Travis Head walks out to bat with his opening partner Scott Boland. Imagine if you had predicted, on the first morning at Perth, that Australia would use four openers in the first four Tests – and that Usman Khawaja would not be among them.
“Dear Rob,” writes Robert Wilson. “I’ve got skin in the game as I am trying to arrange an all-night viewing sesh for day (night) three in an unexpectedly swish Aussie backpacker hostel near Stalingrad (in Paris). Logistically, it’s quite a lot of ducks to get in a row and punters fagging all the way in from below-zero Versailles or somesuch only to catch four overs while nursing a lukewarm Newky Brown might have views.
Master Lock Comanche takes narrow lead over reigning champion
Wild Thing 100 forced to retire from 80th running of race
The Sydney to Hobart fleet has lost its first 100ft supermaxi with Wild Thing 100 making the “very disappointing” decision to retire from the 80th running of the race.
All crew were safe as Wild Thing began the journey back to Sydney after 3.30am on 27 December, having succumbed to a rigging issue east-north-east of Tuross Head on the NSW South Coast.
Royals are expected to make separate trips after Donald Trump paused implementation of agreement
King Charles III and the Prince of Wales are expected to make separate trips to the US in 2026 as part of a campaign to revitalise a trade deal with Donald Trump, it has been reported.
Advanced talks on a visit by the king are said to be under way, the Times reported. The paper suggested that Charles’s visit to the US was likely to take place in April.
Christian Aid annual report’s top 10 disasters amounted to more than $120bn in insured losses
Cyclones and floods in south-east Asia this autumn killed more than 1,750 people and caused more than $25bn (£19bn) in damage, while the death toll from California wildfires topped 400 people, with $60bn in damage, according to research on the costliest climate-related disasters of the year.
China’s devastating floods, in which thousands of people were displaced, were the third most expensive, causing about $12bn in damage, with at least 30 lives lost.
Boxing Day’s sole Premier League fixture tingled the senses and was graced by Patrick Dorgu’s finish that moved Manchester United up to a season-high fifth.
They could – and maybe should – have been limited to a draw because Newcastle United dominated the second period. The visitors’ problem was a lack of cutting edge. Towards the end Joelinton pulled the trigger with the goal begging but drilled only into Senne Lammens’ gloves. Joe Willock did the same with a cross. Then, Anthony Gordon spurned one more clear chance.
Jets reinstate fan after backlash over kick contest
Coach had qualified before being ruled ineligible
The New York Jets have reversed a decision that had barred a longtime fan from participating in a $100,000 halftime field-goal contest, announcing Friday that she will be allowed to take part in Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.
The New York Post first reported that Ashley Castanio-Gervasi, a Long Island high-school soccer coach and lifelong Jets supporter, had been informed earlier this week that she was no longer eligible for the team’s “Kick for Cash” promotion because of her coaching status.
Christmas in Kyiv, destruction in the West Bank, the funeral of Mani and the winter solstice at Stonehenge: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
Flanker scores two tries to help hosts romp to victory
Of all the indignities heaped on Harlequins this season, and goodness knows there have been a few, this Christmas stuffing was perhaps the most humiliating.
Leading 17-12 at the interval against a Sale side who had lost their last four in the Prem, they succumbed so meekly that Jason Gilmore, their senior coach, was forced to question their collective desire. This abject surrender came just six days after Quins were thumped 40-14 by Bristol at Twickenham.
The teams are out! It’s a heartwarming festive scene, because whenever these storied old clubs meet, both get to keep on their famous kits. Manchester United in red and black, Newcastle United in black and white. A classic look as everyone trots out to the strains of This Is The One. A poignant chime to the track tonight, Manchester having said farewell to one of United’s biggest fans earlier this week. Go well, Mani.
Our pre-match postbag is positively brimming with festive cheer. “A goal-glut for the ages, eh? Why do I feel like I’m in for the biggest Christmas let-down since I asked my da for the Barcelona Subbuteo team and opened up the box under the tree to find… Burnley? Yours, Scrooge and the Grinch” – Justin Kavanagh
Special rapporteurs say handling of prisoners raises questions over UK’s obligations under human rights laws
UN experts have expressed “grave concern” for the wellbeing of Palestine Action-affiliated hunger strikers and warned their treatment raises questions about the UK’s compliance with international human rights laws.
Eight prisoners have been on hunger strike while awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action before the group was banned under terrorism legislation. Qesser Zuhrah, 20, and Amu Gib, 30, who are being held at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, were on hunger strike from 2 November to 23 December. Heba Muraisi, 31, who is at HMP New Hall, joined the pair on 3 November. The group also includes Teuta Hoxha, 29, Kamran Ahmed, 28, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, who is refusing food every other day because he has diabetes.
Family say campaigner, who has a son in Brighton, will be able to travel freely between UK and Cairo months after his release from Egyptian jail
The British-Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd el-Fattah has arrived in London after the Egyptian government lifted a travel ban that it had imposed on him despite releasing him from jail in September.
Abd el-Fattah had been held in jail nearly continuously for 10 years, mainly due to expressing his opposition to the treatment of dissidents by the Egyptian government. He had been detained in jail two years beyond his five-year sentence as the Cairo authorities refused to recognise the period he held in pre-trial detention as part of his time served.
