With ​a blend of retro-futurism, moral ambiguity and monster-filled wastelands, Fallout season 2 became an unlikely prestige television favourite. Now there is something a bigger, stranger and funnier journey ahead

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The Fallout TV series returns to Prime Video today, and it’s fair to say that everyone was pleasantly surprised by how good the first season was. By portraying Fallout’s retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic US through three different characters, it managed to capture different aspects of the game player’s experience, too. There was vault-dweller Lucy, trying to do the right thing and finding that the wasteland made that very difficult; Max, the Brotherhood of Steel rookie, who starts to question his cult’s authority and causes a lot of havoc in robotic power armour; and the Ghoul, Walton Goggins’s breakout character, who has long since lost any sense of morality out in the irradiated wilderness.

The show’s first season ended with a revelation about who helped cause the nuclear war that trapped a group of people in underground vaults for a couple of centuries. It also left plenty of questions open for the second season – and, this time, expectations are higher. Even being “not terrible” was a win for a video game adaptation until quite recently. How are the Fallout TV show’s creators feeling now that the first season has been a success?

Keir Starmer says oligarch must commit funds from sale of Chelsea football club or face court action

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The UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine, telling the billionaire to release the funds in 90 days or face court action.

Keir Starmer told the House of Commons the funds from Abramovich, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted into a new foundation for humanitarian causes in Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply.

Israel military chief, Eyal Zamir, announced on Monday that the 'yellow line', drawn up by the October ceasefire plan, was a 'new border' for Israel. This line has become a lethal boundary, preventing Palestinians entering an area representing 58% of their territory. The Guardian's chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, describes life on the ground for those forced on an ever-smaller part of their land. Israeli officials claim forces are being 'deployed in Gaza in accordance with the ceasefire outline'

• ‘Yellow line’ that divides Gaza under Trump plan is ‘new border’ for Israel, says military chief

• ‘Bloodshed was supposed to stop’: no sign of normal life as Gaza’s killing and misery grind on

Directors blame ‘challenging market conditions’ as losses widen from £25m in 2024 to £33m

Sales at Stella McCartney’s fashion label sank by more than a quarter last year tipping it further into the red and adding to fears it could run out of money by 2028.

Pre-tax losses at the British brand led by the daughter of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney widened to £33.6m in 2024 from £25m the year before, while sales fell 27% to £16m, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

‘I wanted to make a perfect square with my body. My back hurt for days afterwards. People often want to know if the kitten is real’

I’ve thought a lot about the time I made this image. In my 20s, I was living in New York. Then I broke up with my long-term partner in 2019 and I sort of didn’t really know how to cope any more. I didn’t feel creative – my whole experience of living in New York was tied to that relationship, and I felt I needed to go somewhere else and start over. I moved to Austin, Texas – I thought I’d give it a go for a bit.

I was doing a lot of tinkering at home, and I started doing a lot more self-portraits and let my psyche run wild. At this point, in 2021, one of my friends, Mike, was living in a 1940s building in East Austin, with old popcorn ceilings, really cool mouldings and outlet covers and original details, including the fireplace. It was inspiring to be there.

Trump has ordered a ‘total and complete’ blockade of sanctioned oil tankers to and from the country

Jack Smith, who as justice department special counsel brought two criminal cases against Donald Trump that were scuppered by his re-election win, will be appearing for a behind-closed-door testimony before the House judiciary committee today.

Smith had offered to testify publicly, but the Republican judiciary committee chair Jim Jordan opted to subpoena Smith for a private deposition, in which he will be questioned by lawmakers. That means we won’t know much about what he had to say, but some of the representatives who attend the session may reveal details after the fact. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.

Philippine police dismiss speculation Naveed and Sajid Akram may have carried out training during four-week stay in Davao City

The Bondi terror attacks suspects spent their entire four-week visit to the Philippines in Davao City, rarely leaving their hotel expect for an hour or so at a time, and never talking to any other guests or receiving visitors, according to Philippine police and hotel staff.

The initial police investigation casts more light on the four-week trip by the alleged gunmen, the father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram, amid speculation that they went to the Philippines to receive military training from Islamist groups believed to operate in the country.

Record rains have forced hundreds of rescues, swamped communities and left rivers high, with more storms forecast

The extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state’s governor, Bob Ferguson.

