Updates from the group-stage matches in Riyadh
Gauff’s second serve key to success | Email Yara

Gauff 3-1 Paolini* (* denotes server): Gauff nets two backhands in a row as the Italian plays her first ball with a bit more power than in the first three games. But Guaff uses the court to make Paolini chase the ball at the baseline and gets to deuce after a weak second serve from the Italian. The two trade advantages for a while and at the fifth deuce, Gauff nets a backhand return. Paolini finally sees out the 8min 58sec game after Gauff sends one long.

*Gauff 3-0 Paolini (* denotes server): A long rally ends with the Italian powerfully slicing a winner and following it up with another crosscourt forehand that Gauff strains to reach. But she sends three returns long in back-to-back break points, putting her arms up in the air in frustration. Gauff gets the advantage and turns the game around to take the set after another poor return from Paolini, this one going into the stands.

When her grandfather warned her not to use her left hand, the director was shocked. Now she’s made an acclaimed film taking aim at this Taiwanese superstition

The teenage Shih-Ching Tsou was at home in Taipei cooking a meal one day when she picked up a knife with her left hand. “My grandfather told me the left hand is the devil’s hand. He said: ‘You should not use that.’” Up until then, the Taiwanese-American film-maker hadn’t even realised she was left-handed. “I was already ‘corrected’, probably in kindergarten, by the teacher.”

That conversation – and the lingering sense of shame – stayed with her, Tsou says. She spoke to her mother about it. “She told me she was left-handed too and got corrected” – forced to use her right hand – “because at the time, they said you had to do the same as other people.”

• Word ‘rat’ daubed on mural and white paint thrown on it

• Workmen clean it up before Champions League match

A mural of Trent Alexander-Arnold has been vandalised before his return to Anfield with Real Madrid. The former Liverpool full-back is expected to feature in the Real squad for Tuesday’s Champions League game less than six months after leaving his boyhood club for Spain.

Alexander-Arnold’s decision to depart at the end of his contract was met with anger by a section of the Liverpool fanbase, who booed the right-back. The large mural near Anfield was unveiled in 2019 following Liverpool’s Champions League victory and was vandalised after the news Alexander-Arnold would leave, with the word “rat” daubed on it.

Billionaire businessman’s family owns Hinduja Group, which has interests across oil, banking and real estate

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Gopichand Hinduja, the billionaire head of Britain’s richest family, has died aged 85.

Hinduja died on Tuesday in London after a long illness, a spokesperson said.

• Striker feels he can better his 56 goals total this season

• Haaland part of Guardiola’s leadership group at City

Erling Haaland believes he is not close to being on the same level as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo but the Manchester City striker says he is in “a good way” to beat his best total return of 56 goals in a season.

After Sunday’s 3-1 win against Bournemouth Pep Guardiola again compared Haaland’s numbers to Messi and Ronaldo, with City’s manager adding how the Argentinean and Portuguese were consistent over “15 seasons”. Haaland was asked if he views himself on the same level. “No, not at all, far off. No one can get close to them, so no,” the 25-year-old said.

You try wrapping your head around a string of deals worth nearly $600bn

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery. If you like reading our newsletter, forward this email to five friends with a demand they sign up like it’s a chain letter warning of bad luck for five years. In this week’s news, AI companies hit mind-boggling financial milestones such as a $5tn valuation, a $100bn quarter, and a string of deals worth nearly $600bn.

The Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center stretches from Interstate 80 up into the dry Nevada desert mountains. The complex spans tens of thousands of acres and is home to nearly 200 companies, both for fulfillment and logistics operations and tech data centers. That includes Google, Microsoft and Tesla. Some businesses have several data centers, each multiple football fields long, that snake up the desert valleys. The industrial center’s landmass makes up 65% of the county’s territory. It’s so big, it’s almost hard to comprehend.

How do Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 compare against hearing aids? I put them to the test

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About 32,000 volunteered to fight Franco dictatorship, including 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland

The Spanish government has granted citizenship to 170 descendants of volunteers in the International Brigades in recognition of their fight against fascism during the Franco dictatorship that followed the civil war.

An estimated 32,000 volunteers from around the world joined the anti-fascist brigades during the civil war, including approximately 2,500 men and women from Britain and Ireland, of whom 530 were killed.

Roll up, roll up for a trio of bite-sized snacks by the Greek Australian cookbook author

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Peter Weir’s dystopian comedy, starring Jim Carrey as the unwitting star of his own reality TV series, takes on new resonance in the techno-capitalist era

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The great Australian director Peter Weir is perhaps underrated as an auteur, simply because his filmography doesn’t follow any thematic or stylistic principle; each of his contributions feels like a complete work of art unto itself. While Picnic at Hanging Rock remains his finest work, his foray into Hollywood culminated in the utterly transfixing, intermittently horrifying Jim Carrey vehicle The Truman Show. Almost 30 years after its theatrical release, the film has only grown in stature and prescience.

