The Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif was the most prominent name among so many targeted for simply bearing witness to the truth
In January this year, Anas al-Sharif was filmed being lifted into the air after taking off his helmet and flak jacket to celebrate a ceasefire that would prove all too temporary in Gaza. This summer, the Palestinian journalist broke down while reporting on starvation in his home town that is now a war zone. A bystander told him: “Persist, Anas, you are our voice”.
But al-Sharif’s popularity in Gaza made him a target. In July, international agencies warned of the danger he was in as the Israel Defense Forces stepped up online attacks, falsely labelling him a Hamas terrorist. His employer, Al Jazeera, insisted he restrict his reporting to the more protected al-Shifa hospital after his father and many colleagues were killed. In August, a few months short of his 29th birthday, al-Sharif and six others were killed in a direct attack on a media tent next to the hospital. In a posthumous post he said: “If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.”
Jane Martinson is professor of financial journalism at City St George’s and a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian Media Group. She writes in a personal capacity
Case of man who apparently targeted Christians is latest in series of incidents in Hampshire of animal remains being dumped
The people of the New Forest are accustomed to curious goings-on. The woods and heaths of the national park in southern England are the setting for all manner of tales of witches, pixies, cursed souls and rituals, and, even today, are a magnet for those fascinated by the otherworldly.
But residents are aghast at the case of a local man who hit the headlines after admitting dumping the carcasses of animals, including black lambs, near churches in and around the forest, apparently targeting Christian worshippers.
From corny adverts to snowy murder plots, test your knowledge with these seasonal questions
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Quickfire lots fuel a booming business, but critics condemn gambling-style features and popularity with ‘scalpers’
Christmas is fast approaching, the shopping days are ebbing away, and in one corner of the internet, the rush to grab highly prized Pokémon trading cards is boiling over into a competitive frenzy.
“Got any cheap Mew?” asks one buyer, deploying the frantic tone of an addict, albeit one craving a rectangle depicting a creature from the all-conquering Japanese media franchise.
Backlash after broadcaster announces the program, which was due to air on Sunday night, ‘needs additional reporting’
CBS News is facing a backlash from one of its own correspondents, and others, after it cancelled an upcoming 60 Minutes investigation into El Salvador’s brutal Cecot megaprison to which the Trump administration deported hundreds of migrants.
The episode of its flagship program was due to air on Sunday night. However, in an “editors note” posted on X, the broadcaster’s official account announced that “the lineup for tonight’s edition of 60 Minutes has been updated. Our report ‘Inside Cecot’ will air in a future broadcast.”
In Germany, the neo-Nazi terrorist Beate Zschäpe has made a public display of her remorse – but remains silent on key aspects of her crimes
It’s a strange season to talk about forgiveness. While streets glow with fairy lights and shop windows promise that compassion is only a gift-box away, Germany is once again confronted with the unresolved wounds of its recent past. The trap of the season is this: believing that every gesture of regret must be met with mercy. As if forgiveness was a resource available to anyone who is reasonable enough to move on, no matter how atrociously they have been treated.
It is certainly not that simple for the families of the victims of the National Socialist Underground (NSU). During the 2000s, the neo-Nazi terror organisation killed 10 people, nine of them immigrants, mostly small business owners, and one policewoman. Because investigators focused on probing the victims’ families and communities rather than on Nazis, the NSU was able to continue murdering without interference. German media reported on the atrocities as die Dönermorde the kebab murders, as if it was some exotic true-crime phenomenon.
Fatma Aydemir is a Berlin-based author, novelist, playwright and a Guardian Europe columnist
He insisted he was OK, but he didn’t look it, and when he tried and failed to eat Christmas lunch we knew it was time for a mercy dash to hospital
Our family friend has always been a larger than life figure. Witty, unsentimental – and not one to say no to another brandy. At family parties, he’s the one gossiping about the latest scandal to catch up with a local MP, or regaling us with tales of the outrageous philandering of various Sheffield Wednesday players over the past 40 years. He could make anything – a jacket potato, a broken relationship – funny, somehow.
