• The 35-year-old joined Saudi-funded tour in 2022

• ‘Brooks is prioritising the needs of his family’

Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion, has become the first player to defect from LIV Golf, a significant blow to the league funded by Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund and raises questions whether the PGA Tour will find a way for him to return.

The 35-year-old American has made the decision in order to spend more time with his family. He joined the rival tour in 2022 and won five events over four seasons – he was also the first LIV player to win a major at the 2023 PGA Championship.

Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, on remand at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, had refused food for almost 50 days in protest at the ban on Palestine Action

Two Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners have paused their hunger strikes due to deteriorating health but have vowed to resume the protest next year.

Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib have temporarily resumed eating, according to a statement released by Prisoners for Palestine group on Tuesday evening.

This competition may not be Mikel Arteta or Oliver Glasner’s top priority this season but that didn’t stop their sides from producing a spectacle full of blood and thunder.

It was one-way traffic for Arsenal in the first half but they found Crystal Palace’s second-string goalkeeper Walter Benítez in an inspired mood as he kept his team in the contest with some fine saves.

People at Silver Lake healthcare center in Bristol Township injured and trapped inside after partial building collapse

An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building and left people injured and trapped inside, authorities said.

A plume of black smoke rose from Silver Lake healthcare center in Bristol Township, as emergency responders across the region gathered there.

The ruling junta says the heavily restricted polls are a return to democracy but critics are wary

Five years after Myanmar’s junta ousted the country’s last elected government, triggering a civil war, voting is set to begin this week in national elections.

The junta claims the vote is a return to democracy, but in reality the one-sided and heavily restricted poll has been widely condemned as a sham designed to keep the generals in power through proxies.

This joke-filled caper of a Muslim-Christian family going on a Lapland holiday after an unexpected bonus will leave your cockles well and truly warmed

A one-off Christmas special must have the following traditional ingredients to be entitled to the name. First and most vitally, it must have a grumpy character to soften over the hour. (And it must be an hour – 75 minutes, tops. Anything longer and we’re out of letting-the-children-stay-up-and-watch-as-a-treat territory and that disqualifies it as a contender. Yes it’s a hangover from the days when television was broadcast at fixed points, instead of thrown into the digital ragbag to be pulled out at any time, but what is tradition if not such harkings-back? Come on).

Second, there must be snow. I know the planet is burning now, but please see above re tradition and harkings-back.

• Proposal meets with resistance from players union

• Guardian rankings will be among criteria for exception

The NWSL introduced a new “High Impact Player Rule” on Tuesday that allows teams to exceed the salary cap by up to $1m to help attract and retain star players. The rule goes into effect on 1 July 2026.

One of the first players who could potentially benefit from the new rule is Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, who reportedly has received lucrative offers from teams in Europe.

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3 min: Madueke intercepts a Palace throw on the Arsenal right, plays to Martinelli, his pass cuts straight through the Palace defence. The onrushing Madueke receives … and really should do better. He shoots straight at Benítez.

2 min: Madueke shows off some quick feet to thump a cross in from the right before Arsenal wheel it around in defence.

Libyan PM says Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad died after aircraft lost radio contact above Ankara

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has been killed in a plane crash after leaving Turkey’s capital, Ankara.

The prime minister of Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed on Tuesday evening that Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad had died and that four others were on the jet with him.

In a 6-3 decision, the high court sided with a lower court ruling that blocked deployment of troops to the Illinois city

The US supreme court refused on Tuesday to let Donald Trump send national guard troops to the Chicago area, in an important reining-in of the US president’s efforts to expand the use of the military for domestic purposes in historic moves against a growing number of Democratic-led jurisdictions.

The nation’s highest court denied the US justice department’s request to lift a judge’s order in October that has blocked the deployment of hundreds of national guard personnel in a legal challenge brought by Illinois state officials and local leaders, who had opposed any federalization of those troops to offer backup to immigration enforcement.

• Group C: Nigeria 2-1 Tanzania; Tunisia 3-1 Uganda

• Group D: Senegal 3-0 Botswana; DR Congo 1-0 Benin

Ademola Lookman scored a superb second-half winner as Nigeria earned a 2-1 Group C victory against Tanzania in the pouring rain in Fes, a positive start for the silver medallists from the previous tournament, but one that was not without moments of alarm.