CBS News’ editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, defended her decision to pull a 60 Minutes episode on allegations investigating a notorious prison in El Salvador, arguing that the network’s priority was to ensure its coverage was “comprehensive and fair”.
In the memo sent to staff on Christmas Eve, Weiss said news organizations needed to do more to win back the trust of the American public and vowed that “no amount of outrage” would “derail us”.
Diplomatic breakthrough comes more than three decades after declaration of independence from Somalia
Israel has become the first country to recognise Somaliland as a sovereign state, a breakthrough in its quest for international recognition since it declared independence from Somalia 34 years ago.
The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced on Friday that Israel and Somaliland had signed an agreement establishing full diplomatic relations, which would include the opening of embassies and the appointment of ambassadors.
Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look at how the struggle to adapt to a dangerously warming world has become a test of global justice
The record-breaking 252mph winds of Hurricane Melissa that devastated Caribbean islands at the end of October were made five times more likely by the climate crisis. Scorching wildfire weather in Spain and Portugal during the summer was made 40 times more likely, while June’s heatwave in England was made 100 times more likely.
Attribution science has made one thing clear: global heating is behind today’s extreme weather. That greenhouse gas emissions warmed the planet was understood. What can now be shown is that this warming produces record heatwaves and more violent storms with increasing frequency.
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.
Kim Hellberg’s determination to succeed as Middlesbrough manager runs deep. So deep that he decided it would be best if his wife and two small children spent Christmas in their native Sweden while he continued to put in long days on Teesside.
Given that the Hellberg family will soon be reunited in a new home in North Yorkshire and Blackburn’s visit represented the first of four games in nine days it seemed a sensible sacrifice – even if such pragmatism failed to pay the desired Boxing Day dividends. The former Hammarby head coach had hoped to celebrate the completion of his first month in charge at the Riverside Stadium after succeeding the Wolves-bound Rob Edwards with three points but Blackburn, and their irrepressible midfielder Todd Cantwell in particular, had different ideas.
Mohamed Salah scored a first-half penalty as 10-man Egypt defeated South Africa 1-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B clash in Agadir to become the first team into the knockout stages of the competition.
Egypt have six points from their opening two games and cannot finish outside of the top two in the group. South Africa have three points from their two games.
These fungi boost plant growth and restore depleted ecosystems, but federal funding for a library housing them has been cut – and it may be forced to close
Inside a large greenhouse at the University of Kansas, Professor Liz Koziol and Dr Terra Lubin tend rows of sudan grass in individual plastic pots. The roots of each straggly plant harbor a specific strain of invisible soil fungus. The shelves of a nearby cold room are stacked high with thousands of plastic bags and vials containing fungal spores harvested from these plants, then carefully preserved by the researchers.
The samples in this seemingly unremarkable room are part of the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (INVAM), the world’s largest living library of soil fungi. Four decades in the making, it could cease to exist within a year due to federal budget cuts.
Can we learn anything from the experiences of these Guardian readers?
Exchanging gifts is delightful. It can also be fraught. How do you choose something the receiver will enjoy or find meaningful? And must you act pleased if you receive a tub of anti-cellulite cream?
Eleven Guardian readers shared the best and worst gifts they have ever received. Can we learn anything from their experiences? Perhaps not: “Don’t just give something that appeals to you,” writes one, and “Always gift something you want,” writes another.
$10bn Trump-approved sale to Taipei triggers Beijing sanctions against firms such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman
China’s foreign ministry has hit US defence companies including Boeing with sanctions after Donald Trump approved a large package of arms sales to Taiwan.
The ministry said on Friday that the measures – against 10 individuals and 20 US firms including Boeing’s production hub at St Louis in Missouri – would freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them.
You don’t have to wake at 5am or commit to hardcore exercise. But by working out a handful of habits that suit you, and introducing them slowly, you can change your life
The first thing to say about the ideal morning routine is that it probably doesn’t exist. Yes, endless influencers promise that they have tweaked, tested and fine-tuned the process of revving up for the day, but how history’s most productive people actually get things done is so varied that it’s hard to draw definitive conclusions. Beethoven, reportedly, used to count out exactly 60 beans for his morning cup of coffee, while Victor Hugo downed two raw eggs after reading a daily missive from his mistress. Mark Wahlberg, on the other hand, wakes at 3am for pre-workout prayer, chasing up his gym time with a few holes of golf and a jolt in the cryo chamber before he even thinks about doing any work.
It is clear, though, that having some sort of routine is key: a set of automatic actions that you do every day, to ease you into your responsibilities with a bit of momentum and a fresh frame of mind. And there is some stuff that seems beneficial enough that everyone should be doing a version of it, even if individual methods differ: one person’s meditative bean arithmetic, after all, is another’s mindfulness. But if you want to finesse your routine, the key is to add one change at a time. “When you focus on a single behaviour,” says the behaviour change specialist Dr Heather McKee, “you build confidence through quick wins, and give your brain the clarity and dopamine hit it needs to automate that action. Once that habit feels natural, you free up mental space to layer in the next change.” But what habits should you be building?
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