Ostensibly a dark satire on voyeurism and the inexhaustible manipulations of the media, The Truman Show predated the television juggernaut Big Brother by a single year, and it’s hard not to see something causal in that. Both are about surveillance and the murky line separating reality from entertainment; both involve hidden cameras watching the participants’ every move. The key difference – the one that gives the film such moral potency – is that Truman doesn’t know he’s on TV.

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Scientists are only beginning to grasp the scale of the issue and understand what impact the tree frogs may have on the islands’ rare wildlife

On the way to her office at the Charles Darwin research station, biologist Miriam San José crouches down near a shallow pond shrouded by vegetation and reaches deep into the foliage, pulling out a small green plastic box recorder.

She left it there overnight to capture the infamous croaks of a Fowler’s snouted treefrog (Scinax quinquefasciatus), known to Galápagos scientists as an invasive threat, with repercussions researchers are only beginning to grasp.

City government declines to raise objection in court but state leaders and ACLU seek to block deployment of troops

A state court in Nashville on Monday heard a legal challenge by some Democratic elected officials to Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard into the streets of Memphis, notable in part because of who has not raised an objection: the city of Memphis itself.

Shelby county’s mayor, Lee Harris, led the lawsuit, along with state representatives Gabby Salinas and GA Hardaway, both Memphis Democrats. Other state and local leaders joined the suit, including one Memphis city council member. The ACLU later filed briefs in support of the suit seeking an injunction to block the deployment of troops.

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

Contractor was trapped for 11 hours under fallen masonry at medieval landmark near the Colosseum

Prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation over the death of a worker trapped when a medieval monument in central Rome partly collapsed.

Octav Stroici, 66, was rescued on Monday night after 11 hours under fallen masonry but died of his injuries at the city’s Umberto I hospital. Romanian foreign affairs officials, who said he came from their country, thanked rescuers for their efforts to save him during a long, complex and delicate operation.

Jake Haro and his wife had reported the baby kidnapped outside a store, drawing widespread attention and a public search

A southern California father who pleaded guilty to killing his missing seven-month-old son was sentenced Monday to more than 30 years in prison.

Jake Haro, 32, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty in October to the second-degree murder of his son, Emmanuel, the Riverside county district attorney’s office said in a statement. A months-long investigation has failed to locate the child’s remains.

Right-back discusses Emma Hayes’s tactical messages, new blood in the national team and how Champions League win changed her

Emily Fox made her 68th appearance for the United States in the first of two recent friendlies against Portugal and the Arsenal right-back has been a steady hand for Emma Hayes.

Hayes has her eye on the 2027 World Cup after winning Olympic gold 15 months ago, and has used 2025 to evolve and evaluate the pool of players. Over the course of 10 wins and three defeats in that timeframe, Fox has been a dynamic force difficult to dislodge from the right flank of a new project. Her speed and skill are essential to the team’s defence and intrinsic to their attack.

Not even Glenn Close can save this Ryan Murphy disaster from its dismal plots, clueless characters – and the worst kissing scenes ever filmed

I did not know it was still possible to make television this bad. I assumed that there was some sort of baseline, some inescapable bedrock knowledge of how to do it that now prevents any entry into the art form from falling below a certain standard. But I was wrong. The new series from Ryan Murphy, All’s Fair – starring Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts and Niecy Nash as the founders of an all-female law firm delivering divorce-y justice to incredibly rich but slightly unlucky women under the azure skies of California – is terrible. Fascinatingly, incomprehensibly, existentially terrible. While I try to get my thoughts in order after bearing witness to the first episode, I’m going to give you a few direct quotes, so you can see why I’m struggling.

“Let’s put the ‘team’ in ‘teamwork’.”

Sports Interactive; PC (version tested), PS5, Switch, Xbox
After a two-year wait, Football Manager 26 upgrades every aspect of the football sim, but it may take some getting used to

You can imagine what the home fans are singing in the Stadium of Light: “Top of the league, you’re having a laugh!” Your Liverpool team, who until this afternoon were five points clear at the top of the table, trail by two goals in the 82nd minute. You wonder where Mo Salah left his shooting boots, or why Virgil van Dijk seems to have forgotten the whole concept of tackling. But this isn’t on the players, it’s on you – or so you’ll tell the press – as you stare at the tactics screen trying to figure out which of the dozens of potential tweaks will change the tide of this depressing spectacle.

Football Manager was always the data-driven alternative to the visually opulent Fifa series (now EA Sports FC), but the latest instalment starts to bridge the graphical gap. The 3D-rendered match highlights have been given an upgrade via the new Unity engine, and the results are impressive. Premier League derbies, Champions League finals, and even away matches in the north-east have visual gravitas now, even if the replays and so-called important moments often overstay their welcome. There are no Fifa-style authentic chants ringing around the stadia, but the atmosphere is palpable and your imagination fills in the blanks.