Nigeria were more dominant than the scoreline suggests in terms of possession and chances, but they failed to finish off the contest and were almost made to pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.

Department of Veterans Affairs says justice department found procedure not to be legally sound

The Department of Veterans Affairs can no longer provide abortions to veterans, including in cases of rape or incest, following a Department of Justice memo that found last week that the practice was not legally sound.

The ban follows months of efforts by the Trump administration to roll back a Biden-era policy that, for the first time, permitted the VA to counsel veterans and their families about abortion, as well as offer the procedure in cases of rape or incest, or when a veteran’s pregnancy imperiled their health. In August, the administration filed paperwork to officially roll back the policy, which had helped the VA’s network of 1,300-plus healthcare facilities – which treat nearly 10 million veterans each year – expand access to abortion, especially in the wake of the US supreme court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade.

Weiss ought to cut her losses, green-light the piece, and try to start acting like an editor – not like a cog in the machine of authoritarian politics and oligarchy

One tries to give people the benefit of the doubt. But now, when it comes to Bari Weiss as the editor in chief of CBS News, there is no longer any doubt.

A broadcast-news neophyte, Weiss has no business in that exalted role. She proved that beyond any remaining doubt last weekend, pulling a powerful and important piece of journalism just days before it was due to air, charging that it wasn’t ready. Whatever her claims about the story’s supposed flaws, this looks like a clear case of censorship-by-editor to protect the interests of powerful, rich and influential people.

The 60 Minutes piece – about the brutal conditions at an El Salvador prison where the Trump administration has sent Venezuelan migrants without due process – had already been thoroughly edited, fact-checked and sent through the network’s standards desk and its legal department. The story was promoted and scheduled, and trailers for it were getting millions of views.

Zampella created the template for multiplayer shooters that is still used today, and his cinematic and epic military, sci-fi and Star Wars games thrilled and moved millions

• Vince Zampella dies aged 55 – news

On Sunday, Vince Zampella, the co-creator of the Call of Duty video game series, died in a car crash in Los Angeles at the age of 55. Though best known for that series of blockbuster military shooters, Zampella touched a huge number of lives – not only the hundreds of people who worked at the game development studios he led under Activision and EA, but the millions of people who played the games that bore his imprint.

A lifelong gamer, Zampella had a Pong console as a child, then an Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64. He told IGN in 2016 that his favourite game from childhood was Donkey Kong: “I would spend hours at the arcade playing it.” Zampella’s first job in the industry was at GameTek in Miami, which specialised in video-game versions of popular US quizshows. He described his role on the small team as: “producer slash customer services slash tester – whatever needed to be done.”

The fracturing multilateral order has led to a new age of insecurity. But acts of courage and solidarity can point the way to a better future

In one of his last sermons, the great Christian theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich asked: “Do we have a right to hope?” As an army chaplain to German forces during the first world war and a refugee from Nazi Germany, Tillich had witnessed first-hand some of the horrors of the 20th century. But his answer to the question he posed in 1965 was yes. Nobody could live without hope, Tillich told his Harvard audience, even if it led “through the narrows of a painful and courageous ‘in-spite-of’”.

Sixty years on, a similar spirit of defiant optimism is needed to navigate our own era of conflict and anxiety. The fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is approaching, and dark political forces menace the social fabric of western liberal democracies. More widely, a fracturing multilateral order is delivering a more unstable and threatening world.

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Documents released in relation to Jeffrey Epstein contain emails between Maxwell and an individual signing off as ‘A’ and ‘The Invisible Man’

Emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and an individual signing off as “A” are among the largest dump yet of documents released by the US Department of Justice in relation to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

While “A” – who also refers to themselves as “The Invisible Man” – is not explicitly identified in the emails, they include key details that corroborate the suggestion that they are Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was then still a working royal known as Prince Andrew.

Can McCullum’s ‘horse-whispering’ still register against a rampant Australia hungry for a series whitewash?

The world famous Boxing Day Test awaits England’s beaten cricketers and we are about to discover whether the mighty coliseum that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground becomes their arena of the unwell; whether pride can be salvaged or it is just another stepping stone for Australia in their pursuit of an Ashes whitewash.

