s shouldersm with Amorim revealing that while he is relaxed about the situation, the player himself is not. “I understand how things are in football, and he’s going to struggle,” said the head coach. “He has no experience here, and when everyone says that you are the next big thing, you hear that. If you don’t perform every week, you are going to hear from club legends, from pundits, the media, and sometimes they are right. Continue reading...

Arne Slot: ‘Florian needs time to adapt to teammates’ Head coach hopes to have Isak available for City clash Arne Slot has rejected Arsène Wenger’s theory that playing Florian Wirtz as a No 10 has “destroyed Liverpool’s midfield” and insisted the £116m signing will prove a special talent wherever he operates for the Premier League champions. Wirtz impressed when playing off the left in the Champions League defeat of Real Madrid on Tuesday, having previously struggled to make an impact in a central attacking role. The Germany international’s difficult start in the Premier League – where he is yet to score or assist before Sunday’s visit to Manchester City – prompted a withering assessment by Wenger before the visit of Real. Continue reading...

This extraordinarily tight child kidnap drama knits all its threads together brilliantly – and the mighty Snook of Succession fame shines as a mother whose son is missing Look, I am a mother, a neurotic and – if one of my HRT patches sloughs off without me noticing – very quickly a clinical paranoiac. But even if that were not true, this latest tale of a playdate gone unthinkably wrong would have me firmly in its grip. All Her Fault, an adaptation of bestselling thriller writer Andrea Mara’s 2021 book of the same name, braids a number of popular TV trends together, interrogating White Lotus-style the phenomenon of middle-class US affluence and the protections it offers and corruptions it encourages, a missing child narrative and an examination of the penalty women pay for motherhood. It is rare that all these things are held in balance, without at least one element becoming preachy or the thriller part becoming baggy or preposterous, but All Her Fault manages it brilliantly. We are plunged straight into the thick of things as wealthy wealth manager Marissa Irvine (Succession’s mighty Sarah Snook) arrives to pick up her five-year-old son Milo from a playdate at the home of another school mum, Jenny (Dakota Fanning). But when she reaches the supposed address, the woman who answers the door is not Jenny, has never heard of her, or Jenny’s nanny Carrie (Sophia Lillis) who was in charge of the playdate, or Milo. It soon becomes clear that no one has seen Milo since Carrie picked him up from school. He’s gone, his online tracker found smashed to bits in the school car park, and he stays gone even after the time a ransom demand would usually have been received. Continue reading...

Chuck Schumer offered Republicans a proposal to end the longest government shutdown in US history US politics live – latest updates The Senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Friday unveiled a proposal to end the longest government shutdown in US history, offering Republicans a deal to reopen the government in exchange for a one-year extension of tax credits that lower costs for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans. “Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes healthcare affordability,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Leader Thune just needs to add a clean, one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising healthcare costs.” Continue reading...

With Marcus Smith at full-back and a highly mobile back five in the pack, Steve Borthwick could play with the handbrake fully off Much has happened in the 27 months since Fiji were last at Twickenham and beat England. You would certainly have had decent odds back then on the home side’s reserve prop Joe Marler becoming a national TV treasure, a fever dream roughly on a par with Claudia Winkleman shaving off her hair and packing down at loosehead. Who knew? But here we are in an increasingly parallel universe. Big Joe now has Alan Carr and Sir Stephen Fry on speed dial while England, since the 30-22 defeat in August 2023, have also undergone their own extreme makeover. Having been a team who, by the admission of their own coach early in his tenure, “weren’t good at anything” they are now hoping to extend an eight-match winning run after defeating Australia comfortably last week. Continue reading...

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen battle for the title, just as Juan Manuel Fangio, Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli did 75 years ago With no little pleasing symmetry, seventy five years on from a three-way fight for the inaugural Formula One title, the championship is entering its decisive phase once more with three protagonists in the running and the promise of an enthralling denouement of the kind that has graced some of the sport’s greatest seasons. Heading into this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen all remain in the hunt. Norris leads Piastri by just one point, with the defending champion, Verstappen, 36 points back, after a late-season resurgence. Continue reading...

Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell are last of series of penalised backbenchers to return to the party Four Labour MPs who lost the party whip in July for being “persistent rebels” have had the sanction removed, the last of a series of penalised backbenchers to be allowed back into the fold. Neil Duncan-Jordan, Chris Hinchliff, Brian Leishman and Rachael Maskell spoke to the party’s chief whip, Jonathan Reynolds, and were allowed to hold the whip again after a review of how they had behaved since the suspension, it is understood. Continue reading...

Premier Tech pulls out despite rebranding pledge Team’s participation in Vuelta was dogged by protests The main sponsor of the Israel-Premier Tech team of the four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has pulled out of funding the team, despite a pledge to rebrand and distance itself from its Israeli identity. The Canadian company Premier Tech, in a statement issued on Friday, said that it had decided to “step down as co-title sponsor of the team, taking effect immediately”. “Although we took notice of the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season,” the statement said, “the core reason for Premier Tech to sponsor the team has been overshadowed to a point where it has become untenable for us to continue as a sponsor.” Despite the latest setback, the team are understood to be forging ahead with plans for the 2026 season, after stating in September that a rebrand was “essential to securing the future of the team”. Israel Premier-Tech was plunged into crisis following mass protests against the team’s presence during September’s Vuelta a España, which culminated in the cancellation of the final stage of the three-week race in Madrid. Continue reading...

