Disgraced and incarcerated music mogul claims footage in docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning was stolen Sean “Diddy” Combs has taken issue with a splashy new Netflix docuseries on his life and many legal troubles, that is executive produced by his longtime rival 50 Cent. The former Bad Boy Records executive and hip-hop star, currently serving a four-year sentence for prostitution-related charges, blasted Sean Combs: The Reckoning as a “shameful hit piece”, and accused Netflix of incorporating stolen footage. Continue reading...

Mental health of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is charged with murder, had reportedly been unravelling for years The suspect in the shooting of two West Virginia national guard soldiers in Washington DC on the eve of Thanksgiving had been struggling with his mental health, sometimes spending “weeks on end” in isolation, as he struggled to assimilate in the years since arriving in the United States, it has emerged. According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s mental health had been unravelling for years, leaving him unable to hold a job and flipping between long, dark stretches of isolation and taking sudden weeks-long cross-country drives. Continue reading...

Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an Accident Iran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the country. The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili told AFP, adding that they would file an appeal. Continue reading...

Demonstrators blocked the exit of ICE vehicles from a parking lot using garbage bags and metal barriers A raid by federal immigration authorities on Saturday in New York City was thwarted by about 200 protesters, several of whom were arrested after scuffles with police officers. The episode was the latest in which citizen activists have stood up to agents enforcing Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda through targeted raids in various cities across the country after his second presidency began in January. Continue reading...

Britain quit EU programme after Brexit, when Boris Johnson claimed it did not offer good value for money The UK is hoping to secure an agreement within weeks to rejoin the EU’s flagship student mobility programme, as part of a drive to pursue closer relations with Brussels after a setback on defence. Negotiators are aiming to finalise a deal by January that would allow the UK to participate in Erasmus from 2027 onwards, according to two UK and EU officials. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Richard Hermer, a senior Jewish minister, says Reform leader ‘clearly deeply hurt’ many people with his alleged behaviour The UK’s top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish government ministers, has urged Nigel Farage to apologise to school contemporaries who claim the Reform UK leader racially abused them while at school. The attorney general Richard Hermer said that Farage had “clearly deeply hurt” many people with their descriptions of his behaviour, and that his “constantly changing” denials had been unconvincing. Continue reading...

Red Bull driver can win fifth world title in Abu Dhabi Dutchman was 104 points behind top after Dutch GP Max Verstappen is fired-up to go to Abu Dhabi and compete for his fifth F1 world championship after the Dutchman won in Qatar, narrowed the gap to 12 points within the championship leader, Lando Norris and overtook Oscar Piastri to set up a three-way season-deciding finale at the Yas Marina circuit. Verstappen delivered a superb drive for Red Bull in Lusail on Sunday but it was a victory handed to him by McLaren, who made a calamitous strategy call for Norris and Piastri. Continue reading...

The government is trapped between Labour’s instincts and bond traders’ demands. Sensible fixes exist, but require imagination ministers have yet shown The confected frenzy splashed across the morning front pages from the Telegraph to the Mail is remarkable mostly for its absurdity. An outrage machine has decided that a forecast of a few billion pounds in a model that makes projections about trillions of pounds of taxes and spending is the lie of the century. We can’t predict the weather next year, but apparently the public finances in 2029 can be judged with pinpoint accuracy. That’s why the headlines about “holes” and “sleaze probes” are a joke. It is theatre, but it is bad theatre. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) possesses no great moral or predictive authority. Yet many of its accusers and defenders treat it as an all‑seeing oracle. In fact, the OBR, to its credit, admits that its medium-term projections are frequently wrong. It often wrongly estimates inflation and productivity, and has had its assumptions upended by unforeseen events. The OBR’s 2019 five-year forecast undershot actual GDP growth by £200bn. Given this degree of error, treating a projected current budget balance of £20bn in 2029-30 as a hard fact is deeply unserious. 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...

The specific health issues faced by boys and men deserve attention. But waiting lists stand in the way of improvement Men, on average, have lower life expectancy than women – by around four years in the UK. They account for three-quarters of all deaths by suicide and are more likely to smoke and be overweight. Young men are more likely than young women to die as a result of accidents, violence or overdoses. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with around 12,000 deaths every year. A public consultation on whether to introduce screening for the disease opened last week, after an expert committee advised against it. So the men’s health strategy for England launched recently by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, should be welcomed on principle. Just as a women’s health lens helps policymakers to focus on female reproductive health and risks, a men’s health lens should enable specific problems to be targeted more effectively. 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...