Last year a record 373,691 spectators passed through the turnstiles across five days as Australia overcame India in a slow-burn thriller. This fourth Ashes Test was tipped to top that remarkable figure potentially but that will hinge on it similarly going the distance. It also needs the locals to be energised still by a series that has already been won by their team – even if simply beating the old enemy is usually enough.

• Van Gerwen looked in form in win over O’Connor

• Two-time champion Wright averaged just 79.20

Michael van Gerwen showed his class as he powered into the third round of the world championship. The three-time champion struggled in his opening match but brought his best to brush past William O’Connor 3-1.

It was an impressive performance by the Dutchman, who reminded everyone of his credentials after a difficult year on and off the oche. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are the leading contenders for the title in January but Van Gerwen is a threat playing like this.

Gold is up 70% while the cryptocurrency is down 6% after it failed to bounce back from a rapid October sell-off

Another week, another record high for the price of gold. And another blow to the bitcoin fan club’s hopeful thesis about owning “digital gold”. This year has been hard for the bitcoin brigade: while real gold soared in value, their cryptocurrency didn’t. Correlation went out of the window. Gold is up 70% so far in dollar terms; bitcoin is down 6%.

In theory, conditions should have been perfect for bitcoin if, like gold, it is supposed to be a store of value in uncertain times. Geopolitical tensions have been high all year, with Donald Trump’s unclear intentions towards Venezuela now added to the mix. Or, if you take the view that bitcoin is a hedge against currency debasement by governments, the news flow ought to have been encouraging. The US budget deficit remains enormous: the International Monetary Fund predicts the country’s debts will climb from 125% to 143% of annual income by 2030, or more than Greece and Italy.

Interior department move affects five projects under construction in latest blow to industry targeted by Trump

The Trump administration has said it is immediately pausing all leases for offshore wind farms already under construction, in the heaviest blow yet to an industry that the administration has relentlessly targeted throughout the year.

Trump’s Department of the Interior said that it was halting the building of five wind projects due to “national security risks”. The department said it would work with the US Department of Defense to mitigate the risk of the wind turbine towers creating radar interference called “clutter” that could in some way hamper the US military.

Steve Rogers is back … in the 90-second trailer that is now online for all to see

The first official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday has been released online, in the run-up to the next outing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The brief 90-second trailer shows Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America riding along a rural road on a motorbike, entering a house and picking up his superhero uniform, then holding a sleeping baby. A title then announces: “Steve Rogers Will Return in Avengers: Doomsday.”

The former entertainer, 50, faces one count of rape and one of sexual assault of two more alleged victims

Russell Brand has been charged with further sexual offences, including one count of rape, the Metropolitan police have said.

The 50-year-old former entertainer has been charged with one count of rape and one of sexual assault of two further alleged victims.

Inquiry finds Fabian Picardo was ‘grossly improper’ to protect James Levy from a search warrant

The chief minister of Gibraltar made a series of “grossly improper” and “sinister” interventions to interfere in a live criminal investigation in order to protect his friend, mentor and business partner from the consequences of a search warrant, a public inquiry has found.

The retired England and Wales high court judge and inquiry chair, Sir Peter Openshaw, concluded that Fabian Picardo acted to protect James Levy KC when police were at Hassans law firm, where Levy was a senior partner, with a search warrant.

Swift’s six-parter charting her Eras tour began with some riveting revelations – but the drama ebbed away, leaving another piece of mere product for fans

In the behind-the-scenes documentary series Taylor Swift: The End of an Era, the singer Florence Welch ascends to the stage to perform their duet Florida!!! to a crowd of 90,000 people. Welch later reflects on their duet at Wembley Stadium with a mix of awe and bemusement. “Taylor is my friend,” she says. “I know her as this very cosy person, and I came out of that lift and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s fucking Taylor Swift.’”

If Swift is a cosy person, The End of an Era – now complete, with its concluding episodes dropping today – is certainly a cosy watch; the sort of lighthearted, low-demand viewing that feels especially welcome in the lazy days leading up to Christmas and stretching towards the new year. Viewers will be familiar with the story. The Eras Tour was great, it tells us. It broke records, burst hearts and boosted the economy. We know she pulled it off. This is only a problem insofar as it means there is almost zero jeopardy in the series, which feels repetitive and thinly stretched over its six hour-long episodes.