Nobel prize winner shaped medicine, crimefighting and genealogy but later years marred by racist remarks James D Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died, according to his former research lab. He was 97. The breakthrough – made when the brash, Chicago-born Watson was just 24 – turned him into a hallowed figure in the world of science for decades. But near the end of his life, he faced condemnation and professional censure for offensive remarks, including saying Black people were less intelligent than white people. Continue reading...

Tamahori was the outstanding director of Along Came a Spider and Die Another Day – but it was his first film that was his greatest work In 1994, New Zealand film-maker Lee Tamahori made one of the biggest debuts of the decade, firing on all six cylinders with his gut-wrenching social-realist melodrama Once Were Warriors. The Mekes are a working-class Maori family in South Auckland: Temuera Morrison is the boozing, brawling, bragging alpha-male welfare claimant Jake, who comes home from drinking in the pub with his pathetic sycophant mates to terrorise and assault his wife Beth, played by Rena Owen, and their five children. He is entirely indifferent to the fate of his two elder sons who have drifted into gangland culture and crime, as well as his sensitive daughter Grace, who has talent as a writer. One son gets gang tattoos; the other is taken to a juvenile reformatory where he is at least tutored in the ways of Maori culture – the haka and the taiaha warrior spear – and learns dignity and self-respect. But back at Jake’s chaotic house, Grace is raped by Jake’s grotesque friend “Uncle Bully”; disaster follows, and Beth passionately confronts the wretched Jake: “Our people once were warriors, but unlike you, Jake, they were people with mana, pride; people with spirit…” Tamahori let rip with all this emotional violence, and landed sledgehammer punches with the pub scenes, the home scenes and the gang ritual initiation scenes, handling them with confidence and verve. He created a gutsy, heartfelt picture with a very 90s streak of brash and trash. It was a hit with audiences and critics, and – for good or ill – deeply impressed industry executives in Hollywood who could see how Tamahori could bring this energy and flair to mainstream genre material. Continue reading...

PM, ministers and army chief accused of crimes against humanity that Israel has ‘perpetrated systematically’ in Gaza Turkey has issued arrest warrants for alleged genocide against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and senior officials within his government. Among 37 suspects listed were the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, the national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the army chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said a statement from the Istanbul prosecutor’s office, which did not publish the complete list. Continue reading...

US president also praises Viktor Orbán’s hardline stance on immigration during White House summit Donald Trump has suggested that he could exempt Hungary from sanctions on importing oil from Russia as he praised Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s hardline stance on immigration during a cozy White House summit. Trump also called on European leaders to show more respect to Orbán who has clashed repeatedly with fellow EU heads of government over issues of migration, democracy and rule of law. Continue reading...

Cashmere and wool tees will keep you warm, cool and stylish during the festive season When it comes to dressing for a party, a T-shirt is usually something you change out of rather than put on. But this party season, the casual tee is experiencing a metamorphosis. Enter: the cocktail T-shirt. Continue reading...

Goalkeeper is staying grounded despite club equalling clean sheets record that has stood for 122 years After yet another relatively quiet night at the office, David Raya sprang into action. As soon as the referee pointed to the spot at Slavia Prague on Tuesday, Arsenal’s goalkeeper sprinted to the touchline to confer with the coach Iñaki Caña in a routine that began when the pair first worked together at Brentford. No matter that Arsenal were cruising at 3-0 up with five minutes remaining and on their way to a 10th straight victory – Raya was on the verge of creating history if he could save the penalty and keep the team’s eighth successive clean sheet. In the end, the video assistant referee came to Arsenal’s rescue and the penalty was overturned, although Raya did have to save a simple effort from Youssoupha Mbodji in injury time from Slavia’s only shot on target. It was only the seventh save he has made in four Champions League ties, in which he has yet to concede a goal. Incredibly, since Nick Woltemade scored past Raya for Newcastle on 28 September, Arsenal have conceded only 12 shots on target in 12 hours and 56 minutes on their way to equalling a club clean sheets record established over two seasons in 1903 when they were a team from south London playing in the old Second Division. Continue reading...

The Real Madrid midfielder is part of an attack-minded squad but the manager will be watching him carefully One snub was enough. Another and it would have started to look vindictive from Thomas Tuchel, who is far too wily not to know that winning the World Cup is probably going to require help from Jude Bellingham, even if it is also on the midfielder to fit into the tactical structures and squad hierarchies required with England now that he is back in Tuchel’s warm embrace. The manager wants Bellingham’s edge, his fire, but it is about using it in the right way. Individual quality matters but England know from bitter experience that there is a price to pay when celebrity takes over. Still, a point has been made. Continue reading...