We would often spend Christmas morning with him and his family, before going our separate ways. But, one Christmas, about 10 years ago, when he was supposed to be meeting family abroad, he fell down the stairs, whisky in one hand, suitcase in the other, and broke his ribs. The hospital had patched him up and told him not to fly. So, here he was back with us in Sheffield, making the best of it, but looking increasingly peaky.
The art activists made headlines during the US president’s state visit when they shocked the waiting media with a short documentary – and were quickly arrested
When Donald Trump’s second state visit was announced, and when the finer details for the Windsor banquet on 17 September 2025 became known, there was no way Led By Donkeys was going to let that pass unprotested. It was just so craven, rolling out the red carpet for Trump. Their next art-activist event unfolded like clockwork.
Led By Donkeys made a nine-minute film about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein which ended: “The president of the United States was a long-time close friend of America’s most notorious child sex trafficker. He’s alleged to be mentioned, numerous times, in the files arising from the investigation into that child sex trafficker … Now that president, Donald Trump, is sleeping here, in Windsor Castle.” (Trump says that he fell out with Epstein years before Epstein was first arrested, andhas consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.)
Documents released Monday outline allegations against Naveed Akram and his father Sajid over the 14 December attack
New details about the police case against the alleged Bondi terrorists have been released, including details of an alleged video manifesto linked to the Islamic State and the undetonated explosives – including a “tennis ball bomb” – found at the scene.
Naveed Akram, 24, faces charges of murdering 15 people and injuring dozens more in the shooting at a Hanukah celebration on 14 December. His 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram, 50, is the second alleged shooter, and died at the scene.
Attorney general’s office also says 10 people received prison terms from 463 to 958 years amid crackdown on gangs under state of emergency
El Salvador has announced prison sentences for hundreds of gang members, with some of the convicted receiving terms of hundreds of years.
The attorney general’s office posted on X that 248 members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang had received “exemplary sentences” for 43 homicides and 42 disappearances, among other crimes.
Gun laws will be significantly tightened and protests restricted for up to three months in New South Wales at the behest of the police commissioner, under an emergency set of laws introduced to the state parliament in the wake of the Bondi shooting.
The bill is being debated in the lower house on Monday and is expected to pass with the support of the NSW Liberal party, and pass the upper house on Tuesday.
Six absurdist signs resembling official city council information boards have popped up across New Zealand’s second-largest city
Outside an abandoned building in New Zealand’s second-biggest city, a sign reads “slightly haunted but manageable”. In the middle of a busy shopping strip, pedestrians are warned to keep to a 2.83km/h walking speed. In another part of Christchurch, one piece of signage declares simply “don’t”.
The baffling boards are not an overzealous new council initiative, but a piece of art designed to “play with the way we take authority and signage so seriously”.
Moscow reported to have forcibly moved dozens of people from border village; Florida peace talks described as ‘productive’. What we know on day 1,398
The Ukrainian army was battling an attempted Russian breakthrough in the Sumy region, it said on Sunday, after reports that Moscow forcibly moved 50 people from a border village there. That marks a renewed Russian advance in the part of the region largely spared from intense ground fighting since Ukraine regained land there in a 2022 counteroffensive. “Fighting is currently ongoing in the village of Grabovske,” Ukraine’s joint taskforce said, adding the troops were “making efforts to drive the occupiers back into Russian territory”. It has also refuted media reports saying Moscow’s troops were in the neighbouring Ryasne village. Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian rights ombudsman said Russian troops forcibly moved about 50 people from Grabovske to Russia. There was no official comment from Russia. On Saturday, the Russian army said it had captured the village of Vysoke, a short distance from Grabovske.