From Thailand to Indonesia, torrential flooding has carried away people’s possessions, homes and lives How cyclones and monsoon rains converged to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide Aminah Ali, 63, was at home in the Pidie Jaya district of Indonesia’s Aceh province when the rains started at midnight on Wednesday. The waters rose gradually. It seemed like the usual flooding that happens during monsoon season, but then came a loud roar of water: her village was suddenly inundated. With help from her son, she managed to clamber on to her rooftop, where she waited for 24 hours. Flood waters, 3 meters high, stretched into the distance. “I saw many houses being swept away,” she said. Continue reading...

Critics voice concern as government says its Sanchar Saathi app combats cybersecurity threats for 1.2bn telecom users India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cybersecurity app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates. In tackling a recent surge of cybercrime and hacking, India is joining authorities worldwide, most recently in Russia, to frame rules blocking the use of stolen phones for fraud or promoting state-backed government service apps. Continue reading...

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The prime minister has been pushed to defend his chancellor after she was accused of lying in the run-up to the autumn budget. Rachel Reeves is alleged to have misled the public by citing bleak economic forecasts from the OBR to justify tax rises, even though the figures were more positive than she suggested. Lucy Hough is joined by Archie Bland, the head of national news Continue reading...

While members’ vote avoids one-to-one leadership race, battle continues ‘for the soul of the party’ Your Party faces a potential proxy war between supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana after members opted for a collective model of leadership, insiders have warned. Members voted narrowly in favour of an initial period in which the new leftwing party is guided by a 16-strong central executive committee at its inaugural conference at the weekend. The decision avoided a direct and possibly brutal contest between Corbyn and Sultana to be sole leader, the other option available. Continue reading...

Treasury’s independent economic forecaster says outlook for economy rosier than chancellor led everyone to believe OBR chair quits after inquiry into early release of Reeves’s budget UK politics live – latest updates Rachel Reeves has been accused of overstating the damage to the UK’s public finances from a downgrade of economic growth by the Treasury’s independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility. In the aftermath of last week’s budget, the focus has turned to who knew what and when in the long run-up to the budget. Continue reading...

Mid-range offence could see eight-week ban Apology after match will be considered Eben Etzebeth is expected to appear at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday after his red card for alleged eye-gouging in the dominant victory against Wales on Saturday, with the Springboks lock potentially facing a long ban. The verdict is likely to be announced on Wednesday. As South Africa closed in on a record 73-0 victory in Cardiff, Etzebeth clashed with the Welsh back-rower Alex Mann, appearing to make contact with his opponent’s left eye in a fracas involving several players from both sides. Continue reading...

Why has Trump blown up alleged narco boats in the Caribbean and at the same time decided to let a big time trafficker off the hook? Deadly airstrikes and a military buildup: how the US pressure campaign against Venezuela has unfolded in the Caribbean He was a Latin American president accused of colluding with some of the region’s most ruthless narco bosses to flood the United States with cocaine. “[Let’s] stuff the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” the double-dealing politician once allegedly bragged as he lined his pockets with millions of dollars in bribes and turned his country into what many called a narco-state. Continue reading...

Reaction to goalkeeper’s error on Saturday was reprehensible but fans have had enough of being let down by the team In my 35 years as a Tottenham fan, 15 of them as a season‑ticket holder, I’ve seen the home atmosphere turn ugly more than a few times. Chants of “We want our Tottenham back” have resurfaced during times of struggle, while mounting fury at Daniel Levy finally grew too loud to ignore for the Lewis family over the summer. I remember well the chorus of boos that ultimately sounded the death knell for Nuno Espírito Santo, when he subbed off a lively Lucas Moura against Manchester United. And if you want a deeper cut, I was there in May 2007 to witness the visceral anger and disgust when Hossam Ghaly threw his shirt on the ground after being substituted by Martin Jol, half an hour after coming on. Continue reading...

A backer of Eleanor the Great, about a woman who pretends to be a Holocaust survivor, dropped out after Johansson refused to make changes Scarlett Johansson has said she was pressed to remove Holocaust references in her feature directing debut Eleanor the Great, which stars June Squibb as an elderly woman who pretends to be a Holocaust survivor. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Johansson said that during the film’s pre-production phase, one of the film’s backers threatened to pull out unless the plot elements relating to the Holocaust were cut out. Continue reading...

Dr Jacky Davis and Stephen Sedley respond to letters that supported the Lords’ scrutiny of the bill Dr Lucy Thomas raises some interesting points in her defence of the House of Lords’ behaviour on assisted dying (Letters, 26 November). But it is a stretch to suggest that the 1,000 amendments that peers have tabled to the bill represent effective independent scrutiny. What possible justification can there be for requiring every dying person – including a 90-year-old in their final weeks with advanced metastasised cancer – to provide a negative pregnancy test before their request is approved (amendment 458)? I am sure there are many peers who want to scrutinise the bill in a sensible way, but they are being thwarted by a handful who seem intent on stopping law change at any cost. Continue reading...