A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties.

Chair of migration advisory committee says figure will jump as numbers of overseas students and workers rise again

Net migration to the UK could rise to about 300,000 by the end of the decade, a leading government adviser has said.

Prof Brian Bell, the chair of the migration advisory committee, said the overall migration figure would jump “in the medium term” from the current level of 204,000 as the numbers of overseas students and workers rose again.

Whether you’re limited to carry-on luggage or have the luxury of a car boot, these are the essential utensils to bring to your destination

Holiday rental homes can be a lottery for anyone actually planning to cook. Having recently spent four months in rentals around Europe and the UK, I am a battle-weary veteran of “self-contained” accommodation with advertised features including a coffee-maker that was just a small stainless steel milk jug, and a kitchenette that comprised a bench and an air fryer.

At such times, it pays to have a truckload of resourcefulness and a small but effective travelling toolkit. The following lists are tailored to suit flying and driving holidays, though feel free to mix, match and substitute with your own essentials.

Sisters Trevanna and Deslie Ahoy navigated parental loss, housing insecurity and pregnancy – twice – while completing their HSC at the Macleay Vocational College in Kempsey

When Trevanna Ahoy stepped on stage at her high school graduation ceremony wearing a glittery floor-length gown, her main concern was not tripping in her heels.

“I’m a bit of a tomboy,” she says. “I felt different and weird with all the makeup and the dress on.”

Trevanna and Deslie at school

Dev Hynes’ deeply personal response to his mother’s death embodied the many unexpected shades of grief in pastoral hymnals and post-punk

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There’s a lot of grief across the best albums of this year. It’s unsurprising: 2025 has felt like a definitive and dismal break with government accountability, protections for marginalised people and holding back the encroachment of AI in creative and intellectual fields, to cherrypick just a few horrors. Anna von Hausswolff and Rosalía reached for transcendence from these earthly disappointments. Bad Bunny and KeiyaA countered colonial abuse and neglect with writhing resistance anthems. On a more personal scale, Lily Allen and Cate Le Bon grappled with disillusionment about mis-sold romantic ideals. For Jerskin Fendrix, the Tubs, Jennifer Walton, Jim Legxacy and Blood Orange, grief was, straightforwardly, grief for lost loved ones.

Each of those albums was as distinctive and profound as any personal experience of loss always is. Dev Hynes’ fifth album as Blood Orange felt uniquely keyed into the fragmented, distracted headspace that comes after someone passes, in his case, his mother. Essex Honey’s restive nature was summed up in its painful opening lines, which you could read as the dying’s acceptance of death starkly contrasting the living’s ability to meet them on those terms: “In your grace, I looked for some meaning,” Hynes sings on Look at You. “But I found none, and I still search for a truth.”

Clothes can be tricky presents to pick, but follow my simple rules and you’ll have your shopping all wrapped up

Once upon a time, Christmas shopping meant grabbing the newest album release or an old-favourite DVD box set, wrapping it in glitter paper, depositing it under the tree and putting your feet up with a highlighter pen to annotate the Radio Times. Now that music and film lives in the cloud, we’ve turned to clothes as the new go-to gift. But choosing them for another person is a high-risk endeavour. How can we boost our chances of getting it right?

Because we do really, really want to get it right. Kids just want Santa to bring them the swag, but one of the things that happens when you become a grownup is that you care more about whether other people like the gifts you’ve given them than you do about what you receive. And fashion is more difficult to get right than many think. After all, if how to dress well was self-evident, then I wouldn’t have a job.

Officers make arrest in connection with deaths of Harry and Megan Tooze in farmhouse in Llanharry

An 86-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a married couple who died after being blasted with a 12-bore shotgun more than 30 years ago.

Harry Tooze, 64, and Megan Tooze, 67, were killed at their farmhouse in Llanharry, south Wales, in 1993.

The Marty Supreme star said the Britain’s Got Talent runner-up is one of the greatest Britons of all time – surely he’s not taking her name in vain for attention

Timothée Chalamet understands the true nature of greatness. In Marty Supreme, he plays a character loosely based on a former two-time US men’s singles table tennis champion. In A Complete Unknown, he played Bob Dylan at the exact moment he decided to reshape all of pop culture in his own image. His upcoming third Dune film is based on a book that is literally called Messiah. So when Timothée Chalamet singles out a figure for greatness, understand that the greatness is warranted.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that Timothée Chalamet thinks Susan Boyle is great. Not only great, but one of the greatest Britons to have ever lived.