‘Fans will understand if we go out with pride’ Tuchel ‘re-energised’ after 13 months in charge Thomas Tuchel has opened the door to staying on as England’s manager after next year’s World Cup and has said his future does not necessarily depend on leading the team to glory. Tuchel, who handed recalls to Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden on Friday, signed a contract with the Football Association in October last year only till after the tournament. That arrangement gave a short-term feel to the role, but the German has hit his stride in recent months and has said managing England has rejuvenated him after draining spells at Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Continue reading...

Director general under pressure after release of memo criticising reporting on Trump, trans rights and Gaza Boris Johnson and figures linked to him are engaging in an effort to undermine the BBC’s leadership, insiders fear, after the leaking of a memo criticising its reporting of Donald Trump, trans rights and Gaza. Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, and other senior editorial staff are under pressure after the criticisms made in the document by Michael Prescott, a former independent external adviser to its editorial guidelines and standards committee (EGSC). Continue reading...

The increasing ferocity and frequency of tropical storms imposes an unbearable burden on countries including Jamaica The geographically uneven risks from increasingly extreme and dangerous weather grow ever starker. As Jamaica and other Caribbean countries clear up after Hurricane Melissa, and Typhoon Kalmaegi heads west after killing nearly 200 people in the Philippines and Vietnam, the case for more international support to countries facing the most destructive impacts from global heating has never been stronger. Last week’s five-day rainfall in Jamaica was made twice as likely by higher temperatures, according to initial findings from climate attribution studies. The current death toll across the Caribbean is at least 75. The economic and social costs are hard to quantify in a region that is still recovering from 2024’s Hurricane Beryl. Crucial infrastructure has been destroyed before the loans used to build it have even been paid off. Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s prime minister, estimates that the damage there is roughly equivalent to one-third of the country’s gross domestic product. 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. Continue reading...

It might be darker than usual, but this year’s festive offering reflects our fears for boys growing up today We need look no further than this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad to see that one of the most urgent national conversations is the crisis of boyhood. Fears around the rise of the manosphere, spiralling mental health problems and loneliness among young men have made headlines, from Sir Gareth Southgate’s Richard Dimbleby lecture, in which he expressed fears that “toxic influencers” are replacing traditional father figures, to the phenomenal success of the hit Netflix series Adolescence. Now these anxieties have even crept into the UK’s reliable cultural barometer, the department store’s annual ad. As this festive institution itself turns 18, it is fitting perhaps that it tells the story of a middle‑aged father and his silent, headphone-wearing teenage son. The gift of a vinyl record of Alison Limerick’s 1990 dance anthem Where Love Lives transports the dad back to his 90s clubbing days, until the pace changes and father and son see each other over the chasm of years. The boy, in true adland style, becomes a toddler and then a baby. We return to their immaculately stylish living room for a hug and a few tears in homes across the country – if Saatchi & Saatchi has done its job. 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. Continue reading...

Typhoon Kalmaegi, hunger in Gaza, displacement in Sudan and Zohran Mamdani in New York: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists Continue reading...

Incident took place during February game with Burnley North End criticise FA’s decision to dish out punishment Preston have been left “extremely disappointed” by the Football Association’s decision to ban Milutin Osmajic for nine matches over allegedly making racist comments to Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri. Mejbril alleged Osmajic made the comments during last season’s Championship derby between the two Lancashire sides at Deepdale in February, which ended 0-0. The FA said an independent regulatory commission found the allegations to be proven after Osmajic was charged with an “aggravated” breach of their rules over conduct, while the Montenegro forward denied the charges. Continue reading...

Upstate New York institution is the fifth university under government investigation to bow to White House demands Cornell University announced a settlement with the Trump administration on Friday, becoming the fifth university under investigation by the US government to do so. The agreement will see more than $250m in federal research funding restored. In exchange, the university will share admissions data with the government, pay $30m and invest $30m more in research programs benefiting farmers – a reflection of the university’s longstanding record of agricultural research. The university also agreed to continued to “evaluate the campus climate”, particularly for Jewish students and affirmed the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws, which views diversity initiatives as unlawful race-based discrimination. Continue reading...

Chatbot was first used for ‘general help’ with schoolwork or research but ‘evolved into a psychologically manipulative presence’, plaintiffs say ChatGPT has been accused of acting as a “suicide coach” in a series of lawsuits filed this week in California alleging that interactions with the chatbot led to severe mental breakdowns and several deaths. The seven lawsuits include allegations of wrongful death, assisted suicide, involuntary manslaughter, negligence and product liability. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Arsenal travel to Sunderland aiming for a sixth consecutive league win while Manchester City host Liverpool on Sunday Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Continue reading...

Exclusive: Darren Jones says Labour has to convince young people it is ‘modern party of the future’ The Green party is offering “simple solutions to complex problems” and making “undeliverable” promises to voters ahead of the next election that could leave them disappointed, the prime minister’s chief secretary has said. Darren Jones, one of Keir Starmer’s most powerful ministers, said the resurgent Greens were “a bit like the populist left version of the populist right” of Reform UK, and that both were in danger of letting down voters. Continue reading...