Readers reflect on an interview with the outgoing chief executive of the Refugee Council A brilliant interview as always from Zoe Williams (‘We thought the Rwanda scheme was the worst of it’: Enver Solomon on leading – and leaving – the Refugee Council, 24 November). I only wish this wonderful man had the fortitude to continue in this role, but I can understand why he would feel the need to move on after five years working within the confines of the political arena of “modern” Britain. It exhausts and depresses me just reading about the lack of compassion and basic humanity shown by recent governments. I lost faith in and left the Labour party after decades as a believer that “things could only get better”. Now, as a 75-year-old retiree, I am beginning to realise that politicians cannot make things better, but the Enver Solomons of this world can. He restores my faith in the fact that the country is not all bad when we have such amazing people carrying out such extraordinary roles. Continue reading...

Manifestos are not binding contracts – good politics is about being able to react to circumstances, says Tony Wright Martin Kettle is right to describe as “irresponsible” Labour’s manifesto commitment not to raise any of the main revenue-raising taxes (Rachel Reeves’s budget has inflamed, not calmed, Britain’s febrile mood, 27 November). This was like sending an army into battle with its most effective weapons removed. It was also quite unnecessary, as Labour was going to win anyway because people just wanted the Tories out. It would have been possible for Labour to say that it had no desire or intention to raise taxes while also saying that it all depended on the economic circumstances in which it found itself. That would have been the sensible position and would have removed the straitjacket that the government is now in. Continue reading...

The point is not to reiterate gender stereotypes, write Emily J Hogg, Dr Charlotte J Fabricius and Dr Ida Aaskov Dolmer, but to make visible the ways that contemporary capitalism exploits our ideas about gender As researchers working on the topic of feminised work, it is dismaying to see the anti-feminist definition of that term – advanced by conservative thinkers like Helen Andrews – gaining traction (Horror stories of a “feminised workplace” mask the real crisis in male identity, 24 November). If we understand “feminisation” to mean that contemporary workplaces are overwhelmed by women and their allegedly excessive emotions and touchy-feely refusal to compete, then it is easy to see why it might not seem to merit much thought. But there is an alternative, critical and feminist definition of the term. “Feminisation” in this sense describes the central role played by gender in the transformations of work over the past decades, from the decline of conventionally masculine forms of work in heavy industry to the rise of the service economy and the problematic idea that women’s participation in paid labour is a measure of gender equality. This critical use of “feminisation” makes visible the ways that contemporary capitalism exploits our ideas about gender. The point is not to reiterate gender stereotypes (the fallacy that women are more naturally caring than men, for example), or to suggest that feminisation is something to be either entirely celebrated or entirely critiqued. Continue reading...

An official confirmed nearly a dozen deaths, including a mother and her child, in Artibonite region over the weekend Heavily armed gangs attacked Haiti’s central region over the weekend, killing men, women and children as they set fire to homes and forced survivors to flee into the darkness. Police made emergency calls for backup, asserting that 50% of the Artibonite region had fallen under gang control after the large-scale attacks targeting towns including Bercy and Pont-Sondé. Continue reading...

‘Rage bait’ is Oxford word of the year in 2025. But I think we should be able to decommission words that have brought more trouble than they’re worth, starting with the 2015 runner-up The Oxford word of the year has been chosen, and it’s “rage bait”. It was a close-run contest with “aura farming” – that just means charisma, for which a number of perfectly fine words already exist – and “biohack”, a non-specific lifestyle improvement in which you’ve somehow got into the mainframe of time itself, and made some aspect of your body immune to its ravages. Since “aura farming” is extraneous and “biohacks” are almost all bollocks, the competition can’t have been that close, but the neologism isn’t necessarily welcome. Rage bait, as you probably already know, is the publication, usually online, of material designed to make people angry. It’s not a made-up phenomenon; we’ve known for some time that online engagement is most strongly driven by out-group animosity, but nor is it a cute feature of modern life, like iced matcha lattes and Labubus. It creates intellectual silos, drives deep social divisions, and ultimately corrodes trust in institutions and reason itself, as people feel so alienated from any but their own tribe that they cease to believe anything except word of mouth. I’d argue that it’s a bit like making “ethnic cleansing” your word of 1992, during the Bosnian war. Yes, people were using it a lot, but that didn’t make it a fun answer for a quiz. Turns out it was named Un-Word of the year by the GfdS (society for spoken German), which deplored its euphemistic nature. And that is fair. Anyway, good luck in the dictionary business, Oxford, if you collude to make rage bait all the rage. Your alphabetical list of meanings isn’t going to get anyone’s dander up. Continue reading...