US and Ukrainian envoys issued a joint statement on Sunday saying talks in Miami had been “productive and constructive” but did not announce any apparent breakthrough in efforts to end the Russian invasion. “Over the last three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation held a series of productive and constructive meetings with American and European partners,” Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said in separate statements on X on Sunday. Witkoff posted: “Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability and long-term prosperity. Peace must be not only a cessation of hostilities, but also a dignified foundation for a stable future.”
The Kremlin on Sunday denied that three-way talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US were on the cards. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a day earlier that Washington had mooted the trilateral format, which would mark Moscow and Kyiv’s first face-to-face negotiations in half a year, but the Ukrainian president expressed scepticism that they would lead to progress. Russian news agencies reported Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, as telling reporters: “At present, no one has seriously discussed this initiative, and to my knowledge it is not in preparation.” Russian representatives have also been in southern Florida for discussions with the US over Ukraine, with a Kremlin envoy saying on Saturday that the talks had been pressing on “constructively”.
Keir Starmer discussed efforts to achieve a “just and lasting end” to the war in a Sunday call with Donald Trump, the British prime minister’s office said in a statement after the Florida talks. “The two leaders began by reflecting on the war in Ukraine,” Starmer’s office said in a readout of the call, adding they had discussed the work of the so-called “coalition of the willing” countries that have pledged to support Kyiv.
Russia has renewed its criticism of efforts by Europe and Ukraine to amend US proposals to end the war in Ukraine, saying they did not improve prospects for peace. Rory Carroll reports that Putin aide Ushakov told reporters on Sunday that the proposed tweaks to Washington’s plan could prolong the conflict. “I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov said. He added that he had not seen the exact proposals and that his criticism was “not a forecast”.
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, Reuters reported six sources familiar with intelligence as saying, even as negotiators seek an end to the war that would leave Russia with far less territory. The most recent of the reports dates from late September, one of the sources said. The intelligence contradicts the Russian leader’s denials that he is a threat to Europe. “The intelligence has always been that Putin wants more,” Mike Quigley, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, told Reuters. “The Europeans are convinced of it. The Poles are absolutely convinced of it. The Baltics think they’re first.”
The media hold power to account but no business can keep producing without being paid
The government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) consultation paper is welcome but it has taken too long to get to this point, the envisaged scheme is complex and it risks favouring the big tech companies.
The background to all this is important. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s digital platform inquiry, which was completed in mid-2019, recommended what became the news media bargaining code (NMBC). The logic was that Google and Facebook, in particular, were benefiting significantly from news content without paying for it.
In the first 10 months of this year, South Korea imported $159m worth of kimchi, almost entirely from China, while exporting $137m
The pungent scent of red chilli powder hangs in the air at Kim Chieun’s kimchi factory in Incheon, about 30km west of Seoul. Inside, salted cabbage soaks in large metal vats in the first stage of a process that Kim has followed for more than 30 years.
But watching over the production line has become increasingly fraught. South Korea imports more kimchi than it exports, and the gap has widened as cheaper Chinese-made products take hold in the domestic market.
Fantasy, mystery and psychological thriller series dominate book sales, as adult colouring also makes a comeback
Fantasy, mystery and psychological thriller series dominate the UK’s bestsellers list for 2025, topped by Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune. The fifth book in his Thursday Murder Club series secured the top position at 391,429 hardback sales.
Adult colouring also had a resurgence this year: colouring books aimed at all ages made it into the top 20 chart, according to analysis by NielsenIQ BookData.
Metcalf seen swiping toward fan in Ford Field stands
Incident followed exchange during second quarter
Officials did not see it; no in-game discipline followed
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf could face disciplinary action after throwing a punch at a fan during Sunday’s 29-24 win against the Detroit Lions.
Television footage showed Metcalf speaking with a spectator on the sidelines at Ford Field before he lashed out with a closed fist.