With Christmas around the corner, our panel of experts recommends creative ways to finish off half-eaten jars before the new ones arrive …

Every Christmas I’m given chutney, and I still have four barely used jars. What to do with them before the next lot arrive?
Christine, Oxford
This sounds like a job for Claire Dinhut, author of The Condiment Book, who also goes by the moniker Condiment Claire. She would approach this meal by meal, starting with breakfast. “It might not seem so obvious,” she says, “but I put Branston pickle on my avocado toast. If you think about it, you often add acidity, which is usually lemon, but chutney is punchy and has that same tang, as well as a bit of texture.” Regardless of what jars Christine has hanging around, Dinhut would also consider the breakfast bap: “Whether it’s spicy mango, peach, chilli or tomato chutney, that would be so delicious with an egg yolk.”

Roger Pizey, executive head of pastry at Fortnum & Mason, is no stranger to Christine’s chutney conundrum: “Sometimes we’ve got so much left over that I’m at my wit’s end knowing what to do with it.” And, often, the best solution is the simplest, which is why Pizey often spoons a good dollop of, say, fig and fennel chutney into a golden, gooey toastie. “You can get a lot of chutney in there with a few generous layers of Ogleshield [a raclette-style cheese], which takes the tart, acidic flavour of chutney really well.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

Beijing tells Netherlands to ‘stop interfering’ after seizure of chipmaker Nexperia as export bans disrupt supply chain

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Carmakers around the world are facing fresh uncertainty about their ability to continue production after China accused the Netherlands of failing to cooperate on resolving a dispute over the seizure of the chipmaker Nexperia.

The Dutch government took control of the EU-based automotive chipmaker at the end of September because of concerns about the company’s Chinese parent, Wingtech Technology. In response, China halted exports of Nexperia products, restricting access to the vital components used in everything from airbags to central locking.

Carmakers including Volkswagen, Honda and Nissan have warned tthe geopolitical spat could halt production. Last week the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association warned that some factory lines were “days away” from halting work.

Cheney, who served under presidents from Nixon to George W Bush, will be remembered for key role after 9/11

Dick Cheney, the divisive US vice-president under George W Bush who helped lead the country into a disastrous invasion of Iraq, died on Monday, his family has said. He was 84.

Cheney at various times held the roles of member of Congress, White House chief of staff and secretary of defense, but it was as one of the country’s most powerful vice-presidents that he had the biggest impact, wielding great influence over the less experienced Bush.

Government settles claim from former post office operator more than 20 years after he began his campaign for justice

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Sir Alan Bates has agreed a multimillion-pound settlement with the government more than two decades after he began the campaign for justice for post office operators over the Horizon IT scandal.

Bates has previously accused the government of presiding over a “quasi-kangaroo court” system for compensation, and last year said that post office operators may return to court over delays with settling claims.

• Former England captain, 50, ‘immensely proud’

• Made ambassador for King’s Foundation in 2024

David Beckham received a knighthood at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. The former England captain, 50, was among those accepting honours for his services to sport and charity. Earlier this year, he said he was “immensely proud” of being recognised in the King’s birthday honours.

The player made his Premier League debut for Manchester United in 1995 and was part of the team that earned a dramatic Champions League final victory in 1999 when they beat Bayern Munich with two late goals.

LNER employee Samir Zitouni, who was hospitalised after Saturday’s incident, hailed by police and transport secretary for ‘bravery beyond measure’

A “heroic” member of staff who was seriously injured after the mass stabbing onboard a train in Cambridgeshire on Saturday has been praised for his “incredibly brave” actions to protect passengers.

Samir Zitouni, 48, who has worked for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) for more than 20 years, remains in hospital after the attacks.

A company called Strike 3, owner of Vixen and Tushy, has clogged US courts with lawsuits, mostly against porn watchers who feel shamed into settling privately

When 73-year-old Tom Brown*, a retired police officer from Seattle, received a letter from Comcast, he might have mistaken it for a broadband bill. Instead, it was a subpoena. He had been sued in federal court for illegally downloading 80 movies. Some of the titles sounded cryptic – Do Not Worry, We Are Only Friends – or banal, like International Relations Part 2. Others were less subtle: He Loved My Big Ass, He Loved My Big Butt, and My Big Booty Loves Anal.

Brown, who had spent decades investigating sex crimes, claimed he had never watched any of them. His years “dealing with pimping”, he wrote in a court filing, left him “with no interest in pornography”. He had been married for 40 years, he did not need to download Hot Wife, another title in the list. But the subpoena did not seem like something he could laugh off. It said he could face damages of up to $150,000 per movie – as much as $12m for all 80 films. If he did not respond promptly, the letter said, Comcast would identify him to the plaintiff in the case: a company called Strike 3 Holdings.