• All 48 competing nations to get minimum of $10.5m

• Fifa Council approval comes amid ticket price row

Fifa has announced a 50% increase in World Cup prize money for next year’s tournament, with the champions set to take home $50m (£37.5m) as a reward for their success.

The news comes days after there was widespread public outrage over the price of seats at the tournament, to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Fifa this week announced a limited number of discount tickets for fans of participating countries.

ShinyHunters group reportedly behind the hack affecting data of 200m users thought to be from before 2021

Hackers have accessed the search history and viewing habits of premium users of Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular pornography websites.

A gang has reportedly accessed more than 200m data records, including premium members’ email addresses, search and viewing activities and locations. Pornhub is a heavily used site and says it has more than 100m daily visits globally.

Food bloggers liken Richard Hart to Christopher Columbus for ‘stomping’ on a country that has welcomed him

A noted British baker has provoked a furore in Mexico by saying on a podcast the country does not “really have much of a bread culture”.

Richard Hart, who opened the Green Rhino bakery in Mexico City in June, also said the country’s wheat was “not good … completely highly processed, full of additives” and its sandwiches – tortas – were made “on these white ugly rolls that are pretty cheap and industrially made”.

Make ahead and impress your guests with crunchy-topped hazelnut creme brulees and a centrepiece chocolate fondant bundt cake

Even though our to-do lists are longer and our homes busier than ever, there’s something about Christmas that gives us the extra chutzpah to bake. And not just any baking, but baking for a crowd. So, with this in mind, here are two crowdpleasing recipes – a rich hazelnut “Nutcracker” creme brulee and a resplendent chocolate fondant bundt cake – with a few make-ahead and shortcut secrets to give you a head start.

Nicola Lamb is a pastry chef and author of the weekly Kitchen Projects newsletter and Sift, published by Ebury Press at £30. To order a copy for £27, go to guardianbookshop.com

Family members can be sweet and relentless but how can we aid our relatives in the age of new tech and device addiction

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I don’t want to sound dramatic but, a few weeks ago, something happened that has completely changed how I view online material. I fell for AI-generated content. For someone who is constantly squabbling with older relatives about how little they question what they see online, this was a profoundly unsettling and humbling experience. And it made me think about how, during this holiday period, we could all use this as an opportunity to approach those conversations with the “WhatsApp aunties” more sensitively.

From ‘WhatsApp Aunties’ to ‘AI Aunties’

EarthQuaker Devices has served Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey and Radiohead but says tariffs add costs up to 30%

Julie Robbins and her team at EarthQuaker Devices have made guitar pedals for some of the biggest names in the world of music. The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, PJ Harvey and others have sought out the company’s bespoke, handmade pedals for their unique sounds and designs. Its most popular model, Plumes, has sold over 67,000 devices.

Their made-from-scratch effects petals use more than 1,000 components, many which are imported directly from countries such as China and Vietnam or are bought from companies that bring them in from overseas.

A delicious, gelatine-free panna cotta that saves yoghurt from the waste bin

I was really shocked to learn from environmental action NGO Wrap that, of the 51,000 tonnes of yoghurt that’s wasted in the UK every year, half of it is in unopened pots! The reason is our old arch enemy, date labels, which can cause confusion and trick us into thinking that perfectly safe yoghurt is not OK to eat. That’s one reason many supermarkets have scrapped use-by dates on the likes of yoghurt, but they still use best-before dates. Remember, if a product doesn’t have a use-by date, always do the sniff test before throwing it away.

Today’s recipe is a light, gelatine-free version of panna cotta that’s instead set with agar agar (a type of seaweed), which gives it a soft-set texture. It’s refreshing, deliciously sour and simple to make. I use brown sugar for flavour and micronutrients, but regular sugar, honey and other sweeteners will all also work well.

WBD had agreed to sell to Netflix but Paramount swiftly countered with an all-cash offer, which WBD’s board is calling ‘inadequate’

Warner Bros Discovery has urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, branding it “inadequate” amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the legacy media conglomerate.

WBD agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month, setting the stage for a seismic shift in Hollywood’s industrial landscape.

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world