Chiefs down to QB3 as Minshew hurt in loss to Titans
McCarthy hurt as Vikings hand Giants ninth straight loss
Chargers close on playoffs behind Herbert surge
The Pittsburgh Steelers pushed the Detroit Lions to the brink of elimination from the playoffs on Sunday, holding on for a 29-24 win when Jared Goff’s touchdown on the final play was negated by an offensive pass-interference penalty on Amon-Ra St Brown.
Goff threw a fourth-down pass to St Brown just short of the goal line. The receiver pushed off cornerback Jalen Ramsey to get free, and before the Steelers could bring St Brown to the ground, he threw the quarterback a lateral to set up an apparent score.
The Africa Cup of Nations hosts, Morocco, overcame a nervy start to beat Comoros in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday after Brahim Díaz and the substitute Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals.
It was a far from convincing showing, however, from highly fancied Morocco who are 97 places above the small Indian Ocean island nation in the world rankings and had to toil hard for the points in the rain at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.
England forward’s brilliance is proving difficult to stop but Unai Emery will surely not be able to keep relying on him every time
It is only two months since Morgan Rogers was standing on the Stadium of Light pitch, looking confused as Unai Emery berated him for failing to anticipate a through-ball as Aston Villa failed to beat a team that played for an hour with 10 men. At that point, as Villa went six without a win, it wasn’t clear whether Rogers’ form was a symptom or a cause of Villa’s more general malaise.
There was a volcanic touchline reaction from Emery on Sunday as well, but this was rather more positive. As Rogers swept in his second of the game to restore Villa’s lead, Emery ripped off his thick padded coat, spread his arms and roared. Villa were on their way to a 10th successive win and, having failed to win any of their first six games of the season, are somehow only three points behind the leaders Arsenal.
Steve Witkoff says representatives share goals to stop killing, support Ukraine and end war with Russia
A White House envoy said on Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine.
Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the US and Europe.
TV host who came under pressure from Trump government will say: ‘From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year’
The US comedian whose late-night show was briefly cancelled after pressure from Donald Trump’s government is to urge UK audiences to stand up for free speech.
In a defiant alternative Christmas message on Channel 4, Jimmy Kimmel will liken the first year of Trump’s second administration to the rise of fascism.
Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany’s new TV drama is flat, airless and banal. It’s a crass affair with a thin, half-hearted performance from Sharpe
Here’s my position. If you are going to create a miniseries about the life, death and music of one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western civilisation, and if you are going to use as your source material a script for a great play that was made into a near-perfect film beloved by almost everyone for its wit and immense, profound themes rendered accessible and moving, and for the fact that it had two of the most extraordinary performances ever committed to what may still then have been celluloid – well, you had better be pretty damn sure that you are bringing something new, exciting, different, richer, cleverer, even more illuminating to the table. Otherwise you are going to look like a bit of a berk.
And so, my friends, to the new six-part drama Amadeus, about the life, death and music of Wolfgang A Mozart, one of the defining geniuses of the last 1,000 years of western history. Co-creators Joe Barton and Julian Farino have retained parts of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play and the 1984 film starring Tom Hulce as Mozart and F Murray Abraham as his rival composer Antonio Salieri, reworked them into lesser forms, and surrounded them with lesser – flat, airless, banal – scenes. Shaffer’s driving interests in the corrupting power of envy, the survival of religious faith under duress, the mystery of talent and what we expect to come from genius are mostly reduced to pale, petty versions of themselves. The performances – well, we’ll come to those.
Department says image was flagged by prosecutors before determining it posed no risk to survivors of late sex offender
The US justice department said on Sunday it had restored an image it had removed a day earlier from the public release of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein after concluding that the photograph, which included within it a photo of Donald Trump, posed no risk of public exposure to victims of the late convicted sex offender.
The justice department said the image had been flagged by federal prosecutors in New York for potentially exposing victims of Epstein. Its unexplained removal on Saturday triggered a chorus of accusations from Democrats about evident political interference in favor of the president, a former friend of Epstein.
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